Edna wandered through the marketplace slowly as she kept an eye out for Sahra or Lucine, mulling over the conversation she'd spied on. Zaveid's stupidity went far beyond her wildest imagination, but the fact that he really believed all that crap about himself meant that her job was going to be a lot harder than she'd thought. Should I tell him I know? Edna wondered. Would it make things better, or worse? I have to be careful with him…
Neither the water seraph nor the fire seraph appeared to be in the marketplace, and Edna's meandering brought her to the upper-class district of the city. Down some streets and around some corners, she suddenly caught sight of red and blue, and quickened her pace to join Sahra and Lucine in front of the mansion where Lucine had once lived as the human princess, Alisha.
"Oh hey, Edna," Sahra said brightly as Edna reached them. "Where have you been?"
"Keeping an eye on things," Edna replied with a shrug.
"Is everything okay?" Lucine asked, and her violet eyes seemed to pierce Edna to her core. "You're troubled…"
"I mean, there's a lot to be troubled about," Edna admitted. "But I'm handling it. Thanks for your concern." She glanced between the two women and added, "You know, if you two used your blessings in conjunction with each other, you'd make an unstoppable duo. Criminal justice wouldn't require anything but the two of you to sort out any court case imaginable."
Sahra laughed, and Lucine giggled slightly. "Maybe once this is all over, we'll see about doing that," Sahra remarked. "I'm sure everyone would be honored to be judged by the Light of Hyland." This last was aimed pointedly at the water seraph, who blushed and looked away to meet Edna's eyes.
"Do they really call me that?" Lucine asked.
"Yup," Edna answered dully. "I remember in his ninth year of school, Eizen had to write an essay for his history class, and the prompt was basically 'explain why Princess Alisha Diphda was the best thing that ever happened to the world in the history of ever'. Not in so many words, of course, but that was the gist."
"I can't imagine it was a very long essay," Lucine mumbled, flushing even deeper.
"Well, you know," Edna shrugged, "about ten pages or so."
"Ten pages?!" Lucine yelped, utterly mortified.
"What about me?" Sahra asked. "Did he ever have to write an essay about me?"
"I think singing your praises was worth bonus points on a test once," Edna replied tonelessly, "and he studied your contributions almost as much as Alisha's. You're both renowned historical figures that present-day Soreys would trip over themselves to meet."
"I never really understood Sorey and Mikleo's obsession with history," Sahra mused, fiddling with her braid, "but…now that I am history, I think I kinda get it. It's amazing how the actions of one person can have such a huge impact on the world centuries later."
"And my…my treaties," Lucine stammered, still blushing as she met Edna's eyes, "and the reforms I proposed…?"
"All passed," Edna confirmed. "Most of them are still in effect to this day, shaping the lives of humans across the continent and making life better for Hyland and Rolance alike."
"I…I never dreamed…" Lucine mumbled, grasping her forearm as she turned her gaze to the cobblestones underfoot.
"Seriously, you need to get Gareth's crap out of your head," Sahra chided. "You're still thinking about him, even now?"
"My memories of him were the first to return to me," Lucine said, "and the only ones that still seem to define me even after being reborn. How he told me that my constant talking only made relations between the two nations worse, that a woman ought to be seen and not heard, that everything I was doing would accomplish nothing but war…"
"What a bunch of garbage," Edna remarked. "How did you not murder him in his sleep? Or at least put in an assassination request with the Scattered Bones? I'm sure Rose would have been more than happy to accept the contract," she added with a smirk.
"Hell yeah I would have!" Sahra agreed. "Seriously, you should have married Sergei! I tried to tell you-"
"And I've told you," Lucine said sadly, "that wouldn't have done any good, for anyone. Sergei was the captain of the military, marrying him wouldn't have served any political purpose, and…he deserved a woman who would love him. You're right that he was a good man, but I…" She shook her head. "I was still in love with Sorey. I couldn't have given Sergei what he deserved."
"Maybe you could have if you'd tried," Sahra pointed out.
"Maybe," the water seraph admitted, still hugging herself. "But I couldn't know for sure. Besides…Gareth was chosen for me by the Emperor. I thought I was doing my duty by agreeing to the union…even if that didn't work any more than marrying Sergei would have…"
"You sure remember a lot," Edna remarked dully. "Do you have all your memories?"
"No…I remember most things, but there are some gaps I can't quite reconstruct," Lucine replied. "I know who I was, though, and I remember…I remember all my time with Sorey."
"Yet you didn't remember that Mikleo was a boy?" Edna asked pointedly.
"I did," Lucine explained, "but I wondered if my memories might be faulty when Zaveid told me they were lovers. I was…confused, and…"
"You mentioned that Sorey was the only man in your human life you ever loved," Sahra remembered out loud.
"Yes," Lucine sighed. "I was so blind to his bond with Mikleo…"
"Don't worry about it," Edna told her. "It's not like you could have seen him again anyway."
"I know," Lucine admitted, "but when you all told me about it, it just…made me feel all the more as though Gareth was right, that I couldn't do anything but make mistakes."
"Loving Sorey isn't nearly as bad of a mistake as marrying Gareth," Sahra commented. "Not even as bad as loving Zaveid…though I guess Gareth was worse than that, really. Hey," she said suddenly, brightening up, "is that why you're so into Zaveid?"
"Huh?" Both Lucine and Edna looked at Sahra in surprise.
The fire seraph shrugged. "I mean, Zaveid is a dirtbag, but he can be very flattering," she said. "I can see why you'd want to attach yourself to someone who actually pays attention to you and says nice things - you could definitely use the emotional junk food after all the crap Gareth put you through. Just as long as you keep in mind that it's junk food, and he's not offering you anything real or substantial, I guess it's okay."
Edna's hand went for the plushie dangling from her umbrella as she quickly assessed how to work damage control. "Why should her previous life have anything to do with it?" she asked pointedly. "Alisha was never interested in Zaveid like that. Were you?" Edna asked, turning her attention to the water seraph.
"Well…no," Lucine admitted. "When I was human, I never really cared for Zaveid. I mean…I'd be lying if I said he was unpleasant to look at, but…no. He was a comrade, an ally…a friend, even. But never anything more than that, and I never wanted him to be, not when I was Alisha. But…"
"But you're not Alisha anymore," Edna finished. "Even if you have some of her memories, who you are has been changed on a fundamental level." She shrugged. "Humans who are reborn as seraphim aren't the same people after the transition, everyone knows that. I'm surprised you don't know it from experience yourself, Sahra."
"No…I do know that," Sahra conceded, toying with her braid. "I have Rose's memories, but even if my true name is still Wilkis Wilk, I'm not really Rose. I could never imagine doing the things she did, thinking the way she thought. I kind of…hate the person those memories show me, to be honest."
"So why should Lucine's feelings for Zaveid have anything to do with her human life?" Edna asked pointedly.
"They don't," Sahra sighed, "but it would be better if they did, don't you think? I mean, her reasons for being into Zaveid don't really make a difference in the end - you know what kind of guy he is, Edna, even better than we do."
"It's true that Zaveid is a gross pervert," Edna allowed, "but he doesn't call anyone else 'angel'."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Sahra asked, blinking.
"I've heard Zaveid call women a lot of things over the centuries," Edna shrugged. "'Babe', 'baby', 'darling', 'sweetie', 'sweetheart', 'milady', 'my dear'…he even calls Velvet 'pretty mama' sometimes."
Sahra and Lucine burst out laughing, and Edna smiled as she waited for them to be done.
"But I've never heard him call anyone 'angel' before," she went on when her companions' hysterics had died down. "And he treats you differently, Lucine."
"But isn't that just because-?" Lucine began, then immediately clamped her mouth shut as Edna aimed a glare at her.
"Because…?" Sahra inquired.
"Don't worry about it," Edna told her. "It's not really important." And as Sahra's eyes flashed with light to mark the activation of her blessing, Edna realized that this was actually true. It wasn't about who Lucine looked like, it was more than that, so much more - her appearance was only a catalyst, a reason for him to really notice things about her as an effect of comparing her to the woman he'd lost. Both Lucine's battle prowess and her need to do good in the world hit all of Zaveid's weak spots, and Lucine herself could see right through Zaveid's facades, so he wouldn't be able to manipulate her, at least not like he wanted. Not to mention being so timid all the time, Edna thought. Who can resist an injured puppy that needs to be taken care of and protected?
"In any case," Sahra said slowly, "just because he gave Lucine a unique nickname doesn't mean he's not a dirtbag."
"I'm not saying he's not a dirtbag," Edna stated; "I'm just saying he treats Lucine differently. Do you disagree?"
"Well…no…" Sahra admitted.
"Then that's all there is to it," Edna said.
"And it's not enough," Sahra said firmly. "I mean, did you guys hear the stuff he said to Sadie's parents at the funeral yesterday-?"
"Donald Halloway deserved to be publicly humiliated and more," Lucine said, her tone suddenly firm.
Edna turned to her in surprise, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sahra do the same. Lucine's violet eyes were blazing, and she looked so much like the human she'd been when she got riled up about politics that Edna wondered how anyone hadn't immediately been able to tell who she was.
"'The strength of a knight exists to protect, and their kindness serves the people,'" Lucine recited. "Donald Halloway has neither; he is weak and cruel. A man who would brainwash his daughter into marrying someone who would abuse her is no knight of my kingdom."
"If anyone in power heard you say that and knew who you once were, he'd be blacklisted, and no one would ever give him work again," Edna remarked. "I'm surprised you weren't giving him a piece of your mind right along with Zaveid."
"I…well…" Lucine flushed, embarrassed, the spark in her eyes winking out. "It was…not the sort of place to make a scene, and Zaveid was making enough of one as it was." She glanced at Sahra, whose green eyes flashed, and the water seraph admitted, "But I was…very tempted, to join him."
Even Sahra couldn't come up with a way to twist this statement.
After a moment, Lucine sighed sadly, turning her gaze to the cobblestones underfoot. "'Angel'…even now, Zaveid still calls me angel," she said softly. "But what kind of angel couldn't even save Sadie? It's my own fault there even was a funeral…"
"Quit it," Edna told her firmly. "There was nothing you could have done - at a certain point, no amount of seraphic healing artes can repair a human's injuries. Our artes can accelerate the healing process, but Sadie was too badly hurt for anything to heal her. Death is something even we seraphim can't escape; it's not your fault."
"You did your best," Sahra agreed. "And it's…well, it's like Zaveid said, your healing artes are the reason she and Eizen got to say their goodbyes, at least. I'm sure she's grateful to you for that, wherever she is."
"And Eizen is, too," Edna added.
They stood in somber silence for a minute, all of them still mourning the death of the Squire that had only just become a true friend to them.
"Can we change the subject?" Edna finally asked drily. "We've had enough sadness for at least the next hundred years or so."
"Yeah," Sahra agreed, forcing a catlike smile. "No more downer talk. Let's talk about what we're going to do after we take down Niko! I don't know about you, Lucine, but I'm kinda done with the whole exile thing."
"Yes," Lucine agreed, nodding. "I would rather find something else to do with my second life than go back to hiding in Lamorak Cave."
"Anyone who goes north from now on is going to be pretty much screwed without the Fire Angel," Edna pointed out to Sahra.
"I mean, maybe I can still go back and do that sometimes," Sahra said thoughtfully. "You're right, I don't want the frozen north to be without a relief effort. But hey, maybe I can convince some other fire seraphim to take up the position!" she said brightly. "Now that all seraphim can be seen by all humans, I'm sure the seraphim who have been around for centuries need to reevaluate their places in the world."
"Sounds like political reform," Edna remarked with a tiny smirk. "Maybe you and Lucine should think about building a nation of seraphim and figuring out how relations and trade should happen between them and the two human nations."
All three seraphim laughed - not because it was an absurd idea, but because it felt so familiar, as though none of them had ever been separated or changed races or souls at all.
~o~
When night fell, the four seraphim took shelter within Eizen's chest while he slept again, lending him their silent support, and Edna was relieved to find that, though she could still feel the anguish of his heartbreak, there weren't even any tiny traces of the beginnings of malevolence in his being. As unsettling as his conversation with Zaveid had been, it had clearly helped Eizen come to terms with things, or at least with not giving up. Zaveid himself gave no indication of what had passed between him and his human nephew; when Lucine asked where he'd been, he dodged her question with a vague, mildly-suggestive response that Edna highly doubted pointed to anything remotely close to the truth.
The next day, Eizen wasted no time heading for the Sanctuary with his seraphim. Several priests waited outside, and bowed as the Shepherd approached.
"The Great Lord Maotelus awaits you," one declared
"Thank you," Eizen told him as Edna and the others emerged. "I promise this is the last time I'll have to commandeer the Sanctuary."
"Don't make promises you can't keep," Edna muttered to him.
"I think I'll stick out here," Zaveid spoke up.
"No, uncle," Eizen said, "you need to hear whatever Maotelus is about to say. I know you can't talk to him or about him, but this is important information."
"Assuming he has any," Edna pointed out dully.
Ignored a second time, Edna decided not to press either issue as the five of them walked through the doors of the Sanctuary into the ornate building that held only the Dragon of Light, the divine seraph's massive form filling a third of the room.
"Maotelus," Eizen said with a bow of his head, the doors shutting behind him as he approached. "I hope we didn't keep you waiting."
"Not at all," Maotelus replied; "I just came back. I was worried I'd kept you waiting."
"Glad to hear no one kept anyone waiting," Sahra remarked, folding her arms behind her head. "So, what's up?"
In response, an orb of light rose from the glowing behemoth, which dulled to a stone gray as Maotelus took his seraph form, the form of an angelic young boy, who rose from a crouch and opened his jade eyes.
"Whoa!" Sahra exclaimed at the sight, having never seen this before. "The Great Lord Maotelus is a kid?!"
"I was ten years old when I rose to lead the Five Lords," Maotelus told her. "That was more than fifteen hundred years ago."
"He's Velvet's nephew, remember?" Edna reminded her. "Or at least the reincarnation of him - her actual nephew was sacrificed to Innominat before he was even born."
"Yeah, you guys told me about that," Sahra said, "but…I didn't think he would still look so young."
"This is who I am," Maotelus said. "Does it bother you?"
"Of course it doesn't bother her, nor does it bother me," Lucine stated, stepping forward. "In fact, I think this form suits you just as well, Great Lord Maotelus." With this, she got down on one knee, just as she would have in her human life. "Lord Maotelus, when last we spoke, the situation was desperate, and I apologize that I never got a chance to properly express how honored I am to meet the divine guardian of our world."
"I'm no less a guardian than you were in your human life, Lucine," Maotelus told her with a smile. "I may grant the world the power of the Silver Flame, but you spent your whole life trying to fix things I had no say in. Your job was a lot more complicated than mine, but the effects still last to this day, and there's been a lot less malevolence for it. I'm sorry you've spent all these centuries thinking you made any sort of mistakes."
"I did make some mistakes," Lucine said, rising to her feet again. "But I shouldn't have focused on them so, or let one man's bigotry impact my ability to live my life. I…There is no higher praise than to suggest that my work could even compare to all that you've done since you rose to lead the Five Lords."
"I haven't done much besides exist," Maotelus pointed out. "Seriously, you worked so hard every day of your human life, while I was too far gone to even notice the effects; without the Earthen Historia, I would have had no idea why the humans of the world I returned to seemed so much less inclined to produce malevolence. It's partly thanks to you that I'm even here now."
"I am glad I was able to help," Lucine bowed.
Maotelus laughed. "You remind me of Eleanor, the human who was my vessel before I became a Great Lord and the first Shepherd to serve me after I took power," he said fondly. "She was always trying to do good in the world, too."
"Laphicet," Eizen said, stepping forward, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but…please, tell us what you've found. What is the First Shadow?"
Maotelus's smile dropped. "We don't know," he answered solemnly. "Not even the other Great Lords have heard of something called the First Shadow, at least not as far as they can remember. We scoured the Earthen Historia, too, but we couldn't find a real answer - the records stored there go back to before the curse of malevolence was cast, but it doesn't seem to go back to the beginning of time for some reason, and almost nowhere in them is there even any mention of the First Shadow." He reached into his tunic and pulled out two iris gems, both so dark blue they were almost black. "All we could find were these. They won't answer your question, but…I think you should see them anyway. Both of them."
"Even the other Great Lords don't know what the First Shadow is?" Lucine breathed. "How is that possible?"
"The Great Lords have ruled for tens of thousands of years, ever since the curse was cast by the seraphim of the Heavenly Realm," Maotelus said, "but there was a time even before that that the Great Lords don't remember. Not even the gods were there to witness the beginning of time. Now please," he held up the indigo iris gems, "take a look at these, Eizen. They might still give you the information you need to truly defeat Niko."
Might? Edna thought cynically. Sounds promising…
Frowning, Eizen reached out his hands and placed one on each of the iris gems. As his gloves came to rest against their smooth surfaces, the world around him began to shift and change. Edna felt herself and her allies being pulled into the vision through their vessel, and suddenly, they were looking at a color-washed version of the clearing outside the old treehouse. Poles stood around the space, holding up colored lanterns that had long since burned out, and tables and chairs were scattered all over.
"Home?" Eizen asked as they took in the setting. "Right after Cellie's party, it looks like…"
"This is when Niko became the Lord of Calamity," Edna said, then added to herself, Why would this have anything to do with some force more ancient than the Five Lords?
"Niko?"
At first, Edna thought Eizen was just echoing her, but then she realized the vision had come to focus on Niko as she'd been the night of Cellie's party, pigtails and all, hunched over on her knees not far from the treehouse.
"Auntie Edna," Niko murmured, and Edna flinched before Niko went on, "you're wrong. You're wrong! Happiness is a lie, I know it is!"
Nausea boiled in Edna's gut. Was it really my fault…?
"I'd gladly trade all this happiness for my sister's life!" Niko went on with a sob. "I'd trade all the happiness in the world for my sister!"
"Niko," Eizen breathed, even though this was only a recording and she couldn't hear him. "You really did it all for Celica…"
Niko threw her head back and screamed to the sky, "What do I have to do?! Why does the darkness reject me?! What am I missing?!"
Suddenly, her expression changed, and she blinked in what looked like shock. "H-Hello?" she asked in a trembling voice, her eyes fixed on the stars twinkling overhead in their all-seeing way…almost as though something among them was actively returning the girl's gaze. "Is someone…there?"
No reply came, but Niko stood up, her face slack with awe.
"Yes!" she gasped. "Yes, I can hear you! You can hear me? Who are you?"
Still, there was nothing; Edna blinked, completely baffled, and she got the sense her companions felt the same way.
"Can you save my sister?" Niko asked, still looking heavenward. After a pause, she started nodding vigorously. "Yes, yes of course!" she exclaimed. "I'll do whatever you ask of me, if you just give me the power I need to keep my sister alive!" Another pause, and then she lit up with delight. "Of course!" she squeaked. "I'd do that anyway! Why should only my sister be saved, if I can save everyone? Give me the power, I'll spread it everywhere! I'll make the world pure, so everyone can be better than happy!"
"Who is she talking to?" Sahra asked.
"Shh," Eizen hushed as Niko lifted her hand to the sky.
Edna watched, bracing herself for the blast of energy she had felt that night, but instead, nothing seemed to happen at all. When Eizen gasped in alarm, it took Edna a minute to even see what had drawn his attention. It was hard to tell in the color-washed vision, but Edna was eventually able to make out the way the patches of night sky between the stars seemed to flow and shift, descending from above to meet Niko's outstretched fingertips.
Blinking, Edna tried to dispel the impossible sight, but when the oozing blackness finally reached Niko, the girl gasped with what sounded like euphoria, and the darkness suddenly swarmed and writhed as it began to pour into her, tendrils enveloping her and shooting straight into her torso, lifting her into the air as her body began to morph and change, all while she grinned with apparent delight.
But this isn't how it happened! Edna thought as she watched. I felt the blast of power when she became the Lord of Calamity, it wasn't all slow and subtle like this!
Watching the way Niko's human body bloated and morphed into the twisted hellion they'd seen throughout their journey became more and more difficult, however, as blackness kept pouring into and around her; before long, she was essentially encased in a malevolent egg.
"I don't…understand…" Eizen breathed.
"That makes at least two of us," Zaveid remarked. "Anyone else have any idea what's going on?"
"Nope," Edna replied, and Sahra and Lucine spoke up with similar sentiments.
As the malevolence became more and more concentrated, bolts of what looked like lightning shot out of the sphere holding Niko, sparking fires in the grass, on the furniture that had facilitated Celica's birthday party, and along the roots of the tree that held up the treehouse. That explains the fire, at least, Edna thought, but not the lightning strike I heard…
Power built even further as the little flames began to catch on the nearby wood, and a moment ahead of time, Edna finally understood. Instinctively, she tried to move her umbrella to shield her from the incoming blast that couldn't actually touch her, and the orb of darkness exploded with tremendous force - not a lightning bolt, but still a blast of energy that Edna had mistaken for a sudden alteration. The Lord of Calamity they knew burst free, massive claws and all, shedding energy that seemed to feed the flames and staring down at her new form.
The very first thing Niko did was gently touch her claws to the side of her face, then grin when they clicked against her jagged, thorny horns - horns she'd been wanting for years. Her smile twisted as she gazed at her enormous talons again, and black flames began to ignite along their lengths, spreading from her scaly palms. She turned her right hand towards the little fire that was just starting to build at the base of the house tree and blasted it, and the orange flames grew, but Edna also thought she saw something rise out of the massive tree, as though a spirit or blessing had been driven away by the malevolence.
"Yes," Niko breathed, spreading her claws. "With this power, I'll smother all light. In the name of the First Shadow, this world shall be made pure!"
She laughed with delight. At first, it was a chuckle, that then grew to a full but still-sane laugh. As the flames grew even larger, smoke billowing into the air, her laughter crossed a threshold, until it mutated into the deranged hysterics she'd been spouting ever since she'd turned.
With that, the vision faded, leaving the five heroes in a blurred sort of in-between, presumably as they moved to the other iris gem Eizen had touched.
"Who or what was she talking to?" Sahra asked as they transitioned.
"The First Shadow," Eizen replied grimly. "We have to assume…"
"But what is the First Shadow?" Lucine questioned.
"Nothing," Edna replied. "She wasn't talking to anything that actually exists - the Earthen Historia sees everything in this world, even thoughts. The fact that it didn't record anything at all means there was nothing there."
"Did you just see the same scene I just saw, babe?" Zaveid demanded. "'Cuz I'm pretty sure I just watched her offer herself to malevolence and malevolence pour out of the sky in response."
"The Earthen Historia records everything in this world," Sahra mused, and Edna could almost see her toying with her braid, "but what about…things that aren't in this world?"
"Like what?" Edna asked drily.
Before the conversation could continue, the scene finished shifting. Now, the treehouse and its tree were both blackened and in ruins, and some piles of ash were scattered around the clearing, but the fire was gone. Niko had something pinned to the ground with her massive right claws; beyond her, the hellionized form of Rokurou stood by and watched. Rokurou's two right arms gripped Lailah by her upper arms, while his left arms pinned Mikleo likewise; both seraphim were kicking and struggling, but the monster holding them didn't even seem to notice their efforts to escape. Every now and then, a flash of movement along the ground marked where Celica was zipping around with her malevolence-charged health, health she had been granted in exchange for her voice.
"Sorey!" Lucine gasped as the image focused on the figure trapped under Niko's gigantic paw, the talons caging him while the palm pressed him against the ground.
Edna blinked; it was almost hard to see through all the malevolence Niko generated, but sure enough, the person at Niko's mercy was the previous Shepherd, Sorey. He struggled under Niko's grip, but he was trapped, clearly helpless.
"You think you came here to save us," Niko sneered softly at the legendary hero; "but, you see, I am here to save you, and everyone else in this miserable, broken world. But because you are the Shepherd, you have to be willing. Join us, Shepherd Sorey; you are left with no other recourse."
"Never!" Sorey snarled, still writhing to no avail.
"Come now," Niko crooned, "my power has already overwhelmed you, you know you cannot defeat me. But I don't want to kill you…I don't want anyone to die, ever again. Malevolence will grant you eternity in this world, you and your beloved Mikleo. You're fighting for the right to die, and leave your seraph lover all alone; surely, that isn't worth whatever silly beliefs you value so highly. Won't you join us?"
"If Mikleo and I joined you, he'd be a dragon," Sorey spat.
"Indeed," Niko nodded; "he would be able to ferry you across the land and the seas at will, no more bothering with ships or caravans. You could travel the whole world, find every ancient ruin still to be discovered, and take your time exploring them all, with no worry for one day running out of strength or life."
"But I wouldn't enjoy it!" Sorey snapped. "Mikleo wouldn't even be able to appreciate whatever we found, and neither would I! Hellions can't feel happiness!"
"I feel quite happy," Niko snickered, "as does my father. Don't you?" she added, turning her head to the lackey holding Sorey's seraphim hostage.
"I feel alive!" Rokurou grinned. "Power like this is worth more than any amount of happiness!"
"Well said," Niko praised, turning back to Sorey. "Happiness is a lie, a silly construct designed to help mortals along to their inevitable deaths." She tilted her head. "Come to think of it, if you joined me, you wouldn't even have to do any exploring, or any guessing - I have more knowledge at my disposal than even the Earthen Historia. Everything that has happened since the dawn of time is mine to know, and it would be yours too, if you joined us."
"Us", Edna thought. She keeps saying "us". Sorey probably thinks she means herself and Rokurou and Cellie - I did too, all this time. But what if…?
"The joy of exploring the past is in the discovery," Sorey said. "I wouldn't want to just know everything that's ever happened, I want to learn it, experience it all for myself."
Niko threw her head back and laughed her hellish laugh. "So you want to take the time to see everything firsthand, and you want the time you are allotted to do so to be limited," she jeered. "Do you not see the flaw in your reasoning? Join us, and we can give you everything you desire, as well as freedom from all that troubles you - you and your precious Mikleo. Come now, Shepherd, there's no need for anyone to die here today."
"I will never succumb to darkness," Sorey declared, struggling again for good measure. "But you don't have to kill anyone, Niko. You haven't done any harm yet, you can just stop. Let us help you."
"Let you help me?!" Niko roared mirthfully. "Have you not been listening? You are the one who needs my help, if only you will accept it. Do you even know what you're fighting for? This world is broken, and you are the one who keeps it that way. You think killing General Heldalf and purifying Maotelus saved the world? What's changed since then? Malevolence still abounds, and always shall! No…malevolence is the rightful reigning power in this world, and in fighting it, you ensure that this world stays as miserable as it has always been. Tell me…" Her paw pressed down harder, restricting the space for Sorey's lungs to expand, and her other hand came up to poke one talon against his throat. "…what must I do to make you understand?"
"I understand…what you're saying," Sorey choked. "But you're wrong, Niko! You're wrong about…about the world. This world isn't perfect, but it's still worth defending. And I will defend it, with my last breath!"
"Please don't make me kill you," Niko said again, and Edna suddenly realized that, for all her talk, Niko really and truly did not want to have to kill Sorey, or anyone else. Lord of Calamity or not, she was still a thirteen-year-old girl; the idea of killing was a lot bigger when she actually faced it, and she was…scared.
But she did kill Sorey, Edna thought. We already know how this story ends…
"I'm not making you do anything, Niko," Sorey said calmly. "No one is making you do anything. What you do next is up to you."
Bold words, but knowing what was coming, Edna winced. Still, to her surprise, Niko continued to hesitate, even as she poked at Sorey's throat again.
"Please join me," Niko said softly. "Please…no one should ever have to die again…I took on this power to put an end to people dying…"
"I won't stop fighting malevolence, Niko," Sorey told her. "I'll never give in to darkness. I would rather die than live as a hellion."
"But…" Niko's face turned heavenwards, to the now-lit daytime sky, the sun blotting out the stars, though of course the stars were still there. Her black-scaled face, timid and uncertain at first, slowly shifted to a determined mask, and she looked back down after a moment, baring her sharp teeth. "Is that truly your answer?" she hissed. "Death, over everything we can offer you?"
"Yes," Sorey stated; he'd clearly noticed the change in Niko's demeanor, but he was as certain as ever. Sorey to the end, Edna thought. "I would rather die than join any Lord of Calamity. That is my answer." He turned his head to where his seraphim struggled in Rokurou's grip. "Mikleo-" he began, his face full of love.
But before he could say whatever last words he wanted to say to his boyfriend, Niko's talon speared him through the neck, cutting off his words. "So be it," she spat.
"NO!" Mikleo screamed. "SOREYYYYYYYYYY!"
Lailah also gave a wordless cry of pain as Niko curled her one claw down through the hole she'd bored in Sorey's body, spearing through his torso and eviscerating him, but it was drowned out by the howl of anguish that came from Mikleo - the same howl that Eizen had let loose as he'd held Sadie's lifeless body. Sorey shuddered, twitched, and finally went limp.
"SOREYYYYYYY!" Mikleo wailed. "NOOOOOOOOO!"
Malevolence began to gather around the two seraphim, now that their pure vessel had been destroyed, and both writhed as the toxin ate away at them. Removing her talons from the now-dead Shepherd and the ground around his corpse, Niko turned and stalked over to her quarry, her clawed feet tearing furrows in the ground as she walked.
"Poor Mikleo," she said pityingly. "You waited so long for the love of your life to return, only to lose him again. But don't you see? Even if I hadn't killed him, he would have died in a few decades anyway, and left you all alone for good. I didn't want to make it happen sooner, but it was an inevitable eventuality."
"You monster!" Mikleo sobbed. "You monster!"
"Just relax," Niko soothed him. "I would love to give you the choice to reunite with him, but you see, the thing is, I need some dragons, if I am to commune with the First Shadow properly. So just relax, and let yourself go; the pain will be gone soon, and you won't even remember you ever knew Sorey."
Those claws, claws Edna knew to be a deep crimson, lifted, black flames dancing along their lengths, and she placed them around the crying water seraph.
"Let him go, father," she ordered the hellion holding Mikleo. "He's mine now."
Obediently, Rokurou relaxed his left arms, and Mikleo sagged into the cage of Niko's talons. Dark fire caught on his clothes, and his sobs and screams died out as malevolence enveloped him, gaining a foothold in his broken heart and exploiting it to consume him completely. The change took hold, and Niko released the figure and stepped back, watching as the darkness and the seraph's body merged and erupted into a massive dragon. The dragon roared and spread its wings, but Niko thrust her right hand forward, vines of darkness shooting out of her claws and wrapping around the behemoth, tying him to the ground.
"Not just yet," she told the savage beast as it strained against its bonds. "I know you want to go out there and sow all sorts of destruction, but you need to wait a minute while I deal with your friend." She turned to Lailah, the fire seraph also writhing and crying. "You won't turn easily," the Lord of Calamity remarked. "'Lailah the Pure'…it will take a great deal of malevolence to make you a dragon - maybe even enough that you'll come out a white-horned dragon, a being with a heart that can break a seraph's blessing! Lucky you!"
Zaveid gasped, and Edna almost wished she could reach out and hold his hand - this revelation about what made a white-horned dragon probably cut deep. But they were bodiless as they watched the scene unfold, and Zaveid could always just cling to his whole not-caring schtick. He'll be fine, Edna told herself, refocusing on the vision.
Raising her left claws now, Niko summoned the black fire she'd been spewing and unleashed it on the former Prime Lord; Rokurou dropped her a moment before the torrent of power hit him, and Edna wondered if it was a reflex, or if the malevolence would actually hurt him despite him already being a hellion, though it didn't really matter. Within the blast, Lailah's screams grew louder and more high-pitched, as she clearly fought the transformation with everything she was. Niko snarled, the black flames pouring out even more strongly, and Lailah's cries turned into shrieks, which slowly morphed into something inhuman, something unnatural. When only the roars of a monster came from the cascade of evil fire, Niko finally severed the flow, leaving a writhing mass that took form, white horns piercing through the top as the head took shape, and then at last, a white-horned dragon stood where Lailah had been.
Immediately, Niko released more black tendrils from her left claws, these binding the new dragon quickly, before it could fly away. "Now then," the Lord of Calamity said to her captives. "Let us begin." Her red eyes closed, and she lifted her head. "O ye born of the death of light," she intoned, "here let our pacts be forged, that the purest of darkness may serve as thine anchors to this world in which you dwell; in the name of the First Shadow, you shall serve me and mine to the end of days. By the true names of the souls still trapped within your binds, I command you, now and forevermore: Lusrov Rulay and Fethmus Mioma!"
As she spoke, the black ropes almost seemed to glow with malevolence, and at the sounds of their former true names, the dragons stopped struggling. Smiling nastily, Niko retracted her bindings, and the dragons rose to their feet calmly, both standing still and looking at her attentively, ready to obey her commands.
"Mikleo," Niko purred, and the dragon that had been the water seraph lowered its head in an obedient manner. She gestured to her father. "You are to carry my father with me when I travel and follow his directions. My orders supersede his, of course, but do as he says otherwise."
Mikleo threw his head back and roared, then turned to Rokurou.
"Are you serious?!" Rokurou asked. "I get to ride a dragon?"
"But of course," Niko replied. "You are an ancient and powerful warrior, and if not for you and all you've done, I would not be here now to save this world at last; a dragon is the least you can receive in return. But remember that you are to do as I say first and foremost."
"Whatever," Rokurou dismissed, stepping up to his new draconian servant and clambering onto the monster's back. He whooped, grinning. "I'm riding a dragon!" he laughed. "Ah, this is worth it all!"
"Indeed," Niko smirked. "Oh Celica, my dear sister!"
The little hellion that had been darting around in the background during this entire affair scuttled over to Niko.
"Climb aboard the white-horned dragon," she told the languageless creature, walking over to the dragon that had been Lailah herself. "We're going for a ride."
Celica obeyed, though she didn't settle on the dragon's back, instead scuttling along the monster's sides as Niko vaulted her way aboard her mount.
"Arise, my allies!" Niko called. "Let us away, to the domain of the First Shadow!"
Lailah and Mikleo leapt into the air and spread their wings, diving down the short distance they were allowed and scraping the earth before rising at a slight angle, flapping their wings and swerving around and around as they lifted high into the air.
Then everything blurred, the vision ending.
Edna blinked herself back to awareness as the Ladylake Sanctuary took form around them again. Eizen lifted his hands from the two indigo iris gems, and they evaporated as Maotelus presumably sent them back into the earthpulse.
No one spoke.
"You were right, Eizen," Maotelus finally said solemnly. "Whatever the First Shadow is, it's important. You're facing something no Shepherd has ever fought against before."
"But what is it?!" Lucine exclaimed.
"A power not of this world."
Everyone turned at Eizen's sudden words, but his golden gaze was on Edna.
"You said there's no power in this world stronger than the Five Lords," he said, "and I think you were right, big sis. If the Earthen Historia records everything in this world, then whatever Niko was communing with, it wasn't in this world at all."
"I agree, but that still begs the question: What else is there, exactly?" Sahra asked, fiddling with her braid thoughtfully. "I mean, there's the Heavenly Realm…"
"Yeah, this doesn't look like the Heavenly Realm to me," Zaveid shrugged. "Those seraphim living up there might be a buncha stuck-up bastards, but I'm pretty sure there's no malevolence in the Heavenly Realm." He frowned, rubbing his chin. "Besides that, though…I mean, there's hell, I guess-"
"No." This came from Maotelus, and everyone turned to the tiny Great Lord. "Heaven and the Heavenly Realm aren't the same thing," he told them, and he frowned. "It's…complicated, but from what the Great Lords tell me, there's a…a veil, of sorts, between life and death, and no known power can transcend that veil, not even the Heavenly Gate. The Heavenly Realm isn't an afterlife."
"Makes sense," Edna commented; "if the Heavenly Realm was an afterlife, then in order to go home, seraphim would just have to die."
"Is there an afterlife?" Eizen asked curiously.
"There is," Maotelus replied, "but we only know there's anything beyond that veil at all because of seraphim who reach the end of their natural time in this world, a year after they feel the Call - for a few moments, those seraphim are suspended in the middle of that veil, and can see beyond it while still telling those on this side what they see, and the Earthen Historia records those glimpses. Heaven and hell both exist, but neither of them have anything to do with whatever power Niko wields - from what the other Great Lords can tell from the iris gems I shared with you, the power Niko was using didn't transcend the veil, it came…from somewhere else. Somewhere that almost seemed to be beyond the bounds of reality itself."
"Beyond the bounds of reality?" Edna repeated. "How is that possible?"
"I don't know," Maotelus answered, shaking his head. "There's…a lot we don't know. I'm sorry," he added, his jade irises pained. "I really looked as hard as I could, we all did!"
"We know," Eizen assured his cousin across time. "Thank you for sharing what you found, Maotelus. We'll…make the best use of this information that we can. Please, get back into the earthpulse - we need you watching over the world now more than ever, considering what Niko's up to."
"Right," Maotelus nodded, and he turned into light that sank back into his form as Great Lord, which regained its radiance and stood. "Battle well," he told them; "we are counting on you - not just your victory, but on what you can learn from pursuing this Lord of Calamity. Niko isn't just a Lord of Calamity, she is truly the Lord of Calamity…and we need you, Eizen, to be the Shepherd."
"I will be," Eizen promised. "We'll stop her, no matter what it takes."
The Dragon of Light bowed his head. "Farewell," he told them, and he dissolved back into the earth, leaving the five heroes alone to discuss what they'd seen.
But no one spoke. No one knew what to say. They were fighting a true unknown, what was there to talk about? Any theories any of them might propose would be useless.
Finally, Edna walked over to Zaveid and said what she knew she needed to say to him. "Zaveid, I'm sorry," she told the wind seraph.
"Huh?" Zaveid blinked. "For what?"
"For saying Niko was your fault," Edna replied, remorse lancing through her heart.
"Aw, don't worry about it, babe," Zaveid shrugged; "I knew it couldn't be my fault."
"No, you don't understand," Edna shook her head; she needed to be honest about this. "The reason I blamed you was because I…I didn't want to admit that it might have been my fault. I tried to change Niko's mind during the party, and I was afraid that I might have shaken her resolve enough for her to turn; blaming you was easier than thinking it might have been my doing. It was selfish of me…" Her eyes stung, and she blinked, trying to fight back the urge to cry, one hand going to squeeze the plushie dangling from her umbrella. "I guess I have more in common with my older brother than I knew. I'm sorry, Zaveid."
"Hey, it's not like I'm in any position to judge someone for being selfish," Zaveid responded; his posture was casual, but his orange eyes were serious as he met her blurring gaze. "Don't worry about it, Edna, seriously. I forgive ya." His expression darkened as he added, "The important thing here is that it was neither of our faults; it was something beyond any of us, something we can't even guess at."
"Whether we can guess at it or not," Eizen said resolutely, stepping forward, "we know we have to fight Niko and put a stop to her rampage. Maybe once we knock some sense into her, she'll tell us what she knows."
"That'd be nice," Edna agreed tonelessly, finally managing to get her emotions under control. "We won't know unless we confront her, though."
"Then let's go," Eizen said. "We know everything we can know; it's time."
Edna nodded, as did the other seraphim, and all four of them came to rest within Eizen's chest as he exited the Sanctuary, telling the priests outside that their business was done. His steps headed for the Ladylake gate…then stopped and turned around.
What are you doing? Edna asked.
"I want to say goodbye," Eizen replied. "Please, guys, just give me a minute. Just in case."
No one responded.
Outside the priests' bunker, Eizen found his parents and Cellie all together. Rokurou was propped up on crutches, the one under his left arm strapped to the handless stump, and Edna was surprised to see that he was actually standing on legs.
"Dad!" Eizen exclaimed, running over to his family. "How are you standing?!"
"Fake legs," Rokurou grinned. "We just got 'em, and I'm breaking 'em in!"
"But…but how…?" Eizen breathed.
"I…" Velvet blushed. "I asked around about getting him some help the day after he woke up. It cost a lot of gald, but then…"
"Then I made the innkeeper sample some of the leftovers from the memorial feast," Rokurou grinned, "and she hired your mother on the spot. Mom spent all day yesterday cooking for the refugees, and we've earned a ton of gald already - soon, we'll be able to move out of this shack and into a home of our own!"
"Really?" Eizen gasped, looking between his parents. "I…" He swallowed. "I'm sorry, I…I've been kind of in my own world the last couple of days."
"Don't be sorry, Eizen," Velvet told her son with a smile. "You've been through a lot. But yes, we're going to find a new home here in Ladylake now."
"Good food brings people together," Rokurou added with a loving smile at his wife. "No one can call you a monster when you prepare food like that for them."
"So it seems," Velvet admitted.
Edna knew how hard it had been for Velvet to ever imagine living in human society again, and she could feel the way Eizen's heart swelled at the idea that she was finally going to get her happy ending. "I'm so glad you've found your place, mom," he said.
"Yes…and you've found yours, haven't you?" Velvet added, her expression softening with sadness.
"I have," Eizen confirmed. "And I have to go. I'm going to do my best to bring Niko home, but…I wanted to say goodbye first, just in case I don't come back."
"You're my son," Rokurou said sternly; "you'll win this fight, I know you will."
"I can't leave anything to chance," Eizen insisted, and he stepped forward, knelt down, and hugged his youngest sister, who hugged him back even as she squirmed in his grip. "Cellie, look after mom and dad, okay?" he murmured to her.
"I will!" Celica promised. "Now that I'm finally learning to use the Rangetsu style, nothing will get past me!"
"I'm sure," Eizen laughed. He stood up and embraced his father, who lifted his one good hand to return the hug. "Dad, remember to stop by Pendrago and talk to Morgrim on the way to Meirchio," Eizen told him.
"Yeah, yeah," Rokurou said with a lazy smile. "I will."
Releasing his father, Eizen turned to his mother; their eyes met, eyes that were almost exactly the same, mother and son, and then he put his arms around her and held her tight. "Mom," he said softly, "be happy."
"I am," Velvet responded, hugging him back.
After a long minute, Eizen let her go, and he stepped back to address his whole family. "I love you all, so much," he told them. "Please, no matter what happens…live your lives as best you can. That's why I became the Shepherd in the first place."
"We're proud of you, Eizen," Velvet assured him. "And we believe in you. I know you'll succeed, one way or another."
Eizen nodded. "I'll see you all again," he vowed. "But for now, goodbye."
"Bye, big brother!" Cellie called as Eizen turned.
"We love you!" his parents added in unison.
"I love you too!" Eizen shouted over his shoulder, and then he broke into a run, sprinting for the exit, his family's support a tailwind at his back.
~o~
The moment Eizen crossed the threshold of Maotelus's barrier, malevolence slammed through his body, but the blessings of the Five Lords protected the seraphim sheltering within him.
"Niko!" Eizen shouted, and Edna emerged to stand beside him, the other seraphim following suit. "Where are you?!"
In response, the roar of a dragon heralded the approach of the white-horned beast Niko had created from the body of the previous Prime Lord. Edna braced herself as the Lord of Calamity's mount descended to land heavily before them and the girl herself leapt off, her small wings flapping to bring her to a gentle glide before she landed in front of the Shepherd.
"Eizen," she said. "Have you come to your senses?"
"I have," Eizen replied coldly.
"Well then…" Niko extended the claws of her left hand, black flames dancing along their lengths. "Join me."
"I will never join you, Niko," Eizen stated firmly. "I'm not going to give up. I've seen what giving up would turn me into, and I don't want to be that person."
That's a bit of a stretch, Edna thought, but hey, it sounds bold and all.
"Why won't you understand?!" Niko hissed. "You've felt the agony of the light, why do you still defend it?!"
"Because that agony is matched by joy," Eizen answered. "This world needs both, Niko, or it would be empty, all of life would be meaningless." He took a stance, and instead of drawing his katana, Edna was surprised to see him reach over his shoulder and draw Stormhowl, the ancient blade singing with joy as it was unleashed. "I will fight against malevolence to my dying breath…malevolence, and the First Shadow."
Niko jerked in surprise.
"What is the First Shadow, Niko?" Eizen asked her. "Tell me what you've done."
"Ah." The Lord of Calamity grinned as she realized Eizen knew nothing, and Edna sighed internally. Way to show your hand, baby brother. "If you join me, it will all be clear."
"Never!" Eizen snarled.
They stared off for a long minute. Then, Niko sighed.
"I see," she pouted. "I really didn't want to have to kill you, dear brother, but if you've come this far and still won't listen, I suppose I have no choice."
Lucine and Sahra drew their weapons, and Edna braced herself. Instead of lunging at them, though, Niko lifted the claws of her right hand to the sky.
"Fethmus Mioma!" she shouted.
"What the-?" Eizen gasped as the white-horned dragon dissolved, its being pouring into Niko as energy crackled, the two merging and taking shape. "Is she armatizing with a dragon?!"
"It's not that weird," Edna informed Eizen; "General Heldalf armatized with Maotelus when Maotelus was corrupted, and we saw Niko make a Sub Lord pact with Lailah and Mikleo after she turned them."
"Still can't get over that," Zaveid muttered. "Some twisted, perverted version of a Sub Lord pact, between the Lord of Calamity and dragons…"
"And you'd know all about being perverted, huh, Zaveid?" Sahra smirked.
"Babe, is this really the time for wisecracks?" Zaveid asked pointedly.
"Guess not," Sahra conceded.
A roar put an end to the trivial exchange, as the armatized Niko burst forth into full form; the horns, once white, were now a flaming scarlet, the claws elongated into massive sabers, and the beast was twice the size it had been.
"Now, brother dear," Niko snarled through the dragon's snout, "let us put an end to your foolishness once and for all!"
Edna stood back and prepared a defensive arte as her allies all charged into battle. Funny, she thought as the mana swelled beneath her skin; this was where Eizen's first battle as a Shepherd took place, and now it's where his last will be, too.
An umbrella wasn't the best weapon with which to take on a dragon, so Edna kept to the sidelines and cast seraphic artes, trying to stay out of the way of the slashing claws and macelike tail. Armatized Niko seemed to move more gracefully than Mikleo had, despite being more or less the same shape, her every slightest movement potentially deadly; but on the other hand, Eizen was using Stormhowl, and even from a distance, Edna could feel the way the mana in the earth and air stirred and flowed at the blade's command as he danced with the nodachi effortlessly, faster and more fluidly than Edna had ever seen anyone fight. When Niko tried to breathe a blast of malevolent fire, Eizen leapt forward and slashed through it with his sword, and the metal cleaved through the darkness, leaving the black flames dissipating harmlessly to either side. A sword that can destroy malevolence, Edna thought. I guess it really is just like Siegfried…
Even so, and even with everyone giving it their all, the Lord of Calamity was armatized with a white-horned dragon, and would not be felled easily. Each individual blow she landed on any of the five heroes sent the victim flying, dazed and half-dead; soon, Lucine was more occupied with casting healing artes than fighting. Edna tried to use her own limited powers to ease Lucine's burden, but when Eizen armatized with their water seraph, though they landed some solid hits, Sahra and Zaveid were quickly felled. Eizen severed the armatus and armatized with Edna instead, and they swung at the monster together while Lucine tried to revive their fallen comrades.
Just as Sahra and Zaveid managed to get back on their feet, Niko roared, "To death!"
A dark domain froze time, leaving Niko in motion. A dragon casting a Mystic Arte?! Edna thought, alarmed, and she grew even more alarmed when she realized that Lucine was the target.
"May this purest of darkness smother the light of your being," Niko intoned, her claws forming a cage around the water seraph. Black fire spewed from both her palms and her jaws. "Final Shadow!"
Lucine screamed and fell as the arte ended, the malevolent flames still burning along the length of her body, just as it had been with Sadie in Aifread's Hunting Ground.
"Lucine!" Zaveid yelped, and Niko threw back her massive head and laughed.
Eizen quickly severed his bond with Edna, then reached into his pouch and pulled out a life bottle, which he cracked open and threw at Lucine. But as the medicine reached her, the dark fire burned it away, and it evaporated before it even touched her seraphic skin.
"This is only a taste of the power I wield," Niko hissed, lashing her tail at the fire seraph lunging for her. "Surrender now, and it will be yours, too!"
"Never!" Eizen shouted, swinging Stormhowl at his sister.
Edna jogged over to where Lucine lay and opened her umbrella; Zaveid was already there, and as the wind seraph got on his knees and started combating the malevolent flames, Edna shielded both of them, casting earthen artes from her defensive position as she tried to keep Niko from interrupting. Oddly, Niko didn't really appear interested in trying to stop Zaveid from saving Lucine; Eizen and Sahra kept her busy, and she seemed content to fight them while their ally was revived.
"Come on," Zaveid growled, white fire pouring from his palms. "Come on, angel, we need you!"
"'Angel'?" Though she couldn't possibly have heard him, Niko laughed again, still swiping at Eizen and Sahra. "You've never called anyone that before, have you, uncle? Not even your dear Theodora got that name…What was it you called her, again? Your 'little devil'?"
Zaveid jerked his face up in shock, his eyes wide, and the purifying flames pouring from his hands stuttered. "How do you know-?!" he gasped.
"Focus," Edna growled at him. "She's trying to distract you."
The Prime Lord visibly gritted his teeth as he turned back to purifying the darkness eating away at Lucine; though Edna kept up her defensive artes, she could tell he was shaken. Niko said all the world's knowledge is at her command, she remembered. Could that really be true…? A wing grazed her, and she leapt back. Doesn't matter, she decided; knowing and understanding aren't the same thing. Even if Niko knows everything, she's only thirteen, she doesn't understand much. We can still stop her.
When at last Lucine had gone still, unconscious but not burning with malevolence, Eizen tossed another life bottle at her, and this one roused her.
"Hold still, angel," Zaveid murmured, mana glowing as he prepared one of his own assistance artes. Rolling her eyes, Edna kept up her defenses until he'd lent Lucine some of his power, and the water seraph stood, violet eyes blazing.
"Let's go!" Zaveid shouted, and all three of them returned to the fray.
It seemed as though Niko hadn't weakened hardly at all. The five heroes fought, casting artes, landing blows, exchanging medicines, and it hardly even seemed to matter; the armatized dragon kept coming.
Can this girl just go down already? Edna thought, frustrated, as she charged yet another arte; it seemed as though the battle had been raging for hours, with no apparent effects on the Lord of Calamity.
"To death!"
Another domain swept across the battlefield, and Edna found herself at the center of a cage of black-flamed claws.
"May this purest of darkness smother the light of your being," Niko snarled as solid malevolence ripped through Edna's body. "Final Shadow!"
When the domain broke, Edna could only fall; every inch of her burned in agony as malevolence tore at her, seeking to consume her very essence. Distantly, she heard screaming, and only barely recognized the sound as her own. Then Zaveid was there, pouring the flames of purification on the darkness that smothered her, and she could feel the two forces combatting, fighting for the right to define her essence as the pain eased.
"Open your heart!"
Yet another domain spread, and as time froze, Edna was able to see what was happening through the black fire. Lucine raised her spear in one hand, running her other hand along its length; some of the pain Edna was feeling seemed to pour out of her and fly into the metal.
"See the world through the eyes of another, and feel the pain that you have inflicted!" the water seraph intoned, eyes closed, as her spear began to gather strength and glow, brighter and brighter. More pain poured out of Edna and into the spear, and hers wasn't the only source.
Violet eyes opened and blazed with wrath, and Lucine hefted her weapon, then threw it at the armatized Lord of Calamity.
"Empath's Javelin!" she shouted as the arte skewered the dragon's chest, every inch it pierced through the beast another blow on the malevolent monster; when it came out the other side, the metal flew back to Lucine's outstretched hand, and she caught it and pounded the butt of the hilt against the ground, causing some remnant of energy that had lingered in the puncture wound to explode from within Niko's body.
Niko screamed as the arte finished, falling over onto her side. Edna realized that the white fire Zaveid had been casting on her had finished its job, leaving her weak on the ground but not in danger. When a life bottle splashed on her face, the medicine soaked into her seraphic skin and gave her strength, and she rose to her feet, unsteady but far from dead.
Everyone waited, a moment too long; the massive tail of the armatized monster lashed Zaveid from behind, knocking him down as their foe rose to her clawed feet once more.
Niko wasn't done.
Power like that isn't enough? Edna thought dazedly.
But there was no choice but to keep fighting. It was hard to tell, but Niko did seem noticeably injured at this point, Edna realized, and she took strength from the thought, the idea that Niko wasn't invincible. Everyone else seemed to realize it too - Eizen and Sahra seemed to move even faster, Lucine took more risks on the offensive, and when Zaveid darted past Edna's field of view, she saw him grinning.
It won't be easy, but we can win!
"Faster than a soaring bird!"
Eizen's sudden shout froze time, and Edna watched as white fire enveloped his massive blade.
"Day and night, life and death," he intoned; "each needs the other to be whole!"
He lifted his nodachi in both hands, and then there were more hands; Edna couldn't see faces, but she could feel the souls lending Eizen their power: Ten were entirely foreign to her, one felt vaguely familiar, one was definitely Sorey, and one, she realized with a jolt, was none other than her older brother, Eizen's namesake. Brother, she thought, her eyes stinging as she watched the deceased souls add their own strengths to Eizen's grip - she could only assume these were the thirteen who had helped Eizen draw the Sacred Blade. Then, suddenly, there was a fourteenth, embodying the loneliest vigor, a new addition to the group of their deceased allies, whose essence Edna knew nearly as well as that of the previous Shepherd: Sadie.
Eizen smiled as he closed his eyes. "With all our hearts," he said softly, and then he was a blur, darting too fast to be seen, his movements as he slashed the monster to pieces visible only through the white light left behind by his sword.
"Anima Saber!"
Mana exploded, bright as the sun, and Niko roared as Eizen came to rest behind her form. The dragon stumbled, and Eizen turned around and leapt into the air. Roaring a battle cry, he brought the legendary sword down on Niko-
And suddenly she split into two, a white-horned dragon and the draconian little Lord of Calamity, and Eizen's blade sliced through thin air before burying itself in the ground. Lailah leapt up, spreading her wings, and swooped around to where Niko lay; the Lord of Calamity's red talons latched onto the white-horned dragon's claws, and she hauled herself onto her mount as both rose high into the sky, soon out of the range of most seraphic artes.
"Niko!" Eizen shouted as his sister laughed maniacally. "That's not fair! Come down here and face your defeat like a real Rangetsu!"
"Fair is a word for losers, dear brother!" Niko laughed, her voice faint with distance. "I have no interest in our family's honor, you know that!"
"We won!" Eizen argued furiously. "You can't just run away!"
"Call it a tactical retreat," Niko sneered. "I will gather even more power, and then I will come back for you. I will spread malevolence until this world is pure, brother of mine, and I will not let you stop me!"
Everyone stared, flabbergasted that their foe would run away on her last shred of health rather than face them. Edna looked at Eizen, and saw that his golden eyes were hard, calculating, glinting as though he had an idea.
"Everyone," Eizen said softly, "come to rest within me. Now!"
"But-"
"Now!" Eizen shouted as he sheathed Stormhowl, and Edna flinched and obeyed. Sahra, Lucine, and Zaveid did the same, and then they were all within their vessel, looking out through his eyes. Though his thoughts weren't open to Edna's insight, she felt his muscles tense, his eyes focused on the distant dragon that swooped down to gain momentum so it could fly away; normally, Niko's monsters made short dives before rising again, but the dragon that had been Lailah was badly injured, so it needed more help to do what it needed to do. Every inch it descended, Eizen's muscles tensed more and more, as though he was readying himself for something.
Just a moment too late, Edna realized what Eizen was up to. As the dragon reached the lowest point of its dive, which came just close enough, Eizen ran forward, leapt as high as he could, and threw his limbs around the dragon's rear leg as it swept up into the sky.
A little more fangirl indulgence, if you'll allow me: My idea for how Empath's Javelin would work is, it would gain power based on how much damage has been dealt to the caster's party by the target (not counting damage that has been healed), plus a bonus multiplier for any KO'd allies, AND any status ailments afflicting any party members will be inflicted on the Mystic Arte's target as well. Excellent for boss fights, sucky for pretty much anything else. Both of Lucine's Mystic Artes would be very situational and gimmicky, but in a way, I guess she herself is, too… XD As for Anima Saber, it would only be useable during Stormhowl fights, so while it TECHNICALLY would carry over through the time warp, the circumstances for its use would never arise. Come to think of it, this is the only fight it would be used in…unless the postgame dungeon warranted Stormhowl's use…but then Sadie's soul wouldn't be there to lend it strength…hmm…
IF you want to know how and why Theodora got the nickname "little devil" from Zaveid, see my Berseria-only M-rated oneshot, "Live, No Matter What".