Chapter 20
Heartache
"Ph-Phoebe?" I asked, my voice coming out as a shaken mess. My mind was just stuttering trying to comprehend what was before me. Phoebe…was here? And protecting me?!
Despite my belief, there she was, standing like an ethereal guardian. In her hands, her spear, now swathed in a golden-fire like light, creating a cloak that extended the weapon by two feet, was held in front of her, posed from where she had struck Obsidian Seraph. The only indication that the golden warrior had heard me as a slight tilt of her head, but other than that, her attention was solely on the blackened angel.
Said burst linker stood too stood stock still. Slowly, he turned his head to look at his shoulder, which now sported a brilliant gold line that seemed to burn with the same fire as Gold Valkyrie's spear. The fire flickered valiantly for several seconds before it sputtered out, leaving a dulled gash on Obsidian Seraph's armor. "Gold Valkyrie," he said in barely restrained calm. "I do hope you have a reason fo—" He didn't even get to finish his sentence before Gold Valkyrie moved.
In blur, the metallic avatar was suddenly in front of Obsidian Seraph, her weapon raised above her head. She brought down her weapon, a beautiful arc of golden fire arcing down to cleave the dark angel in two. Obsidian Seraph was just barely able to lift his own weapon to block the blow, but the force nearly caused his legs to buckle.
The two of them stood there as if frozen in time. Both struggled, trying to overcome the other's strength. Golden flames licked harshly against the deep violet scythe that impeded their progress while dark energy sparked and spiraled as if in response to their wielder's agitation. It looked like the two of them had reached a stalemate, neither of them able to force their way past their opponent's guard. At least, that was until Gold Valkyrie moved once more.
With on graceful movement, the golden burst linker withdrew her weapon, swinging it upwards and back so the point was facing us. In the same movement, she twisted her back with her weapon, stepping back with her front foot and twirling with her back. In less than a second, she was once more facing forward, her parallel with the ground and aimed at Obsidian Seraph's heart.
Obsidian Seraph, still unbalanced from the abrupt departure of the weight that had been pressing down upon him, could only bring his weapon up in a sloppy attempt at defense before Gold Valkyrie stepped forward and thrusted with her spear. Gold Valkyrie attack was deflected by Obsidian Seraph's crude block, but her spear was able to deliver a glancing blow to the dark colored burst linker's side, leaving another trail of gold fire on his body.
With a guttural growl, Obsidian Seraph swung his weapon at Gold Valkyrie's neck, forcing the gold colored burst linker to jump back in order to not be decapitated. "Insolent traitor!" Obsidian Seraph yelled, sounding completely unhinged.
Gold Valkyrie, for her part, remained unfazed. She merely twirled her spear before aiming it at Obsidian Seraph. She…she was determined to fight against Obsidian Seraph, but why? She was part of Advent's Fall. She attacked me under Obsidian Seraph's orders, so why was she fighting him now?!"
"Gold Valkyrie," Ashton called, once more attempting to rise to his feet. "Why are you helping us?" he asked, suspicion coloring his voice.
The spear wielding fighter glanced at Ashton before turning back to her opponent. "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not doing this for you," she said coldly. "I'm simply doing my duty."
"Your…duty?" Ashton questioned, his confusion regarding her motives mirroring my own. "What do you—?"
"It's none of your concern!" Gold Valkyrie yelled as she rocketed towards Obsidian Seraph once more.
This time, however, Obsidian Seraph was ready. He met her halfway, swinging his scythe as she thrusted her spear. The two weapons clashed, a thundering clang reverberating through the room. Unlike last time, their weapons did not stay locked together. Both fighters leapt back for a single moment before rushing together once again. They slashed, stabbed, spun, and twirled with far more speed, elegance, and ferocity than I thought possible. Their weapons hardly looked solid, more like glowing water that struck fervently against the opposing color. On more than one occasion, Obsidian Seraph attempted to take flight, but every time he tried, a gout of gold flames would erupt from Gold Valkyrie's spear, enveloping the air above the angel in a small dome of flame, effectively grounding the scythe-wielder.
I could only lay there, slack-jawed. Gold Valkyrie wasn't even a level 9 burst linker. She wasn't even close to reaching her duel avatar's full potential, yet she going toe to toe with Obsidian Seraph? Not only that, but she never displayed this level of ability when we fought. Was she…Had she been holding back the entire time?
"Dammit!" I jumped (or I would have if I could move) at Ashton's sudden shout. The ivory clad paladin had managed to rise onto one knee, but he couldn't rise any further. He glared heatedly at the pronged mark that was hindering his movement. "Neon Circuit!"
Cecil jolted out of her stupor. Still sitting hunched along the wall, she looked up, her eyes full of a swirl of emotions. Unsympathetic towards her state, Ashton continued. "Release your ability," he demanded.
"B-But," Cecil stuttered, her eye narrowed in confliction. "O-Obsidian S-Seraph s-said—"
"I don't give a damn what he said!" Ashton all but roared, causing Cecil to flinch violently.
"Ashton," I croaked.
Ashton looked at me and I was sure that he was going to shout at me next, but, after a second, his shoulders sighed. "Cecil," he spoke softly, as if trying to comfort a wounded animal. "I'm sure Adam promised you a lot of things if you worked for him. He may even follow through on them, but you have to realize that, whatever it is you were promised, isn't worth it."
He gestured around him, at the destruction that Obsidian Seraph had caused. "This is what he does. This may just be a game, but it has real world implications. If someone like him is able to gain power over the real world, everything would fall into chaos. Nothing would be safe. He has to be stopped. Please, let me stop him."
Cecil curled further in on herself, silent sobs wracking her body. She brought up her hands to clutch painfully at her head with enough force to cause visible scratches in the metal of her helm.
Ashton made a frustrated sound, his patience wearing thin. "He's already hurt those you care about! Barnaby! Cadmus! He attempted to poison them! Are you seriously still helping someone like that! I thought they were your friends! Do they really mean so little?!"
"Ashton!" I shouted in anger. His words…they were uncalled for! Couldn't he see that she was scared?! I was about to say such when the mark on Ashton began to glow.
In moments, the mark faded from view. Ashton visibly sagged. He rolled his shoulders once before rising to his feet, regarding Cecil with an impassive look. "Thank you," he said finally before rushing off to join the battle.
I attempted to rise and join Ashton, but my body didn't respond. Confused, I looked down at my shoulder and saw the mark clear as day. "Cecil. Let me up."
"N-No," Cecil said with a choked sob.
I blinked, taken aback. "What?"
"No!" Cecil shouted. Shakily, she rose to her feet, stumbling her way over to me.
"Cecil. What are you…?" I trailed off as she bent over before me, grabbing my arm and attempting to sling it over her shoulder. "What are you doing?"
"We're getting out of here," Cecil said simply.
"What?!" I exclaimed. I tried to squirm my way out of her grip, but I couldn't.
She managed to wrap my arm around her shoulder and began to carry (drag) towards the exit. Or tried to. It was clear that her duel avatar wasn't made for strength as she grunted and groaned as she supported my dead weight. Her progress was slow and she stumbled quite a bit, but she refused to stop.
"Cecil, put me down!" I exclaimed. "We can't just leave! I have to help them!"
"No!" Cecil replied, mulishly pressing forward. Her foot got caught on a large piece of debris, causing her to trip and fall. Even still, she refused to let go of my arm and struggled to return to her feet.
"Cecil, please!" I was desperate at this point. The sounds of clashing blades and metal tearing through metal and stone did little to muffle the shouts of anger and pain. I couldn't see who was shouting, but every part of me was telling me to go help. All the while, Cecil blatantly ignored everything going on around her, completely focused on trying to lift me up again.
"Please, I have to go and help them!" I tried again.
"No!" Once again, Cecil refused, stubbornly continuing to rise. She gave a cry of pain as her legs buckled, sending her to her knees again.
"Cecil!"
"I won't let you get hurt again, Cadmus!" Cecil shouted, causing me to freeze. In my stupor, Cecil managed to rise to her feet once again. She took a single step before she collapsed with a sharp cry, my frozen form sliding from her grip and onto the ground. "Dammit!" she sobbed, all the fight seeming to leave her at once.
"Cecil," I said cautiously with more than a little worry in my voice. "What…?"
"I started all of this," Cecil interrupted between bouts of uncontrollable sobbing. "This stupid duel avatar and its ability. All of this is happening because of me!"
Slowly, Cecil pulled herself up so that she was resting on her knees, leaving her hanging limply, her hands just brushing over the cracked ground. Her head was bowed, her eye out of focus. "All my life, I've always felt so alone. My father spends most of his time enraptured by his work, I don't have any siblings, all I had was Barnaby for a time. He's cold and abrasive, but he pays attention to me. At first, with how he acted, I thought I was just being a bother, a burden he was forced to endure for the sake of his family, but it wasn't like that. During the times where we had our 'scheduled meetings', he would as how I was. How I felt about things, how my studies were going. Silly little things like that, but genuinely cared. He cared about how I was feeling. That was something I'd never felt before and I loved it. Then I met you."
Cecil raised her head, her duel avatar's singular eye locked onto my face, looking past my duel avatar and staring at me. "When I first saw you, I could see your loneliness. The envious looks you shot at our classmates as they talked. The longing glances you gave groups and families as you walked by, and I knew you were like me and I wanted to help. I wanted to do for you what Barnaby had done for me."
As Cecil spoke, I found motionless. Not just because paralysis, but hear and see her. The girl before pouring out her heart as a war raged on behind us.
"I tried to befriend you," Cecil continued, bringing up a hand as if to wipe away an invisible tear. "And, I think succeeded," she added with a watery chuckle. "You always were good at hiding your true emotions, but I could see genuine smiles here and there and, on rare occasions, moments where you were completely relaxed with us. It felt…amazing. Not just being able to help someone who needed it, but to have another friend. Someone else who cared, but still…"
The tentative joy that seemed to fill Neon Circuit's features at the memory of the three of us vanished, replaced by something dark. "I still feared that…that it wouldn't last. I was afraid that, one day, I would lose it all. That both you and Barnaby would leave me behind and I would fall back into that loneliness I abandoned when I was little. So, when the two of you seemed to vanish all the time, I thought my fear had come true. I was alone again and…it hurt even more this time than it ever had before."
Cecil…
All this time, I had thought that I had been just the third wheel to her and Barnaby. That they would drop me the moment they realized they'd be better off not offering their pity to some no name loser. Yet, all this time, Cecil shared my fear to an even existent.
"It hurt so much, Cadmus," Cecil sobbed, curling into herself. "I just wanted to stop. For something to end the pain I was going through." Her hand creaked at how tightly it was gripping her wrist. "That's why…when I was offered an escape, I took it without a second thought."
"Brain Burst," I mumbled in realization, earning a nod from Cecil.
"It didn't take the pain completely," she confessed, "but it offered me a way to keep occupied. It wasn't perfect, but I came to rely on Brain Burst as a crutch on the days you and Barnaby were off somewhere. I wasn't the best at dueling, but my ability helped a great deal. I never knew that it had an effect on the real world. I guess that's how Adam…Obsidian Seraph tracked me down."
"And he forced you into all this," I said.
"No," she instantly denied. "At least…not really. He said my ability was incredible. Being able to not only freely manipulate the dueling environment, but to effect real world technology, he said that I could be someone who could rule over everything. Someone who could demand anything and everything I could ever want and get without so much as an argument. I just needed proper guidance." She lifted her head again and I could feel the tears that were no doubt staining her real body's face. "But I didn't want everything. I just didn't want to be alone again."
She openly sobbed, a hollow painful sound that tore my very core. "I just you guys back," she cried as if desperately trying to get me to understand. "I didn't want to hurt anyone; I just wanted my friends back. And now…now I've ruined it all. I understand if you hate me, I—"
In that moment, the mark on my shoulder didn't matter. My body no longer felt like it was being crushed and stretched simultaneously, just a rampant yet hollow feeling deep inside myself. I could move and there was only one thing I could think of doing. I lunged at Cecil.
Too many emotions were suffocating my mind. Fear, sadness, guilt, regret, but not anger. Not hatred. Never hatred. So, with those emotions, I embraced my friend. Holding her as tight as I dared, trying to convey all my regret for abandoning her and my forgiveness for what she had done in a single action.
I felt Cecil freeze in my grip before breaking down. She clutched at me like a lifeline, unrestrained cries echoing from her. "H-How can you forgive me?!" she demanded as she cried. "After everything I've done…?"
"You haven't done anything wrong," I denied, fighting to keep my own tears out of my voice. "If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I hadn't even considered how consumed I had been with Brain Burst. I never even thought about how you'd feel about all this. I didn't even realize I had abandoned you. I'm so sorry, Cecil."
Cecil just cried harder and hugged me tighter. I returned the hug tenfold, allowing my head to rest on her shoulder. I had hurt her with my absence. I couldn't do that again. I couldn't leave my friend like that again. Yet even so…
A cacophonous crash resounded through the room, jarring the two of us from our thoughts. Behind us, both Ashton and Gold Valkyrie were on the ground, the latter of the two unmoving while the former struggled to stand. Above them, hovering several feet off the ground, was Obsidian Seraph. To my horror, his wings appeared to have undergone some sort of metamorphosis.
The same vile purple color that coalesced his scythe, now surrounded his wings. Each thing spine now branched out like a tree branch in winter; a conglomerate of stark branches, devoid of life and twisting in all directions. The ends of the spines wiggled writhed like a nest of dark snakes tasting the air. Several of these tendrils lashed out, rushing towards Ashton's struggling form. Thankfully, the ivory colored knight was able to roll out of the way, causing the tendrils to pierce through the ground with ease.
Seeing this, I started to rise to my feet. Cecil gripped me tightly, desperately trying to pull my back down. "No. You can't fight him, Cadmus! You'll get hurt!" she pleaded.
"I know," I said, cutting off her argument. "I know I'm completely outclassed here. That Obsidian Seraph could destroy me without even trying hard, but still…I can't abandon them. I can't abandon Ashton."
Cecil's grip slackened, though she didn't let go completely. Her gaze fell in resignation. She made to let go, but I caught her hands with my own.
"You know, I was always afraid that you and Barnaby would abandon me at some point," I confessed, causing Cecil's head to shoot up. "I was always waiting for the moment the two of you would stop pitying me and I'd be on my own again, but now… Now I don't want to lose anyone. Not you. Not Barnaby. And not Ashton. I don't want to lose any of you and I'll fight to keep all of you safe. Even if I'm horribly outmatched, I'll fight to keep you all from harm using every shred of my power."
As gently as I could, a set Cecil's hands on her lap and rose fully to my feet, struggling ever so slightly under Cecil's mark. I turned to face Obsidian Seraph, the dark angel laughing as he launched his tendrils at Ashton. The ivory colored burst linker had his shield raised, a golden dome springing from it and surrounding his still form, but the tendrils were chipping away at it. Each strike cracked the gold dome and his shield. He wouldn't last much longer.
Each step caused my body to cry in protest. My very form shuddered as it glitched painfully. It did nothing to my health, which was quite low at the moment from everything that had transpired in these short hours. I didn't bother asking Cecil to undo her ability. She'd probably try and convince me to run and I couldn't do that. Soon, I was standing almost directly Obsidian Seraph, the dark colored burst linker not noticing my approach.
After all this time, being battered and bruised, subjected to incredible pain, my special move gauge was full.
My duel avatar's jaw snapped open with a familiar hiss and the energy began to pool within my maw. The ball of energy grew and swelled, the edge beginning to crest past my jaw and into my line of sight as I poured more and more energy into the attack. It was only when the light had begun casting shadows across the room and gained Obsidian Seraph's attention, did I release the attack.
The brilliant beam of blue screamed through the air, completely enveloping the black angel in is unforgiving corona. The beam shot out far passed the ceiling, cutting through the smoked haggard clouds of the Apocalypse Stage. Eventually, my attacked died down, the beam becoming a thin beam before disappearing, revealing Obsidian Seraph, looking no worse for wear. His wings/tentacles unfurling from the protective cocoon they had formed around him. He hadn't been completely spared from my attack, but a good deal of the damage had been blocked.
Obsidian Seraph didn't say anything. He merely turned in my direction, his annoyed glare visible even through his black visor. Not even bothering to waste his words on me, he simply raised his scythe as if he were about to swing. The dark energy that made up the blade flared slightly before he swung, sending a wave of black energy hurtling towards me.
Time seemed to crawl at a snail's pace as I stared up at the blade of energy rushing towards me. Distantly, I could hear both Ashton and Cecil screaming at my name, begging me to move out of the way. I tried to. I really did, but whatever strength that allowed me to stand and walk like I did had vanished, leaving me frozen in place. All I could do was close my eyes and brace myself for the inevitable pain. If I was lucky, the attack would deplete the rest of my health and the pain would shortly follow.
Only, the pain never came.
A second passed, then another, yet still no pain.
Tentatively, I opened my eyes, only for my vision to be filled with gold.
"Ph-Phoebe?" Once more, I was saved. Gold Valkyrie was standing before me, facing me with her arms outstretched.
Slowly, Phoebe lifted her head. "C-Cadmus," she murmured. She gave a pained grunt before falling forward, forcing me to catch her.
Looking down at her, I blanched when I saw the massive gash torn into her back. She…
"You took the attack?" I questioned. "Why?"
"My…duty," she managed to say, though pain choked her voice. "Protect…"
Her words were lost as a single black tendril stabbed through her, narrowly missing me. She gave one final cry of pain before her color dimmed black. Her health depleted.
"Phoebe…no…"
"Foolish girl," Obsidian Seraph scoffed, retracting his tendril.
"Damn you," I growled in anger.
Obsidian Seraph seemed to just notice I was there. "You…you're the reason she betrayed me! Everything…everything's falling apart because of you."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" I snapped, carefully setting my sister's body to the ground.
"You!" Obsidian Seraph snapped, his anger boiling over. "Everything was fine until you. She was loyal. Hard-working. The perfect soldier. Then you got involved. Ashton gave you Brain Burst, and you ruined everything!"
I could practically see the deranged look on his face. He was completely unhinged. Did Phoebe's betrayal really send him over the edge.
"It all would have been so easy. I had the perfect plan, the perfect army, the perfect minions. Ivory Paladin and his pathetic knights couldn't have done anything to stop me! Yet, you, a weak, pathetic newbie, has been able to throw so many wrenches in plans!" His free hand clutched at his head as if he were staving off an intense migraine. "How is it that someone like you has caused so much damage to everything I fought for?!"
Obsidian Seraph was left visibly panting at the end of his rant. "And yet, at the same time, you were instrumental in it all," he said, a twisted smile clear in his voice. "If it hadn't been for you, Cecil never would have been abandoned, giving me access to such a useful ability, nor would such a powerful soldier like Gold Valkyrie have come to be."
This guy, he was bouncing through emotions with such intensity… He couldn't be sane.
"You know, she joined me because of you," Obsidian Seraph said with a careless laugh. "After your parents died, she was desperate. A full-time student, working a full-time job, all while raising her kid brother. All I had to do was waggle a bit of cash in front of her and boom instant loyalty. Then you had to ruin it!"
"You…" Rage like I had never felt bubbled through me. "You bastard… You used them. Cecil and Phoebe both!"
"Oh, like Ashton did to you?" Obsidian Seraph scoffed. "Get real."
"It's completely different!" I shouted. "Ashton never used me like that!"
"Oh?" Obsidian Seraph laughed. "Promising you the chance to change your life for the better so long as you follow him? Sound familiar?"
"He never lied about his goals!" I shouted.
"And neither did I. Phoebe knew exactly what she was getting into. They just didn't care. Money and the promise tor never be alone was all they needed to comply."
"You took advantage of how desperate they were!" I could hardly think. Anger. I was so angry. Phoebe, she always cared. Everything she did, it was always for me, and he…he took used her… And Cecil… Just thinking about it hurt, worse than any pain I'd ever felt.
"You're right, I did," Obsidian Seraph confessed, sounding far too pleased for my liking. "I saw the opportunity and I took. I supposed I shouldn't be so angry," he said pensively. "Minions are a dime a dozen. With how greedy humanity is, well, it'll be easy to gain more followers. Though I doubt I'll find one as capable as Gold Valkyrie." A dark chuckle escaped him. "I supposed I'll just have to make do with Neon Circuit…"
My heart thundered in ears. My blood burned and boiled. I was on fire. My mind was foggy. Cloudy. Dizzy. Red. It was all red!
I couldn't hear. It was all clogged with cotton. I saw Ashton, he appeared saying something. Shouting. At Obsidian Seraph… He was angry too.
Was I angry?
No. I was beyond. I couldn't. I could breathe. I just wanted…I just wanted to tear that bastard apart. My friends. My family. He…He…
I coughed. I couldn't breathe. Air. I needed air. I needed to breathe. I needed…
I needed to make him pay.
It hurt. I wanted it to end. To make the pain go away. I wanted—
"Don't let the hurt rule you."
I opened my eyes (when had I closed them?). Before me was a familiar room. Pastel yellow walls. Hard plastic chairs. A loudly ticking clock with syringes instead of the normal hands. Several posters describing the importance of hygiene and germs. The receptionist desk, separated from the world by several inches of thick glass.
The hospital. The waiting room. Waiting to hear news on my parents. Where I learned…that…they…
A soft hand brushed the hair from face, startling me so bad I nearly fell from my chair. Phoebe stood there. Younger. Her eyes not yet hardened by the stress of raising her younger brother, flickered with fear and pain, yet warmth and reassurance.
"I know it hurts, Cadmus." She spoke, yet her lips never moved. Never breaking the soft, kind smile she offered me. "I know it hurts. The sadness. The anger. The fear. It probably feels like you can't breathe."
Her hand stroked my hair, bumping against the gauze wrapped around my forehead. She sighed and looked away. "You'll face more hardship in the future, we both will. There will be times where you think it's all too much. That it might be better to stand by and let life crush you…but you can't let it."
Her eyes once more found my own. Her smile was gone, replaced by a look of burning intensity. "Mom and Dad…they wouldn't you to be in pain. Not because of them. They would want you to live your life without their…deaths weighing you. Instead, that pain, that hurt you feel…embrace it. Don't let it take you over and drown you. All that pain, the sadness, the fear, the anger, use it. Let it be what fuels you. What allows you to keep going. To keep moving forward. Not just for yourself, but everyone around. For me…and for Mom and Dad."
Her smile returned and she hugged me. It was warm. I couldn't help but melt into it, the cold pit in my stomach fading the longer we embraced. "You're strong, Cadmus. So strong. I know you'll get past this and be better for it. It may not seem like it now, but you'll do great things. I know it."
I could breathe. I gasped, the hazy crimson cloud dissipating from my mind. I was in the UNF. I was battle. Phoebe was on the ground, health gone. Cecil was behind me, curled up and trapped within her own mind. Ashton, he was still trying to stand, but his body was taxed and his health incredibly low. Obsidian Seraph was there. Floating several feet above the ground, damaged, but standing.
I bawled my hands into tight fists. He hurt them. Ashton, Cecil, Phoebe. Obsidian Seraph hurt and manipulated all them and numerous others to get where he was. It infuriated me. I wanted, no, I had to stop him.
My mind was clear. My thoughts free. A warm bead formed in my chest, growing as the moments ticked away.
I was a rookie, a complete newb when compared to the monster before me, and yet I wasn't afraid. I was pissed, and I'll be damned if I let him continue to get his way.
The warmth was almost painful now. Shifting and bubbling; yearning to escape.
I won't be held back by my insecurities anymore. That pain I had felt since I lost my parents… The pain of being bullied constantly… The anger at being pushed down time and time again… It wouldn't break me.
The warmth pulsed in me like a second heart, its warmth continuing to grow.
I couldn't let myself be held back any longer.
The warmth pulsed faster and faster, but I hardly noticed.
I thought Brain Burst, it was a place where I could be free, but it's so much more. It's a place that allowed me to be me. The real me. A place that allowed me to see the strength I had within me.
The warmth spread through my body, still trying to find an escape.
My strength, I would take hold of it and make it my own. I would break the chains that once bound me to weakness and helplessness and…
I would fly.
The warmth burst from me.
An ear shattering roar echoed through the room. It took me a moment before I realized it was coming from me. A nearly blinding light enveloped my form and I could feel my duel avatar shifting. I felt…sleeker, almost streamline, and much more powerful.
The light died down and my roar subsided. Glancing down, I saw that my duel avatar had changed. My armor, which once been bulkier and sharper, was now smooth. A singular suit rather than multiple pieces of armor. Reaching up to touch my head, I found that my horns had changed as well, forming more of a V-shaped crest starting at the tip my snout. It was then I became conscious of the Over Rays creeping at the edge of my vision and the warmth flowing through my limbs.
Looking down, my hands, feet, and the tip of my tail were now surrounded by a brilliant cobalt light, forming three-pointed claws an odd cross-like spike at the end of my tail. This…This could only be…
"Incarnate," I whispered.
I hardly had time react to my new additions and changes when a familiar warmth erupted from my back. I hunched over as something from behind me, adding a surprising amount of weight to me. I stumbled forward, trying to adapt to the sudden shift weight. Looking back, I gasped at what had grown from me.
Wings. Large, draconian wings, the same color as the rest of my body, but with a hardly noticeable blue glow around them. I flexed them, flapping each one experimentally. I yelped when I suddenly lifted off the ground, hovering for a couple seconds before landing again.
I could fly. Holy crap I could fly!
"Impossible!" I nearly jumped as I was suddenly reminded of where I was by Obsidian Seraph's spluttered shout. "Unlocking two Incarnate abilities at the same time is impossible!"
I looked up at him, and I couldn't help it. "Clearly not," I said cheekily. Where once I was terrified of the Burst Linker flying above me, I found myself confident. Determined. And above all…filled with a need to let out some much-needed aggression.
Obsidian Seraph growled, his wing tendrils shifting restlessly. His scythe seeming to pulse with malintent. "You think that just because you Incarnate, and gained your second ability, that you can pose a threat to me?!"
I glanced down at my hands, flexing my new claws. My wings flapped with a single thought, taking me off the ground. The anger I felt, the fear and sadness, it was still there, but it wasn't consuming me. No, it was fueling me.
I grinned. "Yeah. I really do."
