Chapter 23: Whim of the Goddess
Archer and her Master vanished down the dark slope of Namsan Mountain as Alex and Mina reconvened, keeping their heads low in case the masked man decided to send another shot their way. Ozymandias held no concern for a mundane attack such as bullets and stood amongst the blasted ruins of Archer's failed ritual, clearly amused by all that had just transpired. Seeing the enemy successfully make their escape, Alex cursed under his breath, "Damn it all. Mina! We need to go after them!"
Nodding her agreement, Mina brushed the mud off of her front, "Right. How are we going to find them though?" Alex was itching to run down the mountain and begin the pursuit straight away, but he understood Mina's caution. The last time they believed that they had the upper hand, they had jumped off a skyscraper. He shuddered at the memory and brought himself back into the present. Still, each passing second was time wasted. They needed to act quickly and decisively.
"How hard could it really be to keep track of them? That dude is huge, and he's carrying her on his shoulders! Anyone with eyes could spot him a mile away!"
"I'm not arguing with you there," Mina retorted, "But if you haven't forgotten, we have no idea what his magical affinity is. For all we know, he could have teleported away by now!"
Alex bit his lip in frustration. He knew she had a point, but there was no sense standing around just because of possibility!
"There is no need to concern yourself with such things." Two pairs of questioning eyes quickly settled on the pharaoh. "What do you mean by that?" Alex asked, wholly perplexed, "Can you sense her presence?"
A singular nod affirmed the question, "Of course. Despite her condition, she was not lying when she compared her Spirit Core to a star. While she most certainly glistens like the distant gems of heaven, that also means she cannot hide for long. A swift pursuit will lead you to your desired destination."
"You can track her? Great! Let's go!" Alex leapt to his feet excitedly, "We can't let her get away and try something like this again!"
"Agreed. Let's get a move on, we've lingered enough. How will you be monitoring everything, pharaoh?"
Ozymandias flashed a winning smile, "How else? From the place where I belong." With a wave of his staff, the golden chariot pulled by pure white horses appeared beneath his feet. The horses whinnied and shook their heads deferentially towards their master as he stepped aboard and took up the reins. A warm glow enveloped the Masters for a moment as the chariot rose into the sky, "I suggest you put speed into your legs. The hunt has begun anew." With those parting words, Ozymandias rocketed into the sky leaving a trail of light behind him.
Alex resigned himself, "I feel like he could've taken us with him. Guess he's not really in the mood."
Mina grimaced good-naturedly, "True. I certainly wouldn't say no to being carried around after all this running. All the more reason to get this show on the road. Ready?"
"You bet."
Hefting their weapons, the pair took off down the mountainside. Dodging and weaving their way between trees, rocks and all manner of shrubbery, the pair made decent progress despite the slippery conditions. On more than one occasion, Alex simply released control over his legs and allowed the mountainside to carry him towards its base. Mina remained nearby, though she took a more aerial route. Using her abilities, she leapt above his head through the treetops and kept good pace despite the size of the hyeopdo in her hands.
About halfway down she paused briefly to wait for him to catch up, as the ground around him had gotten rather treacherous. From her vantage, she had a decent view of the surrounding landscape and the city just beyond the trees. Alex struggled down a steep embankment and nearly went head-over-heels, if not for a convenient rock to stabilize himself, when he heard her shout from above,
"I see something! Near the base, heading into the suburb!"
There was no need for him to ask for identification. Excitement swelled from within; they hadn't lost the trail yet, there was still a chance. Redoubling his efforts, he pushed from one object to the next as he propelled himself down towards flat ground. Through the thinning canopy, he could just make out a glowing comet streaking through the sky above him. "He's going to guide us! Just keep him in sight!" He reached Mina's tree and once he indicated the pharaoh's position, she caught on without need for further explanation. In the brief moment in which they took to catch their breath, bright streaks of purple light launched from the surface on a direct collision course with the pharaoh's chariot. Before they even reached halfway into the sky the clouds opened as a wide beam of sunlight roared forth to meet the purple beams, obliterating them in their entirety upon contact.
"I wonder where those beams come from," Alex marveled, "if not from him, where?" But now was not the time for pondering, there was work to be done. They continued their descent at full speed with no further issue, accumulating a few scrapes and bruises for their trouble but nothing that really slowed them down. They reached the base at roughly the same time, Mina dropping from one of the last trees a short way back to finish the descent on the ground. There was little in the way of gradience between mountain park and city streets and before they even realized it, they had returned to civilized life.
Streetlights offered fair lighting despite the stormy conditions, which had lessened considerably, at least for the moment. Above them soared the golden comet that moved steadily through the dark skies, their guiding light through the storm. Alex and Mina plunged into the quiet streets, following the point of light above them. The only audible sound was the splashing of their own footsteps and the gentle patter of rain falling to earth.
Anticipation tempered nervousness as the city fully enveloped them, houses and shops lay dark and dormant on all sides acting only as silent watchers to the quiet chaos that passed them by. His own reflection caused a double-take more than once, as each darkened corner provided a space for potential ambushes. When the visages in the corner of his eyes failed to attack, he reminded himself there was no need for concern and pressed onwards.
The pair wove their way down thoroughfares and side streets, fighting off the creeping threat of exhaustion through willpower and adrenaline. From overhead, a bright flare caught his attention. Alex stopped for a moment in order to see if it happened again, but the comet did not alter itself again during the brief interim, nor had it stopped moving. Mina turned around and called back to him,
"Oi! Keep up or I'm gonna leave you behind!"
Not wanting that to happen, he hopped a couple of times and resumed his former pace, though his mind was now partially occupied with what the flare could possibly indicate. As they ran on, the nagging feeling that he was missing something grew stronger and stronger. Their path took them into a sizeable four-way intersection and upon entering, Alex pieced something together: the flare happened over this exact spot. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach as they crossed the halfway point. Something was very, very wrong. Out of habit he widened his gaze to take in more of the surrounding structures, on the off chance he might actually see something.
Perhaps it was just a fluke or a trick of the light, but he saw something misshapen on the side of a mailbox not too far from them. All the pieces slammed into place,
"It was a warning!"
Throwing all caution to the wind, Alex leapt forward and wrapped both arms around Mina's waist. Ignoring her cry of protest, he twisted hard, dragging them both to the ground away from the mailbox.
He had just rolled himself over Mina's confused and startled body when two explosions rocked the intersection on either side of them. In an instant, the air around them was choked with dust and flying shrapnel as concussive waves tore through their bodies. Alex pressed himself flat onto Mina in a desperate bid to protect her from the twisted shards of metal that now sang through the air. The deafening crash of explosives sent his head spinning and ears ringing. Claws raked down his lower back sending a shiver of pain up his spine. A gentle warmth began to spread throughout the area.
Just as soon as it began, the moment passed. The echo receded into the stormy sky and metal and concrete returned to their natural place on the ground, no longer moving. Alex coughed to the side, clearing his lungs of dirt and dust and then propped himself up on his forearms, looking down at Mina as he did so,
"You okay?"
It was tough to focus on her, especially seeing as he couldn't tell if there was one or three of her at any given time. Her eyes were wide and full of fear, though that was now receding to be replaced with realization. She turned her head to the side, averting her gaze in doing so, and gave a shaky nod,
"Y-yeah. I think so. Are you?"
The warmth on his back now turned to burning and he gave a pained smile in return, "Could be better, could be worse. I may have taken a few scrapes on my back though." He could feel his heart pounding his chest, but he chalked that up to recent events. With his nerves on high alert, so too were his senses in preparation for more danger. He could feel blood pounding in his ears, the coarseness of the asphalt between his fingers, the tendrils of pain spreading across his back. He was also dimly aware of how close Mina's face was to his; that despite the smell of dirt, sweat and blood there was a faint sweet scent around them, possibly coming from Mina herself. He wondered if she wore perfume.
"Ummm…Alex? Could you…"
"Oh. Right, sorry." Grunting in pain, he sat upright and pulled away from her. while she sat up and dusted herself off, Alex gingerly probed the wound on his back. Thankfully, it didn't appear to be too deep. As he channeled a basic healing spell, Mina spoke up,
"Thanks for that. I mean it too, no jokes or anything. How'd you know anyways?"
He gave a wry smile, "Oh, you know. Just a sign from above."
She shook her head in disbelief, "You're awfully casual for someone who just got blown up. But doing something like that…does this bastard have no pride as a magus?"
Alex didn't have much of an answer for her. While he would've preferred a careful examination of the blast zone to give them some more information, but he knew that there was no time. Above them, the comet was little more than a glowing pinpoint slowly receding into the darkness. There was no time to stop and lick their wounds, they had to continue.
Standing took some effort and there was no doubt that his wounds would be sore for quite a while, but a patch job would have to suffice. "Well, why don't you ask him when we catch him?"
She gave an affirmative nod and collected their dropped weapons, handing the khopesh back to him hilt first,
"Ready when you are."
Leaving the rubble and their thoughts behind, they resumed the chase.
Alex felt the pressure at making up for lost time. This was, no doubt, the objective behind the explosive trap. Every moment now was precious, they could not afford any more mistakes. Pushing the thoughts of failure out of his mind, Alex instead called to their guide,
"Pharaoh, we got delayed! Slow them down, please! Anything you could do would help our cause greatly!"
The reply was surprisingly swift, "As you wish."
Holes opened in the darkened sky, quickly followed by a rapid fusillade of blazing light that crashed to earth with tremendous force. Columns of flame leapt above the surrounding buildings, carving out a path of destruction wherever they touched ground. Even from a substantial distance, Alex could feel the ground tremble under the immense weight of the pharaoh's wrath.
It was not long before the pair arrived at the first sign of Ozymandias' attempts to 'slow down' their opponents, namely, that of a sizeable crater squarely placed in the center of the street. Broken water pipes sprayed their contents into the air while street signs lay shattered and dispersed as far as the eye could see. There was no need to keep glancing upwards to see if they were still on the right path.
Dodging piles of broken street and vaulting over deep gashes that had been carved in the earth, the pair began to sense they were gaining ground. "Any idea where they might be heading?" Alex tossed out the question as he jumped a particularly nasty hole without a discernable bottom. Mina responded shortly thereafter,
"Dunno. I think there may be an industrial park in this direction though. They could easily lose us in there, orbital bombardment or no!"
"Why haven't they gone underground though? Wasn't there a subway access not that far back?"
Mina had no answer, but judging by the look on her face she was thinking something similar to him. But they were too far in to back out now. As they continued on, Alex noted that larger, deeper craters often blocked off side streets and alleyways. It was obvious that Ozymandias was thinking far ahead of anyone else, slowly corralling the fleeing duo. But to what end, Alex could not attempt to fathom.
Farther along their route they began to run into more recent impacts, they could tell due to the amount of heat and smoke that was still emanating from them. Overhead, the chariot was approaching a zenith position. They were finally getting close.
It wasn't long after that another stream of light slammed home around a nearby corner, followed immediately by a frustrated yelp that could be heard over the cracking of pavement. Alex redoubled his efforts, "There they are!"
Propelling himself around the bend, Alex at last caught a view of Archer and her Master. They had just reeled back from a large impact that hampered their path forwards, looking dirty and perhaps a bit bruised, but still very much alive. They must have heard his footsteps, as they whirled around to face him right when Mina also rounded the corner. Several heartbeats passed where neither side moved. Alex worked to steady his breath under the growing pressure that emanated from the opposite pair. It wasn't the imposing figure that the Master presented, nor was it the fire brimming in Archer's shimmering eyes that unnerved him. It was the plain, simple fact that both appeared to be perfectly calm and composed.
Alex kept a careful watch on the rifle that was hoisted on the man's right shoulder. He had been correct in his earlier assumption; it was indeed a bolt-action model. It looked old though, certainly not something modern, or even in the last decade or two. The design gave off the impression of familiarity, as if he had seen it a hundred times before, yet he could not recall its name.
From behind the iron mask that covered the man's head came the grating, heavy sound of his voice,
"Let us begin."
The tension in the air suddenly broke. The rifle slid from a passive to active stance, falling into the large man's hand with practiced ease. At the same time Archer leapt high into air, her dress billowing like a blooming flower as she pirouetted into the sky and summoned her golden bow. Alex tried to take in this sudden outburst of movement in an effort to predict possible avenues of attack and escape for both parties.
This was a mistake.
Too late did he realize that it was neither the gun nor the Servant that was the danger. From the Master's right hand, which had been up to now obscured, there came a small cylinder that soared through the air between the two parties.
"GRENADE!"
Mina was absolutely correct. The cylinder hung in the air for an eternity of a second and then flared into a brilliant flare of searing white light. "A flashbang!" All the knowledge in the world couldn't prepare him for the deafening shriek that accompanied the blinding light. In a fraction of an instant, Alex was rendered absolutely helpless. The moment his senses died he felt something wrap around his midsection and pull him to one side. Disoriented and blind, Alex stumbled and fell, catching himself on instinct and pavement.
The high-pitched shriek resonated deep in his skull for several seconds while spots of light danced through his field of vision, despite his refusal to open his eyes. Something, no, someone pulled him up from all fours and set him to his feet. Stumbling in ignorance, Alex found a wall and leaned heavily against it. Slowly, his hearing returned first,
"Thanks for that, Mina. How'd you do that?"
"Oh. So that's her name then."
Alex's blood ran cold. That wasn't Mina's voice that was speaking, of that he was perfectly sure. This voice belonged to a woman, but it was all wrong. This voice flowed smoothly into his ears like honey, and yet they chilled him to the bone. Alex shook his head fiercely in a vain attempt to kick his senses back into gear, this met with little success.
Something pressed against him, pushing him up against the wall. It didn't take a genius to figure that the something was actually a body, and a female body at that. Amidst all the sensations that come along with a scenario like this one, Alex felt something else press into his abdomen. Cold dread spread from the point of contact; he could feel the sharpness behind the point as it gently pressed into the thin layer that separated it from his vitals. Only one guess was necessary as to the identity of the mystery object.
The voice once more crept into his ear, "My, my, what a lovely specimen you are. It would be a shame if something happened to you so early on, so we just had to step in."
He could feel her warm breath against the side of his face and he felt a shudder of revulsion course through his body. "If I can just summon my weapon, then maybe I can get her off! Come on eyes, work with me here!"
The mysterious woman must have sensed what he was trying to do, "Now, now dear boy. Don't try to do anything hasty, especially since I did just save your life."
Alex grimaced angrily, but he relaxed slightly. In addition to the possible knife in his stomach, he could feel something wrapped around his right wrist. It felt like some kind of chain was holding that side in place. By this point, the ringing was just about gone and the dancing lights had nearly vanished, but he kept his eyes shut.
Hesitantly, he spoke to the figure, "Are you a Servant?"
An amused chuckle escaped the woman's lips, "A Servant you say? How amusing…and if I was? What would you do then?"
Now it was Alex's turn to smile, "Same thing I always do."
His eyes shot open while his left arm flared with static power and he lashed out towards the woman's throat. But his hand closed over nothing as the woman shifted backwards, seemingly unperturbed by the sudden outburst. In the dim light of evening, Alex finally got a glimpse of his so called 'savior'.
She was certainly a woman, that much was expressly clear. Her figure was most certainly an alluring one, and she was nearly as tall as he was. Her hair was of dark coloration, reaching down to just above the shoulder blades. Most of her body was clothed in some kind of dark robing, much like a professional martial artist. The almond shape of her eyes belied an Oriental heritage, yet Alex hadn't been able to pin down anything specific due to her surprising lack of accent. Her facial features were nondescript, yet no less beautiful for it. Alex almost wanted to make a comparison to stories of Japanese geishas, who could charm whole courts with their beauty and talent.
But this woman was no geisha. In the moment it took him to register everything, the woman had already pulled away, revealing a sharp dagger-like blade in her left hand. The dagger was attached to a multi-sectioned chain, the other end of which was currently wrapped around Alex's right wrist.
A coy smirk flitted across her face as she yanked hard on the chain, pulling him forward in her direction. Fearing a dagger strike as a follow-up, Alex planted his foot to root himself in place. The chain went taut as a result. Not wasting the opportunity, Alex transferred the charge from his left arm to the right to be sent across the chain to its wielder. But she was quick on the uptake. Only a small portion of the charge was able to enter the chain before the woman flicked her wrist and unwound the chain from him, breaking their connection. What little energy made it in was subsequently, and violently, ejected from the chain as it cracked like a whip.
A secondary flick and the chain wrapped around her own arm, coiling like a sleeping snake. Alex bit his lower lip, "This one is dangerous."
The woman put a hand on her hip, "I suggest you get going, your prey is escaping while you dally." Her teasing tone irked him somewhat, but there wasn't much he could say in opposition. His hesitation must have shown,
"Oh, don't you worry about me. I won't be fighting you today, it isn't time for that. The girl is fine as well, we made sure of that."
"We?"
The woman smiled suggestively ad held up the back of her right hand. On it blazed a series of crimson tattoos in the likeness of a flying serpent made of a set of interlocking chains. A cold weight settled in the pit of his stomach,
"You're a Master!"
She winked at him, "Bingo. So be sure to come out of this in one piece, because I can't wait to have some fun with you."
Without another word, she turned and dashed down the alleyway, vaulting her way up the side of a building and vanishing over the rooftops. There was plenty that he wanted to do and say, but he recognized that there was only so much that could be done at once. Making a mental note to seriously go over what had just transpired once they were safe, he left the alley behind and emerged into the street. Across the way he could see Mina doing the same, looking disheveled and disoriented, but alive.
She ran over to him, "What happened? I thought I heard your magic go off."
"New Master."
"Huh?"
Alex flexed his hand and felt the weight of the khopesh drop into his waiting palm, "New Master."
The pair shared a silent agreement that a more detailed explanation would follow when time permitted, but for now they would need to put any thoughts or doubts to the back of their minds. In the brief minute since the flashbang, Archer and her Master had vanished into the darkened streets. Luckily for the pursuers, discerning their avenue of escape was not a complicated endeavor.
Their chase had led them through a small residential area, though that was now behind them. This part of the city contained fewer buildings, though their larger size insinuated that their purpose leaned more towards production of goods. Well, that and the large nearby size that read "PROPERTY OF THE KIA PRODUCTION DIVISION."
They paused near the entrance gate, which had already been thrown open with excessive force. Above them, the Sun chariot hovered over the facility as if to confirm their suspicions. Alex would have expected a contingent of security guards to be present, and the fact that he saw none concerned him. Mina seemed to read his mind,
"This factory was closed not too long ago. Company had some issues up top and they rippled down, so a couple of places like this got shut down. Nobody knows how long that'll last, but for the time being, nobody else is here."
Alex felt a little relieved, "Gotcha. I guess I'll keep the property damage to a minimum this time around."
"How generous of you."
As the pair crossed the boundary line, the rain began again. Neither a downpour nor a drizzle, but somewhere comfortably in between. The interior was unlit and quiet, though they both knew to expect trouble. Stepping through the open door, the pair entered a reception area that had been stripped of all non-essential equipment. Beyond that lay the main assembly floor, with separate wings extending out from the main building, each with their own assigned purposes. Alex was pleased that the workers didn't take down the floor plan when they left.
Cautiously, they pushed open the double doors that led to the assembly floor and gingerly stepped inside. As expected, the interior was unlit and was made all the more foreboding due to the inert machinery that covered a large portion of the floor. Recalling the layout from the earlier sign, Alex knew that there was a second-floor walkway that ran around three sides of the room, leading to an overseer's office at the far side. If there was to be an ambush, which he fully expected, then that was the most likely place for it to come from.
The pair split on a wave of Alex's hand and each crouched behind the great conveyor belts that used to carry the skeletons of vehicles. It was difficult to see very far through the tangled jungle of machinery that comprised the vast interior of the factory's main floor. As badly as he wanted to look, Alex resisted the temptation, for that was how one died to a trained sniper like their opponent. Instead he strained his ears to be his primary warning system, hoping to hear something over the pattering of rain.
"Fufufu…how cute you two are. Running about like rabbits after a tasty carrot."
Alex tensed, "That voice. It's her! But where…where is it coming from?" The sultry, sweet voice of Archer echoed throughout the darkened space. Her teasing attitude irritated Alex, perhaps more than it should, but by this point he had had quite enough of her antics.
"You sure are cocky, Archer!" It felt good to shoot back, "Especially seeing as we weren't the one's running away with our tails tucked between our legs!"
There was a brief pause as the darkness registered his words. While he smiled in self-satisfaction, he heard a small slap from his right. Peering through the gloom, it appeared that Mina had face-palmed. She whispered almost imperceptibly through her palm,
"Fucking idiot…"
At nearly the same moment the space around them erupted with high-pitched laughter that was filled not only with mirth, but with arrogance as well. The laughter ceased and a coldness seeped into Archer's voice,
"Oh, my dear, sweet, naïve little boy. Did you really think we were running from you, of all things? All of this was according to my design. You performed exactly as I wished, but now your presence grows tiresome. I will enjoy your final performance on this stage called life."
From somewhere deep in the recesses of the building, there came a low rumbling and the room began to hum with power. Above and around them, the lights blazed to life and illuminated all that surrounded them. The conveyor belts that they were using for cover creaked to life while the robotic workers that were not removed likewise began to vibrate with newfound purpose. Archer's voice filtered through the noise once more,
"Kill the boy. Bring the girl to me, I could still use her. Have fun, Master!"
"Understood."
"Above!"
The sound of an action sliding into position galvanized him into action. pushing away from the edge of the moving belt, Alex rolled to the side as a hail of bullets shattered against the concrete floor where he had been just moments before.
"Mina!"
"I'm fine! Just move!"
His head whipped around towards her voice, yet she was out of his view. The constant, rhythmic movements of the factory's mechanisms had forced her to leave her place of hiding. All around him, the sounds of clanking metal and whirring gears deafened his senses to the important signs that he relied upon. Signs such as the sound of footsteps, the clicking of gun mechanisms, the smell of gunpowder, all muffled and dulled. Alex grit his teeth angrily, only now did he realize the purpose of everything that had occurred up until now.
It was he who was the prey after all. Trapped in a moving maze of metal and machinery and separated from his companion, they would be hunted mercilessly through this modern marvel until at last he would be caught and killed, while Mina would be thrown to Archer as a plaything.
Alex seethed, "Like hell I'd let any of that happen. You want a show? Fine! Let's play."
He took off running, the direction did not matter. What he needed to be was unpredictable, to leave things to chance and fight as he went. Only then, when the time was right, could he hope to turn the tables.
"Archer sounds like she won't be taking part, so that's one thing I don't need to worry about. If one of us can lock down that masked bastard, then we could double team him and take him down. Not much of a plan, but it's all I got!"
He shouted for Mina again, and the reply sounded further away. They couldn't afford to be too separated, so he changed direction. Weaving his way through a web of heavy chains that once perhaps held up large chassis, Alex caught the sounds of heavy, rhythmic thuds nearby.
Pushing past the chains, Alex turned and vaulted over a low barrier that would exit out into an aisle between belts. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and he rotated mid-vault to see if he had run across Mina.
It wasn't. He instead came face-to-face with a short-barreled firearm with a circular drum in place of a standard magazine. The weapon was clearly worn from constant use, but still gleamed in the artificial light. Alex could have sworn he had seen something like it before.
"Oh shit!"
The firearm roared to life, spewing hot lead in his general direction. Using the momentum from the vault, Alex desperately scrambled for cover on the other side of the aisle. Almost as an afterthought, he sent a searing bolt of energy at his foe hoping to throw off his aim. It worked to some small extent, seeing as none of the shots found purchase on his body, though some whizzed by dangerously close. Alex pressed himself behind one of the large mechanical arms that would have assisted in transferring the heavy parts of a vehicle and gripped the khopesh tightly in his grip. He had no idea where he was in relation to where they started, or even what was around the next corner. But at least now he could try his plan.
"I hope Mina heard that, now I just need to keep him here until - huh?"
His thoughts were interrupted by the sensation of something cold sliding over his right ankle. Transitioning his sight to this unwelcome feeling, cold horror gripped his body as he watched one of the heavy chains coil up his leg like a python constricting its prey.
"What…what the hell is this!?" Panic set in has he attempted to rip away the chain as it progressed to his thigh and began its journey around his waist, to no avail. He felt the cold chain tighten and become as immovable as a mountainside. In his despair, he looked over his shoulder to see the masked Master holding out an extended hand, a grayish hue encapsulating the entirety of his arm. At long last Alex finally had his answer,
"It can't be! He's an allomancer!"
The chains sunk into him until they bit through his clothes and into flesh, causing tiny rivulets of blood to warm the outside of his thighs. A secondary chain whipped out from the shadows and lashed itself to his weapon hand, pulling it taught with such force that it nearly dislocated his shoulder.
"Damnit! Get this fucking thing off me!"
No matter how hard he strained, the chains refused to yield a single inch. They were industrial strength after all. A large shadow loomed over his bent form and he raised his head to meet the coal-like eyes of the allomancer Master. Now that he was seeing this man up close, Alex realized that there was more to this mask than he first thought.
His clothes had a slight sheen to them, like a suit of armor. Despite the baggy hood over his head, Alex could not tell where the mask ended and the head began. The two seemed to rather flow seamlessly into the other, and the red glow in the eye sockets came from crafted lenses. Alex had no idea what color this man's eyes were. Not that it really mattered at this point, as the submachinegun's worn barrel swung up and rested naught but an inch from his left temple. All that was left was a twitch of the index finger, and then oblivion.
Yet for some reason, Alex wasn't as scared as he thought he should be. By now, staring death in the face wasn't as new as it once was. Instead, a wry grin spread over his face,
"This was your plan the whole time, wasn't it? I suppose I should be impressed; I didn't suspect a thing."
The remark came casually, as though he were speaking to a friend who had just beaten him at a game. Even more surprisingly so, the man answered,
"Of course." The words came through slightly distorted, as if through a filter. In the background of them, Alex heard a quiet hissing noise, which he realized matched a standard breathing pattern.
"Man, I'm getting some real Vader vibes from this guy. Just who…or what is he?"
The metallic voice rasped, "Your efforts were admirable. I am sure you would have made a decent warrior, one day."
"One day? I feel like I've done pretty well so far."
"You lack the conviction."
Ice settled in his heart upon hearing the criticism, for those were words he did not wish to hear. The statement left a question to be asked, and despite knowing the answer he asked it anyways,
"Conviction…to what?"
"To kill."
There was simply no wind left in his sails after hearing that. Any desire to resist was swept away, if only for a moment. But one only needs a moment to die.
"Think upon that in the next life. Farewell."
As the words reached his ears, the desire to live returned. He wanted nothing more than to shatter the chains that bound him and fight on. If nothing more than to prove that he could survive and thrive without such convictions. That he could be driven by more than brutality and violence. Unfortunately, death is not one to be persuaded by emotion.
A breeze passed over his cheek, gentle and calming. Alex smiled broadly,
"We'll see about that. Seems like you forgot something along the way."
The glowing eyes flared a brighter red, "Of course not."
His large body turned with blistering speed and the firearm snapped upwards towards Mina's descending body, her hyeopdo set forward to impale the foe. As his attention turned away from Alex's chained form, Alex tilted his head back and shouted to the heavens,
"NOW, PHARAOH!"
"Well. It's about time."
The roof of the factory building was suddenly and violently rent asunder as a slim column of burning light crashed to earth with a surprising amount of precision, detonating with a low roar just off to the side of the trio. But instead of the typical fireball that Alex had become accustomed to seeing from Ozymandias' attacks, a heavy concussive wave slammed into the three combatants in place of a wall of fire. Both Mina and Archer's Master were pushed apart by the force of the blast, and while the impact was farther away from him, Alex felt the chains go slack for a moment. He took advantage and threw them off, freeing himself from their clutches.
Alex was fully aware that the blow was non-lethal, it was intended to throw a wrench into the situation and give him the opportunity he needed to free himself. He was just glad that the pharaoh seemed to be on the same wavelength as him. Sure enough, a large shape shifted within the cloud of debris and a pair of red dots gleamed with malicious intent. The debris fell away quickly, revealing the unnamed Master caught between Alex and Mina, who looked a little singed but none the worse for wear. Alex shouted a warning,
"Mina! Be careful! This guy's an allomancer!"
"You gotta be kidding me!"
"Nope!"
Allomancy, or the manipulation of metal through the use of magecraft, was a rather rare expression of the magical arts as far as Alex was aware. At most, the craft received a cursory overview for most instructional purposes and not much else. While technically a subsect of earth magecraft, the overwhelming opinion of earth practitioners was one of revulsion and disgust when metal was brought into the conversation. There wasn't even any agreement over whether allomancy was modern or ancient in origin. Nobody really cared, seeing as so few learned mages actually possessed the affinity.
Alex and Mina shared a distasteful glance and seemed to arrive at the same conclusion. They had no real information to pull from, so guessing was going to get them nowhere. Both of them settled into ready stances, carefully eyeing the firearm that was still cradled in the Master's arm. The armored man glanced upwards at the hole that now let in a small trickle of rain, then tossed the weapon aside with what sounded like a resigned sigh. Both his hands went to scabbards on his legs, drawing forth twin combat knives with gleaming edges.
"Children," the voice rumbled, "have no place on the battlefield. Now, you will learn why."
He held the knives with the kind of ease that only comes from experience, a practiced stance that affords little in the way of errors. Alex didn't need clairvoyance to know that the man in front of him had simply been toying with them until now. This man was a killer, and would show neither of them any mire mercy than he already had. The thought suddenly occurred to him that one of them wouldn't walk away from this fight, that a death would be the only way of resolving this conflict.
"Don't think like that, me. There's always more to it than that! Just survive, you'll figure something out. You always do!"
Then, they all moved as one. Mina sprang forward on a current of air, lashing out to probe the allomancer's defenses with Alex moving but a step after. The gray hue curled up the darkened arms of the allomancer as three heavy chains whipped forward to once more bind Alex as he advanced. Having expected this, Alex spun under the first as it crashed into a nearby pillar and knocked the second away with the flat of the khopesh. The third snaked in a wide arc, cutting off an easy escape route, but Alex had no intention of escaping.
Taking up his blade in both hands, Alex swung laterally and severed the heavy links with a singular blow, sending the pieces scattering across the ground. By the time he had avoided capture, the sound of clashing weapons reached his ears. Swinging around he saw Mina reeling from a ferocious assault, dodging and parrying as she gave ground. Alex dashed forward to assault his back, hoping to gain an opening while he was preoccupied.
But his opponent was obviously paying attention. Without even turning around, the gray glow once more enveloped the knife-bearing arms and then leapt to a pair of heavy lifting arms, where upon being consumed by the glow the arms whirled to life. Moving with a dexterity that should be impossible, the arms swung out at Alex, their large clamps hung open like a gaping maw as they closed in.
The move was so sudden that Alex was totally thrown for what to do, and it was only by instinct that he was able to throw up the khopesh to receive the first blow. The force of the impact was immense, and no doubt would have shattered any normal weapon. Thankfully for Alex, the khopesh was no ordinary blade and thus did not break. That did not stop the continuation of the blow from knocking him off his feet and sending him flying several yards. He was able to control his fall towards the end, which is when it matters most, and land in a vaguely upright position.
As he shook a few stars from his vision and regained his footing, frustration began to take hold of him. Not only had they walked straight into an allomancer's playground, but they had no idea what to do about it. Part of him wanted to bolt and have Ozymandias level the place, but he was also aware of the fact that doing so may not work. He wasn't even sure what more the pharaoh could even do right now, and that inability to think irritated him.
"Whatever. I'll just handle this my way."
He charged forward once more, now aware of the new robotic obstacles standing in his way. A heavy blast of air came his way as Mina continued to fight off her attacker; but what would normally send someone flying had next to no tangible effect. The moment the incantation left her lips, the Master simply planted himself and stood his ground. He barely budged a single inch.
The robotic arms swung at him as he approached, one high and one low. "Perfect." A confident smile played across his lips as he leapt forward and dove through the space between the heavy claws. Tucking himself in from the dive, he rolled forward and jumped to his feet as he entered the space of the left arm, out of range of the second one. The arm rose up and then slammed down in a crushing motion, but now Alex was aware of their speed. The arm crashed into empty air as he rotated around the claw and pressed his hand against the segment that housed the arms' power supply. A high-voltage burst sent a surge of electricity through the mechanism, causing it to shudder to a halt as the gray aura dissipated.
Wasting no time, Alex turned to the second arm and dashed back into its zone of control. The arm reacted as he expected, lurching forward as far as its extensions would allow in an attempt to seize him. As it snapped out at him, Alex jumped vertically and felt the claws snap shut below him. Landing on the arm itself, he ran along its length towards the power supply until the arm suddenly jerked upwards. Deciding to use the extra momentum he had been granted, Alex once more leapt high above the arm. Twisting himself at the apex of his path, Alex brought down the khopesh with an angry shout and cut the arm clean in two.
He landed hard but thought little of it. Leaving the smoking pieces of the arm behind, he once more set off at a run towards where Mina was fighting. There was a distance to cover, as a static fight would have been a losing one for Mina. To Alex, it appeared to be the age-old contest between strength and speed. Even discounting her magecraft, Mina was a slippery opponent and was one who never let an opportunity to trip up her opponent pass. Problem was, her opponent was built to counter people like her. They had been running and fighting all night, and she was bound to tire soon. "Once that happens…"
Alex shook out the negative thoughts and tried to think of a path to victory, but he lacked sufficient information. "If I can take the brunt away from her, it may give her the chance to see something I haven't. Hang in there, Mina!"
It wasn't difficult to find them. As he ran, he could tell that more pieces of machinery were coated in gray, yet the merely swung towards him in haphazard fashions that were easy to avoid. "Seems there's only so much he can do when he isn't nearby. Good, that's something at least."
Swinging over a conveyor belt, Alex burst into view of the dueling fighters as they tore their way down an open walkway. He hit the ground running and assessed the state of things; Mina was losing ground but was doing so purposefully, of that he was sure. She was making good use of her reach advantage, constantly shifting about to ensure that her opponent could not get in close. But it was obvious that her opponent was well aware of her advantage. No matter how many times Mina attempted to exploit an opening, it closed and was rebuffed with little effort. It was turning into a battle of attrition, and that was a fight Mina could not hope to win.
"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!"
At last, he closed the gap to where he could bring his weapon to bear. Mina was too close for a long-range attack, but he had plenty to deliver up close and personal. As the burning eyes snapped to him Alex charged up his open palm with a crackling ball of angry lightning, prepared to deliver a two-pronged assault. Opposite him, Mina took a deep breath and switched into an offensive stance. Nearly simultaneously, they made their strikes so that this long night may finally end.
Something tugged at Alex's neck, shifting his center of balance ever so slightly and altering his aiming point. That tiny adjustment threw everything out of place, as his path now carried him next to rather than directly at his intended target. As the large body pivoted with a dexterity Alex had to see to believe, a large crescent blade coated in a subtle gray aura entered his field of vision. Behind it was Mina with a look of confusion that had just begun its transformation into terrified realization.
Without thinking, Alex shifted his weight to regain his balance and flicked the khopesh to the side, catching Mina's hyeopdo on the hooked end and knocking it away from his chest. Sensing movement from his blind spot, Alex hastily turned and brought up the khopesh in a warding maneuver and was rewarded with a heavy blow that buckled his knees. The second knife swung up and under his arm, aiming for the arteries in his armpit. That too he managed to avoid, if only barely, by pushing away from the contest of strength and gaining a few feet of space.
Now he settled himself, interposing between Mina and their opponent with his blade at the ready. He risked a glance backwards at her and she met his eye with a tired thumbs-up as a few drops of blood wet the ground beneath her.
He was incensed. She placed a hand on his back and leaned in close,
"He's good. Don't underestimate him." He didn't need to be told twice, "How's Saber?"
Her eyes gave away the answer, "Down. I just gave the order to retreat."
"Then we'd better wrap this up."
"Couldn't agree more."
The armored Master bared his knives once more, "War is no place for children. Surrender now."
Alex looked once more to Mina and reached a silent consensus, "Not going to happen."
The red eyes flashed with a new intensity, "Then die."
Within moments, the man crossed the open ground and bowled directly into Alex. Taken aback by the suddenness of the attack, Alex failed to guard himself efficiently and felt the full impact of the larger man's lowered shoulder. He felt himself lifted from the ground as the allomancer twisted his upper body with tremendous force. His flight was stopped short by a nearby metal pillar, which he impacted at high velocity.
His vision swam before him, clearing just enough to see Mina end up on the receiving end of a heavy kick to the chest. She too went airborne, crashing directly into Alex as he was trying to stagger to his feet. They both dropped to the ground, panting heavily from pain and exhaustion. The allomancer advanced with heavy footfalls, obviously in no serious rush.
Mina sucked air through clenched teeth, "Fucking hell, I think he broke a rib…or three."
His eyes were threatening to glaze over as he tried to focus, there was no doubt that he was concussed. Claws of desperation touched his throat, "There has to be something! This guy doesn't show any signs of slowing down, nothing is working. Damnit! Is he even human?"
"Tell me," the voice of the pharaoh suddenly resonated within his head, "how does one blind a serpent?"
Alex proffered a distracted answer, "I dunno, stab its eyes?" Mina gave a quizzical look at the sudden outburst as she heaved herself to her feet, grunting in pain as she did so. The pharaoh sounded amused,
"Not quite. You must realize that serpents have more than one way of seeing the world around them."
Alex helped Mina to her feet, his mind racing to find a way out. They had precious few seconds before they would need to fight again. He couldn't help getting a little snappy towards Ozymandias, "Look, I'm sure that's all well and good, but we're in a bind here! If you've got an idea, just say it!"
He could perfectly envision Ozymandias' disappointed face, "Ah. Such impertinence. But that is to be expected from one such as you."
Alex bit back a nasty retort as the pharaoh continued, "I will say only this: that Apophis was not beaten in the underworld, nor could mighty Ra bind him alone. Only at the sacred mountain of dusk could victory be achieved."
Alex relayed the words to Mina, hoping she could make some sense of what Ozymandias was saying. A brief moment of thoughtfulness came over her, "Apophis, the ancient Egyptian version of the Devil. Bringer of Chaos and chief deity of the Underworld, a nasty fucker to say the least. Pretty sure most myths say he was beaten by Ra and a slew of other deities. Except he couldn't die, so he was permanently bound to the deepest parts of the Underworld. Some say he's the deity that devours souls of evil people after judgement."
He gave her an awed look, "How do you know so much?"
A faint tinge of pink colored her cheeks, "I have lots of hobbies, okay? But what does he mean by that? There's no way we're fighting Apophis right now."
An idea entered Alex's mind, it was barely an idea, but something was better than nothing. "Ozymandias mentioned something about a mountain of dusk, which gives the impression that neither light nor dark is preeminent there. In order to defeat Apophis, it seems like Ra needed to give up advantages of his own to lure him out. There…Apophis could be rendered blind! That's it!"
He gazed upwards at the hole in the roof that let in small rivulets of rainwater, "I think I know how to remove their advantages, but we need to move now. Can you do it?"
Mina grimaced, "I can tough it out for a few more miles. What's the plan?"
"Do you remember where the main stairwell is? Get to it and wait by the door."
She opened her mouth to protest leaving him, but abruptly stopped as she began to glean his plan, "That's real dangerous, you know that."
"Of course, but it's all I got. Now get going!"
The decision came not a moment to soon, for their few seconds were up. The allomancer, having noticed their low discussion, began to charge. Alex pushed Mina away and yelled at her to run as he ducked away from a series of rapid slashes, each aimed perfectly at his vital areas. This time, Alex held his ground and moved to counterattack.
His blade was longer than the knives the allomancer carried, yet he was only barely able to keep up with the larger man's speed. Sparks flew each time the blades made contact as the two men vied for dominance amongst the ever-churning gears of the factory floor. It was plainly obvious to Alex that if he kept this up for long, he would lose. Slowly, carefully, he began to draw backwards to create an opening for him to turn and run.
But one does not turn their back on an experienced opponent, lest they desire a quick end. Alex began to understand his opponent's fighting style; simple, efficient and ultimately, brutal. There were no fancy attempts at parrying or feinting, no desire to mislead or distract. Every time he swung his blades, they carried the weight of death along with them. One strike would be all it would take.
Alex had no intention of providing him that opportunity. Amidst the whirling dervish of blades, he sought the moment to break away. Taking too long could give Archer time to act, which would most certainly prove disastrous. Yet each time he tried to make a decisive mood, that same pull would upset his balance, and resulted in a few nasty cuts along his arms. He quickly realized that the sensation was coming from the pendants around his neck, which he knew were metallic in origin. The obvious recourse to this would be to remove them. He dismissed the notion. Fed up with the lack of cooperation by his opponent, he decided to make an opportunity rather than wait for one.
Deflecting a series of vicious cuts, Alex riposted and went on the attack, briefly stymieing the allomancer's advance. In that moment of pause, he turned his eyes once more to the sky, "Pharaoh! Bring the rain!"
"I am the incarnation of Ra, not Tefnut. Blessed though be her name and –"
"JUST BLAST HIM!"
A chuckle rumbled through his skull, "Why didn't you just say so?"
From the sky there came a fusillade of destructive light that strafed its way through the factory. Anything the light touched disintegrated in a shower of flame and debris as it carved out a path of destruction. Alex used this moment to break away from his opponent without fear of reprisal, leaping out of the way of the oncoming stream of flame as he did so. He rolled to a stop as the attack subsided, leaving behind nothing but a trail of flaming debris and a curtain of smoke. The allomancer had vanished under a curtain of fire, and was at present, nowhere to be seen.
The thin shred of hope that the battle was over evaporated as an armored fist emerged from the smoke and closed around his neck. Red eyes burned in the unscrupulous, masked face of the allomancer as he stepped through the debris without a single mark on his body.
"H-how? How is that possible?" Panic well and truly gripped him as the hand tightened around his windpipe. He felt himself being lifted from the ground; his feet instinctively kicking in a desperate attempt to touch ground. The hold he had on the khopesh failed and it slipped to the floor, leaving him weaponless. As black spots began to appear at the edges of his vision, a sweet voice wafted through the air,
"How valiant, truly worthy of a hero's tale. But, dear rabbit, do you not know how many heroes never succeed? How many fail and flounder, only to die never having achieved their goal? Such pitiful fates, it nearly breaks my heart."
"As if…" Alex choked out, "someone like you…had…a heart!"
"How very rude of you to say that!" Archer did sound slightly indignant at the insult, "But, I shall overlook that transgression as simply the impudence of a dying man. And since you are going to die, I shall impart upon you some wisdom: my Master survives because I will it to be so. As long as my sight remains unclouded, I have decided that no harm shall ever befall him."
As the darkness closed in, Alex experienced a moment of clarity, "Ah. So that's it then. Is that her Noble Phantasm? Doesn't seem like it…damn…I really messed up. Still, is that what Ozymandias meant by blinding the serpent? Huh. Guess my plan was actually half-right. Small comforts I guess…"
"Is this truly all you have to offer?"
The words range clearly, cutting through the certainty of oncoming death to pose their question, their ultimatum. It was a silly question, really, seeing as there was only one answer that he could ever give.
"Of course not."
Black and red swirled in his eyes as the asphyxiation process neared its completion, but he still had options. Calling upon what little strength he had left, Alex laid his hands upon the wrist that was wrapped around his neck. For any normal human, this would have been no more than a gesture of futile resistance.
Luckily for him, he was anything but ordinary. With the last gasp of air he could muster, he mouthed the words that caused his crest to flare as he sent a charge of unknown volts into the man's arm.
A strange sound emanated from behind the mask, an odd combination of filtered surprise and pain filled the air. The hand around his neck suddenly opened, sending him sprawling and gasping for air. Alex curled into the fetal position as he hungrily gulped oxygen, he nearly vomited during the process.
"Strange," came a dim thought, "muscles are supposed to contract during moments of electric shock."
As he brought himself to all fours, a strange sight greeted him. The allomancer had frozen in place as remnant sparks radiated from various spots on his body. Yet something didn't add up, he wasn't reacting the way Alex expected a typical body to act when under shock.
"Master!" Archer's worried voice suddenly echoed throughout the factory, "Get it together, quickly!"
He took that as his signal to move. Crawling to his weapon, he scooped up the khopesh and broke into an uneven run. Chancing a look backwards he saw the coal-like eyes dim momentarily, and then brighten into small spotlights that trained themselves on his retreating form.
Breathing raggedly, Alex sprinted towards the stairwell where Mina was hopefully waiting. He called out to the pharaoh once more to hamper any pursuit and soon enough, the space behind him was filled with the sounds of explosions and rending metal. At the final turn his left leg went out from under him, sending him sliding into the nearby wall. Cursing his injuries, Alex was halfway up when a pair of arms seized him and hauled him to his feet. Mina's eyes were filled with worry,
"That took too long. What happen – oh hell – Alex, your neck…"
He waved her off, "Later. He's coming. Anything in the stairwell?"
She shook her head, "Not that I could see. No idea where Archer is though."
He smirked mischievously, "We have some time before she shows up. I know where she is, probably."
Mina followed his finger that was pointed at a faraway security camera, "Oh…OH! You think she's at Central Security!?"
"Yup. And that's on the other side of the factory complex."
Mina seemed genuinely impressed, "I hope you're right. Still, she could be on us quicker than we'd like. What's the plan now?"
"Simple." Alex pointed straight upwards, "We ascend the mountain of dusk."
A weary smile appeared on her face, "Alrighty then. Let's go!"
On they ran, taking two and three steps at a time as they raced towards a roof access. Both secretly rejoiced that the factory complex only had four floors to climb and with little effort, they burst forth into the drizzle of night. They had only taken a few breaths of fresh air when the stairwell door slammed open, the force tearing it from its hinges as it screeched to a halt near the edge. Alex and Mina had pulled back towards the center of the roof, where another part of the complex rose above them to their right. To their left, a quick drop to terra firma. Emerging into the open doorway was none other than the masked allomancer, with a small woman dressed in pure white only now materializing into existence on his shoulder. She looked rather displeased.
Alex glanced skywards and saw that the pharaoh's chariot hung lower in the sky. If one looked long enough, they would make out the sight of gleaming white horses quite clearly. Archer slid from her perch, rainwater gently caressing her features as she glared at him. Her crystalline eyes gleamed maliciously as she pursed her lips,
"End this."
The allomancer, who had seemingly either lost or discarded one of his knives, produced a sidearm from within his jacket and brought it to bear. At a nod, Alex and Mina advanced with all haste, splitting from each other in an arc. The wind blew at his back as Alex charged across the open space, shots ringing out in his direction. He dared not perform harsh movements, seeing as he was rather close to the edge and a misstep off a slippery roof was not his preferred way to die. More bullets clanged off the rooftop, but not near him.
"He's splitting his fire, maybe he only has one gun left?" Nevertheless, he now curved inwards as the pincer closed on the allomancer. The red eyes trained on him along with the muzzle of the handgun, it was clear who the primary target was. Alex couldn't help but smile, "Perfect."
A shout was heard from the other side, "Hey! Metal man! Don't forget about me!" Mina shot forward on a blast of air, lashing out with her polearm as she closed in. Archer shouted out,
"Master! Your left!"
His attention successfully diverted; Alex made a slight adjustment to his course as he likewise closed in on the Master, who was now forced to contend with the two at once. Alex felt the familiar tug at his neck that threatened to push him off balance, which was exactly what he wanted. \
Alex moved with the pull, dropping into a roll as the handgun fired just over his head. Not a moment later did the clash of steel ring out as Mina's blade was parried away, but Alex did not stop to help. As a matter of fact, the Master wasn't his target at all.
Springing forward with the momentum he had built Alex leapt the few feet between him and Archer as he successfully ducked away from the Master. The eyes of pure crystal snapped to him as he approached. They went wide with surprise and realization, then flashed bright with anger and indignation. Yet just below the surface, Alex could barely see a touch of fear enter those bottomless eyes.
"Master!"
His blade had already begun its downwards journey towards her chest, and yet, the blade grew heavy in his hands. But he did not waver and completed his strike, only to find that the target had changed. Where before there was Archer, now her Master had suddenly interposed himself between the khopesh and Archer. The khopesh bit deep into the man's shoulder, sending dark liquid spattering across the rooftop. But something wasn't quite right,
"That…doesn't look like blood."
That kind of injury would greatly hamper any fighter, but the allomancer reared back and delivered a heavy punch to Alex's upper chest. Something cracked inside him under the weight of the blow and he staggered backwards, his breath coming in concerning rattles. Tears of pain leaked from the corner of his eyes as he struggled to remain upright. The allomancer showed no external reactions to the injury. A triumphant smile came over Archer,
"Foolish boy. You should have figured out by now that no man can truly resist me. You cannot kill me, no matter how hard you try. If you beg a bit, maybe I'll make your death a quick one."
Alex spat blood, "Well. Guess it's a good thing that Mina isn't a man."
Mina raced to his side, "You should've seen it. One second, he was there and the next he was in front of you! It must be a form of short-range teleportation. Just what kind of weird bond do they have? It's like the roles have been reversed or something."
Alex only half-heard as he ran a finger over the khopesh, which had collected some of the dark fluid in its blood channel. He frowned, "This consistency is all wrong. It isn't blood. Some kind of lubricant maybe? Did I hit some kind of prosthetic?"
Mina shrugged, "Dunno. Maybe go for somewhere else?"
"Fine with me. Guess we really do need to take him down first. If he does, then she disappears, right?"
She gave an affirmative nod, "That's how this works. How much do you have left in the tank?" Alex touched the scarab gem and felt the cooling rush of mana as it flowed into him, some redirected to halt the damage done to his sternum.
Offering a reassuring smile, he stood, "I can go another round or two."
She began to take a step forward, "Right. So, first we should – hey. Why can't I move?"
Alex was unsure of what she was talking about, until he attempted to take a step of his own and found that he could not. Looking down, he saw that both his and Mina's feet were firmly encased in metal sheeting.
A sinking feeling formed in his chest, "Ah. The roof is made of metal."
A critical, and quite possibly fatal oversight on his part. Trying to twist themselves free only served to worsen the pain on their feet and ankles. Turning their eyes to the allomancer, they watched as his entire body pulsed with gray energy and the air itself began to quiver at its touch. All around him, sections of the roof began to break off with ear-splitting screeches and moved to hover around his person. Soon, dozens of pieces of jagged metal were all leveled directly at the trapped Masters.
Mina hissed angrily, "I can't deflect all of those. Even if Ozymandias destroys them, there's no guarantee we'd survive that either. Shit! This is bad, really bad!"
Alex could feel it in the air, that this was the moment where everything would be decided. Under the watchful eyes of the Sun King, Alex felt a deep sense of revulsion at the idea of dying now. There was still one thing he could try.
"Mina," he spoke quietly, "I need your help for this."
"Huh? Don't tell me you've got something else up your sleeve?"
"Well, maybe. But I need a bit of a boost."
From her position just behind him, she was the only one who could see that he had slowly begun to work his way out of his shoes and was now standing on tiptoe, though the movement had cut gashes into his ankles.
"You're…you're not serious, are you?" Mina sounded genuinely horrified at what he was implying.
"I am."
"You're crazy."
"Probably. Will you trust me on this?" She sighed quietly and raised her hyeopdo in what appeared to be a defensive posture, "For the record, I don't like this."
"Noted." Alex quickly relayed his plan to Ozymandias, who laughed aloud for all to hear,
"Hahahaha! Very well! Amuse me, dance for me, fight on! Let Ma'at be the judge for the worthy! And I, her conduit!"
The chariot began to glow brighter and brighter as a new sun dawned over the rain-soaked rooftop. Archer cried out, "Now, Master! Finish them once and for all! Shred them to ribbons for defying the Mistress of the Shapeless Isles!"
There was no way for Alex to calculate timing, and so he did not. Leaving all to instinct and chance, Alex leapt from his metal prison as Mina summoned a series of glowing sigils that all crashed together as one. Positioning the haft of her hyeopdo at an angle, Alex landed squarely on the wooden pole as he freed himself. The singular point of glowing light was placed perfectly behind his feet as a howling gale roared to life beneath his feet.
"Let the wind guide you ever onwards!" Mina shouted as she pushed forward, "BREATH OF SHEN-LUNG!"
A mighty gale screamed in his ears as his body was propelled forwards, his blade tucked close under his arm as he rocketed across the ruined battlefield, "Not fast enough! I need more speed!"
Drawing upon the strength of the scarab gem, his crest flaring a bright blue as his body was enveloped in a sheen of crackling electricity. The allomancer slashed his arm through the air and the metal shards careened through the air, the largest of which could bisect him in a single blow. Alex turned over mid-air as the lightning streamed out from him like the tail of a comet, a shard just barely grazing by him as he wove through the moving maze of death. Power surged through him and collected deep within his gut, to the point of bursting. Now, he focused and released it all,
"Let's finish this, here and now! Become lightning itself! LIGHTNING RUSH!" The world became a blur their spells combined, pushing his body to the breaking point. The immense pressure placed on his joints sent streams of pain radiating throughout his entire body, all he could do was grit his teeth. Slivers of flying metal embedded themselves within his flesh, but he had no way, nor desire, to stop himself now.
His flight took perhaps a second, maybe two. He could not tell whether the man was surprised or not, only that the knife had begun to shift. Archer's vision was one of shock and disbelief, but still her vision held. As Alex leveled the tip of the khopesh, the world behind him suddenly ignited with the brightest light he had ever seen. It was as though the sun itself had come to earth. The white light reflected beautifully in the lavender depths of her eyes, glistening like the early morning dew. Yet not even a Heroic Spirit could withstand the fury of the resplendent dawn. On pure, natural instinct, Archer closed her eyes.
Alex collided with the allomancer with tremendous force, the khopesh slamming home in the direct center of the man's chest. With a wild shout, Alex pushed with all his might and the blade sprouted out between the shoulder blades, buried to the hilt. An explosion of rending lightning detonated after impact, blowing the back of the body wide open.
He hit the rooftop and rolled over and over across the slick and jagged surface, until he finally stopped, completely spent. Pain radiated down to his very core and even his circuits felt as if they were screaming in pain. This was the part he was truly worried about, as he was now completely and totally vulnerable.
Without the magic to keep them aloft, the remaining shards of roof once more obeyed gravity and became inert. Gasping for breath, Alex slowly sat up to a kneeling position, holding the khopesh in trembling hands.
What he saw confounded him. Archer's Master was splayed out on his back, his head being cradled in her lap. Her small hands were cupped on either side of his face as it stared up at the rain-filled sky. The hole that Alex had opened in his chest did not bleed, but sparked. Open to the sky where flesh should be were instead wires and metal, his fingers twitching erratically as he lay there in her embrace.
He dared not approach closer than his situation forced him to be, lest he break the strange spell that hung in the air. A presence behind him told him that Ozymandias had finally come to land, though he spoke not and only observed. It was odd, the way in which Archer held her Master in her gaze. Though there was no love in her eyes, there was a sort of resigned acceptance within those hooded depths. Despite all, she somehow managed a thin smile as rain dripped from her silky hair.
Despite the grievous wounds, the red eyes still flickered with life. A quiet, raspy voice issued from the ruined body,
"I…am sorry…goddess. There is no more…I can do. I cannot…. fulfill your wish."
Her soft lips parted, "You were most useful, Master. It has been ages since I found one so…devoted. To this, I grant you my praise."
The twitching fingers slowly curled into a loose fist, "Please…fight on…your wish…should be granted."
At this, she smiled in a manner much more genuine, "I will, Master. Though your wish was no less amusing, I cannot grant it."
The rasping voice grew fainter and the eyes began to flicker, "You…already did…my goddess…my darling…Euryale…"
The light in the eyes dimmed and went dark, and the body moved no more. For a few moments, silence reigned over the rooftop as Archer simply stared down at the unmoving form that was her Master. Mina had quietly made her way to Alex, having been freed from the magic holding her in place. Small lacerations covered much of her arms and parts of her legs, but she was alive. As they stood, one supporting the other under the quiet and oddly somber golden irises of Ozymandias, they waited quietly for Archer to disappear.
But she did not.
Archer stood, gently removing the head from her lap and laying it down with an obvious tenderness. The golden bow flashed into existence and began to burn with pinkish-gold flames. Alex was taken aback,
"Shouldn't she have disappeared by now?"
Mina cursed viciously, "It can't be! Can she function without a Master?"
Ozymandias stepped forward, "I suspected as much. Your core produces all the mana you need to survive, doesn't it? You never really needed that man."
The woman now named Euryale chuckled, "Fufufu, I needed him as much as you need that boy right there." A chill ran down Alex's spine as he was brought into the conversation and a nervousness crept into his thoughts. "Just what does she mean by that?"
Euryale hefted her bow and a pink arrow materialized into existence on the bowstring, "I have no intentions of finishing here. Prepare yourself! I will show you the power bestowed upon me by the Earth itself! Behold my power, my right as a member of the Gorgon sisters!"
The flames leapt higher around her and condensed into the arrow as she drew back the string, her eyes boring deep into Alex's core, targeting his very soul. Ozymandias planted his staff, his eyes accepting and grim as he prepared to receive her final onslaught.
Righteous defiance swelled within her, "Kneel and be grateful! EYE OF THE EUY-"
Before she ever got the chance to fire her Noble Phantasm, the air cracked and shattered with a fury greater than any thunderbolt. Ozymandias suddenly altered his stance, alarm clear in his eyes as his head turned to the side. Alex had no need to follow to see what had grabbed his attention so. From the empty space to his left came a streak of crimson light that lanced across the sky in their direction. Euryale seemed to notice it as well and turned partway to better see what it was.
The crimson beam impacted her squarely in the chest, lifting her from the ground and carrying her small body across the rooftop. Shock and confusion replaced determination in her eyes as she crashed into the wall on the far side of the roof to be impaled there by a barbed, crimson spear.
Her golden bow, now bereft of power, slipped from her grasp and clattered to the rooftop. Her body shuddered as blood poured from her mouth and chest, a hand weakly trying to pull the protruding spear from her chest. There she stayed, pinned up for all to see like a butterfly in a collection. The spear then removed itself with a sickening sound and then vanished, sending her body tumbling down.
Alex didn't remember running to her side, nor why. Her body was small and light, easily held in arms like his. Her once beautiful dress of white and black lace was now torn to ribbons, exposing small breasts as a deep red stain spread across her body which watered his hands along with the dress. Blood likewise tainted her lavender hair, which felt like the smoothest of silks against his bare flesh. Archer, no, Euryale, shook violently in his grasp as her body endured its own death throes. In the center of her chest, where her heart should have been, was a gaping hole that went clear through to her back. The eyes that had very nearly captivated a nation with their shimmering beauty, were now dim and sightless.
All semblance of power and prestige had been ripped away from her, leaving nothing behind except a small, childlike, dying girl. The rain did little to wash away the blood as it ran down her head and face, her slim chest fighting for each ragged breath. The sightless eyes turned to meet his, perhaps recognizing that someone else was there. One of her hands rose in a weak, grasping movement at which Alex gently took it in his own. Her lips moved as breathy words reached him, full of desperation and terror,
"Sis…ter…Me…du…sa…hel…me…I…scared…save…me…"
The hand went limp in his and her head lolled to the side as death consumed her. The body once known as Euryale disintegrated into golden sparks and vanished from his arms.
Alex stared down in muted disbelief at his bloody hands and clothes, but there was nothing left for them to hold. An intense wave of emotion swirled within him, foremost amongst them was anger and indignation. His head shot up to find the culprit, and sure enough, he found her. Standing atop the building across from them, twin spears gleaming in the artificial light, was none other than Lancer herself. He rose with fire in his heart as he leveled an accusing finger at her,
"LANCEERRRR!"
He made to run at her, for what little good that would do, but was stopped short by the crooked staff of the pharaoh. He was about to angrily protest, until he saw the fire burning within the pharaoh's own eyes. Yet the pharaoh retained a sense of outward calm and instead gestured towards the waiting chariot,
"That is enough. Do you wish to join them in the underworld?"
The fury within him subsided only partly, but it was enough to understand that staying for a fight meant certain death. He was no longer in any shape to fight. Mina placed a hand on his arm, distress clear in her eyes as she quietly pulled him towards the chariot,
"Come on, Alex. We've done enough."
Silently, and with rage still burning in his chest, Alex joined Mina within the golden chariot. Its natural warmth on barely warded off the chill of late evening. Ozymandias joined them and took up the reins, bringing them away from the ruined factory. Lancer simply watched and made no moves to interfere.
The rain poured on.