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Winter
The sound of her own footfalls seemed deafening to Winter. The desperate pounding of her heart and her gasps for air as she ran drowned out even the hideous orchestra of gunfire and pained yells. She barely registered her surroundings as she ducked around flying bullets and battling prodigies. Only one thought was running through her head, over and over like a broken record: I have to get away.
Winter couldn't muster the courage to look back, but even over the sounds of her own terror and the mayhem of the battlefield, she could still somehow hear the steady steps of her pursuer, unless it was just her mind playing tricks on her. It wouldn't be the first time she ran away from an enemy that wasn't there. But this time, she feared it was very, very real.
Whenever she could muster up the concentration, she would blast waves of fear, anxiety, concern, stress, worry, anything to distract the monster chasing her. It was the only reason she hadn't been caught yet. She'd seen Aimery Park pursue women enough to know his strategy when they inevitably ran.
His power was teleportation. He could be standing in one place, and in the blink of an eye he'll suddenly be standing in another. It could be someplace far away, or a mere few feet. It could be alone, or with other people. Winter had seen him use that particular skill too many times when she was younger. She vividly remembered him chasing after one young woman in particular. She wasn't anyone special. She wasn't even a prodigy. Just a poor woman with the misfortune to serve the Lunars during the Blood Moon Time. She was quite pretty, as far as Winter could remember. Not the most beautiful, not by far, but definitely pretty. And that was what caught Aimery's eye. She'd been running away from him, her eyes wide with terror, tears streaming down her cheeks. Aimery had jogged after her for a few moments, perhaps enjoying giving her the illusion that she might actually escape him. Then he flickered out of sight for just a moment, before reappearing right in front of her. The woman couldn't stop herself, she was going too fast. She charged right into him, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, and vanished, taking her with him. Winter never found out what happened to her, but she knew that if Aimery ever managed to catch her now, she'd discover what it was soon enough. The blasts of emotion she was sending all around her were all that kept her from being caught just like that woman. If Aimery couldn't concentrate, he couldn't teleport. If he couldn't teleport, then he might not catch her. But she was going to keep running, just the same.
Something hit her on the back of the head. Maybe the reckless fist of a wolf-soldier. Maybe the butt of a Rampion gun. Whatever it was, it knocked her down. It frayed her concentration. Desperately, she tried to shove herself back to her feet, to gather her scattered thoughts to summon another wave of emotion. But before she even managed to push herself to her knees, fingers like ice wrapped around her elbow, and a foot pressed into her back, keeping her pinned to the ground.
"Well hello Soul Blood." A horrifyingly familiar voice said gleefully, "Fancy seeing you here."
Winter tried to reach back to tug his foot off her and wrenched at her arm to try and break his grip. He only held her tighter.
"Don't bother Soul Blood." Aimery chided, his face so close to her ear Winter could feel his breath against her skin. "You've always been too weak to win a fight. That's why you hide behind Sir Clay. Such a shame he isn't here now. I'd have enjoyed breaking his neck." He traced a finger along the back of her neck and she shuddered with disgust.
Suddenly, there was a load clang, and a grunt of pain. Aimery's foot slipped off Winter's back, and his grip loosened on her elbow. Seizing her chance, she shoved herself back to her feet and scrambled away, risking a glance over her shoulder to see what had happened.
A familiar figure with shiny metallic skin was standing over Aimery, her eyes narrowed in a glare. "Get away from her you creep!"
A hand came to rest on Winter's shoulder, and she jumped with a startled squeak, whirling around to stare into a pair of ice-blue eyes.
"Are you okay Winter?" Jacin asked, looking her up and down, trying to find if she was hurt. "He didn't do anything did he?"
Winter didn't answer. Her throat was closed against any words she might have said. Instead, she threw her arms around his shoulders and squeezed as hard as she could. Here was her anchor, the only truly real thing in a world were nothing was real. He was here.
Jacin hesitated for a moment, before gently returning her embrace, murmuring in her ear that it would be alright, to just focus on him, to stay with him, like he always did. And Winter clung to his words with every scrap of will she had, desperate to believe them.
"Well isn't this sweet." Aimery snapped, shoving himself back onto his feet, "A lowly guard and an insane weakling, together. I might just cry."
Iko growled and pulled back her fist. "Ugh, why don't you just take a nap Creep-Show?"
But as she lunged forward with a punch, Aimery smoothly stepped to the side and grabbed her arm. They flickered out of existence, and Iko's screaming suddenly filled the air.
Winter's head snapped up to see Iko falling from the sky, her hands grabbing at the air as if it would magically become actual handholds. Above her, Aimery watched calmly, his mouth curled into his usual pleased smile, appearing completely relaxed as he fell. His form wavered, before blinking out entirely. He reappeared on the ground just as Iko hit it, her metallic body creating a resounding bang as it crashed into the hard concrete.
Aimery cast her a disinterested glance. "Well that was disappointing. And here I was thinking she might actually pose a challenge. Anyway, if you don't mind Sir Clay," he took a step forward, "I'd like my property back."
Jacin quickly shoved Winter behind him and drew his gun, pointing it steadily between Aimery's eyes. His only response was mocking laughter. "Do you honestly think that will be any help against me?"
He teleported so he was standing barely a foot away from Jacin and wrenched the gun out of his hands. Jacin tried to punch him, but Aimery flickered to the side and kneed him in the gut. Winter pressed her hand over her mouth as Jacin keeled over, coughing, and Aimery kicked him in the back.
He grinned, pressing the barrel of the gun to Jacin's white-blond hair. "Say goodnight Sir Clay."
But his face quickly morphed into confusion. Shakily, he removed the gun from Jacin's head. His eyes widened with horror as he pressed the barrel to his own temple. His terrified eyes met Winter's. She narrowed them in a glare.
He pulled the trigger.
Aimery flopped to the side, blood dribbling from the fresh hole in his skull. His eyes, eyes that had haunted Winter her whole life, were now dull and empty. She collapsed to her knees, watching Aimery's blood as it tricked down his scalp like a tiny winding river, dripping onto the rough, dark ground.
"Winter!"
A voice, faint and echoing, as if far away, said her name. Hands shook her shoulders. The voice continued to speak, begging her to focus on it, to stay with it.
But she was already so, so far away.
A/N: Okay… well. That got dark.
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