Aviantei

By: Aviantei

Part Fifty: Conclusion

"Did I miss much?"

Tao Jun looked up at the sound of Ander's question and provided an answer in the form of the shake of her head. "Only a little. They've just gotten started."

She looked towards the hall where the main members of the Asakura and Tao families had gathered, and Ander followed her gaze. It was much the same setup as the previous meeting, with the major difference being that Teacher and Master weren't present. Master had been found unconscious the previous day, still alive, but changed enough that Teacher had gotten a wide-eyed look on her face upon seeing him. Ander had no idea what she'd seen; all he knew was that Lon Aishe had changed tending to her husband as the main priority, which left handling the rest to him. Teacher had tried to apologize, but Ander had brushed her off.

"Are you doing alright?"

Jun's question threw him off. Ander couldn't even remember the last time someone had asked him that. During training, it didn't matter if you were alright; you pulled yourself up and kept going anyways—did you think an enemy was going to show you mercy? With his pickup teammates, Ander had established himself in charge from the outset and had actively discouraged any concern turned his way.

Jun meant it, though, and he could tell from the look in her eyes that she at least somewhat understood. So the least he could do was answer.

"I'm honestly not sure." Admitting uncertainty tasted a bit like homemade lemonade: undeniably sour when it first hit the tongue, but ultimately refreshing. Ander stuffed his hands into his pockets so he wouldn't fidget. "I got trained my whole life to do two things: win the Shaman Fight and bring my little sister back home. I didn't do so hot at either of them, and Teacher and Master look like they're about to self-destruct at any minute. Not that there's any time to worry about that, because there's this whole mess about Hao going around. No time to worry about your family issues when the entire world's about to blow up, yeah?"

A piece of him felt that he should have the right to worry. But he'd decided to take on the burden so his mother could at least tend to her personal concerns.

"Part of the reason our families formed this alliance was so that none of us would have to take on this issue alone," Jun said. Her sharp green eyes looked over the assembled people in the meeting room, one by one. Among them now was one of Hao's few remaining followers, Blocken Meyer, all that was left of him being a life-sized Lego torso and head. "Some things are much too large for one person to ever handle on their own. The weight of a family is one of them—" Almost subtly, her hands clenched into fists at her sides "—never mind the fate of the world." Despite the tension in her own body, she gave a stunning reassuring smile. "It's also natural to worry about your younger sibling, Ander. That's part of what we older siblings do."

Ander looked away on instinct. She'd hit the nail on the head. After confirming that Asakura Hao wasn't about to torch his little sister to a crisp in front of a live audience, worrying about anything more seemed pointless. Even so, he was concerned, though he had no right to be. He'd created one of the biggest traumas in Ivy's life. She'd had every right to shun him the other night. Even so, she'd accepted Xin-Zi as a spirit ally, and she'd used a modified version of one of Ander's techniques. She'd created an armored Over Soul. And Ander had been proud because, despite everything he'd done to crush her, she'd still managed to bloom into something more beautiful and powerful than he'd ever expected.

And I don't want to see that ruined.

She was out of the Shaman Fight, yes. But so long as Asakura Hao was around, Ivy's stake in the battle would never go away.

"Speaking hypothetically," Ander said, though both of them knew the scenario wasn't going to be hypothetical at all, "if something happened that caused you and that hellion of a little brother to be on opposite sides. Something horrible that made him never want a single thing to do with you again. What would you do?"

Jun hummed softly in contemplation. She was looking straight at Ander, but her eyes were seeing something besides him. "Well, if that were the case, I'd naturally respect Ren's wishes. Even so…" The corners of her eyes crinkled in mirth, and an almost devious smirk formed on her lips. "I'd still pull out every possible stop so that I could help him without ever knowing it was me."

Something like a chuckle bubbled up Ander's throat and out his mouth. Tao Jun was a real piece of work, undoubtedly. In another lifetime, he and her might have even grown closer when they were younger, enough so to create an alliance between their families. But the world they lived in was not that one, and Ander had very little desire to get in the way of someone else's life when they'd already found happiness.

Even so, maybe he could intrude a little bit, as a friend.

That can wait, though. Preferably for when the world is a little less in danger.

For now, he had to at least play his part. And for now, that happened to involve asking Blocken Meyer some questions about Ander's little sister and her relationship with a certain threat to the world.

That connection may just end up being the most important one of all, Teacher had said. And if there was any one thing Ander could still trust in this world, it was Teacher's capability to understand the bonds between others. Before Ander knew it, he was cracking his knuckles to psych himself up. Unlike the apprehension swirling in his chest before, he felt ready to step into the meeting room.

"Hey, Jun," he said, knowing that the next words out of his mouth would feel awkward as well, "thanks. I needed to hear something like that."

"Not a problem," Jun said, falling into step behind him as they headed inside.

Until that moment, Ander had forgotten what it felt like to not bear the weight of everything alone.

Until that moment, Ivy had forgotten the rush of relief that could follow a long crying session. Something inside of her felt undeniably refreshed, and receiving help from Kaede out of the arena didn't feel like it was condescending. She was cared for, and there were people who valued her more for reasons besides being a helpful weapon. It still felt like a foreign sensation, yes, but it wasn't wholly bad, either. It would just take some getting used to.

Having left the stadium, Ha-Gumi and Hoshi-Gumi were back outside of the stadium, and Hao had summoned the Spirit of Fire to take them back to their temporary camp to reclaim their things. To Ivy, the air smelled sweeter than usual, even with the aroma of saltwater reaching them higher up in the sky. Opacho was still sitting in her lap, and Ivy figured that she'd have the young girl at her side all the way until the final four teams left for Mu the next day, which was fine with her.

As Ivy looked across their gathered numbers, she managed to lock eyes with Hao. She flicked her eyes away, easily distracted by the thin line of blood smeared over his cheek—the injury she had caused. Ivy immediately moved, the pulling the leaves towards her. "Hao-dono, let me heal—"

"Ivy-dono," said Mya, sounding distinctly like she was scolding an out-of-control child, "do you not think you have your priorities skewed here?" Ivy blinked, trying to figure out what exactly Mya was talking about (what else was her highest priority other than Hao?), but a quick survey of her teammates' expressions revealed they were thinking much the same thing.

Eventually, Opacho landed her hand in a gentle pat against Ivy's knee. "Aviantei-onee-chan's leg look like it hurt."

From a quick glance, Ivy couldn't deny that assessment. Even a brief scrape from the Spirit of Fire was enough to cause fourth degree burns, and she'd lost three thick lines worth of skin down to the bone, with the surrounding areas turned to black. Her quick prioritization of healing the muscle so she could still move had created a near grotesque patchwork. It was only because of the heavy dose of mana fueled anesthetic that she'd pumped into her that Ivy couldn't feel pain, but of course most of her nerve ends around the injury had to be useless by this point anyways.

"Allow me," Hao said before Ivy could pull herself out of the morbid fascination with her own injury. Hao had shuffled closer, and he shook his head before Ivy had half-formed her protest. "You may have a vast reserve of mana at your disposal, but you must've burnt through a lot of it in that fight. If it's so important to you to heal the damage you caused to me, then let me return the favor."

Ivy nodded mutely, instead Over Souling Xin-Zi to create a small blade that she used to cut the destroyed portion of her jeans away from the injury—the second piece of clothing she'd ruined in as many days. From there, she let Hao's hands hover over her injury as his mana began fixing the damage that would otherwise be irreparable. It reminded her a lot of her early days of training, before she'd gotten a handle on the healing techniques, where Hao would put her back together from whatever struggle she'd put herself through that day. The biggest difference was that she could return the favor, so she did, raising her hand to seal up the cut that she'd opened across his right cheek.

"Man, you must enjoy wearing yourself out," Issebella said, only managing to sound the bare minimum of exasperated. From the grin she was wearing, though, she looked as if she hadn't expected anything else from Ivy. "You've never practiced anything like an armored Over Soul before, and here you go and pull out one in the middle of a big battle like that. Don't tell me you've been holding out on us and training in secret, Principessa."

Ivy shrugged, wincing as a fresh ping of pain raced through her chest, courtesy of Opacho tackling her out of the arena. Considering that she'd taken a full force fit from Mama, though, Ivy was more impressed that worst she'd gotten away with was a few cracked ribs. Hao's range of mana influence expanded to tend to those injuries as well. "It just wasn't something that I ever thought about needing," Ivy said. "I figured that I might as well try it."

Issebella muttered a few words in Italian (Ivy caught ridiculous and geniuses among them) before turning to Militaresco for a conference on how to power up some more. "Well, you did excellently regardless," Hao said. "I don't think I could have asked for a better match than that. And Nature's Regalia is very fitting for you, Aviantei. Quite beautiful."

Ivy's face flamed a red that almost outdid the healing but still visible muscles of her leg. Kaede nodded, and Opacho threw her arms up in the air. "Aviantei-onee-chan is pretty!"

"I wouldn't go that far…"

Opacho pouted at her, which meant that Ivy wasn't going to make her way out of that discussion victorious. It was better to drop the whole thing and let it be. Hao's chuckle didn't help matters. "Regardless," he said, "it's very well suited to your capabilities. I would say that there's no harm in refining it further, if you like. The more you practice with it, after all, the more impressive it could become. Ah, that would be after you get some rest first."

"Yes, that's fine." There was a beat of silence, and Ivy looked around to see the disbelieving expressions of the others. "What? Is it honestly that surprising that I'm not going to rush into the next thing?" Kaede had the most unrelenting stare of them all. "Oh, come on!"

"Face it, Principessa, you're a total workaholic." When Ivy scowled, Issebella just snickered. "Don't you worry, though. As your cavaliere, I'm gonna be sure to teach you nice and good how to relax when this is all over. I don't think I'll ever get you to take a siesta or something, but we can work on that." With a wink and a stuck-out tongue, Issebella flashed a thumbs up.

"Well, if nothing else, you'll need to sit still for the next half an hour at least," Hao said, providing his assessment of her wounds. Healing up her ribs hadn't been much of an issue, since those had just been cracks, but restoring heavily damaged or completely lost tissue took up a lot more time. Already, there was a collection of dead and blackened skin falling to the Spirit of Fire's back as the new cells took their place. "We wouldn't want to rush this job and have later issues, now would we?"

Ivy didn't even need to look back to know that Mya was giving her a pointed stare over what had happened yesterday, so she took the admonition in silence. If nothing else, she needed to take better care of herself so that the others didn't worry. Not to mention that Hao still wanted her around.

I'd like to request that you live on and stay by my side a bit longer.

With the next stage of the Shaman Fight almost on the horizon, it wouldn't be for too much longer, but Ivy still intended to do what she could to the fullest.

"Hao-sama," Luchist said, looking up from his Oracle Bell, "it seems that the last match is about to begin. Would you like me to bring out the radio so that we can listen in?"

Kaede tilted her head. "Radio?"

"Yes," Hao said. "With a little Patch handicraft technique, it is possible to listen in or even watch what's happening at the tournament." Kaede seemed to accept the answer well enough, and Issebella's face had lit up at the concept of keeping tabs on the battle—no doubt due to Horohoro's presence. "If you happened to bring it along, Luchist, I would appreciate it. I'd like to get an idea of how Yoh has grown since his last trip to hell."

With a quick affirmative, Luchist pulled out a battery powered radio and turned it on. The signal must have been preset, since soon Ren's voice was coming through as he issued a direct challenge to Yoh and declared his intent to not hold back. It was just like him, and Ivy couldn't help but smile a bit.

Yoh spoke as his team captain next, sounding just as unaffected as ever. He acknowledged the need to fight, but also made it clear that his intent was to live an easy life. That was just like him, too. Even so, Yoh had chosen to fight without hatred, so that the world wouldn't spiral into a further cycle.

"That's why I'd even drink that bitter coffee with Hao," he said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "After all…

"He doesn't have any friends."

Luchist dropped the radio into his lap, managing to put a steady hand on it before it could tumble off the side of the Spirit of Fire. Issebella and Kaede had matching wide-eyed looks on their faces, and Opacho's jaw had straight up dropped open as she repeated, "Hao-dono doesn't have any friends?" Even Ivy had tensed up, which was not the nicest thing that she could do to her still-healing leg. As one, they all turned a careful look towards their master, who was continuing his ministrations as if nothing had happened at all.

"You all don't need to be so cautious," he said. "What Yoh says doesn't matter. I already knew he thought that." A smile slipped onto Hao's face that made him look every bit the older twin amused by his younger brother's actions. "I could tell that thought was in Yoh's head the whole time we were having coffee yesterday."

He didn't deny it.

Ivy studied Hao's expression, wondering if there was some tick or tell that would indicate that the remark unsettled him. There was none. Much like Ivy had decided as a child that she didn't have the time to waste on interacting with others, he was content without having any friends. It was only in this lifetime that he'd bothered to gather any followers; the hundreds of years before that had been mostly on his own.

However, Ivy had been proven wrong today—interacting with others was precious. People cared about her, needed her. Did Hao understand how necessary he was to her, to Opacho? Did he understand that they'd be sad if something ever happened to him? They were impertinent thoughts at best. Someone like Hao must have understood himself much better than Ivy could hope to.

"Goodness, I don't think you've all look so gloomy in quite a while," Hao said, breaking everyone's contemplative silence. Sounds of the clash happening back at the Patch Arena came through in tinny quality from the radio. "It's true that we'll have to contend with the unexpected interference from the outside world, but today is still a day of celebration, is it not? While I would have liked to have you come with us, Ha-Gumi, we've successfully made it to the next round of the Shaman Fight. The day you've all helped me towards is now close at hand." The reminder did lighten the mood a bit, and Hao smiled, his eyes dancing with amusement as they were wont to do whenever he came up with a new idea? "Well, tonight I think it'd be fine to sleep in the Patch settlement, so I'd at least like to take advantage of the hot springs out here one more time. Would anyone care to join me?"

That casual question caused more of an uproar than Yoh's declaration before it. Ivy would have jumped back in an absolute retreat if it weren't for her mid-treatment injury. Opacho had hopped up, though, cheering, "Opacho will!" while Kaede gave a near immediate shake of her head. Ivy forced herself to clear her throat to prevent her voice from leaping up an octave when she went to speak.

"I'll have to decline a request like that, even if it comes from you."

"Don't be such a prude, Principessa," Issebella said in her singsong voice. "There's nothing wrong with mixed bathing. Besides, that hot spring is super nice. I wouldn't—gwah!"

Issebella tipped over from the force of the rock that had smacked her clean in the forehead. In her usual dramatics, she flailed about from the pain, rolling her closer to the edge of the Spirit of Fire. Once it was obvious that Kaede had stopped her from falling straight off, Ivy turned so she faced forward and looked past Hao, keeping her eyes on the ocean.

Somewhere out there was a human fleet, drawn by the commotion caused from the X-Laws' last ditch effort to take out Hao. In the near future, the shamanic and ordinary worlds would clash. It could change everything, and it could change nothing. One way or another, the Shaman Fight would continue, and Hao would take his place at the top. But those things were still yet in the future, no matter how close it may be, and Ivy knew that the even more immediate present was one of the last precious moments she'd be able to have exactly like this, so she soaked every last part of it in, from the strange giddy feeling in her bones to the shouted protests of Issebella to the very real smile of Hao before her.

Amongst the uproar, even Luchist let out a low chuckle.

Lyserg knew that it was his mission to bring the Team The Ren and Team Funbari Onsen battle to an end. At this point, their fight didn't matter anymore. Since Lyserg had returned from hell, it meant that X-I was still around. Gandala had arranged for the other teams' withdrawal so that the Five Warriors would all be able to move to next stage along with Hao's team. All Lyserg needed to do was interfere in the battle for things to be set in motion. And yet, he was standing at the top of the Patch Stadium, looking down and not moving.

It wasn't the barrier around the stadium stopping him. Lyserg felt confident that Mastema Dolkeem had more than enough power to break through. It was that, even from a distance, he could recognize it. There was still a discontent in Ren's heart, a part of him that couldn't accept the possibility that Yoh was presenting: a fight without hatred. Whenever Ren was wavering so much, having the fight interrupted wouldn't help him find the answers he needed.

The lightning that Ren unleashed and the fact that Yoh was still standing afterwards was more than enough proof of that.

"I wanted to kill you and put an end to our relationship, no matter how much it hurt! I turned my heart to stone to defeat you and your childish sentimentality! So why are you still alive?!"

Does he even realize he's saying the same kinds of things that Ivy does? Lyserg thought, a wry smile slipping onto his face. You should know that you can try to bury your feelings all you want, Ren. A shaman fight is where those things will come out in full force.

Ren, Yoh, and Horohoro all continued to fight anyways, even as their bodies sustained damage and their mana reserves started to run down. Despite the early display of hesitation, determined passion was in all of them. With the safety cushion of knowing they could be healed, there was hardly any need to hold back. Blood and bruises covered their skin, and Yoh was down three-quarters of his upper arm. And yet they all charged up their Over Souls to go once more, a final clash to decide it all.

Now.

Mastema Dolkeem burned with such ferocity that it blazed right through the Patch forcefield and still had enough force to scatter the battle's participants and crack the arena floor into little more than rubble.

"Sorry," Lyserg said, "I didn't want to intrude, but this has gone on far enough. You see, this match no longer has meaning."

The return of X-I.

The withdraw of Team Deva and the Kabbalahers.

The determination of the final four teams to reach the next stage.

There and then, the Second Round of the Shaman Fight drew to a close, making way for the future that was to come.

[Author's Notes]

*realizes this is chapter fifty* What the fu-

Thanks to LyriaHart for the review! I much appreciate it. For those curious, I do have art of Nature's Regalia, I just haven't posted it anywhere yet because of extensive backlog in the art department. I will let y'all know when I get around to that, assuming I do so before this fic finishes posting (though we do have some time until then).

Ngl, I'm pretty tired, so I don't have much brain power for extensive notes, but we have finished the tournament arc of this fic. Next up: preparing to head to Mu and the final arc!

Next Time - Part Fifty-One: "Resolve." Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[02.20.2021]