Cold.
Hurt hurt hurt man oh man does it fucking hurt.
So heavy...
A bunch of jumbled thoughts flashed across her mind, not necessarily in that order. There was a limp weight on her back, pinning her down, and it took her three tries to shove that thing off her and flip over.
Her palms actually hurt a little less, as she pressed them into the snow and supported herself up. Knowing that power, it probably burnt her again during the teleportation process and brought with it a fresh dose of motion sickness, judging by how the starry sky above seemed to be spinning in a...rather jolly manner...
She almost faceplanted in the snow again when the realization struck.
There was no sound of people talking. No one in sight, only snow, and bright red hair at the edge of her vision—
It was amazing, how she could still feel like a cold bucket of water was poured over her, when the surrounding weather should've already frozen her numb from the inside out. Immediately, she bounced up, and grabbed Clancy by the shoulders.
"Are you okay?!"
Her eyes were squeezed shut. Maybe it was the dried blood on her face, maybe the paleness of her skin, but it was enough to make her forget about checking for vital signs or injuries, and go straight to desperate, violent shaking.
"C'mon, wake up!"
Still clutching her vest with one hand, she pinched her on the cheek. It was cold to the touch. Uncomfortably cold.
"Please, talk to me, you can't...don't..."
If Clancy didn't open one eye and immediately close it, her sentence would probably end in sobs. Uncontrollable sobs. She paused, and shook her again.
"You can hear me, right?" Upon receiving what she thought was a nod, she sighed. "Thank goodness. I'm gonna carry you up."
Her body felt surprisingly light in her arms, even with her gears—probably a boon from her power, since she had unconsciously slipped into her enhanced vision during the process of getting up. Under the grey clarity of night vision, she found out, with great displeasure, that they were indeed in the middle of nowhere. Not even trees grew on these barren, snowy rocks.
"Okay, something's wrong," she stated, not knowing if she was speaking to herself or Clancy. "I don't know where we are, and I can't see anyone around. Guess we'll just have to keep moving."
Clancy didn't stir at these words, so she followed up with a pinch in the arm. "Don't fall asleep, okay? Don't! I'm gonna pinch you at random, just to keep you awake!"
Being this close, she could hear her sister's breathing and heartbeats even more clearly, as she started running against the chilling night wind. Enough to know if something was wrong. But she liked to think she could still have some degree of control over the situation, instead of just passively listening, until either one of these sounds...stopped.
The initial trench had widened into a giant basin, and, at its bottom, half of the robot's upper body was sticking out of the wall of snow. Rubis could see it, even without the light from the twin's staffs, as she made her way towards them.
"Hey! Hello!" Little sparks were bouncing off the robot's round silhouette, as Ram stood on her tiptoes, and banged her staff against its lower torso. "Open up! Help's here!"
"Uh, m-maybe we should dig the whole thing out first..."
Rubis sighed. Despite the many bizarre features Dameko had built into her robot, she didn't seem to anticipate that a soundproofed cockpit, combined with Nitendium armor plates, might become a serious obstacle to any potential rescuers if she was ever trapped in there. Of course, she never liked thinking about worst case scenarios, so someone had to pick up that slack for her. Quietly. Without her knowledge.
"Ugh, this bot's so tanky! My hands hurts." Finally, Ram dropped her staff, back slumped. "Has she fallen asleep in there? Maybe it's time for us to move on. Big sis has to be somewhere near this thing."
"She could be hurt. W-We shouldn't just leave her alone." Rom pointed towards the line of Guild crews nearby, still probing at the snow. "You can go help them, if you wanna?"
"Um," Ram scratched her head, "You sure about that? I mean, of course I wanna! I just don't feel like...ditching you, that's all."
"Thanks. But I can handle it, being alone for a little while. We won't be that far apart—" Rom's voice was quiet, but confident, before a yell erupted amongst the Guilt crews.
"There! Right down there! An opening!" A pause. "A pretty big one, from the feel of it!"
Ram immediately bolted towards them, waving her staff. Rom didn't follow her, but even though she soon shook her head and turned back towards the robot, flames whirling around her staff, she still couldn't help but sneak a few glances in that direction.
"Sorry. Please don't be angry, if I...break something in your robot with this move?" she muttered, before shifting into a casting stance.
"Oh, she won't," Rubis said, earning a small yelp from her. "In fact, she'll probably thank you for giving her the chance to try out some new paint jobs and armor designs, if you can manage to leave a mark on it. There is an easier way, however."
"Okay? Then, um, do you need my help, Miss Rubis?" Rom's expression was a mixture between slight disappointment and curiosity.
"Thanks. But you'd rather be somewhere else, right?" Rubis swept her card above the ground, in a circle, "So please, go join your sister. Your older sister would want to see both of you, safe and sound, once she's out of that cave."
With one downward swing, a cylindrical rock pillar poked out of the snow, then lowered itself, allowing her to step onto it. Rom stared at her for a few more seconds, watching the pillar rose and carried her upwards, until she was face-to-face with the robot's cockpit. Then, she gave her a small nod, and ran off to join the group.
Rubis quietly shook her urges to lecture someone about the importance of teaching non-offensive, utilitarian applications of magic out of her mind, before shifting her sight back to the cockpit. The darkness made it a little hard to feel the exact spot, but before long, her palm was pressing against the small concave in the metal shell of the cockpit's hatch.
With a tiny beep, the circuits below lit up, forming a keypad. She typed in the password for the emergency release mechanism, as quickly as she should, and indeed, her memory didn't fail her.
She could still feel her heart beat faster as the hatch began to open up, however. Even if the heating units inside her robot had failed, the cold was practically nothing to a CPU of Lowee, and the air circulation system could stay functional for days running on back-up cells. No, it was more...irrational and painful than that.
Before she moved into the opening, Dameko's grey hair was visible inside the dimly-lit interior, under the blinking red lights of the control panel. She appeared even smaller than she already was, curled up on the seat, her face buried in her knees.
When Rubis stepped off the co-pilot seat, and carefully knelt down besides her, Dameko didn't seem to notice her. She didn't even move, as two mumbled, drowsy words escaped her lips.
"Don't go." A pause, followed by a sniffle. "Don't go off to die. Not you too, not again...mmf?!"
It was embarrassing, how Rubis just pulled her into her arms like that, without realizing she was talking in her sleep and wasn't awake yet, even as she herself began to tear up. That was what old ages did to people and Goddesses alike, perhaps. How it changed them irreversibly yet left so much things in place, leaving certain parts of the heart numb while making the rest more fragile and breakable than ever.
Normally, jogging for hours on end in sub-zero temperature wouldn't make one feel warmer. Or faster. But she was feeling both right now. Maybe it was a side effect of freezing to death, or the full benefits of her power coming to her.
Or, maybe, just maybe, the sheer bullshit of their current situation had finally dawned on her, and the rage was thawing all the frozen nooks and crannies in her mind and body.
"I don't get it, Clancy. I really don't." She pinched her sister again, even though her response had faded into brief nods, and she stopped opening her eyes a while ago. "Normally, when you unlocked your full potential and took control of your power and save—"
She glanced down towards the amulet on her neck. Only now did she notice the ghost was missing. Darn. Hopefully, Verdna was just back inside, and not disintegrated by that dark blue mist, because she really didn't need more depressing realizations about her inability to save certain people at this point.
"—your sibling and a ghost, and became part of a last-minute rescue, you'd expect a warm welcome, or at least a quiet respite where you bandaged up your wounds and were just glad that no one was dying, right? Right?"
"Apparently not! Apparently, fate likes giving you false hope before dumping you in the middle of nowhere, because you dared to trust this random stranger's ability to make her teleportation work twice in a row." She let out a bitter laugh. "I know, I shouldn't be blaming everything on fate anymore, but this? This isn't my fault, no, it's just trolling us at this point, with no regards to whether the suffering is warranted or not!"
"Well, you know what, fate? FUCK YOU TOO!" She screamed into the night sky, at the top of her lungs, before quickening her steps, "I've gotten out of this in one piece, and there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you have the last laugh! I'm bringing her home, alive and well, whether you like it or not!"
That earned a faint chuckle out of Clancy.
"Darn right. I've done my part of 'staying alive', so please, do your part, as best as you can, alright?" She slowed down, and clutched her just a little tighter. "You always give it your all. Mostly at your job. Can't be a dutiful soldier if you aren't alive to do the soldiering. I kinda suck at motivating people, but you get the idea."
A frown. Maybe a wince. Clancy's lips were moving, but there was no clear words that could be made out from the barely audible mumbling.
"What's wrong? Am I hurting y—Woah!" A cracking sound came from under her boots, at the exact moment she lost balance.
If she hadn't steadied herself at the last second, she'd have dropped Clancy, or rolled down the icy slope while still clutching onto her. She had been so busy talking, she didn't even notice the change in terrain; the ground below was no longer flat, and faint silhouettes of trees could be seen on the distant horizon, behind the rocky hills. One of which she was currently standing on.
"Uh. Um. Sorry for that." Clancy's expression looked even more pained than before, and her weak apology didn't made it any better. "Okay, change of plan. Let's get you onto my back. Would make a more sturdy carry that way."
A round of fumbling later, she had finally shifted into a basic fireman's carry. As she continued moving upslope, she was getting major Déjà vu from this whole thing—only that the position was reversed, she was ten and giggling on Clancy's shoulders, and clearly not making the drill any easier for her sister.
"Truth to be told, I don't know if we are going in the right direction. Just following this...vague feeling." She paused, and glanced up at the sky. "Better than nothing, I guess. If you weren't so roughed up, you could probably tell from the stars alone, with the navigation courses and all that stuff they teach in the armies."
Downslope, upslope. The forest on the horizon was getting closer and closer. She was desperately searching for more conversation topics, but ended up discarding most of them in her mind, because everything just circled back to home, home, getting back home together, no matter how irrelevant the initial thoughts were. She probably would manage to get a few words out at best, before bursting into tears.
Wait. There was an exception. Right now, she couldn't be angry enough, and more murderous fury was exactly what she needed to keep herself warm and motivated.
"That other me. Yeah, the crazy lady who stabbed you, though I doubt it's the only thing she did to you during your encounter." Her voice had gone dangerously quiet. "You heard what she said, before she...let go?"
"Don't ever become someone like me. Right," She gritted her teeth, before letting out a yell, "Thanks for the reminder, asshole! Being a death-seeking psychopath is such a sensible life choice, and I can't wait to follow in your footsteps! Seriously, I know you had some terrible childhood trauma, but fuck you for—"
She flinched. Something was tingling her senses. Rather uncomfortably.
Amidst the silence, darkness and snow, it stood out like a sore thumb, and was growing stronger and stronger. Halting her steps immediately, she turned to stare into the forest, where the danger signals were coming from.
Without her night vision, or the thin red aura that outlined their furs, she could've bumped right into these giant wolf creatures while making her way through the dark leaves and vegetations, without even realizing it.
The largest one of the trio was pressing its nose against the ground, sniffing. Then it turned in her direction, its eyes glowing like two ominous mirrors in the darkness.
"Oh my gosh, fate," she muttered, just as the sound of snow crunching under paws reached her ears, and the Ice Fenrirs started moving. "You petty little bitch."
The first things Blanc saw, scattered around the crater her hammer strike had created, were the broken stalactites. Then, the crystal growths on the cave walls.
Damn, did it feel good to be able to see stuff normally again. Even though she still felt a little woozy. How did she end up walking all the way back to the big cave they fought in, she had no idea, but—
"...Big sis?"
At the exact moment she unsummoned her weapon, these two words came from behind her. Before she could even turn around, a blur of pink slammed into her , causing her to fall on her back.
"Ouch!" Ram's grip was so tight, it was pretty much a pinch, and the annoyed older sibling tone came to her automatically when Ram briefly let go of her clothes, only to start pounding her in the chest weakly with her fists, "Watch it, you little..."
Blanc paused when she saw tears in Ram's eyes, despite her best attempt at keeping up an angry face and continuing her barrage of punches. She knew her sisters had to be notified by this point, but how long had they been waiting? Been searching for her?
"...Brat." That word still came out, but in a much softer voice, as she stopped Ram's punches by pulling her into her arms. "I'm here, don't you worry." She paused again. "Also, stop punching me. You're gonna hurt your hands if you keep this up."
"No! Because you're a big dummy," Ram pouted, but she did stop trying to wrench her arms free, "Telling us to sit at home, and then get yourself trapped in some hole in the ground, with that evil CPU—" She briefly glanced away," Yeah, of course you beat her, but we didn't know that! Dummy! Super Duper Ultra Big Dummy of the Highest Order!"
"Uh, t-that's a little too mean, Ram. It's not like she knew an avalanche would happen." Just as Blanc sat up, Ram still clinging onto her, she felt Rom's hand on her shoulders. "Are you okay now, big sis? I heard you screaming, and when I came in here, you were...hitting the air."
"Duh! Of course she isn't!" Ram made a face. "That evil beetle CPU must've casted some kind of nasty illusion spell, before she was taken out. Maybe you should use a healing spell on her, just in case?"
"She's not..." Blanc's voice trailed off.
Not evil. Yeah, tough frickin' luck defending her now. With all the angry swearing the twins had heard, if she suddenly blurted that out, they'd probably be more convinced that she was bewitched, or hit really hard in the head.
And they didn't need to hear about all that horrifying, fucked-up stuff in the memory fragments. Ever. Despite her urges to just spill out everything in one go, to tell everyone about who the real evil bitch was, how she used family ties to set up the scummiest betrayals, and how awful it was, to...go after the wrong person and not find out until it was too late...
"Hello? Big sis?"
"See? I told you! Get your spells ready!"
"No no no! There's no need for that." Blanc blinked, and held up a hand, just as Rom raised her staff. "I'm fine. Just a little...tired."
Rom made a small nod, but she still didn't seem convinced.
"Sorry for scaring y'all. I'm not gonna leave you behind again, ever." Blanc sighed and signaled for Rom to come closer. "Wanna come join the hug?"
Rom didn't even say anything before she wrapped her arms around Blanc's neck, but someone else did. "Well, count me in, Blanny."
C-Sha was fast. It felt like these words barely left her mouth, before she just swooped all three of them off the ground and into her embrace, bridal-style. Blanc's cheeks rapidly heat up when she realized just how close C-Sha was to smothering her face in her boobs—it was nice, sure, but she could hear more footsteps in the distance already, and people were gonna be watching them!
"Hey! L-Let go of me!" she stuttered. "I know, you are worried, but this—this is too friggin' much, don't you think?!"
"Oooh! Big sis is being super tsundere right now."
"...Like Miss Noire."
"Quite an interesting comparison you have there, Rommy!"
"Ahhhhh! You little brats!" She could just hear the barely concealed giggles in the twin's voice, as they clung onto both of them even tighter, leaving her little space for her furious struggles. "And you! Aren't you supposed to be the mature one here? Stop egging them on!"
"Eh, you gave out the invitation first, Blanny," C-Sha said. "Can't blame me for taking it as a free-for-all group hug session—"
Her sentence was abruptly cut off by a series of quick footsteps.
"GROUP HUG SESSION? I'M COMING!"
Right after the yell, a white-and-purple shadow leaped onto them with the speed of a meteor, knocking C-Sha off balance and causing all of them to fall on the ground in a heap.
"Woah. Ouch. That's one ultimate flying tacklehug technique you just performed there." Blanc could faintly hear C-Sha's voice, just as she struggled to move her face away from the soft, warm surface it was currently buried in—
Wait.
WAIT?!
"Darn right! Honed to perfection with centuries of practice."
Just as Dameko's proud proclamation came from behind her, Blanc scrambled up, away from C-Sha's chest, screaming incoherently, which ended up provoking another burst of giggles from her sisters.
"GAHHHHH! You are my senior! Act like it, goddammit!"
"Nah, you have my sister for all that serious stuff. Me? I'm the Fun Vigilante! Eternally opposed to her Fun Police!"
"Yay! Best senior ever!"
Rubis couldn't help but smile a little, as the chatters and furious screams made their way into her ears. Maybe she would join them, feel how it was like to be in the midst of a family again. Maybe she wasn't going to be welcomed with open arms yet, maybe she herself wasn't too comfortable in the first place, but...
It was a nice thought. A thought she might just muster enough courage to make into reality.
Before that, however, she needed to pick up the pieces. Literally.
Carefully brushing the dirt and debris aside, she bent down, and reached out towards the object that had been tugging at her senses. The Sharecite shard, now completely dull and devoid of light, had shattered into two halves, even though the faint traces of magic that lingered around it was still there.
Not faith, but...something else. Something chaotic, searing, and very reminiscent of the aura of those CPU clones in the Tari incident.
She was going to die. Horribly. The kind of death that would require a closed casket funeral, if they ever found what was left of her body.
But, strangely, once that realization dawned on her, she was feeling calmer than ever.
Holding just a little tighter onto Clancy, she carefully extended her free hand forward, and the scimitar came to her effortlessly. Not that it would expand her chances of survival by much.
Even though they weren't in her direct line of sight, the two other Fenrirs' movements were sending vibrations through the snow below. Encircling her, slowly and steadily creeping forward, while the largest one in front attempted to catch her attention with its low, threatening growls. Unfortunately...for her, these wild animals were not well-versed in the civilized mook tactic of ganging up on their target in turns, one at a time.
"Come on." She felt the corner of her mouth curling up, as she met the beast's glare head-on. "Don't just stand there and bark. Try biting. And see where that gets you."
It actually stepped back slightly, as if pondering its options. If its friends weren't getting into position, ready to pounce, that might be a comforting sight.
In turn, she took a step forward, blade shimmering in the darkness.
Well, it's now or never. Freezing up and hoping it would make the process of being eaten less painful might have worked wonders for their usual preys, but their usual preys weren't motivated by the more sophisticated kind of stupidity that came with higher brain functions.
Like the sudden desire to give fate the metaphorical finger in the face of certain doom, because why the hell not.
Just as the large beast bore its teeth, claws digging into the snow in a warning gesture, she turned and threw the scimitar towards one of the lurking forms behind her. A pained roar pierced through the wind, which soon faded into whimpers, as she bolted through the opening her attack created, past the thrashing, dying beast with a blade sticking out of its skull.
Run, run, run like hell, she just had to outrun them and everything would be—
Another roar. The next second, her entire world exploded in a thick, white coldness, as a frigid blast of air hit her side and sent her slamming into the ground.
When she opened her eyes again, trying her damnedest to lift her face off the snow, two pairs of eyes were moving towards her. One of the mouths below still had icy mists coming out of it.
Oh. Ranged attack. Of course they'd have their own. It's like a "Fuck you" in giant wolf monster language.
Her left arm was pressed under Clancy's chest. Her sister had gone completely silent and limp, and maybe that was a good thing—whatever happened next, she wasn't going to be aware of it.
Maybe she should make one last run for it, just so she could lure these monsters as far away from Clancy as possible, and maybe they'd forget about her once they started nibbling on the more feisty one...if only everything would stop spinning, and the little stars in her view would go away...
"NO! BAD POPPIES!"
Right after the yell that came out of nowhere, one pair of eyes suddenly disappeared in a cloud of flames, and the chilly air got unbearably warm within seconds. Smell of burnt fur filled the air, and just as the larger shadow leaped away, something rammed into it and dragged it back.
"Ahem! No biting! I'm no chunks of tofu, y'know?"
After another roar, a wave of tiny icy shards swept over her, cutting into her cheeks.
"AHAHA! PREDICTABOO! Your icy maws of evil is no match for my burning fists of niceness!"
Soon after that, there were multiple howls of pure agony, mixed with the sounds of a large, heavy body being repeatedly slammed against the ground.
"Anybody knows nothing about this power! Let's see how you fare against my FISTS OF DRAGON AND TIGER!" A hearty laugh, "Take this, ya' big furball!"
The ensuing heat and wind blast was so intense, she was pretty sure if she opened her eyes, it would be enough to blind her. Only after hearing a loud thud, followed by absolute silence, did she dare sneak a peek at the source of all these cheesy and probably mispronounced lines.
Said person was soon kneeling in front of her, her grinning face illuminated by the four flaming orbs that were spinning around her. The power symbols in her eyes made her identity pretty clear, but darn, these bikini suits and sandals were definitely not suitable for the weather, nor did she resemble...any other similar beings in her memories.
"There. You are safe now. I've made those bad poppies into a bunch of..." A dramatic pause, then, a wink, "BUSTED WOLVES!"
And, just like that, the unknown CPU disappeared in a flash of light, replaced by a panting, cursing woman in a familiar undersized sailor uniform, who was trying her best to avoid eye contact and not doing a good job at it.
"Is that..." she mumbled weakly, without thinking, "A reference I'm supposed to get..."
"Don't ask stupid questions." Asa sighed and reached into her pants' pocket. Before long, she felt the rim of a potion flask pressing against her lips. "Here. Heal up."