Tales of Harmonia
The Missing Link, Found!
It was amazing how quickly the group was able to gather and arrange themselves for the task at hand. It seemed like only five minutes had passed since their meeting, and yet Shard, Shareen, Raven, Genis, and Bartheo were gathered outside the Black Eye tavern. They had their backs pressed to the wall, anticipating their next move.
After a few moments, Audrey's slender frame appeared from around the side of the building. She hopped up to them energetically and beamed proudly. "They haven't sealed it up yet," the girl announced, "but they're working on it. Everyone else inside is knocked out. Shareen was right about that."
Shard closed his eyes in contemplation and nodded. "Okay. I may not like it, but we'll have to charge in. The workers need to be incapacitated quickly and silently; otherwise, they will alert the rest of the compound. We won't be able to remain unnoticed for too long in any event, but the longer, the better."
"Alright," Shareen said, "the first thing those workers are going to do – the ones that can't fight, anyway – is retreat back into the compound. We need to block off the door. Shard, that's your domain." Her twin nodded his head curtly. "Then we need to take out the workers, by any means necessary—"
"Ooh, but don't kill them!" Audrey interrupted. "They don't look like full-fledged members or anything. They're probably just hirelings who don't know what's really going on. Knocking them out should be fine."
"Hmmm." Genis stroked his flowing, white beard. "I agree; however, we'll need a couple of us to stay behind, then, and watch them after they've been incapacitated. Of course, if fewer of us infiltrate the base, the better our chances at remaining stealthy."
"Then let me begin the festivities," Shard said with a wry smile. He moved over to the window and peered in tentatively, making sure none of the workers were looking at him. When all was clear, he signaled to the others. They poised themselves at the door. "I call upon the servant of Mother Earth! I summon thee – come, Gnome!"
With an ornate flourish of his arms, Shard gathered a large amount of energy and summoned a large mole-like creature inside the tavern. Positioned at the mouth of the hallway the workers were diligently trying to seal up, Gnome brandished his shovel and let out a hoot. "Alright, baby! It's time to rock!"
Shard raised his arm and then quickly dropped it, signaling the others to burst through the door and begin tearing things up. Once they were inside, he swept the area with his eyes once more and then followed them.
The scene inside was one of chaos. Although the workers were unarmed, they were now cornered animals, a condition which brings out the worst in any human. Genis quickly set after the incapacitated patrons, examining each of them in turn to ensure that they had not been killed by the Hand of Beatrix. Meanwhile, everyone else was busy fighting the workers, some of whom were futilely trying to push past Gnome's massive form.
Audrey was particularly energized, and leapt immediately into action with her gymnast's ribbon. As she danced, the beautiful piece of red ribbon responded in kind. It weaved through the crowd and singled out one particular opponent who was brandishing a broken table leg – rusty nails included – and battering Gnome with it. The summon spirit was preparing to slam the man with his shovel, despite being ordered not to; even he could only take so much. The worker looked surprised as the piece of cloth wrapped itself tightly under his arms and around his chest, and then lifted him helplessly in the air.
"Sunrise Drop!" Audrey cried. She lifted the man into the air with her ribbon, and then the cloth loosened entirely, allowing him to fall freely the nine or ten feet to the floor with a sickening crash. She wasn't finished yet, however; the young girl lashed out with the ribbon and grabbed a second worker, once again raising him high above her. "Sunset Slam!" This time, with a strength that was certainly unexpected coming from her, she grabbed the ribbon in both hands and dragged the man down. There was another horrifying thud as his body was slammed against the floor. Both of her victims now lay incapacitated, still breathing but very much out of the game, on the floor of the tavern.
Raven was finding the fight a rather amusing challenge: he was darting around one particular worker and occasionally striking at him with only the flat of his long katana. The grin painted on his attractive features suggested that he was enjoying the opportunity to fight in a way he had never done before. Although he was doing considerably less damage this way, his opponent was absolutely no match for him in speed, so it was a clearly one-sided battle.
Bartheo was not so amused at not being able to cleave his opponents twain. He was fighting with the backside of his axes, ramming them into his victim's stomachs and causing them to cough up large amounts of phlegm and, occasionally, blood. None of them stood much of a chance against him, but he no doubt felt as though he was not fighting to his full strength.
Elsewhere, Shareen and Shard made a force to be reckoned with. Watching each other's backs, none of the workers were able to get anywhere near them. Ocasionally Shard would grab Shareen's legs and toss her up into the air, at which point she would magically multiply her cards and throw them like rainfall onto the heads of the enemies around her. Suffice to say it did not take them long to finish their part of the fight.
Before long, the fight ended with a small horde of Hand of Beatrix hirelings lying incapacitated on the floor, some looking so battered that it was amazing they were still alive. It was certainly a less subtle entrance than Shard had hoped, but they did not have the advantage of being choosy right now. Time was of the essence. Once they were certain everyone had been taken care of, Genis and Raven volunteered to stay behind and make sure none of the hirelings woke up and decided to report what had happened. At Shard's command, Gnome vanished once more, and the rest of the party darted down the dark tunnel into the thick of the compound.
---
Back in the Fujibayashi house, Juna was sitting on the edge of her bed, which lay beside Aidan's. She looked at him nervously, wondering how he was doing. Occasionally, the boy sank into feverish dreams, tossing and turning and even screaming, but never waking up. She wondered what sorts of nightmares could have such an effect on him.
Arthur entered the room silently, with his staff in hand. Gracefully the man crossed the room, looking very concerned at both of his patients. "Juna, please get some rest," he requested. She hesitated for a moment, but eventually succumbed and lay down on the bed. "Hmm…" the priest said as he examined the sleeping Aidan. His fingers ran along the boy's body, checking his vitals. "He seems perfectly fine. Not a wound to be found on him."
"Are you sure? He was hit pretty hard by those two shuriken," Juna noted, sitting up once more. Arthur looked reprimanding at her and she lay back down.
"They must have glanced off his armor. There isn't even the slightest trace of a wound. Not of any kind, not anywhere on his body. As far as I can tell, the only problem he has right now is extreme fatigue." Aidan let out a scream again, and Arthur put a hand on his forehead. "Well, extreme fatigue and feverish dreams. Perhaps this will soothe him." The priest's hand took on a light-bluish hue and emitted a faint humming sound. Almost immediately, Aidan stopped tossing and turning and returned to a peaceful sleep. Afterwards, Arthur turned and moved around Juna's bed.
"So he's okay?" she inquired, turning her head to track Arthur as he moved across the room.
"He'll be fine," was the reply as the priest reached her bed. "You, on the other hand…" He quickly moved his hands towards her makeshift bandage and removed it, revealing a rather gruesome-looking gash on her shoulder. "Tsk tsk. This is a nasty wound. But not to worry, I'll have it patched up in a moment."
He lifted the head of his staff up and placed it against Juna's wound. She winced from the pain briefly; but after a few moments, soothing energy flowed through her, and it didn't hurt anymore. In fact, she felt better than she had in a long time. What's more, the bloody gash stitched itself up at an impossible rate, until she could hardly tell that she had been wounded at all.
"There!" Arthur announced with a nod. "Good as new. Do try to get some rest, though. I can heal the physical part of the injury well enough, but that kind of wound can create mental trauma, as well as energy deprivation, as the body frantically attempts to heal the damage itself. Trust me, one or two hours' sleep and you'll be feeling good as new."
"But I already feel good as new! Better, even!"
Arthur shook his head sternly, but chuckled a bit. "Agitate yourself and we'll see just how good you feel. Not even magic can work miracles, Juna."
The woman sighed in defeat and tried to close her eyes. She could feel Arthur's presence, staying behind to watch and make sure she didn't disobey him. After a while, the healer glided out of the room again, and she could just make out his footsteps on the creaky wooden staircase to the basement. Like a child defying her parents, Juna immediately sat up and turned to face Aidan again.
"He sure doesn't look okay," she noted to herself, watching helplessly as her knight's chaotic tossing and turning resumed.
---
In the meanwhile, the group of 4 was deep into its exploration of the cold, metallic tunnels of the Hand of Beatrix. It was unlike anything they had ever seen before. Every tunnel looked exactly like the last, until after only a short time they had little idea of where they had come or where they were going. However, this was the furthest thing from their minds: right now, all they needed to do was find Sonia and figure out what the Hand of Beatrix was really up to.
They knew that every passing moment meant a smaller and smaller chance of finding their target. Of course, their description of her – "a tall, beautiful woman in a black gown" – suggested that she would stick out like a sore thumb in a place like this. There certainly couldn't be too many women dressed for a ball wandering around these cold, alien tunnels.
"Jeez, we're not getting anywhere!" Audrey complained after a while, leaning exhaustedly against a metal wall.
"She's right," Bartheo agreed gruffly. "We've hardly seen anyone since we got here. Maybe they evacuated."
Shard stopped beside them and looked down at the floor in contemplation. "I find it highly unlikely. They had no warning of our arrival… I doubt they'd evacuate just because Juna and Aidan blew up their door."
"Maybe they thought it wasn't worth the risk to stay here anymore, now that suspicions would arise about their presence," Shareen considered.
"Who caaaares?" Audrey whined, stamping her foot. "It's not like we have to just guess what they did! Why don't we find out for sure?"
Shard looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?" he inquired.
"The magitechnology terminals! I'm no whiz or anything, but I know a fair bit about all those sorts of artifacts," she explained. "I learned about them at the academy in New Meltokio. I could probably at least check their records or something. Shouldn't be too tough."
Shareen stepped forward with an annoyed expression. "Well why didn't you bring it up before? You could have saved us tons of time! For all we know Sonia's gotten away by now!" As the ninja-woman fumed, Audrey heaved a big sigh and extended her hand for silence.
"You're so melodramatic, Shareen," Audrey said, flashing a playful wink in Shard's direction. "Two reasons I didn't bring it up before: one, I'm not sure if I can do it; and two, if an unauthorized person – a.k.a. moi – accesses a terminal, it could set off an alarm or something. Now that we're kind of at our wit's end, though, we haven't got a lot of options."
"Well, there's one of those… those… things in there," Bartheo said sternly, pointing towards one of the strange, sliding doors that separated each room from the connecting hallways. As everyone gathered around, they could see the bizarre, greenish glow from the screens lining the terminals. Audrey stepped forward and the doors slid open to greet her.
"Okay!" she exclaimed, cracking her knuckles and stepping towards one of keyboards in front of a glowing screen. "Time to get to work!"
Everyone stood back in amazement as Audrey's fingers flew across the keyboard. The screen reacted almost magically; every input made on the keys somehow appeared on the screen. None of them could explain it; magitechnology was a science of ages past, not used since it almost destroyed the world. Things of this level, especially, had not been seen in Aselia since the time of the Great Heroes, before the two worlds had become one.
"Let's see, let's see…" she muttered to herself, eyes scouring the glowing screen independently of her fingers dancing across the keypad. "Come on, baby… record logs, announcements, give me anything! Ooh – this is interesting…"
"What, what!" Shareen demanded, crowding behind Audrey and staring incoherently at the words on the screen.
"Well, I couldn't find exactly what we were looking for, but—"
"You couldn't? Damn it!" Shareen stamped her foot furiously.
"—but, I found something equally interesting to make up for it," Audrey noted with due annoyance. She tapped on the keyboard a few more times, and suddenly the words changed to pictures.
"It's a map," Shard said. "Of this complex, Audrey?"
The girl nodded. "Yup! This… is us," she said, typing a few more commands; a flashing dot appeared in a rectangular box on the holographic projection.
"What? That's just a dot. We don't look like that," Bartheo protested, crossing his arms and huffing in disbelief. He was clearly not amused. He never was.
Audrey giggled. "Silly Bartheo! That's not actually us. It just shows where we are on the map! And, as it turns out, Sonia's still here!" She danced across the keypad once more, and another dot appeared, this one a different colour, flashing more slowly. This one was in a room much larger than the one they were in, but as it turned out, they weren't very far away. Sonia was at the "top" of the base as far as the map went, and they were only a few rooms away. Better yet, there didn't appear to be a way she could get out without having to pass near them. "Turns out she has some kind of locator on her. I guess her comrades have to be able to find her at all times or something."
"Well, if she's here, and we're here, then… we can still catch her!" Shareen grinned and regained the passionate fire in her eyes. "Let's go!"
There were no disagreements. With a cheer of victory, the group barreled out of the room, completely unaware of the silent, ominous, blinking red light atop the magitechology console they had just been using.
---
A blurry world came into view as Aidan opened his eyes. He blinked a few times to order the strange scene into focus, and then realized that he was laying in a warm, comfortable bed, completely unaware of where he was. "God… this is turning into a trend with me." Try though he might, Aidan was unable to recall the events that led up to his unconsciousness. He could only remember running… a fight?... and then blackness.
"Aidan! You're awake!" a familiar voice cried from beside him. With much effort, he turned his head to the left and saw Juna sitting on the side of her bed. More memories came flooding back; there was definitely a fight, with the assassin from whom they had been running. He wounded Juna… but there was no bandage on her shoulder anymore.
"He wounded me, too!" But when he sat up and checked, there wasn't even a scratch on his torso at all. "Ungh… what happened?"
Juna hopped the short gap between their beds and sat beside Aidan. "You mean you don't remember? Well… I guess it was a pretty crazy night. I don't even really know what happened, to tell you the truth."
Before she could begin to remind him of what had happened, Arthur came sauntering into the room. "What happened? I heard nois—oh, Aidan! You're awake!" The priest quickly crossed the room and planted himself beside Aidan's bed, ignoring the fact that Juna was completely ignoring his orders for bed-rest. "How are you feeling?"
"Uh… fine, fine. A bit dizzy… and I have no idea what happened… but otherwise I've never felt bet—AH!"
Suddenly, Aidan let out a cry and doubled over in pain, grabbing furiously at the back of his left shoulder as though scraping the flesh from his bones would somehow hurt less than whatever he was clawing at. Thinking quickly, Arthur let a surge of energy rush through the boy's body, which brought an end to his pain and calmed him considerably. Thus soothed, Aidan's hand was easy to remove from his shoulder. Arthur quickly moved around the bed to examine the problem area.
"What on earth…"
He ran his hand across a strange, black bruise that had somehow appeared on Aidan's shoulder. The marking was a perfect crescent moon, and it had certainly not been there when he was first brought up into the room, nor when Arthur examined him initially. He thought it possible that the bruise had simply taken time to manifest itself, and was perhaps subdued by the initial waves of healing magic he had used to soothe Aidan's nightmares. However, the bishop was not so concerned with how the bruise had manifested itself as with why it had done so: indeed, it practically confirmed Aidan's role as one of the werewolves of prophecy.
"What the hell is that?" Juna inquired worriedly. "That's a pretty oddly-shaped bruise."
"Yes, it is," Arthur agreed. "And I think it may confirm more about our situation than we had thought."
"About… about Ragnarok, you mean?"
Arthur nodded his head. "Yeah. According to the scriptures, the second phase of Ragnarok occurs when the Alpha Wolf, Fenrisulfr, bearing the 'kiss of the crescent moon,' enters the world. As the scriptures say, he will then 'banish the minions of darkness with his silver claws and defend the purest of humankind.'"
Juna looked wide-eyed at Arthur and then at Aidan, realizing what he meant. "But that's… that's exactly what Aidan did for me! Rafael was a 'minion of darkness'!"
"Yes," Arthur said calmly, standing from the bed. "But this is not a good omen."
"What? Why not? You Fenrisulfr is supposed to defend humanity against the darkness, right?"
"I did, but there are two reasons why I say it is a terrible omen: firstly, Fenrisulfr's banishing of the minion of darkness is the spark which ignites the War of Ends. Secondly, this means we're already in the second phase of Ragnarok, not the first."
"Oh, no…" Juna said, shaking her head. "That can't be true… so… because he saved me, the War of Ends is about to happen? Damn it… this is all my fault. If I had just been stronger, he wouldn't have had to fight Rafael, and—"
"You take too much credit," Arthur interrupted coldly. "It has nothing to do with your own personal strength. Fenrisulfr would have manifested himself sooner or later. In fact, I think he would have manifested himself in that battle whether you had been wounded or not. It is true that Rafael's assault on you is probably what triggered the compassion that is indicative of Fenrisulfr, but it is very possible that he would have appeared anyway in order to 'banish the minions of darkness'."
Juna was silent for a long while, looking down at Aidan, who was no longer sleeping, but was clearly not listening to or comprehending anything they were saying. "Aidan Wolfe, huh. Looks like your name is more than just a coincidence."
"How are you feeling, Juna?" Arthur said, changing the subject. He glanced at her shoulder and ran a finger along the skin where the wound had been. She did not flinch at all, and the wound was completely sealed up.
"Much better, thanks."
"Then come downstairs, please. I think it would be best to leave him for now. If we tell him about any of this in his current state…"
The woman nodded her head and stood up slowly. "Yeah, you're right. We shouldn't overload him until he's feeling better." Taking the young priest's arm, she made her way toward the stairs. Glancing back one last time before exiting, she said, "Poor guy. I can't even imagine how he'll react to this…" Then the pair descended the wooden staircase and left their ominous comrade to rest.
---
"We've got you now, Sonia!" Shareen bellowed as the group pushed through the door to the large room she was in. Dressed all in black as they had been told, the woman was standing before a large, extravagant desk. Apparently, they had interrupted an important conversation; she spun around quickly and looked furious and shocked, and a shadowy figure sitting at the desk behind her glanced in their direction.
"Who are…?" Upon getting a more focused look at Shard and Shareen, Sonia let out a clear, horrible shriek of anger and advanced on them threateningly. "The Fujibayashi twins! You dare to show yourself here!" The woman turned her head to the shadowy figure that was already standing up. "Please use the passageway to get out of here! I'll get rid of them."
In silent compliance, the silhouette pressed something on the mantle of the fireplace. Immediately, the roaring flames died down, and everyone could just barely make out his short, thin figure as he escaped down the hidden tunnel therein. None of them got a clear look at him, neither in the light of the fire which cast a shadow over his features, nor in the darkness of the tunnel through which he had escaped. As soon as he was out of sight, the flames flickered back to life once more, and they knew their quarry was gone.
"I don't know what you fools think you'll accomplish here," Sonia bellowed, extending her arms. Her beautiful diamond bracelets, one on each arm, grew in size and began to spin quickly in orbit around her wrists. They could hear the sounds of the very air around the jewelry being torn to shreds. "But allow me to be the one to dash your idiotic hopes right now!"
With unexpected speed, the beautiful vixen leapt forward at the group. In only two bounds she passed the full length of the room and found herself directly in striking distance of them. Sonia planted her heeled foot into the carpet and swung hard, throwing her left leg directly into Shard's face. The agile ninja was able to parry the attack quite easily by grabbing her leg, but he was not prepared for his opponent to transfer the momentum to the rest of her body. She used it to carry herself into the air and crash her other foot directly into the side of his head. With a deafening crack, the man spun sideways and landed hard on the floor.
Bartheo let out a growl and charged in with his twin axes hungry for action. He brought them forcefully over Sonia's head, but without batting an eyelash she raised her hands and bared her wrists. With a horrifying, ear-shattering sound, her whirring bracelets grinded against his steel axes. They turned every Newton of force directly back at Bartheo, sending him flying as though he had just been knocked away by a giant.
"Is this the best you can do!" she taunted with a shrill, victorious laugh. "I can't believe Rafael had so much trouble with your comrades!"
Shareen screamed and lunged forth. Her enchanted cards were already in hand, ready for the attack; however, she knew that her weapons were no match for Sonia's diamond-bladed bracelets. To catch the woman off guard, Shareen pivoted on her leg and tripped up Sonia, causing the taller woman to lift off the ground and tip backwards. With supreme agility, however, their opponent planted her right hand into the ground and suspended herself in a handstand. Instantly the bracelet on that hand increased in size once more and descended until it was scraping hideously against the ground. "Have a nice trip! Diamond Wave!"
Three equivalent waves of energy erupted from the ring of the bracelet, tearing outward in all directions and knocking Shareen and Audrey off their feet. The bracelet returned to its original size and position on Sonia's wrist, and the woman flipped back into an upright position, posing confidently over their fallen bodies. The four of them struggled to get up, knowing that they had to be much more careful this time.
"What a bunch of darlings! I didn't know you enjoyed this so much! Well, if you want to come back for more…" She extended her arms and spread her palms wide. The two diamond bracelets began spinning more violently, and slowly Sonia brought her arms together. In a single moment, the two bracelets suddenly collided with each other and shattered into hundreds of jagged pieces. "Gemstorm!" On her command, the rain of stones barraged them, and with much trouble they were able to avoid the brunt of the attack. Bits and pieces of Sonia's bracelets were embedded in the floor – but only for a few moments. The woman snapped her fingers, and obediently the shards lifted up and reformed into her two dangerous, spinning bracelets.
"Damn… she's tough," Shareen grunted, forcing herself to her feet.
"And while she toys with us," Audrey pointed out, "her boss is getting away!"
"Hahaha!" Sonia laughed assertively, throwing her head back in complete amusement. "He's long gone by now! You'll have to get past me to follow him, and you—UGH!"
She was interrupted by a powerful kick to her backside. Sonia slid across the rough carpet and let out a cry of shock as she finally came to a stop. Turning around, she saw a strange blue woman with short hair and combat boots facing her.
"I hate when bad guys give such overconfident speeches," the figure said, running a hand through her hair. Her crystalline eyes returned their icy gaze to Sonia, and there was a stark determination – and a hint of amusement – hidden within them.
"C…Celsius!" Shareen cried, looking over to see her brother still in his casting position. Apparently he had been able to summon Celsius without attracting Sonia's attention.
"That's right. If you don't mind, it's time I teach her who the real frost queen is around these parts."
Sonia looked up in horror as Celsius flourished her arms and slammed one palm into the ground.
"It's over! Absolute Zero!"
In four directions around her, waves of icicles lurched forth, forming themselves out of nothing and freezing the air around them. With only a brief moment to brace herself for the impact, Sonia crossed her arms in front of her. Diamond gnawed against impossibly-hard ice, and the two equally-opposing forces were thrown backwards; Sonia slammed hard into the opposite wall of the room, while Celsius' ice wave merely crashed back upon itself and subsided.
"That'll teach you," Celsius gloated. Crossing her arms and looking satisfied, the summon spirit dissipated into pure energy and vanished.
The others didn't need to be told that this was their cue to strike. Sonia was still reeling from the pain of the attack, and she was barely able to stand up. Audrey waved her ribbon and it obediently darted directly for Sonia. Before she could resist, the red cloth bound her arms tightly to her sides. Although Audrey had expected this would cause her bracelets to tear into her own flesh, they somehow slipped off her wrists at the perfect moment and began to orbit around her body of their own accord.
"It looks like they're enchanted so that they cannot harm Sonia!" Shard observed, joining the group once more.
"Doesn't matter to me! As long as she can't move, she's finished!" Shareen shouted. She flipped backwards through the air and landed gracefully on Shard's shoulders. He grabbed her at the ankles and heaved her into the air, a much easier task in a room as tall as this one. "Storm Seal!"
The one card she threw from her hand suddenly multiplied into many, and all of these, each sharp as a blade, rained down upon Sonia. The woman was still immobilized by Audrey's ribbon, but as she looked up at the barrage of cards, she did not show any fear. "If you think that will work," she boasted, "think again!"
Suddenly, the two bracelets grew several times larger, and they positioned themselves around her body so that they were orbiting in the shape of a large X. Sonia didn't even need to move her body; the bracelets did so on their own, changing shape, direction, and location to slice every single card into nothingness as it approached. It was as though Shareen had thrown her weapons directly into a shredder. For their finale, the bracelets double-teamed Audrey's ribbon, tearing it to pieces and freeing Sonia from her bondage. The two bracelets resumed their obedient orbit of her wrists.
"Do you see now that it is hopeless to resist the Hand of Beatrix?" she said, advancing once more. "Surrender to us now. I would so hate to get your blood all over this nice carpet." The bracelets whirred threateningly like buzzsaws.
"The hell we will!" Bartheo protested. He glanced over at Audrey. "Let's do it!"
The girl nodded quickly and flourished her ribbon, which had also re-grown as Sonia's bracelets had. She lashed out at Bartheo, and the weapon tied itself around his legs. He did not resist. Then Audrey gathered an enormous amount of strength and began to spin Bartheo around like a toy ball on a string. The only thing he did was extend his axes so that it was as though Audrey was spinning a very large blade in her hands. Although Shard and Shareen had no idea what she was doing, they quickly leapt out of the radius of her attack. Sonia stood immobilized.
"What's this!" Suddenly, Audrey brought her human weapon down low against the ground, swinging him around at a perfect radius to reach Sonia. His axes were poised at her ankles, and Sonia knew that at his current velocity he could easily cleave her feet right out from under her. She just barely brought her left arm down in time, and the diamond bracelet caught the attack.
This time, however, there was too much force for her to counter. Although he did no physical damage, Bartheo barreled directly underneath her, causing her to lose her balance and sending her tumbling to the ground. Audrey swung the man high up into the air again, until he was suspended almost directly above her.
"Unison Attack: Grand Cleaver!" they cried together.
Audrey brought the ribbon down hard, and Bartheo responded by adjusting his axes accordingly – the blades faced toward him, not toward his target, as his intent was not to kill this time. Sonia gazed upwards, a paralyzing sense of fear filling her. If she didn't move, she would be dashed to pieces by the combination of his axes and the velocity of his movement.
"It's over for you!" screamed Bartheo as he tore through the air.
In that final moment, the flats of his axes slammed hard into the metallic ground, digging in so deep that flakes of steel flew up into the air and waves of kinetic energy almost knocked everyone off their feet. Sonia, however, was nowhere near the centre of the attack.
"If you think it will be that easy, you're dead wrong!" Sonia gloated with a laugh. She had rolled away at precisely the right moment to avoid the attack without them knowing it. The two diamond-bladed bracelets ripped through the air and once again sliced at Audrey's ribbon. The tension that had kept Bartheo's body stable now gave way all at once, and his body flipped over, rolling until he collided with the wall; his axes remained stuck in the floor, deep in the hole they had created.
"How did she move so quickly?" Audrey shouted in complete disbelief. "There's no way she could have regained her balance so easily!"
But Sonia was already in motion, dashing across the now-destroyed plush carpet towards Audrey. "This is what it's like to fight one of the Black Five!" Before Audrey could react, Sonia had brought her arm down diagonally in a chop at the girl's neck. The whirring, diamond blade reached her flesh with a hideous gnashing, and Audrey's innocent scream banished the shocked silence.
Before too much damage could be done, Sonia gasped as she felt a large force being applied to her right arm. Looking down, she saw that Shareen had slid underneath her and had thrust upwards with her foot, gathering a surprising amount of force. Sonia's arm was forced away from her bleeding target, and she reeled backwards in shock and pain.
"And this is what it's like to fight the people of Mizuho," growled Shareen. Her voice had lost its usual friendly qualities; she was now all business, and the dark anger in her voice reflected this. Bartheo rushed over to tend to his fallen comrade, and Shard accompanied him. Audrey was bleeding profusely, and Sonia's attack had easily torn through several bones and muscles in her right shoulder.
Sonia realized that, even though she had not succeeded in severing the heart muscles as she had planned, enough damage had been done; it would take both Bartheo and Shard just to stop the bleeding and subdue her immense pain. "Looks like it's just you and me now, girl," she taunted, resting a hand on her hip. Despite the immense battle that had just taken place, Sonia did not look tired in the slightest. Shareen, however, was panting heavily: a mixture of shock, worry, and fatigue. "Hardly what I'd call a fair fight, but try to put on a good show, okay?"
The woman laughed and leapt into action. As she moved, her right bracelet slid off her arm and slipped onto her ankle instead. Shareen knew this would give her even more variability in her attacks; now her kicks were just as deadly as her chops and thrusts. "I have to avoid those blades…" Shareen thought to herself, readying for the attack. "She now has one blind spot on each half of her body… I just have to stay in those blind spots!"
The first attack was a kick; Sonia propelled herself through the air and brought her right leg down hard over Shareen's head. With split-second timing, the ninja rolled to the right, causing the kick – and the deadly anklet with it – to hit nothing but floor. Utilizing the momentum of her roll, Shareen spun and slammed the back of her foot hard into the back of Sonia's unguarded left leg. Taken aback by the sudden movement, Sonia fell over backwards, but once again righted herself by standing on her left hand.
"You should know by now that won't work!" she gloated. Her bracelet began to whirl and shred the ground beneath her. "Diamond Wave!"
"And that's not going to work a second time, either!" Shareen cried. As the three waves of energy rippled towards her, she kicked her legs and flew high into the air. "Storm Seal!" she cried. Throwing another card, it multiplied into hundreds of bladed weapons raining down on Sonia.
"No! I can't react in time!" The cards rained down hard, and Sonia took the brunt of the attack. It felt like hundreds of knives were tearing across her skin. Staggering from the pain, she launched herself backwards and landed weakly on her feet. "Nice trick, girl. Looks like you're ready to get serious!"
Erupting with a dark, echoing laugh, Sonia began to lift off the floor, hovering in the air. Her bracelets slid off her arm and leg, and once again they grew and grew until one was slightly larger than the other. One of the bracelets eclipsed her body vertically, and the larger one eclipsed it horizontally, so that she was essentially floating within a cross-shaped sphere. "Gyrosphere!" she cried. "Let's see how you handle this!"
Sonia lowered herself until the vertical wheel dug into the floor, shearing through it as easily as if it were mere dirt. As she gestured with her hand, the massive contraption lurched forward. Shareen planned her move carefully; if she positioned her body incorrectly, even if she rolled away from the vertical blade, the horizontal one would carve her up easily. Pushing herself against the floor and staying low, she was able to avoid them both with relative ease.
Sonia didn't stop to admire her opponent's footwork, however. She simply made a wide turn about the room, leaving a deep wedge in her wake, and doubled back on Shareen's position. "If I can just get into one of those blind spots, maybe I can knock her down!" Shareen thought, eyeing her opponent carefully. Taking the only opportunity available, she spun on her heel and brought her other leg directly into Sonia's legs, hoping to tip her over. The attack connected, and the strange gyroscopic contraption wobbled as Sonia lost her balance.
However, as if making up for her lack of balance, the two blades adjusted position and size in such a way that they did not lose speed at all, and were able to maintain their direction. "That's the wonderful thing about gyroscopes," Sonia taunted. "They never fall over!"
The bladed weapon turned once again and made its way back to Shareen, who was now finding herself dangerously short on options. She couldn't knock Sonia over, and if she tried another Storm Seal, her cards would merely get shredded again. It occurred to her that attacking Sonia was not the key to defeating her latest attack.
"I've got it!" she cried, flourishing her enchanted card. "You're mine this time! Cyclone Seal!"
As Shareen pressed her card into the floor, a barrage of them suddenly appeared underneath Sonia. They all pressed upward with the force of a hurricane's inner wall, and this caused the two wheels of the gyrosphere – particularly the horizontal one – to tip. With the balance of the contraption thus destroyed, Sonia could no longer keep her momentum, and she fell to the side. Her two bracelets shrunk back to their normal sizes and hovered around her until she got up.
"Damn… you're pretty good, girlie," she complimented. The diamond weapons returned to their positions on her left wrist and right ankle.
"You have no idea."
Shareen didn't give her opponent a moment to recoup. She lunged into action, intent on finishing the battle immediately. If Sonia was given any more leeway, she might begin to use even more dangerous techniques. Shareen could not let that happen; so, before Sonia even had the chance to realize what was happening, Shareen was upon her.
"What!" the shocked opponent cried as Shareen pressed a card against her left shoulder. "I can't… move my arm!"
Without responding, the ninja continued. She swerved around to her left, bringing her arm low and pressing another card against the right thigh. Wherever her card touched, an exact replica of it remained behind, while the real thing stayed in her hand. In this fashion, she paralyzed Sonia's other arm and leg, and finished by placing one more card directly on her stomach. Then Shareen leapt back a fair distance.
"I've just paralyzed every major muscle system in your body," she explained. Shard looked up in shock.
"Wait… you don't mean… you're using that technique?" he gasped in disbelief.
Shareen did not respond. She folded her hands in a strange formation and glared at Sonia. "Your life ends here… Life Seal: Omega!"
In response to her words, the cards attached to Sonia's body began to glow and shimmer with a strange luminescence. The woman screamed horribly as she felt the very life being drained from her body, sealed into the cards to which she was bonded. After what seemed like an eternity of this hell, they faded into nothingness, leaving Sonia weakened and almost lifeless on the floor.
"Now you're coming with us!" Shareen ordered, stepping forward dominantly.
"That will be quite enough," a strange voice called from the darkness. Suddenly, out of the shadows, a strange man clad in a sinister black-cloth outfit emerged as if from thin air. He towered over Shareen, peering at her with his dark, listless eyes. Long, beautiful strands of black hair fell plainly over his shoulders to his thighs. "Sonia. You are to return with me now."
"But… Lucius…"
The man turned and gazed furiously at her. "The orders come from the mistress herself. Would you disobey our queen?"
Sonia tightened her fist and trembled. "N…no. Of course not. I will come with you."
Lucius smirked victoriously and returned his gaze to Shareen. "You must be very skilled to have defeated Sonia," he complimented. Sonia sneered in Shareen's direction at the sound of the word 'defeated.' She did not wish to acknowledge her loss. "I would very much like to test your power. But alas… I have my orders. You will live for another day at least. Come, Sonia."
The strange, pale man merely waved his hand and a portal of gaping blackness appeared behind Sonia. She stepped in first, disappearing into nothingness. Before Lucius disappeared, however, he turned and grinned maliciously at Shareen. "Do not disappoint me when next we meet." And then he was gone. The portal closed behind them.
"Believe me… I won't," she whispered, clenching her fist tightly.
"Who was that?" Audrey exclaimed weakly. She was now sitting up, and her wound had been treated with a makeshift bandage, although it pained her greatly.
"Another of the Black Five Sonia mentioned, I presume," noted Shard, helping the wounded girl to her feet. He sighed with disappointment and headed towards the door. "Come on. Let's get out of here. Our quarry is long gone by now."
"Bah," complained Bartheo as he supported Audrey against him. "I shouldn'ta held back."
Shard looked meaningfully at Shareen as she caught up with them, walking slowly and trapped in thought. His voice brought her out of her reverie. "When… did you perfect mother's technique?"
She looked at him and gave a nervous smile. "To be honest… I didn't realize I had. I wasn't sure it would work." Shard's eye twitched imperceptibly out of annoyance, and he looked about to say something rather scolding, but he decided against it when he realized that her gamble had won them the battle.
As the group wearily made their way out of the compound, they were somber as the realization came over them that everything they had done was for nothing: they had neither Sonia nor her superior for questioning. They were back at square one.
Little did they know that somewhere up above, something had occurred that would make it all worthwhile.
---
As the moon hung low in the sky, a white, horse-drawn carriage tore across the plains east of Kilika. Its coachman ordered the beasts to move faster and faster, only barely keeping the vehicle balanced. He didn't see the need for such expediency, but the orders had come from the owner of the carriage himself. Obedient as he was, the horsemen did not question such orders: he knew enough to simply nod his head and comply.
Inside the carriage, a familiar, older gentleman sat comfortably with his hands resting on his knees. He glanced at the figure sitting across from him, who was looking nervously out the window at the landscape zooming by. She played with her hair as the grass streaked by underneath; only at the sound of her companion's voice was she woken from her reverie.
"What is the meaning of this, Lucius?" the gentleman questioned. He was unhappy at the two of them having suddenly reappeared in his otherwise-quiet carriage. The tall, pale gentleman sitting beside Sonia did not even open his eyes to speak.
"There has been a startling turn of events this evening that require much consideration," he explained.
Sonia grasped tightly at her dress, looking both frustrated and nervous. She thought back to the fight with the Fujibayashis. She had clearly lost, though she didn't want to admit it; she had failed in her duties. The punishment for such failure among the Hand of Beatrix was both gruesome and painful. Sonia gulped at the thought of encountering it herself.
"Do not fear, Sonia," Lucius said after a time, still not even deigning to look at her. She started, pretending to wonder what he was talking about. "You will not be punished this time. After all, you did as well as could be expected against the companions of Fenrisulfr."
Sonia's heart skipped a beat at the very mention of that name. Fenrisulfr was a name known to anyone even remotely versed in the scriptures of Martel, but to none moreso than the Hand of Beatrix. "Fenrisulfr? But… that means…" The end of the world.
Lucius let out an amused huff and resigned himself to silence. The carriage plowed innocently through the night, unaware of the events that were about to unfurl.