One hour ago...
As Mew, Joe Dark, and Riku discussed potential strategies with Saturn, Gabriel moved his seat over to Auris' side and saw her staring down at that same cube as before.
Upon seeing him from the corner of her eye, Auris tucked the cube between her thighs and closed her eyes with a hum, "You're not going to persuade me to stop."
Gabriel shook his head and voiced himself quietly, "I won't. Your heart has made up its mind. But..."
He couldn't stop staring at that cube with a dread look in his eyes, "Why did it have to be that?"
"There is no other way," Auris said firmly, "Confrontation with my daughter is inevitable. I need all the strength I can get."
"The Null Armor offers an incredible boost in physical prowess..." Gabriel closed his eyes in a perturbed manner, "But at the cost of completely nullifying one's aura."
Auris looked down at the cube and fiddled it around to another side a couple times as she spoke, "Father created it as a last resort to deal with Sarajin. He had hoped to trick him into wearing it, and then the other Sages would execute him on the spot."
"...But that's not only one reason I worry about you wearing that." Gabriel was hesitant to say why.
"I understand," Auris peered up across her left shoulder, "This is one of the few things that can reduce the power of the Anti-Genesis Theorem."
"You will be putting your life on the line against one of the strongest powers in Aurian history. Will a boost in physical strength be enough?"
"I don't plan to fight the Cosmos Drive," Auris said with a wily smirk. Gabriel looked on in confusion, and she gave him a brief glance aside to say, "Focus on your plan Gabriel, and trust in mine."
She squeezed the Null Armor cube and remarked, "This time...I won't stand down until my daughter is safe at home."
Chapter 15: Sins of the Mother
The Sage did not flinch at the mention of Auris' demands and as a matter of fact, rubbed his slimy maw together to smile, "So, another meddler takes the stage...Fufufu. And why, pray tell, should my Goddess yield to your unsightly armor, Auris Aurora?"
"I am not speaking to her, bug," Auris pushed her sword forward against towards the spirit and her gaze seemed red-hot through her helm, "And I shall not repeat myself again. Let her go."
"Hmph," The Sage clicked his many tongues and began a deep, sinister chuckle, "Shina...Don't you have something you want to say to this woman?"
Shina's eyes narrowed with hate and bile and Auris felt her heart sink slightly. The girl rose to her feet and spread her arms down to her sides to shield the younger Kairi.
"Why are YOU here too?" Shina growled and then her voice deepened, "Did you also join up with Gravitus?!"
Auris lowered her hands to her hips and waited in silence as Shina's rage continued to grow, "Say something! Or are you just going to stand there and do nothing like always?!"
"...You made it all the way out here." Auris whispered with a subtle hint of praise in her voice.
Shina's eyes suddenly opened back up and she firmly nodded her head to say, "Y-Yeah. I did."
"Its hard to look at you now...My dear daughter," Auris pulled her head back a little, "You're not the little girl I raised anymore. You've grown into a fine young woman."
"...T-That's right," The sudden praise left Shina pausing to find her voice, "My travels made me stronger than you ever could have!"
"Stronger, yes. But wiser?" Auris shook her head and waggled her sword towards the younger Kairi clinging to Shina's hip, "Not so much."
Shina pulled her leg a little further out and glared at her mother, "I did what you couldn't do and liberated Sancturia from its tyrant! Everyone is safe because of me, and you HATE IT...Don't you."
Auris breathed heavily through her helm, "Peace in our time huh? Is this what this world is meant to represent?"
She crossed her arms, tapping her sword along up it while peering around at the sights and people frozen in time, "There is blissful unawareness and false smiles as far as the eye can see."
As Shina's glare worsened Auris turned to face her and remarked, "This is no different than what the Ten Sages of my time wanted."
"Like you could do better!" Shina's voice cracked with laughter, "You...you and your...clairvoyance!"
She spit at the ground and looked like she was gritting her teeth, "That power never saved anyone but yourself!"
Auris laid her hands down by her waist and quietly sighed, "So you learned the truth."
"I learned a lot about you...'mother'," Shina's eyes trembled and her voice cracked more, "I-I was just another sacrifice for your own peace of mind! You never loved me, and you never loved sis either!"
"..." Auris' arms tightened against her chest and she trembled, then took to staring at her daughter with a lost look in her eyes, "No child owes their parents any love. Judge me as you wish."
She gently swung her sword at the ground and showed an unflinching resolve, "But everything I did, I did because I love you both more than anything else."
"..." She closed her eyes and whispered an admission too strained to be faked, "I was...always too much of a coward to admit it."
Shina's eyes widened for a brief moment then resumed glaring at her with the same fire. She crunched her fists and remarked, "I don't believe you."
"And you don't have to," Auris leaned forward and propped her shield close to her chest, placing the sword down alongside the length of her leg, "But you're still not an adult, and I am still your mother. You can yell at me, curse me, hate me with all your heart..."
"But when I see you're in trouble...I will always come running to bring you back!"
Silence filled the air, broken by the Sage's chortling and slow, condescending claps, "A valiant attempt, Auris Aurora. But this one hated you all on her own. If you thought your words would reach her, then you were sorely mistaken..."
He then hovered his hands over Shina's head and muttered, "The fool has come prepared to die. Grant her her wish with your incredible cosmic power..."
"No..." Shina grit her teeth and baffled the Sage.
"No?!" And before he could register what was going on, he watched Shina deactivate the Cosmos Drive and return to normal. Her glare burned hotter when done with flesh and blood, and it left Auris unable to say a word.
Shina quietly raised her right arm and reached for her original bracelet, "You want to see how far I've come 'mother'?!"
She tapped the Valkyrie Drive and immediately after transforming drew her broadsword in both hands and pointed it at Auris. The blade, crusted over with blood in the upper half, divided her face down the middle from Auris' perspective.
A divine aura floated around Shina's body like heat. Her aquamarine hair shone brighter than the Cosmos Drive ever did. Determination could be felt from every inch of her stance. But Auris felt a sense of loss and melancholy in her daughter's eyes, but her attention swiftly drew towards the blood on the sword.
"See this?" Shina remarked with a cold tone of voice, "Its Alex's blood, from when I was forced to stab him in the chest and take his life!"
Her eyes thrust wide open and she raised her voice mercilessly against Auris, "He had nothing to do with us yet he helped me anyways! But he was just another pawn on the board for you to sacrifice!"
Auris didn't even breathe in response. Shina's blade clanked as she lowered it, aiming the tip at Auris' head.
"...This used to be your Drive. Now...With his fire and my soul fueling it, I will surpass you Auris!"
Auris clutched her blade tightly and leaned further in, "Then let us not mince words anymore. Show me your growth, daughter."
Shina pulled herself up and widened her eyes, sprinting straight at Auris to swing her sword down. Auris dug her heels into the ground and slanted her shield up.
The blade dropped and clanged on the center, breaking up the ground around Auris' feet. Auris shoved forward and made Shina stumble a couple steps back. Then, she took one step forward, performed a hard twirl, and swung her shield out like a projectile.
Shina shifted her sword downward to deflect the shield to the ground. Auris rushed in and slipped her fist around the blade to punch Shina in the nose.
Shina started swinging her blade up as she stumbled back. She managed to nick Auris' wrist before she moved it out of the way.
Her shield bounced off the ground and slipped perfectly back onto her arm. Shina tried another downward swing and Auris shielded herself again. She swatted the dull edge of the blade aside and then made an attempt to cut Shina's gut.
Shina leaped a few feet back and her chest visibly pulsed with a rapid beat. She flared her nostrils and took long, deep breaths through them to try and maintain focus.
Auris steadied herself upright and slowly walked forward. Each step, gentle enough not to move the broken ground at her feet.
Shina inched back and her eyes darted up-and-down her opponent's body. Suddenly, she darted forward and swung down at Auris' knees.
Auris hopped, easily pulling her legs up just enough to then slam her feet down atop the incoming sword. Shina was pulled towards the ground but dug her feet in to hold on. She then pulled her sword up with all her strength.
Auris calmly waited to be vaulted into the air. And Shina appeared to have anticipated that, as she ignited her blade and slashed waves of aura up after her.
Auris flicked her shield down and the weight of her armor allowed her to descend upon it. The shield was knocked around by the projectiles but not enough to worry her or anything.
She wrapped both hands around her sword's handle and pointed it down in front of her face. Right before she hit Shina, she plunged it straight down.
Shina's speed saved her at the last moment, or so she thought. In reality Auris' weight was great enough on impact to whip out a shockwave capable of knocking Shina down.
Shina fell on her back and went sliding a few feet away. Auris was given plenty of time to flip kick her shield back into her hand and start walking forward.
Shina stood up in a second and her eyes flared wide open. She twisted her hands around her blade and struck the ground hard to throw a plume of dirt in Auris' face.
Auris stopped and twisted her head to the right, then the left. She closed her eyes and paid extra attention to the subtlest of noises in her environment. Even if Shina came barreling forward at full speed, the slightest pebble moving would betray her efforts.
Auris felt something warm up in front of her and briefly opened her eyes to the size of slits. Light shone through the dirt and came at her incredibly fast.
Auris raised her shield to block a long, "X" shaped projectile. The impact made a loud noise, and she knew that was when her daughter would strike.
Blind on three sides, Auris took a gamble and turned all the way around. A quick slice along the edge of Shina's blade slowed it long enough for her to get her shield in position. But her muscles couldn't adjust to the impact in time and her arm bent up against the underside of her chest.
Shina bashed her blade against the shield two more times, breaking up the dirty shroud. Auris stepped back while keeping her arm in the same spot, and began to hunch over.
When the sword came down again Auris charged forward and hit the blade while simultaneously digging her feet down. A small shockwave sliced into the ground while Shina stumbled back.
Shina hastily put her feet down and flew in again. She swung down at Auris' shield and dashed to the left of her. She then spun around on a dime and performed a one-handed slash across Auris' back. Cutting the armor, but not breaking through.
And then she was able to pull away before Auris could retaliate. Again, so she thought. What began as a slash turned into throwing the sword like a dagger. Shina flinched and swung down at the sword too late, causing it to redirect and cut her right leg.
She stumbled back two steps and the pain kept her from going further for now. Auris slowly approached, sliding her shield onto the other arm.
Shina didn't move. There was no telling what trickery her opponent would try next. But one thing was for certain...She couldn't afford to take her eyes off the sword in the ground.
Auris dashed ahead and swung her shield at Shina's face. Shina had no choice but to back away. Auris used the momentum from her swing to quickly bend down and pluck her sword from the ground. She then rose right back up and tried slashing Shina across the face.
Shina swung her sword down and pulled her head back. That blade grazed her nose while hers went for Auris' arm. Auris flipped her grip and dragged her blade along Shina's, flinging a few sparks through the holes in her helm.
At the end of the clash Shina's blade lopped off part of her armor's elbow. Auris tucked her arm against her chest and backed away with a hop. She flipped her blade around a few times with careful flicks of the wrist.
"Enough of this farcical battle!" The Sage barked out enraged, "You can end her right now!"
Shina grimaced, grit her teeth, and centered her blade before her body. Auris shook her head and berated the moth man with a firm, motherly voice, "She won't listen to your demands. That is not who she is."
Shina's eyes widened with fury and she ignited her blade while charging ahead. Auris delicately swung her shield out and deflected Shina's warpath to her right. Shina stumbled, but she dug her feet in and swung back in an upward arch.
Auris slammed her shield into the blade and looked a bit surprised when Shina leaped off the ground and unleashed the built-up aura as a tornado.
The tornado attacked with many quick, delicate cuts as far as her armor was concerned, but it was so thick in size that it made it hard to see what Shina would do next.
Auris wagered there was only two ways she'd go: Attack from the sky, or descend with a powerful slash. Fighting against the wind, Auris knelt down and raised her shield overhead, then placed her sword near the ground.
Shina attempted a combination of Auris' guesses. First, pelting her from the sky with waves of aura. The energy split on contact with her shield and cut into the ground. Then, Shina dove and brought her sword down like a massive cleaver.
If she had put her feet down the attack would've had more weight behind it. But what she provided was more than enough. The damage she had done to the ground caused it to break and take Auris off balance.
Auris tried swinging her sword up in hopes that hitting Shina in the wrist would knock her out of the way. But Shina backed off in the nick of time and immediately lunged forward upon landing. With Auris off-balance it was easy to swing her sword into any part of her shield and knock her back.
Auris went flying for a while, remaining just a foot off the ground. Shina jumped all the way to where she was and drove her sword down towards Auris' stomach.
Auris released both sword and shield at the same time. The shield rested atop her abdomen while she flung the sword fast enough to cut straight across Shina's left cheek.
Shina grit her teeth and powered her descent with that rage, smashing down upon Auris' shield to slam them both into the ground. The two of them wound up forming a ten foot deep crater and threw many rocks high into the sky.
Auris' muscles ached. It was an unfamiliar feeling to have pain last this long. It was...welcoming. Yet, the pain in her body could never match the pain in her heart.
Shina continued to press down, her sword chipping away at the diamond on the shield. She dug her knees into Auris' so she wouldn't be able to try and escape.
Auris closed her eyes, and smiled. Shina flinched, as though she could feel the confidence her mother expressed.
Faster than an eye could blink Auris briefly slid her arm under her shield's straps and swung out to the right with all her might, tossing Shina off into the side of the crater.
At the very last second, Auris chucked her shield as well and it impaled itself into Shina's chest plate. Auris stood up and ran at Shina, slipping her arm into the shield and using this peculiar set of circumstances to hoist her off the ground.
She then spun right around a few times to dizzy Shina, and then piledrove her head first into the ground. She pulled her shield out and looked up. Her sword fell neatly into her hand, right in time for her to slice up the falling rocks.
She backed away with a hop when Shina tried to swing her sword back at her ankles. Shina stood up with blood smeared around her mouth and screeched angrily. Once more she charged at Auris and wildly swung her sword against her shield.
Auris was shoved back with every pound. Her heels started to rise against the crater's incline. When she had to bend at the knee just to hold off her daughter, she knew that she was at a disadvantage.
But to turn the tide of battle back in her favor required aura that she didn't have a drop to spare. For now, all she could do was wait out this fevered storm of attacks and hope the battlefield would shift in her favor.
After a few more loud strikes Auris swore she heard the ground break behind her. A cautionary glance showed she was right, and gave her an idea. She swung her sword back down and hit the cracked surface to break it. This gave her more footing to stand and hop back onto higher ground.
She scooped her sword back into her hand and leaned her sword down near the hip. Shina positioned her sword in the center of her body and paced left and right. Auris moved in the opposite direction every time.
Their eyes remained locked onto one another and not even the shrill rage of the Sage could change that, "EEEEENOUGH! This is beneath you...This woman means nothing!"
"A worm does not get to judge who is beneath them..." Auris responded coldly, and crossed her sword over her shield to point at Shina with it, "This means everything to her."
She then leaned her head back and whispered to herself in a playful, curious tone, "What will you do now, daughter?"
Shina slanted her eyes and gripped her sword tighter. She bent at the knees and Auris stopped in place with her sword held at the back.
Shina lunged up and budged her sword slightly. Auris moved her shield to anticipate it. Shina flipped over Auris' head instead.
Auris turned and swung her sword up to go for Shina's legs. Shina tucked her legs into her waist to dodge it. Then she turned her whole body around and, igniting aura around her, rammed straight into Auris' body.
Auris lost control of her stance once they started flying over the crater and Shina quickly took advantage of it to try and dislodge the shield out of her hand.
Auris held strong even after her back rammed into the opposite end of the crater and Shina dragged her through yards of the ground. But even at full strength there was little she could do to keep Shina from pulling her shield off.
This was anger that had been building for a long, long time and finally burst. And it made Auris smile full of pride.
With her mother's defenses lowered it was easy for Shina to pull away and grind her sword up from Auris' hip to her right shoulder. She cut through the armor and struck down into the skin.
Auris' ride ended with her smashing into one of the fake houses, half of which crumbled down on top of her. She stood up and a sharp pain came from her gut, making her stagger and lay a hand over the bleeding wound. She could hear her skin meticulously piece itself back together very, very slowly.
She closed her eyes and breathed nice and deep. A little blood slipped into her esophagus. She coughed, but did a fine job hiding so behind her arm.
Shina stood fifty feet away and Auris' shield was behind her. There'd be no reclaiming it now. Shina held the advantage in speed, especially with the Null Armor on.
Auris lowered her arm. Blood marred the silver sheen. Her heart pumped louder, and louder. It gave her quite a shock, filling her cheeks red and making her smile uncontrollably.
She still had sword in hand, and sprinted at Shina as fast as her legs would carry. Pain throbbed inside of her chest as she curved her run to make her daughter work to determine where she'd attack from.
At the last second Auris eyed Shina's left side and slashed at it. Shina grabbed her by the wrist and pulled the sword away at the last second. She cleaved her own sword down at Auris' shoulder. Auris paid her daughter back by grabbing her wrist gently.
Face-to-face, eye-to-eye, they fought with their emotions and not their words. Shina's eyes shone like a warrior's and Auris was reminded of herself, many, many years ago.
The shadow of the Sage loomed over them, and still he barked like a dog, "She is at your mercy! Finish this!"
"You will not control her you fiend!" Auris declared, "The future you have planned for her will never come to pass!"
"Future?!" The Sage scoffed in an insulted tone, "This has never been about the future, but the past!"
"You are the prime example of the arrogance our kind has grown to have...You think you know so much..." The Sage threw his arms out and exclaimed in an maddened tone, "But you are blind and have lost your way! Just like the other races that litter the universe!"
"You need divine protection...and the guidance of a Goddess!"
"And how do you expect to do that? By brainwashing the entire universe to follow your asinine religion?" Auris said, cold with every word she spoke.
"No. I will return to the universe to zero. I stretched trillions of microfibers of my aura through every single corner of the universe. Every person, every THING is connected to my Goddess' Cosmos Drive. We see all, know all, and control all..."
"And we can return all to the way things were before. I will turn every Aurian back to what they were before. And not only that! Every living being will be transformed into an Aurian, and experience the same fate. We will all be unified, free of war, racism and conflict..." The Sage reared his head back and spread his wings to emphasize a powerful shriek, "UNDER THE WATCHFUL DIVINITY, OF OUR BEAUTIFUL GODDESS!"
"You're a fool." Auris immediately responded, deflating the enthusiasm the Sage had.
Auris lowered her head to look Shina in the eyes with a smile, "Your Goddess doesn't exist...And your 'tool' is a person, with a name she's proud of."
Auris closed her eyes and her smile widened a little more, "She is Shina, Shina Aurora."
Shina's body stiffened at the sight of Auris widening her eyes and yelling, "And she will not lose to your attempts to break her family apart!"
"...Of course not," The Sage chuckled with sinister vibes as he waved the back of his hands out, "You did a fine enough job of that on your own."
Shina widened her eyes and with a firm nod suddenly summoned a series of aura swords around Auris. Auris eyed half of them then pulled herself free of Shina's grip and hopped back.
She flinched, looking down as her feet touched the ground. Her heart raced faster, but she continued to smile.
And her body stayed still all while Shina finished bringing her blade straight down the center of her chest and abdomen. Blood sprayed out of the scar and Auris fell onto one knee, then the other. Finally, her sword dropped out of her hand.
Auris closed her eyes and rested both hands atop her legs, while blood trickled down between them. Shina stood over her a few feet away and dropped the tip of her sword to the ground.
Her panting and wheezing didn't reek of any sense of satisfaction. In fact, she sounded outright furious.
"You...you could have won!"
"I gave you the best I could offer right now, and you surpassed it," Auris raised her head, "I acknowledge you as the better warrior, Shina. And as the victor, you can do whatever you want to me."
Shina's hand trembled and had a hard time holding on to the sword. The Sage rested his hands upon her shoulders and his tongues clicked upon his mouth, "I don't trust her...Finish her the correct way."
"R-Right..." Shina raised her hand to the Cosmos Drive and re-activated it. She levitated off the ground and lorded over the lowly Auris with her divine presence and omnipresent shadow.
Mew had sat back and watched this unfold with silence but now that the battle had gotten this bad he forced his head up and screamed in confusion, "H-Hey! Why...why is she not healing?!"
He turned to Gabriel and lightly punched the ground, "Gabriel! Hey!"
The samurai stayed solemn in his thoughts, and closed his eyes to shut off any outside influence. But his face showed a frown, and his body trembled.
Mew bit his teeth down and tried to stand. He was too weak, and it wasn't getting any better. He had just enough strength to face the real Kairi. She was still on her knees, her eyes blank and her body trembling.
"D-Damn it, she's still not moving...! I...was I...wrong?" Mew seemed to be the only one who cared to try and step in to help Auris. Even she was motionless and accepting of her fate.
Shina raised her hand and started gathering an incredible amount of aura at the palm. The Sage chuckled and rubbed his hands together, "Any last words, meddling seer?"
Auris slowly turned her head to the right. Kairi flinched, and her heart thumped loudly with life. A single tear trickled out of Auris' helm.
"I...will always love you."
The aura in Shina's palm expanded to the size of her body. Kairi's body started moving on its own, reaching for the rainbow colored stone on her bracelet as she pulled forward off the ground.
The atmosphere became muted as Shina fired off a point-blank energy blast. A blur sped in-between her and Auris and the blast split in two, carving through thousands of feet of land before exploding into radiant pillars of blue light.
The smoke quickly settled with a flap of Shina's wings and the Sage hacked up a gaudy cough, "W-Who dares now?!"
Kairi stood between them with her arms crossed before her face and beautiful rainbow-colored butterfly wings spread from her back. She lowered her arms and fiercely glared at Shina with watery eyes.
"That's enough Shina!" Her voice was breaking, in spite of how fired up she was. With her body shielding her mother Kairi pushed her wings back with her right arm and expended some of her power to help Auris heal.
She then curled her fist tight and exclaimed, "I'm your real little sister! And I'm going to be the one to bring you back to your senses!"
Next Time: Memories of Joy