Meta and Dark backed away as power surged from the transformed Eclipse. She was laughing madly as she exerted her newfound magic, causing frost to creep over every surface. Her wings began to buzz, and she darted into the air, zipping around at blinding speeds.
"Are you both prepared to die?" she taunted, raising her blades. Eclipse slashed them downwards, sending out several blue blades of light. Meta quickly side-stepped the attack as Dark tried to block it, only to have ice begin to creep up his sword. He was forced to discard it as the ice reached the hilt, and the sword was quickly overtaken entirely by jagged ice crystals, fusing to the floor.
"Shit," he hissed, conjuring a mirror blade and snatching it. It was brittle, but it was better than nothing. Eclipse spotted this and darted towards him. He barely managed to intercept her swing, blocking the second sword by conjuring a jagged spire of glass. Dark pushed at her blade with all his might, but his own fragile weapon was beginning to crack under the pressure. The mirror blade shattered just as Meta charged into Eclipse from the side, sparing Dark.
Meta broke away before Eclipse could retaliate, but she recovered quickly and engaged him. Meta was only barely keeping up with her flurry of blows, and their weapons were mere blurs as they dueled. The edges of Meta's form flickered, and he teleported back and out of range, taking to the air. Eclipse grinned and vanished in a flurry of icy fog, reappearing directly in front of Meta. She swung one of her blades down in a brutal blow that Meta blocked, though it knocked him backwards. Before Meta could recover, she surged forward and landed a direct blow across Meta's chest, sending him hurtling to the floor below.
"Meta!" Dark cried, sprinting towards him. He caught the fallen man and leapt away as another volley of icy projectiles stuck the ground where they had been. Meta regained his senses quickly, wincing at the sharp pain in his chest. The blow would have been lethal without his hidden armored vest, but Eclipse's blade had still managed to cut through it and lacerate his skin.
"It is a minor wound, you may let me down," he said. Dark swiftly set him back on his feet and they both whipped around to face their foe. To their confusion Eclipse was zipping around erratically, seemingly in pain.
"Stop this-!" she wailed, though her voice sounded different. Eclipse then hovered in place, shaking off whatever had come over her and turning her attention back to the two men. She raised her twin blades into the air, and they began to glow brightly. "Anyway, back to killing you!" she shrieked as the weapons grew to a massive size. Dark and Meta looked at each other in alarm and leapt away as Eclipse smashed the massive swords into the floor, buckling it and sending up a cloud of debris. The force of the impact sent the men flying, slamming Meta into a wall and allowing Dark to slip into the reflective stone. Meta slid from the wall and onto his feet, standing firm despite the hard blow.
"Dammit," he hissed. He couldn't afford another hit like that, but Eclipse had already lifted the weapons for a second blow. Meta watched the blades like a hawk, and he vanished at the moment of impact, reappearing shortly after. Eclipse scowled as he emerged unscathed and hefted one of the enormous weapons, stabbing the tip at him. Meta dodged the thrust by bending backwards in an incredible display of flexibility, causing the blade to sink into the wall behind him. The shining surface glinted above him as he rolled out from under it, and he could swear he saw a figure moving over it.
"Why don't you give up? I'll grant you a painless death then," Eclipse cooed, fixing Meta in her predatory gaze. Dark suddenly sprang out of the surface of the massive blade and ran along it, sprinting towards Eclipse with two mirror blades in his hands. He brought them both down onto her shoulders, shattering the weapons and causing her to cry out in pain. Her swords dissolved into their original size, and she kicked Dark away as he fell. He slowed himself with his wings and landed lightly, a few cracks running over where she'd kicked his stomach.
"I think I like our chances," Dark taunted. The armor on Eclipse's shoulders had crumbled under the blow, and her shoulders themselves were badly cracked. The blue aura around her surged as she let out another scream of rage.
"I'LL DESTROY YOU! I'LL BURN THIS KINGDOM TO ASH!" she screamed, diving towards Dark. Dark conjured another blade and blocked her, though she was able to hurl him into the wall. Eclipse was before him faster than he could recover, and she crossed her blades over his neck. Meta rushed to help but was repelled by several more waves of energy swords.
"Dark!" Meta called out, desperately fighting to get closer. Eclipse ignored him, sliding her blades closer to his neck.
"He can't save you now," she purred. Dark stared back defiantly, his eye glowing brightly with magic.
"I don't need him to," he shot back, driving Eclipse back by causing an enormous glass sword to shoot up between them. She snarled and slammed the hilts of her blades into the glass, but Dark was nowhere to be found as it shattered. Her eyes widened, and she leapt back as Dark reached out from the wall to punch her. Eclipse darted into the air, narrowly avoiding Meta as he lunged at her.
"You! You…" Eclipse began to shudder violently, and her swords dissolved away as she clutched at her head. "No, I won't let you-" she fell silent, and slowly looked up at Dark and Meta.
"Help me," she said, in a different voice. Meta stepped forward, still cautiously brandishing Galaxia.
"Who are you?" he asked, earning a funny look from Dark. The person that looked like Eclipse gave him a pleading look.
"I am Ny-" she cried out again and darted around wildly before hovering in place again. Someone looked up with a blank expression as they summoned their blades.
"Enough of that," Eclipse hissed, her face twisting into a scowl. She conjured more projectiles and flung them at the men, flying at Meta as the two dodged them. Meta blocked her first strike as Dark intercepted her second sword.
"It seems that you are of two minds about this," Meta jeered, pushing back against her blade. Eclipse snarled and darted back into the air, allowing magic to surge into her weapons.
"I won't be bested by a half-dead demigod! I'll destroy you both-" Eclipse let out another scream and clutched at her head, her swords dissolving into energy as they hit the floor. "No, no! I won't let you! I WON'T LET YOU!" Eclipse screamed, darting about erratically. Her wings stilled and she fell to the ground, the wintry gale whipping through the room petering out as she plummeted. She lay still for a long moment, and the two men cautiously approached the fallen warrior. Her hands suddenly clenched at the floor, and they quickly backed off again as she stood. A sense of serenity filled the room as she looked at the two, her expression gentle.
"I apologize for how my power was being used," she said, in a voice that was not Eclipse's. Dark lowered his weapon a little, searching for any sign of this being a ploy.
"Are you…?" he asked, finding none. A gentle breeze began to flow through the room, and it felt cool and fresh on the men's faces.
"I am Nympha Knight," she said. Her voice was almost like a lullaby, lilting and rich. Meta finally lowered his blade as well.
"Have you regained full control?" Meta asked, still wary. Nympha shook her head, a genuinely sorrowful look on her borrowed face.
"Not for long. This vessel is powerful, and she seethes with hatred," she responded.
"I need to seal her in that crystal," Dark said, pointing at the shattered prison, "Could you help us hold her there?"
"I can buy you a few minutes," Nympha said. She then grimaced and rubbed at her arms. "This vessel has killed many innocents, I can hear their spirits screaming out. I would be glad to assist in sealing her."
"Thank you," Dark said. Nympha smiled gently and darted over to the crystal, moving far more elegantly than Eclipse had. Dark followed her, and Meta trailed behind him, taking a moment to survey the wound on his chest. The cut was shallow but spanned across his entire chest, and he could feel warm blood seeping into his clothing.
"This will need stitches," he groused.
"Perhaps I can test a healing charm out on you? Since the experience was so very pleasant for me…" Dark teased, glancing back at Meta.
"Yes, because a moment of pain is worse than a month of recovery," Meta snapped. Dark only chuckled and looked forward again, stopping as he reached the crystal. It towered over him, the broken section glittering in the ambient light. Nympha looked at the hole and turned to face Dark, her expression serious.
"She will only be unconscious for a few minutes once I leave this vessel," she said.
"It'll only take a minute for the sealing spell to work since I'm drawing on what's already here," Dark replied. Meta stood a foot back, observing silently.
"Alright, I will begin then. May we meet again under more favorable circumstances," Nympha said, floating backwards into the hole.
"Anything would be more favorable than this," Dark said wryly, gathering his magic. Nympha smiled in amusement before closing her eyes and becoming enveloped in blue light. There was a brilliant flash, and then Eclipse lay there, back to her original form with her lance lying by her side. A glowing blue dragonfly flitted away from the unconscious woman and hovered near Dark and then Meta for a moment each. It then shot off down the corridor behind them as Meta tracked it with his eyes. He turned back to see magic surging from Dark's form, his body becoming surrounded by multiple floating geometric mirrors.
"Incredible," he said, sensing the immense power flowing from the man. The crystal shone brightly as it began to heal, the cracks and breaks slowly fading into flawless glass. The hole began to inch closed, and Meta came closer as to better see the spectacle.
"I can't believe I ever loved her," Dark said as the other man approached. Meta stood to his side, giving him a glance.
"People like her know what to exploit. You are no lesser for having been a victim to it," he said, still watching the hole close. Meta was startled into looking at the other as Dark let out a loud laugh. Dark noticed Meta's confused look and quickly stifled the sound.
"Sorry, it's just that before all this I had the totally wrong impression of you. I thought you were some arrogant, pompous asshole, but you're actually not bad at all. Who I thought you were would never say something like that," he explained.
"Not bad, hm? High praise," Meta drawled, though his tone was light. Dark gave him an amused look before his expression morphed into something more thoughtful.
"Hey, after all this mess gets sorted out, would you like to-" Dark cut himself off with a surprised sound, and Meta frowned, turning to face him.
"What-?" Meta's blood froze as he saw Eclipse's lance pierced through Dark's stomach, the blood coated tip jutting out of his back. Eclipse was straining against the crystal that had already covered her, and an insane grin twisted her lips.
"How about a parting gift?"
(Sorry for the cliff hanger, but the next chapter will be up tomorrow so no worries!)