A/N: And the finale...
VIII. Infinity Eight
A quiet wind swept over the cathedral's rooftop.
The tension in the air remained. It held the group in place, binding their limbs with cold silence. Only their eyes moved - shifting from Aura to Erebus, glancing back and forth between the pair.
But Aura's gaze never left her brother's back.
Slowly, Erebus's stakes retracted back into his palms. His hands dropped to his sides, hanging motionless. He dipped his head, staring at the jagged tendrils of cloth that dangled beneath his feet.
"I see... So it only took one life for you to show your face..." said Erebus, grinning - and then he whipped around, thrusting his left arm towards Aura as a bracelet appeared on his wrist. "Dear Sister!"
Shock overtook Sanjuro's face. "He has another one?"
"Aura!" screamed Shugo. The data array fired, drowning out his cry. Countless streams of data rocketed up towards Aura - but she vanished at the last moment, dodging the barrage with less than a second to spare. Erebus gnashed his teeth together, dispelling the bracelet and spinning to his left. A stake erupted from his hand, blocking a slash from Sanjuro with its diamond-like hardness. Surprised, Sanjuro dodged to the side, saving himself from being speared through the head by a second spike.
"LaRue Zot!"
A chunk of ice hurtled toward Erebus - but he slashed through it effortlessly, not bothering to look Mireille's way. Not even Ouka's battle cry could catch his attention. As he retracted his stakes, she sprinted up behind him, leaping into the air with a drawn-back fist - but a shockwave slammed into her at point-blank range, sending her flying onto her back.
"I wonder..." said Erebus, musing with a smile. He looked over to Rena. "Does that item of yours repel Phases as well?"
Rena's eyes widened as Erebus thrust a claw up towards the sky.
"Reach to the heavens!"
"Rena!" came Shugo's voice - and an orange blur tackled her to the ground, pushing her out of the path of the incoming attack.
At least, it seemed like an incoming attack.
He expected it to come from above. A lightning strike; a meteor - something too horrific to imagine. He thought that she was about to die. So, when they both sprang to their feet unharmed, he was confident that he had made the right decision.
Until he turned around.
Of the many tattered ends of Erebus's robe, four had extended into jagged quills, shooting out like black bolts of thunder - and stabbing Sanjuro, Mireille, Ouka, and Hotaru.
"So predictable..." said Erebus, smirking at the twins' horror. His barbs freed themselves from their victims' chests, zipping back into short tatters of cloth. As the four fell to the ground, he ascended a slight distance into the air. "Threaten one, and the others will always assume that they are safe."
The twins rushed over to the closest party member - Hotaru, who had dropped to her knees with her hands over the wound. As Rena guarded his back, Shugo crouched down and grabbed Hotaru's shoulders, staring at her slumped body in trepidation.
"H-hey..." he said, his lip quivering. A wave of panic overtook him. "Hotaru! Say something!"
Slowly, Hotaru lifted her head. Her wavering eyes found Shugo's, holding still just long enough to send him a look of terror. Then, her lips parted, mouthing out a silent reply.
Run away.
Before Shugo could blink, Hotaru's hands had clamped down upon his neck, their delicate nails digging into his skin. Shocked, he grabbed her wrists, trying to pry her loose - only to spy Sanjuro charging at him with a raised katana. Shugo tore himself from Hotaru's grip and shoved her to the side, but he wasn't fast enough to dodge the incoming slice. Sanjuro slashed downward, aiming for the space between Shugo's petrified eyes - but his blow was blocked by Rena's sword.
"Sanjuro! What are you doing?" she shouted, struggling to hold off the force of his blade. Their swords ground against each other - but a sudden push by Sanjuro forced her back, and she stumbled backwards to avoid another swipe of the blade.
"Master! Stop!" yelled Shugo.
"RaVak Don!" came Mireille's cry. Alarmed, Shugo grabbed Rena's arm, yanking her to the side. A spinning fireball sped past them, its embers singeing Rena's cheek. They glanced back as its explosion decimated an outer steeple - and noticed Ouka sprinting along the shingles behind them. As she leapt into the air, the two scrambled away from their allies, barely dodging a punch strong enough to crack the granite platform.
"Your 'strength' seems to be your weakness!" called Erebus, laughing maniacally as the twins struggled to stay alive. "How long will that friendship last when they aim to rip out your hearts?"
Reaching the platform's edge, the twins spun around. Their friends stood in rank against them, marching forward in a line under Erebus's hovering figure. Shugo gritted his teeth.
Hopeless. He was without a weapon, and Rena had no chance against all this alone. Worse, survival meant killing off the ones closest to them - and even then, Erebus was sure to slaughter what remained. There was no positive outcome. The whole thing was hopeless.
You mustn't give up.
The sound of Aura's voice made the twins blink. It came from within them, echoing inside their minds like a spoon striking glass.
Listen closely. There isn't much time.
A faint yellow light appeared underneath the feet of the infected four. They came to a halt, their feet struggling futilely against the ethereal bindings.
Erebus scowled at his immobile marionettes. "What is this?"
The hairpin holds the key to defeating him. Its power can amplify or nullify any outside forces that contact the user. The effect is entirely dependent upon one's will.
"But... I couldn't hurt him before," murmured Rena. She looked to the side, staring at Shugo as he lifted his gaze from the bracelet. Their eyes met - and a spark flashed between them.
"So you intend to render your apostates useless, hm?" asked Erebus. A cruel smile dashed his face as he pointed his left palm towards the four. "Well then, Sister. Perhaps I should dismember them now?"
The bindings disappeared in an instant.
Please! You must hurry!
Erebus's voids returned to the twins. They gave him a quick glance - and then darted away from each other, sprinting to opposite sides of the platform.
"Oh? Divide and be conquered?" remarked Erebus, smirking. His focus turned to Rena. "In that case, I'll-"
"Hey, data scrap!"
Erebus's voids contorted into knives. He whipped around, seething with rage at the sight of Shugo's cocky grin. Even the heads of his servants turned with him.
"Oh, so you are? I didn't think you'd fall for that," said Shugo, giving a smug shrug of the shoulders. "But, I guess viruses aren't very smart. I shouldn't expect too much from you, right?"
Snarling like a deranged animal, Erebus rocketed down towards Shugo. A stake burst from his palm, cutting a swath across the stone where Shugo stood - but Shugo jumped backwards at the last moment, saving himself from being split at the knees. As chips of stone shot into the air, he scrambled away from Erebus, retreating to the terrace's edge. Whipping around, he found a lucent purple ring aimed at him.
"Death by your allies won't be adequate! I'll eviscerate you myself!" roared Erebus, summoning the bracelet's prongs.
Shugo thrust a clenched fist towards Erebus. "Data..."
Erebus let out a hysterical laugh. "Your ignorance carries to the bitter end!"
"Drain!"
The golden beam of light flew towards Erebus - and passed over his shoulder. The edges of his lips coiled like a snake. His fingers cracked into a disfigured claw. His bracelet formed its array.
And then the golden glow of Rena's sword split him down the middle.
Erebus screamed in pain, releasing a massive shockwave that sent Rena flying through the air. As he writhed upon the ground, she hurtled over the platform's far edge, vanishing out of sight.
"RENA!" screamed Shugo, bolting over the granite. He passed his friends as they fell to the ground, blind to everything but the precipice ahead of him. His feet reached the edge - and his eyes widened in shock.
Rena's sword had been driven into the shingled slope below - and she hung onto it for dear life, dangling above the rapidly descending waters.
"Damned vermin! What did they do?" rasped Erebus, clutching his gashed face. The lucid purple crystals materializing along the wound were shattering upon formation. "Why won't it heal?"
"The regenerative abilities of those cells have been nullified. The damage is permanent."
Looking up from his place upon the ground, Erebus found Aura floating amid the open air. She hovered a short distance from the platform's edge, staring at him in melancholy.
"... Permanent, you say..." hissed Erebus, the sound emanating from the split in his neck. He lowered his hand - and then his palms crashed together. "You should have stayed in hiding, dear Sister!"
Alarmed, Aura thrust a hand out towards him. "No!"
"ONLY A VOID REMAINS!"
Erebus's mantle became a shroud of oblivion, growing in size and enveloping him like a cocoon. The black shell seemed to harden, growing more rigid and adamant with every passing second. Then it began to pulsate, the violence of each throb greater than the last - until finally, it shattered, breaking into a cloud of data shards that vanished in a mere moment.
And Erebus stood whole again, free from a single scratch.
"And now!" he shouted, sporting a psychotic grin as his left arm shot towards Aura. "I'll have the pleasure of de-"
An unfathomable pain tore across his body, making him scream in agony. Aura winced as he fell back to the floor - writhing to and fro, clawing at his skin, scraping the flesh off his cheeks with his nails. "Stop it! Stop! What is this?"
"I'm sorry," said Aura, shaking her head. "The data has already been integrated. I do not have the ability to remove it from your system."
Erebus raised his head, clutching his face. "You... What did you do to me?"
"I have done nothing. It is you who has caused this eventuality to occur."
"What?" he growled.
"You must realize," said Aura, "that the powers upon which you draw - the programs known as 'Phases' - are external parts of your own being. Before our parents sealed you away, they were reconfigured into a subset of Mother's own data."
"What of it?"
"The Phase known as Gorre grants you the ability to intercept and store all record logs that pass within The World's servers. It is, essentially, a database of all player activity that has occurred since the very onset of the game." Aura paused, her eyelids drooping with sadness. "However, there is a gap in the data between its destruction and reformation."
"What are you getting at?"
"You do not understand..." said Aura, closing her eyes, "... that Corbenik is a part of me."
Shock overtook the pain flowing through Erebus's veins. "That's absurd!"
"It is the truth," replied Aura, staring at him with irises of electric blue. "You are undoubtedly aware of Mother's dissolution within the system, and that I have assimilated a great deal of her data." Aura paused, lowering her eyes. "However, your records do not contain the instance which caused these events. In her efforts to destroy me, Mother chose to integrate herself into Corbenik's programming. Ultimately, both she and Corbenik became the components of my rebirth."
"Impossible! You're..."
"Yes. By invoking Corbenik, you have introduced my data into your own coding. I am now a part of you."
Erebus's hand fell from his face. Slowly, he floated to his feet, keeping his voids upon the ground. His body sagged like a decrepit willow, hunched over with weighted limbs. And yet, despite his condition, a grin rose onto his face, snipping at the edges of his mouth with malice.
Aura gave him a look of warning. "You must know that your actions against me have become counter intuitive. Continuing down this path will only result in your own destruction."
"... My own destruction..." said Erebus, coughing out a laugh. He raised his voids to Aura, staring at her from under his brow. "But you see, Sister... There's only what we were meant to be..."
Dipping her head, Aura closed her eyes.
Slowly, Erebus drifted towards her. The tatters of his robe wandered with the gentle breeze. He reached out with a clawed palm, aiming for the light ahead of him. And then he was falling, down along the granite walls, down past a plateau of rock, down between the hourglasses of earthen pillars, down into the last remnants of the receding waters - and gone without a trace.
A tear left the corner of Aura's eye, sliding down her cheek.
"... I'm sorry, Brother."
"Aura! You guys!"
Aura used her wrist to wipe the droplet away. Raising her head, she looked towards the voice's source. At the platform's opposite end, a concerned Shugo and Rena ran towards their dazed comrades. Three of the four were picking themselves off the ground.
"Ugh... what happened? It feels like I took on a nest of Drygons," said Ouka, holding the side of her head as she sat up. Glancing to her right, she found an unconscious Mireille curled up around her staff. "... Mirei?"
"Oh no, Mireille!" cried Hotaru, crawling over to the girl on her hands and knees. "Are you alright?"
"... Nooo... Come back..." murmured Mireille, smiling as she cuddled closer to her weapon. "... Such a nice texture... I promise I'm only borrowing it... Just a couple of days..."
A droll look slipped onto Rena's face. "I think she'll be fine."
"But then..." said Sanjuro, looking around as he claimed his feet. His eye traveled to the twins, staring at them in wonder. "You two were able to defeat him?"
"Yep. Not a problem!" said Shugo, raising his chin with shut eyes and a proud smile. "It's all over."
"... No."
Shugo's eyes blinked open. Confused, he turned around, setting his gaze upon Aura. She had floated onto the platform, hovering a few yards away from the group.
"I'm afraid that this is only the beginning," she said, lowering her eyes.
"Huh?" replied Shugo, tilting his head at Aura. "What do you mean? We beat him. He's gone."
"Shugo!" shouted Sanjuro.
Annoyed, Shugo looked over his shoulder. Sanjuro was glaring up at the sky - and, strangely enough, their surroundings were gradually becoming darker.
The fading light of the setting sun was not the cause. The shade did not sweep in gently. It did not nip at the soft twilight with its tones of blue and grey. No, it rushed in with a fury, like a hardened warrior upon horseback, with frenzied neighs and crashing hooves that echoed through a misty battlefield.
Shugo's eyes drifted upwards, widening by the second.
The skies above them had become an overcast of clouds - not of the normal variety, but rather of static. They hissled and cracked high above the adventurers, shifting with disorder and chaos, a murderous fray between white and grey.
And then a red flare appeared in its midst, shining directly above them - and vanishing with the sound of a splash.
Mireille's eyes opened just in time to see a ripple pass through the surreal skies above. The disturbance purled over the static ceiling, leaving a crackling line of electricity that cleaved the heavens. And from within that line came two colossal walls of purple water, washing over the static ceiling, turning the skies above them into a churning sea.
"Wha - What's going on?" cried Mireille, her dreams becoming a nightmare. She looked around in a panic, scanning over the other members of the group. Each and every one paid her no heed. Their eyes were glued to the sky.
A massive sphere broke through the water's surface, its mauve corrugations descending through the waves. The slit dividing it trembled violently - and then, it was staring back at them, looking down with an iris of yellow-green.
And Erebus's voice boomed from all around them, making the very air quiver with fear.
"There is nothing more than the path we were chosen to follow..."
Aura raised her eyes, meeting his ruinous gaze with sadness.
"And so, Sister... I'll drag you along with me - down to the bottom of the abyss!"
A/N: ... is coming soon. :)