The Seeds of Doubt
In a fairly tropical area, there was a cover of shadow in the normally sunny weather. Most thought nothing of this as it was around the time for a solar eclipse and as unpredictable as the solar cycles can be, none gave it much thought.
That sentiment was not shared by four figures that slunk into the forest as discreetly as they could because they knew the real cause of this haze.
The silver and black haired man continued into the jungle after a pause and said to the blue haired woman on his left, "Leda, what's the status of the Force Point?"
Leda stopped for a moment and concentrated then looked around wildly, "We don't have much time! It's 75% corrupted, and we can't let it get past 95% or it will just corrupt itself!"
The silverette swore softly and pulled out a kunai knife from a holster on his leg, "Artemis, how far are we from the temple?"
The hybrid in question knelt to the ground and placed her hand on the ground. "Not too much farther, Aster. I can't tell too much because of all the interference this shadow haze has on my powers."
"Okay then, time to test this spell out." The silver haired man, now named Aster, said.
Aster began chanting in the ancient language of the Egyptians until he raised his voice to cast the spell, his hands on his closed eyes, "Irt nyt Horus! (Eye of Horus!)"
He opened his eyes to show that they were the eyes of an eagle and glowing gold. He focused his eyes and spoke, "There are three, maybe four people in the temple just ahead. I can't identify who they are though, not enough practice with this spell." He smiled sheepishly.
The other blue haired woman merely shook her head in amusement, "You're spending too much time dueling Rayde to get in any kind of practice aren't you Aster?"
"No! I'm just…well," Aster hesitated.
"You're just what?" She asked.
"Oh shut up Aqua!" Aster huffed.
"Yep, thought so." The now named Aqua smiled cheekily.
The four continued onward quietly to try and get the drop on their foes until they heard the tell-tale signs of being discovered.
"You think they'll stay up there for much longer, Sasha?" a blonde haired woman asked.
"I don't know Fulgora, I mean their pretty raw, I wouldn't be surprised if they turned tail and run." The two women laughed at their joke, simultaneously enraging a certain hybrid and water mistress.
As they were joking around, a third figure standing a little ways away in the shadow began chanting a spell. As he was chanting, the shadows in the area began to darken and move as if they were alive. Suddenly he stopped and shouted the name of the spell, "Kuchiyose: Kage no Ikari! (Summoning: Wrath of the Shadows!)"
Aster threw the kunai he was holding towards the caster in order to stop the spell, but a hand rose from the shadows surrounding the caster, thereby stopping the attack.
"Oh no," Artemis growled, "they've brought in the Shadow Envoy."
"Shadow Envoy?" Aqua questioned, "All I see is a bunch of ninjas dressed in black."
"Exactly." Leda nodded, "Thankfully they're not shinobi but regular ninjas, but that makes them no less dangerous because they're made out of the shadows themselves."
"Okay, so here's the plan." Artemis stepped forward, "I'll take the Shadow Caster over there, Leda you take Ms. Squid face over there, and Aqua can take on Sparky while Aster takes on the Shadow Envoy."
"Why does Diamondhead get the ninjas?" Aqua asked.
"Hey!" Aster growled in mock anger, "I told you not to call me that!"
"He gets the ninja because he's the best at hand-to-hand combat, or what these ninja call Taijutsu." Leda interjected, catching on to Artemis's plan.
"Exactly." Artemis confirmed, "I get the Caster because they fight mostly with magic, Leda gets squid face because she has a higher control of water than you do Aqua. You get Sparky because you can easily short her out, making her powers useless."
Aqua nodded in understanding and began to chase Fulgora until she heard her announce a spell "ΗλεκτρικόΜεταβίβαση (Electric Transference)!"
The lightning woman suddenly turned into pure electricity and disappeared into the sky with a crack of thunder.
"Wow…she's gone." Aqua deadpanned.
"Yeah 'cause she's full of shit now get over here!" Artemis commanded.
"Okay, okay!" Aqua moved over to where Artemis and Leda stood.
"New plan," Artemis started, "Aster's already started on the Envoy, so you get to help him Aqua."
"Okay then." She said, I swear if they disappear too then I'm gonna flip. She thought with a bloodthirsty glint in her eye.
"Uhhh…ya think that we've let her hang out with Scry too often?" Artemis sweatdropped.
"Duh, but there's nothing we can do about it." Leda sighed.
Aqua & Aster
As Aster continued fighting the ninjas with his swords and kunai, he began to get a overwhelmed by the sheer amount of them and their teamwork, until a wave of water splashed him and the ninjas accompanied by a whip that turned all the immediately close ninja into pure shadow, but coincidentally or purposely also whipped Aster in the ass.
The fuck? Aster thought with a blush, Was that on purpose or was that completely on accident?
Aqua leaped down beside him and winked before using her whip to destroy more of the ninjas.
Yep, He deadpanned, that was on purpose. Aqua-chan has been hanging around Scry too much.
He continued to fight the ninja absently before he nearly got his eyes gouged out by one of the ninja.
"Come on Aster-kun," Aqua admonished, "You've gotta get your head in the game!"
"I know, I know." He said before he jumped over her head and slashed two more into oblivion, "You've gotta do the same Aqua-chan." He smirked
Aqua blushed hotly before she turned and started taking her anger and embarrassment out on the rest of the shadow ninjas.
Leda
The two were in a stare down. Leda's Poseidon's Gears floating in a helix around her, ready to strike out whenever she wished and Sasha looking back at her coolly as if nothing were wrong.
"You know I was hoping to fight that half-breed for that squid face comment but it seems you'll have to do." She said with a sinister smirk.
Leda remained silent and continued to stare at her as the air around the two began to get more and more humid.
"Silent treatment huh?" Sasha quipped, "Fine, I'll show you a good time then."
She waved her arm and several spears of water lanced out of the ocean off to the side straight at Leda who wasn't moving.
Sasha smirked thinking she caught her off guard, but it quickly turned into a frown when the Poseidon Gears quickly intercepted the spears and absorbed them causing the gears to give off a soft glow.
Leda smiled, raising her arms and created a drill out of the abundant water in the air and sent it right at Sasha who was forced to dodge, but didn't realize that this was a distraction as the Poseidon Gears slammed into her, forcing her into the water.
This proved to be a mistake as a whirlpool erupted from where she fell in seconds after she fell in and Leda brought in a wave of water to shield herself before she started chanting in Italian.
Sasha, realizing that Leda was up to something, expanded the whirlpool trying to throw her off balance, but cursed when she opened her eyes.
The Poseidon Gears flew straight in to the water before they started forming something out of the water through the magic energy being channeled through them.
"Creaturedell'acqua, vieni fuori!Io chiamote, Hydra! (Creature of the water come forth! I summon thee, Hydra!)" Her voice echoed.
A dragon-like creature made completely of water rose from the depths. It's six eyes on the three heads were the same soft blue that the Poseidon Gears were before they dove into the water. It was massive and with one roar the maelstrom that Sasha instigated stopped.
Sasha's only thoughts were, Ok, now we're getting somewhere...
Artemis
Ok, I've got a Shadow Caster that seems to be completely out of it, but I know he's got something planned, but the question is, what? A certain hybrid thought.
The Caster opened his eyes and the area surrounding both him and Artemis darkened greatly.
Shit! This one's Japanese! She cursed, The Japanese have the greatest repetoire of shadow magic, whether they know it or not.
She suddenly disappeared and reappeared insantaneously behind the caster and tried to stab him with a dagger but was blocked by a staff before he disappeared into the shadows.
Crap, she thought, where is he?
A multitude of shadow-made blades appeared all around the space manipulator and began to stab and slash at her. Her experience in fighting the only thing saving her she hid behind some cover while placing a gravitic barrier to protect her from the semi-solid blades.
It looks like I have no choice but to use my double-edged blade of a spell. She thought reluctantly, here goes...
Artemis began chanting with her eyes closed, never noticing that the shadow-blades have long disappeared and the Shadow Caster appeared on the far side of the shadow that he had initially cast, as if in wait for something.
Aster & Aqua
Aster and Aqua were making the Shadow Envoy look like children once they stopped playing. Aster had barely saved himself from a deep slash across the chest before he decided to summon his wings and blow them away.
"How's that wound Aqua-chan?" He inquired while staying vigilant. He learned the hard way that just because he couldn't see the ninja, didn't mean that they weren't there watching him.
"Hang on a sec Aster-kun," She chanted a few words before whispering, "Chiyu no nagare (Healing Flow)."
Water encased her leg where she was earlier slashed by a shuriken and glowed a soft blue before slowly fading to green and then flowed off her leg, completely healed.
"I might have some phantom pains, but I'll live" She nodded to him.
"Okay, what do you say we finish this?" Aster proposed, his eyes shining with confidence.
"After you." She replied playfully.
He smirked then turned to the predicted area the ninjas hiding and began chanting while keeping his still golden eagle eyes open.
Recognizing the spell that Aster was using, Aqua smiled mischievously before walking forward till she was a couple feet in front of Aster before she prepared to attack by summoning another whip to her left hand made completely of water.
"Shinigami no Tacchi! (Touch of the Death God!)" Suddenly the area began to darken, as if by a cloud, even though the sky was clear. As the spell began taking affect, the ninja began to fall from their hiding places, their energy forcibly drained from their bodies, before Aqua began to destroy them one after the other until there were none left.
"That's all of them Aqua-chan." Aster said closing his eyes and reopening them to show his original emerald dragonic eyes.
"Okay, let's see how the others are doing." Aqua suggested.
Aster nodded before they heard a great watery crash. They looked at each other then rushed off towards Leda's position.
Leda
Leda was having a tough time holding her own against Sasha's own water construct, what she called the Kraken and was losing energy fast. Sasha's Kraken was closing in on her Hydra before a loud spell was heard.
"Ankh nyt Ra! (Ankh of Ra!)" A large golden image of an ankh appeared on all four sides of Leda's hydra protecting her from the Kraken's attack. Sasha, seeing this became angered and had her construct continue to attack the barrier, but in her blind rage, she didn't see that the image of the Ankh grew brighter with each attack.
Aster, the caster of the spell flinched with each attack that the water construct inflicted on his barrier, "I can't take much more!" He flinched two more times, "That's it! Kai! (release!)"
The barrier glowed brighter before repelling and completely destroying the construct with a beam in the same shape as the barrier itself.
The beam threw off Sasha's balance giving Leda the opening she needed. She attacked with her formerly protected Hydra which had since grown a head and hit her hard.
"Ok, you little brats! You may have beaten me today, but you won't next time!" and she suddenly disappeared when a wave came and overtook her.
Artemis
Artemis has continued chanting while the Caster remained where he is, his body still obscured by the surrounding shadow and his black robes. She was suspicious with the lack of attacks from him, but paid it no mind.
If he doesn't wanna attack, then I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. She thought as she continued chanting.
"YerçekimiEzmek! (Gravity Crush!)" The Hybrid roared as a mist of power began to roll off her.
The Caster knew his life was at an end when he felt the gravity around him beginning to grow heavier, but he did one last thing before he died. "Giwaku no Shīzu. (Seeds of Doubt)"
One small, seed shaped shot of darkness darted into Artemis's chest, causing her to start backwards and begin to cough.
And just as he was about to die from the crushing force of the gravity around him, he used on last spell, "Seigyo no Shīzu (Seeds of Control)." The spell sent two seeds of darkness to her head, causing her to black out as he died.
Undisclosed Location
Rogue opened her eyes as she felt the energy of her caster dissipate from the Water Force Point. Fulgora standing in front of her Rogue sat up straight in her seat and said, "My Shadow Caster has been killed."
"And the Force Point has been saved." Sasha said sarcastically with a cold smirk in place.
Rogue kept the mask of indifference on her face until she felt the last images come in from her Caster. She then smiled maliciously, "It looks like my real plan has succeeded, happening upon the caster's death no less." She laughed evilly as she explained what she planned to do with her new found puppet.
-End Chapter-
So that is Chapter 12. I'm again sorry for the great delay in getting this out, but I have other things to do that absolutely must take precedence over this so…yeah.
Again, any suggestion you may have (or guesses as to what Rogue is going to do next) will be welcomed, just please say them in a polite manner and actually KNOW what you're talking about, if you don't know what you're talking about, then I'm not gonna listen.
Another thing, on my profile there are a few challenges that I might write after I'm done with this and my other two fics. If you find them interesting and wish to write them (the summaries there are just examples of the basic plotline with a short explanation immediately following) then, be my guest, I just wish to know so that I may read it too.
Until next time!
-Ultima