~ Me and Mine ~
It was chaos. Somehow the bastards had gotten in. Finn had no idea how they had even found them in the desolate mountain top that had become their base. But they had, and the destruction was akin to a weasel in a rabbit warren. The smell of blood was heavy in the air, accompanied by warrior yells and screams of pain.
They were so unprepared for this. He should probably stop and help. That's what Aerrow would have done. But he wasn't Aerrow. Finn had no grand illusions that he could be everybody's hero. At the end of the day what mattered were him and his; family came before strangers.
He had saddled Junko with Stork, and they were promptly holding tight in the new Condor. Occasional explosions indicated the merb was having some fun with his new toys. Finn was suddenly very glad that Stork had been such a prick about installing heavy artillery on the ship, even if it would slow the old bird down. It sure in hell was helpful now.
That just left Piper.
He knew it was stupid to worry about Piper. It was good-head-on-her-shoulders-Piper, completely-capable-of-taking-care-of-herself-Piper. But there some idiotic chivalrous part of him that wanted to make sure she was okay. Didn't matter that she had ripped out his heart. As long as she was okay, everything was okay.
So Finn punched, stabbed, jabbed, swerved and stomped his way to Agate's apartments. The amount of blood pooled everywhere wasn't a good sign.
It made his mouth go dry, because it could be Piper's. And the idea of her hurt somewhere, or ... no, he didn't want to go down that road. He just had to find Piper and then...
Finn hissed under his breath. He had no idea where to find Piper. At that moment a scream broke through the silence.
~ Desperate ~
Blood flowed down her arm, making her grip on the dagger in her hand slippery. The blade went flying as she was struck in the face, flying to the floor. She was able to roll out of the way of a blind kick, but she was feeling woozy. There was blood in her mouth and her entire face felt sore.
Panting, Piper watched as the massive man infront of her whirled to hunt her out. Piper winced when she saw his face. Shrike could be considered attractive by some who liked strong jaws, and heavy brows. He looked positively ghoulish now. Blood streamed down his face, and he held one hand to the ruin carved into his eye.
Piper had gone to Agate, to help or be helped, and found the bastard about to strike the killing blow. Right now, behind the brute, Agata was lying prone, possibly dying. She was lying in a growing pool of lilac blood.
Piper was used to fighting men twice her size, but she was out of shape from weeks of nothing but meditation and a certain condition she pretended didn't exist. He was also wearing armour, making it impossible to get a critical hit. He was too tall to aim for his face or throat. It hadn't take him long to overpower her. He had her pinned, choking the life out of her with his bare hands. She was sure she was going to die, right there, when she had been able to work loose the blade trapped underneath her The same blade meant to kill her saved her. She had slashed, and that's when he had screamed. It was one of the most terrible noises she had ever heard. And before she could react that's when he had knocked her silly, leaving in their current standoff.
~ Difficult Situations ~
How am I going to get out of this?
Shrike blocked the exit, not that she could leave. Not with Agate lying there on the floor like that. Despite the way the huge man swayed, Piper wasn't really willing to fight him again. It hurt to breathe, she had a headache, and she was weaponless. This was some of the worst odds she had faced in a long while.
With a savage yell, Shrike rushed her. Piper dodged, and then blocked a punch to her ribs. She tried to strike back, but, though quicker, her punches did little good but give her bruised fingers. Shrike kept pushing her back, trying to corner her so she wouldn't have room to manoeuvre. She'd be easy pickings then. Panic starting to rise in the back of her bruised throat, Piper looked for a way out.
Her eyes landed on the fallen meditation crystals that had been shattered into sleek icicle shapes.
That'll work.
Summoning her energy again, she called the crystals, but they barely rolled over. Apparently she was too exhausted.
Oh come on! Please work!
The crystal mage felt her back hit wall, and Shrike was pulling out a wicked looking knife. Piper summoned her energy again, but she could feel the call fail.
Piper felt a scream rising in her chest, and closed her eyes, not bearing the idea of watching what came next. She heard a heavy thump and the sound of a body hitting the floor.
"That was harder than I expected," Agate's soft voice filled the room.
~Will and Testament ~
"Are you alright?" Piper asked, kneeling next to her mentor. Her hands hovered, wondering where to apply pressure to the many cuts decorating Agate's skin.
"No, child, I'm afraid I'm not."
Panic welled up in Piper again. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't lose someone else. "Shhh... don't say that. Hold on, I'll get you help."
Agate's hand latched onto her wrist, her grip pathetically weak, "No... no, there's no need. I won't last much longer. You must be present to give me the last rites of my people."
Piper choked back her tears. "You can't die, please don't die. Please."
"Shh, don't despair child. I might die but my work will live on. The line of the Masters will continue. You've insured that."
"You still have so much to teach me, though!" Piper pleaded.
A confused look was in Agate's eyes before she started making a sickly wet noise. It sounded disturbingly similar to laughter. "Silly child, you're not my legacy. You carry my legacy."
Coldness seeped into Pipers bones, despite the warm blood pooling at her knees. "I don't know what you mean."
There was another peal of the gurgling laughter (Piper distantly thought Agate must have blood in her lungs). "You've read the book the merb sent you, child. Surely you know what I did?" There was a soft smile on the Master's face. "Or perhaps you don't?" Agate's benevolent gaze drifted from Piper's face to her belly.
Desperation of a different kind took hold of Piper, "What did you do?"
Refusal
"You'll see in a few more months, child. Listen carefully, now, I don't have enough much time... I'm starting to fade very quickly. You must begin the ritual-"
"No, not until you tell me what you did and how I fix it."
"Hush, it's much too late for this, Piper. We must start now the ritual to sublet an impression of my soul into a crystal."
"Not until you tell me how to fix it!"
"As I said, it's much too late for those concerns, child. Now, really, we must begin-"
"I'm not doing it!"
"Please, Piper. If you do not perform the ritual all my knowledge will be lost! The secrets of the Masters must be passed to the next generation."
"No. I won't!"
"I gave you a gift, Piper! I gave you a legacy! Don't you see the majesty of the thing I've done? The True Masters will carry on! Isn't it beautiful?"
~ Change~
Finn found Piper staring blankly next to the body of Agate. He really never liked Agate, but his heart went out to Piper. He knew that they were close, and Piper really looked up to the ancient Master.
Finn surveyed the room; there was blood everywhere, red and lilac, but Piper and Agate were the only ones in the room. Crystals were shattered, and a dagger was hanging limply from Piper's fingertips.
"Piper, you alright?"
Piper shook her head slowly, her gaze still blank.
"I'm so, so, so sorry, Piper," Finn whispered, gathering Piper in his arms. "I know what she meant to you."
The sharpshooter felt the young woman in his arms stiffen, "Finn... don't..."
"Piper?" Finn's blue eyes searched Piper's, looking for the answers. They were hard. They glittered with unshed tears but something else; hate.
"She... It can't be fixed... she said I couldn't fix it."
"It'll be alright, we'll fix it, whatever it is, don't worry." This Piper scared him. She was calm, but looked like woman whose whole world had shattered. Some part of him concluded she must be in shock.
Piper sniffled, "We can't, it's too late." The despair in her voice almost broke Finn's heart. He hadn't heard her sound like that... well, not since Aerrow disappeared.
"Come on, tell me what to do. I need you to be the leader, okay? I can't do it, Piper. I don't know what to do. " Finn begged. The blond had barely knew what to do when Piper had broke the first time. He certainly didn't know now.
"Finn... that's not fair..."
"Since when have I been fair?"
Piper sighed, familiar annoyance starting creep into her mind. "Idiot..."
"So what do we do?"
"I'm sick of being attacked, of running away and being used. We're going to the capital, and finishing this one way or the other."
A/N: So, hurrary! Last chapter we shall see of the Storm Hawks for a while. They'll come back, but not for a little while. You guys can go back to enjoying your Cyrrow. Also apologies - I had difficulty writing this chapter and in general I have a hard time grasping Piper's character. I think this chapter is dripping in angst and is swimming in a pool of drama, but I tried. I think it's trying too hard to be subtle. We'll see what you dears pass judgement on me. So, next chapter we're going zoom a few weeks back to the future and hook up in the timeline where we left off our darling Sky Knight and dark Empress.