I'm laaaate. I'm late. I'm LAAAAATE!
-laughs nervously- Didja miss me?
(I have a tumblr blog you can annoy me at in case I'm being lazy and the link is on my profile)
She holds onto his hand as hard as she can. Where did all these people come from? Why are they chasing after her? Their rough combat boots pound the soft concrete beneath them, hard enough to shatter bones, making her glad that she isn't under those boots herself.
"C'mon, Serenity!" he calls back, and she can't even see his face, she can only see the lights dimming as they go deeper into what she can only assume is an alleyway. Having been bedridden for weeks, she can't even keep her breath steady, trying to maintain her stride without stumbling to the ground in a heap. She is so tired that if she were to drop to her knees, she wouldn't have the strength to pull herself back up again. "Keep up!" he bellows again, his voice bouncing off the walls and blasting into her ears at a volume decibels higher than it originally was. Keep up? If only she could...
"I'm... " She can't even finish her sentence; the single syllable leaves her breathless and frantically sucking the oxygen from the wind as it passes her face. Trying... she thinks bitterly, a futile attempt to finish her sentence.
Her legs are on fire, punishing her brutally for the exertion. It's a miracle she's still on her feet, but she can't give up as long as she has Tristan with her. He's risking his life to keep her safe and bring her to her big brother, and that thought alone is pushing her forward, giving her strength she didn't know she had. Beneath her eyelids, she can see her big brother giving her his toothy grin and leaning over to give her a bear hug, and she misses him so much it hurts.
Joey... Wherever you are... I hope you're okay.
She can feel herself being tugged around a corner and sticks her hand out to feel for the wall, attempting to swerve around it. Her hand meets the firm bricks and she skillfully pushes against them to keep herself on track. "Careful!" Tristan warns her, pulling her closer. "We're almost there just..." His voice trails off and she can feel the cold hand of despair on her chest, sending chills up and down her arms.
"T-Tristan!" she whimpers; it's all she can bring herself to say. She doesn't know what's going on, but Tristan has stopped running and has pressed her small body against his own. The rush and the earth-shattering footsteps are gone and all she can hear is her heartbeat echoing in her ears. The shadow she can see through her blindfold tells her that the threat is not gone.
Gravity pulls even harder against her weak legs and her hands grab the fabric of Tristan's shirt feebly, only to have it slip out of her hands, which feel like wood and won't properly function in spite of her constant efforts to reanimate them. She can only vaguely feel her friend's firm arms against her, the only thing keeping her from collapsing right there and then.
"Are you okay?" His voice sways and floats right past her ears; the only parts of his speech she can make out are the residue words that happen to hit their mark. Her head hurts and her mouth won't even open to spit out words of reassurance, something to tell the boy next to her that she isn't going to die on him. All she can do is try to open her eyes, to keep herself conscious, lest she become a burden on Tristan's broad shoulders, but she can't even do that...
She comes around in darkness and silence deafening enough to question whether it had been her ears and not her eyes that had been covered. Her whole body feels light, as though her weight has fled into the atmosphere and left her empty shell of a body at the mercy of the wind. Her hands can feel some form of solid ground beneath her and push against it so that she can rise into awareness, her blindfolded eyes trying as hard as they can to detect Tristan's presence. It's too quiet. She doesn't like it.
Lumen. I light your path, and gift you with Sight.
The girl feels her hand move on its own accord and touch a cold, smooth surface. Her lips won't move; her body is frozen, awaiting her upcoming fate like a criminal on death row. She knows she's just heard a voice, but it is gone so quickly, leaving behind it the maddening stillness, that she can almost dismiss it as her mind playing tricks on a poor, naive little girl.
Serenity feels a scream tear through her tightly-sealed lips, seeming more like a solid mass as it squeezes out of her throat and forces its way out. Her vocal chords are on fire and her hands plaster themselves onto her sensitive skin, trying to squeeze the flames out, but they only succeed in enraging it further, and the agonizing red makes its way to her eyes and temples. She can't stop screaming and it's breaking her.
Why...Why is this happening?
Every attempt to control her breathing proves futile. Her eyes are watering and she shuts them as tightly as she can, but that doesn't stop a profound ray of light from taking a stubborn stand at the very horizon of her visual plane. It seems so foreign to her, so wrong, that a light should be enforcing itself in her world of darkness, and that this light is a blinding white beam in the literal sense rather than her older brother and metaphorical light of her life.
The pain becomes a part of her existence, like it has been there since she had come into existence, like there has never been a day that she has had to live without it, as she struggles to get to her feet on numb legs. And she can feel his presence, right next to her, malevolent and beautiful in equal measure. She knows he's there because she has been clinging to his arm tightly enough to cut off its circulation.
The light continues to expand against her will, revealing to the young girl her surroundings, a blend of a white bright enough to render her ocular surgery null and void and a black deep enough that, were she to slip into the matter forming the ground upon which she stood, she would descend endlessly into the abyss. She proceeds to plant her feet firmly on the ground for measure, testing its viscosity and only moving forward when she is certain that it won't suck her in.
He is tall, dark and mysterious, the man that stands beside her, holding her close and watching her thoughtfully from behind his porcelain mask. She has no reason to believe that he's human, with his talon like fingers and the long, dark nails protruding off of the end; and she can see him -actually see him. It's his warmth and his gait that is unmistakably human and she doesn't know whether to be relieved or terrified. Her operation worked, but she can still feel the cloth over her eyes, and eyelids, covering her eyes completely.
She only just remembers that her vocal chords are still in perfect shape, sitting unused in her throat before she utters her first words to the masked man. "Where am I?"
She almost doesn't expect him to speak; she cannot see his his mouth, his lips, so it must not exist. She concentrates on the still lips, a simple curved line carved carefully onto his face, set into an all-knowing smile, and she glances at the crescent moon eyes and she can almost see two vibrant irises just out of her reach in the blackness.
"This is the Inbetween."
His voice drifts through the void between the two and waltzes gracefully into her ears. She doesn't know what it is about him that terrifies and intrigues her to the point where she finds herself perfectly capable of walking on her own, but incapable of letting go of his arm, totally and irrevocably dependent on him.
The Inbetween? Her mind tries to figure out what that could possibly mean while his free arm flourishes and gestures to the space in front of them, a spacious green meadow, dotted with violets and flower petals. She's led deeper into the meadow, her legs moving of their own accord towards unforeseeable center, and she finds her gaze fixated on the fluid movement of his baggy, striped pant legs as an unnatural wind sweeps over them.
"Am I alive?"
She can almost see the corners of his lips tug up in a smile, but that can't be, can it?
"You're very much alive, Serenity Wheeler," he replies, walking forward with the young girl in tow.
Just a bit deeper into the blossoming meadow and she can see the outline of something large, something out of place, something that shakes her to her core. The arm that pushes her forward suddenly feels suffocating and the young girl begins to tilt her body in the opposite direction, inadvertently pushing herself into her masked companion. "W-where are you taking me?" she asks him, with a relentless jitter in her voice and a breathlessness that both surprises and silences her. She doesn't know what she will find at her destination, but she knows that there is a strong primal desire inside of her to keep a healthy distance from whatever it is, and while she can barely make out the strange figure at the center of the meadow, she already knows she's much too close for comfort.
"Do you know why you're here?" he asks both gently and forcefully, causing Serenity to desperately rack her brains for a tiny glimpse of a memory, a small fragment of truth pushed back in the deep recesses of her mind to a place she could only just grasp, but nothing is there. There is not even a faded image in her mind's eye to suggest how she had gotten here, let alone why. So why is she here?
A small tug at her sleeve brings her back to reality and beckons her to face the faceless man beside her. His ever grinning visage, his leer that suggests that he knows the exact answer to his own question, stares back at her, almost seeming sympathetic as well as mocking and in her state, the young girl can hardly tell the difference -of course, the mask doesn't exactly help.
"Don't be afraid, Serenity Wheeler." His arm glides around and points into the field, directly at the very thing she didn't want to see. "You are gifted with the Sight. Look ahead and believe that you can face anything that crosses your path."
You must face this, Serenity.
The girl shakes her head but obeys the man nonetheless, turning her head around reluctantly, and somehow, she's even closer than before, and it's clearer than before. She can see it now, the strange being; it's something that is almost a warrior, and not quite human. A creature, humanesque in form, covered from head to toe in what seemed to be white gold armor and hovering a foot over the ground with the support of two rhythmically flapping wings, made almost entirely of what Serenity can only call "solidified light".
A trickle of agitation slides down the porcelain walls of her heart, making her china doll shoulders shiver and sway in the light spring breeze, and she can't help being repelled by this creature, like two identical poles, desperate to sunder, but part of her also knows that she can't leave, not by force but by obligation. She doesn't know why, but a deep stirring in the pits of her conscience won't allow her to leave.
The young girl reaches behind her back and rests her hand on something smooth and cold resting in a leather bag slung over her shoulder. Pulling the object in front of her, she sees that it's an intricately crafted bow, likely made of silver, adorned with small wings carved into the nocks and a bowstring that looked to be made of angels' hair and pixie dust. She notes that it's slender and delicate and light in her hands as she extends her arms in front of her to get the feel of it.
Serenity now looks at her foe from behind the bow's handle and she can sense the power surging through her veins and the confidence breaking through the inky black enamel that had formed over her mind. She could now think with clarity, illuminated by her sense of strength, and without hesitation, she took a slow stride towards the white warrior.
"I think I'm ready now," she tells the man still standing behind her. "I can do this. But first…can you tell me your name?"
From behind her, a faceless voice replies to her question. "You may call me Peten."
She sucks in a deep breath and says, "Thank you, Peten." Her head turns back slowly to gaze upon him one last time, but just like the voice in her head and the flowers on the ground, he has faded into the atmosphere. The only living beings left in the clearing are Serenity and the white warrior.
Serenity reaches for an arrow from the quiver strapped to her back, and aligns it, watching the warrior cautiously as she draws the arrow back.
It is so silent in that moment, that one could almost forget his own existence, but that silence is cut short by the rumbling of the earth shifting and the wind howling around them. Mountains grew like trees out of the dead grass beneath them, bringing with them a soul shattering frigidness. The warrior's arms, which were crossed over its chest at first, were now held out at its sides, ready for war. Its head was thrashing wildly and it began to rise into the air.
The young girl closed her eyes and willed herself into the air as well. Once her toes were no longer touching the ground, she reopened her eyes and watched the ground beneath her shatter, but before she can get too distracted, she adjusts her gaze so that it meets the warrior's round glimmering helmet, which was surrounded by the colorful lights as reflected by the gems lining the tinted glass headpiece, the only indication that this being wasn't entirely a monster.
And then it begins.
The two opponents are hovering in the icy valley between two mountains when the white warrior charges head first towards Serenity, reaching out with a clawed hand that looked like it could break a builidng in two, let alone what it could do to the girl's head. She tightens her grip on the bow in fear and fires her arrow, but the warrior swerves skillfully to the side, successfully avoiding the shot, and continues its attack.
The girl's hair waves about in the wind, settling over her eyes, and panic sets into her heart when she loses sight of the warrior. Blindly, she pushes against the mountain behind her with her feet and leaps to the right while drawing another arrow. As she moves, her hair flies out of her eyes and she can see clearly enough to take another shot. She doesn't waste any time waiting to see if her shot is a hit or a miss and jumped up higher, perching herself on a cliff several feet above her opponent.
She takes this chance to catch her breath and scope the area. The ravine isn't as small as she had imagined it to be, which only makes it easier for her.
Looking down, she's taken aback by how empty the valley looks with her opponent nowhere in sight. Hesitantly, she looks above and around her, trying to discern whether or not the warrior would try to surprise her by attacking from above, but she's not prepared for the ground beneath her to shake and the cliff to break off and descend into the dark valley. She instinctively flings herself off of the falling debris and back into the air, staring down at the culprit behind the cliff breaking and drawing another arrow.
She begins to wonder how any of this is instinctive to her. How is she flying and shooting arrows? How are her reflexes so quick that she can easily dodge her enemy? Why is she able to do any of this at all? Has she always been able to do this or is something controlling her? No. Thus far, every decision she has made was her own -of that she is certain -but the abilities she now has are definitely not hers. Is that what Peten meant when he told her she had been gifted with the Sight? Is the Sight letting her do all of this? She can't be sure, but wherever these abilities came from, they were defending her from this unknown being, and that's all she has time to think about.
This time, she shoots the arrow immediately at the warrior, allowing herself to smirk a bit to herself when she hears the sound of shattering glass. The arrow bounces back, but she has broken through the armor. It's a tiny success with a short-lived happiness afterwards, as Serenity still has to defend herself against an even more enraged warrior.
Through the broken glass, Serenity catches a glimpse of a face, a soft brown blur in the midst of an ocean of white. The warrior never stops long enough for her to get a good look, but she believes that it's human and she doesn't know whether that revelation makes her more or less afraid of this foe. A normal human shouldn't be attacking a stranger -another human -so recklessly. Something is definitely wrong with this foe.
She fires another arrow, still bouncing from one mountain to another nimbly so as to avoid being attacked; the arrow does hit, but not the intended target however. A new foe has risen against her, a small foe, dancing around the white warrior like a servant before a master. It was golden and shaped like a star, yet it still had an unnerving face, smiling wryly even as Serenity's silver arrow impaled the uppermost point on his head. This creature didn't look too threatening, but along with the white warrior, he seems like he'll be a nuisance to her.
The white warrior begins to thrash its head around madly, its flailing around like a fish out of water. A piercing scream cuts through the icy air like lightning, a scream which is undeniably human and fragile. Before Serenity can react, the white warrior is engulfed in black, and from the looks of it, neither the star monster nor the warrior are very happy about that particular turn of events. It's as if a dark black smog is clinging to the its body -no, it's almost as though the smog was growing, manifesting from the holes in the armor and seeping out.
The sight of it gives the young girl a strange sensation, like thousands of maggots have taken refuge in her gut and are wriggling around. It makes her want to vomit and claw at her stomach, but there isn't much she could do for that nauseating feeling with her bow resting in her clenched fists. She knows that she's coating her silver bow with cold sweat and she can't do anything about it. Her feet are planted firmly on the ground, a cliff on a mountain a few feet away from the spectacle, unsure of where to take her next.
The smoke looks entirely malevolent to Serenity, but it's helping her for some reason, so it can't be as bad as she thinks, right?
She can no longer see white -just inky black everywhere on her opponent's body. It's a sort of darkness that makes it seem like the whole warrior is being erased from existence. The star monster is clinging to his master pathetically, trying to shield it from the darkness within, but all of its efforts are in vain. The warrior lets out a muffled croak. It sounds scared and desperate.
Joooeeyy!
Her heart flutters in her chest. She recognizes that name -her brother's name, Joey. He seems so far away from her now. She's still in Domino City, though; she can sense it, so he can't be too far away.
A hand rests her shoulder.
"She needs you?"
The young girl is jolted out of her trance and lets out a tiny squeal unbefitting of one who had just displayed her unusual agility and archery skills. Her jaw is still tight and her posture is still rigid when she turns to face the boy who startled her. He looks to be quite young -maybe only a couple of years older than her, with big innocent eyes and messy silver hair. The only thing about him that seems off his the rest of his body. He doesn't seem very human to her, with parts of his body contouring naturally and other parts built like machinery -the whole boy looks like a bundle of spare parts.
"What do you mean?" she asks him, skipping the formalities and getting straight to the core of the matter. "Who is she? Who needs me?" There is a flicker of suspicion, a small, far off thought that blinks just within her focus. She knows who she has to save, but she wants to hear him say it, to hear him make it real.
"Her," he replies. Serenity's eyes follow his hand as it points away from her, just over her shoulder, at the only person in the mountain ridge who is truly in distress.
She scrutinizes the white warrior for a split second before turning her attention back at the boy. "H-how?" Her voice and shoulders shake for the first time since her struggle with the warrior began. This being who was just attacking her… she now has to save it? From what? Smoke?
"You need to pull her out of the darkness," the boy replies, answering both of her questions. "If we wait any longer, her soul will be lost to the Shadow Realm. You were brought here to save her."
The young girl's lip quivers, but she doesn't answer him; she has nothing to say. How does he know all of this? Why didn't Peten tell her any of this? How can she trust him?
The white warrior is in so much pain. Its croaking -no, her croaking is now incessant, riding on the hairs on the back on Serenity's neck. She knows that what's happening is not right at all, so with a new kind of resolve, she tells the boy, "Alright, I'll save her."
Okay. I am SO sorry this is MONTHS overdue... I started university and it's crazy, man. Totally -flips bangs-
Anyway, here's a little break from Lorna because you guys needed one.
Next chapter is the conclusion to the Lorna VS Viola duel. After which I'll give you (and mainly myself) a break from duels for at least another couple of chapters.
AAAAAND on that note, I'm going to take the time to thank AALLLL of my reviewers and followers and story favoriters (I love you so much), but mostly my reviewers, because y'all read my fanfic, and you took the time to give me your opinion. And whether they were good reviews or bad reviews or neutral reviews, I love each and every single one of them and I pretty much have this bi-weekly review-reading session where I just fangirl that so many amazing people read and reviewed my fanfic. So thank you SO much guys for sticking around with me (even though I'm an unreliable little shit). I hope you guys stick around to the end as well, since I'm really excited to have you read the crap I publish x3
*cough*also anon reviewer "Me", you'll have to bear with crybaby Lorna for a bit ehehe ;D I'm whipping her a batch of good ol' character development so don't worry about it :D