Hello everyone and welcome back to HellFall!
This is a pretty big chapter so we're going to get right into it. Enjoy!
Upon exiting the helicopter Pyrrha and I started into the library. I briefly glanced up to see the second helicopter following closely behind. Roy leapt out of the pilot's cockpit, then suddenly the vehicle burst into flame and spiraled downwards.
I caught Pyrrha's arm as she started towards it, "Leave them," I said, "They'll be fine" She looked at me with a worried gaze. "We have a job to do." I added, "And so do they. Let them handle themselves and we'll do the same"
She nodded, then followed me into the library.
We walked in relatively slowly. I could tell Pyrrha was anxious, but I wasn't. I knew he wasn't on the first floor.
I ran over all the possible outcomes in my head, knowing what would happen in each one, hoping to see something better. But I only found one that was a sure victory, so I decided we had to go for it.
"He's on the third floor" I said, recognizing the setting in my visions. I had gone to the library fairly frequently during my years at the academy, so I was able to recognize this. Plus I recalled us going up the elevator to level three and him being there.
Pyrrha nodded, "Have you seen anything else?" She asked.
I hesitated, "Keep your head" I replied simply. I didn't want to say anything that could further endanger the mission's outcome, so I kept it at that.
We took the elevator to the third floor, and sure enough there stood Rain Fall. He was at the opposite end of the room, gazing out the massive glass window covering the wall. He turned around upon hearing our approach.
I noticed a large object lying on the floor beside him. I assumed it was his weapon, but couldn't quite make out its shape from where I was.
He spread his arms apart, "Welcome." He said, "Are you enjoying the show?"
"I already know what you have to say, Rain" I said.
He cocked his head to the right, then smiled, "Oh yes, you do." He said, "But let me ask you this, what if you die in this fight? No one will ever know what I would have said"
I didn't reply, for fear of revealing the future and affecting it.
"Well, ask me what my plans are. Go on" He said.
"I really don't care" I said.
He frowned, "Well, you're confident." He said, "I guess we'll just get right in to it"
I drew Arkynshihn from my sheath and took up a battle stance. Pyrrha did the same with her spear and shield.
Rain lifted the heavy object off the floor, holding it with two hands. I saw now what it was: a massive, thick silver sword with blue indents lining the blade. A part of the back of the blade was cut out to make room for the spinning barrels of a gatling gun. One of Rain's hands was on the sword's long handle, and the other held onto a sideways handle attached to the gun part of it.
He opened fire, launching several bullets our way. I ducked to the side, hiding behind the closest computer desk. Pyrrha did the same.
The computers were torn apart as each bullet ripped through them, and soon the desk was disappearing entirely. We'd have to act soon.
Pyrrha did first. She stood, rifle resting on the top of her shield, which she'd positioned to protect her body. She aimed quickly, then fired off multiple rounds. I followed suit, switching my sword to bow and pinning my sights on him. I loosed one arrow, spiking his shoulder good and hard.
His body rippled, shaking and readjusting his gun. He shot into the wall, blowing a crater into it. The building wasn't entirely bullet-proof it seemed.
I charged forward, preparing another arrow. He turned his gaze back on us, tearing the shaft from his body.
Another arrow flew, this one skimming his neck and drawing some blood before piercing the glass behind him.
Before he could start shooting again Pyrrha fired off several shots, disorientating him enough for me to transform Arkynshihn back into a sword and take a swing at him. His sword reared up, blocking the attack. I didn't know how, but he moved that sword fairly quickly.
Pyrrha went in for an attack, stabbing forward. He reached out with one hand and caught the blade between his fingers. And still, he held onto his weapon with one hand.
He threw Pyrrha aside, then, using both hands, pushed me back with his sword. I took a second to recover; building up the energy to swing what I thought was a massive sword. He swung at the same time, deflecting my attack. In the same move he swung to the other side, smashing into Pyrrha's side and sending her flying across the room. She slammed into the wall and hit the ground, not moving.
As quickly as I could I switched my sword into a bow and loosed an arrow. It stabbed into his eyeball and he screamed in pain. I drew another arrow, slid it onto the bowstring, then switched back to sword mode.
He ripped the arrow from his eye, still alive. Most of his aura was focused on the firestorm outside, but he had enough of it left to put in to protecting his physical body.
I heaved my sword above me, swinging downwards. His blade came up, but he wasn't able to react quick enough to completely block the attack. His sword dipped in his hand until it pointed into the ground and my blade scraped across his weapon's surface. I wasn't expecting his lack of strength and was unable to lift Arkynshihn in time to make another attack, so I swung my fist, punching him square in the nose. His head flung backwards sharply, and as he recovered he swung his head back, slamming his forehead into mine. I stumbled backwards, disorientated.
As I gripped my sword in two hands I saw him charge, a gaping hole in his face where I'd shot him. His massive blade was raised past his waist, like it was an average sized sword. He brought it down hard on me. I barely raised my sword in time to block it. He pushed down hard, and my arms were giving way. My whole body shook with the effort as his blade touched the tip of my nose.
He kicked out a foot backwards, narrowly missing Pyrrha as she charged behind him. She leapt into the air, throwing her shield into the back of his head. He staggered forward, pushing his sword closer to me. I slid underneath him as he fell, avoiding his blade altogether.
The shield bounced back into Pyrrha's hand as she landed. We both faced him as he stood, shaking with the effort. He was truly drained from the storm.
Then, all of a sudden the firestorm stopped.
The noise outside subsided, replaced by the heavy beating of rain against the glass window.
Rain's face showed complete and utter shock as he watched the rain fall. Pyrrha and I turned around to watch, fighting to hide our joy that Cinder had been taken out.
As we turned back we saw Rain's face. He wasn't happy. The hole in his eye closed, and some kind of energy radiated from his body. His aura was no longer being used for the firestorm, or at least a reduced amount of it was. The rain still fell heavily, but we didn't know the specifics of his semblance so anything was possible.
His gun loosed a flurry of bullets as he charged, sword pointed right at us. I raised Arkynshihn and held it flat against the side of my body. Pyrrha did the same, and as he tried to stab us the sword simply hit the side of the blade and slid along until he ran right between us.
We spun around as he did, swinging his blade with him. It went straight for Pyrrha's side. Instinctively I ran for it, holding my own blade in front of me and blocking the attack. It slammed into me, throwing me back into Pyrrha, who also fell.
I jumped to my feet, sword raised and ready to continue to fight. He swung, I deflected. I swung, he deflected. We paused for a moment, trying to decide what to do next. I was almost exhausted, but it seemed like Rain could go on a while longer.
He swung again, I ducked. He swung downwards, I dodged. He stabbed forward; I sidestepped, avoiding the attack entirely.
Still, I both heard and felt the blade make its mark. But it wasn't in me.
I turned, horrified. Pyrrha had been impaled on the end of his sword.
Blood leaked out from where the sword met her skin, making a trail along her waist, dripping down to her legs. Her eyes were wide, her mouth wider. She said no words, but stood completely still, unable to move.
"Pyrrha!" I screamed. I wasn't in control of myself in that moment.
Rain withdrew the blade quickly, a trail of blood forming in midair for a second. He went in for a second stab, again at me. I tried to swing my blade, but he caught it before I could complete the attack. His blade rubbed along my sword, and instinctively I transformed it, found the arrow inside on the bowstring already, and let it loose. It stabbed into his neck, sending him staggering backwards.
I ran to Pyrrha, already on the floor, mostly dead.
"Pyrrha," I said, feeling the tears coming to my eyes, "Pyrrha, hold on"
"So you can cry." She whispered, "At least I got to see it again"
"You can hold on, Pyrrha" I continued, ignoring her. I wasn't planning on letting her die any time soon, but there was nothing I could do but encourage her.
"This doesn't suit you Gazini," She said. I could tell she was about to say something else, but didn't. Instead she died.
I held her head for a moment longer, allowing the tears some time to subside. They were quickly replaced by anger, the same anger I'd felt the day Harrison died.
I stood, fuming. Rain had recovered and faced me with an agitated face. "I'll kill you!" He cried.
I felt my aura surging through my body, ever increasing suddenly.
"First you killed my disabled brother," I started, my voice turning hoarse with anger. My aura entered my clothing, activating the dust embedded into it. My coat began to fade away, along with my pants.
Rain smiled, but when he saw my clothing started to back up, shock plain across his face.
"And now, you have the audacity to kill my sister!" I almost yelled the line, feeling my aura overtake my entire body. My clothing exploded into light, along with my hair and Arkynshihn.
"What?" He asked, to shocked to say anything else.
I took a step towards him. "I've seen her die a thousand times," I started, having already planned this line out for when it happened, "but it never gets any easier."
The golden color enveloping me cleared, revealing the attire from my youth in the academy. I wore a pale grey hoodie with the sleeves ripped off and jean shorts. I wore sandals over my feet, and my ankles were wrapped in white bandage, as were my wrists. I didn't know why, I guess I thought they looked cool at the time, despite exposing my scrawny limbs. It wasn't really, but it gave me good mobility.
My hair hadn't shortened to its original length, but the dye had lifted to reveal the golden color underneath.
To top it off, Arkynshihn had been replaced by my original weapon, Risang. It was a long naginata with a curved point at the bottom and a single-edged blade at the top. I held it in my right hand, close to my waist.
My body radiated with golden energy, with the occasional surge of electrical energy here and there. Risang was embedded with lightning dust, and with my aura increase it was having trouble being contained.
Rain stared at me in complete and utter surprise, then burst out laughing, as many had on the first day of school.
"Are you serious?" He asked, "What is this, a shounen anime? Is this your final form? Or isn't it?" He couldn't stop himself from laughing, "Seriously, what happened?"
"I dressed like this in Beacon." I replied, "It's a last resort, and allows for increased mobility. Plus a weapon that I'm much more proficient with"
He nodded, mouth hanging open with a smile as he tried not to laugh, "What the hell? You're an idiot, you know that?"
"I want to tell you something Rain," I started, "I hoped to save her from her future, so I didn't say anything." I took a step forward, "But because of you I can lay it all out. So let's just cut to the chase, I could kill you at any moment, whenever I wanted. There isn't a chance for you anymore in this fight"
He frowned, "We'll see about that." He replied. "Now I know, that could change things"
I shook my head, "I've gone over it all in my head. Every outcome ends with you in varying amounts of pain before your death"
"What about surrender?" He asked, appearing to be slightly joking.
"You don't deserve it." I replied, "Regardless, if I arrested you now you would be assassinated along the way. Face it, it's hopeless"
He frowned, gritting his teeth behind his lips. "Well, then I'll make it as difficult for you to win as possible!" He charged, blade pointed straight at me.
I ducked down as he swung, allowing him just enough space to slice off the back of my hoodie. I watched from below as his face contorted into fear when he saw the symbol tattooed onto my back. It was that of the Tri-Horn, a golden bull with three horns. One stretched out and curved downwards from the left, the other came from the left and split off into two short horns at the end when it curved. It had an X for a mouth and two circles for eyes, a similar pattern to that of Arkynshihn's hilt.
Rain stumbled forward in surprise as I dodged to the side, avoiding his falling body altogether.
"So you see, Rain," I said, straightening and ripping the torn hoodie off my torso, "Even without my all-seeing eye, you can see that your chances are slim"
He stood as quickly as he could, looking at me with both frustration and rage, and a hint of fear. He seemed unwilling to believe it. "If you can kill me whenever you want, then do it! I'm calling you blu-"
I cut him off as I charged forward in a blast of electricity, Risang pressed to his neck.
"See how easy that was?" I asked.
"Then do it," he continued, "kill me, you coward!"
I withdrew Risang then, gripping it in both my hands at the bottom end, readied to swing it like I was about to swing a baseball bat. Then, I did just that.
At the last second he raised his sword and blocked the attack. He smirked, "Looks like you can't kill me whenever" He said.
When I pulled my naginata back we both saw the damage done to his sword. I'd cracked it right where I'd hit it, along with creating a well-sized dent in the side.
"I reduced my power output," I said, "knowing you'd try to block it"
"Oh sure" He mocked.
I tapped my temple, gesturing to my eye. I had seen it coming, and he knew that.
He gripped his sword with both hands, then tried to bring it down on me. I swung Risang upwards with my right hand and stepped forward, cutting the tip of the blade off. Then, in one swift motion switching the weapon from my right to left hand and swung across, cutting his head clean off. The stub didn't bleed thanks to the electricity I'd sent through my naginata at the point of impact. The wound had been sealed, but not before he suffered the pain of both parting with his lifelong partner, whatever his weapon's name was, then parting with his own life as immense pain cut through his skin, followed by the searing pain of my closing the wound with electricity as it was cut. No, it certainly wasn't a good way to die, but it was what I believed he deserved at the time. Maybe a little more, if anything else.
My aura gradually died down as my temper ran out, and suddenly I was exhausted. I collapsed to my knees, unable to stand. Risang clattered to the floor, but I barely heard it. I adjusted my neck, looking around the room. The downpour outside continued, as I could see by the partially broken window. It was full of bullet holes, with a bigger chunk broken out here and there.
My gaze fell on Pyrrha, bleeding out across the floor.