Alright. Zion's an asshole. But we knew that already. If we didn't, here's all the proof we needed.

Enjoy... as much as you can.

"That's what windows and trees are for." –Kairi

Chapter 11.5 – Dances With Death
Part 94

It took me all of three seconds to realize what I was looking at... and who was responsible. Well, really, the black, silver, and green was indicative enough of whom. I could see Zion walking around as more buildings caught.

"We need to get everyone out of here," Asch said. "Kairi!"

"Get Dark, you'll need the ligers."

My frying pan was in my hand a moment later, and Asch seemed to realize what I was about to do.

"I really don't suggest going after him alone, Kairi."

"What's going on over here? Why—Oh, hell..."

I smirked. "Okay. Seth can come with me. You get everyone out of here." I shifted my stance and swung the frying pan. Asch, Seth, and Flick all turned away from the shattering glass, Flick shouting in surprise.

Of course, my destroying the window brought everyone's attention to it... and to the fire raging outside. I slipped through the opening I'd created and took off running, paying very little mind to the snow my basically-bare feet were running through. I didn't really notice the tears in my dress from where it had caught on the glass, either.

"You're crazy, you know that?!"

I glanced over my shoulder at Seth, then shrugged, reaching out and wrapping the warm air from the fires around me. "Maybe. But Zion did this because of me. I've got to find him."

"What do you mean, Zion did this because of you?"

I stopped running for a moment and turned to look at Seth. "Ryndor was there, in the ballroom. I actually danced with him. Didn't realize who he was until the song was almost over. He told me Zion was going to start taking drastic measures if I didn't cooperate."

Seth sighed and looked around. We were standing in the middle of a street, not too far from Nephry's mansion. Which, like everything else, was—Oh no.

"Arielle!"

I turned and raced off, headed for the mansion. If I knew Zion, he'd have locked the maids in. Which meant that not only were all the maids trapped inside, most of my friends' weapons were in there as well! Silver Clematis and my new katana were on my arms, and Jade and Seth had their weapons, as did Asch, Luke, and Guy, since they could get away with wearing swords with their dress clothes, but none of the other girls had a weapon right now... Except maybe Tear, given the fact that I'm pretty sure she sleeps with those knives strapped to her legs.

Sure enough, I could see one of the maids banging her hands uselessly against the glass window. I signaled for her to move to the side, and she did, wide-eyed and terrified. I didn't even bother with trying to hold onto the frying pan, simply tossing it as hard as I could. The glass shattered, and Seth's sparrow-blade made little work of the rest of it before he helped lift the maid out.

"Where are the others?!" I asked.

"Arielle and Brinnia ran upstairs to try and find everyone's wing packs!" the woman said. "The others are trapped in the kitchens! The library went up first, and there's no other path out except through the door to the cellar, and the cellar's been locked!"

I glanced at Seth. "Go around back, use fonic artes to bust through the wall if you have to. Get those people out of the kitchen. I'll get Arielle and Brinnia."

"The fire!"

"I can redirect it a bit, but not for long, and not for a large space," I replied, already climbing through the window and racing through the mansion. The walls near the stairs had already caught, and I ran up the steps hoping and praying that the two women would be okay. I was already fighting with wind Energies to keep the smoke out of my lungs.

"Arielle! Brinnia!"

A pretty, dark-haired girl came running out of what had been Tear's room. "I found two wing packs! Arielle's down the hall getting the last one!"

I glanced at the wing packs Brinnia was holding. Tear's and Selenia's. Arielle came running up a moment later with a bag draped over her shoulder. "I need my wing pack," I told her. She dug around for just a few seconds and handed it over. I grabbed my armlet and slipped it on. "Let's go... Whoa, not that way!" I decided, seeing the fire flaring down the stairs.

"There's no other path downstairs!" Brinnia said. I shrugged.

"That's what windows and trees are for."

Arielle sighed. "You don't change much, do you?"

I grinned. "Nope!" I ran through Tear's room, and Arielle and Brinnia followed.

"Why is the smoke moving like that?" Brinnia asked.

"Trick of mine. Here we go..." I got the window opened and looked out. There was quite a fall to the ground, and no branches nice and close, and fire creeping up the wall.

A loud yowl rung out, and I recognized Autumn as she ran toward us, four more ligers around her. I grinned and reached out.

*Your timing couldn't be better!*

*We saw the fire and came as quickly as we could,* she replied. *Jump—our bodies will soften your falls.*

I nodded, then pulled Brinnia over. "Jump."

"Are you crazy?!"

"Yeah, but not as crazy as you're thinking. Jump, the ligers will break your fall," I ordered, a bit of the discipline I'd gained from leading the Third Division of the Oracle Knights slipping into my voice.

I heard—and felt—part of the mansion collapse. Brinnia did too, and she finally jumped. Autumn jumped under her, catching her fall, and the two rolled out into the snow, safe. I turned to Arielle, who took a deep breath, got into the window, and then jumped, not even bothering to question me. I jumped just in time for the floor underneath where I'd been standing to collapse, fire shooting up from where it had been.

Evena was the one to catch me.

*You should go to the southern shore. Your siblings, fang-brother and mate are waiting,* she told me. I frowned, then looked over at Arielle and Brinnia.

"See that these two join the others safely. I have to find the man that started these fires," I said. Evena paused, then growled at Autumn, repeating my orders. She then turned to me.

*I will come with you.*

I nodded, more grateful than I was willing to express.

I didn't want to face Zion on my own. But first...

I pulled my heels off and found my boots in my wing pack. There would be no saving this dress now, and it would take me too long to change clothes completely, but I really needed a different pair of shoes. Also... Well, I still had an extra coat from the uniform Peony had let me keep. That would be warm enough for this.

I reached out with my telepathic field as I started walking, and it didn't take me long to find Zion and Ryndor.

They were north of Keterburg, rather than south of it, like everyone else. And they were still moving.

Then I caught the other minds.

"Evena... There are still people in a lot of these houses," I said. She turned to me, and I indicated where.

A lot of frantic orders to her clanmates later, I smiled. "Thanks."

*They don't deserve to die,* she replied simply. I nodded.

Then we started running. It didn't take her long to identify the scents of the men we were after once we'd left the blazing city, and she offered to carry me. I accepted, and pulled out that coat as she ran.

I was pissed. Arielle. Barst, one of the men Evena's ligers were trying to save as we went. Everyone in the hotel, because that had been set alight, too. All of Keterburg was burning. I kept having to glance at what was falling on my shoulders, because I wasn't sure what was snow, and what was ash.

I snorted. "There was nothing in sight but memories left abandoned. There was nowhere to hide, the ashes fell like snow~" I paused. What a fitting song. I growled, a deep, low sound that Evena echoed. "You've gone too far this time, Zion."

*Um... What is that?*

Green flashed against the dark background. Glowing green, that suddenly became airborne and started racing toward me. *Kairi!*

Ah, Sync. He'd learned a few tricks for his astral projection. Too bad for him, I wasn't exactly impressed right then.

"Don't try to stop me."

*Zion'll kill you!*

I hissed and pulled in the Energies and fonons that were reacting to my rage. "No. That's the problem. He needs me alive."

*So do we!*

I looked over at Sync, whose glowing green outline was flying next to me. "I know. But he's gone way too far, this time."

He seemed to get it, then. His shoulders slumped, and his eyes softened. *I get it. Just... Please, please come back!*

I nodded. "We will."

Sync glanced at Evena. *Keep her safe? We'll never catch up in time.*

Evena nodded, a low rumble in her chest. Sync flashed and disappeared, and then her steps redoubled.

I felt a number of ligers behind us, Illeka among them. We wouldn't be alone.

We finally caught up to Zion and Ryndor at the top of a cliff near Mt. Roneal. There was a sheer wall of ice and rock to one side, and the drop down to the valley floor on the other side. Zion stood, scythe drawn and braid flipping around in the wind.

"So, you actually showed up."

I jumped down from Evena's back, Silver Clematis forming in my hand. I immediately switched it from my right hand to the left.

"And apparently not in the mood to surrender," Ryndor noted, dragging something behind him. Star walked along behind him, watching what Ryndor was dragging with a bloodthirsty expression that had me immediately wary. "Let's see if we can't change your mind."

He lifted the thing—person, I realized—he was dragging, tore off the kid's cloak, and then tossed him into the snow. Green hair fell rather wildly around his head, and one wide green eye finally found me, the other hidden behind his bangs.

Ryndor had gotten to the other Ion replica before Tear could.

"Kairi, meet Valon. Valon, meet your last chance at surviving the night."

Humph. Drastic measures, indeed.

Especially with Star hovering behind Ryndor's shoulder, ready to unleash her waiting puppets on the bound and gagged boy on the ground.

Valon shifted his head to look up at me, and his bangs moved.

His left eye was cloudy white, and horrible burn scars covered that side of his face. So, not all of the Ion replicas had escaped Mt. Zaleho unscathed.

The moment I met his good eye, I knew he wasn't expecting to get out of this one. I scowled and glared at Zion, who leaned against his scythe.

"I've given you plenty of chances to cooperate so far. Now? Now people start dying. Starting with one of the replicas that slipped past Star's fingers two years ago... Unless you'd rather he go free?" Zion said. My knuckles were white from my grip on Silver Clematis. It took every ounce of my self-control not to start shaking... or worse, setting things on fire with the fonons and Energies flying around me.

"You... Are a grade-A asshole." I let Silver Clematis return to its place on my arm.

Ryndor made a sound of surprise, apparently thinking that meant I would cooperate.

My regular katana took its place, and Zion raised an eyebrow. "You don't deserve the fast death Dark granted Van. I'll kill you..."

Zion snorted, not in the least surprised. "Star. He's all yours."

Valon twisted just as Star's puppet slammed into the ground, and the ropes binding his hands were cut on the blade. I'd have been surprised, but I was too angry.

Valon jumped to his feet and drew out two weapons—a dagger with a blue blade, and a silver and green shield with a razor-sharp edge.

The battle began, with Zion racing in toward me, Star's puppets heading for Valon, and Ryndor standing back with a set of throwing knives. He settled into a casting stance, and I ignored him temporarily. I had work to do... namely, slashing Zion to pieces.

Besides. Evena was on it, anyway.

"I'll admit I'm impressed. He and Sync have certainly done their best to tear away from my legacy," Zion said as he jumped away from me and charged up a Demon Wing. "A shame the seventh replica can't be bothered to come up with his own damn name!" He launched the arte at me.

I hissed and dodged it, countering with a Demon Fang. "If you hated the plan that badly, why did you go along with it?!"

Zion did a cartwheel and came up with a Draconic Soul. "I didn't have a choice! I was dying, or did you not remember that part?!"

"You're obviously not dying now."

"That would be because I gave him the antidote to the poison he'd ingested," Ryndor said as he performed a rather neat little flip over Evena, tossing a few of his knives her way as he did. She managed to dodge all of them that time, but I could see blood where she'd failed at least once. "A poison given to him by none other than the former Grand Maestro."

That made me frown. "Mohs wanted the replica, then. Someone easy to manipulate."

Zion huffed and slashed at me. I rolled, trying not to flinch at the cold snow. "So you can see..."

"Gyah!"

I jumped back and twirled around, just barely saving Valon from getting hit a second time. He shot me a grateful look and stood up, using his shield to block a thrown knife from Ryndor.

Zion scowled and spun on his heel, unleashing a shockwave as he went.

Multiple things happened in the next few moments.

One of Star's puppets got in a lucky shot to my arm, causing the woven part of my armlet to break.

Ryndor managed to get a knife past Valon's defenses, into his lung.

Zion unleashed a black version of Akashic Torment. I didn't catch what he said, just something about souls and damnation.

I telepathically screamed at Evena to run.

As Zion's Mystic Arte ended and Valon collapsed, I screamed. Rage, anguish, or just terror, I wasn't sure what prompted it.

What I did know was that I was standing in the middle of a raging inferno, this time of my own creation, rather than Zion's. His eyes went wide. So did Ryndor's, and Star's.

They made a run for it, though Star had one of her puppets commit suicide, burying its blade in Valon's barely-moving chest just before the blaze consumed it, and him.

Valon was dead, and Mt. Roneal burned.

Fun Fact: Valon. Or, more correctly, Valon's weapons. The dagger is Sirris Balfour's typical dagger. Sirris is Jade's daughter in Tony/Marluxia of Avalon's Bloody Nightshade. The shield is Vitawny Curtiss' favorite shield. Vitawny is Jade's daughter in Daniel/Shadowed Ice Wolf's Other Side of the Mirror (which hasn't been posted yet). Since those two stories are in parallel dimensions, Sirris and Vitawny are basically alternates of each other.

So it's only fitting that Valon, who usually only ever shows up in those two stories out of the dozens the four of us (me, Tea, Tony, and Daniel) have brainstormed, is carrying them in this cameo. Now then... On to the aftermath of an Energy Backlash!