Castle Visconti
Retiring to her chamber for the night, Evangelina shut and locked the doors behind her to release the breath she was holding. Her mind, a constant stream of thoughts to further her goals, were distracted by the woes of her only brother and the depths of his stress. A part of her felt guilty, being one of many causes to his inner turmoil, yet the guilt hardly waned her heart.
Underneath all that callousness and bitter rage, Asterio was an empathetic prince unfit to rule a kingdom. Compared to his twin sister, he had a heart the size of Virdis.
A shame that heart had been twisted with grief. Rage. Venom.
…Guilt.
Evangelina sighed and massaged her face. "You sentimental fool…" She shook her head and floated over to her bookcase filled to the brim with a staggering collection. History books, atlases, history books claimed from other kingdoms both west and east, and many more. Not a single work of fiction or light reading. To her, it was all business to become queen.
She pulled two hefty books out from the shelf. "Don't forget who you are now, Asterio. We can't turn back. You need to cast aside those feelings of anguish if you and I are to fix the Echo Bell Kingdom."
Behind where the books were pulled from was a shallow panel. She set the books aside and pushed into the panel, causing it to click and flip outward. Inside was a thick journal composed of different-sized parchments bound together. She pulled it out and went to her desk.
"Being cruel protects people," she muttered, sitting down. "I'll happily become the villain to protect what I love. The question is, how far are you willing to keep up with me, dear brother?"
She opened the hefty journal, revealing a myriad of different forms. Handwritten notes with some not bearing her penmanship, newspaper clippings, notes, documents pulled from ledgers, and so much more. To anyone, it seemed like a book filled with random pieces of paper. To Evangelina, it was every little horrible deed she either had a hand in or every dark secret scrubbed out from the Echo Bell Kingdom for her eyes only.
"You may want to forget, brother, but I choose to remember. I force myself to remember what we did together. If I am to become the true queen…"
She narrowed her eyes on a single news clipping from five years ago, detailing the triumphant capture and execution of the Vermin Butcher.
"I must do all in my power to prevent the people's faithlessness in the Visconti family."
On the news clipping was a hand-drawn sketch of a male Indeedee, one Dr. Donato Muraro. The man who terrorized the Echo Bell Kingdom for so long. The man who broke the taboo rule of all society. The man known as the Vermin Butcher.
And the greatest lie Evangelina created.
Underground Catacombs
"JASON!"
Grim shot his attention toward Melissa and threw his scythe at her. She jumped out from cover as the scythe cleaved through and darted toward the fallen Pikachu. Grim reached out with his Psychic to grab her, but staggered and growled as his injuries flared. She slipped past him as he fell and scooped Jason off the floor.
She slid into the left side door and examined Jason, trying to control her panicked breathing. His breaths were shallow and tight, each inhale bringing him discomfort. She noticed him digging his claws into his side, keeping himself from passing out. He was barely lucid, his eyes only opening a crack.
The red scar across his side eventually faded, but the results of the attack remained. The same heavy, yet fruitless breathing that plagued Fabrice and Klaus during her last trip burned before her eyes once again, only now she was without aid. It was only her. Trapped below the earth without a murderous specter and her ailing leader.
"H-Hang on, Jason. I'll get us out of here!" Melissa assured, though her own tone betrayed her feelings.
"R…Rookie…"
"Jason—"
A burst of wind brought her attention back on the pressing issue before them. She gasped as Grim steadied himself on his scythe and rose, the winds manifesting as his cloak billowing ferociously. Her heart sank as she got a decent look at his face, resembling that of a skull with two red orbs resting within the hollow spaces.
"Skill Hunter Harlow…" He raised his arm and pointed at her. "You will be joining him in oblivion soon."
Melissa pressed her back to the door, feeling her heart hammer inside her chest. She looked around for an angle, anything to get away. She didn't trust her chances facing the reaper head on. If Jason could be felled by him, what chance did she have?
"You escaped me once." Grim picked himself up all the way, though still leaned on his scythe. "I won't allow it a second time."
Her eyes flickered hurriedly over the room, searching for anything out of desperation. Her eyes eventually settled on the door her back was pressed to. It was the entrance to the level below the church. What was down there? She had no clue, but it had to be preferable to standing and doing nothing.
"I…I…" Melissa reached inside her scarf and chucked a smoke pellet into Grim's face.
"GAH!" The reaper staggered back, shielding his eyes.
Melissa snatched the lantern off the ground and threw herself into the door. It caved in, and she screamed as she and Jason plummeted into the darkness below.
Grim washed the smoke away with a blast of Psychic before collapsing again to the ground. "That damn, vile…!" He coughed and dropped his scythe on the floor. His shadow cloak flickered weakly. He closed his eyes and reinvigorated it before it could fade. He panted and covered his face. "I shouldn't even be…conscious after taking those attacks. I can't take another one of those."
He shakily lifted his head and glared at the open coffin, seeing a little of the skeleton resting inside. He growled and blasted a weak Shadow Ball into the coffin, rattling the bones back down.
"I won't let you exist again. I won't make the same mistake again. I won't…" He clenched his eyes shut and vigorously rubbed the brimming tears. "I can't take any chances. I need to destroy every last shred of injustice in this world."
He clutched his scythe and pushed himself off the floor. He glared at the broken door leading into the abyss below. His eyes flared with a mix of shadow and psionic energy.
"I won't allow another Vermin Butcher to exist."
Underground classroom. The last thing Melissa expected to land in, though she never expected to land on a corpse, so maybe it wasn't the weirdest thing.
She carried Jason to the far back of the room, navigating through broken desks before sitting. She pulled desks that were barely intact and made a tiny barricade, then draped her cloak over the lantern to suppress as much light as possible. She kept herself and Jason under the cloak as she tended to his injuries.
"Jason, tell me exactly what you're feeling," she whispered as she checked his body for serious injury.
It was a struggle to speak, much less breathe, but he sucked in enough air to say, "Didn't…feel anything. Barely…avoided the worst…"
She frowned. "You what?"
"Flash and Crackle. Whenever…use it…" He growled and clutched his chest. "T-Tunnel vision. Barely noticed attack. Used…Storm Tango to dodge the full slash…"
She pulled back his uniform and checked his stomach. "You do seem to be doing better than Fabrice and Klaus. I can't imagine what I'd do if you took the full hit." She rummaged through his bag and pulled out the rations. "You need to eat. I don't know what exactly happened, but they felt better after they ate something."
He weakly opened his mouth and let her feed him. He took small bites before swallowing. "You need…to get out of here…"
She glared. "I'm not leaving you down here."
"H-He'll kill you…"
"I'll think of something. Let's be honest, I should've been killed a dozen times over by now."
He glared. "This isn't…a joke, Rookie. He's dangerous."
"You've already weakened him plenty. I think I have some chance. Besides, reform or not, a Forester doesn't abandon their own."
"…" He closed his eyes and sighed. "Electricity."
"I can generate some electricity if that'll—"
"N-No." He grabbed her scarf and pulled her closer. "He's shifting between a liquid and…gaseous state."
Her eyes widened. "What?"
"He's not…intangible. He's using a modified form of a technique revolving around Acid Armor. It's…It's like the technique that Vaporeon Tank fought utilized. Of course no one's been able to hit him. He's turning himself into water…vapor to bypass attacks. He's shifting his body around to avoid attacks, even the ones he can't pass through like electricity. I was only able to hit him—"
"Because of your speed," she gasped. "He has that much control over his molecular structure? What kind of training did he go through—"
Her ears perked up. Wind rushed into the abandoned classroom. She pulled the cloak tighter around the lantern and peeked out from behind her barricade.
It took every ounce of willpower she had not to scream at the red eyes that shined in the dark.
Capital Inn
"…They've been gone for too long."
Wyatt, Avel, and the apprentices sat up from bed and saw Lucient staring out their room's window with a worried grimace. "What's that now?" Avel asked.
The Espeon shook his head and stepped away from the window. "Jason and Melissa," he whispered. "The sun's already set. They should've been back by now."
Felix yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Maybe they got sidetracked in the catacombs. They could be taking their time with their investigation."
"No. No, they're more punctual than that. We agreed to meet back here to discuss the bomb threat. They wouldn't get this sidetracked."
Victoria frowned. "You don't think they're in danger, right?"
"I can't make any assumptions, but I won't sleep well if something isn't done." He walked over to his supplies and rummaged through his bag. "I'm going to go look for them."
Avel hopped to the edge of the bed. "Hold on a moment, let's not try anything hasty."
"I have a perfect memory of Melissa's map. I can navigate the tunnels just fine—"
"But you don't know where they are in those tunnels. It doesn't matter how well you have the place memorized. Not even they know where they're looking. You'll just be aimlessly wandering around looking for nothing."
"…" Lucient stopped rummaging and sighed. "I know, but—"
Wyatt leaned off the bed and patted Lucient's shoulder. "I'm sure they just got sidetracked with their investigation. Have a little faith in them."
Victoria nodded and grinned. "Jason and Master Melissa are strong. If anything does happen to them, they can take care of themselves."
Lucient sighed through his nose and faced them. "I know. I just can't help worrying. The Foresters mean a lot to me, and I don't want to bear losing someone over something that could've been prevented."
Wyatt slid off the bed and hugged him. "It's alright, buddy. They'll be back before you know it."
"By the heavens, I hope you're right."
Outside the room…
Unbeknownst to the group, a cloaked figure had their ear pressed against the door, eavesdropping on their conversation. When concerns of the catacombs came up, the figure was quick to stand and hurry away.
The catacombs. I better hurry before something happens. I can't let this screw up my mission.
Underground Catacombs
Melissa kept herself hidden behind the makeshift barricade and bundled tightly under her cloak. She kept one hand over Jason's mouth to silence his ragged breathing. She kept her own lips pressed shut as she felt the temperature dropping throughout the classroom. The dark fog emanating from the reaper, though invisible in the shadows, grazed her body with its chilling touch. She held down the involuntary yelp caught in her throat.
She peeked out periodically and saw the reaper slowly gliding through the abandoned room, poking and prodding through the debris with his scythe. The only light coming from him were his eyes and the ethereal colors of his cloak that flowed like mist.
If Jason's hypothesis about the intangibility was correct, that left Melissa with a couple more options than she previously had. Grim's intangibility is merely him shifting his molecular structure into a gaseous form to either let attacks pass through him or to shape it around attacks that could conduct through him like electricity. She and the others never noticed because of the damp conditions of the catacombs. They would've never guessed he was just turning himself into a gas.
Acid Armor was a particularly odd move. Under normal circumstances, a Pokémon would use it to soften their body and reduce physical damage. In the hands of a skilled user and under the right biological conditions, Acid Armor allows a user to liquify themselves. This is most prevalent with Pokémon who already have semi-liquid bodies or, in the case of the Vaporeon knight, unique molecular structures to change one's form entirely.
However, unlike the knight, Grim Deadlock had complete autonomy of this state. He could keep it condensed and freely control it instead of accidentally spreading himself thin across open spaces. Shifting back and forth on a dime would take considerable training. It wasn't a skill that could be picked up by just anyone off the streets. Only someone with considerable training and discipline could master this false intangibility.
But, based on her own limited knowledge, there are certain Pokémon who have unique molecular structures that could replicate this matter-shifting technique without much difficulty.
"…Skill Hunter Harlow."
Melissa snapped out of her inner thoughts and carefully glanced around the barricade. She sighed in relief, seeing the reaper still searching on the other side of the room. What does he want?
"Why do you favor injustice?"
She narrowed her eyes. Favor injustice?
"Does it bring you joy? Does it bring you happiness?" Grim looked up from his searching and stared at the ceiling. "This kingdom was built upon that concept, you know. The people of Echo Bell strive to achieve comfortable, excessive lives free from stress and doubt. That is what the royal family strives for. Unlike other kingdoms, they try to reach out to others on a common level. A king is merely a man who overlooks his subjects and cares for them, or so King Massimo wants to be. In truth, this kingdom is a victim of its own good intentions."
Melissa hid back behind the barricade and glanced at Jason. Though he was still struggling to breathe, she could tell he was listening intently to the reaper's monologue.
"We let the law slip out of our control, and now crime runs rampant. Generations of kings try to quell this issue, and sometimes we enter our own eras of peace, but they would be a fleeting time before crime starts back up. The system has waned. The people have become too lenient with their existence. Crime and murder shouldn't be normalized. We shouldn't be desensitized to the harm we can bring to each other. We fear for our lives, but the people no longer bat their eyes at the local gravedigger collecting bodies off the streets. It's the new normal."
Grim swiped his scythe across the floor, knocking away tables and chairs. Melissa flinched, curling her ears tightly and holding her breath.
"I was a fool. I, too, was a victim of this new normal. Business as usual. A dead body shows up. A sad day for them and relatives. The cycle continues. I didn't see the problem beyond the surface level. Then again, I've always despised the age of crime. I never had the ambition to do something about it."
Melissa peeked around the barricade again and saw the reaper glaring at the floor. She couldn't tell if it was anger or…sadness.
"Everyone has their reasons. Maybe they lost everything and need to steal and survive. Maybe they were pressured into doing it. Maybe they weren't sound of mind. Whatever the case, everyone is treated fair under the eyes of the law. That's…how it should be." The reaper growled to himself. "But we can never know the true depths of a person's soul. Maybe, just maybe, we're all cruel monsters who haven't escaped the Savage Era. Just like him."
Him? Melissa thought. Wait. Is he…perhaps talking about the corpse?
"It's in our nature to bring harm. I never wanted to believe that, but I saw the depths of my own soul when murder first entered my heart. I've become tainted by the very nature I swore to destroy. I've committed too many atrocities to turn back now, and I'll committing these atrocities until the world learns to behave. But that'll never happen. Long after I'll perish from this world, evil will persist. That is in our nature: the capacity to do harm onto others."
Grim. What…happened to you?
"Let me ask you something, Skill Hunter. Have you ever made a mistake? We all have. It's part of learning. Asking questions isn't a mark of stupidity, but a mark of learning. Failing isn't a mark of ineptitude, but the process to become better. We learn through our own, self-contained tragedies. Once we learn them, they become moments of laughter shrouded in the past. The duality of tragedy and comedy. They were two halves of the same coin working together. As such, do you ever wonder what would happen when comedy turns to tragedy?"
He sliced through another cluster of debris and sent the pieces scattering over the classroom. Melissa flinched as some fell onto her head.
"I know that feeling personally. It's ingrained deep within my soul. The seemingly innocuous jest or harmless request. Something so inconsequential that no one in their right mind would think to see the error of their decision until Yveltal drops the guillotine upon fate. Have you ever made a decision that set the death knell in motion?"
The Dukes of Buzzard. Melissa looked down at Jason, whose expression told her he was thinking the same thing.
"One simple request, and you cause untold suffering and mistrust to your own kingdom, and perhaps even among other kingdoms. You are the one who destroyed many, many lives that could've been saved all because you made a simple, harmless, insignificant request. An inevitable future, and you're the sole cause of it. And now I live with that shame. And I will suffer in Hell for my choice, for I have committed sins upon sins since my creation. I…I am a monster who brought death upon someone most precious to me, and the lie I created will be my undoing."
The lie you created? What's going on here?
"The only thing left…is to destroy every shred of injustice from this world!"
Her ears perked up. She pushed herself and Jason down before the scythe cleaved through the barricade. It ripped through the cloak they were hiding under and hooked the lantern off the floor. After Grim tore through the desks, the lantern went flying behind him and crashing onto debris. Amidst the destroyed lumber, flames began to rise.
Melissa pulled Jason to the far wall of the classroom and watched in horror as the flames grew rapidly. "Oh no…" Her eyes traveled up to the shadow-cloaked reaper as he pointed his scythe at the pair.
"The only recourse left is to reap the souls of sin from this world. That is your fate."
Melissa looked between Jason and the growing flames. Seeing no other way out, she fell back on her only chance, though she didn't like the idea of going through with it. She bundled Jason in the remains of her cloak and picked herself up.
"Grim, I don't know what you went through, and I understand the depths of your sorrow. You must've been through a lot. But…"
She reached for her mechanical weapon strapped to her back and grabbed the hilt. She twisted it, unlocking it from within, and pulled it out. Gripped between her hands was a segmented baton that glimmered under the glow of the rising flames. She adjusted her scarf around her mouth and glared nervously, yet defiantly at the reaper.
"I have my own dream that I want to see to the end. My apologies, but I can't afford to die here."
Meanwhile…
"Something's going down."
The eavesdropper entered the catacombs and navigated the intricate series of tunnels, keeping one hand to the wall. As he traveled, he felt nearly undetectable vibrations through the walls and floor. Completely unnoticeable by the average Pokémon, but a skilled-enough fighter can sense them with patience and a clear mind.
He knelt down and pressed his hand to the floor, feeling the vibrations emanating strongest from below. He narrowed his eyes. "A fight's breaking out below. That means…they've found the hidden chamber. And it seems they found someone else."
He picked himself up and started running. He reasoned that since a fight was still going on, that meant one or both combatants were wearing themselves out. However, if he was correct on who was down there in the chamber…
Melissa. Don't do anything reckless.
"Super Springy Dash!" With her new weapon tight in hand, Melissa sprung forward at high speed.
Grim let her pass through his body before swinging his scythe behind himself. She blocked the strike, but was sent flying across the classroom. She crashed through flaming desks and rolled to her feet. She patted the smoke from her shoulder and charged again.
"Reaping Shadow!" Grim fired the shadow blade at her.
Melissa kept running as the blade passed through her. "That won't work—" It struck the floor and exploded, propelling her forward. Grim caught her by the face and slammed her into the floor. "Agh! Okay, that worked."
He brought his scythe down on her, but she stopped the blade with her baton. She redirected the blade into the floor and kicked the floor to break from his grip. She landed beside flaming debris and batted it into the reaper, who spun his scythe and deflected them.
"You can't defeat me, Skill Hunter," Grim said. "Either me or the smoke inhalation will do you in."
She clutched her baton tightly and glared. "Not while I still stand." Her eyes flashed purple. She drew the baton back as black clouds formed around it. "Abyss Clouds." She sliced the floor and sent a line of the crushing clouds forward.
Grim flew up to the ceiling and watched the clouds diverge. They spread among the flaming debris and engulfed them, smothering the heat. Melissa clenched her fist, commanding the debris to rise and burn alight in spectral flames. Using her baton like a conductor's, she sent the flaming debris at him.
"Reaping Shadow!" He slashed the air and cut the debris down. His eyes widened as they continued flying toward him. He shielded his face as the debris piled around him, crushing his spectral body into a compact space wrapped into blue and purple flames.
Melissa tightened her fist. "Now crush!"
The Abyss Clouds surrounded the wood and began applying pressure. She listened to the wood snapping and crumbling under the intense compression. She theorized if she gave Grim zero room to use his intangibility, he won't be able to bypass the damage. There was virtually no escape from within the Abyss Clouds once they surrounded a target.
"Sorry, but this is for your own good," Melissa said.
"Shadow of…Phlegethon!"
She gasped as the Abyss Clouds started expanding. Pressure built up within the enclosed space, matching the power she was placing into the technique. She clenched her teeth and concentrated, trying to overpower Grim's attack. The ball of darkness grew bigger inside the clouds, forcibly tearing the space apart, before finally exploding. The Ghost-Type energy washed over the classroom and pelted Melissa with scraps of wood.
When she opened her eyes, the scythe came inches within her face. She barely blocked it, knocking her over. She scrambled back up before Grim swung at her like a madman. She activated her Adaptive Foresight and blocked his flurry of strikes. Grim spun his scythe overhead and swung for the neck. Melissa blocked it and let herself be knocked away to put distance between them.
"Faithless Imitation: Ignacia Style!" Melissa clutched her baton as molten sand manifested around it. "Desolate Slash!" She dashed forward and struck back.
Grim held his ground and growled at the hot sand fluttering in his face. "They say you take the techniques of your opponents and add them to your arsenal. How are you able to flawlessly replicate so many styles?"
Melissa groaned. "You're so annoying. I could be doing anything else right now, but I'm stuck fighting your whiny ass." She backed off and slashed through his torso.
Grim retreated to let his body regenerate. He glared at her suspiciously. "Her mannerisms have changed."
Melissa leapt into the air, touched the ceiling, and dove on the reaper. He blocked her strike and batted her away with the blunt side of the scythe. She grappled the walls and bounced back at double the power. He blocked her strike, though felt the weight pushing him back some.
"No. Your battle rhythm changed completely. You're not moving or fighting like you are."
"What gave you that idea, jackass?" Melissa kicked off his scythe and reared her baton back. "Desolate Slash: Bloody Razor Storm!" She spun through the air and fired molten shards of sand.
Grim spun his scythe and summoned up Ominous Wind to repel the sand shards. "Reaping Shadow." He fired the shadow blade directly above Melissa, blowing up the ceiling.
"AGH!" Debris rained on her head and knocked her back to the floor.
"Breathless Execution." He manifested the red blade and rushed her down.
Melissa picked herself up and generated fire around her baton. "Arid Wildfire!" She thrusted the weapon and fired a condensed cyclone of flame and sand.
Grim swung and intercepted the cyclone. He spun his scythe and countered again with Ominous Wind. It engulfed the flames and forcibly smothered them. "You're dead!" He continued apace and swung the enhanced blade.
Melissa raised her arms and braced herself as a prismatic aura surrounded her. The scythe connected, but the energy blade couldn't penetrate her. Grim growled and pushed harder against the light armor until the energy blade snapped. Melissa waved the energy shards away and grabbed Grim's hands. She punched down on his right hand before he could shift to intangibility.
"AGH!" Grim backed off and grasped his hand.
Melissa took a deep breath and transferred the light armor into her baton. "Ivone Style: Purified Luster." She charged and leapt at the reaper.
Grim raised his scythe and blocked her strike. The prismatic light crackled against the darkness enshrouding him. The weight behind her baton was stronger, too. Its defensive properties wrapped around the weapon made it much more durable against the pressure exuding off himself.
"Grim, listen to me," Melissa pleaded. "We're not your enemy. We're good people! Not everyone who does bad things is a bad person! Don't you see any good in yourself?"
He growled. "No. There's no good left in this sinful soul. There is only hatred!" He pushed her off and struck her across the face.
"AGH!" She flew into the wall and landing on desks untouched by the flames.
"Everyone always hides their true selves. No one ever shows who they really are, for they are ashamed of the monsters inside." Grim's eyes flared with psionic energy. "There is no justice left in this world! I'm here to cut down the lawless by force!"
Melissa picked herself up and huffed. "Believe me, I know that feeling of wanting revenge. I still feel it. I also feel fear, anxiety, doubt, and so much more." She raised her baton and shifted her stance. "But you can't let those emotions rule over you, Grim. Isn't there anyone in this world you care about?"
"…" He glared. "There was. Once. Now they're dead." He struck the ground and sent waves of Reaping Shadows her way.
Melissa dodged and braced herself against the explosions. She hid behind the flaming desks. "You don't see any good inside you? Not a single ounce? Don't you love your kingdom?"
"I was blinded by my own perception. This kingdom is riddled with grime and dismay. What was there to love?" He fired another Reaping Shadow, smashing her cover apart, but she had already relocated.
She dropped behind some more desks and panted. "You can still take the chance."
"You don't know the horrors I committed to get this far!"
"I admit killing some criminals is a bit much, but—"
"You don't understand! None of you could understand! There is no saving me!" Grim whipped his arm and sent his scythe flying. "Stance of Acheron!"
"OH NO!" Melissa leapt out of the way before the scythe came crashing through her cover. She landed and looked up as it made its rounds across the ceiling.
"What could you know about me? If you knew what I've done, you'd be advocating for my head under the guillotine!" Grim waved his hand and sent the scythe flying down.
Melissa quickly pulled her mechanical scabbard to her side and twisted a dial. Pandora, if doesn't work, I'm going to bonk you on the head so hard!
"Now, DIE!"
The scythe came down on Melissa, but was repelled by a loud boom. Grim sidestepped his scythe as it flew past him and clattered into the opposite wall. He glared at the white smoke rising from the destroyed cover and saw the strange contraption the thief was holding.
"What in the…?"
Melissa stood up and raised the second half of her weapon. After twisting the dial, the mechanical scabbard unfolded itself in high-powered crossbow. A nozzle protruded from the bottom, and the wings unfolded from the sides. A chamber opened up on top for ammo to be loaded, and the baton had been inserted back in acting as an internal piston.
It was the first time she fired the weapon, and she was still shaking from the recoil. "D-Dang. Pandora went a little overboard with this thing."
Grim blinked in disbelief at the mechanical monstrosity, but shook it off and called back his scythe. "Stance of Acheron!" He flicked his wrist and commanded the scythe to cleave the thief down the middle.
Melissa loaded another blunt-tipped projectile into the crossbow and aimed. "This is probably a bad idea, but…Sadie Style: Assisted Destruction!" Orange and blue energies traveled to the crossbow's nozzle. She gripped the side trigger, causing her baton to snap back into the crossbow like a piston and fire the empowered bullet.
The scythe clashed with the bullet, each halting the other's forward momentum. Grim staggered, however, from the mental backlash of the collision and keeping the scythe from being knocked back again. He subtly twisted the scythe to slide the bullet along the blade and redirect it into the wall, punching a fist-sized hole through.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Grim growled.
Melissa staggered from the recoil again. "Ooooookay, that was definitely a bad idea."
Grim called his scythe back to his hand and rushed her down. "Breathless Execution!"
Melissa couldn't load another bullet in time. She pulled the baton out and barely blocked the blade. After twisting the scabbard's dial and shifting the crossbow back to normal, she gripped the baton in both hands and pushed Grim off. "Jason Style: Plasma Cutter Z-Strike!" She slid her hand across the blade, wrapping it in regular electricity, and swung.
Grim blocked, though winced from the electricity tingling into his hands. His previous injuries continued to act up. His movements were becoming increasingly sluggish, and the prolonged fighting inside the flames would soon do him in the longer he remained. He couldn't afford to let the thief get any more surprises off against him.
"You've had your fun, thief, but I've had ENOUGH!" Summoning his strength, he pushed back on the baton and knocked it out of her hands.
"No!" She dove for it, but Grim bashed her across the head and psychically slammed her against the wall. "AGH!"
He spun the scythe over his head and brought it down. "Breathless Execution!"
"NO—"
SHINK!
Melissa gasped as the energy blade passed through her body. It was a strange sensation. She felt the blood in her body flow briefly with the blade as it entered. She felt little stabbing sensations over her stomach, which was where the blade crossed, yet it felt like it was cutting through most of her body during the brief interaction.
Grim cut through her in one stroke and released his psychic grip. Melissa fell onto her hands and knees, coughing. She gasped her throat as she tried to draw a breath. The air wasn't going down as it normally would. It was as described to her by the others: the inability to breathe no matter how many breaths you took. The air flowed in, but it did as much as inhaling nothing. She immediately recognized her symptoms were worse than Jason's, though. She was struggling to get any air even through hurried breathing.
Grim glared as the Buneary collapsed onto the floor. "Good." He groaned and held his head. "Damn headache. Kill the Fairy Knight next, then leave." He turned and scanned the room. "Where is he? He'll die from smoke inhalation before anything else, but—"
"Th-These…symptoms…"
Grim's eyes widened. He turned back around and saw Melissa picking herself up. It was a struggle, but she was pushing through the pain as she glared at him. He floated back, glaring in fury. "How? You shouldn't be able to stand after that."
Thump!
Something fell from her scarf. His eyes widened at the block of dehydrated rations that had a large bite taken out of it.
"I…couldn't know for sure, but I think I understand what's going on. Why…Why I was able to save Fabrice and Klaus…with just the rations. That technique…you must be a genius to have modified it to target specific nutrients in the body." She glared at him. "That scythe, when combined with Giga Drain and Psychic…it allows you steal the iron out of someone's body, doesn't it?"
Grim's gripped his scythe tightly. "You…!"
"I don't know…the exact science, but low iron causes symptoms like this. A way to execute difficult targets like…Jason, right?"
Grim raised his scythe high. "That's enough!"
With a burst of strength, she slammed a smoke pellet down and disappeared. Grim immediately turned his scythe on the exit and blasted it with Reaping Shadow to deter immediate escape.
He flew up to the ceiling and growled. Skill Hunter Harlow. You're more of a nuisance that I anticipated.
"What the hell's happening in there?"
As soon as the eavesdropper reached the bottom of the stairs, he found himself standing in front of a pile of rubble sealing off the exit. He dug his hand through the rock, finding it to be too tightly packed together to dig through. However, what concerned him the most was the heat he was feeling. Through logical reasoning, something caught fire and was rapidly growing out of control. Either the flames took them down, or the smoke. Whichever came first.
"I need to get through the rubble with controlled blasts, or I'll end up blowing myself up. Hang on a little longer, you two."
He stepped back and took a deep breath. He exhaled a nearly invisible purple mist from his mouth and manually navigated it through the cracks of the pile. He couldn't be certain how far the fire had spread below, though he couldn't risk spreading his mist too far.
"Alright." He raised his hand and pressed his fingers together. "I'm nowhere near as skilled as Mom, so I need to be delicate. Come forth, Causinomancy."
"RAH!" Grim blew away the flaming wreckage, tearing through everything in search of the skill-stealing thief. "What right do you have empathizing with me, Skill Hunter? Do you hold a hand out to the devil in hopes of making amends? I am nothing but a twisted soul born from hatred. There is nothing left to save!"
He roared and cleared the center of the room with a burst of Psychic. The debris and flames pressed into the walls, surrounding him in a ring of fire. He scanned among the wreckage, yet found no trace of the thief. He kept his attention split on the exit and the rest of the room. Even if she regained most of her strength with the food, she wouldn't be fast enough to escape his notice.
"I refuse to take the word of the thief who caused turmoil among the eastern kingdoms. Your actions have led to a series of events that can't be undone! You are just as much a monster as I am!"
"…You're right."
Grim whipped around and fired a Reaping Shadow, yet found no one behind him.
"I, too, have caused a lot of trouble with my actions. If only you could see the depths of mine. I can't speak to the pain you're feeling, but I know what it's like to cause trouble all because of my actions. Not harmless, but a selfish desire born from a moment of rebellion. I regret my choice many times over, but now I take what I learned and use it to create the future I desire."
Grim growled. "And what could a thief like you want most in this world?"
"…I want to save the ten kingdoms from their own vices."
From the flames, Grim heard something approaching. He spun and narrowly blocked a surprise strike from Melissa. They pushed each other back in the clash, taking a moment to catch their breaths. Melissa's breaths were still shallow, though she was breathing easier after eating the rations. Likewise, Grim's cloak lost much of its vitality, and his scythe trembled in his hands. They were both reaching their limits.
"You're a fool," Grim said.
She grinned awkwardly. "Yeah. I get that…a lot."
"Stance of Acheron!" Grim tossed his scythe and sent it spinning across the floor.
Melissa took a deep breath and reared her baton back. "Grim Style—"
His eyes widened. "What?"
"Stance of Cocytus!"
She swung and blasted the scythe out of her way with a burst of ghostly energy. Her baton, laced with a purple energy, extended in length and manifested a blade of condensed shadow energy. Smoke hissed off the energy blade.
Grim called his scythe back into his hand and sneered. "That's my move."
She sneered back. "I know." She deftly spun the energy scythe and wielded it in a similar stance to Grim's. "What are you going to do about it?" She kicked off the floor and lunged at the reaper.
Grim reared his scythe back. "Very well. Stance of Cocytus!" The shadow energy manifested around his scythe, and he swung.
The two opposing weapons clashed, crackling spectral energy through the air that trembled the space around them. The energy built up between the blades and blasted them both apart. Melissa tumbled into flaming desks while Grim slammed into the wall.
Melissa picked herself up and huffed. "Not. Yet. Stance of Acheron!" Wrapping her baton in darkness, she tossed and manually guided it toward Grim.
"Reaping Shadow!" After composing himself, he fired the shadow blade and knocked the baton out of the air. He flew over the floor and reared his scythe back. "I'll make sure you stay down after this one. Breathless Execution!"
"Ivone Style: Purified Luster!" Melissa crossed her arms and intercepted the iron-stealing blade. The prismatic armor kept the attack at bay long enough to deflect it and lunge for her baton. She transferred the light armor through the weapon and spun around, striking the scythe out of Grim's hands.
"AGH!" Grim tried to call the scythe back, but Melissa lunged again and sliced down the middle of his body, disrupting his form.
"A part of you still needs to be tangible to wield the scythe, right?"
"Stance of Acheron!" He psychically grabbed the scythe and sent it flying at the Buneary.
"Endure!" An orange aura outlined her body as she braced herself. The blade nearly drove through her head, but she caught the staff and held it in place, wrestling for control.
"ENOUGH!"
She gasped as Grim physically grabbed her and wrapped his arms tightly around her throat and arms. She punched his face with her ears, but they passed through as usual. She gasped again as she felt him activating Giga Drain. A red aura cascaded over her body and flowed into Grim.
"When I'm done with you, you'll be nothing but a faceless corpse like the rest of the scum I've eliminated! You will join your brethren of sin in Hell where you belong!"
Melissa kicked inside his grip desperately. "Grim! Stop! Please!"
"I do not take orders from the likes of you!"
"GRIM! Please, you can't do this! I'm…I'm—"
"What did I just say?!" He turned her around and scowled into her terrified face, his eyes blazing stronger than ever. His scythe remotely rose above his head, activating the Breathless Execution. "I don't want to—"
"PLEASE!"
"…" Grim's eyes widened as he stared hard at her terrified, feeble expression with tears brimming from her eyes. A look unbecoming of a thief, but one that triggered a memory of…a similar expression. "You…You look like—"
"Flash—"
Grim turned around in alarm at the blue electricity sparking from behind the wall of debris. I completely forgot about—
"And CRACKLE!"
A blue streak of lightning slashed through the reaper and a portion of his scythe instantly. Grim released Melissa before screaming out in pain as the electricity erupted all around him.
Melissa lay panting on the floor for a moment before looking over near the exit. Jason crashed face first into the wall, his body and dagger smoking from using the last of his strength.
"Jason!" She stood up, but stopped when she saw a shard of Grim's blade laying on the floor. Quickly making sure Grim was still immobilizing, she pocketed the shard and raced over to Jason. "Jason!" She grabbed his arm and wrapped it over her shoulder.
He grunted. "Can…barely stay awake."
"Hang on." She helped it toward the exit just as Grim's screams died down. Upon entering the exit, she only then remembered the stairs were missing. "Oh no…"
"R-Rookie…" Jason weakly raised his arm. "Pull the trigger on my phantom grappler. Aim for…the ceiling."
She manipulated his arm and pressed the trigger, firing the black cable into the ceiling above. After pulling on the cable, it retracted and slung them both back up to the main floor. She swung herself into the walls at the right time and kicked off, throwing them both back inside the church. The cable unhooked itself and flew back under Jason's sleeve.
"Alright. Now, how do we get out of here?" she asked as she helped him to his feet. "The entrance is still—" She paused upon looking ahead. To their surprise, the entrance had been completely opened. Smoldering piles of rocks lay across the floor. "What?"
Jason glared. "When did…?" He shook his head. "Ask no questions, just run."
"R-Right—"
"YOU WON'T ESCAPE!"
Melissa and Jason were knocked forward by a sudden burst of pressure. They turned around as Grim came flying out from the stairwell with his scythe reared back.
"Grim, no—" Melissa pleaded.
"DIE!"
She tried to run, but Jason's weight threw off her balance. She looked over her shoulder in terror as the scythe came down on them, forced to see the predicted events playing out before her eyes.
SHIIIIIN!
A crescent of blood spilt across the air as Grim sliced through their armor and tore through their backs. Melissa and Jason gasped out, unable to muster screams from the overwhelming pain. Their eyes glazed over as they flopped onto the floor.
Grim panted, his scythe trembling in his hands, and looked over the downed Foresters. A pool of blood spilled out from their backs and drenched the floor under them. He saw ribbons of flesh and bone from the wounds he inflicted. Not a breath was drawn from the still bodies. Not a single twitch or any other subconscious movement.
"No one…escapes…agh, dammit…!" He collapsed forward, propping himself up with his scythe. He looked at his hand as his vision started to blur. He had reached his limit. His body couldn't handle the pain any longer. He was on the verge of passing out. "Th-This…This is bad…"
Ignoring the gaping entrance he sealed off earlier, he hurried flew out of the church and up the stairwell, clinging on to the last of his consciousness in desperation.
Need. Help. Now.
The reaper fled the church as the flames began to die out below, leaving behind three corpses bleeding out over the floor, dead to the world. Not a sign of life found in either of them, left to decay as a sign of Grim Deadlock's unstoppable rage.
Or so the reaper was meant to believe.
The supposed corpses began to steam. Purple mist hissed off the dead Foresters, and their bodies began to break down into thick clouds of purple smoke. Trails of purple gas became visible in the air. The bodies and the bloodstains vanished from reality, nothing more than illusions conjured upon the mind.
"Glamor Fog."
Stepping out from this invasive mist was the savior of the two Foresters: Basil the Trickster.
The Salandit exhaled the purple mist in a long-winded sigh and looked down at his allies tucked under his arms, no traces of the lethal injury on them. Jason hung limp but was only unconscious. Melissa, however, was barely awake. Her eyes opened a crack, trying to make sense of what happened in the last minute.
She gazed up at the trickster in disbelief, wondering if this was all an illusion. "B…Basil?"
He glanced down at her. The uncharacteristically stoic expression he wore was almost unnerving, though she was too tired and weak to comment on it. Though, his face softened after staring at her.
"Go to sleep."
Something overcame the Buneary. She wasn't sure why, but a sudden wave of drowsiness struck her. She passed out in his hold and went limp.
He sighed, readjusting them both until he had them over his shoulders, and began his long, arduous journey up the spiral staircase. Though, before he left the room, he took one last parting glance at Paride's corpse.
"…" He shook his head and ventured up the stairs. "Don't worry, Paride. I'll come back for you later. Regardless of our history, I won't let you rot down here."
Castle Visconti
Evangelia placed her journal back inside its secret compartment, hanging on the bookshelf for a moment to collect herself. Reading through all her secrets and dirty deeds wasn't a glamorous process, but it kept her mind sharp and focused on the objective. This was the way she handled business.
"When we take over this kingdom, first thing I'm doing is taking a vacation." She shook her head and meandered back to her desk. "I'll have the chefs make me a late-night snack. Maybe Azelia and I can trade gossip. That always cheers me up—"
His eyes widened as something came whooshing into her room. She spun around with a start as black fog seeped its way under the door and manifested into the shape of a reaper. However, she wasn't alarmed by the reaper's presence, but the state of his ragged breathing. His eyes flickered weakly. He could barely stay afloat.
"E…Evange…" The reaper staggered forward and collapsed.
"Oh no." She flew over and caught him before he hit the floor.
The shadow cloak dispelled around him, revealing the tattered, dark gray cloak underneath. A skeleton mask slipped off the reaper's face and clattered onto the floor.
"What the hell happened to you?" Evangelina asked, carrying him over to the bed.
"F…Fairy…Knight…"
"Fairy…" She glared after setting him on the bed. "Wait here and stay quiet. Mom and Dad retired early for the night. I'll get Romano and Angelo."
Her eyes flashed, and a dark shroud wrapped around her body in a similar manner to the reaper's. She flowed out under her chamber doors, leaving the wounded reaper to recuperate on the bed.
He pulled his hood down and sleeves back, staring at the scorch marks baked into his skin. He could feel them on his face, too. He groaned and collapsed back into the pillows.
Asterio Visconti, finally succumbing to the electrical burns, passed out.