Chapter Four: Power Balance

Humans can be so strange sometimes. As I ran toward the impact zone, all fighting ceased for the moment as every eye except mine went to the sky. I gritted my teeth and muttered a curse to The Lady of Doves. Inside, a million questions raced in my head. However, my mind focused on one relatively simple ask: Did Amber survive the unexpected transit across space-time? My body ran on autopilot as I dove over her like an American Football player who dove to recover a fumble. With her limp body in my arms, I could feel a massive charge wrapped up in her form. I looked at her as worry etched itself into my face. Her breath was shallow and labored. I could almost see the arcs of energy as they ran to and fro across her body. Damn it, I thought as I tried to control my fear and anger as I held her. My heart hammered in my chest. I wanted to cry. I wanted to wail. I wanted to storm Olympus and tear it to shreds. All the pain and rage within me swirled dangerously.

I was at The Cliff again. As looked down at its yawning darkness, I could feel despair and pain pull at me like thousands of hands spawned from the darkness. I didn't want to fight nymore. The blackness which normally terrified me to the point I would naturally back away now seem damn near inviting like an old friend I hadn't spoken to in decades. I wanted to jump and forget all my pain in the blessed darkness.

A voice from behind me stopped my movement even as my toes inched towards the edge, "You selfish Baka!"

I blinked and looked back to see her. "You are dying, my family's gone, and I'm stranded in the past with nothing left to tether me to this foolish quest!"

A powerful stinging slap seemed to echo in the nothingness and drive away the crushing gloom around me. In spite of the situation, I laughed. I looked at Amber and felt a little of my will return with the laugh. I reached to hold her, but she pushed me away. "Don't make me go down to Hades and drag you back from this darkness, Sis!" She stared at me. "Now, wake up!"

I jarred awaked with a searing pain in my right calf and stared into the angry face of my best friend looking up at me, "Hey, Wolfie."

She punched me hard enough to make me stumble back as I got to my feet. Before I could recover, Amber hugged me tightly, tighter than I thought possible, "Don't you 'Hey, Wolfie,' me, Nichole!" Amber growled as her eyes glowed red while she glared hard at me. "You should have known I'd be boobytrapped!" She then slapped me across the back of my head. "Rule 8 with shades of 3a!"

"Can we skip the tirade until we're clear of enemies?" I asked calmly. "You can chew me out all you want then." I shook my head before I ran the blade in my right hand through a poor bastard who tried to get at Amber's back. "You know I'm not too good at sensing The Bogan, unlike you."

"Sitrep?"

I smiled, "Rule 16 is in full effect. I pissed off The Lady of Doves. Xerxes is close to breaking, and the Greeks are pushing harder than in our original timeline thanks to me handling Ephialties."

Amber stared at me. "There's no telling what that could do to the future!"

"Oh, save the continuity lecture for when wearen't in the middle of a fight for our lives!" I growled. "…or do you want me to remind you of your attempts to save The Grand Duchess Anastasia in 1917, 'Alexis'?"

She growled and pulled a dory from a fallen Persian. I didn't know what feeling came over me more as I watched Amber work out of the corner of my eye: arousal or fear. I smiled as I watched her call the spear back with The Current. It took me a moment to realize a new sensation thrummed at the back of my head different from the rush of blood I could also feel in that area. I blinked at this new sensation and realized as I cut down two soldiers in a twirl, I could feel Amber's emotions in the odd thrumming of my head. Amber was elated; with just a little help from The Current, she could mimmic Draupnir from "God of War: Ragnorok". I shared in her laughter. I wonder…

On a hunch, I sat down in The Lotus Position and laid my blades next to me as I began to meditate. I could feel my blades begin to rise and spin in The Current. Gradually, I pushed them further and further out in the circle. Just like Darth Traya… I thought before I stood and called my blades back to my heads. As they settled in my grip, I looked out over the battlefield to see the Persian lines shaking and wanting to run as the Spartans and other Greeks seemed to dance between the dead and cut down any my blades or Amber's spear missed.

Leonidas looked at the carnage brought by the two strange woman and silently thanked the gods for the two strange sorceresses who bolstered his lines greatly. The man felt as if the cosmos itself fought Xerxes for him, but one thing still bothered the old king. (Why does Xerxes not order a retreat?) The king questioned. (His lines and army are in tatters. He should take his men and go while he can.) Before the king could think on this question further, the feel of the battlefield changed. Persians began to part lines and pull back. A younger part of Leonidas wanted to give chase and cut them all down as the Persians ran. However, something inhis mind warned him not to follow that instinct and hang back with his men.

A rush of air behind the king served as his only warning. Leonidas dodged and rolled forward. On the edge of his vision, the Spartan watched the blade of a Shamshir sail over his head. Kneeling, the king turned and caught the blade on the bronze fastener of his dory. Leonidas leveraged the blade away from his face and felt his arms burn in fatigue. Three full days of battle and his age wearied the king greatly, but he refused to heed his exhausted body and dug deeply within himself to find the strength to face the monster at the head of the threat to his home. The king moved like a man twenty years his junior and blocked another swing with his shield only for Xerxes to slam an oxhide shield into him to knock him off balance. Leonidas slid back a pace or two and glared at the Persian with rage in his eyes.

"(Darius your father tried to bind us to his will as you are doing,)" the king let a small smile pull at his lips. "(We are commanded by our gods to help and take care of strangers in our houses, but they demand nothing which says we should submit, not now nor ever!)"

With a yell and burst of strength, Leonidas slammed the bronze counterweight of his spear into the other king's arm. The arm responded with an audible crack and went limp as Xerxes cried out in pain. Leonidas pressed his advantage and went for the neck when the Persian ruler could no longer raise his shield due to the broken limb. Xerxes growled himself and chopped the shaft off of the Spartan king's spear. In a heartbeat, the Spartan kept his eyes on his opponent and drew his xiphos. Leonidas watched him with alert eyes but also kept his awareness open for attacks from behind and the sides. "(Do you yield?)"

As one king spoke, the army behind him closed in to protect their king and give a warning. Xerxes swallowed as Amber and I walked up behind him. I could feel the fear in his men and smiled at the thought as I allowed my teeth to change and flashed the remaining Persians a fanged smile. In response, the men stumbled over themselves to get away from the two of us and muttered something between each other I guessed translated to "demon" or some other equally malevolent spirit.

Xerxes glared at the soldiers at his back, but the men didn't even appear to acknowledge his expression of rage. "(I surrender!)"

I looked at Amber and smiled at her, I told you he was close to breaking, Sis.

No shit, she responded with an equally enigmatic look. We broke him with our powers. I hope you're satisfied.

I rolled my eyes at her and subtly shook my head. You know I love Rule 16, I giggled softly. You also know I don't like restraint in matters of war and in such situations live by the mantra "No prisoners, no mercy!" You're the tactical mind of us, not me. I'm the hammer; you're the scalpel.

I nodded to the two kings, looked at Amber, took her hand, and smiled as we began to walk away from the battlefield. Part of me cursed at the the thought of having to wait some seventy years before Amber and I could fly from place to place rather than walk. However, every time I looked at Amber, the annoyance faded just a little more until it became a minor pinprick in the back of my mind. Back home, I thought to myself. I would have killed for a tour of the Ancient World. I shook my head at the irony of the thoughts that ran through my head. I actually did kill to get the tour.

Amber looked at me in worry as we walked down the old goat path back to a real road back to the city to get more precise directions than a simple heading. I looked away when she tried to make eye contact. The Karadim was growing. I could now get specific emotions and thoughts off of her mind if I looked at her, but that telepathy did not work without this caveat, yet. The Link wasn't strong enough yet and would not gain that strength unless we Marked each other. I blushed noticeably only for the blush to deepen when Amber looked at me and smirked.

Damn, she caught me.

Amber squeezed my hand and rubbed her finger across the back of my hand. I looked at her in shock at her boldness. "What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

I rubbed the back of my head and looked towards the spot where I knew the Persian camp and the Traitor's blood likely still stained the dirt. "I like the idea of war. Actually, participating in the action makes everything different." I shivered at the rage and anger that carried me through the attack."I didn't like what combat does to me, but I'd do that again in a heartbeat to defend anyone I care about."

Amber frowned. "I'm not going anywhere, Sea Pearl," she promised before she pulled me close. "Listen to me, Nic. I'm with you until we both fade out of existence. Get me?"

I shivered. "You don't know what you're saying, Ames," I said quietly. "I'm a broken mess. What would you want with me?"

Amber stopped and glared at me. She fought to blink away tears with a light glare. "Don't make me cry, asshole," she said gently with hurt in her voice. "You may be broken, but I am, too." Amber smiled with a hint of pain behind her eyes. "Some of the most beautiful art in the world is Kintsugi."

I blinked and looked at her as my brain threw itself into gear after it stalled at her tears, "That's the art-form of fixing broken pottery with golden paste, right?"

Amber kissed me.

I continued to short out. "Um…what?"

She squeezed my hand, "We can piece each other together," she said softly. "For now, I want to find a way to Athens."

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