Brago was in ruins.
The snow was white, yet underneath was a layer of ash and dust from the buried destruction. The half but most times entirely collapsed remains of buildings were strewn across the snowy landscape; whatever corpses or debris they held were buried along with the rest of the city. The ruins were grayed and desolate, maintaining a sense of defeat that had stained the earth for a long time...
Ultear ran through the ruins, her breath quick and desperate as she tried to understand what had happened to the city she remembered. She tried to get to the white tarp at the city's center, the only sign of anything new in this old, devastated landscape.
What happened...
Ultear couldn't fathom how anything could cause such destruction. It was like a giant had taken a sledgehammer to the town and burnt whatever had been left standing...
What caused this...
Ultear wasn't sure, but she knew the tarp at the center of town would hold her answer. It was the only thing that wasn't covered in snow, soot, or ash...
That must have meant something.
Where did everyone go...
Ultear paused as she got to the small building that had belonged to the old lady. It was a simple wooden lodging, once a magic shop, but the lady had refurbished it into a new home.
Why is everything...
The wood was destroyed, charred to ashes, and buried under the unforgiving snow.
Gone.
Ultear bit back the nausea that hit her, tearing her eyes away from the remnants of the house and dashing toward the center of town. Her breath stabilized as she approached the edge of the cleared-out town center, where she could finally get a good look at the tarp...
As well as the three middle-aged men standing beside it, with blue and white robes. A white hat on their heads with a red, cross-like symbol. Their hands were occupied with clipboards and documents, with one in particular having a scar on his nose and short brown hair, tinkering with a machine that was beeping incessantly.
Who are they...
Ultear came to a slow, her footsteps trailing as she slowly approached them. Taking advantage of their distraction to listen to what they were talking about. Her ears latched on to the words of the one with the machine that kept beeping.
"The magic readings are off the charts. Whatever spell she used isn't letting up, not in any noticeable way, at least..."
One of the middle-aged men next to him answered, a plain face and blond hair being the only notable features about him, "That's good. Note any changes and compile them later. I'm sure one of those sick fucks in the Dark Guilds will buy that information."
The third one, a bald head with thin eyebrows, asked skeptically, "Which one do you think will pay the highest amount?"
The device holder interjected with a scoff, "I'd bet on that one cult leader, Brain. He loves this kind of stuff. He might even pay extra since his last project was supposed to reach its expiration date soon..." his words trailed as he finally took notice of the girl that was walking towards them, his eyes narrowing as he spoke in a suspicious tone, "Hey! Little girl! What are you doing here!? It's not safe!"
The man turned off the magic device and pocketed it, walking over with a frown as he glared at the teenage girl, "What are you even doing out here!? Don't you know that the Bureau of Magical Development branded Brago as a hazard zone since Deliora destroyed it!"
The man frowned as he saw the girl stiffen in fright, her frame trembling as she asked with wide, fearful eyes, "Bureau? Is that who you work for, mister..."
The man clicked his tongue as he grabbed the girl's thin wrists, dragging her behind him as he walked back towards his coworkers, "Yeah. I was sent to take readings on this place to see if sending more scientists was safe. They were worried that it was too dangerous with how harsh the weather is..."
The man paused as he got to his coworkers, his head turning back to the girl as he took in the thin hospital gown that hung on her frame. His eyes trailed towards the exposed skin on her legs and bare feet, buried in the snow for who knows how long, her not showing any signs of frostbite...
She wasn't even shivering.
"How did you even survive out here, little girl?"
His eyes narrowed as the girl looked at him with the same broad, scared eyes. The image of a lost teenage girl shattered as her eyes fell, and she gave an almost disappointed sigh, "Damn... thought you'd spill a little more..."
The man felt a shiver down his spine, his face flipping to terror as he tried to let go of the girl that all his instincts told him was dangerous. An action that came all too late because the ice had already crawled its way up his arms, covering his torso and trapping him up to his shoulders in a cube of ice.
"Hey! What's going- ah!"
The man flinched as he heard his coworker gasp from behind him, his eyes widening as he glanced back and saw them strangled by icy vines. After a few seconds, the two fall unconscious, leaving him alone with the monster disguised in the teenage girl's body.
"Well, now that they're taken care of..."
Ultear's words were drawn out as she stood before the human ice cube, her eyes narrowing as she lowered one of her icy vines right before his nose, "What were you three really doing here?"
Ultear watched as the man glanced at the vine warily, her patience thinning as she flicked her fingers, and her vine took a chuck of his ear. His pained and terrified screams died as she held an icy palm over his mouth, her words chilling the air around them with every syllable, "I don't have time to deal with your indecision. You'll answer my questions when I ask them, or I'll see if the two dunces over there will. Do you understand?"
Ultear watched the man nod slowly, the blood gushing down his ear as Ultear removed her hand and asked again, "Now. What were you three doing here?"
Ultear watched like a hawk as the man gulped, his voice shaky as he answered with a slight tremor, "We were tasked with studying the magic that sealed the demon Deliora. Any useful information was supposed to be sold to the Dark Guilds for the highest bidders..."
The man winced as the vine cut a bit of his cheek, his teeth chattering as the girl narrowed her eyes, "What about this Brain person you were talking about?"
The man gulped, "He's a cult leader who buys almost anything related to magic research. He has a deal with one of the higher-ups in the Bureau; that's why we figured he would get first dibs on whatever we learned from here... Our boss..."
The man paused, his eyes narrowing on the hospital gown as he spoke in a dazed murmur, "Our boss said he would probably be looking for a new project soon since... since his last experiment... was coming to an end."
The man's eyes widened imperceptibly, his voice going from scared to astonished instantly, "You're the experiment, aren't you? There were rumors about his pet project being somewhere in Isvan-"
The man grit his teeth as an icy vine curled its way around his neck, the girl's voice losing all patience as she spoke with a cold fury, "Stop talking about shit that doesn't matter. Who's your boss?"
The man gasped as the vine loosened, a bruise forming on his neck as he spoke through broken gasps for air, "Don't know... we just know that he's higher up... No one ever sees his face..."
The man's breath evened out as the girl narrowed her eyes at him, shaking her head as she walked past him and towards the tarp. His eyes lost sight of her as she gave an annoyed huff, "Brain huh... so that's who the red robe worked for."
The man then heard the girl tap the tarp, the ring of solid mass underneath sounding as she gave an almost amused snort, "What could the boss of that psychopath find so interesting about this so-called de-"
The man heard her words fall dead as the sound of a tarp lifted was heard over the quiet air. His eyes furrowed in confusion before he felt his skin crawl in terror, the air dropping to absolute freezing instantly. A feeling of magic pressure drowned him in pure hatred and enmity, making his body scream in fear.
I'm going to die...
It wasn't a question; it was a fact, drowning his body in the understanding that no matter what he said, the girl would kill him. Nothing with that skin-crawling pressure would bother to leave him alive; it wouldn't make sense...
I'm going to die.
No monster would spare a human.
"Where is she..."
The girl's words made his nerves tremble. The only thing he could do was stutter out an answer as his rationality faded, his eyes wide as he looked around futile for a way to survive, "Wh- what do you me- mean? I don't-"
His words failed him as the air dropped even further, his breath coming in panicked gasps of cold air and piss staining his leg as the girl spoke, "The mage who did this..."
She spoke with a sense of rage, something so vile and sick that it made the muted pressure of Deliora feel nice. The force that screamed a want, no a need for revenge...
I'm going to die.
It was enough to break his sanity.
"Where is Ur?"
The man felt a sense of deathly foreboding fall over him, his panic-driven mind falling into madness as he let out a terrified laugh. His brain whirled as it accepted that he would die and, as such, lost all sense of self-preservation.
"Ur!? Are you stupid or something!?"
The man laughed even harder, his eyes trembling as he spoke with spite and bitterness, "She's been dead for months!"
He looked at the sky, memorizing the clouds as he felt the air fall still, his words flowing as he tried to hurt the girl even more than she would hurt him, "She died sealing that thing in ice! No one knows how she did it! The only reports came from a village a few days from here that say she went after a boy with black hair and a death wish!"
The man felt the air stir violently, his manic smile unfaltering even as he thought he was only a few seconds from death, "How funny is that!? The uncrowned Wizard Saint died because of a child-"
That was the last words he uttered before the world around him exploded in a burst of razor-sharp ice; the feeling of his body being torn apart was surprisingly peaceful...
He was dead before he could even feel the pain.
The ruins of Brago were quiet, the light snowfall and grey clouds hiding its devastation under a façade of tranquility. The city's silence broke as an explosion took hold of the center of the dead town, ripping apart what little was left of the central buildings with a roar as loud as thunder.
Shit...
Vera ran towards the explosion, his breath strained as he ignored the wreckage around him. His legs burned as he ran towards the town center, his eyes trailing the giant tarp shadowing the ruins of what once was a thriving city...
He's here...
He saw the tarp fall, thrown off by the force of the ice and wind that was roaring in the center of town. The white sheet falls to the wind, revealing the icy structure underneath it.
Deliora...
A part of Vera was instinctively afraid at the sight before him, the demon that towered over everything like an impending calamity. The ice perfectly encased the bloodthirsty snarl on its face, the glint of its razor-sharp teeth and rage-endured eyes highlighted for all to see.
The Demon of Disaster.
A part of Vera wanted to run away just from the sight of it. Even with its muted presence, a part of Vera just knew...
It was wrong.
It was so wrong...
A part of Vera wanted to get as far away from it as possible...
She knows...
Vera ignored that part of himself.
Ultear knows...
His body kept running, finally coming to the town center, where he was greeted with a crater in front of the icy behemoth. The white ground died red as the fresh corpses of three men piled on top of the old wreckage near the edges. A ring of debris created from the pressure rolled off of Ultear, who stood at its center like a meteorite, her eyes never leaving the demon immortalized in ice.
"She's dead..."
Ultear's words were dry, settling over the expanse as she glanced back at Vera. Her dead eyes poring into his as she spoke with as little care for life as could be construed, "I can't move the ice... she's dead... the thief killed her..."
Ultear mumbled those words like a broken record, unaware of the silent tears trailing down her cheeks. The magic flared inconsistently around her like it no longer had a source to pin its anger on. The raging conflict reflected in the random shifts and spurts of ice as her dull and void eyes turned to the demon before looking at Vera...
"You aren't surprised..."
To honestly look at Vera.
"You knew..."
Her words weren't scornful or heated...
"You knew she died..."
Vera almost wished they held some hatred for him...
"Didn't you?"
It would have made him feel less disgusting.
"I-"
Vera's words caught in his throat, his face contorting with conflict as he saw Ultear blink at him. Vera knew he could try to tell her he didn't know, that he was as surprised as she was and that she might even believe him. He could have told her he didn't know about Ur's death...
He would be lying.
He had thought of the possibility when he saw Ultear back at the lab. Even if her age was never specified, she couldn't have been that much older than Gray, and Gray had lost Ur when he was 8...
"I..."
Ultear looked around 13...
"I didn't..."
Gray was probably 9 or 10...
"I didn't..."
They were too old, meaning the chances of Ur being alive were slim to none. He knew it back in the lab, and he knew it in the cave...
He had chosen to ignore it.
"I didn't know..."
He had to escape the lab...
Ultear wouldn't have taken him with her if she knew Ur was dead.
"I didn't know how to tell you."
Vera's words fell with the weight of the world in them; his guilt etched in every syllable. The words hung over the air, Ultear's eyes widening imperceptibly before they settled, a silent gaze that corresponded with her flat words, "Oh..."
Ultear tilted her head, her eyes gazing back at the demon before the snow settled, the flutters of snow falling flatly as Ultear spoke with a tone that held no room for doubt...
It was the tone that didn't hold anything.
"Well, that ruins everything..."
Ultear's words sent shivers down Vera's spine, the hairs on his neck standing up as ice crawled around her. Her voice was robotic as if her mouth was speaking out of habit rather than necessity.
"Where's the mage that knows time magic?"
Vera felt danger breath down his neck as icy vines formed behind Ultear. Her hands by her side and head tilted as she eyed Vera analytically, wondering what use she could squeeze out of him before he expired.
"Ha..."
Vera let out a breathless, humorless laugh, the tension making his nerves tremble as he spoke with near-silent sarcasm, "Are you going to let me live if I tell you?"
If Vera's words phased Ultear, she didn't show it; she just tilted her head. A small huff left her mouth as the air chilled in response to her thoughts.
"Clever... never mind then."
Vera barely blinked before a shadowed hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back to the ground as an icy vine shot through where his head once stood. Vera could vaguely catch Ultear's bland voice before he was forced to roll out of the way of her onslaught of icy thorns.
"I'll find them myself."
Vera tumbled to a stand as the snow shot out from next to him, his eyes barely glancing at the icy vine as he dodged it and was immediately forced to dodge another. The year he spent running from monsters guiding him as he ducked under a thorny vine that would've taken his head off his shoulders.
Survive...
Vera's mind delved into basic instinct, and just like during the practicals, he didn't bother to think. He just avoided one sharp vine after the other, one grazing his cheek, another scratching his ear, a third slicing into his side, until a fourth came too fast for him to dodge.
His eyes went wide as he saw it barrel towards him, the image of him being skewered flashing in his brain before he was grabbed roughly and thrown to the side. His footing left him as he landed back on the ground, his breath escaping him as he took a second to process the fact that there wasn't a hole in his stomach.
I'm still... alive?
Vera barely registered the thought as he kicked his feet up to a stand, his eyes wide as he saw the vine meant for him gorging into another. Sho's body anchored to the vine as the shadow writhed in anger, a clawed hand grabbing and crushing it.
"Sho..."
Ultear's low growl was all Vera heard before he saw three more vines skewer Sho, running through him like darts in a dartboard. Their icy tendrils curled around Sho's body and ground into it while Sho furiously struggled to free himself.
"You're in the way."
Ultear's words fell with a grim sight, the vines constricting around Sho until they tore through him, his shadowed body flying into pieces. Vera's connection to Sho was thinning to almost nothing as Sho was torn apart. Each piece flew into the air, a few starting to dissipate since they weren't connected to his shadow. One of Sho's arms, severed right at the shoulder, was flying towards him from the force of Ultear's attack.
"That's better."
An attack that hadn't ended because the vines immediately whipped their heads to him. They were lashing toward him less than a second after Sho had been eviscerated, like snakes that had finally caught up to the rat they had been chasing.
I'm going to die...
Vera could vaguely feel his heartbeat, the world slowing as he watched the vines tear through the air. Their path was undeterred beside the severed arm, flying only milliseconds ahead.
I don't want to die...
Vera could vaguely feel Sho trying to reform, a process that wouldn't change anything because Sho had to rebuild his entire body. Sho had to wait for the body parts to dissolve before he could reclaim them, and at that moment, only Sho's head had done so. The vines had already inched towards him during that time, speeding through the air like bullets.
I don't want to die...
He would die...
I survived so much...
As soon as the shadowed arm finished dissolving...
I want to live...
The shadowed arm...
I have to live...
Sho's arm...
I have to survive...
A magic arm.
I'm not allowed to die.
Vera barely processed his decision as he reached out, the thin trail of a shadow crawling up his leg and onto his open palm. His magic flared as he grabbed the severed edge of the shadowed arm in his hand, his body guiding him as he gripped it tightly. His mind blanked as the arm writhed; the wisps of dissipating shadows stopped dead in their tracks, roaring with joy as they reformed into a solid shadowed component.
My magic...
It was still Sho's arm, but it functioned differently this time. Vera could tell that Sho kept the shadowed arm stable and solid, so it served more as a sword than anything else. One that was as tangible as Sho when he left the walls, except this time the shadow where Sho escaped from wasn't on the wall or the ground...
It was on his palm.
Block...
Vera followed his instincts as he quickly and crudely held the arm before him, deflecting the first vine so it scraped past his ear. His head tilted as he escaped the other by a hair's breadth before putting the makeshift sword between himself and the last one.
Brace...
His teeth grit as the vine pierced halfway through the arm, getting lodged into it with enough force to launch him off his feet. Plowing him through the snow and into the surrounding debris like a bull with Vera stuck on its horns. Vera screamed as his back was dragged through cement and wood, bruising and cutting it with every passing opportunity.
Drop it...
Vera listened instantly, letting go of the arm and watching in morbid fascination as it stayed glued to his palm. The arm snapped downwards to sever the vine that had tried to continue its path through Vera's chest. Shattering the icy thorns before slinking back into Vera's palm, the thin shadow that had crawled up his arm retreated to its origins, where Sho could fully form and take a protective stance over him.
Thanks, Sho...
Vera sent the grateful thought as his breath started coming out in pained gasps; his body felt like lead as he lay on the snow to try and catch his breath. Vera's endeavors for naught as Sho lifted him to his feet, the stabbing in his back falling to the wayside as Sho planted Vera upright so he could get a good look at their surroundings.
Where are we...
The vine had pushed them a few blocks from Deliora, and now they were in the middle of some leveled street. The houses of wood and broken cement tossed haphazardly without a hint of their original structure.
Where's-
"I'm surprised..."
Ultear's bored voice dragged Vera out of his head, his neck prickling as he looked towards the place he had been thrown from. The pain in his back faded to a dull throb as his adrenaline spiked at the sight of Ultear approaching them.
"I thought you'd die from that..."
She walked through the desolate ruins like she was on a stroll, icy vines trailing her, reminiscent of snakes following their master. Her eyes dull and voice duller as she tilted her head, "I didn't know you could fight back."
"Me either..." Vera responded with a mixture of nervousness and adrenaline, a small, humorless laugh escaping his lips.
It didn't make my situation any better, though...
Vera glanced at the vines coiled around Ultear, his mind racing as he tried to figure out a way to survive. His eyes met Ultear's dead ones as he realized he would have to find a way to beat her first because she wouldn't let him run away...
She wouldn't let him survive.
"You think too much..."
Ultear's void drawl threw him out of his head, his legs tense as he watched two vines shoot towards him. Sho holding an arm out protectively in front of him as he prepared for the attack to close the distance...
"Thread Magic"
Except it never got the chance.
"Razor"
A thin line of razor-sharp thread cut through the no man's land, separating Vera and Ultear, cutting through the vines and the snow underneath it without an inch of resistance. An attack so precise yet powerful that it lulled the tension to silence as if a fishing wire had drawn a line in the space between the two warring mages—the two flicking their head towards the intrusion as they waited to see what would happen next.
"You guys run too fast..."
Number 8's voice rang through the silent air, his eyes taking in everything as he noted Vera's injuries: the bloody scratches on his face and the rips carved into the back of his clothes. A thin patch of blood had formed underneath Vera's previously white winter coat, and Number 8 could tell Vera was ignoring it rather than dealing with it.
He's in bad shape...
Number 8's eyes narrowed at Ultear, seeing the crystal-clean canvas of her skin and coming to his grim conclusion.
"You're trying to kill him..."
Number 8 watched with dawning eyes as Ultear gazed through him, her words dull and void, but the message as clear as could be, "Don't interfere..."
Or you'll regret it.
Number 8 felt his nerves thrum with anxiety as a chill descended upon the air, his eyes glancing once more at Vera's injured figure before he took a deep breath. He was mentally prepared because he had battled Ultear enough times to know she was serious...
She won't stop until he's dead...
Number 8 digested that thought, wondering how the situation had gotten to that point but knowing he didn't have the luxury to find out.
I can't let that happen.
Number 8 firmed himself as his magic brimmed to life; his eyes lidded as he forced himself to remain calm...
"I can't do that..."
He forced himself to remain rational...
"Vera saved me..."
He forced himself into numbness...
"You're trying to kill him..."
He forced himself to return to the lab...
"That makes it my problem."
He forced himself to believe it was just another practical.
"So be it." Was Ultear's curt response, a hand moving from one side to face him and another pointed at Vera—icy vines carved through the snow and debris, plowing toward them without a single trace of stopping. Number 8 noticed Sho throw Vera out of the way before he was forced to focus on his side of Ultear's assault.
"Thread Magic: Cleave"
Number 8 flicked his hand as five razor-sharp threads left his fingertips, slicing through the icy vines before he dashed away from the shards. Number 8 flicked his fingers together as he molded a cord between his palms, layering it repeatedly until he had what he needed. A weapon made of tightly packed lines that were sharp enough to cut steel and dense enough to block bullets.
"Thread Make: Spear"
Number 8 twirled the threaded spear in his palm as he dashed towards Ultear, noticing Sho doing the same thing while Vera stayed behind to recover. The two closed in on Ultear as she gritted her teeth, moving an open palm around her and sending forth a wave of snow that pushed Sho backward.
That's one...
Ultear flicked her eyes towards Number 8, her eyes narrowing as she saw him vault over the wave of snow. His eyes were calculating as he tilted his spear down, his grip tight and arm reared back as he descended through the air like a falling arrow.
There's the other.
"You think you'll win this time 8?" Ultear asked nonchalantly, light on her feet as she danced past the threaded spear that pierced the snow where she once stood. Number 8 landed a second later before flicking his eyes to her as he pulled his spear out of the ground without difficulty, "I'll have to..."
It's the only way we can all survive...
Number 8 closed the distance instantly, refusing to give Ultear any space as he thrust out with his spear, Ultear parrying it so that it barely hovered above her shoulder. Her eyes were calm and collected as she flicked her hand and sent an ice shard at him. Number 8 spun his spear so that the bit hit the hilt of his spear and shattered.
"Just try it then."
Ultear muttered as she sent a kick that Number 8 blocked with the shaft of his spear. Number 8 counterattacking only for Ultear to parry without a hint of difficulty. Number 8 kept close as the two traded blows, neither drawing blood and neither able to get the upper hand. Their stalemate was endless until a shadowed figure, littered with shards of icy thorns, tore through their battle, fist reared back and slamming into Ultear's defenses. Her arm raised between the shadowed fist and her head, the force sending her tumbling into the snow, where she quickly decided to take out one of the enemies before they could take advantage of her fall.
This should do...
Ultear quickly let her palm sink into the snow, building pressure under it until it exploded and surrounded the area in a dense cloud of fresh powder. The makeshift smokescreen forced Number 8 to cover his face so he wouldn't get hit with debris flying through the air.
"Caught you..."
Ultear's thin whisper filled Number 8 with dread, his eyes wide as he felt a vine curl tightly around his leg. Number 8 lost his spear as the vine whipped him across the battlefield and through layers of debris. His body skirted over the ground like a skipping stone until he came to a painful stop courtesy of a half-destroyed wooden wall.
Ow...
Number 8's head spun as he forced himself to get up, his body acclimating to the pain as he looked over to Ultear. His eyes narrowed as he saw her standing over a frozen Sho, nailed to the ground with the freshly frosted spear Number 8 had left behind. Ultear held the iced-over spear in her hand as a breath of frigid air escaped her lips, her eyes glancing towards Number 8 without a hint of sympathy.
"I warned you-"
Ultear's words were cut off as a chunk of charred wood sailed towards her, her eyes flicking towards it before an icy vine destroyed it. Her eyes narrowed with cold fury as she saw Vera standing with a stray stone in his hand, "Come on, Ultear..."
We'll lose at this rate...
Vera chucked the stone at her, a nervous smile on his face as she diced it in half, her attention entirely focused on him, "Quit bullying Number 8."
Ultear's too calm.
Vera felt his mind flying through his options as he saw Ultear give a scoff, crushing the spear in her hand as it, along with Sho, shattered. Sho slinked back to him as Ultear gave a mocking tilt of her head, "Or what..."
Ultear's voice rang out over the air, power etched in every word as the air chilled. Her eyes were cold and uncaring as she looked down on Vera like he was a bug about to be squashed, "What's a weakling like you going to do about it?"
Ultear's words fell with the world's weight, her magic pressure enveloping the area as Vera had to bite his tongue to stop himself from succumbing to it. His breaths staggered as he tried not to let her words get to him.
"Weak..."
He did his best...
"I'm weak..."
He did...
"No shit, idiot..."
Yet it was impossible not to hate the words that fell from her mouth because he knew how true they were. He had been trapped in that lab for a year, and even when he escaped, it wasn't because he was strong...
It was because Ultear was strong.
"What about me isn't weak..."
Vera had gotten his magic less than a month ago.
He was bound to be weak...
That's why he had to fight like a weakling to survive.
We can't win if she keeps her composure.
Vera buried his nerves under his skin as he gave an amused smile, his eyes meeting Ultear's dead ones as he gave a small laugh, "What about you..."
I need to make her lose it.
Vera glanced at Number 8, an unsaid warning floating through the air before he turned back to Ultear with the cruelest, most mocking grin he could plaster on his face...
One he figured the doctor would be proud of.
"What kind of weakling runs away from their mother?"
The silence after his words met the air wasn't just heavy; it was crushing. As if the world was waiting to see how Ultear would react to the foolish words that dared to leave Vera's lips.
"What?"
Vera could barely describe the pressure he felt next, similar to what he thought during the avalanche. A force so immense and intense that it felt like nature was trying to strangle the life out of him. The temperature was below zero, and the snow around Ultear billowed as a vein twitched in her forehead. Her eyes alight with an unfathomable rage that leaked into the open air like poisonous smoke. The wind howled around her as she stood in the middle of an icy storm of her creation, more vicious than anything the blizzard could have offered.
"Shut up and die... "
Ultear muttered the words like poison, her hands moving correctly for the first time in the fight. A fist in her open palm as she forgot everything else except wiping Vera's smug grin off the face of the earth.
"Ice Make: Rosen Karone"
Vera tensed as he saw the vines from before thicken; where they used to be snakes, they were now serpents. Their path unhindered as they charged towards him, roses blooming as they tore through the debris like a freight train. An image of the avalanche that had almost buried them overlapped with the attack that tore through the ground like a tsunami of frozen fury.
How do I survive...
Vera's mind could only process that thought; it was the only thing he could do. He had survived a year of torture and hadn't lost his sanity during it...
I have to survive...
He couldn't just die here after all of that.
Sho...
The answer was with Sho, just like it had always been. Sho had saved him in the lab and had protected him afterward...
I trust you...
Vera trusted Sho to save him again.
So help me out, buddy.
Vera instinctively crouched down as the attack progressed towards him, his eyes only ahead as he felt his magic thrive with desire. The shadow that had crawled towards his palm settled at the soles of his feet, stockpiling his magic power like a spring waiting to burst.
Just like last time...
Vera felt adrenaline coursing through his veins as the icy garden of death converged on him, his mind translating the danger he felt now to whenever he faced those monsters that wanted to tear his throat out.
Sho isn't attached to the ground...
Unconsciously, as if celebrating the fact that he didn't have the doctor watching over his shoulder, his lips curled up, and his eyes were alight with danger-induced excitement as he jumped, his head oddly clear as he felt his magic explode at that instant.
Sho's attached to me.
Vera felt the wind hit his face as he was launched into the air, soaring over the icy attack that had leveled a city block. His eyes were wide with glee as he looked down, a smile crossing his face after seeing a pair of shadowed legs sliding back into the soles of his feet.
Awesome...
Vera had never considered using his magic like that before; it was intoxicating. If he wasn't flying through the air, he would have celebrated and started testing what else he could have done with his power...
Wait...
Except he was flying through the air.
How do I land?
Vera felt a panic hit him as gravity took hold, his body tumbling back to the snow as he did his best to land on his back. His fall was painful as he crashed into a barely recognizable wooden floorboard with only a layer of snow to cushion his fall. The sound of what he hoped wasn't a cracked rib telling him that he didn't come out of the ordeal unscathed.
Fuck... bad idea...
Vera gave a pained cough as he forced his exhaustion to rest, his eyes dazed as he clambered back up to see a mass of ice roses a few houses to his left. His eyes narrowed as he saw Number 8 trying to hold off Ultear, who now had the full strength of her ice-make magic to work with.
He isn't doing well...
The threads that had once been able to cut the vines cleanly now got stuck halfway through. Anything that managed to get through was frozen directly by the icy wind surrounding Ultear or blocked by the roses that protected Ultear like blooming shields.
He isn't going to last long.
Number 8 was on the defensive; a threaded circular shied on his forearm and his spear in the other while he attempted to keep Ultear from using her superior range. A tactic that failed because every time he tried to get close, she either pushed him back with a blast of snow or forced him to defend himself by aiming her vines at his shield.
Number 8 was fighting a losing battle...
Vera had to change that.
We can't beat her at range...
Uktear's magic was too versatile; anything that rested mid to long-range would be torn apart from her vines. Any attacks Number 8 sent from that range would be blocked by the vines or the roses that could double as shields.
We can't get close.
The temperature itself would fight them the closer they got to Ultear, and that was disregarding the swirling icy winds that surrounded her. Getting close would be synonymous with frostbite, and Number 8 was trying it only because frostbite was better than dying.
What else can we-
'Tug'
Vera paused as he felt his shadow tug, his eyes glancing down as he saw Sho settle on the ground. A simple gesture gave Vera all he needed to know about Sho's grand plan for what they should do to help Number 8 out...
Vera wasn't strictly sold on the idea.
You can't be serious...
Sho stared blankly at him; the 'you got a better idea?' was so loud and sassy that Vera almost forgot Sho didn't have a mouth for a second.
Goddammit...
Vera mentally strung all the curses in his vocabulary, glancing again at Number 8's battle before turning and jogging in the opposite direction. He glanced pointedly at Sho's resting figure, talking to him while he continued to create distance between him and the warring mages.
If I die, it's your fault.
He would need a running start for what Sho wanted him to do.
Number 8 hated fighting Ultear.
Even back at the lab, when he sparred against most other numbers, he still thought Ultear was the worst opponent.
She was too strong.
Stupid Vera...
Number 8 mentally cursed Vera for pissing Ultear off and then leaving him alone with her. He didn't know whether it was adrenaline or inexperience that caused Vera to overshoot his launch, but the result was the same...
"You look tired 8."
Ultear was quick to take the opportunity to remove him from the fight while they were uncontested.
"You don't look much better."
Number 8 muttered as he held his threaded shield, deflecting the vine that crashed into him. Number 8 slid backward as he used his spear to break the vine, his breath heavy as he threw the shield at Ultear to try and disrupt her rhythm.
"You're delusional."
Ultear replied bluntly, sweeping her hand in a circular motion as the shield was swept away in a wave of snow. Her eyes narrowed as the snow covered her vision for an instant, and the next, she was faced with a spear tip barreling towards her like a bullet.
"Ice Make: Dahlia Bloom"
An icy dahlia flower formed before her, acting as a shield as the spear was lodged in its petals, sticking through the flower like a toothpick through a napkin. Ultear hid a slightly heavy breath as she moved the flower to her side, ready to use it in case another projectile followed in its wake.
Luckily, there wasn't another projectile; there was just Number 8, his eyes tired and hands empty as he seemed to catch his breath. His words crossed the battlefield as he murmured, "Never seen you lose it like that before..."
Number 8 saw Ultear flinch, his eyes narrowing in the slight tremor in her hand as she clenched her fist. The truth settled in as she attacked him again with a range of icy vines. He dodged as best he could, taking a few glancing blows rather than creating another shield to deflect them.
She overdid it...
Number 8 was sure of it; her vines were more potent than before but also slower. A trade-off that Ultear would have negated if she was in good condition.
So that's why Vera pissed her off.
Ultear had used most of her magic trying to kill Vera earlier, which was why Number 8 was able to stay in the fight. She rushed to end the battle before using too much magic, making her attacks sloppier than usual.
She'll still beat me before she runs out of magic, though...
Number 8 knew that well enough; her vines had already scraped him a few times. It was only a matter of time before he slipped up, or his exhaustion would catch up. Once that happened, Ultear would remove him from the equation so she could focus on killing Vera.
I have to get closer...
Number 8 let out a deep breath as he tensed himself, his eyes trailing the vine charging at him before he shifted out of the way. His mind was calm as he moved his hands and took a page from Ultear's playbook.
"Thread Magic"
Number 8 let five razor-sharp strings flow from his fingertips, his magic reserves taking a hit while he saw Ultear tense out of the corner of his eyes. With his spear still stuck in it, her dahlia moved before her to defend against his attack...
This should work...
Fortunately, it wasn't her that he was attacking.
"Cleave"
Ultear tensed as she heard an explosion from Number 8's position, moving the dahlia slightly as she tilted her head and saw the ground beneath Number 8 exploding in a snow cloud.
A smokescreen...
Ultear's thoughts fell flat as she heard the ting of a thread being tightened to its limits. Her eyes flicked over to her dahlia to see the spear strain against the petal it was lodged in. Her eyes narrowed as she saw a thin, near invisible white thread attached to its end, taught like someone was pulling against it...
A diversion...
Or someone was using it to pull themselves closer.
"Caught you."
Ultear's thoughts came too late as she saw Number 8 rocket out of the smokescreen, landing on the dahlia like a crash pad and using its petals like a ledge to hang on. His eyes were trained on her like a hawk as he pulled the spear out of the petals and let go of the ledge, falling gracefully to the ground. His time in the air was seemingly endless as he took the spear and threw it towards her with more speed than she thought him capable of.
"You should dodge."
Ultear gnashed her teeth as she dashed to the side, the spear flying past her, burying itself into the snow and taking an inch off her shoulder. The trail of blood that erupted from it signaled the first injury she had sustained during the fight, and it had come from Number 8 and his makeshift grapple. A grapple that he used once again to pull himself towards the ground, now within striking distance.
"That's the second time I've injured you."
Number 8 said, ignoring the exhaustion that had crept up on him after using so much of his magic as he pulled the spear to his hand and thrust it at Ultear. Ultear lost her unfazed mask as she gritted her teeth, dodging the attack before sending a kick towards his torso.
"That's the last time it'll happen."
Number grunted as he firmed the kick, opting to take as much damage as possible to give some back, "We'll see."
Number 8 thrust his spear toward Ultear's head; Ultear leaned back as the blade cut sliced through where her head had once been. A few of her bangs were sacrificed to his blade before she grabbed his overextended spear. Using it as a lever, she whipped her head forward, headbutting Number 8 in the nose and stunning him. Number 8 abandoned the spear and sent a wild punch that Ultear slipped, her hand grabbing the back of his neck as she kneed him in the stomach.
"Gu- ack!"
Number 8 let out a pained gasp, a bit of spit flying from his mouth before she kicked him away. Number 8 tumbled across the snow until he came to a rolling stand, ignoring the pain in his gut as he flicked his head towards Ultear. He breathed in labored pants as she held his spear like a trophy.
"Told you it wouldn't-"
"Thread Magic: Binds"
Ultear's words were cut short as the spear in her hand exploded into a web of threads, the threads converging on her surprised figure as it moved to wrap around her like a cocoon. The lines whirled around Ultear's body and tightened as they tried to bind Ultear before she could escape...
"Goddammit..."
Ultear's disgruntled curse came with ice and freezing air that tore the threads apart. Freezing the lines before ripping them to shreds and revealing Ultear's annoyed and frustrated figure, her eyes twitching as she muttered between heavy breaths, "I forgot you could do that..."
Number 8 didn't bother to comment; he was too tired. He shifted his lead feet and pulled up his dwindling magic reserves, preparing to take whatever attack Ultear threw at him. His eyes trained on the icy thorn brush coiled around Ultear like a snake, poised to strike immediately.
"Ice Make-"
Ultear's words were cut short for the second time as a blur of a figure flew towards her, crashing through the vines that automatically attempted to defend her. The two mages turned immediately to what they expected to be Sho but instead was another, much weaker, much more fragile aggressor.
Vera?
Number 8 blinked in surprise as Vera, now with new cuts and bruises from using himself as a cannonball, landed in front of Ultear. His right arm was outstretched, and he grabbed her forearm as frost immediately began to hit his fingers in warning.
"You're going to lose that hand!"
Ultear growled, her eyes burning with venom as she flooded her magic, the icy wind howling around her in response. Her hand reared back to punch Vera as he latched onto her arm with a hand that was quickly becoming a frozen relic.
"You can have it!"
Vera yelled back, an adrenaline-induced smile on his lips and nerve-lit energy in his eyes as he pulled his other fist back, socking Ultear in the jaw the moment she buried her fist into his nose. The force of her punch sent him flying, rolling across the snowy, debris-filled landscape until he hallowed to a stop. His right arm was numb and iced over as he forced himself back up, his broken nose and exhausted body screaming in agony as he saw Ultear scowl with a small bruise on her cheek.
"You fucker..."
Ultear murmured, all traces of her earlier expressionless mask gone. Her rage leaked into the air as the snow trembled under her anger; every last bit of her magic squeezed out as she glared at Vera. All her rage and spite were on display as she put her fist in her palm, no longer caring if she still had to worry about Number 8...
As long as Vera died, she didn't care.
"I'll kill you."
Ultear's words were laced with venomous resolve, enough so that she could see the tremble that Number 8 got from them. Her eyes flicked past him to glare at Vera, who was sporting more wounds than she could count and giving labored breaths. His eyes still alive and unfaltering under her fury, "You can try..."
Ultear growled in response, her magic an inch from exploding and burying Vera under an icy thorn brush. A fate he was saved from because the second before she was about to release it, she felt something brush against her back. A slight, almost invisible sensation let her know someone was behind her, close enough to breathe against her neck, and she hadn't noticed them until now.
Sho!?
Ultear whipped around, prepared to defend herself from whatever Sho tried to do, only to be greeted with nothing. Ultear's eyes were wide as she surveyed the destroyed canvas of the ruins and the aftermath of the battle...
Sho wasn't anywhere in sight.
Where-
Ultear felt her spine shiver in warning, her senses screaming too late that a magic entity had appeared out of nowhere. Her body couldn't move fast enough as a shadowed arm slid under her neck and put her in a sleeper hold. Cutting off oxygen, she felt the panic set in, the early signs of unconsciousness tinting her vision as she tried to figure out how Sho got behind her.
How!?
Ultear stumbled around, her confusion only deepening as she looked down with blurring vision to see a thin shadow extending up her leg. The belated understanding washed over her as she glanced back to see that Sho was over her shoulder, strangling her with a blank face because he hadn't slithered out from the ground...
He had appeared from her back via a thin shadow he was still attached to.
"Sho picked up some new tricks."
Vera's voice warped in her blood-rushed ears, Ultear unable to focus on them as she felt black spots dance in her vision. The blood rushed to her head as she gave a feral roar, converting the magic she would use on Vera into frost.
"AAAHHHH!"
Ice erupted from her body with a freezing blast of wind as she froze Sho to the bone, her teeth grit and head pounding as she clawed at his arm. Her teeth gnashing in frustration as she crushed Sho's arm between her fingers, finally allowing her to breathe again. The rest of Sho fell to shards as she gasped to reclaim the breath taken from her, just in time to hear Number 8 speak in what she could barely register through her groggy mind.
"Thread Make: Bow"
Ultear felt her neck prickle in warning as she snapped her head towards the voice, a belated dread settling as she saw Number 8 release the threaded arrow from his bow. The arrow barreled towards her, and she instinctively used the little magic she had left and formed a thorny sword, bringing it down at the arrow, hoping to cut it in half...
Except her blade missed, her eyes wide as she saw the arrow twist in midair and dodge her sword by a hair's breadth. Her eyes could see all too late the thin thread trailing the arrow's shaft and returning to Number 8's fingertip...
Number 8 could control the arrow's flight path with a single flick of his fingers.
"Thread Magic: Binds"
Ultear felt panic crawl up her skin as the arrow in front of her chest exploded into another thread burst. A hundred thin tendrils converged on her like a wave as they tried to bind her in place. Ultear couldn't react as they caught her and wrapped her torso in a tight cocoon of thread, the force of the impact throwing her onto her back.
Shit!
Ultear growled in defiance as the threads attempted to squeeze the life out of her, unable to do anything other than strain her arms trapped by her sides. The temperature dropped to near freezing as her magic squeezed out its last drops in response to her desperation. Ice crawled against the threads that held her hostage so she could shatter her restraints like glass once they were frozen.
"Don't do it, Ultear."
Ultear froze at Vera's words; her struggles stopped in her tracks as she felt a razor-sharp nail touch her throat. Her panic subsided, and resignation set in as she saw the shadowed hand holding her bladed finger up to under her chin.
"Dammit..."
Ultear clenched her fists before forcing her magic to subside, looking up to see Vera and Number 8 standing over her trapped form. The shadowed hand threatening to claw her throat at a moment's notice forced her to admit surrender.
"DAMMIT!"
Vera and Number 8 watched in tense silence as Ultear, who had always embodied cool-headedness and confidence, shattered—a flourish of emotions warped her face as she screamed in anger, frustration, and desperation. Tears of frustration fell as she focused her glare on Vera, her words littered with emotion as she raged futilely against her binds, no longer using magic but just struggling...
As if it was all she knew how to do.
"YOU THINK YOU'RE SO SMART!? USING MY MOTHER SO I WOULD HELP YOU ESCAPE! I HATE YOU! I DON'T CARE HOW LONG IT TAKES! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU FOR HIDING HER DEATH FROM ME! I'LL KILL YOU FOR USING ME! FOR ACTING LIKE YOU WOULD HELP ME WHEN YOU ALREADY KNEW IT WAS POINTLESS!"
Ultear's voice was raw with emotion as she snarled and screamed, the cascade of emotions coming to a high as she let out a broken laugh. Her strained cries echoed in the air until she had let out all her voice could muster. Eventually, her rage fell for a bitter smile as she gazed through Vera, her words no longer carrying hate and just...
"Was it fun..."
Bitter...
"Was it fun giving me false hope?"
Painful...
"Was it fun telling me that there was some miracle wizard that could help me kill my mother?"
Broken...
"Was it fun dragging me around when you knew all I ever cared about..."
Exhausted...
"All I ever cared about..."
Ultear's words trailed as she seemed to get caught in her mind. As if she wasn't sure how to finish that sentence, she remained silent instead and moved her broken gaze to the sky. Her head slumped against the snow as she looked at the clouds, any hint of care vanishing from her face as her eyes glazed over in a silent lull.
"Just kill me now..."
Ultear's words were resigned and honest as she closed her eyes, not caring if Vera killed her or didn't. She knew Number 8 wouldn't; he already had the chance to earlier, but who knows...
It doesn't matter what I do...
Maybe Vera would help her out this time...
She's dead...
Maybe he would get rid of this confusion she felt...
She's been dead for months...
Maybe he would get rid of this pain that rested in her heart when she thought of the ice that trapped the demon a couple hundred yards away.
She's gone...
Maybe he would kill her so she didn't have to figure out why it hurt so much whenever she closed her eyes and saw her mother's face.
She left...
Maybe he would kill her so she didn't have to figure out why she felt this way, even when the woman she had wanted to kill so much was dead...
She left me alone again...
Her mother was dead, and it didn't bring her an ounce of peace like she had thought it would.
I miss her.
The realization was sobering, terrifying, and pitiful all at the same time. Ultear missed her mother, the one who abandoned her.
The one who replaced her...
Ultear missed her so much that she wanted to die to see her again.
"Kill me... please..."
Ultear's words fell brokenly over the cold winter air as if it was a wish she was entrusting to the only two who had seen her break. Ultear's eyes closed as she waited hopefully for the end, her hopes rising as she heard Vera's soft footsteps heading her way.
Finally...
Ultear felt her body relax as Vera stopped before her, praying that she would finally stop...
Stop everything.
She wanted to stop everything...
Unfortunately, Vera didn't move, and she was still alive.
Why is he hesitating-
"The one who can teach you time magic is Hades. He runs the dark guild Grimoire Heart. If you offer to join, I'm sure he'll teach you what you want."
Ultear's brain stalled for a second as she processed Vera's words. Her eyes flashed open as she looked up to see Vera's downcast eyes. Everything he said held nothing but the truth; he had just told her the place to learn time magic...
The way to fix everything.
"Why..."
Ultear's words were littered with confusion, trying to understand why Vera was doing this. Why he was not only sparing her but giving her the one thing that could provide her with hope again...
The one thing that could let her see her mother again.
"Why are you telling me this?"
Ultear asked imploringly, her eyes trained on Vera as he sighed, shaking his head and speaking honestly, "I don't know... I just..."
Ultear could only blink as Vera's shoulders drooped, the injuries that littered his frames only adding to the pure tiredness that seemed to drag his gaze to the ground. His words muffled, and exhaustion lined them as he spoke, making it seem like he was just as confused as she was, "I just don't know..."
The silence lingered as the words settled in the air, silently broken as Vera turned away. He walked towards Number 8, stopping mid-step as he glanced back at Ultear. His face twisted with guilt before he seemed to find solace in something, speaking a few words that would never leave Ultear's mind...
"You're mother loved you, you know..."
Words that couldn't be true...
"The doctors told your mother that you died; she never would have left you there if she knew..."
Words she couldn't bring herself to believe because if they were true...
"If you choose to believe anything I say..."
She didn't know what she would do.
"At least believe that."
Ultear didn't respond, and Vera didn't say anything else. His eyes lingered on her conflicted and broken expression before she met his gaze, mumbling something that would haunt him more than he would like to admit, "You're going to regret it..."
Leaving me alive...
Ultear was sure of it, as confident as she was of breathing, that he would regret it. She knew the possibility had crossed his mind, too. He knew she wouldn't stop, and as she stubbornly held his downcast, knowing gaze, an understanding passed between them that this was where they would diverge paths because Ultear refused to believe him, and he couldn't expect her to...
"So be it..."
Not after what he hid from her.
"Come on, 8," Vera muttered as he turned away and walked towards the edge of town, ignoring Ultear's last little prod and not giving so much as a glance back. Number 8 gave Ultear a sparing glimpse before turning his gaze away...
He learned early on that it was better not to drag out life's painful things.
"Goodbye..."
Number 8 mumbled, moving his feet behind Vera as they left Ultear alone, stranded in the ruined city of Brago with only her thoughts to guide her. The two immediately left town, following a lonely, snowed-over road that they hoped would lead to a place that could point them toward Fiore—the two making camp a few minutes later to nurse their injuries and recuperate after the battle.
"I'm going to release my magic..."
Number 8 muttered, a bit of reprieve hitting his exhausted magic container as he let his magic slip the second they had nursed their injuries. They had used a small fire between them to save Vera's arm from frostbite and threaded bandages on the various cuts and wounds that Number 8 had made at the expense of some of their clothing. This left their clothes in tatters, and paired with the mixed blood stains lining their jackets, it looked more like they had survived a bear attack instead of the fury of another mage.
"She's free..."
Number 8 said, his eyes downcast as he stared calmly at the fire, his eyes flicking up to see how Vera would react because, at least for Number 8, he wasn't worried about her following them.
"She's free, huh..."
He could tell Vera wasn't either...
"If only that were true."
They both knew she wouldn't chase after them.