Sorry for the wait, guys. Time got away from me.
Enjoy!
Simon stared at Juno, not even bothering to hide his surprise.
"You did what?" He asked. Juno still looked pretty proud of herself.
"I took Divine Territory away from him." She said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "It's my spell now."
"How?" Nami asked. Juno made a face.
"Explaining would likely confuse you both more." She replied. "Let's just say Territory magic works on the principle of dimensions. Divine Territory is, technically, a dimension created by Tristan where he's in control. I had to fiddle with it for a while, but I managed to get a hold of the reins of this place." With this, Juno's hand glowed brightly. "And now I think it's time for a little payback." Looking back, Simon found that Tristan looked rather shocked as well.
"Well well well." He said. "Looks like I underestimated you, kid. That's pretty impressive."
"Thanks." Juno replied. "But enough talk. Let's see how you like the laws of magic fighting you." Juno's hand glowed even brighter. "Simon's Meteor goes as fast as it's supposed to. Nami's gravity magic affects Tristan." Grinning, Simon wasted no time in taking off, Meteor once again flying at the correct speed. He flew right into Tristan and tackled him, causing him to fly into the air. He didn't get to stay there long, because soon he crashed back down to earth because of Nami's gravity magic. He struggled to his feet, but Simon wasted no time in tackling him again.
"Juno!" He called. "Start undoing more of his shit! We can do this!"
"I'm on it!" Juno replied. "Simon's blasts no longer explode in his face, and no matter what they will always strike their intended target! Nami can boost herself with Gravity magic! Tristan's holy blasts are weaker, slower, and he can't fly around with holy light! I can transport myself through my Territory again!" Simon watched as Juno's commands systematically destroyed Tristan's chances at having a chance in the fight, and soon he felt pretty excited to return the ass kicking he'd been giving them when he had control of the dome. Simon raised his arms and blasted Tristan with holy magic, the recoil from the shots increased power sending with flying backwards. Tristan flew ever farther once the blast struck him, and Simon watched as he once again slammed into the earth thanks to Nami. he just barely managed to get up before she slammed her blade down into the ground, causing a shockwave to alter the gravity around Tristan. He flew into the air, and Simon met him there and punch hm back into the dirt. Once again Tristan hit the dirt, and he struggled to stand. Just as he almost did it, Juno appeared through Territory and delivered an explosive kick to him, forcing him back even more.
"Damn..." Simon heard him mutter. "That hurt..."
"We aren't done with you yet." Simon said, landing gently. "Get up. If you." Simon watched and waited for Tristan to make a move, but all he did was struggle to his feet.
"You know, it's funny." He said. "I never would have imagine I'd have to fight someone who could take control of my technique."
"There's always someone stronger." Nami said. "Looks like you found her." Tristan brushed his arms off, and looked up at them.
"You kids just don't get it." He said. "Your cause is empty, and it's sad."
"What are you talking about?" Simon asked. Tristan snorted.
"People who grew up living cushy comfortable lives would never understand." he said, body glowing brightly. "The loss you'd have to endure to see our point of view clearly...It's immense."
"Man, you people love spouting off bullshit." Juno said. "Can we just end you already?"
"Bullshit?" Tristan asked. "Let me tell you what's bullshit. Trying to make the world a better place, and getting stopped by a bunch of kids who don't see the point of something unless it aligns with their personal views. The things I've seen, the other members of the Cross, Neptu, we've got more than enough reason to stomp any demon that crosses our path. And yet we're being upheld by a bunch of kids who don't know any better."
"Just shut up already." Simon said, anger rearing up inside him. "You don't know the first thing about us, or how we've lived. Let me tell you what, you're not the only one's who faced death against a demon." Simon thought back to watching Damien get tossed around like a rag doll against Taisho. "I've been on the opposing end of a Demon Lord before. A psychopathic, indifferent monster who wanted nothing more than to use us all as his personal play things."
"And even after that, you stand in our way." Tristan said. "The ignorance of youth is more baffling than I remember."
"And do you know who rose in my defense?" Simon asked, ignoring Tristan's last comment. "I'll tell you who it was. Another Demon Lord, the one your friend ran through a couple days ago." Simon tried to block the memories of Damien puking up blood and being near transparent, but they came regardless. "Not everyone is the same. Where Taisho was too far gone, Damien wasn't. They were, and are, different people. Gin is no different. I don't know what demons have done to you in your past to make you feel as though the path you walk is righteous, and frankly I don't care. All I know is that an innocent mans life is in danger solely because of who he is, and I'm not going to let it happen if I can help it." Nami chuckled.
"Well spoken, Scarlet." She said.
"Hit the nail on the head, really." Juno agreed. Simon watched Tristan, who seemed to be thinking. After a moment or two, he clicked his teeth.
"I tried." He muttered just loud enough for Simon to hear. "But it seems like I was right. You won't get it. Not until every thing you love gets ripped away from you like it was for me and so many others." He looked up at them again, a gleam in his eye now. "And I await the day you finally see the other side.
With this, Juno cried out in pain. Turning, Simon noticed that the multicolored glow around her, and of the dome around them, was fluctuating between all sorts of different colors, and bright white.
"Juno, what's wrong?!" Nami asked.
"He's trying to regain control of Divine Territory!" She shouted. "Bastards going right after my control of the dome!"
"Nami, let's go!" Simon said, turning to Tristan preparing to attack.
"No, don't!" Juno shouted. Simon froze and looked back at her, and she seemed nervous.
"What?" He demanded. At this, Tristan laughed.
"Looks like she knows more than I assumed." he said. "Clever girl."
"What?!" Nami demanded.
"Control of Divine Territory is fluctuating." Tristan replied. "I'm fighting her for control-" He winced in pain. "And she's fighting back."
"And while it's like this, the added boosts to your magic could become...Dangerous." Juno hissed, gripping her head tightly. "It might still explode in your face, but it could also have the added boost of being stronger." Simon's eyes widened as he realized what this meant.
"So, basically..." He started. Nami nodded.
"We have to wait until one of them wins."
Elise dodged another of Sentine's attacks and clubbed it in the chest, sending it flying backwards. She followed this up with an Iron Dragon Roar, which the thing stopped with it's sledgehammer, before it swung it down at Elise, who dodged the hit as best she could. She landed and heard someone else slid behind her. Turning, she found Ultear back to back with her.
"Any luck?" The ice wizard asked, out of breath.
"No." Elise replied. "These things aren't as weak as they look."
"Yeah, agreed." Ultear said. "And hey, listen. Reyna's got a plan." Elise perked up at this.
"Really?" She asked. "Please indulge me on it." Ultear nodded, the two still watching their opponents carefully to look for any attacks.
"She wants us to distract the guardians while she goes after Abigail. Think we can do that?"
"Cover all three of them for her?" Elise demanded, making Ultear nod. "Jeez, who does she think we are? We can barely handle one on our own, much less a two against three."
"Don't worry about it." Ultear said, smirking. "We still have a little trick up our sleeve." Elise raised an eyebrow at this, but soon she noted the white glow coming from Ultear, and it dawned on her.
"Oh, I get it." She said, also smirking. "They aren't alive are they?"
"I hope not." Ultear replied. "Otherwise we're going to have a bigger problem than I imagined."
"Agreed." Elise replied, before turning to look at Reyna fighting Aurath. "Hey, Reyna!" Reyna spared her a look. "You ready?"
"Whenever you two are!" She replied, reaching down into her shirt. Elise decided to ask later why the hell she kept her secrets in between her cleavage.
"Alright, get to it!" Reyna nodded, and ran towards them. Aurath was in hot pursuit, so Elise and Ultear sprang into action. As Reyna reached them, she dove over them, and Elise and Ultear went for Aurath. Elise clubbed it in the chest to stop it's advance, and Ultear sprayed it in the face with water.
"Any idea what the plan is?" Elise hissed.
"Don't know." Ultear hissed. "All she did was show me a flask."
"A flask?!" Elise demanded, turning and swinging her sword arm at Vissi and Sentine, who were approaching them now. "What's she planning, to have a god damn drinking contest?!"
"How the hell would I know?!" Ultear demanded as the three guardians closed in on them. Elise watched as Ultear's hand glowed white, and as they did so all three guardians began to slow down considerably. While their advance didn't stop, they did become sluggish.
"What the hell is this?!" Abigail demanded. "What are you doing to my creations?!"
"Little thing called Arc of Time." Ultear replied, smirking. "I've advanced your little creations towards a time where you no longer have any need of them. Actually..." Ultear's hands brightened a bit, and all three guards slowly started to waste away in front of them. Soon their was nothing left but holy magic floating around in the air, but Ultear wasn't done. Her hands brightened again. Aurath, Vissi and Sentine slowly began to reform, but this time their backs were to Elise and Ultear, and they faced Abigail.
"Ul?" Elise asked weakly.
"Yes?" Ultear asked innocently.
"Did you just, uh...?"
"Pull a Kronos?" She asked. "Yep. Abigail can thank that old bastard for me turning her own creations against her." Elise watched as all three of them charged at Abigail, who barely had time to dodge before her own creations bore down on her. Elise did nothing but watched as the three of them assaulted their master, throwing her every which way with the power from their swings.
"This is insane!" Abigail shouted, waving her hand. "Disperse Aurath, Vissi, Sentine!" Just before the three of them got to her, they disappeared.
"I guess they still worked for her in some ways." Elise said as Abigail caught her breath.
"What kind of magic was that?" Abigail hissed. "One that could turn my own creations against me..."
"Arc of Time is pretty interesting, but we don't really have time to talk about it." Ultear replied. "It's over, Abigail. You can't use any more of your summons against us."
"This is ridiculous...All this fire over a monster."
"Than how about we stop it?" At Ultear's suggestion, Abigail laughed.
"No, that isn't possible." She replied. "The fight will end with Gin coming with us, that much has been decided already. But first, I'll have to get rid of you insufferable kids." Abigail brought her hands together, and Elise tensed.
"Oi, Abby!" Elise looked around in confusion at this. Finally, her eyes landed on Reyna, who was standing off to the side. As all eyes reached her, she burped and dropped the flash, now empty, on the ground next to her. "It is over, so stop your blabbering.
"Is that so?" Abigail asked. "What, did you stop for a quick drink?" Reyna smirked, and then hiccuped.
"That I did." She said. "So you'd be wise to give it up before I come over there."
"Reyna, what are you doing?" Elise asked.
"I got this, Elise." Reyna replied, now a little pink in the face. Abigail snorted.
"If you really want to end it now, than show me." She said. At first there was silence between the pair, but after Abigail began to glow once more Reyna acted.
Elise watched as Reyna surged forward, moving erratically, before reaching Abigail.
And once she did, Reyna slammed her open palm right into Abigail's face.
With an explosion of force, the woman was sent flying backwards, landing a fair distance away before coming to a stop.
"Holy hell, what was that?!" Elise asked.
"Of course..." Ultear mumbled. "How did I forget?"
"What?" Elise asked. Ultear smiled.
"We forgot who Reyna's dad is." She replied. At this, Elise smirked.
"Oh." She replied, looking back over at Reyna, who was wavering as she stood still. Ultear hummed in agreement.
"Never thought I'd get to see Drunken Hawk in action."
Simon could do nothing but watch as Divine Territory rippled all around them, and that was due to Tristan and Juno having a power struggle for control of the dome. So far nothing outrageous had happened, but he really just had to wait for it at this point.
"This is crazy..." He mumbled.
"Come on, Juno..." Nami hissed. "You've got to beat him for control." Just as Nami said this, Juno cried out, and the color around them became more white than anything.
"I can feel your resolve weakening, kid." Tristan said. "Come on, just give me my spell back."
"Go...To...Hell...!" Juno hissed, but she didn't seem to gain anymore ground. After a few more seconds of struggling, Juno was down on one knee, struggling to stay up. Simon couldn't see the struggle she was in, but judging from what he could see it wasn't going well. Tristan laughed.
"You're inexperienced with Territory dimensions!" He said. "Never had to keep control of one against someone aiming to take it away! No matter. I've taken back enough. My spells do quadruple damage, and explode upon impact." Once he said this, he raised a hand and it started to glow. Juno was on her hands and knees at this point, still struggling for control.
"Juno, come on!" Nami shouted. "He's going to get you!"
"I can't stand back here and watch," Simon hissed. Running to Juno's side, he tried to help her up to her feet, which was harder than he felt it should be. "Come on, Juno. You'l be alright."
"...Simon." Simon paused as Juno whispered his name. "We have one chance to knock this prick out."
"Huh?"
"Listen closely." She replied, using his shoulder as a grip. "I'm going to use the last of my control over Divine Territory to unlock your magic inventory. Once I do, use your Adamantine armor to protect you and Nami."
"Why?" Simon asked weakly. Once Juno looked at him, he saw the fire of determination in her eyes.
"Cause this explosion ain't gonna be pretty." She hissed. "Ready?" Simon stared at her for a moment, but nodded, swallowing hard. "Alright, go!" Releasing Juno, Simon sprinted to Nami just as the blast in Tristan's hand burst forward towards Juno, who was now alone. Simon requipped, feeling the armor form around him. Pivoting around, Simon planted his feet firmly on the ground and brought the shield up.
"Get ready!" He told Nami, who also braced. The blast roared towards Juno, who still remained still.
And then, just like that, the blast and Juno were gone. Simon made a face and peered over his shield to look, but he didn't see her anywhere.
"What the hell?" Tristan asked aloud. "Where did she...?" Just as he asked this, Simon watched a Territory hole appeared behind him.
Juno appeared from it, the blast that had been aimed at her coming right from her hands.
"Eat this, asshole!" He heard her scream.
BOOM!
Michael along with the others and Elizabeth paused at the explosion in the distance. Elizabeth made a face and duh around in her shirt, bringing out a small cross necklace. The head and right arm were both blacked out, and she seemed surprised.
"Two at once, huh?" She asked, her hand and subsequently, the cross glowing. "Get up. We aren't done."
Get up...? Her chest was glowing when she got back up as well...
I don't know what that thing is, but I feel like it's got something to do with why she didn't stay done. Maybe the others too.
"Ah, hold it." Quinn said, taking out the necklace again. "Looks like someone fell." He made a face, but Steph didn't know over what. "Damn, Tristy and Abby? Get up, jeez." Steph watched the necklace once again glow and float, but she had no idea why it was doing that.
"I get the feeling that thing isn't good." She muttered.
"Once the blast had finished, and the Adamantine shield had damn near broken, Simon brought it down and looked around at the damage. The dome of Divine Territory was dispersing around them, and looking towards the two combatants revealed Juno standing over Tristan. Her clothes were all torn up and blood leaked from open cuts, but she stood.
Tristan was spread eagle on the ground, a huge hole torched into his chest.
"Holy fuck..." Nami hissed. "She directed that boosted blast within her own Territory and got it so close it didn't matter if it blew up in her face or not." Simon knew this to be true, but he didn't waste any time in running to Juno as she nearly fell. He caught her, and smiled down at her.
"That was pretty risky, don't you think?" he asked.
"Well it worked didn't it?" She asked, coughing violently. "Is he down?" Simon looked down towards Tristan, who did look pretty out cold.
"Yeah, I think you got him." He said as Nami approached them.
"Good work you guys!" She said. "You especially Juju."
"Shut your..." She coughed again. "...Mouth." Nami laughed.
"Well, let's go and knock some more heads, maybe get Juno to Winter. She must be around here somewhere."
"Good idea. Let's go." Simon said. Despite her objections, Simon helped Juno walk away from the battlefield. She deserved it, after that whole show.
"We should make sure everyone's okay." he said. "Maybe we should split up."
"You think so?" Nami asked. "I'm not sure that's a good-"
Nami was cut off as a wall of light appeared in front of them. Simon made a face and looked up, and watched as it arced all the way into the sky.
It appeared to be making a dome.
"Tch, you kids thought all of that would do me in?" Simon's spine went cold, and he felt Juno tense up.
"There's no fucking way..." She hissed. "That blast hit him point blank..." Simon slowly turned.
Standing where he'd been down only a moment ago was Tristan, shirt blown open but otherwise looked perfectly fine.
"How?" Nami asked. "He should be out for the count, but he looks fine!"
"What did I tell you kids?" He asked. "You aren't going to win. It's not possible."
"Trust me, she ain't getting up from that one." Reyna said, hiccuping again. "I hit her pretty damn hard."
"I could tell that." Elise replied, looking over at Abigail. She still hadn't moved, so Elise could only assume the hit had knocked her right out.
"Let's not waste any time." Ultear said, "This fight is far from over. There's still grunts and the other Cross members. Not to mention Neptu."
"We should get going then." Reyna said. "Otherwise-?" Reyna paused, probably because of the light coming from behind them. Elise watched as the light that was emanating from Abigail grew, before it suddenly stopped.
Before Elise could ask any questions, Abigail began to stand up.
"Uh, what?" Reyna demanded.
"She's getting back up." Elise said. "You sure you hit her as hard as you could?"
"Of course I'm sure!" Reyna replied.
"You're also drunk." Ultear noted. Abigail brushed herself off, but when she spoke, she sounded mad.
"You kids turned my own creations against me..." She hissed. "And delivered such a devastating blow directly to my face...Such arrogance." Finally standing up straight, Elise felt her stomach knotting up as the woman began to glow bright white.
"Looks like we're having another bout." Ultear said. "Get ready!" Elise waited as Abigail glowed, and soon the woman raised her right arm to the sky. A gigantic white magic circle appeared there.
"Descend to my aid!" She screamed. "Archangel Gabriel!"
I love doing this to you guys, I'll admit it. I hope you guys enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!
Chapter 257: None of That Matters