The Time of Isolation Hath Come
XXII
Romani let out a small squawk as the footing under him slipped out, barely managing to catch himself before a hand clamped down around his upper arm and held him in place.
He was not ashamed to say he leaned into it and anchored himself there.
"Are you alri-" The rest of Irina's words were drowned with a tremendous crash, he ducked down and covered his head as an avalanche of smoke washed over the top of them. So thick that he could not even see his hands right in front of his face, his eyes snapped shut to avoid burning and he clenched his jaw to avoid breathing in.
Even then, he could feel it on his skin.
The air was hot and clammy, both terribly dry and immeasurably humid all at once.
He waved his hands, stumbling for a moment and covering his mouth with his eyes, forcing his eyes open in a squint and looking out before him. Barely able to contain the next cough as the dust rolled over the top of them and vanished completely, but the sparks shooting across his eyes hurt just as much.
Another tremor rocked the ground and he dropped down purely on instinct, crashes and scuffles from behind him informed him the others did the same.
He was trying not to think about what those sounds meant, trying not to even turn his head to the towering inferno which had consumed the horizon or the way he could feel the temperatures of it all the way over here.
None of it mattered to him.
Hands pressed down with painful sharpness as he pushed against the rubble and back onto his feet, raising his head and staring to the sky for a brief moment, catching sight of a dozen blurs shooting past one after another, meteors colliding in the air and twisting from light to people as they threw devastating punches and kicks against one another.
"Get moving!" He flinched at the voice snapping at his side, the back of his shirt was held in an iron tight grip and yanked him up to his feet and all but throwing him forwards, he stumbled for a few steps and glanced over his shoulder.
Kalawarna glared at him and jerked her head forwards, though she herself had beads of sweat dripping down her face and was frantically gazing left and right. Barely a fraction of her attention was even on him as she crouched down and scrambled forwards, a deft movement from him stopped him from getting bowled over by the woman, only just though.
But she was right.
They needed to get a move on.
He turned and moved after her, eyes flying left and right to try and catch a glimpse of something that would have looked familiar to him.
Which was not the rubble of the building he had been working at for so long.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
Something was off.
Something was off.
Something was-
He turned and extended his hand upwards, fingers spread wide and an image flying to the forefront of his mind. The tingle ran through his arm and his nerves throbbed from the sudden influx of magical energy shooting through them. He did not know what he was doing until he caught sight of it racing down towards them.
The shield spread out a moment later, reaching a total width of perhaps a car but nothing more than that, pale translucent and more like dirtied glass than anything he had done before. Romani could tell at a glance it was never going to stop what was falling towards them, never.
But it just needed to keep it back long enough to delay it.
The falling Angel - dark red hair and wearing a ferocious scowl, clad in rags and with chains wrapped around their arms and torso - slammed into the shield and met it there for almost half a second. Romani felt his arm recoil backwards as though pushed by some phantom force.
The barrier shattered a split second later as the angel pushed right past it.
But the sudden movement brought the attention of both Kalawarna and Irina to it, the pair launched into action and away from the impact.
The angel slammed their fist into the ground, dragging it out of the small crater and whipping around to face him. Romani widened his eyes and stepped backwards.
They pushed off the ground and launched towards him, his mind slowed to a crawl as he watched them.
Making another shield again wouldn't work, they would break through it and catch him in a split second.
So what did he do?
What was he supposed to do?
His mind raced for solutions.
No, the problem was he couldn't hold up a large shield. It was just too weak for him to do. He just wasn't able to do it and stop the angel from catching him. Even if it delayed them again, it wouldn't last all that long. Unless he focused all his energy into making it smaller.
Smaller would work.
That was how density worked, wasn't it?
His shield was weak because it was spread out.
So if he focused it on being smaller it would be stronger.
Made sense.
Romani kicked backwards and moved more out of panic, eyes wide and gazing into the deadly glare of the Angel. Already they - she? - was pulling her hand back and he could see the light dancing between her fist. The muscles in her arm tensed as she was launching herself to throw a punch right towards him.
He would never survive that.
Could he block the fist?
No.
The Angel swung her arm towards him, his eyes locked onto their own as her momentum carried her body forwards.
But if he aimed for something other than the fist…
He locked in.
He would get one chance at that.
Space distorted like a summer haze, it was a strip of transparent air no longer than the average pen.
But easily an inch thick.
The angel slammed right into it, the bridge of their nose contorted as they struck it with all their momentum and jerked backwards as a result. The punch she threw towards him glanced right past the front of his eyes and narrowly missed him. He heard the hiss of anger and already could see her slam her head into it, this time it cracked under the force.
She stopped and turned about, raising her arms above her head.
Kalawarna landed a kick right into the raised arms, spinning once and then delivering another into her gut.
Romani acted again, another strip appeared behind her as she stumbled into it, bending slightly and gasping from being unable to fall backwards. Meanwhile, he stepped to the side and moved far enough out of the way, barely catching a glimpse of the haymaker slamming right into her temple and driving her right past his blockade, immediately launching her into a clothesline from Irina.
He completed the turn and then stopped when he heard the gurgle from behind him, the tell tale sound of something hot piercing flesh and the sound of liquid spilling to the ground followed by a thud.
Romani swallowed, then straightened himself.
…He turned and looked over his shoulder.
Irina yanked the thin blade from the throat of the Angel and looked up, nodding once to him and smiling.
…He didn't know what she was smiling about.
"Oi!" A shove to the back and Kalawarna marched past him. "Stop daydreaming. Get a move on, monkey."
Monkey?
"Now!"
Another shout had him flinch and give chase after a moment, dragging his eyes away from the sight and taking off after Kalawarna, he could hear the footsteps behind him but his mind was repeatedly dragged back to the sight of the person who he'd…
…He'd help kill them.
They were dead because he
Do not think about it.
His mind calmed and he just kept moving onwards.
Akeno was more important right now and he could think about it later, just get everyone to safety first and then-
…Everyone to safety?
He's standing amidst fire and smoke.
Sword raised high.
It's a single cleave down that shall end the life of the one in the bone mask.
Something changes.
The image inverts.
He's not sure how it happens, he does not even see it happen.
Golden armour falls to the ground and platinum blonde hair floats away from its former owner.
The shadow stands behind the headless body, with a scythe in its hand slick with golden blood.
It's strange.
Even as he stares at the image, he cannot see anything wrong and yet he knows there is something wrong. That is not something that should happen and yet it does.
But he knows it.
Michael is dead.
He watches Michael die and he cannot see anything wrong with this image, there is no cause for alarm.
But there is.
Because Michael is dead.
His eyes did not even burn as he stumbled into the present, but he jerked to a halt and stopped himself dead in his tracks. Sweeping his neck around and looking right across to the horizon of flame and ash once more. It glowed as though it was the crest of dawn, but he saw the way it flickered.
The way the air distorted like the surface of water.
But he knew beyond that something was wrong.
Michael was going to die.
And he was too far away to do anything about-
No.
He couldn't do anything about it personally, but perhaps someone else would have a better chance? All they needed to do was warn him about it. That was all they needed to do. He needed to find someone who could warn him.
"Romani? What is-"
"Michael is in danger." The words slipped from his mouth before he let Irina finish speaking, but there was no time for an elaboration even as he heard the bemused sound behind him. He turned back to the front and barely caught a glimpse of Kalawarna turning and raising a brow before he launched himself right past her.
Cresting over the mound of brick and skipping down it one foot after another.
A single slip would have knocked him flat onto his face but he could not afford to do that.
Like lighting was shooting through his muscles he pressed onwards and dropped down to what had once been the school track field, now little more than a battleground and wasteland of scorch marks, craters and corpses. None of which held his eyes for anything more than a brief second.
The sickness, the bile.
All of it.
He pressed down on his wedding ring and felt his mind cool for a moment of perfect clarity.
Akeno.
He needed to find Akeno and-
A mere twitch and nothing else, he turned his head towards the left for no reason more than an indication at best but his eyes focused on that alone. Narrowing into slits and gazing at the sight of the shadows marching across the backdrop of fire, he could see over the shoulders of one of them was someone slung there.
Without even a word, he broke off into a sprint and moved as fast as he could in that direction, barely paying attention to his surroundings or even that there was a fight happening around him.
Right.
He skipped right as the ground exploded under a flash of light, the heat washed over him and he pressed onwards.
Left.
Another flash of heat but this time followed by a flood of cold, as though he'd opened a freezer and stuck his head inside of it. His clothes tightened against his skin and the cold nestled upon him in a tight embrace, he swung his arm and heard a crack, felt the crinkle of his jacket and spared only a glance to see the layer of frost running up the length of his right arm.
Wait, that was bad wasn't it?
What about hypothermia and frostbite?
What was he even-!?
Do not think about it. Onwards.
The panic faded and he barely even lost a step as he clambered up the small incline and rolled all the way down it, hitting the ground on his shoulder with a gasp and then shooting himself to his feet, whipping around and blinking as he came face to face with perhaps half a dozen people.
Men and women alike, most of them wearing bashed up suits and ties.
But not the one at the front.
She looked as though she was untouched by all that was happening, but her eyes locked onto his own with a deadly intensity to them and for a split second, all he could think about was the fact he was mere seconds away from dying all over again.
He stood straight and glanced past them, his eyes landing on the familiar sight of Akeno's hair.
His eyes moved from that and to the woman once again, the person who was definitely the most important here by a long shot. Tied up brunette hair, a beige jacket over a white shirt, a crimson bow across her neckline, knee high leather boots over baggy burgundy trousers.
She actually looked the part of a horse rider for a split second in his head, but it was quickly dismissed as he found his voice.
"You have one of my students."
At once, the woman straightened and then frowned at him, a hint of disdain but not quite as much as was levelled to him in the past, but her eyes departed from him just as quickly as heard the scuffle from behind him, glancing up and seeing the pair he had been travelling with fling themselves down the same embankment and beside him once again, though not long before Kalawarna turned a scowl towards the woman and made a face.
Romani turned back to the woman and pointedly looked towards Akeno once again.
He opened his mouth.
"Be silent and listen closely."
Then shut it again as the woman spoke up with a cold tone of voice, not even raising her voice but still shutting down whatever hope he had of speaking. With a flick of the wrist, she levelled a riding crop in his face and narrowed her eyes.
"I am going to assume you are some rank amateur employed by the Devils, given your proclaimed affiliation. What you will do is take this one-" she jerked her head to Akeno. "-and escort me to your contractors. You will also explain everything you know about this situation to the best of your abilities. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes ma'am."
He answered more on reflex than anything else and found himself standing a little straighter.
Seemingly satisfied, the woman jerked her other hand - the one covered with a metal gauntlet - towards him and the man holding Akeno stepped towards him and all but slung the girl into his arms as though she was nothing but potatoes. Romani frowned as he caught her, briefly looking down at the mess that was her face before looking back up.
He very nearly went cross-eyed at the crop in his face once again.
"And you will address me as Lord Barthomeloi and nothing else."
That seemed like a mouthful and a half.
And she didn't seem the type who would appreciate him shortening her name like he did with Wodime.
But whatever, they had Akeno now and that was all he was ever really focused on.
Nodding his head, he turned and started to move.
"It'll be a tough way back and we need to get someone to pass a warning to Michael before the weird guy with the scythe kills him."
Several seconds passed before he heard Kalawarna make a choked sound. "T-the-You stupid ape! What are you talking about!?"
Romani stopped and felt a bit tired to explain, so instead he just looked over his shoulder and met her eyes.
"The guy with bells on his body is going to try and kill Michael."
Kalawarna just stared at him like he'd spat on her face.
He wasn't sure what the problem was and he was feeling a little exhausted at this point, so he turned and started moving once again. Holding Akeno up against him and rising just at the top of the embankment.
Naturally that was when everything seemed to go wrong for him at once.
It was a flash of light that clued him in at first but in the next moment, he saw everything blanketed in pure translucent blue. For several moments he remained baffled as to what exactly happened - taking in the absurdity of the change in scenery - before the ground just exploded not that far from him, kicking up a storm of debris.
It lasted barely a moment before the cloud of dust was swept aside and several figures came bursting out from it, his eyes locked onto them in an instant and widened, taking a half step back and finding any sort of word locking up inside of his throat.
He could barely make sense of what the blur of shapes was doing as they chased one another back and forth, freezing every few moments to give him some glimpse of solidified colour before they resumed their chase with one another.
Then they took off into the sky, trailing light behind them.
One of sky blue, one of dark grey and the final one being of some pale gold.
His eyes watched them dance across the backdrop of clouds before they vanished somewhere above for a few seconds.
Romani blinked twice, then shook his head and took a single step forwards.
The golden light slammed into the ground and Romani froze then and there, his eyes widened and he twisted his body about as he saw a shockwave raced towards him, peeling apart the landscape as it closed in on him, bracing himself for the impact.
…Only for nothing to hit him.
He heard the thunderclap easily enough and watched the blizzard rush past him but he remained unaffected. Confusion swelled up within him before he turned to the left and saw the woman - Lord Barthomeloi - with her hand raised almost lazily and pointed forwards, swishing it to the side and briefly letting him see a haze vanish from his line of sight.
The woman stalked forwards and moved right past him, a frown on her lips as she flicked the same hand forwards.
The air rushed in the opposite direction of her and cleared away the entire field of obstructions in that one moment.
It let them catch sight of what hit the ground a few moments earlier, the monstrous shape clambered to its feet and twisted its head about to stare at them. Blue eyes burned and the lipless mouth snarled towards them, but the pale skinned creature paid them no attention beyond a passing glance as it stepped back and launched itself away from the next shape to hit the ground.
Levi-tan, of all people, charged out wielding her magic wand like a club and vanished from one spot only to reappear in another, positioned directly above the head of the monster and swinging downwards.
A pillar of light consumed the body of the thing in the next second, so bright that he had to turn his head away and even then, he still felt it. Though it wasn't so much heat as it was a point of heat as much as it was freezing, he was sure that he had ice spreading over his skin just by being close to it.
He grimaced and immediately slipped down the small incline in front of him, pulling Akeno up as he did so and taking off in a jog, briefly pausing and glancing over his shoulder.
Jolting as the woman was still there and staring at him as though she expected him to remain unperturbed by everything that was happening. He could see as such in her eyes, the way they narrowed at his hesitance and the oppressive nature that they gave off, shakily he nodded his head and turned back around-
Serafall launched past them, careening through the air and striking the ground with enough force that a trench just appeared right in their path. He could not tell how deep it was at a mere glance, but it was enough that he stopped in his tracks and turned his head sharply to the right - the direction she had been thrown - and found himself staring.
She was still going.
"Gah!"
A roar from the other side jerked him back around.
"Insolent pest!"
Catching a glimpse of Penemue taking an elbow the size of a torso to the gut and punting her away from the monster with such force that he could have sworn he watched the air around her balloon for a split second before it broke and she just disappeared completely, the thunderclap rolled over him and he braced himself once more.
Blue eyes swung onto all of them and narrowed, the monster rose up to its full height - he did not even want to guess how much taller than him it was - and leaned forwards with a growl, taking a step forwards before it stumbled backwards, a large gash appeared over its chest and it grunted, either in surprise or in pain.
Romani blinked and whipped about to the woman, now standing with her face still set in a frown that looked almost offended.
Staring down at the gash, the creature hummed as the skin knit together in moments and it brought its eyes up to leer at them once more, but he could see something more cautious about it now, the way it was keeping its distance and not immediately charging towards them.
"No common magus are thou." It rumbled, the voice grating to the ears and something about it that just made his skin crawl. Like it wasn't all there and was speaking through something else. He could not describe it.
"A student of Brishisan, haply?"
The woman gave no response, instead the ground just tore itself open as though some massive blade cleaved through it and surged right towards the creature, raising its arms and suddenly the skin across it split open as though thousands of cuts had rained down upon it, stepping backwards as fresh ones appeared before the old had even been healed up.
A twitch, space distorted and a haze settled in front of the creature, pulling its arms to the side as small claps of air pressured against the space.
The woman rolled her armoured hand and started to spin it around in a circle, Romani saw the orb settle into her palm and then her jerk it forwards - almost casually - tossing it away from herself and towards the shield. It reached it in mere moments and struck like a cannonball, shattering the haze and forcing the monster to sidestep the blast.
Another gash across the face opened up and it hissed.
But the blue in the eyes flashed for only a second.
Romani felt some sort of warning surge through his mind at that.
Fire burst out right in front of him, from seemingly nowhere, and he jerked backwards at the sudden heat right in his face. A cry spilled out of his lips and he skipped backwards to give as much distance as possible, yet in the same second the flames were snuffed out and the woman was standing once again as though nothing happened.
"For such warnings of Daemons, I find myself underwhelmed."
The thing - Daemon? - snapped back a second later. "Arrogance born of mine own nostalgia, I tell thou of that."
"Ah." Lord Barthomeloi made a small noise. "Merely a fool then."
This time she swung out the crop in a single sharp motion.
Another thunderclap followed but he only saw the impact, the explosion around the Daemon and the dirt which was thrown up in the blast, it had a hand raised and eyes narrowed as the shimmering of space collapsed around it, standing straight up and flexing the arms which were probably as thick as he was.
"Worry not, Magus. I am not one to suffer from rose tinted visio-"
An iceberg dropped on its head.
Romani blinked before the ice just collapsed into water, swirling around and forming a bubble. He glanced upwards as Levi-tan clenched her fist and then pushed downwards. The bubble collapsed in a sharp crack and then froze over once again, this time shrinking from the side it had once been to something perhaps a third of that? Either way, it started to rumble and crack within no more than seconds.
"Get moving." Lord Barthomeloi ordered him with a jerk of the head. "I have no interest in playing around with this nonsense."
Romani just stared at her for a half second before ducking his head and sprinting once again.
Michael held his wings out.
He slowed his movement to a crawl and glanced across to the direction of Maalik, the comet of darkness streaked through the inferno and rapidly approached him. Moving at such speed that he bore witness to the moment the air around him ballooned outwards and then popped just as quickly.
He swung in the next moment, meeting the sword of flames.
The fires lasted no more than a single breath before they shattered under the weight of his sword, the strike pushed inwards and very nearly took the head clean off the shoulders of his old brother.
Had they not ducked at the last moment.
Michael twisted in the air and delivered a sharp kick to his side, Maalik buckled under the blow and vanished from the direct line of sight, plummeting back into the fires and spreading them wide as he dragged the air along with them. A gap opened up in the flames which gave way to an explosion of dust and debris.
He gave chase into the rising smoke, dropping down and skipping over the earth to the rumbling sounds of the body crashing through.
His instincts warned him of danger.
And Michael obeyed.
Ducking low, he felt the heat pass right above his scalp and whirl around, hammering an elbow hard into the gut of his attacker and folding them over, charging down and following the ragdolling body, pivoting and thrusting towards them. Once more meeting a sword of flame and once more dispersing those cursed fires.
The recoil sent Maalik skidding away from him, powerful beats of his burning wings carried him faster and faster.
Michael swallowed his form in light and chased him down, speeding up until he was right upon them and raising his sword high above his head.
The mask of bone made it very nearly impossible to ever tell the expression of the one beneath it.
Even without it, Maalik had never once changed a single expression on his face.
But the posture of his brother screamed loud the sudden alarm at the impending doom.
Michael grunted as feet hammered into his gut, a kick sent him sprawling high into the air and directly above the burning ruins, twisting around and halting himself after mere breaths of travel. But he could see the distance he had been flung measured in miles, gazing down with narrowed eyes as the comet of shadow burst from the flames and climbed higher and higher.
He pulled his sword back and drew in a sharp breath.
Squinting, he could see Maalik abandon notions of forming his own blade.
His hands wreathed in thick plumes of bright orange.
Once more, he coated his body in light and dropped straight down, swinging his sword forth directly into the path of the flying punch.
In the instant their blows met, there was almost a serene silence.
It was a moment that looked as though it had been captured forever.
Then time caught up with them.
And the world understood the true weight of their blows.
In that moment, it trembled.
Romani stopped walking.
He felt something tingle the back of his head and then he turned his neck very slowly towards the distance.
He could see no more than a twinkle of light, almost like a star upon the night sky.
Except this was a star in the heart of a raging bonfire.
Something met it midway through, it looked like a patch of ink.
Everything went quiet.
No sound, no noise.
Not even a single iota of anything but silence.
Then his heart climbed into his throat as he watched something explode, except there was no explosion.
There was only the sight of an invisible force tearing its way outwards through the rapidly expanding circle in the sky, the faint glimmer in the air the only indication of the encroaching shockwave which hurtled towards them at impossible speeds.
And the sight of them on the horizon suddenly going out, the silhouettes of the buildings vanished as though they had never been there at all.
There was a shape flying in front of him, Lord Barthomeloi.
Riding crop raised, he barely glimpsed the sight of some sort of light peeling around them before it felt like he was punched by sound.
His world vanished in a cloud of smoke and his feet lifted him from the ground against his will, he pulled right and clung onto Akeno in his arms, determined not to let go of her for fear of her body just vanishing away into the cloud never to be seen again.
He heard nothing but a sharp ringing.
The next thing he knew, he was falling forwards while something was crashing into his back. The world tumbled around him and Akeno slipped from his hands with a gasp, Romani barely had time to fret over that before he collided with the ground, the world turning shadowed around him.
The ringing never quite faded away and he was left with a sense of exhaustion and dizziness.
Blinking colour very slowly back into his eyes.
But no more than that, it was as though he was seeing everything through a hall of mirrors.
Pressing his hand against his face, he covered his eyes and held tight.
It just felt as though he had to hold his head still to try and steady his world, only for something else to slam into the side of his head and curl around, with a grip like a vice he hissed in discomfort and fumbled across to try and free himself of it.
The ringing started to fade rather abruptly.
Only to be replaced by a snarl echoing above him.
"Stop pushing me, monkey!"
That hiss left little to the imagination as to who it was, he twisted about and flopped onto his side and watched Kalawarna tumble down to the ground right next to him and scowl as though he'd personally offended her. Another shape dropped down not far from them, face first onto the ground with a rather loud 'oof' sound spilling out.
The pair of them watched Irina roll onto her side and then sit up, rubbing her nose several times before pulling her hand away and staring at them.
"What happened?"
Romani opened his mouth.
"We got caught in the shockwave, idiot, what do you think happened?"
He promptly shut it as Kalawarna snarled and launched herself to her feet, poking her head above and letting him briefly catch his whereabouts.
They were in the trench that Levi-tan had created and only now did he truly grasp just how deep it was, namely that if he stood up, his head would probably just above crest above the ridge and it was wide enough for him to stand with his elbows raised to the side. None of which interested him right this moment as he ducked down and crawled towards Akeno.
He winced as she let out a pained groan, rolling her onto her back and looking her over.
Beside the already nasty collection of bruises and cuts she wore, he could at least say that she barely looked any worse than he last recalled.
Not that it was an improvement.
"Is she alright?" Irina's voice echoed from behind him.
"Who cares?" Kalawarna's dismissive tone came next.
Romani felt his eye twitch, shooting a look over his shoulder towards the woman and narrowing his gaze. She must have sensed it as she turned and looked down at him, opening her mouth to say something else, probably unkind.
He beat her to the punch.
"I care." His voice was hard but it was far from loud. "I don't mind if you don't care for her, but I'd prefer it if you kept those sorts of comments to yourself."
He turned back around and saw to lifting Akeno up, positioning a hand underneath her head and gently bringing her up.
"We don't need to be starting arguments now, of all times. Save it for when they won't possibly be our last words."
He could feel the glare on the back of his neck but it didn't last long, seconds ticked past and an irritated grunt came next but no further words. He felt somewhat satisfied with that, but was quick to move past it.
"What happened to the others behind us?"
"That mage group?" Irina hummed, he turned and watched her shrug her shoulders. "I didn't see. There was a big blast from…I just didn't see anything else and was flying in the next second."
Kalawarna huffed. "I doubt she got blasted like we did…she was…strong."
It was almost impressive how someone could speak a compliment while looking as though the words brought them nothing but agony. A face better suited for having one's teeth pulled out than anything else.
Regardless, he shook his head and started to stand.
"We still need to get back to the others and they can probably take care of themselves…even then…"
A tremor echoed above them, they turned and glanced up at the rumbling of light and the crackle of thunder which growled above their heads. The roar of something shifting and the clash of fists had them all stop, he felt sweat from upon his brow and chill swiftly, it was so cold that it was as though ice was forming on his skin.
"...I'm not stepping in the middle of that." The Fallen Angel declared.
Romani, for once, found himself agreeing with her, nodding his head up and down while not trusting himself to speak.
Mostly out of fear for his voice cracking and showing how terrified he really was.
"Give me the half-breed."
Romani blinked, then whipped his head down and stared at Kalawarna.
"Excuse me?"
The woman nodded to the girl in his arms and scowled. "That thing. Give her to me and the fake angel can carry you out. Unless you want to fumble around climbing out of a hole. I'll leave your ass behind without a second thought."
He squinted. "...So why not leave now?"
She raised a brow. "I go up by myself, they aim for me. I go up with you, they probably get you instead."
Romani was sure his thoughts were showing on his face, judging by the way she gave a genuine smile of delight right back towards him. Though it was short lasting as another crack echoed up, they both turned and saw a ball of fire shoot right over the top of their heads and explode somewhere in the distance.
"Time is wasting, monkey." She hissed a bit more urgently. "You want to get out of here or not?"
Romani clicked his tongue and looked down at Akeno, then he sighed and handed her over.
The Fallen all but snatched her out of his hands, holding her in a carry for a moment.
"Oops."
Then she dropped all tension in the arm holding her head, Akeno slipped right down and cracked the back of her skull against the floor.
Romani jolted and stared at the sight for several seconds, then whipped his head towards Kalawarna as she now held Akeno with one hand coiled around her right ankle, face set in stone doing nothing to hide the gleam of delight shining away in those eyes of her.
Especially as she delivered the next sentence without an ounce of emotion.
"Butter fingers."
Romani glared at her.
She just smiled innocently.
Her wings spread wide and she launched herself upwards, Romani watched as she swung her arm out slightly.
Akeno's face bounced off the lip of the trench.
He ran his hands through his hair and hissed through his teeth.
"Is she being serious!?"
"Sorry about this!" Irina's warning barely registered in his mind before a pair of arms coiled around his waist and suddenly he was being launched skywards. A scream pulled from his throat as everything raced past him, a whoosh of air and then he was descending towards the ground in the next moment.
The arms around him pulled back, he stumbled away from what was probably the worst elevator ride of his entire life and stumbled towards Kalawarna who watched them with a blank face.
"Oh yeah." The woman sniffed. "Here you go."
Romani almost had a heart attack as she all but flung Akeno clumsily towards him, he dived down to catch her, legs buckling as he dropped to one knee with her held under him, he grimaced and shot a particularly sour look towards the fallen angel who just spun on her heel and started marching off as if she had done nothing wrong.
…He was going to have a very strongly worded complaint for her when they got out of this.
If they got out of this.
But before all that…
Romani turned around and raised his voice, shouting as loud as he could.
"Penny!"
He did not know if she heard him.
But he had to try.
"Michael's in danger! The scythe guy is gonna kill him!"
He turned back and started running, not even catching a glimpse of Irina's downright horrified face as he brushed past the equally dumbstruck Kalawarna.
But none of that mattered right now as he charged forwards.
The least he could do was get one of his students to safety.
She barely felt the impact.
Mostly on account of everything having long since passed the point of her feeling pain, it was all just some numb sensation of an impact and little else.
Her feet drifted over her eyes as her wings caught her in the air, tumbling for a mere second before she gained control and launched herself forwards, a twist of light and a flick of the wrist summoned a barrier between herself and the dozen spears of light which would have struck her otherwise, light and heat flashed across her eyes as she swung aside the explosions and grasped her own spear.
Drawing her arm back, she hurled it forth with all her might, such that the air around it ballooned before popping a mere fraction of a second later.
Space twisted in the split second before impact, a whirlpool opened and swallowed her attack hole.
In the corner of her eye, she saw a matching one open up and spit her attack back out and slam into the wrist of Serafall, knocking her arm to the side with a sharp gasp and sending a dozen ice spears flying wildly of course.
Penemue clapped her hands and dragged them aside, flashing out twin spears in either palm and then catapulted herself towards her target, thrusting towards them and spearing them to the throat of the daemon.
She blinked as they passed through without even trying to block.
What even-?
"So-tan! You-!"
It was a scream of absolutely murderous proportions, her eyes swung to the right and caught sight of Serafall glaring towards her.
Then she blinked and swung her eyes down to where she had thrust the spears.
There was absolutely nothing in front of her, a chilling revelation swept through her as she whipped back around to voice the fact they had both been deceived.
A block of ice struck her face and silenced that, forcing her down and into the earth before the first syllables could escape her. Pressed against the ground and her, the ice shattered over the top of her and sent her spiralling away into the distance, she did not see what became of Serafall in her flight.
Everything just felt slow.
She could not recall having been pushed so far in centuries and now, in the span of a mere couple weeks, she was experiencing the same pressure in battle.
It was utterly ridiculous.
Her wings caught her in the air and she swung about.
Then her eyes whited out, her face snapped inwards and she felt herself be flung away, the only answer being the mere split second that the Daemon's fist was rocketing towards her face before everything blurred around her, then came the tight hold on her ankle that registered for a moment.
Her body slammed into the ground at breakneck speeds, her eyes flew wide and a mixture of blood and spittle erupted from the back of her throat as she was forced to spit out whatever air was within her at the time.
Another shove pushed her back into the sky, throwing her about and causing her to spin, she did not see what caused it but that mattered little to what was about to happen. She swung out her arms in front of herself and braced her body, gritting her teeth as she watched the Daemon throw a punch.
The same whirlpool opened up and swallowed its fist.
Her spine cracked as a punch like pure fire slammed right into her from behind, a scream tore from her lungs and a hand muffled what remained of it as it clamped down around her face, she was flung away and watched the shape of the Daemon grow smaller and smaller.
The distance grew, but a brief pang of satisfaction rose within her as she watched a blur slam into it and throw it into a block of ice, only for the ice to drag it right into another punch which shattered the wall behind the creature and launched it high into the sky, Serafall giving chase with a veritable blizzard at her back.
Penemue turned about and slowed, breathing heavily and raising her hand to rub over her face, she pulled it away and stared at her palm and the blood that coated her fingers, grimacing slightly and flicking it away, raising her head up and casting her sight to the battle which was stretching higher and higher.
It was long since getting out of-
A comet of red launched itself overhead, her eyes darted towards it and widened as a streak of silver smashed into it with a thunderclap in the next moment, such was the force that she felt the shockwave the moment it rolled into her and forced her backwards a good few feet.
But that paled in comparison to the knowledge of just what that was.
Who those fighters were.
"Vali…" She breathed, horror flooding into her veins. "...What have you done…?"
It was already a shitstorm for the ages, and now they had to contend with the Dragon Emperors punching each other about?
There was no good recovery for this.
She braced herself-
"Penny!"
She jolted and looked around, certain she had heard her name called and as though it was right next to her?
No, that was in her head.
Her brows furrowed, confusion flooded her.
That voice…was that Romani?
"Michael's in danger! The scythe guy is gonna kill him!"
The words were delivered before she could even think to locate where Romani was calling to her from and all at once, she stilled in both confusion and shock. Whipping her head around in the desperate hope she could see where he was shouting at her from, if only to grab him and ask what exactly he was talking about.
Scythe guy?
Who on earth was the 'scythe guy'?
The only person by that description was-
It was a thought that cooled her mind.
No.
Absolutely not.
Utterly impossible.
There was no way that Azrael would…
She blinked and slowly looked around as she realised something.
…Where was Azrael?
Her eyes narrowed as she whipped her head towards the sensation of where Azazel was and glanced, squinting her eyes and furrowing her brows as she watched him dance between two combatants, one a Daemon and the other she did not recognise. Yet for a split second, she caught a glimpse of their face as they knocked aside another attack and traded more blows with her boss.
She stared into the bleached skull mask atop plate armour.
Skull mask.
…A Hassan?
What?
But they were only loyal too…
Scythe…guy…?
Her head snapped away to the direction of the ball of fire that had once been a city.
Eyes widening and immediately power flooded through her wings as she launched herself towards the battle between Maalik and Michael.
If anyone could kill Michael…
If there was one Angel who could kill Michael…
…It was Azrael.
She slipped down the incline and hastily threw up a shield behind them, the impact of something bouncing off it rang loud in her ears but she paid little heed to it beyond that.
As long as the shield wasn't broken, then they were fine.
Probably.
Though the mages that had been following them had been steadily dwindling in numbers to the point of it being less than a dozen, she had barely needed to do anything and she honestly could not blame them for it.
Everything had gone to hell in the second all those rogue angels showed up and started throwing punches of their own and whatever that thing fighting the leaders were supposed to be. She could guess, but she would prefer to avoid it.
Right now, what mattered was finding where the Devils had run off to and then handing Gasper off to them.
Speaking of which…
She eyed the vampire she was carrying under her arm, if only to see if he was uninjured and the brief glance she cast his way confirmed as such. There was no time for anything further as Leona brought her gaze back up and continued her sprint, legs pushed as far as she could manage and kicking off the ground, leaping a good dozen feet in the air before she touched down once again.
It was a brief respite at best, she skipped to the side and threw herself and her companion into the ground to avoid a brief alarm going off across her clothing. An early warning system of incoming hostile attacks that would pose a threat to life.
It was working overtime as of now, proved when a sphere of violet carved a trench through the ground where she had once been.
Her eyes remained fixed on the sight and then to the rapidly shrinking orb as it was wildly flung off somewhere into the distance, turning her head to see where it had come from and narrowing her eyes as all she could see were flashes of light which stung to look at for any longer than a few seconds.
Impossible to see if it was aimed or if it was just bad luck for them.
She hoped for the latter.
Because the former was rather concerning.
When nothing came charging down for her in the seconds it took to check, she assumed there was no cause for alarm. Her hold on Gasper tightened a little, drawing a faint whimper from the vampire, she adjusted herself ever so slightly before launching herself forwards once again, eyes peeled for even a glimpse of red.
But it was not that which caught her eyes first, it was the distant sight - relatively distant of no more than a hundred metres - of a dome akin to glass, with a vague colouration to it. Her eyes caught it and she straightened, she was sure Gasper saw it as well by the way he turned in her hold and twisted his head ever so slightly.
That looked like a shelter to her.
What better place to look? It would probably be where they kept Asia.
It was where she would keep her.
"Do you think-" Gasper started, but an explosion drowned out whatever he was going to say. Hands flying upwards and covering his ears, he whimpered rather loudly and she moved her other hand across and pressed it against his nape. A brief spell of calming washed through his mind, over his natural resistance to magic.
The last thing she needed was him deploying his Sacred Gear in a panic.
At least this way she had some measure of control.
Or so was the hope.
"We'll find out." She replied as she ran, leaping over some mound of something and continuing her sprint without losing speed. "But probably! That's where I would go and your peerage is full of smart cookies!"
Gasper did not reply, but she felt him rapidly nod his head up and down.
Which was a good enough answer for-
She kicked off the ground and ducked to the side, it was faster than she had reacted.
Her eyes widened, she clenched her teeth and very nearly hissed as something launched past her leg, tearing away the trouser fabric around her shin and peeling a layer of skin away from her. She caught herself on the ground and stamped down, earth cracked under her as she hobbled into a defensive position.
Leona turned and hunkered down, twisting herself about and sweeping her arm about like a shield.
Dust kicked up around them, forming a layer of obscuring smoke which rapidly started to spread outwards, she held up her hands, spells flying through her mind and forming a diamond shaped barrier right in front of them.
Gaps opened up in the smoke, canons of wind blasted through and tore apart the smoke cloud until one of them caught her shield. She knew as much from the thunderclap of an impact and the ground either side of her being upended as the barrier groaned in protest. It did not crack, but it was a close thing.
With gritted teeth, she slammed her hand down and cast once more.
It was slower this time, but such was expected.
The dirt around them burst upwards and rolled into a wall, a small blockade around them about two metres high. She called out again and twisted her wrist before pushing forwards, the wall accelerated away from them-
Another thunderclap, half the wall was torn apart from the unseen blast and sent chunks of rock flying back towards them. In the half second it took to reach them, she cast another barrier between them and shielded them both, careful to remember to calm Gasper but her attention was getting split either way.
And she was conscious of the pain across her right leg, and the way she could no longer apply as much weight to it.
But her eyes caught a shape beyond.
Then widened.
Flashes of blinding crimson opened across the space around her, she glanced every side as she was suddenly surrounded by them, all pointed inwards. She did not panic, that would be to invite a mistake.
But she was perturbed.
She clenched her fist and formed a sphere around them, sky blue light encased the pair of them as she waited for the circles to release whatever spell they had prepared.
Nothing happened.
Her brows furrowed and she glanced around at them, still noting the lack of movement.
Then her eyes slid downwards to Gasper and she frowned in thought, pulling the boy tighter against her as she realised what was happening. They more than likely wanted him alive, which meant they would probably appear to try and barter their life. Or wait until they could attack her directly without risking injury to-
"This…is not how I wished for us to meet."
A voice cut through the background noise, coming from right behind her.
She instinctively recognised the voice, and yet found herself struggling to comprehend it.
Very slowly, she turned her neck until she was looking over her shoulder.
If she had thought herself mistaken before, then what she saw cleared away any doubts that she had been wrong.
Standing perhaps two metres from her, wearing a frown that looked almost sorrowful, was a rather distinct figure.
"...Lev?"
Leona felt nothing more than bewilderment.
But she huffed out and fought the surprise back into her, slowly she rose to her feet and ignored the wince of pain she felt on her right side. Turning about and facing the man with a deep frown.
"...Seems I wasn't the only mage hiding…" She looked him up and down, then glanced at the spells that surrounded them before shaking her head. "...Not surprised though. You'd have to be good…you were here when we arrived."
Lev kept his silence, there was something about his gaze that was unsettling to her.
Something in his eyes was giving her alarming levels of anxiety.
Meeting his gaze head on, she adjusted Gasper and tilted her head.
"What now?" Hoisting the vampire slightly, she jerked her chin towards him. "I take it you want him. What's this then? Appealing to mine and Romani's friendship with you to spare my life and let you-"
Lev slowly shook his head. "No. I am reluctant to kill you, but wholly willing to do so."
"But?" She pressed slightly, raising a brow.
Her eyes glancing around at the spells and trying to make sense of them.
She recognised a few of the symbols and immediately found her mind to be whirling.
…They were old school, very old school.
…That was the type of magic that came out of Judah when it had still been a thing, a few thousand years ago.
Seems as though Lev really did favour the classics.
"I only wish to kill the vampire."
Leona blinked and turned back to him, raising her brow.
"...You what?"
That didn't make sense.
The Nilrem mages had been wanting to capture him, why would Lev be aiming to…?
"My aims differ from Nilrem's." He spoke as though he'd read her thoughts - he might well have done - and explained patiently, as if there was no rush. This confidence was either cause for concern, or proof he was in over his head and didn't grasp the danger he was in.
But he had been here longer than her.
She was good.
And he'd escaped even her notice and it was clear she had not escaped his.
"You are not obligated to protect his life. Should you release him from your spell, I shall allow you to escape. It is hardly as though any shall know, if that concerns you."
"One moment you're willing to kill me and the next you're saying you'll spare my life?" Huffing, she adjusted her posture.
Lev offered an almost amused smile. "Yes, I am rather…exhausted when it comes to fighting old friends."
Leona huffed. "Sorry to cause you such a hassle."
He did not respond to her jab, instead he watched her rather closely before speaking again. "You have been teaching Romani, I assume?"
She smirked. "What gave it away?"
"The fact he did not die after I stabbed him in the chest."
Whatever she might have been thinking of saying ended when he said that.
She blinked and tilted her head, furrowing her brow and staring at him. Of all the things he could have said to try and throw her off balance, that was perhaps one of the oldest tricks in the book. Snorting dismissively, she shook her head from side to side, dropping her hand onto her hip and raising a brow.
"That was the best you could come up with to-"
"How long has he been seeing the future?"
She stopped speaking.
"...What?"
"His clairvoyance." Lev continued on. "It was only a recent development but suffice to say it was much too dangerous to allow. He presented a perfect opportunity…it seems he caught sight of the bombs I was planting under the building and rushed to investigate."
He grimaced. "I had hoped to kill him quickly to spare him suffering but it seemed he was quite skilled at reflex work…I never imagined it would be fast enough to save himself from the stab and the blast."
Liar.
He was a liar.
That was just a lie he was saying to get into her head.
She held Gasper a little closer and schooled her face.
"...That's low."
"It is the truth, Leona." Lev replied. "He did survive, so in the end it seems I should have been more considerate to him. Romani really does leave the impression that one can underestimate him…I am almost proud of his abilities. Still. I'll be certain to do my job properly next time-"
He was so very lucky he had those spells around her.
Otherwise she really would have tried to kill him then and there.
"Still. Perhaps this was nothing more than me wishing to say goodbye in person this time, rather than leave it to chance."
He straightened, his hand raised and his fingers twitched.
"Farewell, Leo-"
She caught a flash of movement just above his shoulder - a flicker of red and black high in the sky - and knew that he sensed it as well from the slight twitch of his brow. He turned and looked over his shoulder, she stamped down and threw up another cloud of smoke right around them, obscuring them all and launched herself across the ground like a missile.
It was more akin to a dive than a jump, she swept her left hand across the air and trailed starlight behind her, the glittering threw itself across the distance, she heard the roar of the spells and saw the red flashes down down through the smoke cloud, tearing their way towards her and striking the ground.
Heat washed over her, she rolled her body to cover Gasper as she hit the ground and bounced several times. There was a distant crackle of something snarling and hissing. There were no further blasts of light and instead there were glimpses of red in the corner of her eye and a collision with something dark.
She stopped bouncing when something caught her shoulder, she turned and stared.
Kiba pulled her along until they were both ducked behind something solid, the blonde teen looked her over briefly before glancing down at her wounded leg, then shifting his focus to Gasper and smiling.
"Are you alright?"
"A little bruised." Leona answered curtly as she released the vampire and started to stand up, moving away from the pair and back towards where Lev was fighting some-
"You have been distracted by emotions once again. Lainur."
The voice stilled her as she crested and stared at the cloud of dark smoke.
It cleared.
Lev stood amidst a sea of destruction, hand held aloft and stopping the darkened spell which Rias had thrown at him.
He held it back with a single finger before flicking it, casting the spell high into the sky and far out of sight.
Lev lowered his hand and spoke again in a voice that sent reverberations through the air.
"I shall spare you further trouble."
"Requesting permission for partial deployment of Control Tower."
"Partial deployment request: Confirmed."
He turned her way.
She felt herself take a small step backwards as she looked back at him, she understood that there was something wrong. There was just something utterly wrong as she stared back at him, there was just…nothing.
That was not Lev.
She did not know who that was, but that wasn't Lev.
His eyes burned right red and they no longer looked human, instead they were crimson cross shapes, even at the distance she could see the difference.
"Incineration Protocols: Commencing."
His hand rose up and she saw something appear in his grasp, it looked to be a wand as it curled about itself before he caught it tightly. Lowering his hand back down, even then she could catch the glimpses of shadows writhing across the ground under him.
Her eyes were drawn to them.
The strange tentacle shapes and the bright red eyes which opened up across all of them.
The air was filled with a dozen of the circles she had seen previously aimed at her, except these were pointed in all directions.
She was not sure what warned her, but she saw the difference and the lack of hesitation.
Leona turned and all but launched herself back the way she had come, bodily flying into Kiba and Gasper and knocking all three of them flat onto the ground, heat lanced its way across her back as a beam of pure scarlet tore through the space where she had been standing not even a second ago.
It crashed somewhere in the distance and erupted in an explosion of blinding light.
She barely had time to turn and throw up an effort of defence before the first streak was followed by every other spell activating at once.
Explosions tore through her line of sight, reducing everything to nothing more than light and sound without end.
AN: Next chapter is the last of this arc.
Just in case you have nightmares of like...five more chapters or something.