The battle rages on the streets and in the skies alike. Lindsey, [Wind Walking] from position to impossible position, fires arrows of moonlight in physical form. Her bow looks as though it were made of the same silver filigree as Filia, with a string stronger than either string or carbon composite, and each attack she unleashes deals a commensurate amount of piercing damage. Kristil’s manic cries still echo over the streets as she unleashes blast after blast with reckless abandon. Her form, now shifted to a torrent of crimson flame, crashes into the aluminum spire of the Washington Monument, melting the pyramidal tip and turning it into so much molten slag that flows down white marble. All the while, her pursuers hiss and scream as they crash into and through the memorial site, sending chunks of stone onto the foundation below.
Alana, who I’m just seeing for the first time today, is firing off beams of stellar energy that feel oddly nostalgic with every swing of her own sword. With its blade shining in the sky and an ornate hilt of deep cerulean, it feels like the perfect weapon to strike down evildoers of all varieties. She’s joined by two others flying in a V-formation, diving down for quick strafes along the surface before returning to the air.
As soon as her eyes meet mine, she begins flying toward me, only to be stopped by a massive torrent of wind that blows her away. My gaze turns back to the other Seraphina, who gives Alana a look of indignation.
“Hey, this is a duel!” she says. “If you want to fight me, wait until after I finish fighting this other Seraphina!”
“Sorry,” Alana says through the [Mental Link]. “I’ll keep trying, but I’m not expecting to break through the barrier she raised.”
“That’s fine. Focus on the rest of the battle; I’ll find a way out of this. Somehow.”
I don’t get more time to communicate before Seraphina is back on me, even faster than before. Seems she’s specialized in wind magic; with deft command over the air currents, she’s able to literally fly circles around me. Even my teleportation is barely availing me as I try to keep up, and I’m starting to feel my muscles give out as the effects of dimensional sickness set in.
Still I continue the fight, warping around the other Seraphina as frenetically as I can, hoping to catch her off-guard. Instead, it’s me caught off-guard, and I only narrowly avoid getting my skull gashed in by the broadside of her weapon.
Meanwhile, Chloe is winded, her strikes completely ineffectual against Renault’s defenses. He seems to be humoring her rather than finishing the fight off quickly; that’s a mistake, but how the fuck am I supposed to get out of my own pickle and exploit it?
Another hit from behind; only the passive effect of [Valkyrion’s Perception] alerts me, given how fast Seraphina moves. I float upward and arch my back and use the slight curvature in the scales on my armor to just barely deflect the attack down and away from my body, then wrap around and attempt to grapple her from behind. But she’s too slippery, escaping as easily as I would have been able to thanks to [Defiant Spirit].
“Nice move, Seraphina,” she says. “I’m–”
I burst toward her using a combination of [Wind] and [Impulse], hoping that mimicking her control of the winds might allow me to match her speed. And it works for all of two-tenths of a second before the winds are denied to me and my speed is reduced to a veritable crawl.
“Did you really think that would work?”
“Admittedly, no. But I was still going to try in the off-chance it did. Can’t blame a girl for trying.”
“Oh, no, I appreciate the effort. Glad to see that you’re really stepping up your game, Seraphina!” The other Seraphina… giggles? I have no idea how she can be having quite that much fun in such a battle, though I guess I’m hardly one to talk. “You really got me, you know! You’re the first person who’s been able to injure me in like… Months, really! No wonder they called you the strongest back then!”
“So, Seraphina, why do you want to fight like this?”
“Because fighting is fun, and it’s how we get stronger! Don’t you want to get stronger too? I know you do; it’s part of what makes us who we both are!” She swings at me.
But the blow doesn’t have a lot of force behind it; I’m able to deflect it upward with Filia’s blade. “Yeah, I’ve come to enjoy fighting as well. My girlfriend as well, I think, even if she’s never going to admit it.”
“That’s her, isn’t it?” Seraphina asks, lowering her weapon. “Chloe, her name is?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“She’s strong, too. I can see it with every attack she makes. Not many people have the ability to deflect Renny’s attacks, but she seems to do so naturally. And it’s not just the strength of her body, and her weapons but also the strength she’s yet to tap into. Is she like us?”
“A little bit, yeah.”
“You mind if I ask you something, Seraphina? Why do you call him Renny?”
“Mostly because it’s fun. He portrays himself as this big, bad, serious man who’s all dark and ominous, but he’s got a secret softer side that he only shows in front of me.”
I blush. I seriously doubt it, but if it keeps Seraphina talking and not killing me, I’ll oblige him.
“Is there a reason why you fought against and hurt all those people? In Chicago, and then in Baltimore? And maybe other places as well?”
“We were going there to visit the Tower Gauntlets, Renny and I. Trying to get stronger so we’d be prepared for the next time people tried to kill us, which seems to happen quite a lot. Like right now, except the two of us are talking now instead of fighting.”
“Do you know why they are trying to kill you and Renny?” I feel like I’m talking to a child here, except I know the original Seraphina was just as naive and this one shares her personality and general lack of world-wisdom.
“Well, Renny told me that the world had to change and that those ‘no-good, steaming piles of shit they call senators have had more than enough time to get off their crusty, senile asses and if those wastes of oxygen aren’t going to wake up and do their motherfucking jobs, then someone ought to send them into retirement early.’ I think that’s what he said, anyway, but that was like two months ago, so I might not have gotten the quote exactly right.”
“I can’t exactly blame him. I feel the same way that he does about those leeches who call themselves politicians. And if he just kicked them out, I might even sympathize with him and his goals. But the fact remains that a lot of people died when he took over and declared himself in charge. A lot of people who were just trying to live their lives in peace.
“And yeah, I know that we have to fight. That we have to get stronger so we can fight the System and the monsters it sends our way. But not everyone is going to be a fighter, and that’s okay too. And they deserve to live in the world just the same. One that we can protect for them.”
“Oh, yeah, I guess that’s true. But Renny says that I have to fight.”
“He’s saying so right now?”
“Yeah. I can hear his words telling me to stop talking and get back to fighting her. Isn’t it the same for the two of you?”
“Insolent little wench!” Renault says at that moment.
He’s switching from defense to offense now that Chloe is at the end of her stamina, but a last-second silver arrow from Lindsey forces him to break off his attack to dodge, buying Chloe a fraction of a second to regroup. He again charges, only to have his attack blocked by Alana as she dives down to intercept. Like Chloe’s blades forged of auracite, the silver-clad [Valkyrie]’s shining blade is also able to resist the negative, spatial-rending force Renault’s weapon emanates.
“Damnable!” Renault shouts.
Alana taps Chloe on the forehead, and I can see from my girlfriend’s demeanor that whatever spell she cast helped to soothe her weary body. Before any words can be exchanged between them, she flies off, charging at a trio of Legion soldiers wearing full-body suits of power armor. Renault again attacks Chloe, but this time it’s me who throws out another [Gravity Sphere] at his back, slowing down his momentum just enough for Chloe to dodge the rending blow.
That’s all the assistance I can offer her before Seraphina is back on me, although her attacks aren’t as sharp and focused as before. Her eyes meet my own, only this time, there’s a bit of softness to them that wasn’t there before. No more quips or whimsical flourishes, but it feels like– She’s deliberately holding back? She’s intentionally slowed down the strength of and speed of my attacks such that, with a little help from my magic, I’m able to hold my own.
Is that because of our earlier conversation? In either case, the development benefits me and gives me and Nicholas a little more time to figure out how to fight back against Renault, who’s still got the edge in his battle with Chloe. Hang on, my love. I’ll be there as soon as I can.
Despite Seraphina giving me quarter, I’m still not able to figure out a way to change the macro situation more to our advantage. I have enough time to throw out a spell or two toward the soldiers trying to bring down the physically imposing Alana, and goddesses only know where Kristil’s flown off to— I haven’t heard her gleeful cries in nearly a full minute. Nicholas is still lingering in many of our minds, though he’s not spoken to me or Chloe in a bit.
Chloe’s about to be sliced in the back by a blind-side attack, only for a shimmering veil with the appearance of a galactic glow to materialize and shunt the momentum away. Renault strikes again, only to reach the same outcome.
By now, Chloe has caught her breath enough to spin around and strike at Renault, delivering a strike that actually lands upon his side. Then another one in the same place, denting his armor and probably causing some blunt-force trauma in the process. The third attack, however, is batted aside with his offhand, and a kick sends her plummeting toward the ground.
I dive down toward her, but another attack from Seraphina forces me to block. Every time I try to break off from the engagement and go rescue Chloe from Renault, she leaps in the way and intercepts. Is that her game? Has that been her gameplan all along? Just to distract me, to force me to watch as the woman I love dies?
Rage builds in me and I feel control slipping as Renault dives down toward her, sword in hand. I’m sorry, Seraphina, that I’m about to ditch our little fight. But I hope you understand that if you were in my situation, you’d do the same thing without a second thought. And I’m sorry, Nicholas, that I’m about to take all your carefully-constructed plans and throw them into the gutter, but I need to do this–
But just before I open the floodgates and activate my Overlimit, the sky darkens and my [Ether] twitches in an odd way. Something is very, very wrong here. There’s no clouds overhead, and there certainly wasn’t supposed to be an eclipse today. So what the fuck is going on here?
Renault, having temporarily been dazed by the sudden astronomical development, resumes his attack, charging at Chloe at breakneck speeds. Damnit, Damnit, Damnit all to hell! I fly down to try to intercept, but I’m too late and Chloe has been swallowed by a globe of pure darkness.
Chapter 373: [369] 4.90 The Second American Civil War VIII
10 min read