𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖲𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗒-𝖲𝗂𝗑
(In memory of the roach I saw in the locker room today)
(Edit: I know I published and unpublished several but Wattpad just isn't taking the edits I'm making 😐)
If Caelus had to run around for another 20 minutes doing tasks, puzzles, and listening to a bunch of lore he wasn't interested in—he was going to burst a blood vessel.
As expected, getting to Anaxa wasn't nearly as simple as it seemed. They had to run around, do some weird trial... oh yeah, they found a remnant of Mnestia's coreflame. Caelus wasn't a genius or anything but he felt like there was a lil something something that had been going on between Mnestia and Cerces... just a guess.
Good news, though! They met up with Trianne again along the way!
Cerces even gave them some interesting information about some strange person who had arrived in the Grove along with the black tide. A quiet and paranoid hunter that Cerces suggested might've been reborn from the black tide. Apparently, he wasn't someone the Titan could handle, so she... they? Damn— Caelus didn't know. The ghost hottie split up their body to get away without getting murked and begin their search for help.
They split the coreflame—one part placed in the Golden Bough of Vows which was part of their little trial, another in the amber they found, and another with the hottie Anaxa.
With... Anaxa?
"What are we waiting for? Let's get to him right now!" Caelus exclaimed, hopping up and down in place, "If that hunter you mentioned is still around it might be going after Anaxa, too! We've gotta go save the hottie!"
Trianne tilted her head, "Huh?"
Castorice gave him a blank stare, "You called him—"
Caelus didn't wait for more details, scrambling away with a shriek of delight, "I'm coming for you, hot stuff!"
"Oh my... the children of humanity are so energetic nowadays." Cerces chuckled as Caelus scrambled like an omelet, "I'll leave it to you, then. May you be blessed with good fortune."
Caelus was completely in his own world as he followed the path of dead scholars and black tide monsters. As he ran, he saw strange visions of that Anaxa dude. He looked like he was on his last leg, saying stuff like "die with me, Titan" and whatnot.
He finally made it to the Luminary Throne, marveling briefly as the pleasant atmosphere before gasping when he saw some random dude dressed in black looming over— OH 💩!
"THE HOTTIE! HE'S DEAD!" Caelus shrieked, pointing an accusing finger at the dude standing front of of Anaxa—the Chrysos Heir sitting slumped over in that big 🍑 seat, "You! You, you, you! Get away from him!"
The others caught up with him, stopping when they spotted the strange dude at the throne. Castorice in particular stepped forward, ready to fight, "Everyone, be cautious. This must be the hunter Cerces mentioned."
"Hey, you're right. That cloak... it matches up with that cloth we found!" Caelus pointed out and yelped when the figure glanced at them over his shoulder.
"You... are not demigods..." the trailblazer gasped and clutched his chest with a scandalized look at the sound of the dude's voice, "Stand down. Or die..."
Mem jolted and grabbed Caelus' sleeve, "Mem—! Run...! Memimem! Mem!" she paused, blinking when the idiot didn't react, "Mem...?"
The little creature stared at the dude in disbelief, shocked to find that he was practically drooling over the dude who literally just threatened to kill them.
"Caelus! Memi!"
"Ah right!" Caelus suddenly snapped back to attention, "We should fight this guy and unmask him so we can see just how hot he really is!" "No! Memimem mem!"
"Mr. Caelus...!" Castorice began but Caelus was already pointing his bat at the hunter, "Hey! Extra Crispy Hottie! Fight me!"
The strange dude paused then turned to face them, pointing his finger at them, "...one slash."
There was a flash, Caelus barely having time to react as a phantom-like clone of the dude in black lunged for them, going right for Castorice. A single slash sent her staggering back as another one of the strange clones went after Trianne, the strange dude continuing, "...two slashes," as the little goober barely managed to avoid the attack.
Caelus caught Castorice before she could fall back as the dude in black approached them, a strange sword materializing in his grasp as he approached them.
"Three slashes are enough."
Caelus' eye twitched, any sort of weird attraction he had forgotten, and he waved a hand angrily, "Three slashes my 🍑, 🍆head! Come at me!"
The dude didn't hesitate to accept Caelus' challenge, practically teleporting to him. That worn down sword clashed with Caelus' bat in a flurry of sparks, the trailblazer knocking the swordsman back before the two of them lunged for one another again.
Castorice began to step forward to aid him but two of those clones appeared again, the first's attack being blocked by her scythe before she sliced through the other with a single slash. When that one was dispatched two more appeared, leaving her facing off against three clones while Caelus was getting jumped by four PLUS the real one.
He was holding them off surprisingly well, clocking two of them in the head with his bat before hopping over a slash that would've cut him in half, hitting two of the clones with that signature Uchiha kick.
Caelus headed right for the real one, knocking the swordsman's blade up into the air with a swipe of his bat and a victorious laugh, "Ha! It's over!"
Damn right it was.
Another clone literally spawned behind him, the grey haired idiot catching a glimpse of its sword headed right for him—only for it to stop and slam into the ground as if grabbed midair.
Caelus hesitated and yelped when something he couldn't see STIFF ARMED his opponent, the strange swordsman grunting in surprise and grabbing at his neck as if someone had just snatched him up. Next thing Caelus knew, the swordsman was slammed into the ground. Slammed... did he just get choke slammed by a ghost?!
"Cerces! You're back!" Caelus cheered.
"Wait, Mr. Caelus, I don't think that's the Titan." Castorice warned as her and Trianne got to the trailblazer's side. They all watched as the swordsman struggled with something they couldn't see, letting a simultaneous "ooo" when there was an audible thud right as he keeled over with a cough.
Gut punch for sure.
The dude suddenly went flying as though he'd been thrown, stumbling to a halt over at the big 🍑 chair at the edge of the Luminary Throne. Unfortunately, he was a little too quick to recover, sword materializing back in his hand as he stood upright and began to attack again— only to get a hand shoved through his chest.
Caelus gawked in disbelief as there was a great burst of light, the cloaked swordsman being flung from the throne and briefly dropping to one knee. The spot where he'd been struck looked like shattered glass, the pieces floating in the free air before returning to piece his body back together.
"Can't be killed in a single blow..." Caelus glanced back to the Luminary Throne where that Anaxa guy was no standing up, a little unsteady on his feet. "You are indeed no ordinary human."
Something about him was strange. His voice... it was two voices. His and Cerces, right! Ohh, Cerces was in there!
"How annoying..." Anaxa-Cerces murmured as he made his way down the stairs, the swordsman recovering and standing upright once more, "Children of humanity, don't waver now. Since the ambush failed, it'll be difficult to find another opportunity to end this... a pity."
'Lucky 🍑 ghost.' Caelus thought before running up on the swordsman, barely giving him time to recover before he clocked him in the head with his bat.
The swordsman ate that, grabbing Caelus' bat when he tried to swing again and dragging him right into a headbutt, the mask colliding with the trailblazer's face with a loud CRACK.
"Mr. Caelus!" Castorice shouted as the swordsman twisted the trailblazer's wrist till he let go of the bat, twirling it with surprising ease before smacking Caelus in the head with it and sending him flying.
The hydrogen bomb ate dirt as he went skidding across the floor, Trianne rushing to check on him, "Little Grey! Are you okay?"
"Huh... me?" Caelus asked blearily before giving the little girl a thumbs up, barely able to focus on her face as he bled profusely from the head, "Oh yeah, I'm great..."
"No way you're great, you're looking in two different directions!"
Caelus began to sit up only to throw up right on the spot, Trianne freaking out and frantically patting his back.
"D—Don't move too much, Little Grey! It's gonna be okay, just...!" Trianne paused when she noted a shadow falling over the two of them and looked up, her heart dropping to her stomach when she found the swordsman looking over them, his sword in one hand and Caelus' bat in the other.
"C...Cassie—" she looked, Castorice was occupied fighting those stupid clones again, "Cerces..?" Anaxa-Cerces was getting ganged up on, too—only able to do so much with evading those quick 🍑 clones and fighting at the same time.
The swordsman raised his blade and Trianne hastily put herself between him and Caelus, ready to open a century gate. The blade never came, the sound of metal clashing against metal ringing out instead.
Trianne blinked open an eye, then stared in disbelief. There was a sword floating there with no owner, blocking the extra crispy swordsman's attack. The sword and the swordsman remained at a standstill, the blades trembling from the effort before something struck the swordsman in the side.
The second the pressure was relieved from the floating sword it lunged, the strange cloaked dude meeting it strike for strike before snatching something Trianne couldn't see. The air wavered, shimmered, then y/n gradually appeared—looking pissed as hell since the 🚚er had grabbed her by the face.
"Woah! Miss Dromas!" Trianne gasped.
"You've got some damn nerve knocking Caelus around like that...!" y/n snarled, grabbing the dude's wrist in an iron grip, "I'll skin you alive!"
"Hm... not a demigod, either." the swordsman murmured, preparing to stab y/n. She struck the side of the blade, knocking it aside just enough for it to barely slice into her side as she ripped his hand away from her face and backed up.
"Caelus! Get the hell up!"
"Ha... 🚚, fine, just give me a second—!"
The swordsman faced off again y/n, staring her down only to dodge as Castorice attacked from behind, her scythe barely missing him. Y/n was right behind him, kicking him in the back and knocking him over to Castorice, the pale woman immediately striking him in the chest with the base of her scythe.
The cloaked swordsman grunted as he was knocked back and forth by the pair, getting a brief moment of respite when the strike from y/n never came only for Anaxa-Cerces to appear—whole 🍑 gun trained right at his face.
He lashed out immediately, swiping the gun away and preparing to lop the hot 🍑 professor's head off only for y/n's tail to loop around the swordsman's arm and keep him from cutting Anaxa-Cerces.
"Damn it, kill the bastard!" y/n complained as she struggled to hold him still, yelping when he grabbed her arm and twisted it hard until something cracked. She was flung over his shoulder right into Anaxa-Cerces, the two of them tumbling across the floor together in a tangle of limbs.
"Crud!" y/n snapped, then glanced at Anaxa-Cerces, "Think you can hit him again if I help you get close?"
"Haa... just getting close was tough, I'm exhausted," the Titan admitted, "If you and the others can provide another opening, it may be possible."
Y/n got up, tugging Anaxa-Cerces along with her and immediately going to support them when they stumbled right as Castorice was kicked square in the chest—the swordsman knocking her away before making a beeline for y/n and the professor.
'Persistent little...!' the Archivist prepared to fight back only for a bright light to appear behind the swordsman. Wait... a Century Gate?
She looked over and spotted Trianne, the little demigod struggling to maintain the pulsing gate as it began to drag the swordsman in. He was painfully stubborn, too, fighting against the gate to get back to kicking their 🍑.
Suddenly, dark inky masses surged from the gate to restrain the struggling swordsman, dragging him into the gate after a few moments of struggle before the gate shut with a blink of light.
Y/n glanced over, finding that Castorice—still laid out on the ground—had been the one to help drag him in, and...
"Memi!" Mem cried as Trianne teetered over, looking like she was about to faint. Y/n abandoned Anaxa-Cerces, Caelus suddenly all fine and dandy as he practically teleported over to support them, rushing over to Trianne and sliding over just in time to catch her before she could hit the ground.
Yep... out cold.
Y/n glanced up to look at the others. Caelus was... surprisingly okay despite having gotten hit pretty hard in the head. Castorice had been knocked around a fair bit and looked tired but was okay otherwise. Trianne was out cold, that couldn't be good... and Anaxa-Cerces seemed okay.
'No one's dead, that's nice.' y/n thought as she stood up, Trianne tucked under her arm like a bag as Castorice got up and walked over.
"Miss Y/n, when did you get here? We weren't expecting you to come... not that we don't appreciate the help, of course."
"A few minutes ago, I'm glad I got here, too. You all were getting your 🍑es beat."
"Funny coming from the only one who's bleeding." Caelus snapped from where he was carrying Anaxa-Cerces *moreso Anaxa it seemed* bridal style.
Y/n glance down at her side where she'd been cut, a little surprised to see that she was still bleeding. Despite that, she grinned at him, "Won't be bleeding for long. It'll heal soon."
Yeah, no.
They all returned to Okhema, exhausted and worn down, and y/n was looking a little dizzy—understandable considering she'd been bleeding the entire trip back.
"What were you saying about healing?"
"Shut the hell up."
Y/n took her hand and irritably pressed it against the wound, grimacing when it stung in response. That man's blade burned like fire... no, something worse. It was a miracle nobody else *excluding Caelus* had been seriously injured or worse.
"Ugh... Little Cas, my head... it hurts..." Trianne murmured from where she was holding her head with a pained look. "Sorry, I know you told me... not to open the gate..."
"Don't worry, Lady Trianne. If it weren't for you, we all likely would've met our end at the Grove." Castorice assured the girl with a grateful nod.
Caelus side eyed y/n and frowned a little when she didn't make any smart comments, still holding her wound with that pensive look.
She did, however, step over to Trianne and pat her on the head with her non bloody hand. There was a soft glow, the tension in the little girl's expression easing a little as she glanced up at the woman.
"You should go get some rest now, would you like me to accompany you?" "I agree with Miss Y/n, you haven't been well since you woke up, so it'd probably be good if someone went with you to help you back."
"No thank you... I'll be okay." Trianne murmured with a meek smile, "I'll see you all later." with that, she teetered away, leaving the rest of them to talk.
Anaxa-Cerces...? No, Anaxa glanced around, an odd expression on his face, "Okhema hasn't changed a bit... still so much noise and commotion."
Castorice turned her attention to him next, an uncertain look on her face, "Are you... Professor Anaxa?"
The man with the eyepatch raised a brow, then crossed his arms with a nod, "No need to be uncertain. The Titan no longer speaks. It is I, Anaxagoras of the Nousporists."
"I see, you are—after all—the only one who would refer to yourself like that." the pale woman remarked to which the man let out a soft exhale as if not having expected that comment, "Professor, let me be frank: Lady Aglaea instructed us to search for survivors, uncover the truth about what happened at the Grove, and to retrieve the Reason Titan's Coreflame."
"I expected that much. And now here I am, both a survivor who witnessed the entirety of the disaster and the defenseless bearer of the Coreflame you were looking for." Anaxa hummed, crossing his arms, "Will you bring me to Aglaea to fulfill your duty?"
Castorice's ears twitched a bit at the professor's tone, "While it is my duty, I'd prefer not to present you to her as a captive or spoil of battle."
"Fine. I see no reason to make your life difficult, so I'll go with you. However, before then, I have some things to take care of." the one eyed nerd added, "Some of fellow Grove scholars, their families reside here in the holy city. I'd like to visit them before meeting with Aglaea."
"Hm? Why before seeing Aglaea?" Caelus inquired, glancing at Castorixe for answers. The pale woman hesitated before explaining, "Lady Aglaea would probably be against it."
Caelus and y/n exchanged a look before the latter turned away with a shrug, "Well it's none of my business anymore, you do whatever you want."
"If you wanna go see the other scholars' families, I'll accompany you!" Caelus chirped with a bright eyed look but was snatched by the ear by y/n, "Hey!"
Y/n nodded to Castorice with a, "just a moment" and dragged a protested Caelus away, around a corner where she slammed him against the wall.
"Ow, damn it, what the hell?!" Caelus demanded, tears pricking at his eyes, "What's wrong with you?"
"You touched her."
"Touched who?"
"Castorice, you caught her back at the Grove and didn't die. Explain." "Geez, if you're mad about me helping her don't be, I'm not interested in the slightest! She's all yours, girl."
"What?" y/n frowned a little, brows shooting up before she frantically shook her head, "No that's not what... ugh, I mean Castorice's touch seems to kill people instantly. You made direct contact with her and you're alive."
"Well of course I'm alive, I... huh." Caelus frowned, "Actually, I'm not sure. Luck? Plot armor?"
"So you don't know either... fine." y/n took a step back, shaking her head, "Go with Castorice and Anaxa, see if you can get information out of her about why you survived."
"And what about you?" Caelus questioned.
"I'm gonna go rest... I left so abruptly, Dan Heng is probably going to be upset. Especially since I'm coming back with a wound that's a little too stubborn to just disappear." y/n murmured with a shrug, patting her companion on the shoulder, "Go now, have fun."
"Have fun...?" Caelus mumbled as y/n wandered off, eyeing her warily before skittering back to join Castorice and Anaxa, "Yoo-hoo, y/n cleared me to tag along!"
"Y/n?" "The woman with the tail, Professor Anaxa." "So the humanoid dromas has a name..." Caelus choked on air, gawking at the one eyed Chrysos Heir. 'No way, this is insane!'
"Actually, Professor, y/n is—" Castorice began but Caelus butt in with a much louder tone. "Oh? Our y/n? She's pretty unusual, huh? A human with features of a dromas."
The thoughtful look on the one eyed man's face was replaced with a skeptical stare as he glanced at Caelus, "Somehow it's difficult to believe coming from you..."
"You saw her for yourself, why is it so difficult to believe?" "What sane person would believe the words of a lunatic who can barely get from one place to another without tripping?"
...
Caelus winced while Castorice stifled a giggle.
"That's... that's fair."
. 。 ⋆ • . 。 . . . 。 . 。
⋆ 。 ⋆。 ඞ 。 . • . . ⁎ 。 . 。 . ⋆. 。 . . . ⋆. 。. ⁎ 。• ﾟ 。
As expected, Dan Heng was not happy when y/n returned with a wound that wouldn't heal. He scolded her as she sat there and let him clean it, in a bit of a daze as her mind drifted to the message she'd received from those assassins.
She had yet to read it. Maybe she should share it with Dan Heng first? No, she didn't know enough about this Council of Elders just yet. In the event that associating with them would displease Aglaea, y/n couldn't risk the demigod's suspicion being directed towards Caelus or Dan Heng.
Y/n sat through the train guard's scolding, glancing out the window when she spotted Trianne, Trinnon and Tribbie flying off. Trianne still looked unwell... but where were those three going alone?
'That can't be safe. Especially with that masked creep running around.' the Archivist thought, "Dan Heng, I'm gonna go run some errands."
Dan Heng paused his work to give her a frown, "What sort of errand? Not the kind that would lead you to leave Okhema... right?"
Y/n smiled at him, "Of course not."
...
Dan Heng pinched her just a few centimeters away from her wound and she jolted, "OW OW OW, I'M NOT UP TO ANYTHING I SWEAR, PLEASE."
The man didn't seem too convinced but stopped pinching her, moving to grab her by the top of the head and give her a scalding look.
"I mean it. Don't leave the city." "Fine..."
Y/n let the Train Guard finish patching her up, leaving the room and staring at the ceiling with a blank look. After a few moments, she grinned.
'Too easy.'
She skedaddles right out the city, following the scent of Tribios all the way to the Abyss of Fate. She lurked behind them curiously, watching Trianne closely as the little trio moved on ahead.
Trinnon and Tribbie seemed very concerned about Trianne's condition despite the little redhead being so energetic. That, and they seemed to be seeing something y/n couldn't.
There was also a strange scent.
Burning flesh. The blazing sun...
Y/n felt as though that scent were familiar, she'd smelled it before when she concealed herself with cloudhymn and tailed Castorice, Caelus and Trianne to the Grove.
She took a seat at the edge of a dislodged stone in the wall, watching at the red headed trio reached their destination—only to find that the Titan Oronyx wasn't even there.
"What? Why isn't Oronyx here?" Tribbie wondered aloud as Trianne hurried forward.
"Oronyx! Are you here?" Trianne called out, her voice echoing out into the darkness.
"No response at all..." Trinnon murmured as Tribbie looked around in confusion, scanning the darkness for any sign of the Titan.
"Did they know we were coming and hide in the fog?" Tribbie wondered aloud, "Or... or maybe..."
Silence fell over them all before Trinnon jolted a little, glancing out at the darkness in alarm before hurrying to Tribbie with a frantic, "We should leave. The temple, it's... there's other people here."
"What?" Tribbie demanded.
'Uh oh. I should probably tell them I'm here so there's no misunderstandings...' y/n thought with a grimace.
Before she could hop from her spot, something lunged from the darkness above, dropping in on Tribios with a slash that sent the trio tumbling away from one another.
There, in the dark, was that swordsman from before—three more of his damn clones spawning into existence to block the demigods' path out.
The swordsman spawned two more clones, being so damn extra, ready to flatline the trio right then and there, but Trianne came in clutch and popped right between the masked menace and the two other red heads.
There was a burst of bright light as Trianne spawned a gate to hold off the swordsman and his clones, struggling to maintain the gate as the swordsman fought to pull against it. He was winning, he was getting them for sure and Trianne knew that.
So, she made a choice. She turned to Tribbie and Trinnon instead, tossing them into another gate before they could think of doing anything else. Tribbie opened her mouth to protest, but the gate shut—sending her and Trinnon off elsewhere while Trianne was left alone.
The swordsman closed in on her, mere centimeters away from cutting her down. Then, the floor hit him in the face. A slab of stone flipped up, striking the swordsman square in the face and shattering as y/n finally got down from her hiding spot.
She snatched up Trianne, not even laying the swordsman any mind as she immediately looked over the demigod for injuries.
"Trianne! Are you okay? What—" the word's caught in y/n's throat. Trianne was unresponsive, but there was the unmissable feeling of the life leaving her body.
"Hey, hey, hey, no! Don't do that!" y/n snapped, grabbing the little redhead's hand to try and heal her. No extra limbs, no extra limbs. She tried to heal her, just enough to get her out of the danger zone.
The second y/n reached out, pain coursed through her body and she reflexively turned her head away, damn near dropping Trianne as she let out a ragged cough. Something hit the ground and y/n squinted when she realized she'd gone and coughed up blood.
'What the hell! What type of nonsense?'
There was no time to finish the thought, y/n's tail lashing out to coil around the swordsman's blade before he could go and hack her head off.
"Damn it, pay attention! Don't get distracted!"
The Archivist's tail trembled with effort as it fought to hold off the sword, the blade biting into flesh and beginning to draw blood.
Y/n's flinched a bit at the burn and let go, hopping away with Trianne still in tow. 'That sword hurts like hell!'
"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" the Archivist demanded, setting the little redhead down. Roots pushed their way past the stone slabs on the floor, coiling around the little demigod to provide some cover as y/n planted herself between Trianne and the swordsman.
There was a raspy, painful-sounding noise that left the swordsman—like air through a wooden pipe that had been scorched and burned behind repair.
Then, the weirdo spoke, "Your persistence... it's pointless. Turn and leave now, I won't ask again."
"🚚 off and leave Trianne be. I won't ask again." y/n shot back, "You'd best move along, I'm not an easy one to kill."
"If you can bleed, you can die... you've made your choice." the swordsman lunged and y/n moved immediately, her precious new addition to her collection clashing with the dilapidated blade her opponent wielded.
The force knocked the two away from one another, two of the clones appearing only to be snatched and dragged right into the stone floor by overgrown roots. There was little time to breathe as y/n dove right back into her opponent's space, "Don't even think about summoning clones, 🍑hole! It's just me and you!"
The swordsman growled out a "trifling" as he met her head on, the two trading heavy blows with no sign of either of them letting up.
Y/n planted her foot down and slashed as hard as he cold, finally getting the swordsman to stumble. He recovered swiftly, blocking her downwards swipe only for the air around them to suddenly become heavy.
It was subtle at first, more pressure on his body, but then his boots began to sink into the stone, then the floor beneath them caved.
The awordsman's legs began to go tremble and y/n blinked, actually looking startled for a second. Wait, actually, now that she thought about it...
"How do I make this thing lighter?"
The mildly concerning pressure suddenly went from 50 to 50,000, both of them releasing their swords as the weapons slammed against the already cracked earth. A few moments later, the both of them were forced to their knees by the increased gravity.
Y/n struggled to look up at her opponent while he too was struggling against the isolated area of increased gravity. She steeled her nerves then launched herself at him, colliding with him head first and knocking the both of them out of the gravity death circle she'd accidentally made.
She grabbed the swordsman by the head and slammed his face against the ground—fully intending to crack his head open until he lurched and arm back to elbow her in side.
She ate that, didn't even flinch, but then he materialized another damn weapon—what was that, a crescent shaped staff? Whatever it was, he tried to slice her with it and she foolishly tried to grab the blade to stop it.
Her hand slowed it down, but she lost some fingers in the process and HOLY 🚚 IT BURNED. Y/n bit him as hard as she could and he snatched her up, throwing her right into a wall.
Pretty much knocked the air out of her but y/n wasn't done, sparks flirting about in her hand before that sword made of light flared to life in her grasp. She began to step forward but stumbled, still reeling from that strange sensation she'd felt when she tried to heal Trianne.
Something wasn't right. Something felt horribly wrong.
Her blood was racing through her veins, head pounding, heart racing... her tail was still bleeding, those four fingers were still gone.
She wasn't healing.
Y/n glanced at the swordsman with wide eyes as he approached. She felt sick. What was this?
A strange feeling rose in her chest but she forced it back down, tightening her grip on that bright sword, "No, 🚚 that!"
The extra crispy swordsman darted forward, slashing at her with that strange crescent shaped blade. Y/n jerked her head out the way, feeling it slice into her arm instead.
It was a deep cut. Too deep, but y/n took was little time she had left, a single upswing that sliced right through the swordsman's arm.
There was a blast of energy as y/n was practically blinded by a delightfully familiar arc of blues, purples and pinks. The devastation following her desperate attack tore through the air, up higher and higher, and...
"YOU IDIOT!"
Y/n didn't get the chance to mentally protest the unwarranted insult, both her and her opponent stopping to watch as the sky was struck. The darkness above rippled, like the ocean receding before a tsunami.
Then, the sky exploded. The darkened sky ruptured, tearing open while the edges flickered with red and black like a malfunctioning screen. Beyond that, there was an endless expanse of stars.
There was no time for y/n to marvel at her handiwork, blinking when she felt something warm drop from her nose. Blood for sure, she didn't even need to check.
There was a slight ache in her head that swiftly turned into a searing pain, like someone was dismantling her cells bit by bit. Y/n immediately grabbed at her head as if it'd do something to help and grimaced when this infernal screaming noise pierced through her conscious.
It was horrible, downright agonizing! The very sound felt like millions of tiny blades ripping and tearing at the atoms that made up her body. Clawing at her, gnawing, beneath her flesh— out, out, out she needed to get out, get out GET OUT.
The fight. Right, the fight. She needed to focus. Trianne was still...
The Archivist took a few teetering steps forward but dropped to her hands and knees as the nonsensical screaming reached a fever pitch. She keeled over, writhing in pain and crying out as she began to bleed. From her ears, nose, eyes, mouth—her body was falling apart.
"Stop, stop, make it stop—!"
Her vision was a blurry mess, but she could make out the swordsman's boots as he approached. Probably to finish her off. The h/c haired woman tried pushing herself to her feet, but one of her arms gave out—ah, no, it was useless. All but a few ligaments and part of her bone had been severed. There was no using that.
Y/n puffed out short, panicked breaths as the swordsman stopped in front of her. She awaited death, but he just turned away, heading over to the roots that had been shielding Trianne's body.
They had shriveled up, tainted with the same inky black and cubed red spots that made up the corroded areas y/n had seen before, leaving the redhead out in the open.
"No, stay away, don't..!" y/n choked out as her heart's frantic pounding began to weaken. The sound of her heartbeat faded before her vision did, and as her world was cast into darkness, the strange sound that had ripped through her dwindled out as well.
> REMOVAL PROGRESS:
▓▓▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ — 16.7%
(Lyg*s)
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