by Andy Nadir
Chapter Thirteen
Laxus flicked the blade as hard as he could. The moon shaped blades snapped out of the first, and they wrapped around Laxus like a cocoon. He flicked the blade, and they snapped out, and slashed through a sheet of plate armor. He flicked the blade backwards, and the blades snapped back to the hilt.
Bensin’s mouth fell open. “How can you control it?” He asked.
Laxus shrugged. “How can you walk?”
Bensin shook his head, amazed. “You can have the sword for ten Vcoins. You can have the armor too, since nobody will want armor with a hole in it.” He said.
Laxus nodded. He dropped the money into Bensin’s hands, grabbed the chestguard, and the two walked out into the halls.
“Hey, how do we get back?” Tabitha asked.
Laxus shrugged. “I don’t know, why don’t we look around this place since nobody can stop us?” He asked.
Tabitha nodded, and they headed down the hall. After their first step, they fell into a trapdoor.
Laxus slammed down onto a bed. He groaned, and began to sit up. “What the…”
As he spoke, Tabitha fell from a hole in the celing, and landed on him.
“Well, at least they put padding.” Tabitha remarked.
“I’m not padding, get offa me!” Laxus snapped.
Tabitha jumped up. “Oh, sorry.” She said.
Laxus shook his head. “What was that?” He asked.
Tabitha shrugged. “Looks like they put some traps up.” She said.
Laxus sighed. He pulled out his sword from under him. “I’m lucky I turned the chest guard into a sheath, or I would be dead right now.” He said.
He held up the sword’s scabbard. It was plain, and looked like a triangle. To put the sword in, you would have to inert the blade, and twist. This way, you couldn’t accidently stab yourself.
Laxus sat down on his bed. “So, we just wait for the next battle?” He asked.
Tabitha shrugged. “You can, but there is no way I am going to. I’m going to go try out the HeavenStone.” She said.
“And how do you intend to get out?” He asked.
In answer, Tabitha thought for a moment. She raised her hand towards the door. A small beam of light shot forward, and burnt through the handle.
Laxus’s mouth fell open. “You can use your magic?” He asked.
Tabitha nodded. “It looks like the Heavenstone was so strong; it gave me enough power to just clear the barrier.” She said.
Laxus perked up. “Hey, you just cast magic without noise!” He said.
Tabitha grinned. “You’re right! I’m like you now!” She said.
Laxus shrugged. “Well, I don’t have any enhancing stones, though I do have this one…” He looked to the ring on his finger.
“But, my Serpent can cut through this door quite easily.” He said.
He pulled the sword from its sheath, and snapped the blades at the door. The Serpent diced the door into bits.
Tabitha nodded appreciatively. “That is a good weapon.” She said.
Laxus nodded. “Let’s go to the arena. Maybe we can move up the ranks again. The faster we finish this, the better.” He said.
They headed down the halls, and entered the arena. “Hey, we found it!” Laxus said.
Tabitha shook her head sadly. “No Laxus, I found it.” She said.
Laxus shrugged dejectedly. “Same thing. Hey, look! There are some guys on the arena!” He said.
They walked up to the two gladiators who were currently fighting each other. When Laxus and Tabitha drew near, they stopped fighting.
“What are you doing here?” One asked.
Laxus shrugged. “I could say the same to you.” He said.
“We are training.” The second one said.
Laxus nodded. “Can we join you?” He asked.
The two gladiators looked at each other, and spoke for a moment. They turned back to Laxus and Tabitha. “You may.” The first said.
Laxus and Tabitha walked over to the two gladiators. When they were standing next to each other, they saw that one was actually a female.
“I am Staff, and that is Spear.” He said.
Laxus shook his head. “What is it with you people and these cliché names?” He asked.
Spear grinned. “You’re pretty funny. But, are your blades as sharp as your wit?” She asked.
Laxus slid his blade from its scabbard. “Shall we find out?” He asked.
Tabitha moved to face Staff.
Spear slid a long polearm from a holster on her back. She pointed it at Laxus. “Bring it on.” She said.
Laxus swung the sword at her. She jumped back, and barely dodged the blades. “You use the Serpent?” She asked, surprised.
Laxus nodded, and flicked the sword at her while she was in the air. The blades whistled towards her, and she pointed her spear at them. The spear shot a blast of air out, and knocked the blades away. Laxus spun the sword slightly. The blades launched back at her, in a loop.
She vaulted over the blades, and slammed her spear down in one of the holes in where the blades were linked together. Laxus grinned. “Not bad.” He said.
He began shaking the hilt of the sword from side to side. The blades began rattling. Spear frowned. “What are you doing?” She asked.
Laxus slowly increased the speed. Suddenly, he jerked the hilt upwards. The rattling blades shot upwards, and it was impossible to find where the flat of the blade was since the blades were now essentially rotating.
He whipped the blades at Spear, and all she could do was hold out her spear. The blades wrapped around the spear. Laxus jerked on the hilt, and the blades slid through the spear.
It fell to the ground. Spear hesitantly picked it up. “It’s not cut?” She asked.
Laxus shook his head. “That dosent make any sense…” He said.
Suddenly, he noted something. On the spears shadow, there was a slit of light going through the middle. He swung the blade, and it cut into the Spear’s shadow. The spear’s shadow flickered, and popped off.
Laxus grinned. Spear looked at his grin, and shrugged. “What?”
Laxus gestured towards the spear. “No more shadow.” He said.
Spear looked at her weapon. “What did you do?” She asked.
Laxus shrugged. “Honestly, I really don’t know.” He said.
Hesitantly, spear touched the tip of her spear. She yelped, and sucked on her finger. “Still sharp.” She said.
Laxus frowned. “Maybe it only works on humans?” He asked.
Suddenly, The top half of the spear slid off and fell to the floor.
Spear shook her head. “What did you do?” She asked.
“I think I can use this blade do cut through shadows. And, where the shadow is cut, its physical self is also cut.” He said.
“I think I’m done for today.” Spear said.
Laxus nodded. “Me too. Let’s watch Tabitha and Staff.” He said.
They turned towards the other two, and sat down.
Tabitha was currently firing lances of light at staff, while he spun his staff deflecting them. Tabitha threw a small shining star at Staff.
He blocked it, but it exploded. He was launched back a few feet, but managed to stay standing.
“That was sneaky.” He said.
Tabitha just grinned, and threw an axe of light at him. He dodged this one, but not the blade that was trailing behind it; pulled by a rope of light.
It slammed into his armor, but he managed to avoid the brunt of the attack.
By now, they were both breathing heavily. Staff drew a long weapon out of the earth, and swung it at Tabitha. Tabitha dodged the attack, and the large pole swung past her.
Staff grunted, and swung the pole again. As it neared Tabitha, the pole expanded, and became the size of a large tree. Tabitha raised her hand, and blasted a hole through the trunk with a beam of light. She then vaulted through it, and landed on her feet.
Staff grunted again. “You aren’t to bad, mis
sy.” He said.
Tabitha frowned. “My name isn’t missy.” She said.
She drew a beam of light out of her ring, and threw it at Staff. It expanded and wrapped around him, and the remains of his staff. He strained against the rope to no avail, and soon gave up.
“Bah, you win. Get me out of here.” He said
Tabitha shrugged, and the rope evaporated. Tabitha looked over to where Laxus and Spear were sitting and grinned. “Laxus, you won, right?”
“We should get out of the arena before the crowd comes in and sees they missed the battle.” Laxus said.