by Jake Taylor
The woman looked darkly at her, retracting the whip with a crack. “I guess Sayuri betrayed me. Now I’ll have to deal with you myself.”
Haruka spun the sword in her hand, undoing the leather belt and drawing the gleaming blade. The sword flashed, reflecting light that wasn’t even there as it responded to Haruka’s touch and shone even in the darkness of the room. “That’s what I was thinking. I never liked you, Lith, and I’m definitely not going to regret driving this into your heart.” Aranea growled and a giant spider approached on the ceiling above Haruka, firing webbing over her; however, Mercy cut through the webbing without any resistance, freeing her as soon as she was trapped. “Your tricks aren’t going to work this time,” Haruka said with determination, unafraid of the roomful of poisonous and giant spiders or the sorceress before her. She was going to end this problem now.
IXH
Back down the hall Isabella stood slowly, forcing herself to her feet as Black Sun assassins entered the hallway. She turned to meet them and wiped the blood from her lips, drawing her iron sword in her right hand and her pistol in her left. There were at least a dozen with various weapons, and more were arriving from around the fort. They looked past her to see Aranea fighting until she stepped into the middle of the hallway. “You aren’t getting through me,” she stated, but she wasn’t going to be able to intimidate them, not when she was already breathing heavily and blood was visible on her lips and chin. Her lungs felt like they were on fire and each beat of her heart shot pain through her body, and on top of that her head felt heavy and there was a sharp pain behind her eyes.
They could see this, and she could tell; they knew she was half-dead already. That angered her and it showed on her face as she took a step towards them, gritting her teeth and tightening her grip on her weapons. “I am Isabella Enyo! Though I am at death’s door, none of you will be a threat to me until I cross his threshold!” She struck her sword across the ground, sending up a shower of sparks from the stone as it cut a long line through it. “I am Isabella of Two Faces, and this will not be my end.” They decided to call her bluff and attacked; she met them.
IXH
Haruka flung another spider from her arm, purging the area of poison again. She was then forced to abandon her current position as Aranea warped it with dark magic, rending the air and bending light. Haruka went up onto the wall of the cylindrical room, sprinting around it before launching herself off at Aranea. The sorceress managed to raise a barrier but Mercy smashed through it, nearly cleaving her as well if she hadn’t managed to teleport a few feet away. Haruka would have to thank Isabella for lending her Mercy; the sword was giving her an advantage she never would have had. It seemed to hate Aranea’s magic, destroying it with a single blow in most cases while the sheath protected her from magical attacks.
Isabella had told her that, before her change, the sword had been named “Merciless” instead. Because it was tied so closely to her it had changed with her, and it seemed to hold her emotions as well, including a hatred for people like Aranea along with dark magic. Haruka could feel Isabella with her as she wielded the sword, cleaving the legs from another giant spider and piercing its head easily. She purged the poison from her body once more and rushed back in, increasing her speed in an attempt to catch Aranea, her hand tight around Isabella’s sword. And the sword gave her everything it had – just as Isabella did.
IXH
Isabella slid around a sword strike and placed her sword against the man’s neck, slashing it open before kicking him into his ally and using the distraction to gun down his ally with her pistol. Isabella hated killing, she truly did, but monks were ridiculously hard to knock out or injure enough to put them out of the fight because they could self-heal, and if any of them made it to Haruka it would be that much harder for her to win. Bella had no choice but to kill here, especially because her condition made it so much harder to fight. Eight minutes, she had told Haruka; I can fight at full ability for eight minutes. She was at three minutes now and there were twenty assassins in front of her trying to kill her. It was getting harder to breathe but she ignored it; she ignored all of it, throwing it aside.
It drove her insane. Back when she had been a monster she’d had the power and skill to destroy armies, but now, when she was trying to fight for something truly worth it, she could barely fight. As she narrowly avoided an axe that would have taken her head, she realized that there was no option. Either she did something now to turn the tide, or she was going to die. She couldn’t use Mercy, Haruka needed it. Her only option was the same method she’d used against the Triad, but could she handle it another time? Whatever the case, they were at the end now; they were going to end things today. It was time to pull out all of the stops.
Isabella leapt back down the hall and fired the pistol rapidly, forcing her enemies to back off. She then tossed the empty pistol aside, having used her last rounds, and slashed her hand open before sheathing her sword. She watched the blood drip from her hand as the assassins came charging down the hallway and she shoved her hand forward. A pulse of power came from the blood and echoed down the hall, throwing them all back to give her more time. Isabella ripped off her leather bracers, then rubbed her hands together and began painting runes along her arms in her blood. She added a few more as the assassins recovered and returned to their feet, charging again. Isabella held Haruka in her mind this time, using her as a barrier to retain her mind as she drew her sword. Bale… Bai… I need your help again. I have to protect Haruka. She looked up as the first assassin leapt at her with his sword raised over head. There was a flash of iron and his upper torso hit the ground behind her as his legs landed in front of her. She raised her dripping sword as red and white flames began to lick over her skin, turning hard eyes on the increasing number of Black Sun fighters. “I am Isabella Enyo, and you are in my way.”
IXH
Haruka spun through the air and slammed into the stone wall, groaning as she dropped from it and landed on her feet. Aranea sent another wave of force at her and she hacked through it, protecting her from another brutal throw. Still, she was winning; the last spider had finally been slain and now it was between her and Aranea. The sorceress was enraged and throwing everything she had at her, forcing Haruka to focus on evasion for now. She was wearing Aranea down, though, and they both knew it; she would have to do something truly desperate in order to win this. Aranea, however, was willing to do so. She threw her hands down and the room began shaking, and Haruka’s eyes went wide as she realized what she was doing, dodging a falling stone from the wall.
Haruka looked down the hall and noticed stones there dislodging near Bella as well. Aranea was going to bring the entire place down; it was already done. She’d had this planned just in case, a spell in place that she could trigger to demolish the fort with them inside it. However, Aranea wasn’t the type to kill herself; she had an exit. Haruka knew she and Isabella had only one chance to get out of here alive. She let out a pulse of invisible chi that brought down the wall behind her, then let out a cry as the stones that fell from it buried her, as if she’d been trapped. From a small hole between the stone Haruka watched Aranea grin; the sorceress looked down the hall before moving to a spot on the wall and performing a short spell to open a hidden door. Beyond it Haruka could see a Teleportation Circle, the only thing in existence that could transport someone instantly across great distances to a predetermined point; perfect.
With a surge of strength Haruka exploded from the pile of debris and shot across the room in an instant. Aranea had only time to turn around before she was pinned to the wall with a blade against her neck. “Where does it lead?” Haruka demanded with eyes full of cold anger. “Tell me and we’ll take you with us.”
Aranea didn’t even attempt to struggle; it was useless. She glared at Haruka as if she was wishing a thousand different deaths upon her. “It leads to your father and King Reis,” she said with a dark smile. “It’s what we had planned to use to transport you two to them. You c
an go through if you like, though,” she said with a laugh.
Haruka growled and released her, but a second after she did, the sword pierced the sorceress’ heart. Aranea’s eyes widened and she looked at Haruka questioningly, but the monk’s expression was cold. “I am an assassin,” Haruka stated as she removed the blade. “And you are a threat to Isabella. You have tried to kill us on multiple occasions, you would certainly try again, and after we went through the portal you would help our enemies against us. And you really expect me to let you live?” Haruka watched Aranea slide down the wall, leaving a line of blood on the stone. She then sheathed Mercy and left, sprinting down the hall to Isabella, who was still fighting as the Black Sun support here was seemingly endless.
Haruka slid up beside her and slammed her fist into a monk, sending him flying back and into the crowd. She met Isabella’s eyes and noticed the runes along her arms and the familiar glow, but Bella smiled to see her, having none of the rage that had consumed her after the fight with the Triad. “You’re okay!”
Haruka nodded, then looked to the Black Sun monks. “This place is coming down. You should get out of here.” Knowing they had no chance of winning anyway, the survivors decided to take her advice. As they disappeared around the corner Haruka grabbed Bella’s hand, leading her back towards the room. “They’ll never make it out in time; this place is huge, the entrance is a long way away, and we have less than a minute until this place is buried under two thousand tons of stone.”
“So what do we do? Is there an exit?”
“There is, but it leads to Reis and my father.” Haruka looked at her. “Are you ready to end this for good?” she asked as she presented Mercy to her.
Isabella took it and held her gaze for a long moment before giving her a nod. “As long as I’m standing with you, I’m ready for anything.”
Haruka smiled and turned towards the Teleportation Circle. “Then let’s finish this.”
IXH
When they arrived, Isabella was hit with a wave of memories. She recognized this place, sadly, better than any other – it was the keep she had spent so much time in, the place she had fought to make the capital of Areya. It looked old now, older than it should have as it had only been twenty years since she was last here. “Were in Areya…” she breathed, standing up and looking around the great hall they were in.
“Indeed.” They turned to see Reis walking down the steps towards them, and both of them were surprised by his appearance. His hair bleached white, his skin drawn and pale, his movements jerky – he looked like a kind of undead more than a young man.
“Reis…?” Isabella took a step forward. “What… happened to you?”
“YOU!” Bella and Haruka covered their ears as his voice echoed around the chamber at a deafening pitch, even seeming to shake the ground beneath them. The air seemed to thicken with his anger and his voice lowered to a hostile whisper. “You happened, dear Isabella. All of this is your fault. You helped unify the land of Areya under one rule, but then you killed the king and left. Did you think that would have no consequences? The land split! Infighting began and chaos spread! Areya is now a fractured ruin and civil war rages across every border! Many have tried to fill the power vacuum you left and none have succeeded. You betrayed me.”
“I never did anything to you,” Isabella declared firmly. “Your father was a cruel dictator; the land would have suffered more under his hand.”
“My father?” Reis chuckled, giving a grin that unnerved the both of them. “So, even you don’t notice…” Before she could ask he twitched and shuddered, and an ethereal presence filtered out of him and coalesced into an image over his shoulder, a visage she would never forget.
“Faust…?” Isabella looked horrified, actually taking a step back. “You… Your son…?”
“My son quickly ran out of uses,” Faust explained. “Eventually his body proved a better tool for my use than he was.”
“Your own son.”
“He wanted to help me, and he has,” Faust said darkly as the body he controlled took a jerky step forward. “And now he is going to help me execute you.”
“I’m not going to let that happen,” Haruka said as she stepped in front of Bella.
“You do not have a choice, Haruka.”
The monk’s jaw and fists clenched in reaction and she turned around to look at Kazuki. “I knew you’d be here. I wish I was surprised that you would work with this scum, but I’m not.”
Kazuki Saito looked at his daughter like a disobedient dog, with disapproval and anger clear on his face but under control. “I use what methods I must.” He met Isabella’s glare. “Ah, your friend… Isabella. You have caused me a great deal of trouble. You are not content with ruining your own life, but must ruin hers as well?”
Isabella set her hand on Mercy’s hilt and her grey eyes burned into the man. “I never made a choice for her, unlike you. She chose me over you on her own.”
“She doesn’t know what she wants. Once this is over, she will be corrected.”
“And it is soon to be over,” Faust added as the body he controlled sent a pulse of power throughout the room, beginning to shake the building as he poured his power into it. Reis’ body began to twist and contort, growing larger; his limbs lengthened and there was a sickening snap as bones burst through skin, growing and extending to form armored plating. His neck lengthened and his head shifted into a mockery of Faust’s face in a cruel expression. What stood there at the end of the transformation was no longer even humanoid but a nightmare of a creature. It stood ten feet tall and its body was narrow at the waist and wider at the shoulders; its arms were nearly long enough to reach the ground and ended in long claws. Its legs went further forward than they should and had a large bend in them like a man crouching down.
Kazuki removed his cloak and clenched his fists, his muscles bulging as his considerable energy rapidly multiplied his speed and power. He underwent no transformation, but his body glowed with the pure amount of energy he summoned. It looked like a single strike from one of his limbs would bring down a building, but he did not enlarge his muscles too much; he kept his body streamlined like a martial artist, and thus kept his speed.
Haruka looked at Isabella and saw familiar hatred and rage, but when those grey eyes fell on her she saw a strong desire to protect as well. Isabella’s emotions were on overload, every bit of feeling that she had experienced over the past year was culminating in this. In Isabella’s head, Bale was raging at Faust while Bai wanted to step between Haruka and Kazuki. It came to a head when Faust moved like lightning and, in a surprise maneuver, actually tried to pierce Haruka’s back with his claws. With a yell of Haruka’s name, Isabella drew Mercy… and everything went white. When Haruka’s vision returned she found herself against the far wall; the bright light that had filled the room began to fade enough for her to notice that Faust and Kazuki had been pushed back as well.
In the center of the great hall was an orb of light, and from it came a scream of the purest agony that resounded off the walls and seemed to go on forever, unbroken. The pain in the sound was tangible; it sent shivers through Haruka’s body and made her hair stand on end. The orb of light then suddenly shredded, filling the air with white and black feathers. In the center stood a form of Isabella none had ever seen; the hair that framed her face on either side was white, but the rest was black. Her eyes were simply pools of light with no visible iris or pupil. In her right hand, Mercy transformed into a jagged black longblade; in her left, her iron sword had been changed into a white version of the same. The air around her seemed to flicker and bend, as if her presence was warping reality. She seemed to be in great pain, but was ignoring it.
For the first time, Isabella’s two faces were showing at the same time. She seemed incredibly unstable at the moment, but the power it gave her was clear; even Faust and Kazuki seemed surprised. Isabella wasted no time in launching herself at Faust, moving like lightning; the stone floor shredded behind her as she moved
fast enough to release a shockwave from the starting point. Kazuki began to move for the fight until Haruka appeared in front of him, her green eyes tinged with gold. “Your fight is with me.”
Kazuki stopped and took in the scene, turning fully to her. “You would fight your own father?”
“Nothing would please me more,” she answered, but a slight smile touched her lips. “Actually, that isn’t true; virtually anything including Isabella pleases me more than even thinking about you does, but even mentioning your name in the same sentence as hers feels unworthy.”
“I will no longer suffer your disrespect,” Kazuki said as he took a step forward in anger. “I will teach you your place once more. If you struggle beyond that, I will have to kill you myself; please do not force me to do so.”
Haruka growled and threw herself at him; she couldn’t stand and listen to him anymore, she could barely even look at him. However, he caught her fist with little trouble, giving her only a disappointed look before his other fist connected and she shot back through the air and into the wall. Kazuki dropped down off the steps and began to walk towards her. “She does nothing for you but weaken you.” Haruka sat up and pushed herself away from the wall, shaking the debris from her shoulders and focusing on him. She would silence him - no longer for herself, but for Bella.
Isabella, in the meantime, was moving with incredible speed, changing direction rapidly without even slowing. Unfortunately, Faust’s new form was more than well-equipped enough to deal with this; it turned out that his streamlined form and elongated limbs made him perfect for quick, unseen strikes and evasion. Isabella’s teeth were clenched in anger as she twirled around the stabbing claws and ran up his arm, hacking at it along the way but failing to pierce his bone armor. His left arm curled around behind his head and shot at her, forcing her to cross her blades and block the hit. The impact still sent her flying but she caught herself on the wall and stabbed a blade into the stone, using another to cut a circle around it before ripping the chunk of wall free and hurling it at him. Faust leapt over it, but Isabella was hidden on the back of the debris and launched herself up at him, dragging her blades along his back. It managed to do a little damage, but Faust caught her, his claws piercing her body before he flung her into the ground below.