Chieko was able to easily land her shield bash on Chiyo. The girl couldn’t see, and her daggers hardly possessed the ability to deflect such an attack. With a yelp, she was thrown backwards into Quill. The oni instinctively wrapped an arm around Chiyo and jumped backwards down the steps, landing at the base of the stairs.
”Owowowowowowowow!” The little girl cried.
”She seems serious.” Quill blinked a few times. Her vision must have been coming back.
“We should have known better than to do something so reckless, but it won’t happen again.” The two assumed a stance again. Chiyo had climbed onto Quills shoulders and crouched like a frog.
“We’re getting up the stairs this time!” Again, Quill sprinted up the stairs. Half way up, Chiyo threw one of her daggers at Chieko’s head before leaping off Quill towards Flame. Chieko barely managed to dodge the knife, the sharp object grazing her skin lightly. The oni let out a war cry before the molten steel behind her surged forward as four multi-pronged tridents. She held her club behind her head, waiting to swing.
This time, Flame was ready, transforming his fireball into a fiery whip instead, ready to parry any attack Chiyo and Quill made while keeping the latter two at a distance. Another fireball lit up in his left hand, weaker due to the lack of a spoken spell, and he launched it at the two foes as a counterattack to further push them back and down the stairs.
“You two are not the only ones who can fight in tandem!” he shouted.
The fireball was noticed, and Quill was able to move one of her molten spears in the way of the blow. It caused her to flinch slightly, but she was a tough woman. Weak magic wasn’t going to have much of an effect on her.
“I can't let you pass, Quill, and if you won't stand down I'll make you.” Chieko readied her own club, ready to deflect Quill's own while using her shield once more to stop the molten tridents.
Chieko’s shield was more than enough to repel Quill’s tridents, but she wasn’t the target of all four of them. Quill thrust two of them into the steps under Chieko’s feet, causing the wooden floorboards to catch fire.
“Algoa!” The spears were becoming liquid again, and seeping up through the floorboards as molten metal. All the while, Quill was still trying to press through Chieko’s shield.
Flame wasn’t fairing much better. Chiyo lacked any magical capabilities, but a close quarter fight fell squarely in her area of expertise. She landed on the ground and rolled backwards under Flame’s burning whip, as well as flame himself. Once she was behind him, she extended both of her legs and kicked flame down the stairs.
”Chiyo doesn’t like hurting friends, but…” She quickly retrieved her second knife and dashed towards Chieko. She had quite a bit of momentum, and Chieko would only have a moment to deal with the incoming threat.
Flame managed to right himself by grabbing one of the steps, badly bruised by Chiyo’s moves but not gravely injured. Standing up once more, he raised up his right hand, formed another whip of burning fire, and swung it at Quill’s right leg, hoping to curl its length on the latter. If he succeeded, he’d try and
pull the Oni off her footing, or at least distract her from her attack on Chieko.
Fighting in tandem was not as easy as I thought it would be.Chieko ground her teeth together. This was going slightly against them. Chiyo had rolled past Flame, trying to get to her. She couldn't fight the both of them like this, she was good, but – no, she could handle it. Even if she had to give a little.
Chieko allowed herself to step backwards, enough to let Quill gain some ground. Hopefully avoiding Chiyo's blow, while her momentum carried her forward enough so Chieko could land a gut blow on her with her club.
Chieko’s sudden shift in targets wasn’t something that Chiyo expected. She attempted to deflect the blow, but there was only so much two daggers could do against the heft of a club. The club was able to push past the daggers and nail Chiyo in the rib cage, possibly even her left arm. To that end, Chieko’s gambit seemed to have worked.
The caveat was now Quill was on equal footing with Chieko. Flame attempted to slow Quill down, but he paid for the delay by being dragged through the fire and molten steel below her. With a whimper, Chiyo trapped chieko’s club between her torso and her arm. Quill drove her heel into Flame’s sternum before running towards her adversary. Though the molten puddle was moving faster than she was, setting the floor ablaze as it raced towards Chieko’s position.
It seemed the only good thing about Flame’s position was that his face had avoided the fire and molten steel, although the rest of his body needed medical attention. Now prone on the stairs, the boy didn’t give up as he lifted up his free left hand and lashed out with another fire whip, this time at Chiyo’s right arm, hoping that a delay would affect the small ‘girl’ more than it would Quill.
“Goa!” Chieko turned her palm towards Quill, blasting a fireball in her direction in hopes of slowing her down just enough to let her disentangle herself from Chiyo. It hurt to attack Chiyo like this, but she had to do it no matter how good little sister material she was.
Ahem~
Chieko slammed the bottom of her foot into Chiyo, while pulling back on her club so she could use it to fight Quill. What was Flame doing? She couldn't let it distract her. She had to – she had to win here.
Chiyo cried out in pain as she was burned and then kicked. The frail girl was using the last of her strength to deny Chieko her weapon, but that strength faded between the two attacks she suffered. Chieko was able to pull her club free as the girl collapsed to the floor.
“Filth…” Quill dropped her club and used both of her hands to seize Flame’s outstretched hand. With a quick squeeze she broke every finger on his right hand before swinging him up at Chieko in this confined space.
At least Flame can content himself with this - That he had at least helped incapacitate one enemy. Note now that he couldn’t do anything against Quill using him as a club, though, so he waited for his body to hit Chieko’s or the staircase.
Chieko, unprepared for having Flame tossed at her barely managed to catch the boy. With a grunt, she planted her feet firmly in the floor, wrapping her arm around him. In one motion she tossed him to the side not quite having the luxury of being gentle about getting him out of her way. She didn't have much time to bring her weapon up to try and defend herself from Quill's attack. Quill did not have a weapon, but she was close enough that it hardly mattered. Her weight was enough to knock Chieko to the ground. She sat on top of her and tried to punch her out, interchanging between left and right fists. She kept screaming
“Goa! Goa! Goa!” over and over again as her molten steel attempted to coil around Chieko’s legs.
Flame was pretty roughed up and badly burnt, and he
might have broken an arm. But his other arm - He was too un-lucid to see if it was the right or left - was pointed in the rough direction of Quill, and with one more cry of
”Goa!”, sends out a strong stream of fire at the Oni as she punched a hopefully prone Chieko - Even with Flame dazed, he can still see Quill’s raised profile.
This should catch her by surprise. This should save Chieko’s life.
“Gah!” Chieko shouted as she was tackled by Quill. All she could do was hold her arms in front of her face – but purely playing the defensive wasn't going to get her anywhere. She could feel the molten heat on her feet, and each punch Quill made she felt each sweltering blast of heat more. If she got a little burned – fine then. Reaching a hand up, she attempted to grab one of Quill's hands with her own. The other shot forward, open palm as she took one of Quill's punches right to her face.
“GOA!” An explosive blast of fire escaped from her palm. That was all Chieko could say before Quill’s fist dislocated her jaw.
The oni threw back her head and screamed. Chieko’s flames weren’t a direct hit, but the flames seared the side of Quill’s face, moments before Flame’s attack batted her from the side. The oni was thrown from Chieko and tumbled down the stairs before coming to a stop at the foot of the stairs. She didn’t show any signs of movement.
”Mmmmm!” Chiyo was attempting to crawl down the hall, but she was progressing slower with each passing second. She had dropped both of her daggers, so it wasn’t clear what she was going to do once she got to her target.
The molten tendrils that hovered over Chieko’s legs would never touch her. With Quill’s defeat, they seemed to have cooled into solid metal. Sharp, but no longer an active threat.
And Flame chose this time to go unconscious, satisfied that he had saved Chieko’s life and she can deal with any remaining enemy…
Chieko shakily rose to her feet, breathing heavily. Ugh, she hurt all over. She was pretty sure she was badly burned, but she couldn't rest quite yet. She needed to make sure...Looking to Flame, she quickly made sure he was still alive. Good, he was. She glanced down the stairs towards Quill. She clenched her fist, resisting the urge to make sure she was still alive as she ran over to Chiyo.
“...Chiyo, that's enough.” Chieko positioned herself in front of the small human. She wasn't taking no for an answer. Wincing lightly in pain, Chieko picked up Chiyo in her arms, carrying her princess style back down the stairs, before setting her down next to the down Quill.
“Just...rest, okay?” She patted her on the head.
The small girl was laying on her back with her hands folded over her chest. She fret her brow at Chieko.
”Why are you being nice to Chiyo?” She grumbled.
”I don’t get it, but if you insist.” Quill’s fingers twitched. She was just barely on the verge of consciousness. Chiyo reached for her hand.
”If we survive this, we’ll have to do it again later.” Chiyo pulled her hood over her eyes before laying down her head to rest.
Chieko frowned, patting Chiyo on the head. Argh, how was she going to solve this? She didn't want either of them to be arrested or - She'd figure that out when she got there. Chiyo was already out, and Quill seemed equally out of it. She walked back up the stairs to where Flame laid. Still unconscious, huh?
“Hmph.” She reached down...and promptly smacked him right on the side of the face.
“Are you just going to sleep, rival!?” Chieko shouted loudly.
“We won this battle! On your feet and enjoy the spoils!”Flame woke up, grouchy and drowsy, before mumbling as he got up, “Do you know how to set a broken arm?”
He almost swooned again from the pain.
Aerith had been knocked down, but not out. When she returned to her feet, she could see she was in the dining room. This was made evident by the long rectangular table going down the center of the room. All of the servants had fled, and the only person in the room other than her was Fritzi, who had seated herself at the other end of the table. She was pouring herself a glass of wine with one hand, and the other was propping up her head.
”I knew I hadn’t seen the last of you.” Once the glass was full, Fritzi tossed the rest of the bottle over her shoulder. It shattered, but the noise could hardly be heard over the fighting in the other room.
”I wonder what we’ll do while Quill’s busy in the other room.” After giving her glas a slosh, she took a sip.
”You know nobody likes you, right? Not me, not even your own allies. Even I can see that.” She set down her glass and pushed it aside.
”It’s because you’re selfish, Aerith. In the short time I’ve known you, you’ve burned down a clinic, attempted suicide, and aborted a dialog between two parties that you didn’t want to see joining forces. You see the problem here?” She stood up.
”All the same Aerith, I do like you. Not the way you claimed to like me, heh, but you don’t seem like you’re intentionally trying to be this way. I’ll never forgive Ashton, but I can forgive you.” She dragged her hand along the table while she walked towards Aerith.
”I’ll give you a chance to surrender. If you become my hostage, I’m confident I can talk Chieko into letting Quill take the seal. Then we can avoid any more pointless bloodshed.”Hooo, so that's what was going on. It wasn't long to track down what was making her feel so...twitchy. So anxious. Fufu, seemed like Fritzi had some amusing secrets as well. Two knives left her sleeves as she landed in the doorway to the room, aimed right for Fritzi's head.
The wolf woman vanished from sight as soon as the daggers came close to her head. Once they hit the far wall, Fritzi reappeared.
”Not the first time someone’s tried to kill me. The whole ‘nail ‘em while their doing a monologue’ trick is something I’ve come to expect.” The room started to vibrate, and there was a metallic clanging sound coming from the pantry at the far side of the room.
”Seeing as you’re in the mood for knife throwing…” A gust of wind blew the door to the pantry off of its hinges, and every utensil inside was blown out as if fired from a cannon. Not just knives, but pots, wooden spoons, and anything else a servant would need to prepare a meal was flying towards Mie.
“Heh.” Mie grinned under her mask, superior agility avoiding several blades as she dove behind the table, rolling along the floor under the table. Using her momentum, she leaped up wards as she came to the end of the table, aiming one of her blades right for Fritzi's neck.
”You're pathetic, you know that?” She taunted in a bored, disinterested voice.
Mie was swift, But Fritzi’s movements, if they could be called that, were more akin to teleportation. She was actually moving though. Not just anyone would notice, but Fritzi was definitely running around the room instead of teleporting. Her shes had gotten dirty, and she was leaving behind footsteps every time she “teleported.” But the result was the same. Fritzi could move out of the way as soon as the projectile left Mie’s hand. From Mie’s position under the table, she couldn’t tell where Fritzi was. That was, until she started walking on top of the table.
”Pathetic is what humans have been calling our kind since we were born, Mie. You’re not going to get under my skin by uttering it now..” The tools that flew past Mie earlier had fallen to the ground. She could see them, scattered around the table in all directions.
”I am curious as to why you changed sides. I don’t think you ever believed in our cause, but this is going to hurt your reputation as an assassin.” She stopped walking.
”It’s not too late to make amends. I won’t hold back if you insist on defying me.” All of the items started to vibrate, and Mie could see the table cloth flutter in the swirling wind.
“What can I say, my foxy friend.” Mie grinned. Ah, ah, she wasn't teleporting..just moving extremely fast?
“I've never been good at doing what I was told...besides, throwing a little chaos into the mix is fun.” Now how to figure this out. Her eyes shifted from side to side. She had some ability to levitate or throw something? Or was she simply moving extremely fast it looked like she was?
“Besides...don't act like you're better than the humans.” Mie exhaled.
“Humans, demi-humans...we're all the same sort of scum.” Mie dashed out from under the table – being caught in a confined space with potential flying weapons would be bad. She immediately launched herself into the air towards the nearest wall, spinning and pushing off of it as she launched a knife in the last direction she heard Fritzi in on the table.
Mie’s aim was true, but all Fritzi had to do was “teleport” out of the way before Mie hit her.
”If that’s how you feel.” While Mie was no longer trapped under the table, her trajectory placed her directly over the table, and thus surrounded by potential projectiles. Mie normally would have just flown through Fritzi’s position to the other side, but she was caught in a whirlwind, spinning in place. It forced her against the ceiling, and the spinning winds were starting to draw the kitchenware swirling towards Mie.
Aerith couldn’t afford to stand idle any longer.
She had mostly been trying to figure out how to defeat Fritzi through all of this. Like Mie, she noticed that Fritzi was just very fast and wasn’t actually teleporting. But there had to be some strange rule in how her power operated. She always used her power to escape or catch up to targets, but her attacks always came at normal speed. Otherwise this fight would have been over already. So she can only walk and run fast. But she was able to move on top of the table. If that was true, how was she able to accomplish that? Can she jump too, or did she step up on one of the chairs? It didn’t really matter. The important part was that Aerith never saw Fritzi “teleport” out of sight. So she was only capable of moving short distances, probabgly to areas she could see. That meant that
Fritzi’s powers were based on sight. Aerith believed she had what it took to turn the tables.
"Shamak!"Aerith started by casting her weakest spell, one that did nothing but threw black spores into the air. Fritzi was swirling the air, so the spores were being dispersed about the room. But she cast it again, and again, and soon it was becoming difficult to see more than a few feet in any direction. This was draining on Aerith’s mana, but she wouldn’t need to hold it up for very long to win the fight. And just to give Mie an extra advantage, she activated the authority of wit. This caused both Mie and Fritzi to start laughing, and Fritzi’s wind storm ended. Not that she could see it, but she could hear the kitchenware clatter to the ground and no longer hear the wind. The main reason Aerith did this was so that Mie, while blind, could find Fritzi among the black smoke. Aerith prayed Mie would end this battle quickly, as she wasn’t sure how long she could hold up the authority of wit or this black fog.
“How I feel, huh?” Mie's dagger missed, and she landed back on the floor.
“How I feel...is that you're messing up my stuff, and I really, really, don't like it when people do that.” The black fox grinned viciously, intending on pouncing once more, but it seemed like the human finally had the guts to do something. Black spores filled the room, cutting visibility...and, was she laughing now!?
“Ahaha! I don't-ahaha-I don't know what the hell this-ehehe, magic is but I’ll take the opportunity-!” Mie managed to breath out. She could hear it. The kitchenware clattering to the ground. Fritzi's own laughter. Mie leaped forward, having already mostly memorized the layout of the room. She made a beeline for Fritzi, her knife stabbing forward into darkness.
It was too risky to join Mie. The two demi humans were likely aware of their positions, and would be attacking each other. She could hear the two cackling, their voices moving closer to each other. Aerith groaned as the last of her mana reserves were drained away. She wasn’t sure how long she could keep this up, but it was imperative that Fritzi wasn’t allowed to use any of her magic. She didn’t know Mie for very long, but she seemed to favor a physical approach. She could hear the sound of limbs flailing, steel hitting steal, and then one of the laughs were silenced.
It was Fritzi.
Just to be sure, Aerith held up everything for a few seconds longer before dropping her spells. She collapsed to her knees as the black dust swirled away into the air. When she looked to the two combatents, she could see Fritzi leaned up against a wall holding her chest, and Mie was sitting on the floor with her arms spread, bloody dagger in hand. If she had to guess, Mie had been kicked or punched away shortly after stabbing Fritzi. Even in her weakened state, Fritzi still managed to smile.
”I don’t suppose.” She inhaled.
”You’ll consider my offer, will you?”“Aha,” Now that she wasn't laughing, Mie simply gave Fritzi a sadistic grin.
“Begging are we? How boring.” Mie leaned in a bit closer to Fritzi.
“I was hoping for a bit of a show, but you’re not even trying to defend your position...which means you’re just a pathetic, sad, hypocrite. At least take pride in your life and gracefully accept your end.” Not that if Fritzi tried, she’d give her any other response.
Aerith growled before walking over to Mie. She practically tripped over her own legs on the way over. She was not very magically potent, but had some of the strongest spells among the foreigners. Authorities were nothing to sneeze at, even weak ones. Once she was standing over Mie, she gestured with her hand.
"Hand me the knife." There was an intensity in her eyes that only someone as downtrodden and beat as Aerith could possess.
"I’m ending this!"Mie was about to end it herself, but Aerith made a rather amusing suggestion. Well then. Mie smiled.
“Eager, aren't you?” The fox chuckled.
“Well alright then. Go on. End this hypocritical fox.” She handed Aerith the knife, watching what she would do eagerly.
”Wolf, actually.” Fritzi chuckled until she started coughing.
”Mmmm, so Aerith is the one who takes my life?” she sighed.
”I suppose this makes the most sense. You attempted to kill yourself, that’s when Ashton decided to kill Hiro. I suppose in an indirect way, you’ll be responsible for both of our deaths.” Aerith was making a low growling noise as she neared. Her short hair was hanging in front of her eyes.
”I hope you’ve gotten better at killing people, that attempt on yourself was messy.”Aerith held the knife against Fritzi’s neck.
"Back then, a week ago, you said I wasn’t the very best. That I wasn’t your type." She bent over in front of Fritzi and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Back then, a week ago, you said I wasn’t the best. That I wasn’t your type." She pressed the knife a bit harder into her neck.
"Do you still feel that way? You felt something for me back then, right? You had to!"Fritzi sighed. It was hard to say if her breathing was labored because of her wound, or some emotional connection to what Aerith said.
”I had no idea you were this lonely Aerith.” Fritzi let her head fall against the wall.
”This entire time I thought you stuck by your friends because you genuinely cared about them. But that’s not it at all, is it?” Fritzi leaned folward, Aerith held the knife against Fritzi’s neck, but found her hand trembling as they came closer.
”You’re a giant fuck up who hangs around people in the off chance they’ll notice you. You have nothing of value to offer, and bring down everyone around you. I’m right, aren’t I?” Aerith’s hand was uncontrollably shaking. She needed to put another hand over it just to keep it somewhat steady. Fritzi leaned against the wall again.
”Just kill me, Aerith.” Fritzi smiled and closed her eyes.
”Free me of this world where you linger. Send me off to see Hiro in the afterlife.”Aerith bit her lower lip. She had no thoughts, her body was opperating entirely on emotion now. She drove the knife into Fritzi’s neck, only to pull it out and stab again. Over, and over, and over again. Aerith screamed, and crimson ran down the length of her arm, but Fritzi herself never stopped smiling, or otherwise made a sound. If it weren’t for the gaping hole in her neck, she might have looked like she was having a peaceful dream. Aerith stepped away from her body and turned to face Mie. There was some blood splatter on her face, and she was on the verge of tears.
"You love me right?" Without wasiting for a response, she held her knife out against the fox girl’s neck.
"I saved your life!"
W H E R E E T E R N I T Y E N D S
Chieko, Flame, Ashton, Alistair, Aerith, and lady Vertti all found themselves in that dark space again.
"Oh, I should have known." Vertti folded her arms.
"Of course you’re all from the old world.""What’s going on?!" Aerith was still drenched from head to toe in blood.
"Are you here Joy? Fritzi?"”Pretty sure you escorted that last one out of this world.” Lord talus appeared in a swirl of smoke.
”The game has neared its conclusion. The last votes are being tallied, and we’ll have a winner announced shortly.” He turned to face Vertti and bowed.
”You’ve just lost your ability to return by death. I’m so sorry.” Vertti only groaned in response.
Alistair extended his hand towards Flame, and he could feel healing energies gradually repair his arm. He was unlikely to fully recover any time soon, but it was better than nothing.
"Do you have any idea what’s going on here?""Unfortunately." Vertti turned to look at the others.
"Lord Talus is a spirit I encountered shortly after arriving here. He’s able to facilitate the love of the witches. That is to say that he can bring other worlders to this world, and grant them the ability to restart the world on death." She narrowed her eyes before looking at Talus.
"He cannot give the love of the witches to anyone who they do not truly love, however, which is why he is not capable of having it. That’s why he chose to make a contract with me."Alistair groaned.
"So we were all called here to replace you? Why does he need to do that."”I can answer this one.” Talus chuckled.
”I find the direction Vertti is guiding the world in to be distasteful.” he raised a finger into the air.
”To move things along, lets just say I’d like to see a bit more war in the world. It was a nicer place when the population was just a few thousand. There wasn’t room for hatred over things like race and creed.” He took a step towards Ashton.
”This game was set up to show the witches a more attractive option. It was hard to get lust to abandon Vertti, but she came around once she showed interest in Mie. Oh, that went deliciously well!” He looked at everyone else.
”Ashton and flame are only here by the will of Odd Laguna, which means that my next host will be one of you. Chieko, or Alistair.”"What about me?" Aerith stumbled towards Talus.
”Oh, now you are a sad story.” He chuckled.
”So after your little thing with ‘Joy’ she got bored of you. You see, Vainglory is like that. She just wanted you as a challenge, and once that was done, she was ready for something else. It was rather disappointing, even the witch who originally wanted you here lost all faith in you. You’re nothing now.”"Nothing…" Aerith hung her head. Talus stepped up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.
”It doesn’t have to be that way of course.” He chuckled.
”The only reason why you’re still here is because they feel you are worth considering. But if you removed either Chieko and Alistair from the equation, you could take their place.” He leaned in close to her ear.
”They would all love you.”"All…Love?" Aerith looked at her knife.
"I don’t think we can reason with her." Vertti walked up to Chieko.
"If she manages to kill one of you, Talus will kill Aerith and make a contract with the one who survives. In order to end this we have to deprive him of his mana supply." She sighed and closed her eyes.
"He’s contracted to me, and my death won’t reset the world any more. So…"
