[IC] A Hero Tale {Complete}

[tex]

Cilia had no intention of letting anything strike her. She spun around and allowed Alvios' blade to pierce her stomach, only getting a few inches deep, and cracking a large portion of crystal off of her right abdomen. While spinning, she threw both her blades at Pij, striking her two-fold, and disabling the Phoenix in one fell swoop, forcing it back into Jenso once again, this time with severe injuries.

But with Alvios' blade impaling her, she could not escape Jenso's flame whip. The whip struck her and disallowed any further maneuvers, but it's just as she'd wanted. She grabbed Alvios by the shoulder and clutched tightly, immediately seeking to drain his energy with the crystal that coated her body. Her crystal armour slowly began to grow back, and he body tensed up. She and Alvios began to fall towards the ground.

[Hatman1801]

"So, that's your game..." Alvios noticed her body going tense as she began trying to absorb his energy. He hoped that meant she would be less able to dodge, and Jenso's attack was perfect for this. He reached out, and his discarded sword flew towards him, right into the direction he and Cilia were being drawn to by Jenso's flame whip. He immediately dissipated his light armor as well, and focused on giving her as little energy to drain as possible; he needed that spot on her back to be as brittle as possible so his sword could run them through. His other hand grabbed Cilia's free arm, to try and prevent her escape.

Jenso had better not mess this up again...

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned as Alvios fell down, and took note of his efforts. 'Darn it...' Jenso thought. 'Well, if this is how you truly want it..' He thought, as it seemed like Alvios wanted to kill himself yet again. He let the flame whip continue it's pull and jumped further back, launching a torrent of flames at Alvios's blade. It was now coated with white flames as it moved. If Alvios was going to sacrifise himself for this, he might as well make it worth it.

[tex]

Cilia looked into Alvios' eyes angrily. "This is how it must be..." She whispered, clutching tighter. The spun around in midair, with Cilia's back facing downwards. Moments after she spoke, Alvios' blade ran them both through in midair, and they both struck the ground with a loud thud.

[Hatman1801]

Alvios was still for a moment, long enough to rile Jenso's fear, but he slowly pulled himself off of his blade, stumbling as some blood trickled from his mouth. "D-Damn...the f-fire was a little much, Jenso...a-anyway, get over here..." Alvios moved a hand over his stomach, emitting a faint light from it. His shaken breathing began to become much more steady as the wound miraculously began to close at a rapid rate.

"Come on, let's get to Melina. I'll fix your arm up there." It didn't take long for Alvios' breathing to be regular now and for him to be walking with just mild exhaustion. Like impalement was just a minor inconvenience.

Showoff.

[tex]

Cilia sputtered and coughed up a generous amount of purple ooze. She turned her head towards Alvios and cringed as the life left her body. "Y...You're...Too..." Her voice hissed through blood and saliva. Her eyes closed and her body went limp..

"...Late.."

---

~ End Of Chapter 116 ~

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~ Chapter 117 ~

_{The Decision}

Jenso and Alvios neared Melina's body. She was able to move, now, but the infestation did not seem to improve at all. She looked up at Alvios and Jenso fearfully, and then over to her now deceased sister. "A..Wha...Alvios.." She whimpered, tears streaming down her face.

[Hatman1801]

Alvios was silent for several moments, looking over Melina's condition. It had taken only moments for him to heal up Jenso's arm on the short walk over to the girl. Eventually, he let out a pained sigh.

"She's...she's at the same stages that Cilia was at before...before I had to make my decision before." Alvios put his hand on the hilt of his blade, retrieved from Cilia's body. He seemed ignorant of his former lover's pleas that she could still be saved at this point. "I have to end it here."

Was Alvios mad? Deranged as she may have been, clearly Cilia had been acting of her own accord, and what Alvios had done all those years ago had solved nothing.

Maybe Cilia was right about Alvios' twisted sense of righteousness. He was being blinded by his own light.

[Jensoman]

Jenso couldn't help but smirk at Alvios. "Heh...jackass.." He said in a jokingly tone, clenching his left arm with his right hand to avoid more blood loss. "Being able to heal yourself is incredible...I can do that too, but only when I'm fused with Pij.." Jenso replied. "I'm glad to learn that you're not suicidal after all...sorry for the fire, I wanted to make your final moments, um...worth it.." He said to his ally, sighing in relief as Alvios healed his injury and they reached Melina.

Jenso frowned as Alvios was about to do the same thing again. "Wait, Alvios...let her fight. Have faith in her. She is strong, and she can overcome this disease." Jenso stated, looking down at Melina. "Hang in there...don't give in!" He encouraged her, believing that she could still ward off the infection.

[Hatman1801]

Alvios looked over at Jenso, incredulous. His grip tightened on his blade. "Jenso, stop. I don't know if you caught on there, but Cilia was a warrior. Head of the guard once the Swarm began showing up and she had to leave the inn to Melina. She..." Alvios paused, looking down at the young girl in front of him, struggling to fight the infection, tears on her face. His mind flashed back to Cilia, and both times he had killed her now.

Alvios lowered his head, and readied his blade. "... Melina doesn't deserve the same fate. I'll make sure the Swarm is purged for good, at any cost. Corona needs me to make this decision. So stand aside, Jenso!"

[tex]

Melina rose her hand, shakily, to block any attempts made on her life in a futile preemptive effort.

"No! Alvi.. No, I can fight it," Melina said, confidently, "My sister's strength, I can feel it.. This isn't going to defeat me.. Don't kill me, please.." She looked to Jenso in desperation, speaking through tears, "Please.."

[Jensoman]

Jenso stepped in between Alvios and Melina, with no signs of hostility in his stance. "Listen, Alvios...I understand your point. You're doing it for Corona. But look...the battle is over. This is the last obstacle, and Melina can conquer this herself. We've done what we needed to do, the swarm is no more. You can relax now, Corona will be safe..." Jenso muttered, and turned to Melina. "...Right when Melina beats that stupid disease out of her system, through her own strength!" He stated confidently.

[Hatman1801]

Alvios remained in a readied stance, silent for a time, before giving Jenso a very threatening glare. "Do you need to keep repeating that?! I just had to kill Cilia twice! Listening to the Swarm Queen spout that at me! I won't make that mistake again. The last obstacle for me Jenso, is making sure I don't hold back this time. I won't make myself kill Melina twice."

Alvios began walking forward, blade ready to be brought down on the struggling girl, and anyone in between. "I'll purge this as painlessly as I can. She will only die once, and be with her sister. I will burden my heart as much as I need to for the sake of the world. All lives are equal. If one must die to protect many, then that choice is obvious, no matter how close they are to me. I am not in the mood to argue this, Jenso. Stand aside. This is your only warning."

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned at Alvios, and looked at the ground. "So you don't have faith that Melina is strong enough to overcome this disease..." Jenso replied to him. "You need to learn from your mistakes, man...I get that you want to end this once and for all and never revisit this again, but if you do this, again, it'll haunt you for the rest of your life." Jenso said calmly, and got in a combat stance. His breathing had gotten deeper, indicating that remaining in his Overheat form was exhausting him. But he had no intention of backing down. "If you want to kill her, you'll have to beat me first..." Jenso spoke in a sad tone.

[Hatman1801]

Alvios looked at Jenso hard for a moment, before light began to surround his limbs and blade. Finally, the top portion of a knight's helm formed over his eyes, shrouding his gaze from Jenso.

"So be it."

---

~ End Of Chapter 117 ~

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~ Chapter 118 ~

_{Alvios, Scion Of Light}

[Hatman1801]

Alvios swung down at Jenso, the light-infused blade threatening to split him straight down the middle. Unfortunately, Melina was also still right behind Jenso. He would have to get the girl to safety if he planned on continuing this fight.

[Jensoman]

Jenso glared at Alvios as he slashed as he coated his fists in a barrier of Arki. He tried to use his left fist to deflect Alvios's strike, while trying to grab Melina with his right. He dashed further to the side of the room, placing Melina on the ground. "Sit tight, lemme knock some sense into him." Jenso stated. He turned to Alvios.

"It's funny...your stubborn attitude reminds me of Luke, in a way." Jenso stated, slamming his left heel into the ground. A white flame wave launched at Alvios, as Jenso dashed right behind it while using the wave as cover for his assault. He dashed from behind the flame wave towards the left when he was about to reach Alvios, aiming a rocket punch at his right side.

[Hatman1801]

"You're the one being stubborn, here!" Alvios moved to follow Jenso when he ran off with Melina, but was interrupted by the flame wave. Scowling, he brought his blade down hard, a blade of light splitting the wave and dispersing it. Upon revealing Jenso, he moved to catch his fist with his light-clad hand.

He drastically underestimated Jenso's raw strength. Even caught, he could feel bones in his wrist crack before the punch launched him across the room, Alvios tumbling on the ground a few times before managing to stabilize himself and land on his feet. The armor surrounding his wrist healed the tendons and bone of its own accord, and he formed a secondary blade, throwing two crescent blades of light at Jenso before rushing at the fighter again, intending to follow with rapid twin slashes.

[Jensoman]

Jenso looked at Alvios as he came at him, and dashed forwards. He moved further to the left to avoid the first slash, while using his right fist to deflect the second one away from him while his fists were still coated in Arki. He suddenly kneeled as Alvios rushed at him and slammed his left fist into the ground powerfully. "Impact Punch!" Aided with the extra strength that he'd gained from his Overheat form, He was able to launch a series of cracks over the ground towards Alvios as he charged, ripping open crevices and making some sharp rocks tip upwards from the ground. The move was intended specifically to either trap his foe, or knock them off-balance for a moment. He hoped Alvios would get his feet stuck in some of the crevices and cause it to halt his assault. He dashed through the rocks he'd made with ease with his increased strength, and grabbed one of the rocks that appeared with both hands. He aimed to smash it down upon Alvios with his full strength, aiming to strike his helmet.