Invisible?
”Great,” Mercury mumbled as he hefted his kamas. Nevertheless, he continued to look from side to side in quick succession, as if his personal acuity could pierce whatever hex hid the enemies from the naked eye. When Magni fell under attack, Mercury hopped forward and swung upward with both weapons, but hit nothing. The blades of his arms slashed through mere air, and Mercury growled in frustration. Clearly, it was up to him and Hyun. By downing Magni, however, the enemies had made it personal, and ushered in their own destruction. No soldier of Frenzy Plant would allow their ally to be struck down on their watch, particularly Mercury--to do so was to embrace personal failure. Magni's shout alerted him, and he rushed toward his seven o'clock with a frenzied yell, but again his kamas failed to connect.
”Bitch dodged me!” he roared,
”He thinks he's so much better than me 'cuz he's an inch taller! But he's don't appreciate my ability to hit everything!” The next instant Mercury launched himself into a wild and berserk slew of attacks in every direction, weak but fast, turning into a whirlwind of rage and steel.
Meanwhile, Hyun stood still, a single blade poised horizontally above her head. At some point during the last minute, she'd discarded her hairband, and now her brown locks blew freely in the wind. Her eyes were shut and her breathing was deep and rhythmic. Looking at her, one could be forgiven for assuming that she was trying to pinpoint the locations of her adversaries via sound, but she'd heard Magni's warning loud and clear. With neither her eyes nor ears of any use to her, Hyun now relied upon a third sense to reveal the enemy to her: touch. Though more hidden than a master shinobi, and more silent than an owl's tomb, the people who attacked Magni could not avoid churning the air around them as they moved through it.
”I can feel it with my hair,” she whispered.
”I can feel it on my skin, and in the rustle of my clothes...” Motionless, she waited, but not for long. Slowly, the edges of her mouth curved into a smile.
”That telltale wind!” Springing off her feet, Hyun lunged to her right, swinging her katana in a ruthless horizontal slice, a deadly crescent moon.
Like someone had flicked a switch, Ni Rensa's face turned beet red. Her claws balled into spiky fists, her tail went straight as an arrow, and even her pigtails seemed agitated. For a few moment she fumed silently, unable to articulate words, and when she finally spoke it was with utmost scorn.
”Y-you moronya! I'm nyot...! I don't...! Kilo's just a big nyincompoop. B-barely even knyows how to use an axe, yet I'm stuck on his team! He's got more meat for brains than he has for muscle, and have you seen that guy? Eats like a t-total pig! No wonder he's like sevenya feet tall. How could anyone like him?! Especially me. 'Cuz I don't like him! At all! And he's not evenya a furry, you dumbo! If he goes around thinking we're like, a pair or something, and we're nyot, it's because he likes me as a person and not because I'm a War Sphinx! How dare you evenya? Idiot!”It occurred to Ni suddenly that Argus was nowhere to be found. After scanning every direction with tawny gold eyes, she turned back to Enma and glared at him ferociously despite being substantially shorter than him at a mere 4ft 11 inches.
”Now where's he gone? Come and help me find him. Looks like they've abolished arenya fightinya anyway.” The two rushed off, as much as an Oni and a War Sphinx could. Fortunately, the extended pause in the Games had resulted in a thinned crowd and easy navigation. In no time, Ni and Enma arrived at the restaurant into which Argus had intruded, just in time to see him plummet from the roof into the street and Marlene appear beside him.
”What? He's gottenya into a scrape alread...whoa!” Ni Rensa swerved to avoid ramming into a familiar figure in blue. The sudden motion led to her placing her bladed heel in a poor position, and immediately afterward, Ni tumbling to the ground, winded and gasping. It took only a second for her to regain her footing with catlike precision, and only after did she recognize the individual.
”Hey hey hey, it's Gabe! So sorry about that, I nyearly clocked ya! You okay?” Speedily, Ni patted him over, checking for cuts and bruises. He seemed fine—physically, at least. His downcast expression told a different story for his psyche.
”Is...is there something wrong?”Argus and Marlene, of course, had been forgotten for the time being, leaving that problem to Enma.
Still grinning, Nero held open the door for his friends, and observed the other points of interest around the street all the while. He'd just turned back to follow Eve and Ayame in when a female voice called his name. Immediately Nero froze, his mind racing to recollect exactly who those tones belonged to. Despite his best efforts, he could not identify the voice before the approaching footsteps behind him signaled the arrival of the time to turn around. The Genie spun on his left heel, his purple cape flapping in the faint breeze, and beheld a face totally unknown to him. Of course, if this girl knew his name, he'd known her at some point...how could he have forgotten, particularly a young lady with white hair and heterochromia of all things?
Heh, that's easy, he rationalized internally, smiling at the new arrival all the while.
I've only got eyes for one chick now. Rather than a personal greeting, Nero resorted to a less-specific,
”Ah, hello again! Yeah, it's been ages. One sec!” He peeked into the interior of Bold Tone Creamery and called to his companions,
”You ladies find out what ice cream ya want. I'll take anything. If you're fresh outta dough, just wait a minute.”The parlor door slowly swung shut, leaving the Genie and the Bard alone. Nero leaned against the colorful brick wall of the building, hands behind his head in thoroughly relaxed position.
”Wish? Sure, I got wishes for days.” A few moments passed, with the wind and the steady chatter of man and animal alike in the background playing accompaniment to Trinity's voice. In the course of her explanation, Nero happened to partially see her left clavicle, and the marker there that identified her as a member of Phoenix Wing. At that, he needed to put in substantial effort to avoid rolling his eyes. Not much remained from his experience at Phoenix Wing several months ago, but everyone he did manage to remember he certainly didn't like. When Trinity was done, he replied,
”Fate? Bologna. Dudes who say ya can't escape fate just don't have the power to change their lives. Then again, death comes for us all now and again, huh? Anyway, maybe I got something in my bag of tricks to help this sick person. Affliction, Augmentation, Manifestation, whichever it takes, I can help. Let me tell ya though: I'm not doin' this for free. I fix this dudeman, he owes me. Or you do. Phoenix Wing types are all about sacrificin' for one another, right? Find Sickie McGee and bring 'em to me in like ten minutes. I'm busy at the moment."Without brooking any further comment from Nero, he went into the parlor, effectively dismissing her for the time being. Hastily he made his way over to his companions, dealt with the ice cream situation, and settled down with Eve and Ayame to enjoy a tasty treat. About five minutes in, a thought struck him. The very idea of it caused his pale skin to flush and his black eyes to shine. For some time now, there'd been something he wanted to do. Could now be the time? Trying to suppress his eagerness, Nero cleared his throat and spoke in a conversational tone to Eve.
”Hey, Eve. D'you mind if I...there's a sort of magical spell I'd like to try. It'll change ya a bit, but it's only temporary, unless, um, you say otherwise. Should be a fun, interestin' sorta experience. And it's totally safe. You up for something like that?”
