With Werren's black dome dwarfing Petra and Century, they paid no mind to their surroundings. Both of their sights are set on each other. A brawl between fellow SHS members to prove who truly belongs in this world.
Petra twirled her knives around, the handles of them resembling the horns of a demon, their slick crimson that made a wave-like shape. The blade a stained and dirty silver. Petra had short black hair, with most of her face covered in dried blood. A black crop top that showed off her fully healed stomach wound that Werren had delivered her a few minutes ago. Century discarded her white Spectator coat, not wanting it to cloud her judgment during this pinnacle battle.
They both kept fierce eye contact, both waiting for the other's first move. In a second, Century leaped off the ground, leaning forward as she dashed to Petra. Petra smirked, tossing one of her knives towards Century.
Century pushed forward harder, her pace increasing as the knife whizzed past. Petra recalled it as the knife flew back around to her hand. Century closed the distance exponentially. Ripping a hair tie out and chucking it straight at Petra's feet.
Petra stomped her foot down the hair tie. The explosion went off beneath her foot as her bone and flesh ripped apart, scattering all over the place. Century looked shocked and slowed her sprint. Looking at Petra's now dismantled body, she felt confused about why she would give up so quickly.
From Petra's corpse, a wheeze was heard. Century's eyes widened as a thick sense of abhorrence invaded her senses. To her surprise, Petra rose once more. Skin blotched red and her bones sticking out of her skin, Century watched as Petra recalled her lost limbs. All scattered blood was filed back into her veins. Her bones snapped back into place as her muscles and flesh threaded back together. Her skin stretched to cover her exposed insides as she licked her lips with a grin.
"Such a puny explosion. It didn't even take any effort to put myself back together. Surely you can do better."
Petra licked one of her knives as Century scowled at her.
"Yeah, you're right."
Century dashed to Petra's side.
Petra easily swung her knife around as Century threw herself back to avoid the attack. As Century got her footing once more Petra lunged forward, both of her knives held high as she brought them down in a devastating thrust. Century lifted her left arm to guard the attack. Petra stabbed both knives into Century's arm. One lodged into her shoulder, the other in her hand. Century grits her teeth before backhanding Petra across her face.
Petra's head jolted to the side as Century used her able-bodied hand to grab Petra by the side of her head. With great speed, Century slammed Petra's head to the ground. Both knives still stayed lodged in Century's arms so she ripped the one implanted in her hand out and held it high, ready to slam it down on Petra's head.
Petra opened her jaw and clamped her teeth around Century's injured hand. Century's mind faltered as her grip on the knife loosened. Petra saw this and swung her legs around, throwing Century to the side. Century coughed up blood and wiped her forehead of sweat.
Petra stood tall and recalled both of her knives. The one lodged in Century was forcibly ripped out causing the gash to split open further. Century whined in agony as Petra waltzed towards her.
"How adorable... Maybe after this, I can feed you to Lycon."
Petra put one of her boots on Century's neck.
"Nah, you'd taste like shit."
Century was enraged. She clenched her fist, she couldn't let herself be bested again. If she wanted to kill a hero, she had to kill this low-life first. Century discarded the thoughts of pain and ripped a hair tie out, wrapping it around Petra's ankle. Petra lifted her boot off Century's neck and looked annoyed as it detonated. The explosion severed her legs off as she fell back. Blood pouring out, Century got up and took out a handful of hair ties.
Petra began to recall all her missing body parts but Century had grabbed one of her detached legs. Petra tried to recall her leg but Century kept a strong grip on it. This caused Petra to grow irritated as she used more force to tear her leg from Century's clutches.
"LET GO OF THAT!"
Petra shouted, using a great amount of force, Century, along with the leg, flung to Petra's position. With a swift motion, Century brought her foot up and stomped on Petra's skull. The cracking of her bones beneath Century's foot brought a sadistic joy to Century's eyes. A final push was all that was needed to crush Petra's head entirely.
Century laughed in triumph as Petra's body fell limp.
"Try and recall that demon."
Century wiped her shoe on Petra's clothes as she began to walk towards the large dome.
SNAP! Century stood still, her back to Petra's corpse. SNAP! As Century peered her head over her shoulders she saw the deformed corpse of Petra shake violently as blood poured back into her. Bones reshaped themselves as her body remade itself. From death, she rose.
"Not gonna work Century."
"Come on! How many times are you gonna do this?!"
Century faced the now pristine Petra. Century focussed for a second. Her anger rose as this battle began to get tedious.
"Observe."
Century's mind began to calm. The objective started to become clearer.
"What is her power?"
It was to recall the pieces of her body. No matter what part of her was destroyed it could be remade. Her hair is short and she doesn't seem to use it when fighting. Instead, she used...
"Those knives! Was it a Likeable? She could recall her knives despite them not being a part of her body."
Century regained her senses. She looked at the knives. Horns, that's what they resembled. Perhaps if the knives were destroyed then her powers wouldn't work.
"What's wrong Century? Feeling discouraged? That's okay, feel free to lie down and die."
Petra threw one of her knives at Century's head.
Century moved out of the way. As Petra recalled her knife, Century grabbed ahold of it. Petra looked bumfuzzled as Century wrapped a hair tie around the knife. Century let go of the knife as it flew to Petra's hands and exploded.
Century watched the blade and handle shatter to pieces Petra looked infuriated.
"You... MY KNIFE!"
Petra kicked the broken pieces aside.
"Aw well. It's fine, that one was getting brittle anyway."
From Petra's forehead, a horn sprouted forth. She grabbed it and jerked her hand forward. She grunted as her flesh ripped apart. From her forehead, Petra ripped out her horn, a large hole now in her head. It didn't take long before the hole closed up. In her hand was a brand-new knife.
"Wh... wait what...?"
Century looked confused, perhaps her judgment was wrong. Her knives were part of her body, they had just been torn off to resemble Likeables. So if she didn't have a Likeable what could the source of her power be?!
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"HA! You thought that would work? How dumb are you, I for sure would have thought that my powers were obvious by this point."
Petra scoffed.
If not her horns what was it...? She had short hair, it was a buzz cut so what could be the source?
"You've seen it! Clear as day, multiple times. Focus and observe."
Century's eyes scanned over Petra's body. All of her wounds had closed up, they closed up by recalling lost pieces of her flesh to fill in the exposed spots. But, there was one wound that shouldn't have closed up.
"Her horn! If she had ripped out her horn how would it have closed up? Wouldn't the horn be recalled to where it was ripped from? Meaning her wounds can be healed without the need of spare pieces of flesh."
Century took a deep breath. She had figured Petra out.
Leaping forward, Century threw a sharp punch upward into Petra's jaw from below. Petra groaned before throwing her arms up to create long slashes along Century's shoulders. As blood seeped all over Century, Petra fell onto her back.
Century pushed past her pain and pinned Petra down, ripping one of her knives from her clutches. Century stabbed Petra in the stomach, blood oozing from her mouth. Century carved through Petra's flesh as she stabbed Century in the hip.
Century screamed but continued to cut out a piece of Petra's body. Petra gave an agonized cry as Century tore out a chunk of her stomach. Through the blood Century's theory was proven correct.
Throughout Petra's body was hair! Petra's hair was weaved through her skin and flesh. Any part of Petra that was broken or cut would be remade by the hair in her body. This meant she could reform herself from any injury whenever she wished with ease. At this point, Petra's whole body was made from hair.
"Finally figured it out huh? Well, good luck killing me! I'll just put myself back together every time you explode me."
Petra laughed as Century smirked.
"I don't have to kill you with explosions. I've discovered a new use for my powers."
Century took out a hair tie and stretched it wide. With a dark glow in her eyes, she wrapped the hair tie around Petra's neck as she began to choke.
"Helium."
With a jolt, Petra began to swiftly float upwards. Her body losing blood circulation. The pigment of her skin went purple as Century watched her rise higher and higher.
"Don't worry, I made sure you use enough hair strands to make sure you won't pop until you hit the atmosphere."
Petra couldn't move her body, she stayed in a state of limbo. Her body reconstructing her dying organs, kept her in a permanent state of death. As she looked at the town leaving her vision, she saw the golden horizon...
Southern Continent - 29 EE
The bitter cold. It often chewed at one's joints, scrapped along the insides of one's lungs, and bit their skin. Through constant blizzards and deathly climates, there was a town. Made from the snow beneath their feet it sat amongst a freezing desert. Their houses, havens from the outside. Beneath their abodes laid a system of tunnels. Rarely would one venture out, the cold would kill those who tried to walk amongst its land. In the tunnels, people lived. It was a horrible life, the confines of the tunnel would encroach in on you and smother you if the cold above deemed it so.
In this place, a girl was born.
"She's so beautiful..."
A woman heaved with exhaustion, the quiet snores of a baby in her hands.
"She is the first in 10 years. She will live a good life."
A man said kissing the forehead of the woman.
The woman's eyes stuttered, and her breathing slowed as her hold on the baby loosened. The baby cried out as its mother left it. The man clutched the baby, tears falling to the baby's cheek.
"I promise she will..."
The man trembled. Never letting go.
As years passed, she grew up in the tunnels. Stories from the outside world garnered her interest. With curiosity beyond comprehension, she left her father and went outside. The cold was tearing through her skin. She traversed this desert. It did not take long before she collapsed. The weight of this place sank its fangs deeper into her. If it wasn't for the warm arms that wrapped around her, she would have experienced an eternity of death. She clung to the arms that held her.
"This place isn't ready for you Petra..."
The arms spoke softly. The warmth put her to sleep.
Upon waking up, she was back in the tunnels. Surrounded by the other inhabitants, they glanced at her in horror.
"When he carried her back she had them... those horns."
"She must have killed him, she is a monster. How could she have survived that long out there? When he came back he was all but bone!"
"Didn't you see! Her wounds are gone! She is the child of a witch. A demon!"
Petra sat up and looked around.
"Where am I? Where's dad...?"
The other inhabitants jolted back in fear as Petra rubbed her nose. From behind her, the leader raised a knife. He thrust it into the back of her head. Blood poured out as she fell over, limp. Her flesh began to close however, the blood returned to her as her wound was gone. Petra looked up confused. Everyone around her gasped. With fear in their eyes, Petra looked scared.
Out of fear, those she called family attacked her. Each, ripping piece after piece from her. In hopes of expelling whatever demon had entered her body. She knew no rest. She knew no freedom. To the bone, she was left as. Once she regrew it all, the process began anew.
It couldn't be stopped. They were hellbent on removing the curse. When Petra awoke, it was over. Surrounded by blood, surrounded by bodies. Her two horns lay on the ground.
"You... if only you weren't a part of me!"
Petra tossed the horns aside but they recalled to hands. With pure hatred, she threw the horns away again, and right back they came. With her family gone, she ventured back to the cold in hopes of escaping her horns.
She ran, her horns closely following behind her. Both are closely tied to her at all times. She never let up running. Her feet turned to bone, her organs gave out. No matter how much the cold pushed, she pushed further.
Years passed with a constant cycle of running and dying. When she reached the end of the cold she saw it. The golden horizon. A grand expanse with no blizzard. As her horns followed her she grabbed them. They were warm. A warmth she had only felt when her mother and father held them.
"Mom... Dad... It's you..."
She held them to her chest. Her tears were no longer freezing, and her body no longer shaking. As the warm glow wrapped itself around her, the golden horizon beckoned her further.
Jia Precinct - 20/02 9:58 am 51 EE
The golden horizon. It was so clear. It had been a while since she had felt such warmth.
"Mom... Dad... give me your warmth... one last time. So I can save my new family."
Petra's knives glowed a radiant orange, from the ground Century looked up to see a new star shooting down. An eruption of pure warmth. The heavens had headed Petra's call and with a rapid descent, knives in tow. Petra pointed her blades at the black dome.
"No way..."
Century looked stunned. With a fierce push, Petra's blades collided with the dome.
CRACK! The blades sunk into the dome. A crack spread across it as the earth around them shattered from the impact.
"Look upon the golden horizon hero! BASK IN IT'S GLOW!"
With one final thrust, the dome shattered as Petra hit the ground breaking apart the ground. Century was thrown into the air as she saw the other 3 SHS members inside Werren's dome.
Raphael the Diamond, Lycon the Beast, Petra the Sun, and Julie the Overseer. When Century locked eyes with Julie her body stiffened as her heart quickened.
"Julie..."
"Looks like little Miss Worthless is alive..."
Julie grinned smugly.
Century screamed across the battlefield.
"JULIE! Watch me kill A HERO!"
The SHS members all scoffed as Werren appeared from the dust.
"Hey. We're not done."
Julie stood up and took her hair out of a bun as it flowed down past her shoulders.
"Alright Squadron 48H, we've got 2 targets now. You 3 handle that defecting Spectator, I'll kill this hero."
The battle escalates! All bets are off the table as Century now faces off against 3 opponents and Julie reveals her true power to Werren.