Leon’s footsteps hammered into his ears. He allowed himself to drown in the sound, embraced it as he pushed all thoughts from his head. Ren looked at him and shouted something, but the words never met his ears. Memories of tragedy long past swept over him, causing the scars on his heart to ache once again. Everything shifted around him. The main hall of the Rikard’s mansion swept over the forest, replacing snow covered trees with walls of ornate stonework and a ceiling of gold and red.
Red as dark as the blood pooled at his feet.
Aria’s image twisted, bending into the form of Astraeus, hung by blackened threads that spooled from the shadow behind him. His brother’s face twitched, a small nod that told Leon what needed to be done. He pulled his sword back, readying a thrust as he marched towards Astraeus. A muffled noise rang at the edge of his senses, but he ignored it and continued his duty.
To do what he must.
His head snapped to the side as a projectile struck the side of his helmet, a bolt of blue Aether that burst upon impact. The mansion around him shattered as he stumbled back, and all of his senses returned in a tide as the biting chill of the forest’s air dug the pins of fatigue and wear deeper into his legs. His body yearned to fall, but the echoes of that day spurred him to stay on his feet. The Black Cloak widened his stance and caught himself, turning back to Aria.
Elly stood in front of the girl, sliding her fingers along the cut on her forehead as they glowed with blue Aether. Her one open eye still focused on Leon, she wiped the blood covered side of her face with a torn part of her robes, opening her shut eye as blood flowed from her wound no longer. The Weaver did not look upon Leon with disdain, but her golden eyes were alight with a determination that matched the one driving his body past its limits.
“Stand aside,” he said.
Elly spread her hands apart and shifted her feet into a stance. Rings of Aether appeared around her wrist and ankle, glowing with a pale light.
“I will not,” she said, “you may shatter my bones and flay my flesh, but you will not go near her.”
Leon clenched his jaw, “You invite tragedy.”
“I welcome hope.”
“You cling to it,” he spat.
Elly’s gaze remained unchanged, “Perhaps so, but I promise you that you will not break my grasp from it,” her eyes glanced to the side, “Nor will you break theirs.”
The Black Cloak turned, seeing Helbram approach. The warrior’s sword hung from his hand as he was held up by Leaf, who himself dragged his feet as they pushed forward, clutching a bow and a few arrows in his free hand. Jahora was at their side, her skin pale and eyes sunken as nothing but will drove her every step. The Mage’s gaze turned to Aria and, after sharing a nod with Helbram, she ran to the girl, three rings of Aether flickering around her head.
“What do you need me to do?” she asked as she approached Ren.
The Cleric, golden energy still flowing from his hands, looked at Jahora, “Aether, as much as you can gather.”
The Mage closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. As she did, the Circles around her head stabilized into a soft pale glow. Blue Aether gathered around her as she held her hand out towards the seal at Aria’s back, its color shifting to gold as it mixed with Ren’s own power.
A fool's errand.
Leon moved to end the futile gesture, but stopped as Helbram and Leaf joined Elly at her side. The archer stepped towards their back line as he let Helbram stand on his own, wincing and clutching his side with every step.
“I have no doubt that you think us desperate,” Helbram said, his voice steady, “but Aria has a dream, a desire that rings clear from her heart even now,” he readied his sword, “and we will make it come true.”
Leon stared at the warrior. The man’s armor was broken, the plates of his brigandine bent or twisted through torn cloth, his metallic shoulder guard dented and warped around him while the one of leather was broken and torn in several places. His helmet was marred by countless scrapes and scratches. A clear tremor shook Helbram’s body, one accompanied by the sickly sound of shifting bone as they stitched themselves back together underneath his flesh, an effect from a draught that should have rendered the warrior unconscious. All of him quaked, trembled as if he would fall apart at any second. All except his eyes.
And the arm that held his sword.
Leon felt his chest fall. There was no talking to them. No matter what they would stand in his way.
He would have to go through them.
The Black Cloak stomped his foot, embracing the pain that surged from his heel as it struck the ground. A rush overtook him, one that he directed into his already strained Core to force what remained of its Ether to the surface. Fangs formed around him, three in number that hung in the air before shooting forward, towards Helbram. Leon followed after them, his sword alight with a soft golden glow. The Fangs would strike the warrior where they would only disable, not kill, and the aura around Leon’s blade was meant to knock his wounded opponent out of the way. It was the same move that had defeated Helbram when he was in much better condition, and the warrior was now without his shield. While Elly was a new factor, the Ether rushing through Leon granted him a speed to land at least one blow against the wounded swordsman. It would be quick.
Rather, it was supposed to be.
Helbram flicked his blade, deflecting the first Fang, then the second.
Finally, the third.
His sword moved with a practiced precision, an efficiency that circumvented the need for speed behind his movements. As Leon closed the gap between them, Helbram had already brought his sword down, catching Leon’s blade before the Black Cloak could bring it to the apex of his swing. As their weapons caught, the warrior slid back, but he maintained his footing enough to stop Leon’s movements for a brief moment. Helbram’s eyes met Leon’s through their visors, reading the Black Cloak with a focus that blared through the darkness of his helmet.
Elly struck right after.
The Weaver’s hand was alight with a green glow as she slammed it into the side of Leon’s helmet. Air burst from her palm right after, releasing a concussive wave that rattled the Black Cloak’s vision and knocked him to the side. Though he stumbled, he found his feet under him before balance left him entirely. He could not fall, if he did, it would be the end.
Leaf’s arrow followed next.
The archer had aimed for Leon’s shoulder, the projectile alight with a weak red glow as it struck. It did not bite through, but struck with enough force to throw it back and knock him off balance once again. Elly followed the shot, her hand now wreathed in a pale blue aura as she closed in. Leon swung his blade at her, still wreathed in that same golden light meant to knock his opponents aside. The Weaver did not raise her guard as it struck, and Leon could only watch as the blade cleaved through her, only to leave no damage at all. Elly collided with him, but instead of feeling any force behind her, Leon could only feel a chill as she passed through him.
An illusion.
The real Elly attacked from the side, skipping to his exposed guard with a deft, almost traceless steps. Her foot was alight with yellow Aether as she stomped the ground next to him, summoning a swell of stone and dirt that swallowed his foot. She followed the restraint with another strike of her palm, alight with the same pale blue that her illusion held. The blow landed at his flank, triggering a surge of frost and ice that froze his arm in place. Leon forced Ether into the shackled arm, aiming to break the restraints with a surge of strength, but before he could do so Helbram appeared at his other side. The warrior’s sword was flipped, his hands wrapped around its blade as he swung.
Driving the handle into the side of Leon’s helmet.
Darkness swallowed Leon’s vision as the blow landed, encroaching upon it to the point where only a pin point of sight remained. That too appeared to be fading, flickering as his consciousness struggled to maintain itself. It would have been easy to let go, to slip into the comfort of his defeat.
But he couldn’t.
The blood at his feet didn’t let him.
The cries of his own voice that day boiled his very soul.
And the tears of his brother spurred him on.
Power coursed through Leon, a strength that tore at the void over his sight, flaring his eyes with a golden light as desperation fueled a surge of power. He flexed his sword arm, shattering the ice that restrained it, and swung wildly in front of him, repelling both Helbram and Elly as they stepped back. The warrior changed the grip of his sword as he retreated, grasping the blade with one hand and the handle with the other. He and the Weaver shared a nod before charging back into the fray, Helbram taking the van.
Leon ripped his foot from the stone that encased it, the strength flowing through him already waning as the embers of his Ether flared. He met Helbram’s charge with a rush of his own, blade carried by instinct and muscle memory. The Black Cloak swung towards the warrior’s head, clashing against Helbram’s blade as he raised his guard. Before Leon could get any leverage, however, Helbram angled his sword and hooked his crossguard around Leon’s blade, ripping his guard to the side. Elly slipped into the provided opening, striking the Black Cloak at his side with another spell of frost. The ice washed over him, but with a yell Leon forced his Ether outwards, blasting the area around him with a wave of force. As the ice around him shattered, both Helbram and Elly were knocked back, the warrior maintaining his position between Leon and Aria. Another arrow was loosed from Leaf then, striking and biting into Leon’s flank. The Black Cloak snarled in pain, feeling his knees tremble from the pain, but he dared not fall upon them.
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He had to keep moving.
He had to be faster.
Leon broke into a sprint, charging at Helbram as the warrior readied himself once again. The two swordsmen clashed with Leon wholly on the offensive while Helbram focused only on defense. Even as he was lost in the rush of battle the Black Cloak could feel shock at the edges of his mind as Helbram deflected all of his blows. Even if Leon was not in peak condition, the warrior was far slower than him, far weaker than him, yet every move, every swing was met with interruption before it could be completed. Speed and power had met their match in technique as Helbram moved with a precision that was impossible unless the warrior could read Leon’s mind.
Or had fought him countless times before.
The Black Cloak moved to summon a Fang in his free hand, but his Ether did not respond. The last of it had fueled his desperate charge, and even that was fading now. Elly and Leaf soon joined Helbram, interspersing spell and arrow as Helbram created openings in Leon’s defenses. The Black Cloak’s armor absorbed the worst of the archer’s arrows and his Ether had kept the Weaver’s spells from overtaking him once again, but he was unable to gain ground as his opponents kept him at bay. The rush of combat started to fade, and he could feel the chill seeping into his flesh.
A chill that was growing colder by the second.
Amidst sword, spell, and arrow, Leon looked towards Aria, towards the web of fractures across the seal at her back, splitting more and more even as Ren and Jahora poured Aether into it. Both the Cleric’s and Mage’s power were flickering, fading fast as the woman of ice pried her fingers deeper into the seal, ready to tear it asunder.
A voice entered his mind then, one that at first carried with it the tone of a little girl, but it twists, distorts as the memory of his brother surged to the forefront of his mind.
“End this,” Astraeus said, his tone pleading as it crashed through Leon’s consciousness.
“END THIS!”
A roar ripped through the trees, carrying with it the sound of Leon’s voice as the Black Cloak’s aura of gold was tainted by wisps of black. His thoughts were lost as the power carried him, spurring him forward. Helbram moved to intercept, catching Leon’s blade.
His courage failed him.
The Black Cloak’s blade swelled with gold and black, bursting with a force that knocked Helbram from his feet and back towards Aria. Elly moved to strike after, but as she closed in Leon clenched his free hand and swung it towards her. The Weaver dodged his fist but was struck by the wave of power after, a tide that swept her off of her feet and into the trees. An arrow struck Leon’s helmet right after, grazing the bottom of his visor’s opening. The Ether that was infused into the projectile was miniscule, but had it been just an inch higher wouldn’t have mattered.
It was a shot meant to kill.
Leon looked to Leaf, who had dropped his bow in favor of his short sword. The archer’s hand still clutched his side, but he held out his blade regardless, eyes filled with a mix of determination and fear. Leon stared past him and towards Aria.
It all would end soon.
The Black Cloak slammed his heel into the ground, his vision turning red as he closed the gap between him and Leaf in half a breath. Before the archer could swing his blade Leon drove the back of his fist into Leaf’s shoulder and batted him aside, clearing the path to Aria. Both Ren and Jahora raised their hands as he approached, summoning bolts of Aether that crashed against his aura harmlessly. The Black Cloak pulled his sword back, readying the blow that would end it all.
He took a step, barely registering the movement that blurred in front of him as he drove his sword forward.
He felt his blade sink into flesh, dig deep and through the victim it bit into.
The aura of black and gold faded from him as the blow struck, the bloodlust it carried fading. His senses returned slowly, but as his vision cleared what he had done sent a tremble through all of his being and his heart fell from his chest.
Helbram stood in front of him, The Black Cloak’s blade driven into his gut. The warrior’s sword clattered to the ground, and, after what felt like an eternity, he fell to his knees. Leon could only stare, his vision drifting to the shock upon Ren’s face, the despair that wracked Jahora’s features.
Finally, his eyes fall upon Aria. The girl’s expression is no longer still, now warped and twisted in horror as she looked upon the blade that pierced through Helbram.
No one was able to react as the seal behind her shattered, as the woman of ice reached out and covered the girl’s eyes with her hands.
Leon was knocked from his feet as ice and frost exploded from Aria, and as its chill wrapped over him, consciousness was forced from him.
All was lost.
____
Frost crawled over Aria’s skin as she fell endlessly, a shell of ice forming around her as she felt herself fading away.
Away from the fear that trembled her very bones.
Away from the pain that clenched at her heart.
Away from the horror that was before her eyes.
Her senses faded, yet all she saw was Helbram on his knees, blood pouring from the blade that pierced through his body. An image that started to fade, to her relief, but soon replaced by one similar.
The falling sensation faded and she now found herself standing. It was at a height that she was not familiar with, and as she looked down her simple dress of white was replaced by armor of silver and white metal, colors that matched the armor of the knight standing in front of her.
The knight that was pierced by weapons too numerous to count.
He stayed standing for only a moment before collapsing to the ground. What lay beyond him was shrouded in white, a static of something that she could not recall. All she could see was the floor of white stone beneath her, the blood that pooled upon it, flowing from the knight that lay at her feet. The weapons that ran him through were tinged with a sickly dark energy, wisping away as the knight reached towards her. She could not see the face that lay behind his helmet’s visor, but the voice that trembled from it was filled with a regret that spurred the tears from her eyes.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” he said, “I won’t be able to keep my promise to you.”
She knelt down and took the knight’s hand. Words formed at her throat, but the sorrow that wracked her body froze them before she could let them part from her lips. She was unable to say anything as she felt life leave the knight’s body, and his hand fell to the ground with a deafening thud.
She could not remember the name of the man that lay in front of her, nor did the sorrow that coursed through her feel like it belonged to her, but it told her he was important.
Is important.
She clutched at her chest, a pain that wasn’t hers blending with the pain that was.
Helbram coursed through her mind. The way he stood around her, protective at all times. The way that he smiled at her, spurring on impossible dreams as if they were just a matter of time. His laugh, ringing with strength yet somehow with a gentleness that granted her a warmth that she’d never felt before.
Taken away from the blade that was driven through his stomach.
She looked down at her hands, ones that were not hers yet were hers at the same time, and she started to feel sleepy. She was tired of it all, and just wanted it to go away. The Cold wrapped around her, its touch gentle as darkness draped itself across her vision. It could have her, if it wanted.
If it could take the pain she felt away, then she would embrace it.
The image around her faded, and ice burst beneath her feet. Countless fractals spread, clustered, and sheened before her, melding together into the shape of a large, grand room made entirely of ice. Its ceilings felt as tall as the skies themselves, the pillars throughout the room reaching endlessly towards the top. Aria turned towards the far end of the room, seeing a large throne of frost.
And the woman of ice that sat upon it.
She wore a dress that moved with the fluidity of water, matching her long hair as she moved, and a crown of frost sat atop her head. The woman rose from her throne and walked towards Aria, her posture upright and dignified. Yet, when she drew close, the woman knelt down, holding out a hand towards the girl. Though the woman’s eyes possessed no irises to see, the smile upon her face was gentle, comforting. Aria looked towards the hand, and instinctively she knew that if she took it, everything would go away.
The pain, the sorrow… everything.
The girl reached for the woman’s hand.
[Music suggestion: Hear Our Prayer by Yuki Kajiura]
A loud crash boomed through the hall, a deafening sound that cracked the ice around them. Both the girl and woman looked around, and then Aria heard a familiar voice.
“Aria, listen to me,” it said, the tone it carried was strong and gentle.
She felt a pair of hands around her shoulders, and for a moment the image of the room faded. Helbram was in front of her, his helmet removed as he looked at her with desperation. Her eyes drifted to the sword still in his stomach, and the room of ice started to take over once again. Helbram grabbed her chin and forced her eyes to match his. They blazed with an intensity that she’d never seen before, a determination that bled into her, and she felt a fire spark within her heart.
“What do you want?” he asked, keeping his eyes on hers.
Aria’s lips shivered, and she could produce no more than a tremble.
“I..I…”
“Do not whisper!”
His voice was thunder, cracking the icy room around her further as it boomed through its endless expanse.
“The nature of what you possess is not one that gives way to weakness. I see the strength in your eyes, smothered by fear and uncertainty, and I say to you that a whisper will not banish such poison from your thoughts!”
The grasp on Aria’s shoulders tightened. The fire inside of her started to grow hotter.
“So cry out! Let loose the strength that lies within! Roar, and let the world know your defiance!”
He brought his face close to hers.
“Tell me! What! Do! You! Want?!”
Out of the corner of her eye, Aria could see the lady of ice. Her hand remained outstretched, but even her eyes lay upon Helbram as he stared into Aria’s very soul. The pain she felt remained, now stronger than when it first started. Part of her wanted to grab it, to take the woman’s hand and let everything go. It would be so easy, so simple, but as she looked into Helbram’s eyes, felt his fire fuel her own, that desire burned away. In its place, came memories.
Memories of Jahora, who reached out to her with a warmth she’d felt nowhere else before, who hummed her to sleep with a melody that brought her peace.
Memories of Leaf, who guided her hand as she brushed Bessie, showing her the comfort of her hide, the joy of the smile hidden beneath his frown.
Memories of Elly, always always watching her, always studying, ready to aid in her own subtle way. The one who gave her a name, who saw nothing but promise in one such as her.
Memories of Helbram, of a man who held sorrow behind his eyes, yet smiled and spurred her on no matter what childish fancy she spoke of.
She remembered a calm night, the twin moons hanging above them, their glow a blanket as he spun a tale of sisters, a tale of tragedy that she sought to fix.
She remembered a promise made under moonlight, to pursue dreams yet to be fulfilled.
Aria embraced the flame in her chest, letting loose her voice as power welled in her heart. Words did not form as she screamed, but as the ice around her shattered, its message was clear.
I want to live!