We ducked down low and rolled across the cold stone floor as the frozen doppelganger plunged his sword into the wall behind us. The blade sunk a good four inches into the wall as we reached up and ripped one of the ornamental swords from the wall.
“Tch, how rude. Attacking a lady in the middle of a conversation.” The words that spilled forth from my mouth weren’t mine, and that thought made me nauseous. It felt like a million bugs were crawling under my skin.
‘Get out.’ The words were hissed with more vitriol than I intended, but I couldn’t seem to bring myself to care. This... I felt wrong. Hollow.
The fake pulled his sword from the wall with minimal effort and brought it forward, both hands firmly grasping the hilt as he squared his shoulders.
“And let you fight against this thing? Have you ever even held a sword.” Persephone tilted her head as she lifted the blade up to her cheek, crouching down slightly as she circled our opponent.
My head. She was tilting my head. She was using my body.
‘Get. Out.’ My vision was hazy. Legends above my heart was going a million and one miles a minute and I couldn’t fucking focus.
She sighed. “Look, I’m the better fighter between the two of us, and my win rate against my actual husband is... fairly positive. I doubt this fake will compare, so just let me lay it out real quick, then you can rest while I figure out how to-”
I felt the world fade out for a second. Darkness creeped into my vision as my field of view shrunk down to a tiny little stone passageway, black stones barring my way, and a large yellow and orange stone sun looming behind me. You can rest soon. Just a bit further, and you can rest for a long, long time.
I felt myself freeze, my body locking up as the memory tried to play out in front of me. I wouldn’t let it. ‘Get. Out!’
‘What- how?’ Her voice sounded quiet. It took a second to realize it, but it was mental, not vocal.
My arms were heavy. I tilted my head up, then froze.
I lifted my head. Not her.
The king lunged forward, sword raised overhead as he skated across the field at a speed that was hard to track.
I could feel her trying to push her way back in. ‘Girl, you need to cede to me. You’ll die-’
I darted to the left as the blade swung down, breaking whatever form Persephone had set us in and sprinted across the hall, back toward the stairs going down.
‘Left!’ she screamed.
I listened instinctively, shifting just as a sword once again cleaved through air that I had previously been occupying. I reached out with my mind, only to find a solid sheet of ice lining the outside of this thing’s brain.
“Damn it, of course it learns how to fucking barricade It’s stupid frozen brain.” I brought the sword in my hands up and was shoved across the room as the great sword in the fake’s hands clanged against the piece of scrap in mine. Vibrations worked their way up through my arms as my muscles spasmed in agony, and I dropped the sword before hopping backwards.
‘This isn’t a fight you can win, girl.’ Persephone’s voice sounded desperate as I felt claws scratching at the inside of my skull.
The frozen king stared listlessly at me as it swung his sword down, and calmly walked towards me as I fell to my knees, a single hand clutching my skull at the overwhelming headache. Legends above it felt like a thousand jackhammers going off at once.
A wave of cold washed over my skin, and I felt my body start to freeze up as I started losing control of my limbs. No. Not again.
A white hand extended up from my own arm and reached up to my face, calmly cupping my cheek. ‘I’ve given you no reason to trust me. I know, but if you don’t let me fight-’
“My body is MINE,” I snarled, headbutting the spectral appendage. “And I’ve said it at least three times now, so let me say it extra loud and extra proud. Get. The fuck. OUT!”
As the final word left my lips, a wave pushed out from me. A faint blue light outlined the edge of it as it moved across the chamber, shoving both king and queen alike away from me.
I slowly pushed myself up to my feet. The pain in my head was slowly starting to dissipate, and I felt like I could breathe for the first time since entering this chamber.
I needed to get back to my Pokémon. Yesterday.
Persephone floated limply across the way, her glow diminished slightly. Great.
“Oi, ice bitch?” I shouted out.
No response.
“You’re already dead. I don’t think you can die again, and a creature without a body losing consciousness doesn’t make any kind of sense. Quit playing dead and send me the hell back to where I came from before tall, dark, and frozen wakes up.” I tapped my foot impatiently, then froze as another sound met my ears besides my foot tapping.
That damn thing fell at least thirty feet, and probably hit half a dozen stairs on the way down, how the fuck is it moving around?
Probably the same way the giant dragon got back up after Crash cut it to pieces. Stupid fake ice golem things.
‘Ow...’
I whipped my head up to stare as the ghost slowly regained some of its luster, before wincing as a loud clanking met my ears and the top of the fake’s head crested the top of the stairs. Pieces of his armor were fusing back together, and cracks in its skin disappeared as he came into view.
Persephone looked down, grimaced, then floated back towards me. I backed away, only to trip and fall backwards, landing my happy ass onto the throne.
Persephone placed her hand against my skin, her hand wrapping around my arm as she leaned in, only to be repulsed by a force I couldn’t see. She stared after me for a long moment.
‘I... I can’t enter.’ Her voice shook as she looked up at me in wonder.
I glared at her and pulled my arm out of her grip. A grip that felt surprisingly solid, surprisingly. “Good! And stay out. Undo whatever mumbo jumbo you did to drag me to you and send me back to my friends.”
She winced. ‘I... can’t. I don’t know how. Not without being able to feel you. To know your mind.’
My glare worsened. “Can’t? Or won’t?”
‘Can’t!’ she screamed, her eyes slightly manic. ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no! This is not how I wanted company!’
I swallowed and looked past her as the monolith of a soldier fully crested past the top of the stairs, great sword still in hand. Now that I wasn’t losing my mind, the realization of just how screwed I was hit me like a freight train. “Alright, so... plan B then?”
She sighed as she floated up, towards some decorative blades mounted on the wall above me. Her hand phased through them, and the pout quickly shifted back to a glare. ‘Couldn’t just let me kick my fake husband’s ass, could you?’
My glare intensified.
Persephone sighed, shooting me a smug grin. ‘Fine, Plan B. Don’t die.’
About half a dozen different swear words popped into my head as she disappeared from the room completely. Because of course she did. Why the fuck wouldn’t she?
Fuck it. How hard can sword fighting be? Pointy bit goes into the bad guy, just don’t get stabbed.
I reached out and grabbed the blade I had dropped and shakily stood my ground to the left of the throne. Of all the ways I had envisioned myself dying when coming down into this damn cave, this sure as shit wasn’t one of them.
“Alright, you stupid, dollar store monarch. Come and get me.” I shouted, trying my best to not let my voice shake.
Did- Did the fake just crack a smile?
I didn’t get time to double check as he surged forward, blade held above his head. I shoved my own sword up and looked away, my eyes pressed together as I braced for the worst.
A loud clang sounded through the chamber, a sound seized my heart in a vice grip as I let out a loud, high-pitched screech that I will forever deny having the ability to make. Despite it all, though, no impact met my blade.
I tentatively opened my eyes, and a grin pulled at my lips.
A long, red blade was vibrating visibly as he slowly rose further up into the air, pushing back both ice king and weapon alike as the decals present on his sheathe scrunched up in focus.
‘So this is where you’ve been hiding.’ His voice was incredibly strained as he looked me up and down. ‘As good as you’d look on that chair, Lea. I think you should stick with the group from now on. Wouldn’t want you to get left out in the cold.’
I let my own blade clang to the ground and reached up to grab Lucas by the hilt and give him a bit more support. With the both of us working together, even with my feeble weeb muscles, we managed to push the frozen soldier back.
“You have no idea how happy I am to see you. How did you get here?” I asked, looking around. “And how can I understand you? Where’s Emilie?”
Lucas chortled. ‘Like hell if I know to the first two, and probably still in the throne room for the third.’ He glanced around the room before wincing. ‘Well, other throne room. Arceus above, this place is certainly weird, isn’t it.’
Lucas pulled himself up and blocked a thrust, his weight diverting it as I just barely managed to move to the left. He twirled inside the fake’s guard and brought his blade upward, only to meet air as the fake leapt back.
‘Last thing I remember, I was helping the rest of the squad fend off the army of frozen soldiers in the audience chamber. A weird glowing white cloud slammed into me, and suddenly, I’m here.’ Another clang sounded out as Lucas parried a sideways slash, before lifting his tassel up and catching a fist that was thrown my way, stopping it just inches away from my face. ‘Good thing, too. I shudder to think how well you’d be doing here with your noodle arms.’
I winced. “Oi, I lasted long enough for you to get here, didn’t I.” How much of that time was spent running didn’t need to be mentioned. And lord knows he didn’t need to know about his psycho wife at the moment.
‘How much of that was spent running?’ He asked.
I winced, both at the callout and another clang of metal meeting metal.
‘Asked and answered. Care to hop back, hon?’ Lucas asked.
I winced before hopping backwards, away from the fight. The next swing phased right through Lucas’s edge just as Lucas swung. Red steel cleaved right through the creature, and I let out a small cheer as the top half of the fake slowly fell to the floor.
The ghost blade turned around and bowed, a massive grin pulling at his scabbard as he slowly sheathed his blade. ‘Stop, stop, you’re making me blush.’ He chuckled before turning back towards the top half of our defeated foe. ‘So, who’s this handsome devil. He’s a bit more detailed than nameless tins of ice and iron we’ve been beating up.’
My eyebrows worked their way up my forehead at the odd statement. “Uh... You don’t recognize him?”
Lucas glanced down and shrugged. ‘I mean, he looks familiar, but I have no memory of him.’ The decals that resembled eyebrows furrowed down as he looked the fallen creature down. ‘Very familiar, honestly. He doesn’t play a prominent role in any of my memories, though.’
I facepalmed. “Lucas, you just saw him in the stained glass out front.”
He tilted diagonally, looking away as the eye in his hilt pulsed a vibrant red. ‘I, uh... Might have only had eyes for a single part of that canvas.’
I opened my mouth, closed it, then sighed and shook my head. “You know what, that’s fair. I guess it’s weird that in all your scattered memories, you never got a good look at yourself.”
Lucas leaned back, floated down, and gave the top half of the ice sculpture a once over. ‘Hmm... The beard is nice, though the hair could use some work. I suppose that just comes from it being frozen, though.’ He puffed up a bit and floated upwards. ‘Still, though. I’m built. Wonder if that helped woo my wife...’
I sighed at the banter, before feeling a chill run across my skin at a realization that came just a touch too late.
Where did the legs go?
A force shoved into the back of my ankles, and I fell backwards with another high-pitched shriek that I would, again, furiously deny making for the rest of my days.
‘Lea!’ Lucas turned and floated toward me, only to let out a rough groan as a hand shot up and grabbed him. A wave of frost pulsed across the surface of Lucas’s scabbard as the imposter used the ghost to pull himself up.
“Lucas,” I groaned as I pulled myself up, shambling away from the lower half as it haphazardly moved without much direction. I don’t know what was tripping me up more, the torso sticking out of the ground, or the legs walking around without a body. Considering the fact that the two were getting closer to each other, it probably wouldn’t be a distinction I would have to make for long.
‘Let go of me, you handsome brute. I-Damn it all, why can’t I phase through his damn grip,’ Lucas complained as he struggled.
I looked around for a moment before noticing a small mace hanging on the wall just above my head. As I grabbed it, my arm swung down to the ground with a resounding thud as the blunt instrument of death cracked the stone and ice floor. “Fucking hell, how did people use these things to fight.”
‘Upper body strength, regular physical activity, exposure to sunlight-’
“Do you fucking want saved, or not?” I screamed, wincing at the sight in front of me.
The fake pulled itself together and was eyeing me up and down like a new damned toy. Why the fuck was it still smiling?
“Don’t laugh at me. Stupid piece of...” I pulled up with both hands, barely managing to lift the stupid mace above my head. “Give me back my sword!”
I charged, doing my best to stop gravity until I was right on top of him. Just slam it home, and-
He grabbed the handle mid swing and effortlessly stopped the weapon from making contact. I fell forward slightly as one of my hands slipped off, then fell backwards as the fake ripped it out of my hands.
“I’m getting really tired of ending up on my ass...” I looked up and winced as the fake casually tossed the mace aside. “Okay, look. I think we got off on the wrong foot, can we start over? I’m Lea, and I’d really love it if we could... maybe not kill each other? At the very least, you not killing me would be fantastic.”
The fake took a step forward. Lucas still vainly struggled to escape its grip.
“Pretty please?” I begged as I scrambled back.
It stopped.
Oh, thank whatever legends are listening, it stopped.
“Okay,” I whispered. “Uh, I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think I’d get this far, now I don’t know what to say.”
‘Lea...’ Lucas groaned, his tone just... sounding so incredibly done.
The creature let go of my spectral companion before glancing down at his own weapon. The creature started to shake as Lucas floated away, a lustrous aura shining off his skin as he seemed to fight against himself.
‘Lea, I usually pride myself on being fairly sharp, but I’m a bit lost,’ Lucas muttered as he turned and glared at the odd scene.
I turned and shook my head. “I’m-”
A wailing screech drew my hands to my ears as Persephone was cast out, her form rocketing across the chamber as the frozen soldier scrambled down to his blade.
‘Well, that didn’t work as well as I wanted it to. Following the pattern, I’ll bet I won’t be able to do that again, either. These things are certainly adaptable.’ Persephone rubbed her head as she floated back down towards me.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
As if responding to her complaints, the armor our opponent was wearing started to shine. It thrust its sword into the ground and used it to push himself up as a yellow dot briefly formed on its forehead, before fading as the ice warped and cracked. It hunched down as it started to change.
Persephone sighed. ‘Well, I suppose I should take pride that it deemed me enough of a threat to physically change its form.’ She tossed a glance my way. ‘Good job, you didn’t die. Your psychic is very efficient. Only Pokémon I could snatch away was my husband. That stupid little gremlin kept teleporting the other members of your caravan before I could drag them out.’
I bit back an angry barb and nodded at the body snatcher. “Thanks for the save. It does not make us even.”
Persephone sighed. ‘Of course it doesn’t.’
‘Persephone...?’ Lucas spoke the word with the same love and care I would show a fireplace in a log cabin.
I was so sick and tired of being cold.
Persephone stared down at her husband, her face torn between joy and shock. ‘You... you can see me?’
Lucas nodded, a bright light shining from the eye on his hilt. ‘Hear as well, it would seem. I... I don’t know if I should be happy or devastated. I had resigned myself to never seeing you again, but... when I remembered what happened all those years ago,’ Lucas stopped and looked away. ‘I had allowed myself to hope that you were still alive, as ludicrous as that sounds. This... I didn’t want this fate for you.’
Persephone smiled down at her husband, before wincing as the sound of ice slamming against stone met her ears.
We all turned and faced the newly adorned soldier, and I went from feeling like a third wheel to a dead woman walking. It was bigger, spikes jutted out from its shoulders, and a new helmet formed around its head as it lifted its sword from the ground and let out otherworldly screech from... somewhere. Wasn’t the damn mouth, that thing still hadn’t changed from the slightly pleased grin it had made earlier.
‘As much as I’d love to catch up, we have more pressing matters.’ She turned and grinned. ‘Just know that I’m happy beyond reason that you’re here with me now, regardless of the form.’
“Yeah, that sounds good. Reunion later, Aerial Ace now!” I ordered.
Lucas disappeared in a buzz of sound and air before slamming, tip first, into the fake’s chest plate. Cracks spiderwebbed out as the armor caved in slightly, and our frozen foe slid back several meters from the impact, before bringing himself to a stop a few inches away from the stairs. It whipped its head up and growled before charging forward, the wound on its chest slowly fusing back together into its normal armor.
“Okay, that’s just Tauros Shit. Shadow Sneak!” I shouted before darting behind the throne.
Lucas dove down, and the fake pushed past making a beeline for me. An etheral black blade shoved its way out of our opponent’s shadow as he moved, only to bounce harmlessly off his armor.
‘Lea, I’m starting to think this thing is built different from the mooks we fought on the way in,’ Lucas said as he disappeared again, slamming into the creature’s back with another Aerial Ace and sending it forward slightly. ‘Okay, that actively did less than the attack I launched a few seconds ago. What the fuck?’
‘That’s its trick. It adapts to what’s hurt it before. This thing isn’t just a nameless soldier. Its ice given life. An avatar of our lord, meant to command the foot soldiers in our lord’s realm.’ Persephone floated closer to the fake and wrapped herself around it, her body contorting and losing form. ‘But adaptation presents opportunities. Downside of blocking possession and ghostly attacks. I can touch you now. Leave my husband and his human alone, you stupid, hunk of slush.’
Said hunk of slush reached up with his free hand and started pulling at the whisps holding its throat. Persephone let out a cry but didn’t let up. Her grip only tightened, something that felt slightly mind numbing. This thing stopped a Mace with one hand, I knew it wasn’t weak.
How the hell was a ghost this strong? Sol’s dad could barely interact with the world around him, for fucks sake. “The difference a thousand years makes, I guess,” I muttered to myself.
Lucas slammed Aerial Ace after Aerial Ace into the soldier, battering him around like a ragdoll as he struggled to stay upright. ‘Unhand my wife, you cheap imitation.’
Nothing felt like it was breaking through, though.
“I don’t suppose you have another premium quality Cut like you started us off with, do you?” I shouted.
Lucas grunted before disappearing again. ‘Do you think I’ve been hitting this thing with a blunt edge? I’ve put everything into every swing. This thing is hardier than it was before.’
‘We need... to hit it-’ Persephone cut herself off as the creature swung around and pulled his other arm free, his sword once again clanging to the ground as he did so. ‘-With something stronger. Take it down... in a single-’
With a roar, the creature reached up with both hands, grabbed Persephone, and pulled down. A shockwave pushed out as she was flung forward, catching both sword and ghost alike and throwing them several meters forward. Lucas clanged once before being driven into the ground by the force, and Persephone rolled and landed in a heap to the right of her husband.
The fake reached down and charged, picking its sword back up as it rushed across the chamber, his sword primed to be driven through the ghost.
It was probably instinctive. Persephone knew how to fight with a sword. I knew that from when she took control of me. It’d make sense that she’d reach for something to defend herself with in a fight like this. Part of me wondered though if a deeper instinct played out here, shared between the two as her Majesty pushed herself up from the ground, reached her hand up, and grabbed Lucas by the hilt.
A brilliant white light shined through the entire chamber, reflecting off ice and almost blinding me as the two individuals joined together. Persephone was pulled into the eye on Lucas’s hilt, her body shifting to a fine mist before disappearing completely as a second blade started to materialize in the shadow of the first.
A clang sounded through the chamber as the two blades broke apart from each other, before crossing together in the air underneath the fake’s great sword. The three blades locked together, until finally.
Crack.
Lucas cleaved through the sword, splitting it in two and rushing forward. I blinked, and in that tiny moment in time, the two blades were on the other side, and two long gashes marred the fake’s chest in a cross pattern.
I fist pumped the sky as it fell backwards, and the realization of what had just happened set in. “Holy- Lucas, you look incredible.”
The sword on the left perked up slightly as it turned its sheathe to face me, a smile etched into its decorations. ‘Really? I don’t think I look too different if I’m being honest.’ He turned to glance at his new partner. ‘My wife, on the other-’
The sword froze, and all at once, I was slammed with several second-hand conflicting emotions. Outrage warred with concern. Shame and fear clashed with worry. Disappointment. Horror. Guilt, oh god the guilt. I could barely move, and these emotions weren’t even mine.
Lucas looked pissed, and the other sword was doing its absolute best to look as small as possible.
It was odd. It felt like I was pulling emotions from a single individual, but it was abundantly obvious that these were still two different people. I had wondered what a Doublade would be like, but I hadn’t imagined two separate souls inhabiting the same Pokémon.
“Are you two alright?” I asked as I took a step forward.
Both blades moved toward me instantly as the creature mirrored my movement, his sword reforming as he moved. Doublade crossed both swords threateningly in front of me, ready to intercept.
The second sword didn’t respond and made it a point to look anywhere but at me.
‘We’re not fine, but we’re alright,’ Lucas ground out, pointedly glaring at his other half before averting his gaze to their opponent. ‘Do you have any idea-’
‘I do now,’ she whispered, cutting her husband off.
She was in the other blade, then. Legends above, that made things so very, very complicated.
Lucas swayed from side to side, mimicking a shaking head. ‘And you didn’t think you were stepping over the line when you decided to take her for a spin?’
Persephone winced before glaring back. ‘What, would you prefer letting her get stabbed?’
‘I would have preferred you leaving her mind when asked, and I would have very much preferred you never threatening her in the first place.’ Lucas lifted himself up slightly as the two of them moved to intercept a diagonal slice. ‘How did you not pick up that something was wrong with how she was acting?’
‘Yes, I now realize I fucked up,’ Persephone said, voice defensive.
My eyes widened at the language. “Weren’t you complaining about my language not but half an hour-”
‘Not now!’ The two voices hit me as one as two of them shoved the fake back.
Persephone gave me an sad look before wincing and looking away. ‘I just... needed to be sure of her character, alright?’
‘And you couldn’t trust my opinion?’ Lucas asked, sounding hurt as he lifted his blade up and swung down at our opponent’s head.
Two swords clanged together, and the fake slid back a solid foot from the impact.
‘You barely had any memory of who you were, you’re the third group in as many weeks trying to get into the chamber, and the first thing you lot do after busting in is work out where the royal vault is.’ Persephone disappeared in a haze, before slamming into the fake’s chest, doubling down on the damage it had taken from their previous assault. ‘Excuse me for thinking she was a grifter taking advantage of grandpa’s bad memory to get at your retirement fund.’
Huh. I guess I won’t have to teach Persephone how to use Aerial Ace. Good to know they both know the same moves.
Lucas dropped down slightly as the knight slid back several more feet. ‘I’m sorry, I’m what?’
Persephone turned around before slamming her pommel into the flailing knight’s chest, shattering his breastplate and sending him to the ground. ‘Arceus above, her mouth is infectious. Why the hell are you blasting me with her memories?’
‘I-’
“Actually, yeah. That’s an incredibly good question!” I shouted, quickly moving toward the bickering couple and glaring at Lucas. “Some things should very much remain private!”
Lucas blanched slightly before wisely backing away. ‘I’m not blasting anyone with anything, alright? It’s an aftereffect of our “Evolution”.’ Lucas shivered. ‘I guess a small upside is her memories are making mine a hell of a lot clearer.’
I glanced nervously at Persephone, whose eye was several shades paler as she met my gaze. I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut as she rapidly turned toward the ground.
‘Words cannot begin to describe how overwhelmingly sorry I am.’ The words came so fast that I could barely understand them, and her hilt and pommel were almost touching the ground in what I assumed was the world’s deepest bow.
“I... uh.” I shuffled in place uncomfortably, not really knowing what to say.
‘I misjudged the situation, and although I was acting in my husband’s interests, it does not excuse my abhorrent behavior.’ She still hadn’t moved from her spot.
I stared toward Lucas pleadingly, who just shook his head as he held back giggles.
Persephone rose up from her spot and frowned at me. ‘I’m making you uncomfortable.’
What makes you say that? “No, it’s fine. I-”
‘It isn’t fine.’ Persephone cut me off.
I sighed before rubbing the bridge of my nose. “Okay, you’re right. It’s not, but it doesn’t need all this.” I waved my finger in front of me. “You stepped past lord knows how many boundaries, and then tried to run me around like your own personal meat suit. I don’t care how cool your fancy ghost powers and fighting skills are. This,” I held up one of my noodle arms and let it swing for a moment before pointing to the still downed frozen soldier. “Wasn’t beating that.”
Lucas floated back and rammed his blade into the opening Persephone had made as the fake slowly started to push himself back up from the ground. ‘Shut up, the adults are talking.’
Persephone winced. ‘After fighting it, I can agree. Watching you lumber that Mace around was... quite the revelation.’
I pouted slightly before pressing on. “Despite that, I’m willing to concede that... us coming here how we did and when we did does look a little bad, and if it wasn’t for you, I would be in several pieces on the floor, as opposed to one moderately whole piece.” I bowed lightly. “For that, I thank you. It’s not forgiveness, but... I’d like to start over if that’s alright?”
Persephone tilted her scabbard slightly. ‘I... don’t know that I deserve that.’
I glanced back towards the fake as it wrapped its hands around Lucas’s blade. My spectral companion was slowly lifted into the air as the creature managed to free itself.
I crouched down and prepared to jump backwards as Lucas sliced through the creature’s fingers and flew back towards us. “A big step forward would be helping us put this stupid piece of shit down for good. If you’ve got any ideas, I’d love to hear them.”
Persephone nodded once before offering me her hilt. ‘In that case... and forgive me for bringing this up... I think our best course of action is the attack you and my husband used when you were being controlled.’
I recoiled hard, before frowning. “I-Lucas has no idea how he did that, and I barely remember anything of what happened.”
The fake lunged forward slightly as the hole in his chest slowly started to close.
Lucas floated closer and offered me his hilt as well. ‘My wife has an idea of how we did it... and it very much is a ‘we’ in this case.’ Lucas stared meaningfully at me. ‘With your permission, and only with your permission... can I take the wheel for a bit?’
I froze, before glancing nervously at the fake as he slowly recovered.
‘I will whack away at this thing until it’s shaved ice, captain,’ Lucas smiled at the familiar term of address. ‘But it’ll be a fair sight harder than this.’
“Please don’t join in on Apollo’s insanity,” I begged. “What do I need to do?”
Lucas smiled at me. ‘Just... grab a hold of us and relax body. I’ll take it from there.’
I nodded once and grabbed both swords.
Without preamble, we leapt backwards toward the thrones, and a dull thrum pulsed between my ears. “Alright, so admittedly, I’ve never duel wielded before, but to be fair, I’ve also never tried to use psychic powers either, so... Here's to winging it.”
I frowned as my brain started to move faster than I could process. I forced myself to focus inward, doing my best to shut out the world for greener pastures. I would just get in the way, or worse. Last thing we needed was me throwing my own Pokemon out of my head on instinct and getting us killed.
Still though, Lucas mentioning my abilities kind of threw me. How the hell was I supposed to help him fire off giant ghost beams?
‘It was the only thing that made sense to me,’ Persephone said.
I tensed slightly. “You-”
‘I’m not touching anything, I’m not looking at anything, and if it was up to me, I wouldn’t be here at all,’ Persephone said.
The world around me faded completely as I brought my mental village into focus. No sooner than I arrived did I see Persephone, her form still a regal example of queenly splendor.
‘It’s... odd being myself again,’ she said, her eyes glued to the grassy soil beneath her feet.
I nodded tersely, my mind rebelling at the thought of her being here. Dark clouds flitted across the sky, and a light rain started to fall.
Persephone looked up. “Interesting. An odd mental response to an intruder. Am I so distressing?” Her tone sounded sad.
“You mean you don’t just know?” I scrunched my nose at the thought. Fuck me, why did they both have to get a peak at my life.
Persephone shook her head. “I’m doing my best to ignore them. It’s not... I’ve intruded enough.”
I sighed. “Is the rain going to be an issue?”
“It’s the first thing I’ve really truly felt in a long time. It’s not a harsh rain. The pitter patter is soothing honestly.” She tilted her head. “Is that its purpose?”
“Something like that.” This was a pointless conversation. “Lucas said you had an idea of what we did in the cave. Care to share?”
Persephone opened her mouth before closing it and biting her lower lip. “It was a combination of Lucas’s natural spectral energy and your psychic abilities, probably with a bit of confusion from Sol-” She stopped herself, wincing slightly before continuing. “From them. Not much though. They were trying to conserve as much of their own strength as possible to deal with the army that came after you. At least, that’s how it felt.”
I tilted my head. “How on earth are you-”
“I loved to read.” A blush dusted her cheeks. “It was my favorite thing to do in the castle, and the castle library had... so many books.” Her eyes widened in wonder. “So many wonderful books. Do you have any idea how agonizing it was not being able to touch them as a ghost?”
I winced, remembering the various times I actually managed to step in it bad enough that Eve would bar me from my room other than to sleep. “I have an idea, but I don’t think I could imagine dealing with it for close to a thousand years.”
“I was being honest before,” Persephone mumbled. “It really didn’t feel that long.”
I nodded once. “I believe you.” I looked up to the sky and saw reflections of steel clashing against Ice. Another flash showed blades moving at impossible speeds, and Lucas moving around with a grace that I lacked in all aspects of my life. A second sword floated around him and lashed out when openings were made. “How are you in here and out there?”
She smiled. “I spent awhile with nothing but myself for company. I... became rather good at splitting my focus and thoughts. Made things feel a bit less lonely.” The smile turned wistful.
I didn’t know how to respond to that.
“Though I’m honestly a bit curious why you’re down here, and not out there.” She turned down to focus directly on me.
“What help would a weak little human like me be?” I asked, fidgeting slightly as I averted my gaze.
She took a few steps closer. “My husband doesn’t know the first thing about your abilities, other than what they can do. You’re hardly a normal human, I’ve been on the receiving end of your power a few times tonight.” She grinned as she cupped my cheek. “You’re strong, why do you cower?”
“I’m not-”
“You’re hiding,” she pressed on. “Why?”
I flinched before looking away. “I...” The words felt like ash in my mouth as a horrid feeling settled into my stomach. “Is it wrong that I like feeling in control of myself.”
Persephone’s smile turned sad. “No. But my husband is a far kinder soul than I.” Her head tilted down slightly, before correcting itself as she moved her hand down to my shoulder. “Shame is not a flattering look on you, my dear.”
“You wear it better,” I snapped back, regretting the barb as soon as it left my lips. “I’m sorry, I-”
“I would like to say that we have things handled, but I don’t know that this is a fight that any of us win alone.” Her tone was a bit more clipped, but she didn’t back away and instead clicked her tongue. “I know better than to rise to a barb tossed out by a frightened child, have a bit more faith in me.”
“Child-” I cut myself off and winced, then tore my eyes away from hers. That was a fairly accurate descriptor, wasn’t it.
Resolve yourself to push past the fear... and it’ll be your greatest ally. I hadn’t really done that though, had I? I was... I was still hiding.
I sighed before looking back up. “Fair warning, I still don’t really know what I’m doing.”
“I think, between the three of us, we can recreate it.” She giggled. “Hell, you can name it if you want, I’m sure there’s some random anime out there that you’re dying to copy here.”
“I don’t appreciate being called out like this,” I deadpanned, before mentally crossing Getsuga Tenshou off the list.
...I was talking to a sword spirit inside my mindscape. What was my life?
“Fine then, don’t complain when I pick something dorky.” I took a deep breath to steady myself, before closing my eyes.
I could feel the world around me shift and thrum as I stepped back into my own body. My heart pounded, my muscles were burning, and I could faintly feel a faint stinging sensation right over my nose as my body glided across the room, away from the monster at a bounding rate.
This felt nothing like earlier. Where the possession felt cold and cloying, this felt warm. A calm aura washed across my skin and power radiated from my fingertips. Union and strength instead of scattered panic and fear.
No words passed between the three of us as instincts started to run, and I lifted my arm up to grab Persephone’s sword.
It would seem cruel to deny her the chance to kick her fake husband’s ass after all this.
Both blades glowed an angry red before shifting to a familiar purple as I reached out to contain that growing energy. It was familiar, like clenching a fist.
We smiled vibrantly as the cracked and bowed visage of Lucas’s past life gave chase to our retreating form.
In a single arcing move, Lucas brought the blades up, I released the energy, and Persephone spun.
A wailing wind erupted from our blades, before enveloping the frozen form of our opponent in a swirling vortex of purple light. It trapped him in place, consuming him whole before grinding down into its armor. White dust was cast out into the chamber as the massive soldier slowly started to dissolve in the grinding energies.
The last thing I saw of it as what remained fell into the rising tide was a carefree, peaceful smile adorning its lips.
I blinked back in shock and watched as the purple winds faded into the Aether, carrying a shining dust across the room and carrying away the last of my worries and fears.
‘Bushogoma,’ Lucas muttered, his voice proud. ‘I don’t care what my wife says, either. That’s what just popped into your head, so that’s what we’re going to use, and she can’t call you a weeb if I’m the one that named it.’
I shut out the giggling voice of Persephone and just basked in the afterglow of a hard-fought victory.