“No… NO! It can’t be! Why is he here?!” Solomon rubs her eyes, squints, and does just about everything to make sure she isn’t just seeing things. The mix of surprise and anger from Genesis completely denies any possibility of that. Her terror quickly becomes a shared feeling of burning resentment towards the metal wolf. “No. I’m so close to being free, I won’t let you ruin it!”
She can see that he is talking on a radio, his booming voice reaches up to her, but she can’t make out everything he’s saying. She definitely hears him utter her name. Right as she decides to carefully climb down from the roof into the tower through the window, she spots a person floating slightly above the forest. “Andreas.” She doesn’t pay much mind at first, as she remembers that crows can’t see too well in the dark. For now, she is still hidden by darkness. He points something at one of the bastions, all she hears next is an ever so quiet groan from the bastion, followed by another one for each other bastion.
Around thirty agents line up at the front door, pistols in hand, some stay behind for backup or maybe to pick off stragglers. The door is opened at Ludwig’s command, the sound of gunshots breaking the comparative silence of the forest.
Panic fills Solomon’s heart. “I have to go. I can’t wait for Lumi. But Sheila… Maybe there’s still a chance for her.” She climbs through the window and hides under it where Andreas can’t possibly see her. Judging by the sounds throughout the castle, she has to fight now. She does one last desperate attempt to possibly help herself and writes a quick message to Lisa: “I need help. The enemy is here and they have Mystic Ones.” She knows for sure that they brought Andreas, but has no idea how many more they have at the scene. In an attempt to ease her mind, she quickly re-reads the last message she received from Lisa earlier: “We’re on our way, Rox!!”
She prays that they aren’t far from her now. She can’t imagine herself getting through all those armed agents all by herself.
She runs down the stairs, the sound of gunshots growing less frequent, but nonetheless present. After some wandering, at the bottom of a staircase, she sees five agents at the other side of what she presumes is the lounge. She is about to run back up the stairs when a gloved hand grabs her by the arm and pulls her aside. She sees the familiar outfit of Lumi slide a panel of ice closed. The bat holds a finger over where her mouth is.
Now invisible to the agents, Solomon looks around the lounge. The place would indeed be cosy if it wasn’t for the blood, empty bullet casings and dark ice crystals littering the room. From another entrance, she sees Rufina enter the room and hide behind one of the large ice crystals. If what Lumi told her is true, that should obscure her well enough.
Guns drawn, the agents walk through the room, staying close to each other. Rufina quickly stands up and reaches out with her hands, her markings glowing.
Solomon is certain the bat’s dead when the agents aim at her, but their guns don’t seem to work. She notices that it’s as if wind is blowing on them. Their guns have a reddish brown substance all over them now, she thinks that it resembles... “Rust!” Metal and wind… She figures that whatever gust of wind she’s blowing at them rusts metal. “I can see why Ludwig is so afraid of her. I hope she'll be safe.”
After corroding the agents’ guns, Rufina runs out of the room. To the surprise of everyone but Lumi, most likely, two groups of five cultists push down a pane of ice each on both sides of the lounge, sending the agents running. Lumi opens the “door” for the two of them and practically drags Solomon out.
“Coast is clear.” She announces, the fabric muffling her voice slightly. “Follow me. We’ll get your little friend out.” Solomon nods as she follows Lumi through the many pockets of invisible ice she set up beforehand. She can’t even begin to imagine how long it must have taken to do so. “They must be quite durable…” She notices that the walls are placed between lanterns where their light doesn't shine on them as much.
“Why…” Solomon cries, hearing the sound of agents and cultists alike. At least there are no more gunshots. “Why now? We were so close…” She wipes a tear from her eyes.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll get us out, a little earlier than I wanted to, but I will.” The bat reassures Solomon. She really doesn’t like that she can’t read her expression. It’s hard to tell whether or not she’s really certain of that or just saying that to make her feel better.
On their way to the dungeon, Lumi stops every now and then to create a dark ice crystal for additional cover. Solomon looks out for any agents every time they stop. “This is terrible… Why couldn’t you wait one more day? I’d be gone and you’d think I’m dead!” The fact that the castle happened to get besieged on this exact night bothers her to no end. ”So close, yet so far… But there’s still a chance. We can still escape.”
To Solomon, no sensation is quite like seeing half a dozen enemies run past her, unable to see her. She finds Lumi’s technique fascinating, she can’t imagine what might have happened if she didn’t choose to entertain her curiosity earlier. She notices that some of the ice walls need Lumi to make an opening, others have them built-in. A few more stops to let the enemy pass and to let Lumi create more rough cover, and the dungeon door is in sight. Genesis doesn’t seem to approve of her decision to help Sheila in this situation. What’s starting to get to her isn’t the cacophony of voices from both parties, but the lack of it in certain places of the castle. She hopes that the way outside won’t be lined with corpses, she’s seen more of them than anyone should see in their lifetime.
“Take this.” Says Lumi, producing a ring with many identical-looking keys on it. “You’ll need it. I’ll stay here and hold off anyone who would enter.”
Solomon dismisses her offer on the keys.
“No time for that, I have the master key.” She puts up a hand to display the marking on it and rushes inside. She doesn’t stop running until she reaches Sheila’s cell, immediately grasping the bars and powering up her magic. The bars start to dissolve with ease.
“Whoa there, what’s going on? What’s up with all the noise outside?” The lioness demands, looking terribly concerned.
“Your boss is here.” Says Solomon, making a hole large enough for Sheila to fit through. “And he brought friends. Lots of them.” Sheila quickly goes through the opening Solomon made, the two then head outside immediately.
“The hell is he looking for here?!” Sheila says through laboured breathing.
“Me.” Solomon states matter-of-factly. “He thinks I’m his prize possession. That’s not happening.”
The two exit the dungeon, Lumi peeks her head out from a rough dark ice crystal. Solomon hears rushing footsteps from the left. “Impeccable timing.” She dashes to the right, where Lumi is, expecting Sheila to follow. Instead, the lioness goes to the left.
“What are you doing?!” Solomon cries. The people on the left turn out to be agents as they turn the corner.
“Meet you outside!” Sheila exclaims as she runs towards the agents. Solomon really wants to shout at her to just come with them, but Lumi drags her away behind a proper dark ice wall. She feels like Genesis couldn’t be more disappointed with her. “Now’s REALLY not the time.”
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“That was so worth it.” Lumi remarks. Solomon just feels hopeful that she did the right thing by releasing her.
They push past cultists, who thankfully don’t attack them. Before them, one robed figure collapses, a bolt sticking out of his chest. Solomon takes a quick peek through a nearby window and sees Andreas, who is shooting through the windows with a crossbow. When not behind one of Lumi’s ice walls, they go under the windows to minimise the odds of getting shot.
“Where to now?” Solomon inquires as they stop behind an ice wall to catch their breaths.
“I made a little panic corner in each Study Room. We’ll be safe in any of them, then we’ll slip away once the situation has died down.” Lumi explains, likely not taking the heat under all those clothes well. “Phew… Didn’t think I’d need to do so much running tonight.”
Solomon checks her map. A Study Room is mercifully close to them, only a couple of hallways and a spiral staircase away.
“Let’s go then!” Solomon exclaims, putting Lumi’s right hand on the ice wall. While shaking her head slightly, the bat makes an opening. The two rush through the hallways and the staircase without running into any opposition, ducking under windows. It doesn't take more than a few minutes before they go through the door to a Study Room. It does, however, have large windows, granting an easy view both inside and outside.
“Not the most ideal, but it’ll do.” Says Lumi, pulling a desk away from one of the corners. She then makes an opening on the wall that is placed at the corner. “Not much space here, unfortunately.”
On her way to their newfound hideout, Solomon glances through a window and sees that Andreas is apparently gone. That leaves her terribly anxious, he might as well be anywhere now! She looks through the other windows, but sees him in none of them, which leaves her more confused than concerned. She has no idea how fast he can move in the air, but from what she’s seen, not very fast, pretty much just walking pace.
“He’s gone.” She exclaims, hoping that she’s indeed correct.
“Gone? Good.” Says Lumi, delighted and relieved as she sits down to have a short rest. “We’re safe from the outside, at least. Have to wonder where he went though…”
Solomon continues reluctantly peering through the windows in order to see where the crow could be. What, or rather who she sees upon looking, however, proves to be just the sight she needed in this situation. Towards the bastion where she climbed up the first time, she sees someone she’s been looking forward to seeing again for a good few days now.
“Lisa…!” She whispers to herself with the warmest feeling inside her. The wolf is climbing up the bastion where she melted a makeshift ladder into it, her cane hanging from her trousers. She cares not for how she got here, all she wants now is to get to her so they can leave together.
“If she’s here, the others can’t be too far either.” Once she finally meets Lisa again, she won’t let anything keep them apart in such a way. She feels like she needs to act, to keep her safe, to make sure they leave this cursed place behind together, alive. “If anything were to happen to her…”
Feeling safer with the crow gone, Lumi walks over and follows Solomon’s gaze.
“Who is that?” She asks.
“Help.” Solomon responds in the simplest way she can. “I need to get to her.” She turns to face Lumi. “I may be asking for a lot… But if you could, put regular ice all around the hallways. Be sure it’ll melt, make the floor as wet as possible.” She orders in a tone that’s uncharacteristically authoritative.
“Okay?” The bat responds in a somewhat puzzled tone. “How will that help us?”
“It will. Trust me.” She smirks.
The two of them leave the way they came from, Lumi leads Solomon to an intersection. The cat guesses that Lumi doesn’t mind her plan being overwritten so fast.
“We’ll part ways here.” Solomon announces. “Stick to what I said.”
“I’ll do what I can.” Says Lumi. Now especially, Solomon really wishes she could see her face. “Keep an eye out for my ice walls. Some have their own little entrances, keep that in mind.”
Solomon gives the bat a short, heartfelt hug, she can hardly even feel her heartbeat through all the clothing.
“Thank you.” Solomon whispers. “Thank you for everything. Stay safe.”
Lumi nods and briefly returns the hug before they part.
“Go meet your friend, then. I do hope to see you again!” Says Lumi, already erecting an ice crystal to be melted. “Au revoir, Lumi Jarvinen.”
Solomon follows the map as best as she can, running through hallways and climbing staircases. “Whoever designed this place should be beheaded.” It doesn’t help that the first three ice wall pockets she finds are apparently inaccessible to her. It almost leads to her capture or demise upon turning a corner and seeing three agents, causing her to have to hide by hanging off of a windowsill until they pass. Three ice walls. No opening. She either has the worst luck finding them, or Lumi designed them like it intentionally. That theory quickly becomes irrelevant when she finds a fourth one with just enough space for one person to enter at a time.
Finally able to catch her breath, she makes sure to stand as far away from that opening as possible so no one can have a chance of seeing her. “I really hope that Lisa isn’t in trouble…”
To her surprise, a familiar face appears on each side of the hallways she’s in. One is Sheila, the other is Rufina. She considers exiting her hiding place to possibly have one or both of them team up with her. That’s when Sheila rushes Rufina and shoots a tongue of flame in her direction. All of a sudden, she feels like she made a terrible mistake by releasing her.
“Not so fast!” Rufina blows Sheila’s flame right back at her with the wind coming out of her hands. Neither does the lioness nor her suit catch on fire.
“Fireproof suit, darling. You thought I wouldn’t account for this?” Her entire arm ignites after she says that, a ball of fire appearing in her palm. Solomon takes a quick glance at her own markings, as if to tell Genesis to be ready in case he’s needed. Ready, he certainly feels, as well as disappointed and quite angry.
“Why are you doing this?!” Rufina demands, side-stepping a fireball that Sheila launches towards her.
“You of all people should know, Miss Ariti.” Sheila retorts, throwing another ball of fire. Rufina barely manages to dodge it, falling over in the process. “I get things done. Anything to keep this job.” She says with a hint of regret in her voice as she throws a third one at her. Rufina tries to deflect it with her wind, but it’s flying too fast for that. It hits her in the stomach right as she tries to get up, lighting her clothes on fire.
“Sorry it had to come to this.” Sheila turns around and starts walking away.
Rufina screams, Solomon smiles. She can see that it’s only her clothes that are on fire, her fur and body are unscathed. As she thrashes around for added effect, Genesis feels extremely uncomfortable just by watching.
“Target down, sir. You can enter safely.” Sheila says into a radio. “I swear…”
Rufina stops moving right before Sheila turns a corner, after which she gets up and quickly puts herself out. Her once white clothes are charred and burned, but they still serve their purpose well enough.
While looking out for Sheila and more agents, Solomon sticks a hand through the opening, her marking facing Rufina. After she is finished putting out the last of the flames out on her trousers, the bat looks up and immediately seems to notice the seemingly floating hand. She smiles, quickly walks up to the ice wall, and enters through the opening. “Sheila must have assumed that she’s dead by now.”
“Rufina, I’m so glad-” Solomon begins to say, but the bat cuts her off by pulling her into a hug, which she returns.
“Thank you…” She says through tears. “You saved my life!” She sniffles and lets go of the cat. “I will never forget this.”
Solomon feels proud, incredibly so. Her power saved Rufina. Saved her! The so-called most destructive power in the world… She proved them wrong. Proved the legends wrong, proved The System wrong, proved the ancient people who sentenced Genesis to death by fire wrong. “Even though it wouldn’t have been needed if I didn’t release Sheila…”
“De rien, Rufina.” Solomon smiles, full of hope and pride. “But I must go now. There’s someone I have to meet.”
“You and me both.” The bat says with a frown. “I won’t stop until that bastard is reduced to dust.” She states, turning to leave. Solomon knows exactly who she’s talking about.
“Send him my regards if you can.” She adds.
“No promises!” Rufina chuckles and runs down the hallways, certainly to go and take out Ludwig. “I’d pay to see that.”
Solomon leaves her hiding spot and sets her sight on one goal for the time being: Lisa.