Akane stood together with Cabrin when Sera was released from the crystal’s hold over her. They had been prepared this time, catching the girl as she fell back against them. What they weren’t prepared for was the screaming.
“Sera-san, what is the matter? Are you alright?” Akane asked in a panic.
“We have you.” Cabrin assured the girl. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
Sera panted as she began to calm down, glancing down at her chest before finally nodding her head.
“I..I’m fine.” She struggled to say. “It was…just…another memory.”
“From Celeste?” Cabrin asked. Sera only nodded.
“What did you see?” Akane asked, but Cabrin shook his head.
“We can talk about it later.” He said. “We should get moving if we want to make it to Bastion before nightfall.”
Akane nodded in agreement. They had been forced to cut through the forest in order to escape the Chimera, driving them closer to Bastion than originally intended. Their situation was one born out of necessity, but the consequence was a fortunate one. It would be best not to waste it.
“Can you stand?” Cabrin asked.
“I think so.” Sera responded, but as they stood her up, it was evident that she would need assistance the rest of the way.
“Kaburin-kun, can you help her?” Akane asked. “I will take point.”
Akane had a mind for detail, she had remembered every twist and turn that Sera had led them through to the Great Chamber. It was a slow trek back to where they started, but they got there in the end. Having to carry Sera along the whole way was going to be difficult, but Akane was glad to see that Sera hadn’t passed out completely like last time. Still, the circumstances of Sera’s return from whatever the crystal exposed to her was worrying.
When Akane first met Sera, the girl was a mess. In the time since, she had watched this girl who she called her friend grow to become a strong, valiant woman. Time and time again she had watched Sera put aside her fear and reservations to rise up to the occasions that she had been faced with. Even after the trauma of being subjugated to the horrors of the cave alone with the Nest Mother, the girl still picked herself up, albeit after a time of recovery, and pressed on in pursuit of her destiny, even if it were a destiny she hadn’t wanted for herself. In the time that they had known each other, Akane had found herself greatly respecting this girl. She was proud to call Sera her friend.
The sun hung very low in the sky by the time they had approached the end of the tunnel. Not so low as to call in the colors of sunset, but it wouldn’t be long before sunset was upon them.
Akane scouted out the path as Cabrin exited with Sera’s arm over his shoulder. Above them, the strange stone from which the Heavenfall’s superstructure was constructed loomed above them, broken off from where a smaller section of the ruined city had dropped a relatively short distance below. A path of broken rock, studded with wild grass and the occasional tree allowed for a relatively easy descent into the ruins. After that, there was another ravine which stood as the only remaining obstacle. Beyond that, the city of Bastion sat no more than two miles away.
“Over there.” Cabrin pointed, noting Akane’s uncertainty as he approached her. “There’s a way we can cross.”
Akane’s gaze followed his finger to a place where one of the ancient structures had toppled over, creating a path across the ravine.
“Hai.” Akane nodded. Cabrin continued down the slope with Sera while Akane looked over the ancient ruins, plotting a path in her mind before rushing ahead again to lead the way.
The sun would remain visible in the sky for another hour when the trio had finally arrived at the location. It was difficult at some points as Sera slipped in and out of consciousness, but they made it. The collapsed building which would serve as their bridge across the ravine stretched out before her as her companions came up alongside her.
“I didn’t realize how unstable it was from up there.” Cabrin winced.
“It will be fine.” Akane assured him as she stepped out onto the crumbling ruin. “Hurry, we still have about a mile and a half before we reach the city. We can still make it to the gate before it gets dark.”
Akane had made it roughly a third of the way before she looked back to check on Cabrin and Sera’s progress. She smiled warmly at Sera, who had woken up enough to wave exhaustively back at her when Akane noticed something behind them in the city ruins.
It was a street where they had passed just before coming to the bridge, a streak of red had seemingly been painted from one side of the road to the other. Akane’s hand went to her katana as she scanned the scene intently before her eyes caught sight of it, her suspicions confirmed.
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It had tried to evade detection, but soon realized that it could not escape Akane’s eyes before stepping out to reveal itself. The Formless One broke out into full speed, leaving behind a trail of blood from when Sera had driven it off with her magic earlier that day.
“Kaburin-kun!” She shouted. “Get Sera-san across, quickly!”
Cabrin spun around and his eyes went wide as he saw the Chimera rapidly approaching them. “This structure won’t support its weight. Stay with us.”
“It will reach us before we cross.” She said, drawing her katana defiantly. “Sera-san hurt it pretty badly. I can take care of it.”
“No Akane!” But it was already too late as Akane charged back across the bridge to meet the Chimera head-on.
The Formless One stopped just short of the bridge as Akane leapt at it. With a quick back-step it narrowly avoided her strike, but Akane wasn’t about to let up. She attacked again and again, katana glinting with the light of the waning sun as it flashed with frightening speed. The Chimera recoiled as a strike met its mark across one of its remaining three tentacles.
As she pressed, the beast almost seemed afraid of her, and for good reason. Akane had always fought with a companion at her side, her strikes had always remained deadly, but they were still restrained. Here, alone, she didn’t have to worry about those around her. Here, alone, she could cut loose.
She had the beast backed into a corner before it decided out of necessity to strike out at her. The woman easily evaded the attack and continued her onslaught, before another of the Chimera’s attacks finally took Akane’s feet out from under her. She rolled, narrowly avoiding a powerful slamming tentacle, an attack that would have easily shattered her ribs. It was there that she saw her opportunity. The battle had gone on too long, and she needed to end it now.
Akane leapt onto the beast's massive appendage and ran along the top of it, closer to its head. The Formless One realized its mistake and immediately withdrew its tentacle but it was too late as Akane sprung towards it, her blade sinking into its shoulder.
The vibrations which ran along the blade of her katana and into her palms painted a vivid picture within her mind as to the damage that she had done. First, there was the steady grind of metal against bone as her blade slid past its ribs and second, there was the rapid pulsing vibration which told Akane that her blade had found the Chimera’s heart. As she dropped from the recoiling beast, Akana immediately dashed back away from it as it withdrew from her, eagerly backing its way out of sight between two crumbling buildings to die.
Looking back, she saw that Cabrin and Sera had nearly made it across the crumbling ruin which stretched across the ravine.
“Akane! Hurry, let's go!” Cabrin called out.
“Hai, hai! I am coming!” She shouted back, annoyed. Akane wanted to bask in her triumph but darkness crept over the sky as dusk drew ever-closer. Enough time had been wasted, it was time to go. Sheathing her katana, she headed back over to follow them over the ravine to Bastion, at long last.
She had just stepped up onto the first brick when the ground around her trembled. Akane spun around just as the tentacle sent her sprawling sidelong across the ground before another came at her. She scrambled to her feet just as the tentacle wrapped around her chest and hoisted her high in the air. The Formless One’s silent voice panted heavily as it made its way out onto the bridge with Akane held in its grasp, blood gushed sporadically from the wound she had left in its shoulder as it hobbled along the crumbling ruin.
I should have confirmed the kill, she thought as she tried desperately to reach for her katana, but the Chimera’s grasp around her chest made it impossible. She tried to call out to Cabrin but the air was being driven from her lungs. Akane kicked and thrashed for all she could before another of the beast’s tentacles came up around her hips. Akane’s face twisted in pain as it began to pull.
With a pop, she lost feeling in her legs and there was a terrible pain in her belly before a cold wave washed over it. Desperate to free herself of the Formless One’s grip, Akane beat against it with her fists before it finally let her drop to the stone below. She tried again to call out to Cabrin but the pain in her crushed ribs kept her from managing anything more than a wheeze. Her back screamed in protest to her every move, her belly ached, and try as she might, she just could not get her legs to work with her.
Her hand slipped as she struggled to pull herself closer to the other side where the Formless One limped across. She had so far to go, how could she make it over before the bridge collapsed? Up ahead, she could see Cabrin. He was on his knees, his outstretched hand reaching for her. He was screaming, but she couldn’t hear him. She hadn't noticed it till then, she couldn’t hear anything.
Her hand slipped again as she collapsed. Looking down at the stone beneath her, she felt a confused sort of shock as she realized that she had been wallowing in a pool of blood, but absolute horror overtook her as she looked back and realized why.
Stretched out behind her was a red stain across the stone where she crawled, a trail of her own gore. Everything from her waist down was gone. Suddenly, in one last moment of clarity, everything made sense. She had been completely torn in half.
As the stone beneath her began to shift, darkness closed in around her and a rushing sound filled her ears. Akane tried to remember what had brought her there. She knew there was something she was supposed to be doing, something important, but what was it? It was hard to think, she felt sleepy. So, very sleepy.
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She awoke with a jolt as something like thunder momentarily brought her back to consciousness. Sera tried to move but her body felt like lead as she laid amongst tufts of grass in the dirt. She struggled to remember what had brought her there but her memory was a blur. She heard a noise nearby that sounded like sobbing and looking across from where she lay, she could see Cabrin on his knees.
That’s right, she thought. Cabrin helped me across the bridge. Why is he crying?
She tried to think but it was so hard to get her mind straight. Bastion was close now, she remembered that. The place where she would be taken to the College. Her, Cabrin, and Akane.
“Cabrin,” She called quietly. It was so hard to keep her eyes open. “Where is Akane?”