Chapter 86: Till My Heart Stops Beating! (Part One!)
Enclosed in a room of shadow and dark, Vega stood there, holding her guitar in hand.
There were tears and abrasions all over her body, and some of her stitching had come out. She knew she’d lose if she didn’t try something different, and quick.
Instead of trying to find her opponent, she’d bring them to her.
Strumming her guitar, in one last, hopeful attempt, she sang with the beauty of a thousand winds.
This was her last stand.
“There’s a part of me that’s desperate for changes…”
“Tired of being treated like a pawn…”
“There’s a part of me that stares back…”
“From inside the MIRROR!”
“Part of me that’s scared I might be wrong…”
“That I can’t be….. STRONG!”
“OUCH! STOP STOP STOP! SHUT THE FUCK! UP!”
“Sorry-sorry!” Dropping her guitar on the ground, Vega raised her hands in defeat.
In the matter of a couple seconds, the lights had come back on in the theater, revealing where Krimm had been the entire time. Having clutched her ears and her face twisted in a vague discomfort, she had dropped her axe.
The theater was a makeshift, actually entirely paid for by Florato. Her wages that she saved from Vega’s incredible wages had been collected into a big pile. And in that effort, she had commissioned an entire theater to be built.
Glowing orange and yellow curtains, tropical wood, and a design that just screamed glamour. Of course there was a perpetual smokiness that no amount of perfume could get rid of. But Uvi Jantok was literally on fire so come the fuck on.
“Woo! That was four minutes and twenty eight seconds. A new record Vega!” Sitting in one of the seats, Sorbet had decided she would take notes of this fight. The rest of the seats behind her were inhabited, so she made a makeshift table out of some.
Out in front of her were an hourglass, a few papers and an abacus. The abacus was just to make Sorbet feel smarter and to fiddle with something whenever she got bored.
“You okay Krimm?” Out from a theater and over the stage, Florato threw open the curtains and called out to the fairy.
“I’m fine. Just… whenever Vega sings at that fucking frequency, it fucks with my hearing.” Gently cleaning out one of her ears, Krimm showed she was in good hell.
“Sorry again. Wait, since I forced Krimm to concede, does that mean-mean that the timer keeps going or?” Vega tilted her head, asking Sorbet for confirmation. She looked at her notes then back at Vega, giggling at something.
“Uh, no. Krimm pierced your heart when you were singing. Since that is where you kept your Soul Gems, that means the match is over.” Sorbet stood up, pointing at where the strike had happened.
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“What? Really?” Dropping her head down, Vega immediately noticed the spear sticking out of her, along with the two Soul Gems hanging by a thread. Upon seeing it, the scarecrow groaned like a disappointed teenager.
“Hey, that's the rules.” Lifting the paper that contained all the rules.
Surprising, this list was rather short and mostly pertained to Vega. Although you might expect a numerous and extensive rule system just for the scarecrow, they didn’t have a capacity of what she could fully do yet. They served to guide the purpose of this match.
Which was for Vega to defend herself.
“Hey, it's still good! The best we’ve gotten in the past three months.” Climbing down from the stairs and stepping onto the stage, Florato smiled and congratulated Vega.
Although Florato and Sorbet’s congratulations were nice, it still didn’t change the fact that she messed up. That her act of singing led to her being distracted, and thus failing.
“Much to the point, if we keep up this pace, we’ll be able to break into the Lai Bank. And then Ani… jeez, we got a lot on our plate.” Sighing, Krimm put her hands on her hips and shook her head. Her worry remained, if a bit subdued.
“I kinda wish this whole plan-plan didn’t rely on me. But then again, helping ya folks is always good-good.” Rubbing the back of her head, Vega appreciated her meager achievement.
“Helping folks is good, but you need to protect yourself. How many times have you gotten yourself hurt during a fight? How many times were you broken apart and barely able to cling on?” Pulling the spear out of Vega with a minor anger, Krimm used the spear to point out the damage on the scarecrow’s body.
Each sentence punched hard, forcing Vega to back up. While she knew Krimm had her best interest at heart, she wished she could deliver the insight in a kinder way. Just like how Florato or Sorbet would.
“Calm down Krimm. She just made a new record.” Coming to Vega’s side, Florato shook her head at the fairy.
Taking a short breath in and putting the extra spear on her back, Krimm cooled herself. Having spent some time with Florato gave her a little more sensitivity. And that for her was a lot of progress, but sometimes failed to make it all the way.
“Okay. You’re right. It’s just…” Stopping, Krimm’s eyes opened wide as if to go on a rant. But she bit her tongue and breathed in some more. “...We can rely on you, but we can’t keep relying on that.” Simply putting her hand on Vega’s stitched face, Krimm laid it there for a moment, before pulling it back.
For a few seconds, Vega understood why Krimm was harping on this point so much.
In a physical sense, it was inflicted upon her.
Her scar, that one that made others recoil and terrified, the one that twisted her face into a creepy rotting purple. The one that made her distinct, the one that made her instantly recognizable.
Krimm was keeping her promise of changing. And in doing that, she wanted the ones she loved not to hurt anymore. Sometimes you hurt the people you love in an attempt to care for them.
“She has a point you know.” Resting her head at the lip of the stage, Sorbet smiled sweetly, bringing a sense of levity back into the theater.
“Which person?” Looking at the other two, Krimm didn’t know who she was talking about.
“You, you dummy. Vega, you said that when you were casting spells or magic or whatever, that you got a sense of pain right?” Sorbet gestured to Vega with her papers.
Strumming the guitar string lightly, she felt the Soul Gem ring out with magical harmony. Holding out the water Soul Gem and the jar of makeup, Vega reminisced on the sense of pain she obtained during her fight with Runtaii.
How aching and exhausting it all was. As she finished thinking, the scarecrow waited for Sorbet to continue.
“Krimm is right to say that you have to do something different with your fighting style. That we can’t keep doing daring attacks just to score one hit. Putting our lives in jeopardy or gambling on songs can’t be our only solution. We need to be better, in the ways we can be.” Climbing up onto the stage, Sorbet walked by each person before stopping on Vega.
“Damn. I think that was really sweet.” Laying her hands on her chest, Florato was legitimately moved.
“That’s… actually what I feel. By the gods, Sorbet, can you read minds?” Krimm dropped her chest forward, letting her arms fall towards the ground. She was impressed, but also slightly infuriated that Sorbet did her point better.
“I don’t know, does Florato look good in a dress?” The ice cream lady couldn’t be more right.
“Yes.” Krimm and Vega collectively said at the same time and the same monotone voice.
“Bro.” The actress dropped her eyes, mildly annoyed by Sorbet.
“Sorry, I took that too far.” The ice cream lady shrugged and bowed her head.
“Fuck head-heads, incoming.” A croaking came from the entrance of the theater. Kaliba, with a drool of red wine from its beak, flew over and collapsed on Vega’s head.
With a loud marching, three rows of soldiers came in.
And with them, came the three Oligarchs.