The girls struggled as they fought to close the gap between themselves and Cloudia.
Despite Kiki’s many arms she was not nearly strong enough to pin down their enraged friend on her own. Even if she could, she would meet a swift end from a swipe of Cloudia’s claws. Should anyone attempt to close the distance between them, she would summon a bolt of lightning, which wasn’t really helping the whole forest fire situation.
Feeling the futility of the situation, Gomenne calls Kiki and Muffler into a huddle.
“What do we do?” asked Muffler while panting, as they did their best to keep up with the other two.
“I dunno,” Gomenne replied, “I’ve never had to actually fight Cloudia before.”
Kiki paused before offering her piece, “I have an idea, but one or more of us is definitely gonna get hurt.”
“I was thinking the same, just wish it didn’t have to come to this,” sighed Gomenne. “So what is it?”
“I’ll try to grapple her with my other arms. Gome, I hate to ask but can you flash your sword a bit at her? I know it takes a lot out of you to do that.”
“Nah, I might have to at this point. It’s fine.”
“Sword?” questioned Muffler, “But Gome has a bat!”
“It’s a sword because I said it’s a sword,” Gomenne answered with a huff before explaining further.
“I dunno how much you know Muffy, but both the twin deities have swords. They don’t look like what you might think a sword looks like. It’s metaphorical.”
“You mean it looks like a bat because you want it to?”
“Yeah, sort of. Also it’s a sword, the Sword of Light. Don’t call it anything but.”
“How come?”
“If you start thinking it’s a sword, it’ll be a sword. The same would happen if you started thinking the sky was green and grass was blue. That sorta thing is where a god’s powers come from.”
“Bit of a tangent but let’s not forget the situation here,” Kiki reminded them.
“Muffy, we’ll call out to you when we’ve given you enough space to do your thing. So stay close behind us.”
“But what about the lightning?” Muffy asked.
“Cloudia might not be herself right now, but she still fights the same,” answered Gomenne, “She’s not exactly immune to her own lightning, so if we’re close she won’t use it.”
The group break the huddle then face Cloudia once more.
Kiki takes a deep breath and unzips her jacket, a slight gust of swirls from around her. While none could see them, her four extra arms had just lashed out violently at moment, stretching from a long time of non-use.
“Alright, you guys ready?” Kiki said with a confident smirk, her jagged teeth fully visible.
“Try not to get too battered. I like you and stuff,” remarked Gomenne.
Kiki chuckled. “Aren’t you sweet? I’ll be fine though.”
With that small banter out of the way, the three of them start dashing towards Cloudia, who offers them a fierce opposition. Cloudia let out a roar, following with her usual lightning bolts. The two of them deftly avoided them as they closed in.
Cloudia stood up on her hind legs, readying one of her forelegs for a swipe then as she brings it down, it suddenly stops. It was being halted by one of Kiki’s invisible arms. Feeling the opposition, Cloudia naturally readies her other foreleg for a swipe, only for it the same exact thing to happen.
Kiki gets up close and personal with Cloudia, wrapping her arms around her—including the invisible ones. Cloudia began wriggling wildly to escape her grasp, only making it harder for Kiki to hold onto the large beast.
“Gome!” Kiki cried out in a strained voice.
Gomenne nodded.
But just as he lifted her bat skywards there was a sudden thud behind them, what sounded like a tree falling down. Dashing out from the trees was Capryce, weilding the scythe-like Sword of Shadow—a blade of deep ebony that absorbed all light. It’s believed to have the ability to slice through anything and everything, and so it does.
Right behind her followed Star, looking on at their current situation in awe.
“What are you three doing? Just kill her already,” Capryce said with an apathetic sigh.
“What? No! We’re not doing that!” Gomenne cried.
“Why not? Isn’t it much easier than whatever you’re doing now?”
“Cloudia’s my best friend! I’m not about to slice her open!”
“Fine. Then I will.”
Capryce begins to walk towards the struggling Kiki holding back Cloudia before Gomenne jumps in front of her.
“You’re not doin’ anything except sitting here and waiting,” Gomenne said sternly.
Capryce clicked her tongue. “Why are you like this? She’ll just show up some place else. What’s the problem?”
“The problem is your lack of sympathy. Oh, but how could I forget? That’s because you got rid of that when you made your stupid, smelly shell!”
“Funny you remember that when you can’t even remember that Cloudia’s immortal because of you. Oh, but that’s because of your shell, too, isn’t it?”
Gomenne could think of no comeback. She simply looked down, clinched her teeth and tightened her grip on her bat in frustration.
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What Capryce was completely correct. Because of that, Gomenne felt unending guilt ever since. The fact that Cloudia accepted her friendship despite what she’d done touched her deeply, and she had since vowed to protect Cloudia, as well as her incarnations after the previous ones passed away.
“Uhh, guys? A little help?” Kiki shouted with a grunt. She was giving her all restrain Cloudia, but everyone knew this couldn’t last long. And yet, a completely different scene from the plan was playing out.
Muffler walked up to Gomenne, looking concerned. “Gome?”
“Whatever. Just don’t get in my way or you’ll be the one sliced open,” Capryce remarked as she walked around a stunned Gomenne.
“Muffy,” Gomenne started in a trembling voice, “You believe in me, right?”
“What do you mean?” Muffler replied.
“You don’t think what I’m doing is stupid, right?”
Muffler shook her head. “No way!”
“Really?” Gomenne turned to face Muffler.
Muffler could not help but leave their mouth open agape at the sight of tears streaming down Gomenne’s face. They hesitated to find words for a brief moment, but then flashed a gentle smile.
“I don’t really know what happened a long time ago, but I know that you and Kiki are really nice. You doing all this for a friend? I think that’s really cool!” they replied, grasping onto Gomenne’s free hand.
“Gome!!!” Kiki’s cry disrupted the moment.
Gomenne and Muffler glance over only to see Capryce raising the Sword of Shadow in front of Cloudia and Kiki.
“No...!” Gomenne breathed, then took off running towards them. “Stop!”
“Gome, wait!” Muffler yelled as they followed close behind.
As Gomenne ran towards Capryce, she lifted the Sword of Light upwards. It flickered like a dying light bulb but light began to collect around it, causing the light to become more steady. As this happened, Muffler’s chest also began to glow. “W-what?”
Gomenne yelled at the top of lungs, “Stop it!!!” The Sword of Light gave off a few bright flashes, enough to catch all present off guard. At the same time, the Keystones embedded in Muffler’s chest gave off a purpleish light.
Kiki, who had been struggling to keep Cloudia, finally got relief as Cloudia stopped moving.
“Oh my goodness,” Star gasped, her hands cupping her mouth.
Gomenne lifted the Sword of Light towards the sky, then it flashed one last time.
Their entire surroundings were swallowed by a blinding light that lasted for what felt like an eternity.
Once the light had dissipated, everyone noticed that the black sludge consuming Cloudia’s body was gone. She had seemingly returned to normal.
“Oh,” Cloudia said in surprise, “Now how did I end up here?”
Kiki sighed with relief, “Good to have you back, Cloudie.”
“Oh hello Kiki. It’s good to see you too. Though, not to sound ungrateful, I don’t think this counts as a friendly hug.”
“Oh right,” Kiki finally lets go of her, Cloudia standing on all-fours once more.
“Gome!” Muffler cried out, catching everyone’s attention. “Gome? Gome, wake up!”
Muffler was kneeling down, next to them was a collapsed Gomenne, unmoving.
Star walks up to Muffler, bending down to their level to console them. “It’s alright, dear. This sort of thing was bound to happen.”
“Is Gome...is she dead?”
“Oh no no no, of course not! Since she doesn’t have a lot of power, that stunt she just pulled sapped all of her energy. She’ll be fine but I’m sure she’ll be out of commission for a few days.”
Star called to Kiki and Cloudia, “Girls, do you mind helping us move Gome? She used up all her energy and conked out!”
“Yeah sure,” Kiki answered squarely.
“Oh goodness, of course!” Cloudia replied but with clearly more concern for her fallen comrade than Kiki.
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And so, the White Clover Guild carried their leader’s limp body back to their headquarters. The events of today left much to be explained, but for now it was time to rest and relax. It was enough that they had somehow rescued a friend, who may even become their newest member!
Though most of them felt content not dwelling on today’s happenings, Capryce could not help herself. She pulled Star aside to talk with her privately.
“Earlier, you noticed it too, didn’t you?” Capryce began, “The house went away as soon as Gomenne used the Sword of Light.”
“I did. The barrier seemed to be gone too. But what I don’t get is why that barrier was there in the first place.”
“And that kid’s power reacted to it too. Just what the hell are they? How are they able to use the Keystones like that?”
“Muffler is a mystery, aren’t they? Even I’m caught off guard by them. That really was the Dreamstone they were using. I couldn’t believe it the first time I saw.”
“I think...I might have a hunch on what’s going on.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, but first I want to test my hypothesis.”
“Just don’t do anything that’ll hurt anyone. Okay, Cappy?”
“I won’t hurt anyone. I won’t even do much of anything,” Capryce paused briefly before continuing, “but I have a feeling they’ll get hurt anyway.”