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CYRUS
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A few paces from Maddie now, Cy shouted at her. “You have the wrong target! He’s under the Siren’s control, we have to—”
“Silence!” Thorn unleashed a series of thrusts at Cy.
Damn, got too close. Thorn studied Cy after he blocked every one of the cutlass' attacks.
“Captain Maddie Redwood takes orders from no one.” Captain. Cutlass… Definitely Pirates.
The Pirate named Auggie launched a wave at Jules that doused his flames and swept him away. Auggie waded through the water and drew his sword. Jules swung wildly. All offense, no defense, and with only half a weapon. He took blows freely and Regenerated the wounds. Auggie fell back after one particularly nasty gash to his chest, and Maddie replaced him. This chick, she’s anticipating Jules' attacks.
Cy studied her combat technique; she’d thrust or slash her cutlass at Jules once for every ten times he attacked her. Master of evasion. The man belonging to the first voice approached Jules with a weapon that was a mix of a halberd and a spear, but he kept his distance. Auggie joined back in with Maddie up close.
Might as well let them wear him down while I figure out their weak points. Sorry Jules. She pushes and pulls her team back to keep you locked down, but how does she see everything so clearly?
“Auggie, fall! John, strike,” Maddie ordered. “That’s right, men, I will always lead you to glory and victory!” She’s enjoying this.
"SQUAWK—GLORY!"
Cy glanced at the sky, his concentration broken.
“Your focus should be on me,” Thorn warned.
Cy blocked his first strike and parried the second.
> « Water » [₹9,300 // ₹10,000]
>
> [Pang! Parry increased to Level 22.]
The Rune pushed Thorn up above him in a wave to avoid the third strike. He didn't hear Thorn's Script, but saw the man's eyes glow. Thorn pressed himself and the wave back down to the flooded ground. As Thorn attacked, Cy raised columns of water in front of himself to slow each strike.
> [₹8,200 // ₹10,000]
Thorn shot blasts of wind from his blade with every swing, which allowed him to push through the obstructions. A few gusts split Cy’s skin, but most were absorbed by his new armor. “I’m telling you, you all have the wrong enemy! That Siren is the Shrine’s Boss.”
“That man is exactly who we are looking for.” Thorn burst through a thick column of water. His sword missed Cy's ear by fractions of an inch.
“The Siren’s controlling him, and has our friend captive.” Cy jumped back and held out his sword far to the side. Defenseless, he placed his full trust in the man’s rationale. “Just look at her.”
Thorn glared at him. He side-eyed the monster on the pedestal, then turned his head to properly inspect it. “A woman? Maddie!” he shouted to his Captain.
She broke away from her fight to investigate Thorn’s concern. “A damsel, in distress? Not on my watch. Boys, focus on the woman! Thorn, you know what to do."
“Go for the Siren, lad.” Without looking back at Cy, Thorn abandoned him to intercept an uncontested Jules.
> [Pang! Persuasion increased to Level 22.]
Cy spotted Rukia and Whiskers. They walked, or more so stumbled, along the ledge of a wall. Are those idiots drunk? Ah, hell.
“Don’t die, old man,” Cy said out of Thorn’s earshot. He was grateful for any level of trust shown in combat. Pirates are taking that set of stairs. I could take the other set, but that Siren will have an advantage on me from the air. Better bring the fight to it, in its domain. Cy planned his path of ascension.
This'll cost a lot of Ryoku. Wish I knew the Scroll for this one.
> « Foot » « Water » «Freeze » « Air » « Jump » « Disk » « Fire » [₹6,900 // ₹10,000]
A massive stream of water erupted from the center of the arena like a geyser. Cy lifted himself off the ground in a sort of reverse whirlpool, then stepped onto air. With each footstep, Cy crafted an icy platform from the moisture in the atmosphere. When he was close enough, the Siren shifted her focus from Maddie’s group to him.
Cy bounced platform to platform and blasted gusts of wind at the monster. Though he didn’t harm her, he managed to push it back. It spun around out of his line of sight and glided around to flank him. Cy twisted to engage with it, but it screeched a sonic blast, straight to his chest.
> [₹6,400 // ₹10,000]
His ears rang, he lost which way was up, and gravity took him.
Water rose up and caught him like a helping hand and lowered him back down.
> [₹6,000 // ₹10,000]
Damn, back to square one.
The Siren rushed him; it spun in the air and charged at him like an arrow, its thick horns at the apex of its wings primed to pierce him.
> « Slow » « Speed » [₹5,100 // ₹10,000]
>
> This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Cy slowed the beast's acceleration for the brief moment of collision, and bolstered his own speed at the same time. He caught the beast and halted its spinning momentum just as the Script wore off. He pushed back and tried to slam it into the water, but it broke free and unfurled its wings. In one motion, it kicked Cy's chest with powerful, taloned feet and flapped its wings. Don’t give it space—
> « Air » [₹4,600 // ₹10,000]
Cy condensed the air between them. A powerful vacuum pushed them together, but the water pressure surrounding Cy's legs kept him firmly in place. Water splashed all around him. Unable to see, he struck blindly with his sword and pierced a wing. The Siren shrieked, their faces just inches away.
> « Solid » « Blood » [₹4,500 // ₹10,000]
Cy coagulated fresh blood dripping from his ears and formed earplugs. The world went silent, apart from the constant internal ringing. The Siren struggled to take flight and flee. Cy felt each gust much more distinctly than before.
Lose one sense, another gets stronger… Who told me that?
Cy leapt across his remaining platforms. He thrust his sword several times, but missed each time. Because he could feel the wind change slightly, he could dodge most of its attacks.
A stalemate. Need a different approach. He noticed Maddie’s group ascend the final set of stairs, and from the opposite set of steps, Whiskers also approached Envy. Yeah, that’ll work.
Dodge. Thrust. Thrust. Dodge. Leap. Cy created enough distance. The Siren swept down on him and he hurled his curved sword through the air. It spun through its trajectory right towards the Siren and—
Missed. Cy allowed his face to betray his fear. He dodged a few more swiping claws, but the Siren came face-to-face with him. It smirked, knowing it’d won, and sucked in air for one final shriek at his skull, what would surely kill him. Cy closed his eyes and waited, hoping they wouldn't supersonically burst from their sockets.
SHLUNK!
Its head came clean off, and Cy’s boomerang of a sword splashed into the water below him. Both Cy and the headless corpse plunged in shortly afterwards.
> [Pang! Curved Swords increased to Level 30.]
Cy looked at the pedestal and saw Whiskers waking up Envy. Then he looked at the Siren, what remained of her. That was when the Djinn emerged from the Shrine Boss' body.
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JULES
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Thor?
Jules reflexively parried the man’s cutlass, his training habits so engrained, even though he'd just come to. The song stopped a while back, but its effects finally receded—Jules was awake again.
SPLISH! SPLASH!
“What are you doing, Thor?" Jules shouted. "Why are we fighting?”
Thor snarled back at him.
WHOOSH!
A massive gust of wind, sprinkled with purple and cerulean dust, swirled all around them. It spiraled violently like a tornado for just a moment, before it calmed and settled, midair.
All eyes went to the Djinn.
> « « Which one of you would claim this Vessel? » »
Its voice shook the stone labyrinth walls. At least twenty feet tall, its translucent skin shined just like a Ryoku Crystal's deep indigo and violet. It wore a pointed beard, and its jet black hair was tied back in a crude knot top. Golden jewelry covered its neck and arms. Below the navel, its body fizzled into a stream of mist that emerged from the Siren’s corpse. Black mascara covered two of its eyes, but not the third.
The third eye in the center of its forehead remained closed. It spoke again after receiving no response.
> « « Only one in your Party may escape. » »
Its two open eyes locked on Maddie, up on the pedestal. Why is she with Kat?
> « « Claim your prize, at the expense of all else. » »
“No thanks, mate,” Maddie hollered. “If that’s how it’s gonna be, I think we’re all good here. My crew and I will leave together.”
> « « I’m afraid it does not work that way, child. » »
It titled its head at her for a moment. Underneath the eyelid, the third eye rolled around.
> « « Forgive my disrespect, Wise One. I did not recognize you. » »
The Djinn bowed, one hand to his heart, the other extended out far to the side.
“Wise One?” Jules whispered. Thorn jerked his head to Jules, then back to the floating Djinn.
“Well, it’s a shame, then," Maddie shook her head with a fearless grin, "that the Captain goes down with the ship."
Jules projected his thoughts to his Party. I’m back, guys. Anyone have a plan?
Spectacular, Cyrus responded.
What the hell is going on? Katarina asked him. None of his friends could communicate with each other—Jules' Telepathy was a one-way street with him alone.
“I’m afraid we can’t let you have the Vessel,” Cyrus said. “It’s gonna have to go to one of us.”
“Regardless of what she says,” Thorn said, “this Vessel is our Captain’s. We can fight you and your demon here—and probably die trying—which will only make the decision easier for her.”
“I don’t like that option,” Katarina said.
Maddie laughed and slapped Katarina on the back, to her apparent shock. “That much we can agree on.”
“Seeing as he can’t die," Thorn pointed his cutlass at Jules, "we’ll hold him back while you escape, Madeline."
“Watch yourself, Thorn,” Maddie said. “Don’t give orders in my stead.”
"Wait," Jules said in disbelief. "Your name's Thorn!?"
“My dear.” Thorn twirled the cutlass in his hand. “You have a much higher calling than any of us sinners. Above all, you must survive this Shrine.” He struck without orders.
Jules struggled to block each blow, realizing a little too late that his crappy weapon was broken. Damn Siren's Cove steel, only a foot long now. His earlier fire Scripts nearly depleted his Ryoku reserves and encumbered him, plus he still had to Regenerate his wounds, which involuntarily drained more Ryoku. A blessing and a curse. I'm too slow and ill-equipped, not to mention disoriented.
Jules pushed back until he gained some ground. Though he wielded a sword, he utilized thrusting dagger techniques, since that was effectively what he had now.
“I’ll not lose to some Sin!” Thorn's tattoos lit up white, his eyes a brilliant gold.
> « « Burden and Shatter the Path » »
Jules felt heavy. His Seal burned. Each of Thorn's strikes broke down Jules' stance and stamina. The hell is this Script!?
“Jules," Cyrus shouted. "He’s using a mix of Light and Holy magic!”
Of course he is. Jules ignited his Seal.
> «« Darkness Engulf Me »» [₹1,500 // ₹10,000]
He'd only used the Scroll once, during training, and The Painter cautioned him against using it again, but Jules felt the spell's familiarity, liked he'd used it before. Somehow, it felt innate to his soul. Dark mist coated what remained of Jules' katana. He blocked another strike from Thorn and felt his encumbrance lifted. Good, Dark Magic is resisting the Light and Holy, and my legs are back in working order.
> [Pang! Dark Magic increased to Level 11.]
“What're you doing?” Jules called to Cyrus, who ran toward the Djinn. Thorn doubled down on his assault, and Jules tuned out whatever response his friend gave him.
> «« Radiant Star »»
Light from Thorn’s cutlass blinded Jules, who closed his eyes. Spent plenty of time fighting in the dark. Jules focused on the sounds of his opponent, of the splashing water, and relied on Thorn's repetitive attack pattern.
> «« Spellbinding Circle »»
Jules shifted his right leg to attack, but it didn't move. He glanced down at it. A transmutation circle? He adjusted his defense to compensate, but then the circle shifted to his left leg. A fresh wound to his left shoulder sprayed blood. The circle vanished again and reappeared on his sword arm. Thorn's blade sped to Jules' throat.
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