3-0 I'm A Renegade
Immediately after leaving the filly to wallow in grief, Kranon returned to his ritual site. It was a place flattened out near the edge of the mountains, a large drop behind the alter constructed with the ruins of buildings surrounding the edge behind him. The elevated site was shaped like a semi-circle with two elevated platforms to the left and right. His magic seals circled pillars, and a central podium held a special rupture bleeding white streams of light similar to code from a computer screen. A black and white mesh beat within the rupture on the altar.
"The spell is nearly ready, but before I finish off what Pompeii set in motion..." He turned the grotesque scar across the left side of his face black and dripping with purple blood. Raising his hand to the blip approaching fast, he grinned. "I expected you'd come to find me first - Air-Strike Shield!"
With a massive plume of fire, something struck the emerald barrier shaped like a grave shield, withholding the force of flames as a sword shattered the defence with a single plunge, a small frame of a human child nearing their teens swung the coiled blade around, striking the air that displaced. Above, Kranon's arm glowed with another magic seal. "Ice-Make Crescent Blades." The dozens of arc descended only for a stream of flames to evaporate their frames, almost striking the Vex. "So your magic is strong? How interesting."
The younger armour-clad child's eyes burned inside the helmet, giving off a faint sheen of silver. "You are going to pay for everything you've done!!" Astra screamed, fire building across her new form without control, her power flaring to life.
With a torrent of fire under her, Astra flew toward Kranon, swiping down in a vertical cross, inverting her spin to feel her blade recoil from Kranon's own, his hand snaking forward to bury her vision in a wall of ice, hearing him zap behind her to blast a beam of energy into her back, striking her head with the pommel of his blade. Her body struck the ground, rolling away from a rising whirlwind of flames, grasping her sword with the pommel risen to produce a streak of several dozen Farron Arrows to intercept Kranon's retaliation.
Focusing as best as she could, her magic built at the pommel until burst, conjuring three crystal balls around her head, the seeker orbs distracting Kranon long enough for a radiant Soul Greatsword to narrowly graze his hip as the girl flew past, pivoting on her heels to swipe the massive magic sword around to see it crash through another Air-Strike Shield. That alone didn't stop her, so Kranon rolled over the astral blade, unable to avoid the prodding spear that came soon after, his hands burning while clasping the tip of the spear while Astra kept charging, flicking sharply to toss the monster into the air.
"Her reactions are faster... could this be due to her youth?" He realized his folly all to late, using an Ice-Make Shield to take the brunt of a Chaos Fire Orb blew the chunks away, the tip of the spear parried by a stroke of his own sword, using her confusion to roundhouse the brat into a nearby building, avoiding another flaming orb with a simple backhand of frost. "You really believe you alone can hold mastery over so many magic attacks? How pedestrian."
"No, I can't!" She huffed, pushing aside a table to stand at the edge of the wall. "But I can still do this." The slits in her visor began to glow, so Kranon acted on instinct, warping behind the child before she could blind him, thrusting his blade toward her back or until two boots were pressed to his marred face, a ring of fire expelled from the soles, tossing her skyward, the spear striking, curved at the tip. At the same time, she landed to cast a haze of white over her body once the house was torn to splinters, Kranon lunging for the child with several columns of fire and ice erupting all around them.
His body warped again randomly, forcing Astra to continuously turn and steady her form until a scorpion tail almost caught her thigh, leading her into backflipping far from the lunge of two arms brimming with dark amethyst, casting another Chaos Orb to shatter what little remained of his aura, leading to both hands coming together for a combined repulsor blast, the short bursts heavy and caused her arms to buckle before a large battle-axe of ice crashed into her chest with resounding force, tossing the girl high into an awaiting array of fire seals, the coiled torrents of flame slithered toward her form.
She spun around, swiping them around until she slid down a fallen pillar, chased by Kranon to continuously unleashed elemental attacks that set the world ablaze in a tundra, massive glaciers of ice formed to keep her cornered. Rushing up the face, she swiped in frantic strokes over Kranon's head; his arm twisted to deflect the blows with ease as the girl spun on her knees, spewing a stream of fire under his feet until he warped away after realizing she attempted to bait him toward her scimitar as it left a sizable gash on his chest.
Where he appeared was exactly as Astra guessed, right before the foot of the ritual itself; So, before he could act, she closed her fist over a tense flame, seeing the ground under his feet burst open with a roar of tiger flames, although it little in the way of harming him atop a geyser of ice, looming high over the child with a small chuckle or until it caught in his throat, eyes wide at the unbelievable site of blinding white light gathered at the pommel of her sword, charging and compressing further.
"S-Soul Stream!" She grunted, extending her arm with a warcry, producing a torrential stream of pure souls toward Kranon, compiling enough pressure that her heels embedded themselves into the mud just to keep her standing with both hands clasped to the staff.
"Air Strike Shield - Second Shield!" Two thick hardlight barriers formed before his hand, keeping the massive wave of light from so much as grazing him, and yet the child refused to cease her assault, pooling magic from a seemingly endless source that was starting to break apart the first shield much to Kranon's furious shock. "How... can one mongrel handle such strength!?"
As Astra screamed out her grief and rage in one desperate attack, she could feel a pair of hands on her shoulders, steadying her subconsciously with a young face by her ear, smiling. Her head rose sharply with a gasp, "My power is no longer tethered to my age, lass, it will never be strong again once this war ends, so do not feel burdened by your inexperience,"
Underneath her ruined helmet; fresh tears dribbled down her cheeks, her soul magic fluctuating. "M-mr Cinder..." A hand gently tapped two fingers against her crown.
"Train well. Eat well. Laugh well. Fight well. Live well," He smiled, "As I once heard... go... set your heart ablaze." Kaid let her go, waving behind his back as his essence faded away with both hands in his pants pockets. "Let it all out, burn the sickening storm away for me, oh, and good luck, Silver Warrior."
Choking down a sob, her heart... burned silver. "I will... I will... I WILL!!!" She screamed so loud her lungs could burst; increasing the final burst of magic into shattering the first shield and straight through the next, the volley of pure spiritual energy sawing through Kranon as his wail was drowned in the ensuing explosion of light, ripples tearing down the lingering walls of ice and extinguishing the last of the flames. In the wake of the attack, rocks crumbled, and a rumble ripped through the Catastrophe above. "Hah... hah... I-I... did it..."
Looking toward the altar, to her disappointment, Kranon stood tall although, 'intact' wouldn't be the correct word. His entire right side was burned badly, his fair singed and arm completely disintegrated, a mere stump of what it once was. His eyes were hidden, leaving her with just a crooked smile. "Hahaha... You aren't as easy to kill as I thought; however, it seems you've underestimated the length that form of yours lasts." His finger pointed down at her waist.
Looking back, Astra saw her tail had returned, poking out from the armour, and now her helmet's ears were no longer at the sides of her head. He cackled again, fist drove against her cheek, his knee coming up to crease against her stomach as the child dropped in front of his boot, lodging it across her chin, observing how her body tumbled back into the mud.
Bending down, he clasped her visor with his hand, the Seal emerging across his skin with a sinister glow. "I made a mistake, so, allow me to put you to bed - and give me that strength!" He squeezed tighter, barely phased by her kicks and punches while her fingers attempted to reach for her fallen sword. "I don't need your fire, just enough magic to patch myself up; tch, you think you're the hero? Like this useless farmhand? Like the Hollow? Like your precious Mercenary!?" He kept squeezing, hearing her cry from the pain. "I'll crush your head and pluck that strength from your mangled and shredded corpse!"
The seal glowed brighter.
Astra's vision started to cloud.
And Kranon's smile expanded to inhuman lengths.
"No..." She hissed, embers slithered into her visor through her grit teeth. "Graaaaaaah!!" She swung a blade forged of soul magic, slamming its broad edge against Kranon's nape, sinking the blade an inch through his flesh, seeing his twisted grin hesitate, baring his fangs. "I. Won't. Lose. Again!" "Burn...!" Her words ushered all of Cinder's strength to cremating them together in a hellfire.
The blade sunk another inch, drawing blood from the undead abomination. "Let go of me!"
Kranon released the seal, bringing his fist down to knock her out; he grunted, feeling her scalding fingers coil around his wrist, struggling to hold his strength back. "H-how can one human... some damn miscalculation is holding back my power!?"
*Shatter!*
His palm-heel strike shattered the sword, the blue shards threshed aside, giving him ample time to raise his free hand to her helmet. "I'll meld your flesh to that carcass--!"
*BAM!*
The skin was creased and split with the combined might of two leather boots pressed deep against Kranon's cheekbone, the sudden force rocketing his mangled body through the dirt and half-buried at the steps of his altar. The embers dispelled; Lifting himself with one hand, Kranon eye couldn't possibly get any more unhinged. W and Sora shielded Astra; weapons raised to threaten the weakened Vex as he crawled to his feet, nearing the rupture with a dry laugh.
"Hey, kid, had a makeover without us?" W smiled reassuringly until she noticed the very distinctive design of her equipment, almost lowering her launcher. "Astra, why are you...?"
Her head fell to her legs, shaking her head slowly with a sniff. Sora's eyes widened before he bit his cheek. "Not again..." He shook just as angrily as W, her face unreadable, but her tail and antenna were twitching madly, teeth ground together.
"Bastard lied to me," Whatever happened, he must've done something to find Kranon's weakness, and it cost him without any of them knowing. Kicking herself now wouldn't help; it'll be wasteful to Cinder's memory, so she just sucked it down into her stomach and turned her attention to Mr Chuckles by the rupture. "Sora, help me wipe that smirk off bitch-boy's face."
"With pleasure," He brandished his swords in time for Kranon to realize his enemies weren't going to sit around asking questions.
The sight of the human possessed corpse in hysterics unnerved the three a great deal until its remaining eye landed on W with a deranged aura; Astra could taste it in her mouth, Death. "You've been such a thorn in my side; I took away your name, your body, I had you treated like the dirt you humans are, and yet here you are!" His fist closed, the runes reacting in turn to its creator's silent decree. "When I'm done tearing this world to pieces, I'll go after your world, Remnant, and every other Displaced like YOU!!"
He shuffled back, stumbling toward the rift while placing a seal on his chest. "My creators could never understand how I felt, a desire to consume all, I just want to devour everything in my sights without control or restraint!" While he ranted, W spat off to the side and rushed him with a grenade shot toward the rupture, only for a sharp gust of wind to disrupt its travel, that same whirlwind slamming into her gut, flinging her into Sora's arms. "I am Kranon the Collapse Dragon, Vex of the God of Space, and I... Am... REBORN!!!"
"No!" It was far too late now; W only chance to end everything was cut short by a breeze, a single, heavy breeze. Kranon fell into the rupture, and the static in the air instantly fell silent. Rubble trickled down to the earth, and a stray crash of thunder from above were the only sounds the group could make; everything else became dull and muffled under their own heartbeats.
...
...
...
No…
“No… get ready; he's coming..." W grimaced as her head slowly turned toward the large ruins, their markings revitalized in the silence. Something untamed was distorting the world; sound and an earthquake that could be felt down to her bones shook and splintered the land around them. This was the end; the final hand dealt to her since arriving in this unfair world. And ironically, she was willing to defend it with her life.
She drew her grenade launcher high with the appearance of two silver blades and a smouldering coiled sword to her left. The acrid air blown from the surge of energy was astounding; the hairs on the back of her neck stood up from the static, and while her fear grew wider and wider, the mercenary kept still; she had to face her fear head-on now. Both W and Aoi.
A large brass arm soared into the air from the lightning behind the altar and over the cliff itself, smashing its mechanical fingers through the stone. At the same time, another did the same, lifting the shadow to loom over the trio with a large, glowing array of spotlights upon them, crushing all that obstructed the altar, leaving the site untouched.
*UUUUAAAAHHHH!!!*
The screech of metal felt like razors to their ears, the trembling in their vision subsiding enough to bask in the shadow of the massive construct. The mechanical beast was gargantuan, housed within a strange armature that resembled a massive V-Shaped chassis copied into layers as though it were a serpent’s body snaking down into the world below. The segments and their jagged ribs all clanking to the left and right while the chassis rose high.
The angular head was shaped to closely copy a vulture with two jagged slits for amethyst eyes bared down on the Displaced, the non-existent maw screeching torn metal and rust. From its scythe-like shoulder, blades sprouted glowing, purple wings, streaking as though solidified code caged amongst the machine's skeleton for a membrane. A single thresh of the wings causing W's tongue to tingle.
The sharp, jagged appendages beating slowly while many luminescent feeler tentacles flew in the breeze, adding to the massive construction that reminded W vividly of a race of machines she knew of all too well from another world entirely. "There's no way... he stole the power..." The words dried in her throat, choking down a lump. "...of the Vex Collective."
Sora felt his jaw unhinge. "You mean the same biomechanical race from that game where they can warp through time - oh, I see why he chose this then." He didn't need any more answers. The massive form of Kranon flew through the air, arms consumed by streams of purple data as the very ground they walked over began to warp and change.
“Brace yourselves!” W screamed
“Let’s give it all we got!” Sora assured them all before reality flashed with a bright, milky white of static, the altar warping away with their vision.
Once light drifted away, W and her allies found themselves atop a brass and white-stone ring spanning the size of half a football field, many chunks were risen out of sync with the rest of the ring, and certain points looked to have meshed together with old and new pieces haphazardly. Far below, the massive span of Canterlot under siege could be seen while many platforms in the distance phased in and out of time every few seconds.
"The world was starting to collapse, and what better way than with the Vex's time manipulation?" Sora gulped, turning away from the edge with Astra shuffling far away from the lack of solid ground.
"How sweet of him to give us our own private killing floor," W remarked dryly, inspecting the dark clouds around them. "Um... speaking of, where is he...?"
"If he warped us here, then that means..." Everyone turned at Astra's insinuation, looking toward the inside of the ring as something bright reflected off the edge of the ring. "He's very close."
"[bSoon, my body shall be free!" Kranon's screeched resounded in the Catastrophe, large, black shards of rock descending from the clouds as they spoke. Some shattered once Kranon soared into view, wings fanned out for a deceptively majestic machine, the head craned down toward them, eyes blaring while the hands buzzed with purple lightning much like the rupture against his chest. They had no other choice but to fight him head-on! Raising their weapons, the hands of Kranon came crashing down around them.
"Keep talking big, tin man-" W sneered, tossing her final belt lined with grenades toward one of the arms. "-you'll fall apart like always!" The pins were gone, and a chain reaction tore up the arm's barding pieces, forcing the appendage to recoil in shock.
"Everyone, get ready to jump!" Huh? W looked to Sora, to the right of her, the large hand slammed into the edge of the ring, sending a large wave of golden code spiralling toward them; not wishing to be caught in the flow, they all jumped as high as possible, seeing the wave dissipate after a short burst. "It's like the Oracles! If that code strikes us, we'll be erased from reality!"
"Oh, come on!" W yelled at the unfairness, but when did Kranon ever intend to comply?
From the bowels of Kranon sprung a torrent of lasers from its hands, the two lines dividing W and Sora to one end, while Astra ran toward the right, the lasers passing over their heads with searing heat, crashing into the wall with a blast of heat. When the plasma ceased, the trio scrambled to their feet, divided, the forked tail cracked the stone where W once stood before the body of Kranon spun in the air, sweeping the entire area with its tail and knocking W into the air.
Adjusting her descent, she planted her feet on one of the plateaus, pushing back to avoid the claws of the Vex scaring the wall as it flapped its massive wings around, slamming its hands onto the ground as W rotated to near the inner-side. Suddenly, volleys of golden lightning appeared from the clouds, striking Kranon's right eye. Far to the right, Astra held her sword like a staff, summoning a series of crystal bolts and large shards of soul energy, staggering Kranon's vision constantly for Sora to land a solid, horizontal cross down the length of Kranon's beak, causing the head to recoil sharply.
The wings flared again while W spotted Sora flew under Kranon and across to his backend. The Vex spun slow yet gracefully across the ring, the wings blaring out several lines of white lasers, one of them striking Astra across the chest, throwing her to the ground. At the same time, Sora latched onto the tail, sinking his blades in-between the vertebrae. While distracted, W continuously fired payloads of grenades, tossing mines to where one of the hands move to rest before erupting into fire and shrapnel.
"W, I don't think my magic can do much to damage his armour!" Astra waved from afar, still attempting to utilize all of Cinder's remaining strength while W went with the motions, attempting to conjure some half-baked plan as Kranon swayed to his left, heading back for the centre.
Resting high on its back, Sora swiped away with each longsword down the entire length of the spine; sadly, all Kranon did was dip downward, the tail flicking up sharply, throwing Sora from the spine, the forked end swiping down to slice him in two. The sight petrifying W mid-thought.
"Sora!" W screamed, yet a spark of silver caught her eye, his blades locked between the forked appendage, flicking himself around to land with a stumble at the edge of the tail. "*Sigh* Idiot..."
He followed with a right swing to the joint, then a backflip to smash his foot against the Vex's lower prong, making it roar with aggravation as it moved around the ring and back to the centre; Sora leapt through the air and landed with a stumble beside W raising a thumb. "Sorry about that, but that did little to phase it... you know it's a little confusing calling him a Vex when he's both a Vex by name, and he took the form of a fictional race too." He stood up beside W while seesawing his sword to visualize his confusion.
"Bad guys often never make it easy with the names they take, huh?" W quipped or until a large shadow cast itself over them. "Oh, not again." The wind tore through them with Kranon sailing over their heads, this time swinging its whole body around in a tremendous dive, the tail sailing down toward them
The partners screamed, leaping far across to the lower level with Astra, the tail slicing straight through the metal and stone, severing the chunk from the ground completely followed with a double helix, snow-white lasers slicing through more segments of the ring, with all of them narrowly pivoting around the deadly beams hazardous trajectories.
"Take him down!" W barked regardless, grenades and hand-held ones batted by Sora's swords and an array of soul and fire spells cast from Astra battering Kranon's thick chassis while the silverette continuously thought of some solution that would benefit them in this hopeless situation. How could she turn an undefeatable enemy into a vulnerable target? What was this thing's Achilles heel? Could she really do as she promised? Would she... die?
"Get down!" Sora tackled W under him; the second he did so, Kranon's claws peeled by their heels, the abused screaming metal torn from the environment made her ears bleed. Pushing off of Sora, the two of them stared back at Astra, the new Lord of Cinder, high in the air as that golden wave of code swept under her, followed by two lasers to her face and gut, knocking her down to the ring. "Astra!!"
Turning to look at the imposing Vex, it finally struck W what she had to do, lifting herself, the image replaying on a loop in her head. "That's it..." It was right there this whole time - no, before he even became this incarnate of another race of Vex, it was right there, and Cinder gave it away. "It's Center... is in the Rupture itself." Her words didn't quite register to Sora before he saw that same, pained smile on her face. "...for Cinder."
"W...? Aoi...?" She shook her head, giving him one last salute before spitting straight toward Kranon. "AOI!!"
Sprinting under lazers was the easy part as the large hand flattened the ground W once stood on, using the arm as leverage onto a small platform that had displaced into the area, hooking her fingertips against its surface, she vaulted up and slid down the slope, hoping to the next small segment then another before she dove headfirst between the intercepting arms' fingers and through the Rupture. The second she did, her whole world inverted and was pulled through the eye of a needle.
"Yaaah - ow!" Her face smooshed against the black surface of the Rupture. Surrounding her was nothing though a strange atmospheric glow illuminated her blank environment. There was absolutely nothing but emptiness, that, and many tears in and around the darkness held static images of many worlds, some far less colourful than others. "Woah..." Picking up her launcher, she turned to the only other person in this place, glaring back at the one-eyed human. "Tch, figures you're an emo."
"Humourous, aren't you?" Kranon mused, motioning to the images. "Yes, these are worlds I have since left behind, some thrive and others... well, I already told you of my cursed hunger."
"You devoured worlds, no wonder you were locked away." W huffed, holding her ground and her glare. "You stole from more than just a bunch of assholes; you started taking any world you saw fit to steal. Displaced from, good or bad, you're just a monster desperate for power."
"Aren't you?" He recited off the top of his head, seeing her eyes twitch. "The moment you picked up that scarf, you wondered how much more fulfilling your life could be with W's strength, her charisma, tch, her assets compared to your lacking fleshbag of a body - you are no different from anyone wishing for power. Me? I simply cannot and do not wish to stop anymore," He lifted his arm wide. "If my creators wished for me to be a Gatekeeper to other worlds, I deserve compensation!"
He kept pressing his point; gravity itself trembled. "Why do you continue to fight for them? Sure, the ones I manipulated were victims who followed complacently; why fight for them? Why trust them to keep their word if by some miracle you succeed?" He saw it, W was hesitant to answer. "I wouldn't blame you to simply 'perish due to heroics' to escape; they are... a primate form of humanity, even I wouldn't tolerate their incompetence compared to your kind's."
W knew why she was here; her silence wasn't out of hesitance of their paper-thin loyalty; no, she knew why she jumped into the monster's jaws. "I'm not here for them; I'm here for myself, my friends, and my family, so who cares if they die by the dozens, I certainly won't shed a tear." Drawing up her launcher, W glared. "And what right do you have to spout that crap? All you want is to get back at a kid that bested you by destroying entire populations!"
"A few worlds can be replaced in mere nanoseconds, girl, who will miss a few lost souls? Death?" He scoffed. "So long as the balance is kept, he could care less what happened to billions of lives!" He threw his arm forward as though to catch W's face between his fingers. "No one will miss your world or Equestria, just another two specks of sand in a desert." Venom dripped from his tone, never once leaving her ember's smouldering gaze.
"Every life is precious, you don't care for anyone else but yourself," W murmured breathlessly, finger sliding to her trigger. "So trust me-" Raising her sights, she readied for one final fight. "-no one will miss you."
Kranon sneered, lifting his hand as flames spurting from the skin like sweat, the air crackling with stray bolts of orange in the dark. "I still have one little trick," His eyes lost all sense of emotion, mutating similarly to W's, blazing like a red sun, and a ring of fire expanded outward from a dome of searing heat, blowing W backwards, the abyss ignited in a ring around them both. "That world you love so much, and yet, you never could defeat Her."
Realization dawned, the familiar fabric stretched in the darkness, vibrant and blood-red. "Shit..." Lifting her launcher and another mine, W stood against a living dragon taken human form.
In place of the possessed farmhand was now a woman with black horns jutting from her head, tipped red. Her hair short grey curls fading light red. She wore a ruined, onyx dress with a white undershirt under a black blouse, the hem of the dress crackling shades of dark embers, a torn armband fluttering behind her near a scaly tail. Clasped in her right hand was a black longsword as it burst with a column of fire stretching toward W in a wide arc: the Deathless Black Snake, Talulah.
She evaded it, feeling her eyes sting from the intense aura surrounding the faux Draco as Kranon swiped again, relating a torrent of rising flames from the ground, catching W's leg while she swept it aside, firing a grenade while tossing the mine. Both explosives struck the flaming sword, knocking Kranon back, his very feet infecting the black earth with molten webs. "Still distracting..." He muttered, clutching a flame in his left, igniting a column to W's left; she dived, rolling away to backhand the sword with her launcher, tossing two grenades with a scoff.
"Guess you can't fight us on two front - gah!" The blade sliced across her left forearm, almost digging deep enough to sever it had W not blown a sizable blast in Kranon's face, seeing him grunt and retreat, face singed while her arm bled and cauterized. That made her brow quirk. "He's avoiding me? No... he has to!" It hit her like a brick. "If he really had a copy of Talulah's strength, I'd be an ashen stain by now, and he keeps blocking my explosives, he's... fallible."
Molten strokes of light split the abyss, forcing W to roll and sprint in a curve, leaping over the fiery slants from afar, propelling her own explosive ordinance across the gap; sadly, most missed or were cut mid-flight. Changing her gameplan, W kicked a smoke grenade under the flames, spraying the plume wide, giving her a split second to avoid the arc that banished the smokescreen, revealing the several landmines and the detonator in her palm. "Boom!"
The three plastic explosives lit the void in a powerful glow, the kinetic energy sending shrapnel across the battlefield, slicing Kranon as he shielded his chest, shards prodding his fleshy cage. Through grit teeth, flames roared and simmered, the accents of red turning cherry in hue.
"I have had enough of your interference, Aoi!" He snarled, unleashing several large waves of fireballs, completely cutting any chance of evasion. So W stood her ground, wrapping her tail around her waist while ripping the last belt from under her jacket, a line of grenades for her launcher. The first made an audible 'thunk' blowing the first fireball to embers, loading another with a slap she dispelled the second, waves of blinding heat rippling past her sides. "Why... won't... you... DIE!?"
"Cause-!" Another blast, she stepped forward. "-I'm not-!" The final avalanche of flames was blown away, W's devil-like form stepping through the lingering flames toward the faux Talulah. "-a bitch!"
Curling her left arm back, she brought across the face of the descending blade, striking Kranon across the cheeks as his illusion of Talulah shattered, the blade slicing across W's arm. Still, her scream of defiance kept her fist moving forward until she knocked the Draco on her ass. "Hah... and for the record..." W glared, loading the last grenade of the belt. "...I just used Thorns to beat her."
Taking up the sword once more, Kranon lunged, a wave of flames rising with the edge, severing a few strands of silver while W swivelled under the strike to gut=punch more of the illusion off Kranon's skin, the shocked half-expression on both faces turning to disgust. He doubled back, slashing left while W dipped her head back, slinging her launcher in favour of throwing punch after punch against the face of the searing blade, which in reality, was the old one strapped to his waist. One taut right hook broke the illusion, parrying the flames and knocking Kranon against an invisible wall in time to see the muzzle pointed in his direction.
"Alright, Houdini," W huffed, "It ends, so spare me the monologue and go back to being a legend." One strike, just one more, and it was over!
There was silence, say for their laboured breathing, or, until he smiled, the last of Talulah's shell shattering.
"Did you forget who gave you that scarf?" With one curl of his fingers, W's body suddenly pulled, dropping her line of sight.
Wracked with pain in her stomach, as forced her down to her knees, clutching her stomach as a dark purple liquid was coughed up in placement of blood, tasting like oil. "Without all that power, you are nothing more than a defenceless child playing pretend - wake up as the farmboy did and see how reality can be cold." A shuddering force knocked W backward, losing her launcher and duffle bag.
"I...!" Her voice hitched once she saw that her jacket was no longer as high quality as before, replaced solely by the red jacket she wore to the convention. Her plain black shirt with a fancy skull stitched into its surface visible. Her jeans were still ripped, and her black and red trainers dirty and covered in smudges from lack of proper care.
Her arms, no, her whole body was skinnier, lacking W's toned, defined body and curves; even her bust was half its size again. Feeling her hair dangling by her shoulders, she ran her fingers through it; gone were the wilder hair, longer at the back with only her bangs curly and unkempt with chocolate-brown eyes. W was no more, instead, just the normal, bland... Aoi. Out of instinct, Aoi reached for the top of her head, even her temples desperately to find her horns and antenna were missing, including her tail. Every inch of her body was no longer the one she was stuck with, but it felt as though Kranon tore a piece of her forever.
"I'm W now, who I am before doesn't matt-"
"I think it matters," Sora added quickly. "If... if the person you were before didn't matter, then how come you're here?
"Just because you're in pain doesn't mean I feel the same way - I am, but I want to know why too, why I'm here, why you and Sora are here," Astra continued, waving her hoof wide, stomping it once with a huff, her eyes matching the same fire that would adorn W's. "We don't have answers, but we still made it this far anyway, even if I'm still useless, even though you've been hurt, we've been in bad situations before, but that was fine because we did it our way."
"Good luck, my friend."
That last faint echo felt as though it brushed against her ear. Shaken, Aoi curled her fingers against the blank ground, bitterness fading away.
"It's funny, strip away a person's power and what is left underneath? Nothing," Kranon sneered, receiving no shred of backlash from the defeated girl. She was simply lost. His eye narrowed, biting back a snarl of disappointment. "Just a weak, pathetic human," With another pulse of invisible force, Aoi and her weapons were tossed back, the girl rolling onto her side. "Let the last moments of your life be as they always have been, for nothing."
His hand rose, dripping with purple magic like flames only for his face to hesitate, lowering his hand slightly. Aoi pushed up slowly, fingers curled around her bag's strap and her grenade launcher, the former a little difficult to balance at first against her back, but she managed quickly. Her head was low, loading a new grenade with a sharp flick of the barrel.
"It wasn't for nothing," Aoi muttered, lifting her head to brush aside her bangs, staring hatefully toward the abomination of a God. "I may not be some flashy hero or have some pre-written destiny set out for me, but I'm fine with that because I led myself here, my choices not yours!" She screamed, raising her sights to the scarred and weakened Vex. "Whether or not I'm a Mercenary or a student - Aoi or W - I am whoever I chose to be!" As Aoi took a step forward, Kranon swore those disgusting, emerald eyes were looking back at him that day, that seal etched into their hand. "If I fail, then it was all for nothing; my choices were for nothing!"
Hidden in her chocolate-brown eyes was a faint blemish of fire burning in her irises. "Ignorant mongrel!" With a swipe of his arm, a large black void with a white edge tore through the space between them only to be blown away by a grenade as Aoi winced, holding her launcher in both hands to handle the recoil as she loaded another, sprinting in a wide circle toward the Vex. "I'll ensure to erase every existing parallel of you!"
Her eyes remained focused and unchanged, watching how the energy gathered to a tip against his fingers. "He can't use anything else but his Ruptures now, there's nothing to draw power from, and my weapons are still here?" Looking around briefly as she rolled under another dark sabre of distortion, blast the ground ahead of her to blind Kranon to her movements. "No... my body is still here, somewhere in this place, so maybe if I can get him to the Rupture..." Glancing back at the scar that left to Equestria, Aoi had now formed a plan.
"I have spent COUNTLESS eons awaiting my escape!" Kranon shrieked, the gathered distortion travelling like a jagged riptide toward Aoi, who fished around in her duffle bag. "I refuse to be starved a second time!" He continued to gather and materialize waves of distortion between his fingers
Aoi tossed forth several charges of C4, running away from the approaching waves to detonate them all in a large inferno of white and orange, seeing Kranon's furious gaze through the simmering flames. Rushing in a b-line once the flames died, she pounced over another wave, feeling something painfully sharp release the blood from her left shoulder, her body tumbling across the darkness, a large gash staining her clothing a deeper shade of red. Gasping, she bowed her head under another wave, a few strands of hair vaporized until she pulled the trigger on another payload, blinding Kranon, who stood only a few meters away.
Her arm seized up, but it wasn't broken yet, so she refused to stop now. The moment Aoi stood up to sprint, she had to quickly guard her chest with her launcher, the metal peeling at her eardrums as that old, reflective sword of Kranon's recoiled off the thick barrel. Reacting immediately, Aoi swung the muzzle to her right, backhanding Kranon while yanking her hand free of her bag to drop a mine between them, herself rolling away while scrambling to push the detonator, feeling the head rush through her clothing and toss her into a short tumble.
Kranon shook off the ringing in his ears, readying his sword for her next- "What are you-?" A petite fist creased against his cheek, drawing blood from his lesser marred side as he felt his vision cloud with the sight of his machine form in Equestria continuing to struggle in defeating a half-human-pony child and the Aasmiar.
"HYRAAA-" Aoi's face twisted with fury, taking the edge of the sword across her cheek as she angled herself to embed her knee into his side, tackling Kranon through the Rupture with a heartfelt cry his own barely resembling that of a human, his hand unable to touch her face to tear her head off its shoulder before both felt the excruciating sensation of being squeezed to a fine point. "-AAAH!!"
Dark skies were surrounding Aoi and Kranon as the pair fell far over the rings and displacing structures. His human form melded into the Rupture, exposing his valuable form against the large, wailing machine as it lost its momentum, steadily descending above Aoi, reaching for her with a large hand. Her form was starting to reverse, hair a mesh of long and short locks while one horn appeared from her right temple, eyes a merge of hazel and ember-orange, one pupil the shape of a demonic cross.
Her tail had returned, and parts of her clothing began to change, infused with lingering red sparks where two edges collided. The air screamed in her ears as her tail disconnected the clip of her duffle bag, body slamming against the wrist of the arm as she rolled across the length of the metal limb, leaping until she had her fingers digging into the human Kranon's cheeks, shoving her duffle bag against his chest with one final stare into his eye, fear and fury intertwined. "Weren't you listening to me-!?"
Kicking him rightfully between the legs to escape the thresh of the left arm of the Vex, W raised her sights a final time to her bag, sighing out a grieving breath for her infinite storage, but her finger squeezed the trigger, knowing what had to be done now. With her eyes to the Collapse Dragon flailing toward her, she smirked, eyes on fire. "-Don't fuck around with a Sarkaz Mercenary."
*Thunk!*
One final grenade left the muzzle with a flash, piercing the bag with a massive flash and almost inaudible reverberation in the air, the massive faux variation of the Vex Collective was consumed in a tremendous flash of gold, scarring the Catastrophe like a star, the sonic boom striking W in the gut as her body spun a few times through the air, her ears ringing. In contrast, the last shred of Kranon was consumed by fire and a series of smaller eruptions across his metal body.
As her vision began to cloud, a dark figure closed in with a hand reaching toward her face, their body obscured by the death of a Vex.
...
...
...
"...hrm," W stirred on the ground, her head propped against Sora's lap as her body shot up on reflex, reaching for her weapon. "Wait, where's-!"
"Hey, wait-wait-wait, it's fine, it's over," He assured the Sarkaz as she sat up in his arms, feeling a little better with them pressed to her shoulders. "You were only out for about a minute, give or take."
"It was deafening too," Astra was glued to W's hip, her body no longer human much to her disappointment, but she retained Cinder's armour, taking off the helmet to free her mane again. "I... I thought you were... w-when you went into the Rupture."
W ruffled her ears quickly with a wink. "Like I said many times, it'll take more than that to kill me," Although she decided to withhold how she basically fought, said Vex with only her normal body and equipment that left her arms buckling and possibly sprained. She still held the injuries from that fight too. Groaning, W leaned against Sora's chest. "I think I broke a rib or two... and my shoulder's numb."
"Idiot," His hand struck her forehead, and while she couldn't see his face, she knew he was probably worried sick. So, without allowing him to start his heartfelt rant, she lifted her tail to wipe away a stray tear on his face.
"I know, but if I stopped being reckless, what kind of an idiot would that make me?" She mused, eyes blinking wide a moment later, lifting her head to Astra, who was running her hoof over the helmet. "Astra... he's..." W bit her lip, antenna curled down as she struggled to get the words out. She let out a pained chuff with a smile, growing a little misty-eyed for the smartass Hollow. "...he left his power with a good head on their shoulders." That caused the filly to smile through her tears, leaning against W's side as Sora rested his head on W's shoulder, herself shaking out a breath.
As the three silently grieved for their fallen friend, W noticed that the skies were clearing away for a golden ceiling, the sun itself starting to set after being stuck in its perpetual state. With the Catastrophe dissipating, all that was left were many destroyed buildings, dark rocks jutting from the earth like rotten thorns. Just short of half a dozen meters from their spot on the ground were the large remains of Kranon's faux Vex form, the Destiny kind, not his term as W had to keep reminding herself.
The machine was a mere death pile of torn metal and wires, yet a light emanated from the wreckage. Her flabbergasted state eventually drew Sora and Astra's eyes to the glowing machine. From under the arms and lifeless wings sprung many colourful motes of light, similar to snowfall. A vast array of colours dazzled the trio, sailing off into the sky to fade into nothing.
"What... is this?" W murmured, eyeing Astra for a moment.
"It's them... all the spirits Kranon consumed," She smiled a little warmly for the motes of light dancing through the sky, a resonating sensation of freedom and jubilation shared amongst even those that had harmed their worlds. "They're free."
"Look...!" Sora pointed toward the one hovering by the shredded head of the machine, a familiar sword clasped in an astral hand. The mote expanded into a person with a young appearance, clothing fitting for a farmhand. At the same time, he brushed a few stray bangs from his green eyes that focused on W in particular, smiling fondly at the woman with a small tilt of his head, resting the tip of the sword into the soil before him.
"Thank you..." He looked up at the other motes with a short breath, looking back at her. "From all of us."
Without much else to say, W smiled stupidly, waving her hand shortly. "Anytime, Farmboy." She couldn't resist as he retained a peaceful smile, fading away like all the others.
Kranon the Collapse Dragon and the Farmhand that sealed him away... were gone.
Somewhere under Hollow Shades...
Gambit lightly flicked the King off the chessboard with a satisfying 'clatter' of wood. In its place was his Queen, the Renegade. The Renegade's own men were to the left and right, a Rook, the Aasimar, and the Bishop, a Silver Warrior. His game was filled with many close turns and compelling routes toward numerous ends. One might say that is chess in its entirety, well, a normal game of chess, that is.
For Gambit, he could envision the countless scenarios, paint pretty pictures of triumph and failure; all had their motives, but this one was as he anticipated since the little silverette’s arrival as a mercenary. One piece, in particular, was played with his fingers, eyeing the Knight represented by a ruined knight, a faint crackling of embers lingering on the piece. His eyes narrowed as he sat the piece off the board again, seeing the embers vanish only to appear on the Silver Warrior.
With a flick of his wrist, he procured the silent, burning black flame with a distinct white glow to its form. It wasn't hot, nor was it ice-cold, just a dead, empty thing. "Well, what a fun game this has been, Kaid, oh yes, what fun it was..." With a satisfied grin, Gambit caused the flame to vanish, leaving his concluded chessboard behind.
Construction was underway for another day that week. Canterlot was still in quite a terrible state of disrepair long after the Catastrophe had vanished with the death of its creator. The worst were the streets caught in Pompeii's path, many of the Guard and construction workers tasked to clear the rubble and ash that remained of dozens of buildings. It wasn't pretty, and Canterlot would struggle to get back on track for a few months, but most if not every citizen was safe, many injured, severely or otherwise, but safe regardless.
The worst part were the large blades of black material sticking out of the ground in many locations. Those points were quarantined until the rocks could be removed to reduce any unnecessary safety hazards and keep ponies from becoming infected with Oripathy due to the formation of familiar, semi-opaque black crystals, Originium.
Inside Canterlot Castle itself, one garden decorated with many statues depicting many historical moments had one visitor that day. Bearing a ruined suit of armour that looked as though it would fall apart with a simple breeze stood as sturdy as any other metal forged into armour. Astra Lumi finished brushing her hooves through a small dirt plot, checking her work slowly with the many decorative flowers she planted in the bed.
Looking up, she admired the smooth stone carved in such short notice, Robin's sword forever fixed into the slanted slab on the front of the burial slab. Trotting around to the slab, she sat on her haunches and put her forehooves together with her eyes closed, feeling a warm breeze brush through her mane while silently praying to the statue. "I'll do my best."
"Don't try too hard, or you'll start sounding like him too," The voice broke the girl's trance to find the smug smile on another silverette's face. W chewed on an apple she 'procured' pointing down at Astra before hopping off the Statue of a Hydra, using its body as a slid to land on the ground. She closely admired the filly's handiwork with the flower bed, leaning down, surprising Astra when W placed her own rose on top of the plaque. "There! Perfect for a fanboy like him."
"What about Robin?" Astra inquired though W brushed off the filly's worry.
"Eh, he's probably into all the girly flowers too; guys usually hide that sorta thing," She joked, tapping her foot off Astra's leg while walking away. "Come on, 'bout time for the main event."
"Coming, Mama!" That was something W had to get used to hearing, the title causing her to almost trip on an uneven slab but smile like a giddy idiot all the same. Turning back to the memorial, she didn't say anything, offering a smile as she turned her head, waving behind her back as she left with Astra.
"Please don't do something needlessly reck - oh who am I kidding, you will." Sora sighed as W patted his head.
"Look who's learning," She cooed, pecking his cheek for good luck. "Trust me, I got this... been stuck in this damn place for a week, so I'd like to think I had this all planned out in my head by now."
"That's what worries me," Sora added as the trio pushed through the main doors to the throne room. Luna wasn't present since she needed her beauty sleep, so Celestia was present for the meeting. But it wasn't the Princess that was W's immediate concern; it was those turned toward their entrance that sparked a tempo in W's chest.
With a casual wave to her boyfriend's mother, W grinned lazily. "Hey, Celestia, sorry for the delay had to check up on an old friend." Very old and nerdy, in her opinion.
"No need to apologize, W; we weren't waiting long."
The rather informal manners exchanged between the two eventually sparked questions. Primarily from the purple unicorn herself, God W didn't miss her ugly mug. "U-um, Princess Celestia, why is it... she not - I-I mean she's-"
"Aw, did I just overthrow your spot as Celestia's favourite, Sparkle Butt? My bad," W relished the sight of Twilight's face burning with embarrassment and rage. "Let's not beat around the bush, ladies - and Spike, can't forget the main drake." Said dragon just perked up and waved shyly. "Lovely as always, now-now, let's hear it, all four of you in particular."
"W, are ya sure this is righ'?" Applejack quickly suggested, allowing Fluttershy to hide behind her form, clearly still unnerved by W's appearance. But the farm pony saw it, the lack of empathy in the woman's gaze.
"I'm sorry? But you seriously think that I'm going to brush aside all the crap you all put me through?" W paced, listing off all her memories bitterly. "Dash's short-tempered personality left me with many bruises, cuts, and aching muscles for days at a time, Applejack, while you didn't do much, you still did your fair share of damage to me, Rarity with her destructive comments about my looks and occasion telepathic slam into nearby trees," She looked down at her hooves as W said this, Dash didn't say a word. "Pinkie... need I say more?" Even the bubbly mare didn't look all that springy.
"And You," W brought her hands down toward Twilight, who kept her wary eyes on W and her strained smile. "Where do I even start with every single microsecond I spent around you. Injuries, lies, manipulation, hurting Astra," That part, in particular, caused W's tail to thresh sharply. Her finger then poised down at her boots. "Kranon manipulated you all, but those days still hurt, and I want to hear it, so get on your knees and beg, now."
Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle all knelt at W's sight, heads low as the sight gave her a wave of notification, recalling how she was beaten into the mud, forced into magic chains that burned at her skin. The sight of ponies wishing her locked up or dead, some not bothering to hear her cries to listen. It was the worst moments of her life, and yet... she met Astra, found a guy that... accepted her flaws, and while it was short, she found a rival who acknowledged not W's strength, but Aoi's. She had found what she was looking for.
"Nothing we say can undo what we did, and we know it was wrong... please forgive us... forgive me," Twilight croaked up; she was terrified that W would lift her launcher and just blow them to pieces there and then. One of the silverette's scenarios was where she finally snapped with her Arts or left Canterlot to burn. But that would make her no different than Kranon; she would have learned nothing.
With a smirk, W sighed with a great and long stretch, patting her hips. "Ahh... that felt great," W beamed, turning around while giving the room a wave. "Well! I got what I needed, I forgive ya, but-" She stopped the four from looking to happy amongst themselves, pointing a red nail at them all, eyes blazing hot. "I will never trust any of you again; in fact, I hope someday that village of yours burns to the ground, and I hope I never have to see any of you ever again, especially you, Twilight Sparkle," W shouted over to Celestia, the mare relaxing in her throne after the tension aired out with that clear warning. "Celestia, my compensation's been sent to Courier, right?"
"It took time given the transactions toward businesses and reconstruction of Canterlot, but yes, he has recently received the allotted sum you requested," The alicorn assured W, who stared for one last moment before shrugged, tugging her new duffle bag over her shoulder, giving the Monarch the same backward wave.
"Tch, woman of her word at least - seeya around, Princess," Her farewell was brief, but she had places to be, motioning to Astra and Sora. "You two coming?"
"Excuse me, W..." She paused, turning back before exiting the doorway. The Monarch looked... timid. "I'm sorry to bother you again, but... can you promise me something, as a Mother?"
"Mom?" Sora murmured from his spot, looking up at the vacant throne as Celestia appeared before her subjects and son with a heartfelt expression; Astra could feel it; dread and sorrow were welling up since they arrived today.
"And that is?" W asked, not realizing the same, golden motes of light started to appear around her; the last they did, she was whisked away to Equestria. "Huh? What the hell?" Her star-struck face forced her arms to scatter the light, noticing the same began to appear around Sora and Astra. "Sun-Butt... want to explain this?"
She... just smiled, "W, I cannot begin to thank you, not only for saving my kingdom but for saving this young filly," Her hoof motioned to Astra, her eyes wide with wonder at the twinkling lights. "And, for giving my sweet little boy a chance to be happier when... he's gone." Her voice hitched.
"Wait, w-what's...?" Then Celestia trotted up to his side, smiling warmly upon his frightened expression. "No... n-no, I'm..." The revelation finally slammed into W, her own heart quaking alongside the confused state Astra was left in.
"Oh, Sora..." Celestia slowly pulled her son, human or not; she loved him dearly. "I know, but without Kranon, there is no longer anything maintaining your presence in this world," It hurt so much, it was unbearable to think about, but no spell in Equestria could stop this. Celestia... was powerless.
Lowering his hand, he almost turned around, unable to look up at his mother had something blunt not rattled off the top of his head. "Ack - why!?" He cried down at the crimson guard before him.
Cliffheart wore a knowing smile, tossing Sora his twin swords, watching the Prince stumble to catch them against his chest. "Don't make this a sob story already; somepony needs to keep that Beast of the Everfree out of trouble, better you than a Royal Guard." He chuckled, standing by his Prince, his friend, one last time as the motes gathered.
"You'll miss me!" W grinned snarkily. Unknown to her, she was correct. Cliffheart watched as the greatest hunt of his life slowly began to fade away to nothing alongside Cinder's new Flame, sword clutched to her side protectively.
"Cinder... gave a lot for all of us, and that filly needs proper training with a sword that I doubt W can provide in her world."
"But what about-" The bo-staff cut him off pointed at his nose.
"Prince Sora, I think Canterlot can survive with one less pony slash person for the foreseeable future, it'll be tough, sure, but we'll manage," Cliffheart gave a wink and patted the Aasimar's leg. "I mean, Captain Armor bailed to the Crystal Empire and left me in charge, and hey, things are still running smoothly regardless, no?" He waved his hooves wide at the lack of ruins surrounding them. He did have a valid point. "But as a cherry on top, really want some stallion back home hittin' on your girl?"
"What was that last part?" W demanded, not quite catching it as she choked on a mote of light. "Ack, ugh, taste like copper!"
That final straw broke the camel's back as Sora attached his scabbards to his belt, "...I hate Swift so much right now," Then he faltered. "But... Mom I..."
Celestia nuzzled her son's forehead, eyes gentle and kind, holding back tears like her sister behind her. "You will always be loved in this world, and I will never forget that, nor will my subjects," She bowed her head toward Astra and W. "And I will never forget you both either - my promise... is to take care of my little prince."
W was monotone, feeling very conflicted on returning home, but that was her fear, wasn't it? To be normal again, that issue was dissolved at the memories of her time in Equestria; she fought against Infected, the kingdom at her back, and against an abomination of the Gods themselves. What was a normal life compared to that? She perked up with a fanged smile; tail whipped around to salute. "Have my word; I'll keep him in line once I find him again." And she would most certainly search the ends of the earth for this dork.
"W," Twilight found her voice, looking conflicted as her eyes met the Mercenary. "I know it might not mean much but, I am... so sorry."
"You already apologized, idiot," W chuffed, scratching her nape. "Want a lesson, then let ol' W enlighten you," Lifting her eyes around the many characters she's met, good, bad, and conflicted alike. "A show I watched taught me something important; 'The single quality that is common across every living creature on this planet... is fear'," Eyes lit up at her words. "It's the enemy of trust, and those that know to use it will manipulate the truth to suit their needs, to overcome fear you have to trust, to take a risk against what your fears are telling you - Sora learned that with me, I learned that with them, and... Cinder sacrificed everything to preserve it,"
With the light growing around her, W smiled genuinely, "Just... keep an open mind about others like us, 'kay?"
The Princess smiled, tears sprung from her eyes. "I will... thank you."
Through the motes of light, W clutched her duffle bag tightly; it was... over. Astra hugged her legs; Sora embraced his Mom and best friend one last time as the Elements teared up themselves. It wasn't a fair solution, but... at least neither side would be alone. "I'm coming home... W, goodbye." Were W's last words to the magical, vibrant world of Equestria, a weight like no other lifting away.
"I love you, I always will," Sora murmured into Celestia's chest, Cliffheart just rubbing his Prince's back in circles, keeping his smile regardless of how he felt.
"I love you too, sweetie."
"'Till next time; You were a fine Prince, Sora."
*Shatter!*
...
...
...
...
...
Then there was nothing...
...
...
...
...
"Ah!" Aoi stumbled back into an empty stall, grabbing her chest tightly with sweat trickling down her face. The crowd was boisterous, as to be expected from a convention. It took her several seconds to realize she wasn't dead or floating in an abyss like before. No, she was back; Without an ounce of shame, she unzipped her jacket, an average bust greeting her under a skull T-shirt. Even her body lacked it - wait, "Well, there's a positive." Her body retained its toned form, something she wouldn't be giving up easily.
She continued to prod at her skin, no horns, tail, or antenna; she was effectively human again. One new addition did strike her with a mini-heart attack, the fact the torn scarf of the mercenary she was before still hugged her neck. Almost on instinct, she wanted to rip it and throw it away. Her fingers were taut a moment before sighing, leaving it in place.
Aoi smiled slightly, realizing she was rested against the old stall of the Merchant's, now it sat vacant and devoid of life. With a hand pressed to her eyes, she let out a shaky breath. "Guess I'm back - how's that for a nobody, Kranon?" And the world would never know she saved their asses; now that was tragic. Then she shot up. "Oh crap, Astra!" No longer wallowing in her own self-pity, Aoi shot her eyes around the stalls, even behind the Merchant's, for any indication of a coiled sword or a little girl with silver eyes. "Crap-Crap-Crap!" "How did I forget that!? But wait, if I can't find her, then does that mean she's back in..." Shaking that harrowing idea from her thinking, Aoi tucked her scarf closer. "Mercenary's job is never done."
Aoi shot into the crowd with a newfound purpose, putting her tricks as W to the absolute test. She lacked her stronger abilities, but she was still W deep down. Once at a crossroads, she started asking people. "Hey, any of you seen a little girl with silver eyes?" The first pair shook their heads. "Oi, seen a girl around eight-to-ten, has white hair like mine?"
"No, sorry," Dammit!
Again and again, her questions bore no fruit; she was without intel. Normally, Aoi would panic; instead, it only poured more fuel into her eyes. Spotting a box, she slipped through the crowd to gain a better point of view. Hands to her cheeks, she called out. "Astra!? Astra, you hear me, kid!?" Some gave Aoi a few odd looks, ones she glared down at. "What? Got something to say?" They shook their heads, not wanting to anger the girl further. "Come on, Astra... where the hell are you?" Biting her lip, she leapt over a few heads, continuing her search on foot.
On-and-one, she investigated, unsure if Astra would even be here, let alone in the same country. Without realizing it, someone bumped into her, the two jolting back. "Wha? O-oh, Aoi," No way... Had today not already thrown the once Mercenary's head through a loop, the familiar voice that felt so lost to her made the whitette's heart skip. It was Jaye, the guy with faux-brown curly hair and blue eyes. "Huh, that's a nice scarf; it looks expensive."
"Hey, Aoi, you've been gone for like... very long; we were getting worried," The girl who was normally the timid one beamed, Alice with her shoulder-length blonde hair and emerald eyes, even freckles like a certain Fly-Boy she knew. "Yeah, you know, red and black really does suit yo - huh? Eh?"
"You guys..." Without thinking about it, Aoi pulled the two against her shoulders, hugging them tightly with a shaken breath. A faint smile splitting her lips. Aoi wanted to say so much, tell them so much, but her worries came first, for Astra's sake. "Sorry, just..." Pulling away, leaving the pair worried and confused for their introvert friend, then seeing her eyes burning with determination. "I need your help right now, I... I need to find a girl, eight years old, has hair like mine and silver eyes - hell, she's probably lugging around a coiled sword too."
"That's... oddly specific?" Alice murmured, patting Aoi's shoulder. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"Nothing important; we need to find Astra," Aoi affirmed, waving her hand. "And no one else here is useful besides you two, so please, help me."
Jaye was the first to step forward. "Anytime we're friends, comes with the territory." Why did he suddenly remind Aoi of a certain annoying hunter in the Royal Guard?
"Sure thing, Captain," She found herself chiming before splitting from their sides. "I'll search north; you guys take west and east, then converge!"
"Got it!" They complied with her frantic orders.
Minutes passed, the trio divided but communing through text constantly, asking people and security for any sign of the lost girl.
On the hunt for a wayward child, W kept sprinting through the crowd, ignoring their complaints while she entered the central building, the crowds packed but dispersing near the back end. Up above to her left was Alice waving her arms down at Aoi, pointing toward her northeast. With a salute, she took off, diving over seats and slipping between people in her way. If she followed the route, she'd enter the quieter place nearest the entrance; everyone packed into the smaller sections of the convention.
A sharp while caught her ears; she swore invisible antennas twitched. Again, upon the level above directly above her, Jaye smirked, waving toward the northwest, toward a line of pillars facing the massive glass wall where the entrance was, people flooded in and out of the facility. Taking his instructions, she sped off, eyes snapping around at the many groups and individuals in haste. Somewhere, Astra was here, Aoi could feel it, W knew it. Both wouldn't stop trying.
"W...?" Her feet screeched to a halt, turning sharply to her right nearest the last pillar. Had shock not already riddled her mind, this might have knocked her out faster than Kranon ever could muster. "I can't feel her aura..." She murmured.
A girl no older than eight stumbled around with a coiled blade clutched between her hands tightly. She wore a black skirt with striped leggings and black shoes with decorative embers on the straps. Her shirt was white with the symbol of a decorative pony in armour, akin to Cinder himself. Her sleeves rolled up. Her hair was only a few inches shorter than Aoi's, the bangs clipped with another ember pendant, revealing those lost, dazzling silver eyes and rosy cheeks.
"..." Aoi couldn't hold back a few misty tears, shaking them away to approach the girl slowly, hand to her hip. "Why is it you always make me worry, kid?" Her voice broke a little.
Astra gasped and shot her head forward upon hearing Aoi's voice, eyes brimming with her own tears at the different but familiar grin stretching over their face. "M-mama...?" Now that finally pushed Aoi into moving a little faster, meeting the filly-turned-human halfway as she was tackled into a hug. "I-I-I'm s-sorry!" She muttered into Aoi's shirt, the ex-merc wrapping her arms around the Lord of Cinder.
"Shh, it's fine... found ya, didn't I?" She whispered, stroking the frightened girl's head gently, relief flooding her form while tapping her forehead to the Seer's. "It's okay; we're here..."
That drew the teary-eyed girl back. "I-Is Sora here?" Sadly, Aoi shook her head. "Oh..."
A flick to the nose cut off that notion quickly, Aoi's friends behind her. "Hey now, since when has a little inconvenience ever stopped us? Knowing that idiot, he'll find some magical way of crawling back like a lost puppy." Her laughter made Astra pout.
"That's still not nice..."
"Who said I ever was, kid?" Ruffling Astra's hair, she beamed. "Look at that, now we match!"
"So... who is this girl?" Alice asked, cooing at the sight of the timid child clutching to Aoi's jacket. "She's so cute~!"
That drew the pair's eyes, looking for an answer in silence. Astra could see it though, Aoi was spiralling downward in fright, worry, anxiety, and so much more. "U-um, will they believe us?" She murmured to Aoi's ear.
"Alice? Probably not. Jaye? Dunno, kinda going through a blur if I'm honest," Aoi admitted, scratching her head. "Say, how much are you guys willing to believe if I told ya the truth? Or would you prefer a totally not made up story I'm currently thinking of off the top of my head?"
"Say, Aoi-" Jaye knelt, holding out a folded note. "Before we parted ways, you dropped this, I didn't read it, but I thought I'd wait 'till we met up again." He smiled, handing it back.
"I never had this from Equestria?" Shrugging, Astra sat on Aoi's lap, her friends circling close to read whatever was inside in... particular font. "What the hell...?"
Dear Mercenary, W, Aoi, whatever...
If I've played my cards right, this lovely little letter should've been handed to you from your friend, Jaye; I bet that's a head-scratcher, huh? I'll keep this brief; Since your little excursion against Kranon was very successful, and I'm furrowly entertained, I found it within myself to allow you, Sora, and little Astra to keep your gifts, consider it a 'Quest Reward' for everything you've done - bet your friends are perplexed right now, I'm making lots of bets thus far.
Moving on! I do hope they prove to be valuable in the event Kranon's influence causes any... misinterpretations in the future, oh, and here's a little something extra, a bit of wisdom on my part.
You aren't someone special; you were just one in a million in a state of probability. You're alive; that's already special enough, don't you think?
Sincerely,
The amazingly talented Nightmare,
Gambit
"Bull, I'm calling bull," Alice flat out denied everything Aoi and Astra told them, changing the fact everyone was a magical talking pony; otherwise, there'd be no saving themselves. "So this Kranon guy up and kidnapped you-"
"That's a fancy way of saying, 'torment'," Aoi muttered from her seat at a cafe, cheek in hand.
"-so he could use you, Displaced as W, a guy who was an Aasimar, and another who's the Lord of Cinder, just so he could erase the body he was trapped in from time, effectively making it like he was never trapped, to begin with?" Alice summed up nicely.
"Add in the kingdom was after my head, Forsaken, Pompeii too with a nice little bow on top, and yeah, basically that," Aoi smirked, sipping her lemonade. "Ugh, I miss Hollow's beer..." It dawned on her she should've smuggled some back with her.
"Yep, BS, but a nice story," Alice smiled until Jaye rubbed his chin, looking intensely at Aoi and Astra, the latter eating a sandwich happily.
"I dunno, Aoi's... different," That quirked a few brows his way. "Like, don't get me wrong, sounds really stretched, really cool too, but Aoi... you've never been this... um?"
"Assy?" Alice guessed.
"Snarky?" Astra added.
"Oh sure, throw me under the bus, why don't you...?" Aoi grunted, turning with a pout.
"Exactly! N-not the name-calling part, but your personality just seems confident and outspoken," He smiled, nudging her shoulder to draw her steely gaze. "Regardless, you look like you've improved your self-confidence a lot."
Aoi just stared, processing that for the longest time. W had given her many opinions for how this journey of hers would end, abandon the world that did nothing but torment her, there were good moments, though, and she ultimately chose to help save it, not for Equestria, but them. Her parents and best friends, and now she had so much more. Strangely, she felt a ghost form of W's knuckle tap off the back of her head, disappearing with a sheen of the scarf in the sunlight.
She smiled, "Thanks..." It didn't matter if they believed her or not, she was happy, and out there, an Aasimar's head was spinning. "What now, though? If he's back at the same point I was then... he'll be younger than me." That alone dropped Aoi's spirits; she didn't care much for age gaps, but... this was definitely significant. "There's my luck again..."
"Still, this 'Sora' guy you talked about, he sounds like he's caught your eye; I'm shocked, you usually give this disgusting scowl as someone spat in your drink," Alice threw her hand to her heart.
Aoi deadpanned. "Seriously? I've been shot, stabbed, and hunted but me having a boyfriend is what sticks?" That made their eyes widen, Astra smiling slightly behind her sandwich while it dawned on Aoi, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Oh God, why did I say that...?"
"Aoi's got a boyfriend!? It's happening, Jaye!" Alice swung him back and forth while he looked pleasantly surprised. "Tell us everything, no details left unturned, you hear!" So everything Aoi said was gone, replaced with only Sora.
"I so didn't miss you, idiots," She smirked, Jaye and Alice returning the gesture until Aoi stood up and stretched, trying to bury the feeling in her chest that sabbed hotter than a knife. "Ah, nice day, and the convention's still on for like... another day after?"
"Hey, no side-stepping!" Alice huffed while Astra hopped to her feet, fixing the coiled sword to her back.
"So, where'd you like to start our new adventure, kid?" Astra had no idea what to expect from this world, but Aoi would ensure she got a taste of the best it had to offer, for her old parent's sakes.
"Um... mama?" She murmured, wanting to spare her parental figure from more endless questions from Miss. Alice. Astra's face brightened significantly; her semblance had caught someone approaching through the endless waves of emotions and colourful auras, defined by its gradient of blue that she memorized like Mr Mir's, Cinder's, and so many more she met in Equestria. She pointed forward, her chest curled tightly. "O-over there, look."
"Huh?" She tilted her head, inspecting people coming and going from the convention to either head into town or to the nearby hotels. "Uuh, not catching anything, kid - your Seer ability needs some fine tu - *gasp*" Her voice caught her throat, eyes broadened beyond the norm. Behind her, Alice and Jaye saw how Aoi stumbled in place, almost afraid she'd fall to her knees.
Someone lowered their phone, panting heavily from how far they ran, how hard their heart was pounding in their ears. It hurt so much, his whole body struggling to stand as he lifted his head. He wore a tan jacket with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, a blue shirt underneath with a splash effect. His black cargo pants dirty and worn. His shoes were no better; he looked like he ran through a forest.
His hair was a warm black, unkempt, and curly, with two soft, light blue eyes refracting off brown hesitant to meet his. The most noticeable feature were the freckles dotting his cheeks. "I... I... need to... know..." He coughed from the lack of air he had, wiping his brow. "That... sword... and scarf... I know... you... oh boy, I'm out of shape." He chuckled lightly, that stupid smile twisting at Aoi's heart again. "Found you, hehehe..."
"But... you were younger before, wouldn't time have passed since then?" Astra's inquiry the boy... Sora smiled, shaking his head.
"Yeah... that was a couple of years ago now," He held out a letter. "He... left me this, and everything was like I never left, heh, explaining time has never been my strong suit."
Several Years Ago...
"Huh?" A younger Sora, who, after a sobbing embrace with his Mom and Dad, frightening them quite a bit, noticed something sticking out of his bag where his item from the now-deceased Kranon laid. Raising a brow while ensuring no one was really around to peek, he pulled out-, "A note?"
Curious, he unfolded the parchment, eyes widened considerably at what was written.
Dear Prince Sora,
Surprised? Time is a fickled thing; if you're wondering about your little Mercenary and Silver Warrior, they aren't here, not yet; they both exist and don't exist as of current events. They will not appear in your time until you are of the age you first met, annoying, but I don't make the rules - hey, I tried it once, and that was... an experience - getting sidetracked, sorry, ahem!
Consider the item of your choice as a reward for dispatching that aggravating Vex and the notable title of slaying such a creature, imposing for a mortal. Listen, Aasimar; you have a headstart now; you could go on with your life, experience many things and forget your time in Equestria. Or, you can hold on to the good memories and wait for her - just some friendly advice from someone who has lived his life in a good memory for a long, long time.
P.S. I'd suggest looking close to home when the time comes, "wink-wink."
Sincerely,
The Amazingly talented Nightmare,
Gambit
"Sora? Sooora?" When he snapped from his daze, he noticed his Mom looking down t him with worry. "Are you okay, sweetie? What's that note for?"
"Um... nothing," His smile was soft, quickly wiping a few tears. His heart started to ache, knowing that... those closest to him were further from his reach. His adopted mother, Cliffheart, Cinder's grave, so many were pulled from his control, now, the reckless, stupid, hot-headed girl he couldn't rid from his head was among them, and a sweet little girl that looked up to him. "I'm just thinking how much fun I've had today!"
Present Day...
"...you're too dramatic, Fly-Boy..." Aoi muttered, lowering her head to the left. Compared to W, she felt... very lacking, I mean, he still looked freakin' handsome dammit! How could she compete? While suffering from her internal turmoil Sora managed to regain his motor functions, approaching the two, Astra smiling a little, Sora giving her a short nod of his head. "...why'd you rush here? Hell, how did you even find us?" Her frown was stern and wavering.
"Gambit," He shrugged, not beating around the bush with her. "He was... very creative with his wording; I honestly forgot a convention happened today until he reminded me; guess that confirmed the whole time dilation thing - it's making my head spin if I'm honest." He then glanced over at Alice and Jaye, giving him mixed looks. He became flustered, waving nervously. "Oh, um, sorry, h-hi."
Jaye then realized what was happening and grabbed Alice, pulling her away by the shoulders, feet dragging in protest. "We'll give you guys some space..."
"Oh, come on, Ja~ye~!" Alice whined, unable to see what was about to happen with Aoi's secret boyfriend.
Aoi refused to look up, so instead, Sora grabbed her chin to force her to look up, face reddening further. "I..." He flicked her nose, silencing her and whatever numerous questions she had, something she certainly didn't need now.
"Remember what I said, sure, might have been tipsy, but..." Taking a breath, knowing that he left a lot behind in Equestria, but in exchange, he could see his biological parents again, Astra... and... the girl he loves despite her serious attitude problem and many flaws, even after several years. "Whether or not you're a Sarkaz or I'm an Aasimar, we're still us on the surface," He brushed a few bangs from her face, seeing her eyes shaken with fright, "You're still amazing, with or without W's body or memories." Astra smiled at that, turning away to give them some privacy by the pavement, "Aoi... is the most amazing person I know - Does that answer your-"
Her fingers pressed to his lips, head low a moment in embarrassment, how easily the roles were reversed. "...you're still a dork... but.. c-can I..." Now she was choking on her own words like an idiot. "Just say it! You've already gone the whole way before; how is this hard!?" Taking some of W's courage, she lifted her eyes with a shaky smile. "Think you could remind me, Prince?"
"Not that you'd let me refuse," Sora whispered, leaning closer as their hearts raced uncontrollably. Their lips met, that fear they'd never cross paths again erased alongside their doubts as they pulled closer. Aoi bent her left leg to stand on her toes, needing to hoist herself a little more to reach his sweet lips further. His hand wrapped around her waist, holding her closer.
For Sora, he didn't know what to expect next. But he was more than willing to see where that uncertainty led. He waited long enough.
For Aoi, her heart was racing like any other day. She finally knew where she belonged. She was home.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐝
"Let me ask you — Do you know what it means to take up the blade of a fallen Sarkaz? Get rid of the shackles of common sense with the beats, joking about the disputes over the right and wrong within the chaos. The two of us, let's both try to survive."
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This is one hell of an end, having them return to earth like that? That's a really rare choice, but you did it well.
I approve. Good job, SilentSlender, this is one of the best stories I've read in a while. Thank you.
Meylin Messor.
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And I thank you for reading Renegade; it's been a lot of fun! Enjoy the epilogue tomorrow!
This only the 3rd displaced story that I've read where they get back home, and I've been reading these since before the group was founded.
My favorite part of this story was the interactions between the party.
Congrats on finishing the story.
10933313
I'm grateful to you, and everyone else for reading. I'm happy I got to wrap up this story for all of you
Loved it fly-boy~
Thank you for this great journey and all of these amazing characters. It was an epic conclusion with just the right amount of sappiness.
Love you Silent~
10934198
And thank you for continuing to support whatever crazy idea I come up with, it’s been one hell of a journey
This was really nice, Tis always rare to see a displaced with an actual ending
10941934
I aim to please! Happy to liked it!