Chapter Twenty-Five: Black Haze

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Sheena jumped forward and attacked the gleaming bird. It was larger than she’d originally anticipated—white wings stretched out as long as her body on both sides. She didn’t take the time to pause, knowing that she’d never get another shot at an opening attack. A torrent of cards flew into the bird’s wings, scattered in a random pattern. It faltered in the air, dipping one wing low. Sheena took her chance and leapt on the bird. With a burst of cards and a scream, she ripped into it, “Demon Seal!”

Raine was shortly behind the streaming ninja. She didn’t know how strong her spells would be against the bird, since light billowed out of it constantly. The professor slammed her staff into the bird’s talon with a might thwack! She was no martial artist, but she got the rush of joy from her attack. Maybe she should be on the front lines more often.

“Sheena, Raine, watch out!” Genis called from under his hiding place in the thicket. The ninja and the healer jumped off to the side, clearing the path to the bird. A blue glow erupted from Genis’ kendama, “Aqua Laser!” Water rose seamlessly out of the ground and slashed through the bird like a samurai’s blade. It reeled back in pain, annoyed by the pests on the ground.

The avian screeched, its entire body billowing with light. Its wings flexed, throwing themselves out to their full length. White spheres dropped to the ground, cackling with mana. Raine and Sheena were caught in the bombardment. Both managed to roll out of the field of the attack, but not without burns. The light seared their arms and clothing.

“You know, maybe we’re in over our heads?” Sheena gasped for breath.

Raine rolled back a torn sleeve. “Keep it up. If we can distract it long enough, I know Genis can finish it off.”

Sheena sighed, “Alright. I still don’t know why we’re following that weird voice, but okay.”

The ninja spun back to rake the glowing bird once more. The light glaring from under the bird’s belly was fantastic. It blinded her for a brief moment. Sheena reached out for the bird, but missed her target. She flung herself forward with her intense momentum, barely rolling under the bird’s talons. She couldn’t afford to make a mistake, not this early.

Raine decided against being as hap-hazardous as Sheena was. While the ninja toyed with the bird up front, she snuck behind it. With another might thump, she cracked into the bird’s back. Tail feathers soared over her as it spun around, chattering in pain. It was bizarre how lovely the bird sounded, even in the middle of combat. If she had more time, she would have studied it.

Genis called across the field again, “Okay! Here we go!” There was a purple burst of mana, and a gigantic white lightning bolt danced down from the sky, “Indignation!” The bolt didn’t hit the bird straight on. It lanced from the heavens to a nearby tree. The bird hadn’t been high enough in the air to attract the bolt.

The half-elf whacked himself in the head, “I should have known. Grr!”

“Keep trying!” Raine yelled back.

The white bird became frustrated. Silver and gold feathers jutted out around the meadow. They were as hard as iron, shattering nearby trees with their power. One caught Sheena along the chest. She hissed as she pulled back, blood dribbling from her ribcage. Another slashed Raine in the thigh, but she managed to shrug off the blow. This was more of a risk than she was willing to take, though. She hated to admit it, but this was one of those times where she could use somebody like Lloyd or Zelos to take the punishment for her.

“I’m getting real sick of this!” Sheena growled. She shielded her eyes from the bird’s brilliance and ran in for another attack. This time, her seal stuck onto the bird with a pop of mana. She flipped upwards and placed another seal, “Mirage Seal!” With a quick pull, she hopped on top of the bird and slapped another one to the back of its head, “Life Seal!” As she jumped back to the ground, green mana followed her. She could feel the wound in her chest hissing shut.

Another flash of mana charged through her body. She turned to see Raine finish off a spell, “First Aid!” She couldn’t believe that the professor would risk being so close to the bird and cast a spell. Maybe she was worse off than she thought. The ninja sighed and prepared for another strike.

The ground underneath Sheena’s feet rumbled. Spires of rock shot into the air, piercing the bird from all sides. Genis completed the spell with one dagger of stone in the middle, “Grave!” The bird thrashed in the spell’s grip. It tore itself free from the enclosure, silvery liquid splattering from its wings. It was hemorrhaging badly.

Seconds after its escaped, the bird dove towards the ground. It crashed into the meadow, sending Sheena and Raine stumbling backwards. Somehow, seeing the animal struggling like this hurt Sheena. She couldn’t stand fighting it. Most animals would run off if they were this hurt. What if it had a nest nearby? What if she was killing something’s mother?

“I. . .I don’t know if I should do this,” Sheena hesitated.

Genis tried to spur Sheena on. He prepared for another spell, but focused on consoling the ninja, “You can’t leave it like this, Sheena. Letting it bleed to death is cruel.”

Sheena buckled. “Y-you’re right.”

The professor strode up to the ninja. “We’ll help you do this. Are you ready?”

“I don’t have a choice,” Sheena shook her head. She grabbed onto Raine’s hand, squeezing it for support. The professor smiled back, and then charged at the creature. The ninja leapt into action next to her. Both women sank their weapons into the bird’s skull. Bone cracked under the force, but the creature still alive. It squawked in pain, just as confused as its assailants were.

Genis winced, “I’m sorry about this.” He raised his kendama into the air and landed the finishing blow, “Ground Dasher!” The meadow tore open, instantly swallowing up the body of the dying avian. It screeched one final time, and then lay still in the earth and grass. Raine reached out to touch the creature, making sure it had passed on. At her touch, the bird’s glow faded into darkness. Its form bubbled into purple smoke and rose to the sky. After a minute, there was no sign of the bird left.

Both half-elves turned to Sheena. The ninja was looking away from the place where the bird had passed on. She had her teeth gritted. Something was starting to gnaw on her soul. She couldn’t explain why, but something felt horribly wrong about the entire situation.

“Sheena, are you going to be okay?” Genis placed a hand on the ninja’s elbow. She nodded, but didn’t seem to be paying too much attention.

The ninja pulled herself together, “I don’t know what to say. Just . . .it felt wrong to kill that creature. Just because somebody—something told us to. . .” She looked up from the ground, “It’s not enough. It’s not right.”

Raine crossed her arms. “Whatever that bird was, whatever that voice was—either way, we’ll find out. We can’t go rushing into these situations anymore.”

“Right. No more blind devotion,” Sheena nodded. “Next time we hear that voice . . .we’ll just have to be more careful.”

The two women left the meadow, satisfied with their debate for the present. Genis hesitated for a moment. He didn’t know what to believe, “But, that was Presea’s voice, wasn’t it? She wouldn’t . . .” He shook her head and left it be.

This was no time to have an argument. Until her found her, he’d just have to assume something very wrong was going on. Questioning the voice’s commands seemed like the fairest option, at least for now.

Whenever life got annoying, Zelos tried to do his best to be cheerful. Sometimes, that led him further into his frustration. Like, about now, he could be home, sitting on his loveseat with a hunny or three, and maybe enjoying their company. Thoughts of warm chocolate and Sheena in a bathrobe were also encouraging. He wanted to think about anything but the mosquitoes biting at his arms and the gnats swarming around his head. He felt like the lord of vermin.

Lloyd was on the opposite end of the spectrum. He was happily chopping down vegetation, whistling as hacked a path through the forest. Every couple of notes, there would be another enthusiastic chop. Zelos broke out of his gloom to observe Lloyd. He was surprised that the swordsman wasn’t rolling around in the mud or skipping with animals. He was the cheeriest lumberjack that Zelos had ever seen.

“What are you whistling?” Zelos asked.

Lloyd shrugged, “Some dwarf song Dirk taught me.” He hummed a few bars, still slashing within time.

“Okay. Good then.” Zelos brushed a hand through his red mane. Bubble baths. There was another luxury he missed. When was the last time he had a proper bath? It seemed like ages. That was one of the first things he was going to do when he got home. A lewd image crossed his mind, and then he wondered if Sheena liked bubble baths too.

“Thinking about Sheena being naked?” Lloyd laughed.

The Chosen blushed red. “H-how—”

Lloyd chuckled again. “Whenever you get discouraged, you always think about Sheena being naked.” He chopped through another branch and added, “And when you’re happy, and when you’re angry, and when you’re—”

“Uh, huh. I got it,” Zelos frowned. He tried turning the tables on Lloyd, “It’s not like you don’t have dirty thoughts about other fine hunnies.”

Lloyd smirked, “Well . . .”

“Lloyd Irving, you dirty wolf you!” Zelos hopped in front of the swordsman, “I can’t believe it! And everything thinks that I’m the—oof!”

Zelos slammed into a trunk. He rolled off to the right side, ignoring Lloyd’s laughter. Beaches. He’d have to get on a beach when he got back. The smell of the ocean permeated his thoughts. He wanted that warmth back. Maybe he could talk Regal into hooking him up with a sweet deal on a four-star room, once they got back.

“You think we would have found something by now,” Lloyd shrugged.

“Found something what?” Zelos was dragged out of thoughts of scantily clad surfer chicks.

“Well,” Lloyd explained, “I mean, we’ve been heading straight for a long time. That voice wouldn’t send us out here without a good reason, right?”

Lloyd had a point. Nothing was going on, outside of the miserable insect bites and Lloyd’s merry chopping. Zelos pondered this for a second. Maybe they were going the wrong way? How could they be wrong about going straight, though? He was tempted to drift off again, but he managed to focus. This was a serious problem.

“Lloyd, my buddy, here’s what I think.” Zelos put his elbow on Lloyd’s shoulder. “We’re men of our own fate, right?”

Lloyd scratched his head, “Well, yeah, I suppose.”

“Then screw this whole going straight nonsense! I say we do whatever we want!” Zelos smirked, and then thought about what he said. “That came out a little weird.”

Lloyd smirked, “I get what you mean, Zelos.” He turned to his right and asked, “Should we go this way for a while and see what happens?”

Zelos agreed. “Sure. Why not?”

The swordsman gave him a thumbs-up and started hacking away in a new direction. He was whistling a new tune. It was a perkier and had a faster tempo. This, of course, caused him to be a faster lumberjack. This worked out for Zelos, though. As long as he didn’t have to strain himself out too much, Lloyd could sing whatever song he wanted.

A brief image of insurmountable horror passed through Zelos’s head. What was Lloyd thinking about that made him so happy?

Evelyn sighed as one of her pieces floated off to the corner of the table. It looked like a dove or a swan. It was some fragile kind of bird, anyway. The color had drained out of it in battle, and then it went black. Presea wasn’t sure what that meant, but she hoped it was something good.

“What happened?” Presea asked her opponent.

The girl lifted an eyebrow under her green bangs. “You beat one of my monsters. Good job, I guess.” She spent a little time studying the board, watching where Presea’s pieces were going. Several of them were walking in random directions. Evelyn chuckled—her friends must be very dumb.

Presea frowned, analyzing the situation. “They don’t trust my commands.”

“Of course not. They’re thinking too hard about all of this,” Evelyn agreed. She tapped a few bottle-shaped pieces on the top, wondering what to do. She split a green and a blue piece apart from each other, urging them, “Head north.”

Presea watched one group spin around in circles. It was the pink and red markers. She could only guess that was Zelos and Lloyd. She thought Lloyd would have at least known basic directions. Maybe she was being too vague. She didn’t want to detail her plans out too much, though. Evelyn couldn’t know what she was doing all the time.

The girl split another group apart, ordering them in separate ways. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much, Presea. One way or another, they’ll have to do battle with my creatures.” She stroked another piece, sending it along. “I’ll give you one thing, though—they are good fighters in a group. You should keep them this way.”

“Thank you,” Presea accepted whatever she could as praise. “I just wish they could talk with me. I could help them more if they did.”

Evelyn laughed, looking Presea straight in the eyes. “They would be so scared, Presea. You don’t want to know what they are feeling.”

There was a cunning glow in the girl’s vision. She watched an indigo and yellow piece pass by on the board. She laid down against the table, watching them like a hunting lioness. “Now, these two here, see? You wouldn’t want to know what’s happening to them now.” The girl tapped on a red bull-like object and sent it their way.

Presea’s face blanched. “What are you doing?”

“You know the saying, Presea,” the girl giggled. Her piece rushed after Presea’s two, and soon, they were running as well. “Two birds . . .”

Colette kept moving further into the plains. It was difficult being the one in charge. Regal was convinced that they had just heard something weird and kept trying to find where the voice was coming from. He wasn’t himself. Every hundred feet or so, he would stumble. It was the strangest behavior Colette had ever seen out of him. She didn’t know what to make of it.

“We could stop, you know?” Colette paused.

Regal was glad for the momentary break. He sank to his knees, trying to find whatever power was left in his body. There was a flash of mana, and he felt strength returning to his legs. He needed to find Raine or Zelos. He could only recharge so much of his health, and then it would slip away again. It was bearable, but that wasn’t good enough.

Colette hovered back. She sat down for a moment, hoping the break was going to last for a little while. “We could wait here. Or, you could wait here, and I could find help.”

Regal smiled, and then wheezed, “Don’t leave.”

“Okay. Then we’ll wait here,” Colette smiled. She flopped back on the ground, staring up at the sky. The stars were beautiful, sparkling in uneven intervals. She couldn’t help but think about all the nights Lloyd had spent up with her during her journey to become an angel. “Lloyd’ll find us. He’s always good at finding me.”

There was the slightest of nods from Regal. His head throbbed for a moment, exhaustion melting through his brain. “It would be good to have him here.”

Colette frowned. There was something wrong with Regal’s tone. She didn’t like the way he sounded, “You’re not okay, are you?”

“We just need to find them,” Regal closed his eyes and sighed. “Maybe. . .it’d be better if you did go find them.”

Colette jolted up to her elbows. She finally figured out what was wrong with him. “You’re—you’re scared, aren’t you?”

“No!” Energy coursed through Regal’s body. He felt like he could run a thousand miles. He almost stood back up, but the energy left him. He shook his head, sighing painfully. He managed to scrape enough dignity to look at Colette. Her eyes drilled through the thin veneer of his defenses.

“No. I see,” Colette nodded. She jumped to her feet, and bounced a little bit. “I understand!” She crossed her arms and smiled, “You’re terrified.”

“I am not!” Regal almost lost his temper. He shook as he stood up, teeth clenched together. The night air was cooler than he remembered. His skin burned hot.

Colette wasn’t afraid of his sudden change in attitude. “You need help, but you don’t want to admit it. You’re scared that if I go out looking for others, I’ll get hurt. You won’t be able to protect me. Neither will Lloyd. I could really, really get hurt.”

Regal sat back down, defeated. The Chosen went down to his level, sitting on her knees. She pushed his head up, one finger on his forehead. There was a fresh, warm smile on her face. “I can fly. I can fight. I can do it.”

He surrendered a small smile, “I know.”

“Besides!” Colette leapt back up. “It’s not like you’re going to be a lot of protection out here, either! You can barely walk!” She pulled a face, “What’s wrong with you, anyway?”

“My mana feels abnormal. I think that monster—whatever it was—changed my mana flow,” Regal explained. “It’s like . . .it’s hard to think, sometimes.”

Colette was starting to understand. She smiled again, “I get it. Raine talked to us a little bit about it in class.” She started to pace, pantomiming her teacher’s movements, “Mana is important because it supplies energy to the entire body. Having your mana changed would be like waking up in somebody else’s body.” She spun back on her heels, “That’s it! You’re not used to your body because you were sharing a body with that big monster thing!”

Regal nodded, “That seems logical.”

“Yes! I knew I learned something from the professor!” Colette beamed, jumping up and down. “You don’t know how hard it is to learn from her, sometimes. One time, in math class, she started talking about inertia, and I was like, ‘What’s that?’, and of course, Lloyd was no help. So, I spent nearly two days studying it, and you know wh—”

Du-dun.

The Chosen stopped her ranting. Regal stood up again, watching the forests around the plains nervously. Something was moving towards them. He swallowed, an iron lump caught in his throat. Colette drew her chakram, fire dancing around the edges of her weapons.

Du-dun.

Portions of the forest began to glow. Fire erupted out of the treetops, smoke twisting around them like a grimy halo. Colette gasped, not sure what that was. There hadn’t been a fire before! She would have smelt the leaves burning from miles around. What was going on?

Colette squinted into the forest, trying to understand what was coming towards them. It was like—

Du-dun.

“It’s made of fire,” Colette gasped.

Regal panted, “What?”

Du-Dun.

Colette’s hands trembled. “I don’t think we can fight it. Regal, it’s made of fire!”

Regal felt the Aquamarine in his pocket. “I can.”

Du-DuN.

“You—You can’t even stand up!” Colette pleaded with him, hoping some sense would snap into his brain. His eyebrows lowered, and he glanced at her. That look locked into her brain. It gave her a command she didn’t want to follow.

DU-DuN.

“You know, you were right earlier,” Regal half smiled and squeezed the Chosen’s hand. “Do it.”

Colette stammered, “I-I—”

DU-DUN!

Regal hollered, “Run!”

Author’s Note:

You know what? No more excuses. I didn’t update for-hella-ever, and that was cruel to my readers. I hope this chapter makes up for it.

I did write this chapter in three hours, though, so sorry for any glaring grammatical errors.