Orso Fiction 041

Orso Fiction Chapter 041-Gracefully, Falling Gracefully
“Two wins, one draw.”, Taylor Houston thought, looking at the shards of precious metal on the table. She looked across to the old woman, slightly smiling confidently. They sat overlooking South Carroll’s pools, where Allison Boyd and Nerina were exchanging words.

“Don’t get confident yet.”, Sonia sneered. “Orabella, Raimonda, and Ernesta have only a fraction of the potential the other three do. The next three battles will not end well for you or your team.”

“We’ll see about that.”, Taylor said coolly. “I wouldn’t bet on walking out of here with those Arcoferro, if I were you.”

“Oh, my…”, Sonia said, chuckling evilly. “Children these days…No respect…”

Vincenzo, the young man in between them, sat still; oblivious to the hateful thoughts being shot across him like a tennis match.

---

Allison Boyd, the Primo Rain Agent stared down Nerina, the red-haired, soft-spoken member of the Seven Roses. Nerina took a deep breath in, in preparation.

“We have to be able to talk this out.”, Allison said, hoping for the best. Nerina shook her head.

“Once, I would have agreed to that.”, Nerina said sadly. “But now I don’t have the luxury of that choice. My little sister’s life is on the line. If I don’t win that metal, Sonia can’t get us her antidote.”

“Hold on…explain that a second?”, Allison requested. Nerina took another deep breath.

“Someone in your family…I don’t know who…has poisoned my little sister Rosangela. She’s…dying. Sonia promised us that if we could defeat you, and take the Arcoferro as our prizes, she could get her brother Osvaldo to make her an antidote.”

“That’s ridiculous. We had never heard of you girls until you started fighting us for these things. Why would we have poisoned one of you?”

“Sonia told us that. The metalsmith Berenger Ferraro, Sonia’s second brother, has chosen to support you, isn’t that right? He told you that if you collected the Arcoferro, he would make your family peerless weapons, didn’t he?”

“That’s what I’ve heard.”, Allison agreed.

“What you don’t know is that Berenger Ferraro has entered a competition with his siblings, Sonia and Osvaldo. Their ideologies were too different to agree peacefully. Each sibling would choose a family as their champions. The three families chosen would battle, using the aid of that sibling. Whichever one supported the winning family would be the winner. Berenger had one of your family poison Rosangela, to force us to battle on your terms. Look at this battle right now. We’re just a ten minute drive from your base of operations. At any point, you could flood the field with your troops and overpower us, ignoring the terms of combat.”

“That’s enough.”, Allison said suddenly, coldly. The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees. “I don’t know this Sonia woman, but I’ll tell you right now that she’s lying to you. None of us would poison a little girl.”

“So you say.”, Nerina said, ignoring Allison’s tone.

“I don’t know your story, but I’ll tell you this: We’re not the ones you want to fight.”

“I don’t have very many options.”

“You’re impossible.”, Allison sighed. “Before we start…I want to say something. We are not the criminals you think we are. There’s something else at work here, manipulating us.”

“Is that all?”

“And…when I win this fight. I promise we’re going to find out who it is, and we’ll stop them. We’ll save your sister.”

“You think you can waltz in and take my responsibilities? Don’t make me laugh.”, Nerina growled, igniting her ring in Rain Flames, plunging it into a small blue box in her hand. It opened, releasing a giant scorpion, its stinger lit with the same blue fire.

“Tiamat…It’s feeding time.”

---

From the roof of South Carroll High School, Miriam, Micaiah, and Isaac watched the goings-on. Miriam giggled evilly to herself.

“This reconnaissance is turning out kind of fun after all.”, she chirped. “Sure is lucky that Mike kid won his fight. If Malachi heard the guy who embarrassed him way back in Choice lost to one of these nobodies, he’d flip out!”

“He’s really looking forward to getting his revenge, isn’t he?”, Micaiah asked. “How about you? Didn’t you have to fake a loss to that Alex kid? Are you over that?”

“Of course.”, Miriam giggled. “I was only playing with him, after all. Malachi just can’t help but hold grudges.”

“So…anyone want to place bets on these next three?”, Isaac asked.

“Well…The Orso have won 2 of them, and tied for the third…”, Micaiah mused. “I can’t imagine the other three Roses are that much stronger.”

“Shame that Nicole girl was so weak.”, Isaac laughed. “Apprentice to the First Boss my ass. She could barely keep herself alive against that Raimonda girl.”

“That Paige girl the Orso have isn’t bad at all.”, Micaiah added. “She’s not worth OUR attention, but she made for an entertaining sideshow.”

“Hmm…Do you feel that?”, Miriam asked. The other two suddenly felt the sensation Miriam was inquiring about and shuddered in excitement. “Feels like one of the Roses just got serious…”

“What a nice feeling…”, Isaac whispered. “Such a… beautiful, elegant, killing intent.”

“I didn’t know you were a romantic, Isaac...but I may have to revise my opinion.”, Micaiah murmured. “Whoever’s fighting that Cloud girl…is going to die.”

---

“Tiamat, strike her!”, Nerina called. The scorpion quickly scuttled to Allison, and jabbed with its tail. Allison expertly sidestepped, bringing her leg up high, and delivered a powerful kick to the tail, slamming it into the grass. She backflipped away as the beast yanked its tail from the ground and shot at her again. With a massive jump, she somersaulted over the scorpion before it could react, and ignited her own ring, plunging it into her box, releasing a flamingo, its wings burning with blue Rain Flames.

“How’re you feeling, Sapphire?”, she asked. The bird raised a wing to convey that it felt in peak condition. The two stood back to back, Sapphire facing Nerina, and Allison facing Tiamat. Slowly, the giant scorpion approached them. “Now!”

In the blink of an eye, the flamingo swiveled, aiming a jumping kick at Tiamat. The kick connected with the beast’s face, surprising the scorpion, causing it to scuttle back. Sapphire followed it, repeatedly smashing its feet into Tiamat. Nerina moved to help, but Allison looked over her shoulder, her icy eyes freezing Nerina in place.

Nerina scowled. She watched as the bird mercilessly beat on her animal. She hadn’t had much time to bond with it, but she felt an attachment to the scorpion. It deserved better than this. It was fighting for her sake, she owed it better than this. Her hand hovered over the black box on her belt, biting her lip at the thought of resorting to it. She closed her eyes in concentration. The use of the Darkness Box Sonia had given her along with the box containing Tiamat would give Tiamat great power, but she knew that the power would come from inside her. From parts of her mind, memories she held back for a reason. Memories she hated. The scorpion’s shriek jolted her from her concentration, and she made up her mind.

She ignited her ring, pushing it into the black box, hating every second. It opened quickly, releasing a black, gelatinous substance that shot at Tiamat, wrapping around it. Sapphire the flamingo paused before launching its next kick, and chose to jump back to Allison’s side. Tiamat began to shudder, slowly changing shape. It stumbled to the pool, jumping inside.

“So what is this?”, Allison asked casually, unafraid of the animal’s transformation.

“This is the beginning of the end.”, Nerina intoned. “You have brought ruin upon yourself. There will be no mercy from here on.”

---

Edmondo paused. The metalsmith had left the Orso base to pursue the massive killing intent coming from South Carroll, out of a bizarre curiousity, but now he felt a second one. This malicious feeling wasn’t as strong, but it was still considerable. He grinned.

“Maybe I was wrong about those girls…”, he murmured, licking his lips. “Looks like some of them aren’t the low-level herbivores I took them for. I really do have to wonder if these Orso kids will be alright…”

He chuckled, and resuming running, not changing his course in the slightest.

“Those kids aren’t herbivores themselves”, he said, remembering how Taylor Houston had been willing to fight him by herself. “We’ll see…”

---

Allison whistled softly, looking up at the monstrous beast that stood before her, towering out of the pool. The fact that it was once a scorpion was visible in the overall body structure, but barely. It stood upright, what supported it hidden in the water, under the rest of its huge body. A massive, multi-barbed stinger also danced out of the water. The individual legs had all morphed, becoming horribly sharp looking appendages. The face of the beast was even more horrifying that a man-sized scorpion’s had been. Its mouth was lined with many razor-sharp teeth, in multiple layers, gnashing together evilly. Its eyes were now clear, horrifically wild. The strangest thing about the beast was the fact that it had grown wings. Translucent, pale blue wings, as if the scorpion was now part dragon. It roared, an awful noise than gave even Allison a moment’s pause.

But only a moment.

“Sapphire…Cambio Forma.”, Allison commanded. Sapphire squawked in agreement, and began to glow blue. It slowly changed shape, splitting into two symmetrical halves. The two pieces fell into Allison’s hands. She now held a set of tonfa, pure black except for the blue gem on the right hand’s weapon, a white Roman numeral “I” overtop it, signifying her as a member of the First Generation of the Orso Family. She gripped the weapons tightly, reflecting.

---

“Hey, Zach, I gotta question for you.”, Jared Erekson told him.

“Shoot.”, Zach replied, shuffling through some papers, but keeping his attention on Jared.

“Allison is one of your Agents, right? That means she gets one of those special animals, that turns into a weapon, right?”

“That’s right. Let me guess-You want to know what it is.”

“How did you know?”

“I’ve honestly had six people today walk into my office asking about the weapons people got, then making me explain just what the symbolism is. It’s bizarre.”

“Oh…I’m sorry.”

“No, no worries. Anyways, Allison…she got a flamingo, that turns into a set of tonfa.”

“A what?”

“Tonfa. They’re a Japanese weapon, basically a stick you hold on the outside of your arm, by the handle, which sticks out 90 degrees.”

“That sounds…entirely disappointing. It’s just…a dull…stick?”

“What, you think I should have given that girl something SHARP?”, Zach laughed. “Oh, no, no, no…That’d be just asking for trouble.”

‘What do you mean? She’s not clumsy.”

“Oh, it’s quite the opposite”, Zach laughed again. ”She’s ridiculously graceful. She’s got elegance up to her eyeballs. She’s dangerous no matter what kind of weapon she’d use.”

“I guess this is where I make you explain the symbolism.”, Jared said, still a bit confused.

“What?”, Zach asked. Then he smiled. “Oh, right. Tonfa are awesome. Allison is awesome. It’s a perfect match.”

Jared sat for a moment, waiting for more.

“Is that it?”, he asked, raising an eyebrow. Zach laughed.

“This is the seventh time I’ve heard these questions, I’m trying to have some fun with it, sorry. No, there’s more. See, I don’t think Allison would LIKE a sharp weapon. She’s far too nice to like the idea of having to cut an opponent open. Plus, tonfa are like the Japanese nightstick, used by police, to keep order, just like Allison does-keep order.”

“I guess…that kind of makes sense.”, Jared conceded.

“Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without her…on top of her regular duties, and being all-around wonderful…she keeps Mike Fornaro from getting into trouble…”

---

Mike dashed into Zach’s office, slamming the door behind him. He somersaulted over his desk, quickly and surprisingly graceful turning so he fell directly under the desk, hiding. Zach looked down at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Can I help you?”, he asked. Mike shrunk back.

“You have to keep Allison from eating me.”, Mike said quickly. Zach’s eyebrow rose further.

“I’ll make sure she’s well-fed. Why exactly are you afraid of her?”

“She’s CLEARLY evil.”

“You’re going to have to explain that one.”

“Okay. You know how we had a mission together today?”

“Yes. You were recovering a hostage, right?”

“Yeah. We got the hostage alright. You know how many people there were protecting her? Like, eight. You know how many guns they had? Like, eight. You know how many people Allison beat half to death?”

“Like, eight?”, Zach asked.

“Like, seven. I got one of them. The point is that SHE BEAT UP SEVEN PEOPLE IN THE TIME IT TOOK ME TO FIND MY RING.”

“Mike, that means very little. It takes you forever to find that thing. You should just…wear it on your finger.”

“Yeah, but…you just had to be there. I’m telling you, man. The girl’s not right. After she was done, AFTER SHE BEAT UP SEVEN PEOPLE WITH GUNS, she looked at me, and smiled. Just…smiled. And said ‘Shall we?’ THAT’S NOT HUMAN.”

“Have you considered that she was just happy it was over?”

“No, you’re wrong.”, Mike said stubbornly, which was odd, looking at his current position.

“Mike, Allison is not going to eat you.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Mike worked his way out of under Zach’s desk, and hesitantly left the office.

“He’s gone.”, Zach said. Allison dropped from the ceiling.

“Is he REALLY that afraid of me?”, she asked, a little shocked. “I was just…trying to be friendly…I should go apologize, and explain.”

“Why on earth would you want to do that?”, Zach asked. “This is…kind of hilarious. This is actually perfect. The boy actually does NEGATIVE work around the base. He needs someone to keep him in line.”

“And…you want me to do that?”

“It won’t be a hard job. Just…keep being nice to him. It’ll totally freak him out into behaving.”

“But that’s…”

“Terrible? Mean? Awful?”, Zach guessed.

“Really easy…”, Allison murmured.

---

Tiamat roared once more, and Allison smiled. She leapt at the monster, smashing her surprisingly heavy tonfa into its exoskeleton, shattering two chunks of the giant scorpion. It shrieked in pain as Allison landed on the other side of the pool. There was a splash as Tiamat retreated into the water, compressing its entire body into the pool. There was a quiet humming noise, and a faint blue light from the pool, and the beast resurfaced, its injuries perfectly healed.

“Instant regeneration…I thought this thing was a scorpion, not a starfish…”, Allison murmured.

The dragon-scorpion reared its tail back and struck, giving Allison a view of the giant stingers shooting at her. She was able to jump out of the way in time, but her improved view gave her a view of the appendage. Each stinger was made up of hundreds of tiny stingers, guaranteeing a painful injury to anyone slow enough to be caught by any of them, not to mention the unknown venom that could be inside the beast.

“This is just the beginning.”, Nerina said, her voice not her own anymore, quickly falling to the darkness inside her. “It’s time you begin to feel real terror.”

---

Sonia sneered. She felt the killing intent radiating from Nerina, and loved it. The girl was a natural killer, she could tell these things about people. The girl was just held back by how nice she was. The Darkness Box eliminated that factor. Nerina was becoming more and more dangerous by the second.

“Tell me, child…”, she began, not even looking at Taylor. “Just how strong is that Rain girl you brought along?”

“Allison? She’s just as strong as Paige, our Sun.”, Taylor replied, unsure of how to reply. “Paige just gets a lot more attention. Probably because her weapon is a laser cannon.”

“Then I have nothing to worry about…”, the old woman purred.

---

Tiamat shrieked once more, bringing its wings together as it dove underwater. Slowly, the pool’s water level fell. When Tiamat opened her wings, two more creatures burst forth. The first was large, far larger than Tiamat once it was completely uncurled. It resembled a giant worm in the way Tiamat resembled a scorpion; as though it was pulled from a child’s nightmares.

Because it had been.

Endless sharp teeth lined the monster’s mouth. Allison couldn’t see it, but the entire way down its body, the teeth continued, so that any creature it consumed would never stop being cut. Alongside its outside as well, countless blades covered the creature. It had multiple long and flexible limbs, each covered in the same blades as the rest of the creature’s body, except for the tips of these limbs, which were simple and smooth, rounded. As Allison looked over its body, she couldn’t help but find these smooth parts to be the most horrifying part of the creature.

Just as they had been designed.

As the first creature roared and thrashed, the second creature made its presence known. It was less ferocious looking than its partner, and it looked to consist of a giant many-eyed sac with an opening at the top. The creature quickly swallowed Tiamat with the opening, then closed it to a small slit. The second creature began to shudder slowly, its eyes going wild.

“Horrible, aren’t they?”, Nerina’s cold voice asked. Before Allison could respond, she added, “The first is called Father. The second is called Mother.”

“Oh my…”, Allison murmured, looking up at the two creatures. Father began to howl at her, while Mother continued to shudder, its eyes not ceasing their convulsions.

---

Mary Reiter watched Eddie with the slightest bit of concern. She had never seen the boy put actual EFFORT into a job like he was now.

“So…now that I’ve been here for ten minutes…Want to explain what you’re typing?”, she asked. Eddie groaned.

“I already told you-I’m upgrading the base’s security.”, Eddie replied.

“For the Apostles?”, Mary asked.

“No.”, Eddie said quickly. “For a threat even bigger than them.”

---

Father lunged at Allison, but she sidestepped, considering how to fight not one, but three giant abominations. For now, she decided she’d stay on defense, watching what Mother was doing. Every time she had tried to interrupt…whatever it was doing, Father had blocked her progress. Allison backflipped further from the pool, and was surprised to see that Father didn’t follow her.

“Interesting…”, Allison murmured. “They really like the water…”

It made sense. Tiamat had already demonstrated being able to heal while it was submerged in water, and Father and Mother had been made out of the same water. Tiamat’s power, now that it was enhanced by Nerina’s Darkness Box, all revolved around turning water into life.

Allison considered for a moment. If she were able to get close, not to Mother, but to the pool in general, she could easily break a hole into the cement, causing the water to leak everywhere, removing the beasts’ advantage. No, that wouldn’t suit her at all. That wouldn’t be elegant. She had a better idea.

---

“Of course, that’s not to say Allison’s grace isn’t demonstrated by her weapon.”, Zach thought, smiling, once Jared had left. “It’s not like I’d make the girl a weapon that wasn’t perfect for her.”

A knock on the door didn’t surprise him at all. It was probably someone wanting to interrogate him about Megan Etheridge’s weapon, or something.

---

Allison held her right arm’s tonfa back behind her, concentrating for a moment. Pale blue flames began to cover the metal. She whipped the weapon back at the beasts, and the flames removed themselves, forming an elegant-looking figure of blue flames, shaped like a long, graceful bird. The bird flew at Mother, but Father jumped in the way, taking the blow for it. It cut deeply into the creature, which shrieked horribly in pain. It dove into the water to restore itself, and Allison shot another of the bird-like projectiles at Mother. When it received the blow, it screamed in a high, shrill voice.

“Now you’ve disturbed Mother…”, Nerina said, in that awful monotone.

Father emerged from water and roared, its injuries healed over. It began to whip one of its many limbs around, then shoved it into the small opening on the top of the other beast. Mother began to shake even more violently, and the opening grew larger, as Tiamat sprung out, even more horrifying now, with spikes lining its body, and odd holes reminiscent of Mother’s opening over its body. Slowly, Mother began to deflate, dying. It released one death moan, and dissolved into the water.

“What a tragedy…”, Nerina mumbled.

Tiamat shrieked at Allison, who stood her ground, preparing another of the bird-like projectiles.

“I know beauty is supposed to be more than skin deep…”, Allison said, because now felt like the time for a one-liner. “But that thing is hideous. I won’t let something like that put a scratch on me.”

She had this fight in the bag. They wouldn’t move out of the water, not while they could heal inside it. She would stay back, launch projectile after projectile, until they ran out of water. The plan would work.

“It’s about time…”, Nerina murmured. “Death upon death. Death gives us life, and life gives us death.”

“What are you talking about?”, Allison thought. But it didn’t matter. She would just-

What was happening?

Father rose above Tiamat, whipping all of its limbs around it, slowly pushing each of the appendages into one of the slots on Tiamat’s body. Tiamat shrieked in pain and horror as Father groaned. The act seemed to Allison to be something out of a child’s nightmare. And in a way, it was.

But in a way, the truth was far worse than the nightmares that haunted Nerina. Far worse.

As Father continued its groaning, Tiamat extended its wings, revealing them now to be a much deeper blue, lined with many spikes. She whipped her wings around Father, who screamed in pain. When it unwrapped its wings, Father sunk into the water, dying. It slowly evaporated.

“Just what am I watching?”, Allison murmured. Nerina smiled, a smile that didn’t quite reach the rest of her face.

“Things long forgotten. Things forgotten for a reason…”, she whispered cryptically, as her mind wandered, sunk into past memories.

---

“So that’s your story…”, a young Adelina said. The young red-haired girl nodded slowly, still a little upset over recounting it. The brunette moved to her, and hugged her tightly.

“It’s all past, now.”, Adelina whispered to her. “You’re with us, now. You don’t have to think about your father, and what he’s done, anymore…”

“I’ve decided my name from now on.”, the girl said suddenly. “I want to remember when you found me forever.”

She looked out over the water, that seemed to go for miles.

“I always thought to myself that it would take an ocean to wash my pain away, so when I ran…I went to the water…and that was where you found me. So, in a way…it did. My name from now on will be Nerina.”

---

After Tiamat had finished screaming in victory, its body underwent another change, growing even larger, so it almost couldn’t fit inside the pool. The holes along its body closed, and the spikes grew larger. Its face extended, now resembling a crocodile’s. It roared in triumph, and it set its sights on Allison. The girl couldn’t help but think that this entire time…the three monsters had set her to last priority, and now…she was the only thing Tiamat cared about.

She pulled both tonfa behind her back, covering them both with blue flames. She flung them both out, launching two of the bird projectiles, which fused into one, far larger, far more graceful blast. The swan-like azure fire struck Tiamat, who groaned quietly, almost no injury on its body.

Allison considered her options. Tiamat’s armor seemed far stronger now that Father was dead. She could continue launching projectiles, which was costly to her energy reserve, or she could try to get the beast out of the water, which would make every hit all the more effective. As she considered, memories flooded her mind.

---

“Hey, Zach. I gotta question.”, Nicole said, bouncing around him like an excited kitten.

“I…have an answer.”, Zach said, watching the absurd little girl bounce.

“I’ve been wondering…You’ve known Mike forever, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And Taylor’s an old friend, too? Same with Jess, and me?”

“That’s all right, yeah.”

“And you hung out with Sabra, right? And with drama and all, you got to know Paige well, right?”

“What are you asking?”

“What about Allison? You’ve never really hung out with her. Why did you give her the same rank you gave us, the other people you trust so much? I know you call her awesome all the time, but what made you two buds?”

“Allison?”, Zach asked. “Well, it’s a long story…”

---

“How are you, Miss Boyd?”, Zach asked, nodding slowly. Allison raised an eyebrow.

“Miss Boyd?”, she asked.

“Well, yeah. When I don’t know someone well, I don’t call them by their first name. Actually, it’s only for two of you. You, and McKenna Mason. I do it to remind myself that I want to get to know you two a lot better.”

Allison thought for a moment on this.

“That’s…not…completely stupid.”, she tried. Zach grinned.

“Anyway, gotta get to class, see ya, Miss Boyd!”

Allison watched him go, and shook her head. How bizarre.

---

“Hey, look, it’s the awesome one.”, Zach said, maybe a year later, passing Allison in the hall. Allison smiled, but had to ask…

“Zach, why do you always call me awesome? I’m really not that special.”

Zach’s jaw dropped slowly, and he chuckled.

“Miss Boyd, would you like me to give you a list of reasons?”, he asked. Allison laughed.

“Sure. This, I have to hear.”

“Gah! I have class! Talk to you soon, Miss Boyd!”, Zach said, beginning to run the way he had been walking. To anyone else, it would have sounded like an excuse to get out of giving her the list. But that night, Allison opened her Facebook to a list the length of her arm the boy had written. She smiled gently. What a doofus. She was going to keep a hold of this…

---

“Hey, Stime, I’m sorry about all that.”, Jared said, sitting beside him in AP Lang. Zach raised an eyebrow.

“What happened?”, he asked.

“Oh, you didn’t hear? I mean, you’re really slow on your crutches, so you were kind of holding people up on the stairs, since the elevator’s out. There was some jerk who was shouting at you to go faster.”

“Oh, wow…I didn’t even hear him…”, Zach said, a little ashamed of his slowness.

“Hey, don’t worry. We dealt with him.”, Jared laughed. “I kind of shouted at him for a few seconds, and he got real quiet. The kiss of death, though…Allison had been quiet the whole time, but she turned around, as we hit the top of the stairs, and smiled at him. You know how her smiles are.”

Zach nodded.

“Poor guy. You think he’s still frozen in terror?”, he asked. Jared nodded, but as Allison walked into the room, they got silent.

“What were you two talking about?”, Allison asked, a curious smile on her face.

“Um…Just…how nice you look in that shirt!”, Zach fabricated. Allison, content with this answer, smiled and turned. “Um…”

Allison turned back around.

“Thanks…Allison.”

---

Their history had been longer than that, but Allison only had so much time to reflect. She gripped her tonfa tighter.

“I’m here representing the Orso Family.”, Allison said, firmly but gently. “This is the end.”

She held her tonfa behind her back once more, gathering even more blue flames than before.

“Zach gave me these weapons…their name is Grazia Gelata…and the name of this technique…is Bluebird.”

She fired the Bluebird, which took the form of a giant, majestic swan, crashing down on Tiamat.

But before Allison could react, the beast was gone.

Her side exploded into a shower of blood. She looked down with horror to see Tiamat’s stinger inside her, before it was whipped out. She slowly fell to one knee.

“What…just happened?”, she gasped, as she fell.

Nerina looked over her, holding her two boxes up. Tiamat broke into two parts, one that dissolved into blue fire and returned to her blue box, and the other that became the black goo, returning to her black box. Tears came to Nerina’s eyes as she realized what she had done. She turned and ran.

“Adelina…I’m coming for you…”, she whispered to the air. “Please, be alright…”

--

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