Hunters of the Time Paradox

Mission details here.
Part 2

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It had seemed impossible, much like most of what Levinia had been through over the past few months, but it had been done. Time and again, Levinia had been pitted against forces that had seemed outrageously powerful, with all the odds stacked against her, and still, time and again, the uncanny duo of mentor and protegee had managed to beat those odds. If someone had told her that she would manage to achieve this much, she would have laughed and flat out disbelieved them. And initially, she had believed that her progress had been only possible because of Beira, but her faith in herself had begin to take strong root. It was true that the Winter God Slayer had been instrumental in getting her this far, and without Beira, she would never have been able to achieve any of these accomplishments. Nevertheless, all these recent events had shown Levinia that she was quickly becoming someone who did not have to rely on everyone else for help and protection. This simply meant that she was maturing into the woman she had always wanted to be: the one whom others could rely on.

Back to the present: after an ordeal that would best be suited to one of those techno-horror story lines she had seen on some lacrima vids, Levie had managed to get to the forehead of the Archaean, where she had done battle with the blood red gem situated there, which seemed to be symbolic of its life force. She had been surprised that she had made it to the top before her mentor, but Beira had showed up in the nick of time, and with her icy power, had destroyed the Archaean's power. The moment that happened, however, the artifact Key had sprung to life once again, and whisked them away from the head of the colossal demon and its truncated plans for heavenly conquest.

As the void engulfed the golden time capsule in which they traveled once again, Levinia wondered what would happen to the Archaean. Surely, a being of such proportions falling back to the earth would not bode well for the inhabitants of that land. As if to answer the unspoken question on her mind, even before she voiced it to Beira, the dark of the void flickered for a moment, then showed a fleeting vision of the Archaean, its head still pointed to the sky, its body transformed to inanimate stone, as it plummeted back to the rocky earth. Then, molten cracks began to spread all over its body, and it began to disintegrate into fine dust and ash, beginning from its extremities: its toes, fingers and wings. Then the vision was gone, and the darkness outside prevailed.

Levinia let out a sigh and sat herself down. She was inwardly very relieved that the Archaean would not be much of an issue to the denizens of its world, if its decomposition rate was anything to go by. By the time its body would reach the sands, it would have been completely reduced to little more than nothing. Come to think of it, though, the dwellers of that realm of existence might have some breathing difficulties over the next few days, unless the dust and ash were magical and disappeared into oblivion. Hopefully, that was the case.

There was something about this mission that made Levinia introspective. The more power one had, the more easily one could influence their environment, for good or for ill. She wondered how many worlds out there might have been snuffed out by the irresponsible and selfish decisions of others, who wanted a particular goal at any cost. It was a good thing for every land to have its defenders, and silently, she thanked everyone who had, directly or indirectly, made Earthland a relatively safe place to live in. And once again, she promised herself that she would become one of such Earthland defenders, as far as was possible with her.

"Hey, Beira..." she started to say, then stopped short. For the artifact Key was thrumming loudly again, and the darkness beyond was starting to flicker, like a vision was imminent. That was strange. Levinia was sure that the visions would end with the Archaean's demise, but obviously, that was not the case. Everything turned black, but it was not the darkness of the void. This darkness seemed invasive, alive, suffocating, like it was poisonous to anything that dwelt within it. And it seemed so familiar, and angry. It whispered harshly, like it was spitting invective in a lost tongue. But before Beira or Levinia could get any more uncomfortable, the darkness retreated. A picture of a large ziggurat-like building appeared, sitting in a dark barren landscape, with a solitary glow at its zenith. Levinia leaned forward and peered more closely at the image; it was like she had seen this place before. The picture shuddered and vanished, then opened into a room. The room resembled an ancient observatory, with all sorts of devices and tools arranged neatly about. Then the vision focused on a white withered thing, which rested in an arcane circle drawn with purple dust.

Levinia's eyes widened slowly, as she stared at it. There was no mistaking it: the Key was showing her a vision of her lost right arm!

Almost instantly, the scenes shifted again, and the more familiar geography of the Rectifier's bleak but tranquil world appeared. The Key emitted a warbling sound, then drew the bubble that had borne them through the reaches of space and time into itself. It then powered down, looking for all intents and purposes like a large bronze coin, which fell to the smooth floor of the throne room. Levinia looked at Beira, her eyes still saucer-wide, her face a mixture of conflicting emotions.

"Beira... that was my arm!"

The Rectifier watched the two mages silently, its orb head resting on a bony hand, much like a normal person would rest their chin against their hand. Even though the 'head' was completely devoid of visible emotion, it was obvious that the Rectifier had taken interest in what they had just seen, and probably wanted to see how things would play out from here.

Personally, Beira was pleased that the Key had removed the two mages as soon as they had concluded matters with the colossal Archaean. As the welcoming gold of the orb engulfed the two mages and ushered them once more into the interdimensional void between worlds, Beira felt like whooping for joy. But Utgardians were expected to maintain decorum, so she decided to hold her peace and pretend like she was relatively indifferent to the whole affair. Still, she could not help expressing with a demure smile the delight that came with the realization of the fact that the apparently long and tedious mission before the two mages had finally reached its end. If anything, at least the Rectifier would have no more reason to pursue the Godling, and perhaps Levinia would be able to do something productive with her life. With any luck, the golden orb would return the two mages to the demesne of the Rectifier, before they were allowed to return to Earthland. The Utgardian God Slayer felt it quite pertinent to ask the strange being that seemed to serve as a prefect of time-related anomalies what prevented whatever had implicated Levinia from doing so on and on in the future. If nothing could be done about that, then the Godling would be at a particular disadvantage for the rest of her life, and that was something Beira would not permit for her protégé.

A flicker of vision appeared in the bubble, and Beira stared, almost alarmed that the two mages would be shown something else that they had not yet done, that would still place them in the Rectifier’s indirect thrall. She was just about expressing in relatively colorful terms what she thought about the Rectifier and its methods of keeping to the end of its bargain, when the vision revealed the Archaean, as the immense creature began its fall towards the earth from which it had risen. With something of that size and weight, given the fact that the creature seemed to have turned to pure stone, its fall would most certainly be a major calamity that would happen upon that land. Though Beira had not seen a single living thing in sight, maybe except the Archaean, that did not mean that the place was devoid of life. Fortunately, the colossal monster began disintegrating from its tips, providing the promise that it, or most of it, would disintegrate before hitting the earth. A job well done indeed.

This time, Beira followed the example of her friend and protégé, and took a seat in the bubble. It was good to see that there was sufficient space to seat herself without having to inconvenience either herself or the Godling. She looked over at Levinia, who seemed to be lost in thought, but only for a moment, as the orange-haired girl turned to her and called her name. But before Beira could respond, or Levinia could state the reason she had called the attention of the God Slayer, the strange medallion, which had been responsible for transporting the Earthland mages across the emptiness of the void, began to emit a characteristic note again, and the ambient darkness began to shimmer. What new thing was being revealed this time? Strangely, Beira’s expectation of the shimmering darkness clearing did not get met, or at least, not at once, as the darkness seemed to attempt to close in on the bubble, as though it had a will of its own, a will fueled by malice directed against the travelers in the Rectifier’s bubble. The God Slayer began priming herself to let loose an attack if such was needed, but she soon realized that it wouldn’t be necessary. The darkness soon cleared to reveal some strange, almost pyramidal structure standing in the definition of “middle of nowhere”. A light atop the strange building caught Beira’s attention, but she couldn’t dwell on it for long, as the image shifted to something else, the interior of the building most likely, full of strange gadgets and equipment. But what seemed to stand out was the strange, withered, white object that lay in a circle of purple dust.

Almost immediately, the two mages found themselves back in the Rectifier’s domain, as Levinia turned to Beira, commenting that that strange white thing was her missing arm. The God Slayer did a double take. ”Wait, that was your what?” Beira asked, looking almost as surprised as her friend. She noticed that the Rectifier was watching the two mages, apparently interested in what they had seen, although it made no attempt to say anything. Seeing as the medallion, which now lay silent and inert on the floor of the Rectifier’s dominion, was controlled by the golden-headed being, it was very likely that it had seen what the two mages had seen. ”If that’s your arm, let’s go after it then!” Beira exclaimed. ”You do know that if we can get your arm back, we’ll not be bothered about hoping that something else will not implicate you in the future. But,” and here she turned to look at the Rectifier as she addressed the creature, ”that means you’ll have to allow us use your key thing to get there. I assume you are just as interested as we are in getting rid of Levinia’s impostor, yes?”

”Thy statement is correct, and yet complete it fain would be,” replied the Rectifier. ”Thy travails to secure the life of thy friend were because that which unbalanced time respected not the rules of Time, as did those of which thou knowest, Beira of Utgardr, those thou callest the Old Ones. They too disregarded the rules of Time, but possessed not the means to escape due punishment. By this offer I thee a means to exact thy revenge, and subject the miscreants to the punishment that is their due.”

”Why did you mention the Old Ones?” Beira asked, agitation evident in her voice. ”Their age is long gone, and my people with it.”

”That be so, but a twisting infinity remaineth Time, and that which is may not be in another scenario. The Old Ones disregarded the laws of Time, and smitten they are by the punishment deserving, the working of the destruction of thy people being their last transgression. There remaineth the possibility that they should be ‘punished’ for their sins before they commit the last.”

”And if they are?”

”That shall be our discussion after this thy final task be executed, if ye both shall be willing to engage in it.”

Beira turned to face Levinia silently, but the fire in her eyes would tell the Godling of her decision as she waited for Levinia to speak.


WC: 1114 words
Total: 2149/20000

"That was my arm!" Levinia said again with much emotion, almost screaming those words. While she was not a hundred percent aware of how such a misdeed had been accomplished, it all made sense to her, now. Of course, she remembered seeing her missing arm first when she had attempted to break the curse at Andhaft's keep. It had been in an observatory, the same one that this vision had shown the both of them. And that meant that the same person who had stolen her arm was responsible for using it to seek her destruction. She recalled those two creatures that had tried to capture her essence: the robed figure, and the squid headed one. If everything she remembered was correct about that out of body experience she had had when she wrested the ability to control her magic from her enemies, then the one that she could only describe as robed, could use a form of Grimoire Magic, like herself. Probably, he was of the same race as herself, or was quite related. She shuddered slightly. The feeling that she was going to end up facing her own people again was something she was both excited and apprehensive about. While she feared that she might not be powerful enough to rise to that challenge, the lure of the closure that it offered was more than enough of a reason to want to try. Also, she had just seen the things she was capable of, with someone as efficient as Beira fighting beside her. If, between them, they had been able to defeat a couple of elite assassins, fend off attacks from a Time guardian and kill giants of varying degrees (including a skyscraper large one), then she had to trust that both of them were capable to do this. She had to trust in herself more.

She stooped and picked up the artifact Key, as Beira and the Rectifier engaged in discussion. It was expected that the Rectifier was privy to a lot of information that had occurred throughout the passages of Time, but it was nonetheless interesting to discover that like herself, Beira's past had been affected by entities that had been criminals against the Time laws. Levinia considered that much like the three scenarios they had averted, these "Old Ones", as they had been called by Beira and the Rectifier, had set in motion certain events that had destroyed Utgardr a very long time ago, displacing Beira somehow in Time and casting her into the far future. Like the fate that had been intended for her, these Old Ones had been wiped out completely, and Levinia had the feeling that this extermination of the Old Ones was part of the reason such knowledge was not accessible, even in well researched history books. She wondered whether it had been this Rectifier that had wiped them out, or a series of orchestrated events. Considering that the Old Ones had seemed to be immensely powerful in their own rights, perhaps the power of a single Rectifier was not enough. Maybe Time could call on many Rectifiers to come and wage war on a tribe of Time criminals. But the Old Ones were history, now. Her arm, and the thief responsible for almost all her woes, were not. At least, not yet.

Understandably, Beira was not pleased that such a touchy topic to her had been raised so casually by the Rectifier, but if the words of the Rectifier were without parables or hidden meanings, the entity was offering the Utgardian a chance to travel back through time and save her civilization before it was destroyed by the Old Ones. That was a very powerful offer... but the Rectifier, to be honest, had only put the possibility of it on the table. However, he had not been known to lie, so it was a plausible bargain he was handing out. Looking into Beira's eyes, Levinia did not have to ask her mentor if she was going to consider it. The Godslayer was obviously ready to see this to the end. And so was Levinia, mostly because this entire mess of events involved her mostly. Come to think of it, that would be killing two birds with one stone. She would be solving her own problem, and giving Beira a chance to fix hers, too.

It would be madness to pass up this kind of opportunity.

"Oh, you can bet we both are willing 'to engage in it'," she said, her voice resolute, as she clenched the Key in her hand. "There is too much at stake to pass up such a fine opportunity as this."

The Rectifier nodded. "The Key in thine hand shall show ye the way. Ye art versed in the employment of its workings, so ye canst be hard pressed to find your way."

The artifact began to hum in Levinia's hand, preparing to lend the two mages its power once more. Levinia turned to Beira with a slight grin. "I should like to ask for 'Rectifier badges' once we're through with all this. And if it's a thing, I hope they pay well."

With a chime that sounded like the ringing out of an ancient chapel steeple, the Key projected its bubble to surround the two mages, and again, they were transported away from the Rectifier's realm, and their "final task", as the entity had termed it. "I feel... excited doesn't seem to capture my emotions accurately," Levinia said slowly, as though she was trying to look for a word that could do justice to what she was feeling. Her green eyes met Beira's sky blue eyes. "You've done so much for me, more than I would expect of even a friend. I won't forget this, Beira III of Utgardr." Mentioning the Utgardian's full name like that was an indication that she meant those words seriously. "I owe you a great deal."

The Key chimed, cutting short any emotional conversations, as the darkness around the bubble gave way to a land bathed in an ominous twilight. The earth seemed barren and dark, and for all intents and purposes, the entire place looked lifeless. "Goodness, I'm starting to get tired of all these devoid-of-life looking places. I sure can't wait to get back to civilization."

The golden bubble receded, and the two mages found themselves at the base of a very long set of stairs that led up to the imposing pyramidal structure that had been seen in the vision. At the peak of the pyramid, a pulsating light, which could be best described as "corpse-green", of a pale, sickly and sinister pallor, cast baleful shadows all over the place. The ziggurat did not have any windows whatsoever, and lacked all manners of apertures, save a single door that sat at the top of the stairs.

Before the door milled some shadowy forms, difficult to make out in the twilight. "We're not alone," Levinia said quietly. "Looks like they have a welcoming committee out already to roll the carpets. Were we expected, I wonder?"

As Beira hoped, Levinia was totally up for the final task at hand, which, though probably much more dangerous than all the other labors that had been given the two mages by the Rectifier, most definitely had the greatest profit, should it be accomplished. The God Slayer nodded at her friend, even as she herself was more eager than she had been before, to see the rectification of the time anomalies to the very end. For even though she had been content to fight for the betterment of her friend, seeing the safety and improvement of her protégé as its own reward, this new side to the mission had revealed the possibility of a reward that could hardly be acquired anywhere else in whatever existences Beira was familiar with. For it held the promise of the ability to return and undo what had destroyed her life as she had known it, back then. And even if, though she was successful in saving her nation, Beira could not return to Utgardr, even if she would be stuck in the present-day Earthland, it would certainly make her sleep easier, knowing that at least her people had survived and not been eradicated, thanks to what she had done.

The Rectifier, for its part, was pleased to send them on their way, informing the two mages that as was expected, the strange golden medallion would show them the way, though to Beira, it was more like the medallion would take them where they needed to go. All the better for saving energy. Levinia joked about taking up a position under the Rectifier’s employ, commenting on her hope that remunerations would be good. Beira shrugged and tried to look nonchalant. ”Well, if one were to judge what the Rectifier’s employees look like based on the only ones we’ve seen so far, may I be so bold as to suggest that you look for another employer?” she replied, stepping closer to her orange-haired friend so as to position herself within the expected dimensions of the golden bubble that would be formed by the Key, as she lowered her voice slightly so that the Rectifier wouldn’t hear her, though if one thought about it, it was unlikely that such a being would be unmoved by human humor, either for good or for ill. ”I must say that the black, shadowy and ominous design which seems to pass for the dress code of those things in the Rectifier’s employ are a very poor match for an individual of your physical qualities.”

Once again, the two were off, this time on their last Rectifier-sponsored mission. Despite her outward appearance, Beira was a mess of emotions inside. But if there was anything she was resolute on, it was that this mission’s success could not be jeopardized by anything. It seemed Levinia was of a similar state of mind, and the Godling chose the moment to express her appreciation to Beira for the latter’s help so far. Beira took note of her name being called in full, and smiled, fully understanding of the gravity which Levinia hoped to impose on her statement of gratitude. ”For my part, I have done for you what a friend, in my opinion, is duty bound to do. And in Utgardr, nothing is ever owed a friend.”

There was little else to be said, as the distinct chime of the Rectifier’s Key informed the void-travelers that they had arrived at their destination. Like Levinia, Beira immediately took cognizance of the deadness of the place. Now her friend mentioned it, everywhere they had been had been devoid of life in a way, with the best case being a forest which seemed to sport no animal life in it, maybe except the bolgans, who had been exterminated. ”Maybe this just serves as a clue to the inimical nature of the things we find ourselves pitted against.” Beira’s eyes rose to the light atop the alien-looking structure, and then descended to the single door that the building housed. The shadowy forms around the door seemed to be guarding it. While Beira could bet her God Slayer magic on the wager that those things would not be friendly, she decided it would be best to come nearer and respond to the creatures, in the rare event that the mages were accused of coming with hostility to someone else’s domain. ”We could have been expected,” replied the God Slayer, ”but let us draw close and deprive them of the excuse that we attacked first, not that I think they actually came up there to roll carpets for us, as you put it. What is the purpose of rolling carpets, anyway? And why carpets? Aren’t people worried about muddying the stuff with dirty boots? Then again, I suspect I have missed something cultural. Ah well, your arm waits.”

So saying, the Utgardian took off at a determined stride, heading straight for the base of the stairs of the ziggurat. The shadowy creatures began approaching the two mages hastily, and Beira noticed that they looked quite similar to the Rectifier’s wraiths, except for the fact that they seemed to have been stripped of whatever passed off as flesh, looking skeletal, and thus more unsettling. ”What do you think, Levinia?” Beira asked over her shoulder, ”could it be that those things up ahead were once servants of the Rectifier, and, on coming here, ended up as slaves of whatever rules this place? Figures why the Rectifier didn’t care to go after whoever owns here, as it could go after you. The big coward.” The first of the skeletal creatures arrived and lunged at Beira, obviously attacking. She responded by creating a war mallet of nether rime in her right hand, which she used to smash its skull in, knocking it clean off the ziggurat at the same time. Another charged in almost immediately, hinting at its level of intellect, and suffered a similar fate to its predecessor. Some went after Levinia, but those that came for Beira suffered the same fate: a crushed head and a body thrown off the building. Suddenly, something leaped out of the doorway and descended through the air towards Beira, hefting a giant sword made of black stone. Discarding her current weapon, Beira fashioned something similar to what her newest antagonist wielded, and parried its stroke.

”Well, hello,” she grunted. ”Where have I seen you before?”


WC: 1067 words
Total: 4393/20000

Levinia let out a melodious trill of laughter, then quickly clamped her hand over her mouth to smother any more unnecessary sound. She couldn't help it; the culture shock of her friend was almost as alarming as it was amusing. So, if they did not roll out carpets in Utgardr, what did they do, then? Probably something she would have looked on as strange... but come to think of it, if she was transported to Utgardr, she would be just as out of place as Beira was in Fiore. She did not mean nor intend to make fun of her friend, but she couldn't help giggling at the way Beira missed the idea of rolling out a carpet as a form of royal welcome. When this was over, she would take Beira on a history and culture lesson of Fiore.

"Carpets are rolled out as a sign of welcome for a noble, or someone of such station," Levie said, still smiling. "I think it has something to do with giving such honor to a person that they wouldn't want the honored to step on the dusty ground. Hence, the carpet is rolled out to make his walk... dignified, or something." She just had to explain this one.

Beira's mention of the shadowy creatures that lurked before the doors of the ziggurat was astute. They looked like the Time Wraiths Levie had seen in the Rectifier's domain, but they were warped, twisted, like something had forced them to its thralldom. Levinia frowned as she watched them approach. Whatever was running this dead place must be quite powerful, if it could take the minions of another and turn them into its own servants. "Maybe the Rectifier was just counting his costs, and found it less irksome to wait things out. And then he finds our coming serendipitous, and used it to his own gain. He may not be a coward, but that guy is damn manipulative. And yeah, it seems without a doubt that these guys were once the Rectifier's boys. Be on your guard, Beira. I have a feeling that whatever we are up against has the power to subjugate minds." She knew she had some powerful psychic abilities, and from the little she had seen of Beira's new magic, her mentor seemed to have somewhat similar powers. However, not every psychic had the ability to resist mind control. Levinia knew she was capable of doing so, to an extent; she would trust that Beira could do the same. And in the event that was not so, well, they would find a way around it, like they had always done.

Levinia, walking some distance behind Beira, lifted her prosthetic right arm up, and a glossy black scabbard materialized in her palm. Her fingers closed over it as her left hand flew to the hilt of the katana that she had summoned. The twisted Time Wraiths that ran in blindly were no match for the Songblade; one by one, she sliced neatly through them, without pausing in her step. Suddenly, an armored creature attacked Beira, who skillfully parried the blow. Even in the gloom, Levinia could tell that this thing was of the same type of creature that had attacked Andhaft's Keep. Their presence here was only stronger proof that they were finally onto the thing that had been likely responsible for her curse, and that now sought her death.

"These guys, again? At least it means we're on the right track."

Just then, another stepped out of the shadows, its chalky lips murmuring an incantation, as it held forward a staff. This was one of their spell casters. It would probably rely on long range, while it tried to overwhelm her with offensive attacks. She broke into a run, past Beira and her greatsword-wielding opponent, and approached the mage. The creature lifted its staff, then smote the black floor beneath with the butt of its weapon. Instantly, jagged obsidian spikes pierced through the ground in front of it, and proceeded towards Levinia. If she continued her charge, she would be torn into ribbons by the spikes. She threw the Utagatana into the air and caught it with her Verdant Amulet Grimoire: Telekinesis, while two almost identical revolvers, but with different color templates appeared in her hands. If it wanted to play a game of long range, she could tag along.

Pointing Argent and Jet at the Mirror Walker mage, she squeezed the triggers. The mage shuddered as one of the bullets struck it in the shoulder, but it managed to avoid the other one. Levinia proceeded to press on her attack, but the mage struck the ground again, and a large black mirror rose between it and herself. She could detect that it hadn't moved from behind the mirror, but her attention soon focused on the mirror, as its surface began rippling like the surface of a windswept lake. Then, as though it was walking through some liquid, another Mirror Walker emerged from it, this one wielding an oversized club. Its black alien eyes focused on Levinia, and  it snarled, as it prepared to attack.

"Brilliant! Now it's two against one. Still, I'm not letting that stop me."

Levinia threw her revolvers into the air, and like the Songblade, they positioned themselves around her without falling, as though caught by an unseen power. She held out her right arm as though reaching for something, and a well crafted shield appeared in her possession. The Mirror Walker warrior rushed at her with surprising speed, evidently aiming to smack her with the club, whether she blocked it or not. She raised her shield to defend against it, but the creature would soon find out that she probably matched it strength for strength... not to mention the nasty surprise it would get when it struck.

The club wielding creature swung its weapon in a horizontal arc at Levinia's torso, and as she put the shield between its weapon and herself, the Royal Shield let out a flash of silver light, that knocked the Mirror Walker clean backwards. Instantly, Levinia had snatched Argent out of the air, and fired at point blank range into its face, the revolver coughing white smoke that wreathed the creature's head. The mage gestured, and shards of obsidian flew through the air at her, forcing her to break away from the fight. She threw erself into the air as the shards pulverized where she had formerly stood, performing a graceful twist in the air and landing on her feet like a cat.

The two Mirror Walkers were close to each other now, the mage having approached the warrior, which had oddly thick, rusty liquid dripping from its face. It was damaged, but not dead. Levinia hefted her shield and watched them. She was only one, but she was a little bit faster than they were. She would wait for them to attack, and react accordingly. The shield would defend her if she had to make a dangerous gambit, while she would rely on her Royal Arms. She didn't want to start using her magic power yet; she was sure that she would need as much as she could afford before the day was done.

For a moment, the two combatants strove against each other, competing in a battle of brawns as each strove to overcome the other through sheer force of might alone. But it was clear that this Mirror Walker was a fool for attempting to resist a God Slayer. Beira pushed until she had her feet planted solidly, and the Mirror Walker trying not to buckle under the weight of her press. Then she gave one last sudden push, aiming to knock the strange creature totally off balance, which would be a rather precarious position for the creature to find itself in. To the Mirror Walker’s detriment, she succeeded. Being one to not take chances lying down, or allow opportunities to pass her by untapped, Beira quickly went on the offensive, swinging her great sword twice in two rapid successive slashes, a feat which would have been impossible for an average individual to attempt, wielding such a large weapon. As a matter of fact, even a strong person would probably have managed the feat, albeit at a much slower speed than Beira had executed her attacks. To her advantage, the weapon was made of nether rime, over which she held full authority, and in addition, Beira’s strength was well-attested to.

Unfortunately, instead of feeling the satisfactory sensation of her razor-keen sword slice through the diseased skin of the Mirror Walker, Beira’ heard two loud clangs, and growled in irritation as she realized that some strange obsidian mirror had somehow magicked its way between her and her reeling opponent, serving as a protective shield, which had saved the Mirror Walker on the receiving end of her attacks from being sliced into bits and pieces. It could only mean one thing: there was another Mirror Walker that had joined the fight. Well, that would only delay the inevitable. Spinning to the left, and around the mirror, Beira, keen on not allowing her chance of attacking the Mirror Walker to easily go to waste, set herself for a slashing attack, only to see a myriad of obsidian shards flying her way. She took the most fleeting of split seconds to plant her feet and launch herself backwards, away from the onslaught of sailing obsidian needles, which shattered into a million pieces with an almost musical sound, as they made impact against the grey stone staircase of the lofty ziggurat upon which Beira currently was doing battle.

As she made her evasive maneuver, Beira saw her other opponent, a ghostly figure with its sickly chalk colored skin and flowing robes, as it floated out of the only aperture on the ziggurat, hovering slowly above the ground as it approached. It gestured with a hand, and the face of the obsidian mirror, which had been chipped by Beira’s slashes, began to ripple like water, before another Mirror Walker exited the object as though it were a portal to another dimension. ”Well, that was just sloppy on my part,” Beira thought with building irritation, as she watched the three Mirror Walkers trying to flank her on the stairs. ”I had totally forgotten they could do that. Well, the only proper solution to a mistake is its correction.” As if sensing what she had in mind, the Mirror Walker, who wielded a huge double headed axe, stood defensively with its back to the black mirror, attempting to prevent her from going for the object and smashing it. Well, it was time to show these diseased abominations why everything that had an advantage had a disadvantage. In this case, the disadvantage appeared to be on Beira’s side, seeing as she was outnumbered. But as the Mirror Walkers would soon figure out, fighting a strong, intelligent and mobile enemy was not very good for you when she did not have friendly fire to worry about and they did. Wisely, Levinia had chosen to steer herself and her own battles to some distance away, where the Godling would have enough space to maneuver herself without fear of getting involved in Beira’s fracas. This way, it was highly unlikely for an attack made to target Beira’s orange haired friend to cause the Utgardian enough worry to attempt to save her protégé, and have herself open for a counterattack. In fact, it was the Mirror Walkers presently facing her who had that disadvantage, as they would realize in no long time.

Unwilling to draw close, the warlock Mirror Walker began waving its hands, as squares of floating obsidian materialized in the air around it, while the two Mirror Walkers with weapons tried to overcome their opponent with a double flanking attack. Beira danced off to one side, so that she had put one of the Mirror Walker brutes between herself and the other. Of course, that one slowed down for its mate to come up alongside it, but Beira attacked with an overhead swing. The creature raised its double headed axe to parry her attack, but its weapon met with empty air, as Beira’s own weapon sublimed into nothingness from her hands. Realizing its opponent appeared unarmed, it quickly moved to strike, but Beira was faster. Clenching her fist, she smashed the creature’s face in with a bone shattering straight punch, the impact of the blow sending the monster sailing like a rag doll. At that moment, the flying squares of obsidian rained on the general area in which Beira was. At the same time, the Mirror Walker with the giant sword made its move, as the shards which flew at Beira seemed to change their trajectory so as not to strike the oncoming Mirror Walker. Beira dodged away from the shards, right into the attack of the sword wielding Mirror Walker. But she had anticipated this, and parried the attack with her bare hands, using her Winter God Dominance. As the second volley of squares spun towards Beira like shuriken, she grabbed the Mirror Walker in front of her and swung it in the way of the approaching projectiles. A few managed to miss the creature, but most of them cut its back into ribbons. The Mirror Walker attempted to attack with its weapon, as it shrugged off the damage it had received, causing Beira to fling it away from her before its sword could reach her. As it rose to its feet, it was joined by its axe-wielding companion.

Beira watched them silently. So far, she had not managed to kill any single one of them. Two had been injured, but the most problematic had not yet been damaged even. It wasn’t as though Beira herself had survived the altercation unscathed. One of the flying squares had managed to nick her side. It hurt like hell, but she would regenerate in time from that wound. It was time to get more serious with these freaks.

WC: 1133 words
Total: 6730/20000

As she looked at them, Levinia couldn't help but consider how these things reminded her of herself. Some months ago, she was almost exactly like they were now, but her eyes had been more human, even if they were differently colored. As she looked at them, she found herself staring into black pits devoid of any emotion, save the driving force of a brutal master who would not tolerate disappointment. As a sort of afterthought, she reached out with her telepathy towards them, in an attempt to interact with them on a soul level. Even if their languages were different, every sentient being had thoughts, and every brain understood thoughts.

She reached out with her mind, even though her body and reflexes were still cranked to full alert. Some would say that it was giving medicine to a dead horse, since hostilities had already been initiated. Yet, she preferred that no one would blame her in the future for not giving them a chance (even though it was obvious that the only chance they wanted to give her was a chance to go to the grave, violently). Besides, she was not the one who had started the fight, so she had every reason to have responded with deadly force to their onslaught. And perhaps this would clear her conscience; Levinia didn't ever want to have to judge anyone based on their looks alone. She had been victim to such in the past, and she knew how much it had hurt.

Her telepathic powers reached out into nothing. Literally. It was not an issue of a well guarded mind, which had set up some mental blocks, or through some meditative arts, had mastered the art of resisting all forms of mental communication or suggestion. No, it was like trying to communicate with something lifeless, like a corpse. If it was that these creatures were in a vegetative state, at least, she would still be able to interact directly with their cognitive processes, but there was nothing inside their heads. They were dead, for all intents and purposes, and yet they still lived, propelled by whoever called themselves the master of these lands. There was no way to communicate; it was thus obvious that one party had to die for the other to succeed. And after all she had been through today, Levinia was absolutely in no mood to die. She felt sorry for them, for whatever good that was. But she could not allow them to stop her.

A two on one handicap battle commanded that the handicapped party used a superior skill or ability to overwhelm their opponent. Inasmuch as these things could not be reasoned with, they had a primal intelligence that allowed them to react to attacks like worthy combatants, and learn from previous actions. She would have to do something unprecedented, and take such an advantage of it that neither of them would recover from the attack. A plan quickly knitted itself in the recesses of her analytic mind, and she nodded to herself. It just might work.

"Let's see if I can't outsmart these guys."

She ran towards the two Mirror Walkers, and when they realized that she was initiating the offensive this time, the mage drew backwards, while the club wielding warrior strode forward to meet her. As she came closer, she held her shield out in front of her, like she intended to ram into the Mirror Walker with it. The strange creature spread its feet out on either side, and drew its body closer to the ground to reduce its center of gravity. She smirked slightly. It intended to tank her attack head on; it was after all, rather bulky, while the mage probably prepared some sort of counterattack. That was what she wanted them to believe: that she was attacking the warrior.

The warrior placed its weapon in the way of Levinia's charge, as the shield drove into it, but with surprisingly less force than expected, although the warrior was more interested in defending against the silver flash that had blasted it back some moments ago. It even shielded its face with the body of the club to protect whatever skin was exposed by its armor. But no flash came. As the warrior peeked from behind its club, it noticed that the shield was floating in mid-air, like Levinia had disappeared from sight, but was still trying to attack. In a swift, brutal, strike, the warrior swung his club beneath the shield, a move that would have sent Levinia flying like a thrown rag doll. But to the surprise of the creature, if it was capable of any, there was no resistance of a physical body that the club connected with.

So, where was Levinia?

At the moment before impact, she had whispered, "Black Amulet Grimoire: Absolute Dimension," and had instantly used the power of translocation on herself to move from behind the shield to behind the mage Mirror Walker. She used her telekinesis to wield the shield to continue the "attack" (which explained why the attack was that shoddy), while she had snatched the Utagatana from the air as she cast her spell. As she appeared, before her feet had touched the ground, she made one very fluid quick draw stroke with the elegant slender blade. The upward slash cut the Mirror walker mage in two almost perfectly equal halves, and she lurched forward, casting the scabbard aside to wield her trusty sword in both hands. Since her first slash had gone from down to up, Levinia had her sword held high over her head, as she leaped into the air.

The Mirror Walker warrior turned too late. Too late to make a preemptive strike, but not too late to block the attack. And since Levinia was naturally quicker than it was, it had to use its weapon to block. The warrior raised its club to meet the attack.

"Banshōgiri!!!"

There was a flash of tempered steel, and Levinia completed the blow without any seeming resistance. It was strange, because from the way she had struck, and the way the Mirror Walker looked, she had completely missed her attack. The armored creature grunted, perhaps in what was meant to be mockery, and lifted its club. Then it made a gurgling sound, as a very smooth rust-colored line appeared at the top of its hairless head and ran down its body, from crown to crutch. With its arm still raised, the Mirror Walker warrior fell backwards, as its body separated in two bilaterally symmetrical parts.

Levinia flicked rusty blood off the blade and called her other floating weapons to herself. As she sheathed the sword, the other weapons shimmered and faded away. She could always call them back whenever she needed them, but she would hold the Songblade for now. In a place like this, with danger lurking at every step, it was best to stay armed with a reliable weapon. Beira was still fighting, and Levinia was just about pitching in and helping her friend out, when the door of the ziggurat opened once again, and two other Mirror Walkers emerged. Like the first pair she had bifurcated, one was a warrior and the other was a mage. This time, the warrior held a massive, rectangular sword. Kind of reminded her of her Endovelicus.

The mage suddenly gestured with a bony hand, and an invisible force hit Levinia in the chest, throwing her away from the doors and a good distance down the steps. Quickly, she performed a flip in the air, otherwise she would have landed on her back, and landed a lot more gracefully than was expected of her, what with the attack. A shadow, even in the faint light, suddenly formed beneath her. Looking up, she saw the Mirror Walker warrior descending to meet her with an overhead strike. Quickly, she threw herself out of the way and rolled to her feet, as dust, stone chips and debris was flung all about.

Taking a deep breath, she rose to her feet and grasped the Utagatana in a ready stance.

"Great! Time for round two."

The two weapon wielding Mirror Walkers came to stand side by side, as they faced the God Slayer, preparing themselves for their next attack, while the mage began chanting unheard words in a strange language. Slowly, it raised its hands, and a strange dark cloud of some unknown nebulous matter began to form over its head. Beira did not move, watching the creature to see what form of magic its next attack would be. Of course, this did not seem intelligent in the least, seeing as it was safest to prevent an opponent from presenting an attack whose properties were yet uncertain. After all, if it was a practically undodgeable attack, or something of a similarly problematic adjective, it would be best to not allow the attack to take place. Normally, even the Utgardian schools of combat which Beira had been forced to go through from an early age taught that there was no wisdom in allowing an opponent to attack, when it was not a duel that involved an honor battle or some such matter that presented some sort of code by which the fight would be governed. In a battle such as this, in which the only rule was “win!”, Beira was courting disaster to let the Mirror Walker mage cast its spell.

Of course, the Winter God Slayer was not that foolish. What the Mirror Walkers did not know was that Beira was already taking steps to ensure that the mage did not come through with whatever nefarious plans it was trying to hatch. The mere fact that the other two weapon wielders were waiting for their arcane friend to complete whatever it was doing was proof that whatever was in the offing would be, at the very least effective. So they were waiting, and then once it was done, they would probably see how she responded to the attack, and make attacks of their own to ensure that if the spell did not kill the God Slayer, her blood would be spilt by one of their weapons. Sadly for them, they were not the only creatures capable of formulating long term plans. From the onset of the battle, Beira had been studying her opponents, taking note of whatever she could regarding them. And she had noticed something that, while apparently quite normal, was something to take note of, thanks to these creatures’ strange anatomies. When Beira had made attacks, they did not respond to the attacks like someone with a sixth sense. They responded based on majorly optical and auditory feedback, something Beira had been able to deduce from the movement of their beady eyes, the way they moved their heads to put their ears at a more advantageous angle, and so on. And upon noticing that, she decided to use this apparently regular piece of information to the best of use.

Beira’s greatest advantage at present was that she had only revealed her nether rime manipulating abilities. Unless these things were psychic, and she was willing to bet that they weren’t, they could not know that she had psionic abilities at her disposal. And one of these was the power of illusions. Illusions which affected the eyes and the ears. And as had been mentioned, Beira had analyzed by observation that these were the senses which the Mirror Walkers most relied on. After the latest round of battle, Beira had created an illusion field using her Datum: Water Moon. The illusion was simple: it changed nothing, except Beira. For while she stood watching the Mirror Walkers, or so they thought she did, the real Winter Goddess was stalking the mage unseen, while the incorporeal illusion, which they thought was her, stood in a wary stance, apparently trying to catch her breath as she gauged her opponents. It was quite serendipitous that the two Mirror Walkers in front of her made no move to attack yet, for the illusion would have been detected, seeing as it was intangible. Still, Beira had a plan for if that scenario were to occur; it was only that it would be much more advantageous for her if it did not occur. And it seemed that the dice of luck had been rolled in her favor.

The Mirror Walker mage, having finished its incantations, pointed its clawed fingers at Beira, but unfortunately for it, its well-prepared spell would not be cast that day, or any other day, for that matter. One moment, it was pointing at the false Beira, the other moment, it was flailing in death throes, as a nether rime spike was seen jutting out of its head. The Beira in front of the two weapon users slowly faded away into nothingness, as the mage fell to its knees, the real Beira standing behind it, her hands still holding the shaft of the nether rime pike which she had used to give it a new ventilation hole. Of course, one could argue that it needed no new ventilation apertures, seeing that it was not very likely that these strange abominations had any need for air. They were probably constructs of an alchemical nature, perhaps golems or something similar, for while they possessed some attributes of living things, most notably movement, Beira had long since detected, using her Cosmic Resonance, that these chalk white anomalies did not have anything such as a pulse. And though they had bodily fluids, this fact being evident thanks to the creature that was leaking all its pints of rust-colored liquid from the death wound in its head, Beira was not sure the strange reddish liquid had any biologically important function, maybe except to create hydrostatic pressure to give these monsters firmer bodies than would be the case if they had no fluids inside them. The fact they had no pulse meant that they did not use this liquid for respiration, as a beating organ would be necessary to cause the fluid to circulate through the body. No beating heart meant the fluid was just standing there within those strange bodies, and their veins, or whatever they had that passed off as veins, were full of the liquid.

Pulling her pike free from the dead Mirror Walker, Beira raised the weapon and yelled a challenge to the two weapon wielders. Seeing that their plan had been thwarted, the creatures began charging up the stairs, with the axe wielder overtaking the Mirror Walker with the sword. It swung its weapon in a circular arc at the ice mage, who prepared herself to dodge such a straightforward attack. Suddenly, the air around her turned a strange shade of green, and she slowed down considerably. This meant she could not dodge the attack and was forced to block it. Unwilling to have the other monster gain on her while she was moving slowly, Beira did not withstand the force of her attacker, allowing the swing to move her and throw her off the side of the ziggurat. Quickly, her mind pieced information together. The color she had seen in the air likely meant she had been caught in some sort of magic field. One that hadn’t been there before. Which meant that there was another magic-using Mirror Walker somewhere about.

Bouncing on the air as if it were a solid object as steadfast as the granite steps of the ziggurat, Beira leaped back onto the pyramidal structure, as her Cosmic Resonance detected the Mirror Walker she had suspected of creating the strange green field. It was hiding just beyond the door of the ziggurat. She would root out the tricky rat. First though, she would need to give herself some space with the two not-so-tricky rats gaining in on her again.


WC: 1283 words
Total: 9369/20000

Normally, when facing an enemy with such a large weapon, most people went for a similarly oversized weapon, if they had such in their arsenal. Levinia, however, was not ready to make any switch in her current weapons. What she had was sufficient to handle these two. She was assured that even though the blade of her katana was thin, compared to the greatsword wielded by the Mirror Walker, it was perhaps even more durable, and could stand up under intense pressure. And with her shield, she could keep her enemies at bay much easier. But the mage was probably going to be a problem.

The mere fact that the Mirror Walker sorcerer could manipulate invisible forces was going to present an issue, unless there was a way she could track the attacks. Watching it for any physical cues might prove fatal, as the Mirror Walker executioner would most likely take advantage of her distracted stance, as proven by its most recent attack. To take the mage out first would be the wisest course of action, but the greatsword wielder seemed to be very intent on pressing forward its own attack. The strategy was sound: the warrior tries to overwhelm her with its physical attacks. The mage would stand back and slip in an attack of its own, when she was least guarded. It was settled, then: she would stay as frosty as possible, and take out the executioner Mirror Walker first. Once that was done, there would be many inventive means of getting close to the sorcerer.

Already, the Mirror Walker warrior was charging with all the speed and rage an irate bull could muster, its weapon held above its head for a decimating downward strike. Levinia smiled slightly. This one seemed a little dumber than the others. This match would be over soon. She mentally warned herself against underestimating her opponents; there could be something it banked on, that she was unaware of, that permitted its apparent recklessness. She snatched Jet from the air, pointed it at the warrior, and fired off a shot. To her surprise, there was a loud ponging sound, much like a bullet would make when it connected with a very durable surface, but what was surprising was that the spark that resulted from her bullet striking was observed some distance to the left of the charging Mirror Walker. How was that possible? She was quite a good aim with her pistols. Unless...

The mage. She realized that even though she was not looking at it, her Gaze of the Hierophant ability had informed her of a subtle gesture it had made, just as she had fired. Well, it could also deflect attacks remotely. Alright then, first, she had to deal with the one bearding down on her, then she could figure out what to do next. She prepared to skip out of the way, but to her horror, her feet locked in place and refused to move. Now, she noticed the mage had both arms up and pointed at her. No wonder the warrior could rush in without a care in the world. She strained at her body with all her might, and managed to raise both hands, still wielding the Utagatana, in the way of the slash. Her superior physical strength broke whatever power the mage was using to bind her, as she noticed that it reeled, as though struck by an unseen blow. However, there was no space to evade the warrior.

The warrior brought down its sword with all the strength it could muster. There was a loud report of steel meeting steel. The force of the blow connecting sent out a shock wave that kicked up dust and other debris, and created a crater beneath the Godling. But Levinia's arms held, even though she was driven to one knee. Gritting her teeth, she strained against the large weapon, then pushing her sword off to the side with no small amount of vigor, she knocked the warrior's weapon wide open. immediately, she brought her blade back in a slashing arc at its chest. The warrior jumped away in the nick of time, breaking away from the fight, although the Utagatana managed to carve a chip off the bulky obsidian armor it wore.

Now, it was Levinia's turn to press the attack. She jumped out of the crater, and followed the warrior, holding the Songblade in her left hand and snatching Argent with her right. She pointed towards the warrior's crutch, then thrust her arm forward as though she were firing, but she did not pull the trigger. She sensed the mage gesture once more, but there was nothing to defend. And the moment after the mage gestured, she fired. If anyone was expecting the shot to drive into the family jewels of the Mirror Walker warrior, they would be in for a big surprise. Instead, there was a spark on the steps behind the warrior between its legs, and the Mirror Walker mage, who was lurking behind it suddenly staggered, its head violently thrust backwards as if it had been given an uppercut.

Her plan had worked. She had fired off a ricocheting bullet, and since the mage had not deflected anything, it had passed through the space between the warrior's legs, bounced off the stairs, and driven straight into the mage's jaw. The warrior, for its part, perhaps oblivious to the mage's predicament, charged again, but as it came in once again, Levinia formed a small ball of tightly packed runes, and flung it over its shoulder and towards the mage. As the warrior made a horizontal stroke, this time, its weapon met with empty air. Levinia flickered into existence behind it, airborne and much closer to the mage, who was still recovering from the shot. Her left hand let go of the Utagatana and found Argent, and she fired another shot into its head at closer range. As the mage fell backwards, her jumping trajectory and momentum caused her to connect with its body, and drive it onto the stairs, pinning it beneath her. She pointed both guns into its cowl and fired them off together.

She sensed the warrior coming at her, as she stood over the body of the lifeless mage. She did not turn around, even when it was within striking range, but as it aimed a blow at her back, her Royal Shield intercepted the strike. It noticed, a little too late, that as the shield spun off to the side, Levinia was revealed, stepping forward, holding the Utagatana and preparing for a quick draw slash. The warrior tried to jump away again, but she struck first, her weapon singing through the air. The warrior managed to complete the evasion, but unlike before, there was no sign of injury. A second later, a rusty line drew itself across the Mirror Walker's throat, and the creature toppled backwards as its head fell off. Levinia then drove the Utagatana into the body of the Mirror Walker mage, to ensure that it was dead, so that no surprise attacks would catch her off guard.

With a slight sigh, she sheathed the Utagatana, and dispelled all her weapons. That was like taking a deep breath before the next exertion, as she mentally prepared herself for whatever was coming next.

As the two Mirror Walkers approached, Beira tightened her grip on the pike made of nether rime. This would be her weapon of choice for the moment. While it was practically useless as far as slashing situations were concerned, and it was certainly not the best option for combat at very close quarters, investing resources in slashing would not be very helpful on such a place as this, in which space would be a wanted commodity when the battle was joined. Seeing as the Mirror Walkers wanted to continue to use the age-old effective tactic of ‘wait till your ally attacks, then jump in and do one or two of your own’, it would be safest for Beira to use their tactic’s peculiarities against them. Because a disadvantage to her, given the right response, could just as easily become a disadvantage for her opponents. If one attacked, and the other followed up, it would have to step beside its colleague, and limit its attacks to moves of a more vertical dimension, else it stood the risk of harming its companion. At that cramped moment, when both of them were together, mobility would be lowest. And then, the advantage of a thrusting attack, while easy to dodge by simply sidestepping to either the right or left, would be made rather obvious, as there would be very little room to step to one side or another.

She could sense the mage still hiding beyond the door, though she could not tell how the creature was keeping tabs on the battle, since it had allowed itself to be hidden by the ziggurat’s wall. Unless it had an ability like Beira’s Cosmic Resonance, there had to be a way by which it could tell where Beira had positioned herself, or what she was doing at any given moment. The fact that it seemed to be perfectly still presently meant it was probably waiting for something, most likely her next attack. And that meant it could definitely sense her. At this point, the Winter Goddess decided that she would simply assume that the creature could sense things without natural senses, like she could, and that its magic was probably something related to the manipulation of fields, which was why it had generated the motion slowing field around her, quite an advantageous feat on its part, as opposed to firing the spell as a projectile, as such could be more easily dodged.

With a hiss, the axe wielding brute charged first, swinging its axe at the God Slayer in a brutal crescent slash. Beira knew that normally, she was expected to block or dodge on time, with relation to the Mirror Walker’s attack, or try to counter before its attack landed. Instead, she suddenly dodged prematurely, destroying her chance of executing a counterattack and giving the Mirror Walker the space and time to prepare to attack her again, not to mention the other one who was still coming at the rear, who had an attack of its own primed and waiting to be executed. But while many people would imagine that this was a foolish move, Beira noticed, a scant half second after she leapt into the air, that a sphere of pale green energy burst into existence where she had been not so many moments before. So, it was certified, the creature hidden behind the doorway was definitely placing tabs on the battle. Beira flung the pike at the Mirror Walker with the sword, causing it to halt its charge while it deflected the thrown projectile. That split second of its delay meant that Beira would, for that short period of time, have to only deal with the axe wielder. But that was not the case. For as she prepared to respond to the creature, her Cosmic Resonance detected a slender, sharp object seemingly appear out of thin air and rush towards her. It didn’t seem too difficult to dodge, so Beira simply twisted out of the way. The shard however exploded, lacerating the God Slayer’s left arm and side. Almost at the same time, the axe wielder made another swing, aiming.  To bifurcate the still-airborne mage.

Thrusting off the air, and using her ability to freeze gravity momentarily, Beira suddenly and unexpectedly changed direction while in mid air, narrowly avoiding the axe. It was then she realized how the mage behind the doorway was watching her. It was that blasted mirror that she had been too busy to shatter back then, the mirror through which one of her attackers had come. Without acting as if she was aware of where the last attack had come, Beira reached out with her Cosmic Resonance. She detected it, another mirror inside the ziggurat, towards which the Mirror Walker mage was facing. So, that was its secret. It would cast a spell into the mirror, and the spell would exit through the other mirror, the one which was closer to the battle taking place. An idea came to Beira’s mind. She would make the creature use its mirror, for the last time. Creating a Winter God Horn, Beira made as though she would lob it at the two Mirror Walkers on the stairs, but then she suddenly turned, throwing the corkscrew spear towards the ziggurat. No doubt the hiding Mirror Walker had taken up position there, because the wall of the structure was probably very durable, and as such, it would easily withstand any attacks made against it. Unfortunately for the ugly bum, the Winter God Horn was designed to punch through reinforcements with ease, and it accordingly made a hole in the wall in very little time, surprising the mage. With nowhere else to dodge, the creature leaped into the mirror before it.

At that moment, the sword-wielding monster stepped past its companion and lunged at Beira, aiming to shred her with its weapon’s giant, but wickedly sharp, tip. This time there was nothing to prevent her from dodging. She darted forward suddenly, evading the weapon with ease, but surprisingly, she refused to take advantage of the Mirror Walker’s vulnerability and counter it. She had realized that the reason the brute had attacked, despite knowing she was faster than it, was because it was not minded to allow her attack the mage as it emerged from the mirror on the battlefield, which was the only place it could emerge and still be relevant to the battle. So, rather than attacking the sword bearer, Beira zipped past it and rammed into the unsuspecting axe wielder behind, flying into its face with a sailing double knee strike. Even before touching the ground, Beira had snatched the giant axe out of the creature’s hands, and flung it as hard as she could. The two Mirror Walkers watched as the weapon somersaulted through the air, inexorably towards the mirror, as their magic using companion had barely emerged.

The axe struck it with enough force to split it open from head to sternum, and the mirror shattered with violence, dividing the Mirror Walker mage in two, as its lower body was still on the other side of the portal. The disarmed Mirror Walker swung a giant fist at the God Slayer, but fists were not meant to block blades, and in two swift strokes, Beira’s newly created nether rime sword had claimed first the attacking fist, then the creature’s head. The last Mirror Walker, realizing it was alone, took a defensive stance, but Beira was already behind it, having teleported to the creature’s back. It didn’t even have time to exhale before it was cut in two transversally. ”And that takes care of that,” the God Slayer crowed exultantly, as she turned her attention to Levinia. She was sure her companion didn’t need her help, but in case she was still battling, this was no honor duel.


WC: 1305 words
Total: 11896/20000

Beira would find Levinia peering towards the eerie light at the top of the strange structure before which she and her friend had spilled rusty blood. They had managed to push through the first wave without much of a big deal; it wan't that the battles did not test their mettle, but at least, the both of them were still able and ready to step into another fray, if such was necessary. Levinia had no doubt whatsoever that this was not the last fight they would experience today. She glanced at Beira, and smiled upon seeing that her friend was not seriously hurt, if she was injured at all. Then the smile broke, and was replaced with a frown, as her eyes fell on the injuries that Beira's left arm and side had sustained.

"You look like you fared pretty well enough, though that looks painful," she said, as she made a gesture with her left hand. A series of runes appeared in a circle around the both of them, and they would find that whatever pain they may have incurred from the battle with the Mirror Walkers quickly faded away, as wounds sealed up and bruises cleaned off, like time was reversing itself on the wounds. Then she smiled again. "Alright, yeah. I can now agree that that does take care of that."

She looked back towards the pyramidal fortress. "There's something slightly interfering with my ability to detect stuff," she said pensively, "but I suspect it can't be helped. There's no point trying to sneak in; we virtually whipped out the marching band to announce our presence with this fight. Still, it would be nice to detect whatever else it is that is in store for us. And a hundred bucks that what we're looking for is at the top."

So saying, she climbed the remaining stairs that stood between her and the foreboding double doors that appeared to be the only entrance into the ziggurat. Levinia did not expect what she saw next. She had supposed that there would be some sort of staircase that would wind around the interior wall of the ziggurat, and there would be more or less cramped rooms, the higher one went. Instead, she found herself in a spacious hallway, with a single pillar in the center of the room. The pillar had steps carved into it, as the only means of ascending to a higher floor, and they disappeared beyond the ceiling above. The rest of the room was as black as the outside surface of the ziggurat, much like almost every thing in this place. It was almost like they were stepping into a different world, as the inside of the structure looked wide and almost boundless. Even though the ziggurat looked imposing by itself, surely the insides seemed much larger than the outside.

"Wow!" Levinia murmured, as she took a step inside.

The moment both of them stepped in, they would feel like they were immersed in some strange experience. There was something, a strange presence, that spoke gentle, soothing words to them, words that were unheard, but felt by the soul. Enticingly, softly, it asked them to let it in. It could help them, could give them whatever they wanted. It offered a great many gifts: power, wealth, love, oh so many things.

It knew about the Rectifier, and the deal he had offered. It whispered to Beira that she need not hearken to the voice of one who had sought to kill her in the past. The Rectifier could not be trusted. He was only using them for his gains and ends, and when they were done, he would still attempt to destroy them. If he was benevolent as he seemed to show, why had he not made the offer first, before trying to kill the both of them? It was different, it cooed. It could show Beira things, teach her powerful magics. It could make her the Mistress of Time, able to bend the Flow of Time to her whims and caprices. It could make her the Mistress of her fate. She could return to Utgardr. She could gain more power than even the Old Ones. She would be the greatest queen to ever rule, and her name would be eternally commemorated... if she ever faded away at all. And if she loved Fiore so much, she could easily return, whenever she wanted. It knew what she wanted, and it could give her even more. Beira would find herself surrounded by her deepest dreams and desires, along with an overwhelming feeling of how they were within her grasp. It was very convincing, and it seemed so fair. All she had to do, was to accept.

At the same time, it spoke to Levinia. It knew of her labors, and her pains. The hardships she had waded through to get here, and it could help her. It could restore her arm. It could give her power equal to that of a goddess. She would not have to live in fear of her people; in fact, her people would come bowing to her. She would never have to fear anyone or anything again. She would be loved by all, feared by her enemies, and all the denizens of Earthland would worship her. And of course, if she wished for her influence to spread further into other dimensions, it would be done. It knew about the Rectifier, and it was better than he was. It was not offering her death. It would not try to double cross her, like the Rectifier surely would. And the Rectifier was incapable of giving her half of what this voice offered. Levinia found herself staring down at adoring masses of people, all raising their hands in adulation. All she had to do, was to accept.

She closed her eyes, but the visions persisted. The feeling of reaching out and embracing her dreams was so strong, she almost couldn't bear it. "Why do you want to help me so?" she asked. It was a magnanimous power, it said. Benevolence was its nature. She would lose nothing; she would gain everything. All she had to do was accept.

"I traced the source of all my problems to this place, so I seriously doubt there's anything you're selling that I really want. Besides, get everything at the price of none? Nobody falls for that hogwash nowadays. Besides, I've been here before, I'm sure, even if not in the flesh. Wonder why you didn't make me that killer deal, then."

She had barely finished the last sentence, when the voice returned, but it had changed. Along with it came an almost irresistible power that tried to invade her body. The voice screamed at her, hissed at her, commanded her to yield, threatened her with all the pain of the nine known hells and more, if she refused it. "Well, I'm glad you showed your true colors. Can we just get past all the deceit and face ourselves like real people? I'm really sick of all your subterfuge and nonsense. And as you are aware, the answer still remains 'NO!'"

Pushing back mentally against the invasive presence, Levinia dispelled it, and to her surprise, she noticed that Beira and herself were in a different room. This one was larger than the room they had entered, on walking into the ziggurat. Somehow, both of them would be aware that they had been transported to a floor higher, in the structure, yet, strangely, the space here seemed wider than down below, which was supposed to be the opposite in a pyramidal structure...

... and the titan was upon them before they had even noticed it. How something so massive, fifteen meters tall, or rather, high, could sneak up on anyone was unheard of, but it was like the giant was suddenly there, looming over them, a foot already drawn back for a gargantuan punt. And it was aimed at Levinia. She looked up and flung herself, just as the foot swung in. It missed her by close to a hair's breadth, but the force of the kick dragged enough air currents to deal her a mighty blow. Levinia was thrown into a far wall with bone breaking force, and the pain that lanced up her back cut off the sound of any cry from her mouth. She fell to the smooth floor, as the titan threw back its head and screamed.

Then it looked at Beira.

Beira, upon turning to see how her companion was faring, saw that Levinia had already concluded her fight against her opponents, and returned the smile. Levinia’s worry about the lacerations the God Slayer had received in battle were politely dismissed with a shrug. Thanks to her rapid healing powers, Beira was sure she would not remember that she had ever been injured in such a way, by the time the day was done. Besides, wounds though they were, such trivial injuries were not going to affect the Winter God Slayer’s ability to do battle when the situation called for it, seeing as there were definitely going to be more battles before the whole matter was concluded. ”I thank you for your concern, Levinia,” Beira said, pausing as the Godling cast her magic, and watching as the wounds closed up practically in a reverse pattern of the same way they had been opened. ”I also thank you for the healing, and though I dare say that I would not have been hindered by those scratches, your concern for my comfort is very much appreciated.”

Beira realized, when her companion mentioned it, that it was true; something seemed to be limiting the range to which she could detect things. It did not seem so glaring, it was unassuming, insidious, but it was there, like there was some strange psychic blanket over the place. ”Yes, well, I don’t suppose sneaking in was ever part of the battle plan,” the Utgardian replied with a sigh. ”With the way everything seemed to be already waiting for us, I’m certain we are very much expected. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised, though I’m not at all comfortable with the idea, that whatever, or whoever is the ruler of this place, is somehow keeping tabs on us as we move along. We may as well get a move on. I would very much love to conclude this matter as soon as possible.” There was nothing to delay the two mages further, and they soon got to the single door of the ziggurat. Its interior was quite surprising. While the inside of the ziggurat being of the same color as the outside was not surprising (it was after all expected that the same material would have been used to make up the structure), whether it was by virtue of some strange magic, or some genius trick of architecture, the inside of the ziggurat appeared to encompass a much larger space than the exterior suggested that it would. Beira silently stepped into the room, her wits at the ready…

…and then she heard the voice. Heard, because it was a voice, but it was not discerned by her ears. It was like the words just exploded in her thoughts, words that seemed so convincing, so mesmerizing. Beira did not know whether Levinia was sharing her experience, but the voice convinced her not to bother about her friend. Her friend was safe. What was of importance now was what it had to offer her. It had a better counter offer than the Rectifier. That one could not be trusted. It had tried to kill Levinia and herself, after all. Besides, the possibility that Beira could be returned to her own time and place was just a gimmick to make the God Slayer amenable to carry out the Rectifier’s commands, to do what the Rectifier was not strong enough to do. If the Rectifier was indeed so powerful, why did it need others to run its errands? No, the voice said, the Rectifier was a fraud. But, said the voice, it was not like the Rectifier. It could promise, and keep the promises. And unlike the Rectifier, it had not tried to kill her. It could give her so much, so many things. It could make all her dreams come true.

A vision began to form in Beira’s mind. She saw Utgardr, but it was not exactly as she remembered it. Soon, she realized why. It had adopted technology similar to Fiore’s if not even more advanced. She saw the people of Utgardr living in peace and plenty. She saw the armies of Utgardr, well trained, well paid and well equipped, putting to flight masses of giants, dark elves and mindlfayers. So effective were these elite soldiers that despite the combined might of the three enemy races, they could not so much as kill or capture a single Utgardian soldier. And then she saw the commander of the Utgardian army. Her heart leaped to her mouth, as the figure turned to face her. It was herself, looking just a little older, but much more regal and beautiful than she currently was. As the remains of the enemy armies fled, the soldiers turned towards her and gave a shout, a soul-wrenching cry of praise. As the army returned in victory, the people poured out to celebrate their queen. They were not scared of her; they respected and loved her. Each Utgardian was willing to lay down their lives for their queen if she only so much as asked, and yet they knew she would rather die than do that, something that was impossible, for Utgardr’s queen was undying. The queen smiled, a gesture of beauty and benevolence. The voice whispered that it could be her. Then she saw herself again, treading through the passages of time, able to visit any time or place that she desired. World changing magic was at her disposal. At a whim, she could create planets, or snuff them out just as easily. It was all just a matter of if she desired to or not. And it could all be hers. All she had to do was accept.

”Accept what?” Beira asked. Its offer of prosperity, replied the voice. That was the warning sign. It was free. Being that Utgardians were a proud race, that raised their own to have personal dignity, it was encouraged that less favors were done, and more people worked for their keep. To receive something for free was not wrong, but the larger the gift, the more problematic it became. ”There is an Utgardian proverb which says, ‘if you will receive a gift, do so with both hands, and both eyes, wide open’. Both hands, in gratitude. Both eyes, because exchange is the natural order. To give me a gift so great for nothing raises questions. Who are you and where are you from?” It was a friendly spirit, it replied. One that sought only her wellbeing. Its dwelling place was in this realm. ”If that is the case,” Beira asked, ”and if you’re indeed so powerful, then why were you so stupid as to try to have us killed by the Mirror Walkers and the shades we met, when you would later on try to deceive me by telling me you’re not like the Rectifier? But you’re right, you’re not like the Rectifier. I know what you are, even if I don’t know who. You’re the power that subjugated the Rectifier’s shades, and I believe that if I had agreed to your lame demands, I would have ended up as your slave. May I point out that all your slaves are really quite ugly? To think you wanted to debase me to be like one of them. I wish to meet you face-to-face. I should have a thing or two to say to you concerning what you intended for me to become.”

There was a hate-filled shriek that seemed to be felt deep within Beira’s soul, and then Beira realized they were in a massive room. And there was something massive aiming a kick at the Godling. It was of the same white chalky stuff that made up the Mirror Walkers, but it was giant, in capital letters. Levinia managed to avoid its kick, but was flung away by the wind currents generated by that giant foot. Something that could create such power was not to be played with. After finishing its scream, it turned to where the God Slayer was, or had been, for it would realize that she was not where it had last seen her. Instead, she was already at the heel of the foot that had not been used to kick at Levinia. If this creature’s anatomy was human enough, she could take out its Achilles’ tendon and cripple it. A giant axe of nether rime formed in her hand, which she buried just above the creature’s heel. It kicked backward in response, sending her flying. Beira rectified herself in mid-air, flipped, and kicked against the wall she was hurtling towards, using her ability to halt gravity by means of her nether rime control to kick off the wall and escape a devastating punch meant to turn her into a bloody smear on the structure. The shockwave from the blow however sent Beira hurtling towards the ground, making her landing a lot more rough than she would have cared for. Rolling into a ready stance, she called out, ”Levinia! Are you alright?” The creature was between her and her friend. She would make a hole through it to get to the Godling.


WC: 1528 words
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Levinia fell forward, out of the crater she had made in the wall, but as she dropped to her knees, her hands reached out and broke her fall. She tried to take a breath of air, and gasped. Definitely, something in her body had been broken by the force with which she had hit the wall. Then, baring her teeth in pain, she rose to her feet. She could hear, and feel her bones popping back into order, as her body had already begun healing itself. Once again, she tried taking in a gulp of air, and this time, succeeded. Her lungs and ribs hurt like crazy, but the pain was becoming a memory.

"I'm okay, Beira. Just mighty pissed off, though."

Levinia reached out into thin air, like she expected to pick something up from nowhere, and in answer to her gesture, the magictech rifle, Aldebaran, manifested itself right in her open palm, and she gripped it by the nozzle. Adjusting it so that she was now peering down its sights, she took careful aim and squeezed the trigger. The bullet exited the gun with hardly any report, and smacked into the back of the titan's head. Levinia was sure that such a bullet, compared to the size of this monster, would probably be only as annoying as the bite of a mosquito, but all she wanted to do was get its attention. As expected, the titan paused, a hand reaching up to rub the back of its head, then it turned towards Levinia with a rumbling growl.

The moment it fixed its eyes on her, Levinia had already aimed again, and fired off another shot. This time, it went straight into the giant's left eye. The creature let out a scream that shook the floors of the ziggurat, as it clamped both hands to its face. But Levie wasn't done with it, yet. Already, she had cast Aldebaran aside, though the rifle did not disappear, but hung in mid air, awaiting further use, and has reached out again to summon another firearm, this one smaller than the rifle. One would expect that a bigger weapon was needed to fight such a giant monster. That might be true to some extent, but there were some devices that, though they looked small and unassuming, they packed one wallop of a punch. Like Jet, here. As she wielded her revolver in her left hand, the giant glared at her through its fingers, then punched one massive arm into the floor and tore up a huge chunk of rock. Levinia was very much convinced that it wasn't planning on contemplating the universe through that stone, or using it to exfoliate its heels. Perhaps now was a good time to take to the air. She had used that tactic against huge creatures before, and so far, it had been largely successful.

She took to the air, just as the titan lobbed the rock at her. With the force with which the titan threw it, the rock was a rather fast projectile, but Levinia's advantage was that she was still somewhat far from the titan, so she had just barely enough time and space to calculate its trajectory, and dodge out of harm's way. She felt a rushing wind go above her, as she ducked beneath the makeshift ranged weapon, and then she banked upwards into the air, so that she would be permitted to evade downwards, should the situation call for it.

Heck, this thing was really large, and its speed was alarming, so she would start by whittling at that. The slower an enemy was, the easier it was to react to attacks, and squeeze in offensive maneuvers of one's own.Unfortunately, though, unlike Aldebaran, Jet did not have long range as an advantage, so she would have to come in as close as possible. As expected, the titan did not intend for her to waltz in and out without some reprisal of its own. Using the other hand that was not holding its face, the titan aimed a downward swipe at Levinia. She broke off to the left, but even though she avoided its arm, the powerful gusts of wind that attended the offending limb smote her towards the ground. Obviously, it did not plan on letting her get close, so she would have to make her attack within a very limited open window... like now.

Even though she was falling, Levinia lined up her shot at the titan's knee, and fired. The shot was well timed, for two reasons: one, it was not easy shooting at a target when one was moving almost uncontrollably, but she had managed to take the shot with impressive accuracy. Two, the titan was already winding up for another attack, when she fired. Even though Jet was one of her smaller weapons, the attack power was rather surprising for something that little.One could safely say, in its case, that size mattered not.

The Crippling Shot basically kicked the leg out from beneath the titan. With a roar, the monster pitched forward and crashed on its face. Levinia was pleased that that had gone through almost seamlessly; she then caught herself in midair a few feet above the ground. When an enemy who posed a real threat was down, the next best thing was to relentlessly push forward another attack. Levinia would have to be careful, though; doing such was somewhat reckless, and could leave her open to the retribution of the titan. Still, this was a chance she had to take.

She dismissed her trusty revolver, and summoned two items of hers, which she considered her favorites: the first was very nifty, because it was almost impossible to ascertain that she had requipped it, unless her opponent was very observant. And with the shot in the titan's eye, that observant part had been blown off (some puns intended, perhaps). A black ring formed on her index finger, well crafted with a tiny gem in its center. Already, Levinia could feel her speed go up, as the Ring of Velocity began its work. The second item, she summoned, while flying at the fallen titan with all the speed she could muster: her Songblade. The moment she grasped it, she had already taken the quick draw stance, and aimed for the fallen monster's head.

As if it knew what she was about to do, it looked up sharply with a snarl, and struggled to its knees, forcing her to pitch sharply upwards, so as to remain in position. She was out of physical striking range, but she didn't need such for this powerful attack.

"Banshōgiri!"

The titan, expecting an attack, raised its arm to intercept whatever it was that Levinia was doing, but she slashed prematurely, and a ripple of air sang through the distance between them and broke on its arm. With a scoff, the titan swung wildly at her, hoping to slap her clean out of the air, as she attempted to make some evasive maneuvers. And then it discovered why Levinia had not seemed bothered that she had made a useless attack. Its lower arm remained in midair, where it had originally been, as the rest of its arm swung uselessly, the stump missing her by many good feet. The lower arm fell to the ground, neatly severed through flesh and bone, as rusty blood oozed from it. Just a heartbeat later, a deep cut opened on the titan's cheek.

She had almost nailed the monster, but it had blocked with its arm. If it had not done so, the Banshōgiri would almost certainly have bifurcated its face. Although it was still alive, and beyond angry, there were now a couple of glaring advantages: it had lost a hand, it was blinded in one eye, and Levinia's shot had hobbled it, making it much slower than it normally was. At least now, with her ring active, and its speed reduced, she would be able to more than keep up with its attacks.

And hopefully, Beira would have some nasty things in store for it, too... especially since it had now completely ignored the Godslayer and was hell bent on smashing Levinia like a person would a mosquito.

Beira was pleased to know that her colleague was still in perfect fighting form, even if a little bruised. Normally, an attack like that should have flattened the average combatant. For the umpteenth time, Beira was reminded, and with a lot of joy, that the feeble, diseased, hapless individual she had met and protected from bullies all those days ago, had now developed into someone strong enough to tank a normally grievous, if not life-threatening, blow and still bounce back ready for action, without needing someone to stand in and provide cover fire, or attempt to rescue her from the gigantic monster which was pitted against them. As a matter of fact, given the way Levinia held her own in combat, her masterful usage of the magics which her new found powers had granted her, and the strength of her arm, Beira had the feeling that, should the two of them have to cross swords in battle, the Winter God Slayer might not find it the easiest of forays. Levinia had developed into someone Beira could confidently fight alongside. Even though Beira knew that her protégé still considered the Winter Goddess to be way stronger than herself with all her Godling powers, the Utgardian looked on Levinia as more of an equal now, than a dependent or subordinate.

”Anger has its advantages,” the God Slayer replied, noticing that the titan seemed to be preparing to make a dash at her. Just as she began formulating a counterattack plan, she noticed Levinia summon one of her firearms, and release its projectile into the back of the creature’s head, diverting its attention from the God Slayer. Beira was sure that the orange-haired Godling had a plan, which would not be just to get the monster’s attention, and throw the subsequent events to the vagaries of chance. For no sooner had the titan turned than the Godling fired off another shot, this time into the vulnerable tissue of the creature’s left eye. With the way the giant monster screamed, it was certain that some decent damage had been done. It was quite an intelligent idea, to go for the more vulnerable areas of the titan’s body, thus whittling its resistance down till the time that a killer strike could be made against the creature’s more critical areas. The God Slayer had by now formulated her next series of attacks, but she decided to wait a little, so as to see what Levinia had planned, and not distract the present battle. Making an attack against the titan of which her companion was not aware was not detrimental directly to Levinia, but in a battle such as this, wherein matters of precision were handled on a per second basis, even the slightest unexpected twitch could seriously foil Levinia’s plans. Beira decided she would wait, and as soon as she noticed that Levinia had concluded her attacks, she would step in.

In the meantime, a question came to her: if the ziggurat was supposed to be narrower, but instead appeared much wider on the inside than it should have normally been, then what was beyond the walls of this particular room in which the battle with the Godling Titan was taking place? The God Slayer reached out as far as she could with her Cosmic Resonance, and detected absolutely nothing outside the walls. So out there was some sort of void, something that could be put to good use in this battle. But if the void was something of the nature of what she thought it was, it would be better to play her cards safely. She knew what she would do. Already, Levinia had crippled the titan, and divested it of the use of one arm. That meant its balance would be off, and that would serve her intentions well. Using her spell Datum: Water Moon, Beira created an illusion zone. The illusion was a very simple, but effective one. It simply erased Levinia from where she was, and created an illusory flying Godling, which the titan was pleased to follow. Levinia would notice that the monster suddenly shrieked, and smashed into the wall a good way off from where she was, and began pounding the wall relentlessly. ”Don’t ask, Levinia,” the God Slayer said with a mischievous smile. ”Yet I would advise that you find something more solid on which to anchor yourself.”

Beira had noticed, when the Godling Titan had attacked her and had missed, hitting the wall, that it had created a sizeable crater in the wall, which presently was nowhere to be found. That meant that the walls of this room were self-healing, something Beira had taken good notice of before attempting her battle plan. Then the plan developed a hiccup. The titan held its single hand palm outward, and blasted the wall with a strange spell, creating a huge earthquake that shook the entire room. Levinia, being airborne, would not be affected, but not so Beira. While she was able to quickly right herself in mid-air after being sent flying, her concentration was broken, and the illusory Levinia disappeared. Realizing that the titan would look for its opponents at once, Beira gave it no chance in doing so, revealing herself to it by chopping a large chunk of flesh out of the same heel she had earlier attacked. The titan attempted to stomp her, an attack she managed to evade, but the stomp created another earthquake that sent the God Slayer flying once more. ”This is getting old,” she growled, as she found her feet again, just in time to see the titan bearing in on her. Coating her soles with nether rime, Beira temporarily froze gravity and kicked off the air, zooming at top speed between the creature’s legs. It braced itself on its bad knee, and kicked at the God Slayer as hard as its injury would allow it to place weight on the wounded knee.

Beira was there in one moment, the next she was standing a great distance away, having teleported herself out of harm’s way. The kick, bearing whatever magic the monster used to summon earthquakes, smashed into the wall, and this, coupled with all the abuse Beira had allowed it to give the wall while hunting for what it thought was Levinia, broke the wall into huge chunks that flew out into a dark and empty void. Immediately, the room began decompressing, and the walls began rapidly repairing themselves to prevent that, while the giant, being pulled by the void without, grabbed the broken wall with its only hand, to keep from being sent out into the unknown nothingness. Seizing the opportunity, Beira, to prevent herself from being dragged by the void, froze her feet solidly to the floor, then crafted a Winter God Spear and flung it straight and true into the titan’s second eye. It screamed as it involuntarily grabbed at its eye, and then the void claimed the giant, just before the walls sealed themselves up once more.

”Now, that being done, where do we find your arm?”


WC: 1177 words
Total: 17390/20000

Beira's creation of an illusion, which the titan attacked was her unofficial way of tagging herself into the altercation. Levina, at this point, could spend her time catching her breath and watching to see what Beira had planned for the Godling Titan, because she definitely had a plot ongoing. Watching the titan damage the walls, and Beira advising her to find something to hold on to, gave Levinia a could of suspicion as to what the Godslayer intended, but the titan still had a few tricks up its sleeve. Levie noticed that the monster could fire powerful vibrating bursts of energy, that caused earthquakes when they passed through the ground. It sort of reminded her of her greatsword Endovelicus. The only difference, that made Endovelicus more nifty, was that the earthquakes produced by the large blade could still be felt in the air. She had to admit, though, that the titan's attack was more powerful.

Since she was airborne, these earthquake attacks had virtually no effect on her, but Beira, who was still on the terra firma was affected. However, being the warrior that she was, she had quickly overcome those hurdles and lured the titan into breaking the wall open. To Levinia's surprise, she found herself staring into a black void. Perhaps she wasn't supposed to be actually taken unawares; this room was some sort of extradimensional space, and the void was the mantle of all dimensions. As air, and everything else was sucked out of the room into the void, Levinia relied on her telekinesis to stay in one place, and since she was quite far from the breach in the wall, she managed to keep herself away from it before it sealed itself shut. The Godling Titan was not so lucky, however. As it struggled to pull itself back, with only one arm, the Godslayer had thrown a spear into its remaining eye. That was more than sufficient to break its hold, and the void claimed the titan, just before the wall sealed up. That was some intelligent fighting, Levinia noted. Finding an environmental advantage and using it to turn the tide. She still had a lot to learn.

Now that the Titan had been taken care of, Beira asked where her arm could be found. Levinia closed her eyes and focused. She had seen her arm before, not in the Rectifier's visions, but in the out-of-body experience that had birthed her current powers and abilities, and had freed her from her curse. If her arm was anywhere around, her Gaze of the Hierophant could find it. Immediately, she sensed it; it seemed close by, and yet very far away. As she opened her eyes to tell Beira that they might have to perform a teleportation, this time without the help of the Key, the environment changed again, and the two women found themselves in a small room. the room was shaped like a pyramid, and above their heads was an odd stone that gave off a spectral light, which pulsated upwards through an aperture and into the unknown heavens. The room itself was an observatory of sorts, with many strange scripts and magic circles drawn on the walls. The mummified, chalk-white arm lay on a slab in a corner.

They were at the pinnacle of the ziggurat.

They would also realize that they were not alone.

Seated across the room, beside the amputated limb, were two figures. One was a human, or at least looked to be so, for all intents and purposes. He wore black robes, with red script etched into the sleeves and hems. His hair was dark, although with streaks of grey, and his clean shaven, angular features held two dark, probing eyes, that seemed to give off a subtle malevolence. The other creature was altogether evil in looks and feel. A tall being, darkly robed like the first and almost seven feet tall, rose as the two mages became aware of their surroundings. Its head was an oblong oval shape, and instead of a mouth, six groping tentacles writhed and clutched towards the end of its noseless face. Its eyes were black and glossy, and its cranial structure gave it a perpetual scowl. Its long. bony fingers ended in claws, and its skin was pink,like the flesh of a salmon.

In a strange, unknown language, the man spoke to the tall monster, and waved a hand. A series of runes materialized, very reminiscent of Levinia's own Abjugation Grimoire, and encompassed the room. Then they disappeared, and with them, Beira and the tentacle faced creature vanished. Levinia started, then summoned Jet and turned on the man, already aiming. But he simply held up both arms, in a gesture of reluctance to fight.

"So violent, young Levinia," he said in a rich baritone voice. "Your friend is not harmed, so you have no reason to attack me. You could at least be civil, and hear what I have to say."

That only worsened Levinia's mood, but she restrained herself. "Where is she, then?" she asked, keeping the weapon trained on him.

"She and the Mind Flayer have been transported to a lower floor," he replied. "This discussion is not for her ears. Also, she is Utgardian. You don't know how much they love to fight. The Mind Flayer has always wanted to meet her, or so he told me. I don't understand for what purpose, and it is hardly a concern of mine."

"You don't care if your octopus pet kills her?"

The man sighed, as if he was trying to be patient. "Levinia Arx Creuset, you could stop insulting our race by thinking less like a mortal slave, and thinking like a god. If she is not powerful enough to defeat the Mind Flayer, she should be ashamed of her title as an Utgardian noble. Besides, I'm very sure she will find the encounter... enjoyable. Now, enough of talking about lesser matters. I am pleased you came."

"Well, good for you. I came for your head, you know? so, if you like dying, I'm sure that will save me a lot of trouble."

The man smirked sardonically. "You have even imbibed that crass humor of the mortals. You have really fallen low..."

"And guess who I have to thank for that!" Levinia snapped, cutting him off. "You and all those people I can't even think of as my kin. How dare you treat me less than an animal, all those long years, beset my every attempt at curing the curse you inflicted on me, set me up for the Rectifier to do me in, and now you're acting like you've been doing me favors and I ought to be thankful?!!"

"I admit we may have been... harsh, Levinia Arx Creuset," the man said soothingly. "But you were perceived as a threat back then, and until I could discern your allegiance, I had to do what was best for my people. But look at the end result: you are a godling, and following the right paths, may now ascend to be a goddess."

Something was amiss with what he was saying. Levinia was surprised that he was not sealing off his mind totally to her, and so she could discern that he was telling the truth, or at least, some of it, but it was clear that he was hiding something. "I couldn't give a spinning hoot about allegiances, right now. I don't have any reason whatsoever to favor you or your people. But if you're so big on this goodwill thing, then perhaps you can tell me why you killed my parents and did all those horrible things to me."

At this, the man laughed. Long, hard and harsh was his laughter, and Levinia almost squeezed the trigger... thrice. "You are not ready for the truth, Levinia Arx Creuset. There are some things that are better left buried. I shall give you a counter-proposal, instead: let me teach you the paths to godhood. It is the least I can offer, seeing as I admit that you were indeed wrongfully treated."

What in blazes was he talking about? What truth? At this point, Levinia was tired of playing games. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, she could sense that he held no good will towards her. Best to just get to the fighting. "Here's a counter-counter-proposal: I shoot you in the face with this, about nine or ten times for good measure, then I take my arm and trash up your bedroom in the process."

She did not reveal to him that she had sensed Beira, who seemed safe, but the Mind Flayer was also there, so Beira would have to deal with it. If she had revealed such, perhaps this man might try to use that in some way against her. If there was anything she knew about him, he had no scruples fighting dirty.

"You are a fool, Levinia Arx Creuset. You should have taken life, while I offered it."

"You don't have didley-squat to give me, mister," she retorted. "And even if you did, you should have made the proposal to me before you all caused me so much hurt."

"Why haven't you attacked, then?"

"'Cause I've tried my best not to give in to rage and be irrational here, but all I see is you selling me half-truths and offers I'll be bound to regret. Besides, what's the point of shooting at you? You were already prepared for battle the moment we appeared in your world."

The man nodded and rose to his feet. "Very well, then. Let me show you what you could have become. I shall drown you in despair, and you will realize why I am called the Twisted god!"

The magic circles and scripts on the walls glowed brightly, and Levinia suddenly found herself in a greying void with no walls. There was ground beneath her feet, but it was shrouded in fog and hard to see. Some meters ahead of her, the twisted god appeared. "How do you mortals say it? 'Welcome to my web.'"

She fired off a shot with Jet, but to her surprise, the bullet struck her in the shoulder. At first, she thought someone else was attacking her, but she realized that the bullet was none other than that from her revolver. "You are in my world, and here, I am omnipotent!" He gave a flick of his wrist, and Levinia found herself hitting the ground with a hard thud. She discovered that she had blanked out from the pain of being hit by something that felt like an armored carrier moving at the speed of sound, and she couldn't even tell where the attack had come from. She struggled to her feet.

"You do not deserve deification. You will thus grovel and worship me, like the rest of the mortals." Another unseen force struck her to the ground so hard that she felt whatever was beneath her cave in. Her body was screaming in pain, she knew somethings had been broken, but there was no way she would give this thing the honor of pleading for her life or bowing at its feet.

"80th Amulet Grimoire: Time's Slow March!" she called, as he floated towards her. As the time-slowing pulse raced outwards, the twisted god snapped his fingers, and her runes simply ceased to be. He gestured again, and she felt something constrict her throat and lift her into the air. "If I wanted to, I could snuff out your life this instant. However, I promised you despair, and before I am done with you, you will beg to be my foot slave. I might oblige you, who knows?"

She struggled to breathe, but it was no use. There was nothing there, but she could feel a grasp choking the very breath out of her. She did not speak, but she cast the 60th Augural Grimoire: Rupture, in an omnidirectional pattern around herself. The hold broke, fortunately, but she didn't even have the strength to land on her feet. She crumpled to the ground, gasping for air. She needed to heal up fast. Even with her swift regeneration, her body could not take the damage it was receiving much longer.

"57th Miracle Grimoire: Aeon's Embrace!"

The sigils formed and surrounded her, but a sudden wave of malevolent energy struck them, and they failed, leaving her more enervated than before. "How is he canceling my magic? This can't be possible..."

Still unwilling to give up, she summoned the Utagatana, and used it to prop herself up. At least, this was a physical weapon; there was no way he could cancel it... The twisted god simply snapped his fingers again, and the Songblade vanished. Levinia let out a cry of frustration as she fell, and he laughed mirthlessly. "You have not tasted despair, yet, child. But you have just scratched the surface."

Levinia was beginning to panic. No matter how hard she tried, she could not summon her katana back into her hands. It was not like it has been sent back to the Vault; it wasn't even in there. The twisted god was laughing, and that was enough provocation to get her to keep fighting. Jet was still around, wasn't it? She had not summoned it away, yet. ah, yes, there it was, lying discarded some distance away. Quietly, she reached out with her mind and gripped the revolver, then pointed the nozzle at the twisted god. He hadn't noticed; he was reveling in her torment. With a grim smile, she pulled the trigger.

Jet coughed out fire and smoke, but there was no indication that the bullet had hit home. He simply turned, looked at the black revolver, then snapped it out of existence.

Levinia was just about breaking down, when she felt something. She could still feel her mental grip on Jet. That was odd, but it gave her a sense of hope. Jet was not here, but she could perceive it, somewhat. And that feeling felt familiar. Then it suddenly hit her: that was the same way she had felt when she sensed for her arm after the battle with the titan, and that was the same way Beira felt, when she had tried to find out where she was. Close, but far away. She felt that if she wanted to, she could even use Jet to cast a spell. And better yet, now that she focused on Jet, she could sense her Songblade close to her revolver.

This gave her hope, and a plan.

She struggled to her knees, then held out her hands. A silver sword formed in her hands. This was her trump card. The twisted god looked upon the well crafted weapon with disdain. "I thought you were smarter than this." he waved at the sword, and it vanished. Levinia's shoulders sagged, as her hope "vanished" with her weapon. He pointed at her.

"Face me like a man, you jerk..." she managed to mumble, as she struggled to stay on her knees. The twisted god paused. "You're holding out pretty well. I'm impressed. And grateful. I haven't had this much fun in a long time." A sudden bolt of pain shot through Levinia, and she bit back a cry. The twisted god shook his head. "That won't do at all. I will strip you of your dignity. You must scream, when I will it."

Another jolt of pain hit her, and she fell on her side and curled into a fetal position. "Cry! Scream! Beg me for your life!" the man ordered, as Levinia felt excruciating pain for the third time. She closed her eyes tightly and focused her mind as much as the pain would let her. She reached out for the Nightgleam. She could sense its metal, the grip with its good hilt, the magic brimming within it. She murmured quietly.

"What was that?"

He floated over to her like a ghost, then grabbed her hair in his hand. Raising her head by her orange locks, he looked into her battered face. "it would seem that Grimoire magic seems more potent the closer one is. Perhaps if I manipulate you at this range..." He trailed off, as runes surrounded the both of them. A pain Levinia had never felt before suddenly hit her. It was like every cell in her body was subjected to the same torment at once. She screamed in agony.

"That's better, but not quite enough. Let's try that some more times."

Levinia knew at this point, that somehow, whatever she did was not likely to affect him. She filled her lungs with air, and reached out with everything she had in her. The twisted god laughed. "Yes. Breathe deeply. I intend to make this more painful than the rest..."

All of a sudden, the twisted god shrieked in pain, and the space around them shattered like glass. Levinia was still on the ground, curled up into a ball, but she knew for certain that they were in the observatory. And all her weapons were here, in this dimension. Without bothering to even open her eyes or move her body, she lashed out with her mind. The Nightgleam flew through the air, thrusting through the chest of the twisted god and pinning him to his throne. Levinia struggled to get up, her body wobbling, but she succeeded.

"I remembered how you rushed back into your body, the very first time we met," she said, as runes appeared around her body and began healing her. "When I lost my Songblade, I thought you had erased it from existence, until I felt my telekinesis linger on with my revolver." She stretched out an arm as she walked towards him, and the katana flew into her grasp. "When I sensed the other weapons, I realized that you have the ability to create circles of existence, where you have almost total control of everything, and can kick out whatever you don't want. But your ability has a flaw." She slowly unsheathed the sword, as he struggled with the sword in his chest. "The items you kick out return to where your body is. What is in your world is more like a projection, so it can't be harmed. Am I right?"

She stood before him, looking down on him as he tried to speak. "Wait! Wait!" he gasped. "We can work something out. You don't have to kill me. We could..."

His speech was truncated as she cleanly decapitated him.

"Hubris, ugh! After all that boasting about being a god..."

She sheathed the katana and dismissed her weapons, and suddenly, the stone above lost its light, and fell, shattering into a million fragments on the floor. The ziggurat began crumbling, as the world began decaying rapidly. "Was this place a figment of his mind? That is some crazy dimensional grimoire magic..." she said to herself, somewhat surprised and grudgingly impressed by that amount of power. She wondered about Beira, as almost instinctively, she grasped with her mind, and retrieved her withered right arm, as well as the head of the twisted god.

Suddenly, the world of the twisted god failed, and she was thrust into the blackness of the void. Just as she was about to teleport, she flashed into a familiar dimension, and landed on her feet before the Rectifier's throne.

"Beira? Where's Beira?" she asked.

The Rectifier looked at her. "Thou hast succeeded in thy quest. Fear not for thine friend; her steps will bring her hence. As for thee, I hereby exonerate thee from any charge placed against thee by the Forces of Time. Thou hast earned a boon from me, for loath am I to require service, and pay thee not."

Did this mean that all the attacks on her life from hidden avenues had come to an end? Was she finally free to go live out her life as she hoped? This would surely be a breath of fresh air, and she would make the best use of it as possible.

It seemed, to reply to Beira’s question, her friend was trying to reach out with her psychic abilities and find the arm which had brought the two mages to this place. It was difficult to say whether Levinia had been able to find her arm, for no sooner had the orange-haired mage turned to speak to Beira than the environment in which they stood changed once again. They were no longer in the gargantuan room outside which an endless void swilled, the room from which they had expelled the Godling Titan. No, instead they were in the room at the apex of the ziggurat. How they had gotten there, Beira could not specifically say, but she was sure it had neither been the medallion given them by the Rectifier, nor either of her or Levinia’s magic, that had brought the two mages to where they currently stood. Above their heads was the strange fulminating stone that had been sighted atop the ziggurat, and in a corner of the room was the shriveled form of Levinia’s arm, the object of their quest. But, as was expected, the two mages were not alone in the room. And what Beira saw was enough to make her see red. For standing beside the seated form of one who looked human, though he resonated with great power and malice, was no other than a mindflayer elite. Elite, for a normal mindflayer sported four buccal tentacles; elites, like this one, sported six. That a mindflayer elite would be here was most certainly trouble, and Beira was immediately apprehensive.

”Levinia, we should be…” Beira began to say, but then she paused, as runes sprang up around herself and the mindflayer, and she found herself, along with the abomination, in another place entirely. ”Your friend cannot hear you,” said the mindflayer, its disgusting tentacles slowly writhing as it spoke in an ominous hissing whisper. ”We are both alone here. I hope you haven’t forgotten what I am.” The immediate response was the formation of a spear of nether rime, which Beira flung with all her might at the mindflayer. The monstrosity gestured, and the incoming spear shattered into a thousand pieces in midair. ”I am not as the other mindflayers you have met before,” the creature hissed, as it took a step towards Beira. Undeterred, she formed a long sword of nether rime in her right hand, though she did not attempt to press her attack this time. The mindflayer laughed. ”I am pleased you have grown wise. None of your pathetic attacks can affect me.”

”You act all pompous and sure of yourself,” Beira replied coolly, ”and yet, for all your power, you tried, pleading like a craven coward, to seek to sway me from this quest, promising me gifts, if I would surrender my will without a fight.” The mindflayer shook its head. ”That was not me. I do not beg. My companion behaves more… human than myself. So he could be expected to exhibit such indiscretions. In any event, while my colleague propositions yours, I have a proposition of my own for you, one you would be wise not to refuse. By the manipulations of the one who calls himself the Twisted God, and thanks to my expertise, we have become lords of time and space. It is only a matter of time before I return to the past, and bring about, once again, the rise of the Old Ones. If you joined me, as first of the Incarnati, you would hold an honored position. I can even return you to Utgardr before it was destroyed, and you can save your people and rule as queen. In return, Utgardr must be subservient to the Old Ones. I am offering you a boon, for Utgardr, as all civilizations, will eventually bow to the new order of the Old Ones. Subservience will be through dialogue, or through force. You may take your pick.”

Beira smiled. ”Why don’t we carry out a test, then? See if the first of the new Old Ones can beat the last of the Utgardians. And by the way, ‘new Old One’ sounds like a very poor intellectual attempt. I’m sure you can do better with nomenclatures.”

”You mock me, do you?” asked the mindflayer, rising to its full height, evidently angry. ”Do you know why mindflayers were popular with the Old Ones? Some special gifted individuals among the mindflayers could surrender their bodies and wills to an Old One, which would elevate them to become gods, when the Old One fused completely with the mindflayer. Beware, mortal, you address a god.”

”Beware, god,” Beira replied. ”You address a God Slayer. And I think I’ve met a mindflayer god before. Uaggool, or something, it called itself. It wasn’t particularly impressive.” The mindflayer looked surprised. ”Uaggool? What news of him, mortal? Speak!” Even though, both times Beira had faced the mindflayer god, she had been hard pressed to come out alive, she did not intend to help the superiority complex of the ugly thing before her. ”Are you looking for him? I used him to pick my teeth, twice. You might find what’s left of him in an Utgardian dustbin.” The mindflayer nodded slowly. ”Foolishly, I imagined you might have possessed some uses, but if indeed you disposed of Uaggool, it is necessary for you to die.”

The mindflayer raised its hand, and a shard of black stone with razor sharp edges appeared before the abomination. With a flick of its wrists, the shard was sent flying towards Beira. But as soon as the shard began to move, the mindflayer gestured again, and Beira felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Looking down, she saw the shard sticking out of her abdomen. How had it gotten there? She had not even seen it move. The God Slayer pulled the shard out and called out, ”Accio Vitam!” A bubble of pearlescent light formed round her, and she began to heal. Then the mindflayer gestured, and the bubble vanished. The shard was in her stomach again. Quickly, she realized that the mindflayer was manipulating time. When it had thrown the shard at her, it had fast-forwarded time so that she had had no chance to dodge it before it hit her. Now when she tried to heal herself, it had rewound time to when the shard had just hit her. An idea came to mind. Pulling out the shard again, Beira charged the mindflayer, as she created an axe of nether rime in her hand. She was certain that when she attacked, the mindflayer would probably rewind time, at least for her weapon alone, or something similar, seeing as the creature made no effort to attempt to block or evade her. As she came within striking distance, the mindflayer gestured, and her axe began to disintegrate when she yelled, ”Reicio!” To the mindflayer’s surprise, the disintegrating axe remained, and Beira stuck the jagged weapon into the creature’s neck with all her might.

The mindflayer, obviously never having received such a wound, panicked and attempted to break away, but Beira grabbed its robes and began hacking away, a newly formed axe in her hand. As she hacked, the room in which they were began to shake, and cracks began running along the walls, as the place began falling apart. Beira continued hacking. Eventually, she managed to separate the creature’s head from its body, and just then, there was a flash of golden light, and she was in the presence of the Rectifier. The God Slayer dropped the mindflayer’s head before the throne. ”A trophy for my lord,” she said with a grim smile, covered in blood, both hers and the mindflayer’s, although her wounds had healed themselves, thanks to her rapid regeneration rate.

Unfazed by the abomination’s head wallowing before it, the Rectifier said, ”Thou hast completed thy task. Therefore, the same offer extended to thy companion, I extend now to thee. Ask thou a boon of me.” Beira looked warily at the golden headed being as she asked, ”can you get me to Utgardr, to the time just before my consciousness was forced into the void?”

”Aye, but if thou treadest that path, this present timeline, and all it holds shall be lost to thee.” A shimmering portal opened in the air before the God Slayer. ”The choice is thine.”

”It’s already been made,” Beira replied resolutely. Turning to Levinia, she smiled. ”I suppose I’m off on another adventure, one it seems I must face alone. You’re now strong enough to take care of yourself, so I’m not worried about you. I guess this is goodbye, though….”


WC: 1441 words
Personal WC: 10048 words
Total: 22177/20000

Levinia turned and looked at Beira, her expression sad, perhaps with a tinge of pain, perhaps? This was it; this was where they said their goodbyes. What the Rectifier said was clear; if Beira made that choice, she would never be able to return to this “present”, because Time was a very relative construct. A person who lived in the future could easily claim that they were in the present day, very much the same way a person in the past could state the same thing. She would find her “present”, thousands, nay, millions of years ago, and Levie would never see her again.

Her life had been full of hurt and pain, but Levinia had not really felt acutely sad most of the time, save on two occasions... or at least, those were the ones where the emotion of grief was highest. And both of them had been quite recent, so to speak. The first had been when Andhaft had died. She had hoped that she would get to know more about the grizzled adventurer, learn a thing or two from him, perhaps even have him like a father figure. But betrayal and death had snatched him away, and she had been left with the only other person who had looked out for her, and that for no selfish reasons.

The second moment of sadness was now, but it was not as grievous as the first. This was because Beira was not slain, and it was by her choice that she was saying her farewell. The mere thought that Beira was returning to amend a future that had been lost to her eons ago gave Levinia an empathetic hope and gladness that she was sure the Godslayer shared. It was these two benevolent emotions that made the sting of departure a lot less. Still, Levinia couldn’t help feeling sad.

Naturally, her mind flashed back to where and when the two had met. It was a cold winter, and Fiorans, as usual, had struck up some snow related festivities. Levinia had not really cared for celebrations at that point, because the mirthful gatherings of people only filled her with a sense of longing and loneliness. She had looked like a monster, and no matter how much she had tried to show herself helpful, or at the very least, harmless, she had always been driven away whenever her visage was revealed to people. And although the mask and bandages had helped, people had still observed her with a strong air of suspicion, whenever she lingered about. That was until Beira.

It was at a Fioran festival, and as was the usual custom of some unkind folk, they had sought to harass Levinia for their amusement. That was when a strange woman, interestingly shorter than she was, had approached them and driven them away. Levinia had thought that, like the best people she had met before on short notice, Beira would walk away and leave her to the bleak future, but the Godslayer had stayed behind, offering help and guidance. Of course, Levie had taken it, and the two had become more like sisters, although Levinia still saw her as her mentor, and accorded her the due respect.

Levinia had honed skills and magic under her tutelage, and eventually, she had revealed her desire to overcome the curse of her body. Beira had pitched in with enthusiasm, and the battle at Andhaft’s Keep had happened. Levinia had attained a normal, human body, but at great loss, for her elderly friend perished.  Yet Beira stuck by, helping and comforting in her slightly aloof way, which oddly never seemed even a bit cold in the slightest to Levinia. Life had continued, and both of them had separated for a little time, to work on their skills and personal development. When they eventually met, it had been today, or was it yesterday? What with all the ventures through time, it was very difficult to keep track of dates and days. They had fought their way through assassins, and the ghost of the Rectifier. And even when Levinia had recklessly chased after the Rectifier, Beira had come along, without a word of complaint.

They had stood in this obsidian throne room, where their labors had begun and ended, and like hitmen assigned to take out various targets, Beira and Levinia had worked hand in hand, against terribly unsettling odds, to emerge victorious. Levinia knew without a doubt that if Beira had not been there, she would not have succeeded, not because she was incapable, but because she was not yet sure of herself. However, seeing Beira fighting with her dark ice and strange magics always made Levinia want to put in her best, so that if for anything, at least, she might hear Beira acknowledge that she had grown.

They had traveled through time together, to finally face one of Levie’s greatest fears: terrors from her past. And together, they had seen it down to the very end, until each of them bore macabre trophies in the forms of severed body parts back to the throne room of the Rectifier. The Guardian of Time had kept his word, and offered them both boons for all their efforts. Levinia knew, the moment he had mentioned it, that Beira would desire to return to her time. Who wouldn’t seek out such an opportunity, unless they were fleeing from their origins? Seeing Beira have the hope of a fulfilled wish was wonderful, but saying goodbyes was never easy for close friends.

Ignoring Beira’s usually stiff composure, Levinia wrapped her arms round the Godslayer, and buried her face in her friend’s shoulder. She tried to hold back the tears, but they came like a flood, and she wept silently as she embraced her friend, mentor and partner for the last time. At length, sniffing, she let Beira go, and managed to grin at her through her watery eyes.

”Well, I always tried to prepare myself for this moment, but...” she shrugged, as she trailed off, then composed herself again. ”Thank you for everything, Beira. I am so going to miss you.”

Levinia turned away for a moment, then grasped her right arm at the elbow. With a hiss and a plume of steam, the prosthetic arm detached itself and hung limp in her left arm. This, she offered to Beira. ”You’ve always been the one helping me out, and so many times I have wished I could help you sort out your stuff. Unfortunately, the only time I get close enough to help, you have to leave. Please, take it. I want you to have something that you would remember me by, even though I know you won’t forget me in a hurry. And don’t worry about me having only one arm; I actually have up to seven other unseen ones, technically, so now I have six. Making another one like this won’t take a sweat.”
After all that was done, she watched Beira and the Rectifier as the latter created a portal of space time that led back to the Golden Age of Utgardr, as Levinia had once heard Beira describe it. It was also good to know that the Rectifier considered the destruction of Beira’s people to be an anomaly, so if Beira was going to correct it, there would at least be no repercussions from his end.

Her blonde friend stepped through the portal, and was gone.

”Thus have I sent the one on her way; what wouldst the other require at mine hand?” The monotone voice of the Rectifier pushed into her thoughts. She turned and looked at him, a little surprised out of her vacancy, then she shook her head.

”I don’t really know what I want right now, so I’d better decline. I might have liked to follow Beira, but I’d probably end up like her: stuck in another world with a yearning to return to my home. I’m not sure I want to do anything about my past, because it’s pretty messed up and twisted, and I don’t know how I’ll unravel it without breaking the timeline. Sometimes, not every bad thing needs to be corrected. They culminate to make us who we are.”

”Wise words,” the Rectifier replied. ”By virtue of thy labors, thou art free to return hence and ask but one favor of me. The paths to this place are known to thee.”

Levinia smiled slightly. ”Thank you for the offer, Rectifier sir. Don’t worry, I won’t refuse it. I’ll call when something comes up, but that is going to be rather unlikely. See you around.”

The Rectifier nodded. ”Be well, and fare thee well.”

Another portal opened beside Levinia, and, still gripping her retrieved original right arm, she stepped through it, and was borne through the bowels of Time. The Rectifier looked at the two heads which decorated his throne room, and his subjects glided silently to receive them. ”I shalt ‘see you around’, Levinia Arx Creuset, much sooner than thou mightest guess. For thou hast set in motion wheels that must turn, till they wind their course. Thou must begin the Trials of Vinter.”

The cryptic words were spoken aloud, but to no one in particular, for the Rectifier had seen some things along the corridors of Time, which Levinia had no idea of.

As Levinia traveled back to Fiore, she looked at the withered limb in her hands. ”Huh? What are these? They look like sigil script alright... They have something to do with binding and control. No doubt the twisted god’s nonsense. Well, I’ll study this better at my convenience, and break whatever seals are on it that are not permitting me to regenerate this limb...”

All of a sudden, to her utmost surprise, new runes appeared, blood red in color, on the mummified arm, and rose into the air, latching themselves on the inner walls of the sphere that bore her back to what she knew as present day Fiore. ”Is this a trap?” she wondered aloud, as the runes seemed to percolate into the walls of the time traveling sphere. Immediately, she felt the bubble shift in spatial and temporal position, and she knew that these runes had hijacked the portal, and were taking her to another place and time. For a while, she tried to take over the bubble with her Absolute Dimension, but nothing worked; she could not control it, nor could she transport herself out of it. Resigning to her fate, Levinia cast a spell on her mummified arm, and requipped it back to the Vault. She had gone through hell and high waters to get it, and she sure was not going to misplace it in a fight, or whatever was coming up next.

She steeled herself for whatever was to come. Previously, she had Beira to lean on. This time, she would face this one alone.