Dashed Expectations

"O-oh....uh. I mean, I don't, uh. Know what-" There was a shifting sound behind Kimmy, and she turned around, frowning. "H-hang on." Kimmy walked away from the door, over to the bed where Sunny had just sat up, holding her arm to her stomach. "You have to...stay in the bed..." Sunny reached out her arm, grabbing ahold of Kimmy's shoulder as she pulled herself to her feet. "No, Sun, please. You can't. You aren't in any condition to...you couldn't even if you..."

Sunny started shuffling towards the door, holding onto Kimmy for support. Begrudgingly, Kimmy kept pace with her. "I have to try. If I can get enough power from the sun...maybe I can just...do something."

Kimmy opened the door all the way, pushing John out of the way for Sunny. John could clearly see the two of them now, Kimmy's hands were covered in what appeared to be blood, and Sunny's shirt was stained red in places, bandages clearly visible around her waist since she had just gotten up and didn't have the strength to pull her shirt all the way down. "Listen, I'm as optimistic as any other person, but you can't just walk out into a fight wounded like this and hope to not get shot at. And he said meteors. Plural! You could move one, maybe!"

_________________

As the wind howled, the storm in Caitlin's heart raged on.


Caitlin had never flown this high before. She knew her limit, and she knew what a fall from this height could mean for her. A moment ago she was fine; now she was shaky and flying erratically. The wind and the rain, though a problem, weren't the real cause of this. Her focus was placed more on figuring out a solution to the meteor problem, and the doubt that had began to creep into her mind was starting to affect her spell.
Mid flight she had cast a small orb of light that hovered just above her shoulder. In one hand Caitlin held one of her mother's spell books, while the other she tried to keep the rain off it with her hat. Her crimson hair blew wildly as she tried to read from the text in her hand, the pages fluttering about. "Damn it. Why do so many of these require materials?" she growled. This dark, black book in particular didn't seem to be from the same 'ABC's of Magic' series that she was learning from. No, this was an actual spell book, filled with words suited only for a master of the dark arts. Caitlin wasn't suppose to be attempting any of these spells yet. The 'Baby's First Magic Missile' ones were hard enough for her.

She was desperate.

The captain slid the book into a fiery portal, shelving the volume as well as dismissing her orb. Quickly she decided on a meteor - the one that seemed the most average in size - and flew closer to it. One. Just one. If she could at least take care of one, then that'd be enough. The rest would be no problem. As long as could take care of one of them.
She decided to get close to it. A bold but very risky move, to be sure. The heat coming off of them was unbearable even for someone who spent much of their time in Hell. With her hands she made that same motion from earlier with the fight against Cevell, casting an aura around them. She pressed against the meteor, the searing heat quickly burning her hands. Bearing through the pain she kept her focus, the meteor slowly getting engulfed by the aura as it pushed against Caitlin. It was slow but seemed to be going well, until progress came to a sudden halt. Try as she might she couldn't quite get the spell to fully take effect.

That plan wasn't going to work. She flew back a ways, shaking her hands vigorously as they began to heal. She'd have to try something from the spell book. Closing her eyes she inhaled, exhaling slowly as she spoke these words: "Powers that bind us all, accept my will, grant me your strength." Caitlin held her hands out in front of her as she spoke. There was no immediate sign that the spell had worked, but Caitlin could feel something pressing against her palms. From the safe distance she was at she could now feel the force of the particular meteor she was trying to stop, and with it a force in her arms helping to push back against it. She struggled against its weight, her feet pedaling in the air as they tried to get a grip on something to help fight this. She could feel - she could see the meteor start to slow. It was working!
Then she heard her bone pop out of its socket. The shock interrupted her levitation spell and completely ended the other. Caitlin fell some twenty feet before catching herself. She glared at her right shoulder and with her left hand forced it back into place, letting out a yell. There wasn't any time to rest. She began invoking another spell, holding one hand out in front of her now. "The realm without end, I send this gift to you. Hunger unrelenting, void unending. Create a bridge between us, and accept this offering." There was a spark between her fingers. Then, awful creaking sound. Before her a void began to open, darker than anything she had ever laid eyes on. The rain that went into it didn't come out the other end. She was sending the meteors somewhere. Or, she was going to. The void was no bigger than the size of her hand. The second she gave it a look of frustration the portal snapped shut, meaning that she had successfully failed three different tries.

Caitlin was fixated on the meteor, panting heavily as she clenched her fist. Those spells winded her more than she had anticipated. By this point she wasn't quite sure how she was still airborne. The outcome was becoming bleaker with each passing second. Her magic wasn't strong enough to do more than inconvenience even one of the meteors. The way things were going it wouldn't be long before...before...
Far off in the distance she could make out the sound of thunder. Far, far beyond the storm. Different than what she had been hearing. "No," she managed to say as the rain continued to roll off her face. "I can handle this. I can do this. I don't need your..." Stopping herself she let out a long, heavy sigh. "We're not dead yet. I'm not dead yet!"

She reached back into her bookshelf-like portal, bringing back the spell book. Maybe if she could destroy it, completely, it would be enough. "As long as I still breathe, as long as I still exist, there's still hope!"

_________________

John moved his hand out for a moment, watching the two begin to walk slowly. "Wait, I..."

He moved his hand to his final prepared vial on his belt and brought it up. "Let me help." The vial's clear contents began to smoke up and change into a nice, red hue, but the color began to shift into a natural yellow look. The vial seemed to begin glowing.

He moved forward, handing the vial to Sunny. "I'm average in magical knowledge, admittedly, but am willing to do whatever I can to help everyone. Tell me what you need and I'll do it."

---

"I believe I still have 7 more minutes." The Reaper smiled, happy that Cevell's being Civill.

"Do you understand how skeptical I am?" She poured more tea into her cup, lifting it to fill Cevell's if need be. "And not because of your character. Truth be told, I think you would be a fine Devil...given training and prior knowledge of what you must do...but to completely oust Catherine, and to do so in such a turbulent time?" She frowned. "There's a lot more at stake than what you personally aim for, and the thought of yet another couple of years of anguish; with souls constantly crying out to me; with no way to truly help them, no matter how much of a burden I lay upon myself...it could be too much for me to bear...not to mention the fact that the only reason this Hell was established so well was because Sarah had help. The way you're going, you would have no one to assist you..."

She looked down at her tea for a moment. "Understand that I have no ability to stop you; only to help you once you stop. I know of your great spirit." She moved her head back up to look towards Cevell, though Cevell could still only see her mouth. "And that has never changed in your life and your death. And despite the years shaved from your life, I know you'll be living for a lot longer still. A long, beautiful life."

"I just...I feel as though your potential is going to be wasted if you do kill Catherine. To be quite honest, Catherine being alive is the easiest way for you to become something more. Maybe not the Devil, but something greater than what you aspire to be. Maybe something beyond that. After all this, I think she's been more of a positive influence on you more than anyone else. Were it not for her, you would not have met my...knight...."

Issac didn't seem to be wincing anymore. His body was healing up rather fast. He was now proudly beaming again.

"...or your friend Alicia." The Reaper seemed a lot more eager to move past Issac. Poor knight.

_________________

Cevell simply shook her head, letting out another small laugh. "A good influence on me, huh? Last I've checked, I've just been bumming around on the good captain's ship, and now she's tried to drag me along for some sell-out adventure to a bunch of rich snobs. Big Guy here clearly doesn't approve of me or my methods, either: the fact I'm sitting here is proof of that enough. As for Alicia..." as Cevell explained, her smirk turned to a frown as she shook her head once more, "No one's seen her since we split all those years ago. No doubt she's happy to be rid of us, of me, as well, for all the time I've hassled her." With that, Cevell leaned an arm on the table before continuing, "Make no mistake, this 'great spirit' inside me has not clouded my judgement or anything like that, it's simply a means to an end. Every choice I've made has been of my own volition, and I've come way too far to be able to afford to doubt a single one of those choices now. If I'm wrong, then someone will want what's right more, and I will fail. Of course, everything I've done up until now is to prove that I'm not wrong. That I have what it takes, that I want it more than anyone could ever want anything. I'm afraid nothing you say will convince me otherwise."

With that, Cevell relaxed again and took another sip of tea. "Well, I'd say we could play Tic-Tac-Toe for six minutes, but I know how this goes. You'll keep trying to convince me anyways, I'm sure, to stop doing this. To stop being who I am. I've been through this song and dance before."

The Reaper smiled, taking another sip.

Issac stepped in for the discussion instead. "Cevell, I have told you before, but you never believe me...I would never bring you here, with such a dangerous spirit, to the place that houses the spirit of Death herself...if I didn't believe in your capacity to listen to reason."

"It's true, it would be rather unwise otherwise," The Reaper noted. "I'm actually a bit impressed by his leap of logic. It's...more impressive than usual." She wasn't even mad, content to watch now.

"I can't say I'd ever approve of it..." Issac moved his hand to the back of his head. "But I don't believe this is the best you can be, either."

"And Miss Alicia....where ever she is...she had so many other people she could have talked to on our ship...those who were mostly immune to her power...me who had the great strength of will to not be enamored by her so strongly! (this is a lie, this is a lie, god that is such a lie) And yet she still hung around with you. She even actively looked for you. Why was that?"

He grinned. "Because you were her knight!" Oh no. "And that realization just hit me! You and I are exactly alike!!"

Man, Issac, just pick a mood and swing in place.

_________________

At Issac's last exclamation, Cevell simply sat, and stared... and stared... and--OH, WAS THAT--no, wait, she just blinked, but otherwise, still just staring.

Except then, she laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more. I'm not talking no baby chuckles or giggles, either, she was tearing up from the hilarity as she literally fell out of her chair. "Oh... pfff... oh, Big Guy." she said, finally barely being able to stifle her laughter as she got up and put a hand on his shoulder, "You're... you're great. Never change." Wiping away the tears, she gave Issac's shoulder another pat before sitting back down.

"But really, you keep mentioning how I'm 'capable of so much more' and all that. So, since we still have, whatever number of minutes left, I'll humor you. Just what is this supposed greatness I'm capable of that what I'm doing would veer me away from? The Devil's great, like, fifth or sixth mate that helped beat down the forces of Heaven? The shmuck who followed everyone around blasting things with a shotgun that totally helped 'save the wOOOooOOrld!'? Because none of that sounds as appealing as the Grand Master of Hell that eradicated every hope of reprisal through sheer willpower. But hey, I'm all ears, weave for me this tale where I meet my 'full potential.'"

Sunny grabbed the vial and quickly drained the contents into her mouth, completely ignoring Kimmy's sputtering protests. She grimaced for a second, and exhaled sharply, rolling her shoulders as the potion worked its magic on her body. "See? If you learned magic when I showed you all of Miharu's books, you could have helped me earlier! Instead, all those texts are gone." Kimmy just rolled her eyes and sighed. "You still never told me what-"

"FOCUS." Kimmy turned Sunny around, towards the hallway leading up to the deck. "You don't know proper magic, but we can destroy those meteors if John's potion fixed your problem." Sunny rubbed her chest, frowning. "Don't. We need to go, now. We don't have time to think about it too much or try anything. Just go out and get in position. Focus, and do it." Sunny nodded confidently, and started walking down the hall.

Kimmy turned to John with a frown on her face, looking at the book at his side. "We'll talk later. We should get out on the deck. Might need to improvise." With that, she left John behind.

"Your magic user is extending the distance between the two of you. Updating the map." Thank you book. Thank you.

_________________

The Reaper sat and watched her for a moment, contemplating.

After a moment, she sighed. "I guess there's nothing I can say that will dissuade you. I am certainly not one to beg and grovel at the feet of someone, let alone someone who is being granted power from someone I truly detest." She set the cup down at last, folding her hands together and looking over at her guest once more. "I suppose that's that, then. I will leave this up to fate."

She then stood up from her seat, straightened her dress, and began to walk away, her form starting to disappear. As she began to fade, she looked back over at the still-sitting Cevell and the knight standing next to her. "Ser Issac, she can take anything you can throw at her.Please remember that you can do more with the power I bestowed upon you than to form giant hands like the lad. Maybe a giant sword. You always seem fond of those. Just stop goofing around."

She then looked over to Cevell. "I thank you for being so courteous, Cevell. If you won't heed my advice, then at least contemplate on it. The fact that I would allow Ser Issac to do this is not something to be taken lightly."

With that, her form dissipated. But there was still at least...2 minutes left in this place.

"Giant swords, hmm..." Issac tapped on his chin.

---

John began to run with the two girls, his stone shimmering in his hand. The sad thing is that he was out of premade vials of his special liquid. He hoped there was something on deck that he could use.

After a moment, he stopped, letting the girls get ahead of himself before he opened the book again. "Okay, go over the ways to dispatch a meteor storm again. And don't tell me that I can't do it. I'm going to find a way to if it kills me."

Focus on the ones that won't kill him, please.

_________________

Sunny walked out on the deck, feeling the harsh winds whip her hair across her face. The storm had kicked up significantly since we last checked up on it. She moved a hand up to brush the hair out of her face, and glanced upwards to see the first of the meteors breaking through the clouds. She swallowed, her face going a bit blank, before she felt a hand on her back.

"Just keep moving forward, get to the middle of the ship. Don't waste time on feeling nervous." Kimmy pushed Sunny out of the doorway to get a look at what she was dealing with, a deep frown setting in on her face. Sunny didn't even turn to look at other people, focusing on getting into position so she could start her ritual.

-

"Short of having some sort of laser grid in your pants, there isn't much you can do to destroy the meteors this short notice. Their impact will be in 5 or so minutes, you have maybe 10 minutes minimum on the best offense spell and 45 on a potion. You could use a shielding salve on yourself and have it set up at its maximum radius to defend the ship, maybe. The bubble would deflect the first meteor before shattering, or handle any debris from someone more well prepared than you."

_________________

John ran up to the entrance to the deck. "Well, I don't have that much time to prepare a potion. Al, what do you have for me?"

I have possible combinations that could work for our advantage. The shielding salve Mimi mentioned, and a spell to boost it. In a small vial, it could be enough to shield us with one meteor. Problem is, this doesn't take into account the possibility that the meteor-slinger won't reappear with like 7 more prepared for slinging. Even if we shield for debris, we won't be able to handle another barrage. If we had enough materials, I could figure out a way to shield this ship, and the other, for hours.

Wow, the phantom was being helpful.

"I don't have the components...I used my last vial of Variable Fluid."

Put me to work, then. You just need a suitable substitute for me to work my magic.

"I don't know where we could find..." John was looking over at a large bundle on the pirate's ship. "Uh...ah...o-oy! My good man!" He pointed at one pirate that was surprisingly nonchalant about the whole 'we're all going to die' situation. He was just leaning on the wall, looking up, smoking a pipe and contemplating whether it was running away from life or running away from his wife that brought him here. "What is in that crate?"

The pirate looked over at the supply crate and gave the boy a brief guffaw. "Oh, that? Why, nothing but our supply of rum. Every pirate ship needs it. If they didn't, people would get grouchy. And irritable. And killable. And all manners of other things in-betwixt those possible scenarios."

"...s-super." John moved over to the crate. "Will this work, Al?"

Hm, the residual sugarcane, the fermented molasses...the various home-grown additions that make it such a potent and dangerous monster of a beverage...there may be enough ingredients for me to !#%$ around with. I can change the fluid while it's in your hand, but the spread of the salve needs to be widespread. We're going to need a lot of rum.

"Well, sure..." The alchemist moved his hand inside and grabbed a bottle, opening it and taking a big swig of it. He began to cough, feeling the bitter drink fill him. "Mmf...not like I need to make friends on this ship or anything. Let's get started." Once the bottle's contents changed into a different color, he tossed it onto the ground, then grabbed another. One by one, he began to toss or empty the bottles onto the ship's deck, spilling its contents all over the boards.

The pirate was still, surprisingly, nonchalant about this. I mean, the meteor's gonna kill them all anyway, right? Stabbing someone right now was just being rude.

_________________

The spell fizzled out around the tips of Caitlin's fingers, and she could feel a sharp pain surge throughout her body. Each failed attempt was paid with a hefty toll. She gripped her shoulder worriedly, her thumb running over the small bloody wounds that Cevell had put into her. By now even if she got the spell to work she could be caught within the blast zone. That, and the high winds were starting to throw her around too much, forcing much of her concentration on just staying afloat. Falling back to the ship was a necessary embarrassment. She succeeded only in furthering her injuries during her time up in the sky; she would not fail back on the sea.


---

Caitlin leaned her hands against the doors to her room, catching her breath. She had fallen through her portal to return here, but even that was starting to make her body ache. There was maybe one good attempt left in her before she'd need to take a real rest. If Cevell wanted to go for a round two after this, she wasn't sure she'd be able to stop her...
No, she had to. She was better than this. Hell, either of her parents would have had this whole mess done and buried in a nice little Cevel-shaped grave by now. She had been through worse !#%$ than this in her life (At least, that's what she was trying to believe), and that snub nosed, fashion starved !#%$ wasn't going to get the better of her.

Stepping out from her room and into the storm, Caitlin held her hat firmly in place against her head. Far in the distance she could hear another clap of thunder subtly over the howl of the wind. Straight ahead of her stood Sota, looking much calmer than she had earlier. "Welcome back, Captain," she smiled with a wave. "Giving it one last shot?"
Caitlin stepped beside her, resting a hand on the railing in front of her room as she looked down at the first mate. "You're not worried?" she asked. Sota shook her head in response. "Why not?"
With a sly smile she tilted her finger, pointing at nothing as the sound of thunder rolled by yet again. "Even if you can't do it, there's someone on stand-by who can take care of this." Caitlin frowned at the reply. She hadn't meant it the way Caitlin seemed to take the comment. Placing a hand on Caitlin's back, Sota spoke in a reassuring tone. "Hey, if he wanted to stop it he would have already. They're trying to let you take care of this on your own. He doesn't want to interfere just as much as you don't want him to."
"If that was true he wouldn't be sitting around out there," replied Caitlin dissatisfied. "It's like neither of them have any faith in me sometimes."
"He's your father, Cait. Of course he's going to be worried about you. You fret over Sunny and Rei constantly. I think, there might be something else to it though. Doesn't this situation remind you of something? Someone? ...Maybe I'm just..." Sota gave Caitlin a quick pat on the back, signaling her to get back to work. "Go on, get back in there. Hey, if you manage to pull this off, maybe Sarah will let you skip all the way to the 5th grade!" she smirked, finally drawing a smile out of her friend.

Shambling her way to the center of the ship, Caitlin spotted Sunny and Kimmy. She moved towards them, looking at Sunny with concern as she approached. "Hey Sunshine," she said with a small frown as she pointed to Sunny's bandages. "What happened? Are you sure you can...?" She paused, looking up at Kimmy before turning back to Sunny. "Well, if she's letting you try it then I guess you're fine. But..." Caitlin looked up towards the sky, pausing. The red was brighter than before. "Never mind. We'll talk later." She looked at Sunny's nervous face, trying to look confident herself as she spoke to the young mage. Confidence was hard to convey with her face scarred up from the Holy-Shells. "Sunny, it's alright. You're more than capable of handling this. Plus," she reached up, lifting her hat off her head. In the same motion her horns appeared, and her now red eyes were almost a light behind the rain. "I'll be right here, helping you. Between the two of us there won't be a speck of these meteors left."
Taking the hat in her hand Caitlin placed it on Sunny's head. She placed her hand on her shoulder, just giving her a smile before taking a few steps away. Standing too close to Sunny's magic could have negative effects on her. "C'mon. I bet I can get more than you," she said playfully, trying to make the matter more of a fun competition for them. Whether it was to ease Sunny's mind or her own, who was to say.

Caitlin stretched her hands far in front of herself before raising them high into the air, preparing the spell she had continuously failed minutes before. Faint red lines of energy formed around her in a crystalline shape. Her voice was loud over the storm as she softly spoke in a commanding tone:


"Darkness beyond twilight
Crimson beyond blood that flows
Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows
I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand
Before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand."


Her hair and coat rose as if a strong fan were placed beneath her, and the wind and rain seemed to no longer touch her. The lines that had surrounded her gathered in the palms of her hands, forming a red and black sphere of dark energy. Small sparks of electricity flowed from it as Caitlin continued, lowering her hands to her side as she readied her attack.


"In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness
Let all the fools who stand before me be destroyed
By the power you and I possess."


Caitlin could feel the spell 'catch.' At last she could feel it - the power running from her fingertips through her entire body. Not against her like before, but for her. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. Her fingers trembled at the very might of her own strength. The sphere continued to swell and grow as Caitlin recited the last words.

"DRAGON SLAVE!"

With the last of her might Caitlin threw her arms forward. The sphere shot straight towards the reddening sky as a same-colored beam trailed followed it along. A cone was somewhat visible at its front as it broke the air, climbing higher and higher. Caitlin fell to her knees as she watched her spell soar into the clouds. Over the storm and all its wind and thunder the crew could hear a deafening explosion. The sky flashed a bright red where the beam had disappeared.

That was the last thing Caitlin saw as she fell forward, blacking out...

_________________

As the Reaper left, Cevell simply shook her head and laughed to herself once more. After a brief pause, though, she turned now to Issac. "So you were holding back, were you?" she said with a grin, raising an eyebrow, "Hah, and you said we're exactly like." Cevell shook her head once more as she blew a quick raspberry before continuing, "No, I don't think you understand. How do you expect to have the smallest bit of hope of deterring me from anything if you don't show me your full desire? You don't need to talk big talk at me. I know you're the Big Guy. So show me. Show me the hopelessness you believe this path to hold, surround me with the all-consuming darkness that awaits me, don't just grab at me with your little cartoon hands." Cevell gave another laugh, closing her eyes as she laid back in the seat once again, putting her feet on the table. "But hey, that's just my suggestion. Maybe you know that'll just make my determination all the stronger as I break through it and are just tired of trying. Whether you just want to play with your big sword all day or show me what you're really made of, I'll leave up to you. You still got a minute, so take your time. Figure out what you want. I'll be waiting."

Issac looked over at his fairly formidable opponent, studying her.

"Do you really want to be alone, Cevell?"

---

John kept pouring out a couple for his homies, but the homies are quite alive, pirates, and getting a little pissy about him draining the liquid onto the two ships. He was about to tell some off when he heard a massive shout and deafening roar. His cloak began to burrow furiously in the wind that was created from Caitlin's spell, watching from below as the meteor was crushed. Not bad.

Noticing that the debris was surely about to start falling, he picked up the pace, finally covering just enough for his plan.

Well, drink the magic-increasing alcohol now.

John took the swig, then spat. "PPFFFAH...UGH..." It was still rum.

Oh sorry... Shimmer. Try now.

John grumbled as he took a drink, then cast the remaining bit of it into the bit of the deck that would reach the rest of the alcohol.

Alright, let's see if I can remember the incantation...repeat after me...

John closed his eyes, concentrating for a moment.....

Stalwart knight, protector of the hopeless
Guide our ships through these trying times.
In the single guard, the unstoppable shield
Protect these ships and her peoples.

...

You know, it's not really a verbal command. I literally just made it up on the spo-

John clapped his hand together, the stone planted in the middle for added effect.

Ow.

John then moved his palm out and smacked it into the rather large puddle of glass and potion he created.

"Phantasmal Guardian"

Owwwwwwwwaahahahaha...

The alchemist smiled as the entire ship began to glow with a green hue. The power expelled from the alchemist and the stone, sending green light across the entirety of the two ships. If only for a little bit, the ships were safe from meteor strikes.

Congratulations, you gave the ship about 10 more minutes of a meteor-free safe zone. Maybe 5 if the kid and captain don't do much. Still, feels nice to be used for practical reasons. Go team.

John sighed. Now what was going to happen? There's not enough rum to do a second coating, and it was only a matter of time before the whole thing starts over again.

_________________

Another light laugh from Cevell. "Do I want to be alone?" she repeated, leaning forward in her chair again, "Of course not. For as much many times as my body's been remodeled, revived, replaced, or whatever else, I still have the soul of a human. I still feel rejection and whatever else, just as much as the next guy. But I will not, I can not compromise myself, for anyone. The moment I do is the moment I lose myself. If people I care about hate or reject it, that's on them, because the second I lose myself is the time I'm more alone than I've ever been. It won't be me that's friends with those people. It'll be a fabrication I made to make them happy, a fabrication that will replace, that will erase my soul, and then there'll truly be no humanity left in me."

Cevell's smirk seemed a bit more solemn now, but she smiled all the same. "So yes, I'd love to have all the friends in the world. The real question is, do those people want to be friends with me? Or with the idea of me, with a fabrication? Of that, I need to be sure. That's why I always give my all, show my all, so they know what they're getting into. Nothing more, nothing less."

"We make sacrifices of ourselves in order to positively benefit others. Humanity is about checks and balances...finding the way to be yourself and to benefit the common good. You have chosen to silence the opposition in favor of your own, selfish desires. Before, you had quite a few friends...but now, you have two. And one of them is using you."

Issac stepped away from the dining set, walking a few paces forward before turning around. He brought his hand to the hilt of his Daedalus, slowly moving it from his back. From his waist, he looked wounded. He could even be considered as beaten.

"I...will beat those selfish desires down to the ground." His eyes began to expel a sort of icy mist as two dark masses appeared beside him, slowly forming into two rather sturdy-looking phantasmal swords. His own sword, held up by his right arm, is also expelling a little bit of mist. "Until the only thing left in you...is humanity."

"Stand up, Cevell."

1 minute left.

_________________

Cevell laughed aloud. "Yes, that's what I want to hear. Let your passion flow forth, and don't ever, ever doubt yourself, for even a fraction of a second." she said excitedly, suddenly being entirely pleased with the situation as she stood up (just as Issac asked), crossing her arms and staring Issac directly in the eyes, "For it's in that instant that I'll dominate you."

With that, Cevell continued to just stare, watching, waiting. However, she couldn't help but ask, "So, are we going to take this back outside, or are we going to need every inch of this infinite nothing for a last-minute clash? Because believe me, I've never been more ready for you to show me your moves."

Sunny put an arm over her eyes, as did many of the crew, as Caitlin's spell collided with the first oncoming meteor. There was a bright flash, and then a thundering explosion as the first meteor cracked and crumbled apart.Some of the crew started cheering as the meteor disintegrated, which was quickly cut short as another meteor dipped under the clouds and crushed any feelings of hope in the situation they had just felt. The pieces of meteor crashed down onto the shield covering the ship and harmlessly bounced off, the shield holding up brilliantly.

Sunny started hyperventilating, holding her chest as she threw her other free arm to the sky. The runes on her arm refused to light, her powers laying dormant as she pushed for any feeling of light in her body. She felt the panic gripping her as she watched the meteors descend from the sky, fiery balls of a God's wrath emerging from under a violent blanket of lightning and thunder. Ten, twelve, twenty, forty. The meteors did not stop slowly descending towards the ship. "I...I can't!" Sunny fell to her knees, rain mixing with the tears on her face as terror flooded her whole body. She remembered the meteor earlier in her life. Now, she was under a fair few smaller ones. She felt powerless, she felt-

"Useless." Sunny turned her head, feeling time slow down as she looked Heart in his dumb, stupid face. The terror, the panic, the powerlessness...it was all replaced with an unfiltered rage as she stood up and pointed at him. But, before she could even get a word in, he cut her off, walking towards her as he pointed at the meteors in the sky. "All those times you were more than willing to waste your powers, goofing off and being a prat. Look at you now, unable to even clear a storm. Crying over a few falling rocks? !#%$ really?!"

"Shut up!" Sunny felt something inside her snap as she looked back up at the sky, and then back down at Heart. "You don't understand what's going on, you never even cared! It's always been about y-" Sunny was suddenly silenced as Heart stepped forward and slapped her across the face, firmly planting her on the ground.

"Understand this, you horrendous !#%$. Up until now I've tolerated your antics and your attitude towards my kinsmen, towards me, and towards the rest of the world. I've watched you squander your gifts, use your place of power to get gifts you never deserved, treat everyone around you like garbage..." Heart clenched his fists, his own anger overwhelming him. "What you did to those people on Kalthisis was unacceptable. We could have saved EVERYONE."

"I...I had to...make a choi-"

"!#%$. We had plenty of time! Unlike now! I look at you sniveling on the ground now, and I'm glad. The Gods looked down on you abusing your gifts, torturing the people around you, and they ripped your heart out."

"No...you..."

"I did nothing wrong. The fact that you try to blame me after all this time should show everyone how horrible you really are. You really are your mother's daughter. Only someone like you could ruin this much holy power, all because you wanted to be Caitlin." Heart spit on the ground next to her, and then turned away from her. "So get up. Get up and wave your hands in the sky uselessly. I await death at this point, because anything is better than having to serve under you."

Sunny watched Heart walk away, both her hands against her chest as all the white runes on her body turned a deep black. Her open palms clenched, angry fists suddenly over her head as she screamed to the heavens, ancient words escaping her mouth. Her entire body went pale as she chanted, summoning the last of what energy she had left to try and do something, anything, against the heavenly bodies that were quickly approaching the ship. Her chants went unnoticed at first, nothing changing at all. But, the sky got brighter. The whole world seemed to light up with a bright red, as the clouds reflected a source of great light behind them. Sunny's face grew into a huge smile as the light reflected off her face, stretching her arms as she embraced the light. But, the roaring thunder of meteors got louder. The light got brighter. And, the clouds finally broke, as did her smile.

There was one more meteor.

---

"Hey kid. Time to go. Our weapon is on its way. Say goodbye to your boyfriend and lets get back before these idiots figure out how to destroy meteors." Pride pushed images of what was going on outside of this void to Cevell, showing her how close the first meteors were to impact, and where their prized meteor was in the grand scheme. "Figure we have less than a minute before the ship is swiss cheese. We gotta hop up the meteors and grab the guitar out of the shop on the big meteor. Otherwise, I hope you have a good catching arm."

_________________

"Give it a moment."

As Issac said this, the white expanse seemingly began to grow smaller, being enveloped by a large cloud of black. Soon it swallowed the two whole.

For a time, it was completely black. But soon, Cevell could smell the scent of the ocean air and the feeling of utter despair around her. It took a small moment to adjust back to the real world's light.

Which is convenient for Issac as two more swords appeared behind Cevell.

With a flick of his wrist, Issac willed the four swords to raise up into the air, and slashed down towards Cevell. The speed and strength of the swords seem a bit more...determined now. Issac's put his heart into these attacks. He's out for blood.

Another sword appeared in front of him and is sent flying towards her, as well. And another. And another. And an-oh, that one is Issac that sped up to her and is about to bring a big ol' helping of Daedalus down on her. And this attack is going to be a hearty meal indeed.

Is that...really, is that what I wr-...I...I guess that makes sense.

---

John looked up at the sky as he began to count the numerous amounts of meteors coming down. "28...33...that's over 40 meteors." He looked devastated.

Hm.

"Got any other practical ideas brewing in you?"

Not unless you do what we've talked about...

"......no."

Suit yourself. Most we can do is just amplify the shield. Gotta hope that's enough and that the others defuse the situation.

"Great..."

John looked around, contemplating. If he only had something he could use as a base for his alchemy...

_________________

As Cevell and Issac's battle came to a climax, now would clearly be the time to play some dramatic mus-- wait, no, what is, what? No, not that one. The other one, y'know, with the lyrics? Yeah, th--NO, WHAT?? "BARK" IS NOT A LYRIC, FOR... okay, it's fine, just, give us the right one, and... y'know what? Close enough.



Ahem, ANYWAYS...

As the swords began their assault, Cevell wasted no time in drawing the tip of her scythe blade, quickly carving a hole in the back as she leaped out of the back of the ring of shadowy blades. As it quickly became clear that that was nowhere near the end of Issac's onslaught, however, Cevell did a quick twirl, protracting the blade further out than she ever had before, the blade now forming a ring around her, blocking all the shadows. "Now that's more like it." she said with a grin, letting out a low bit of laughter just as Issac himself came crashing in. Quite literally, as it would happen: the deck of the ship sure didn't stand a chance as the force of the collision drove them into the ship's innards. As the dust settled, the two were standing there, Cevell holding the Daedelus at bay with her metal fist. "Heh... heh... that really is more like it." she said between breaths, the sword beginning to slice through the metal, a few sparks flying, "Afraid I have an appointment in the sky, though. If you truly are just like me, though, it should be no problem to follow my path." Just as the Daedelus had sliced the entirety of her fist in half, Cevell fired the shotgun, both blasting Issac and using the recoil to yank her arm free of the sword as she leaped high into the sky, right to a nearing meteor. Climbing them as if it were some extreme game of hopscotch... I suppose today's really not much an average day for Cevell, but she was happy to partake in the absurdity.

"Yeah, sorry you had to sit through that. I'm sure you know how his type is. Now, is there anything I should know about this weapon before I pull it out, or do I just need to point the dangerous end at the other guy?"

The guard recoiled at the shot right into him, staggering back as Cevell made her escape. Issac looked up to the girl making her ascent and moved his hand out. About 4 more swords flew up to her, but were easily dispatched, falling pathetically to the waters below. "Gahh...fine!"

He bent his knees and jumped up high, darkness enveloping him as he began to shift upward and upward, as if he's gaining altitude by displacing himself to a higher elevation each time. At times, he would stop for a moment, begin to plummet, but only as he focused on more swords appearing to careen towards Cevell. He would then continue his ascent, not worrying about the attacks not having much effect against Cevell's ascension.

Soon, out of sheer luck, he was able to gain enough momentum to pass Cevell, slashing his sword down for a power attack. "YAAAAAH!"

If the sword was like a quarter mile bigger, or a folded 50000000 times steel katana, that meteor would be cut in half. Still, it's just enough to be a bit of a health hazard for Cevell.

_________________

"You certainly are persistent!" Cevell shouted with a laugh as the two were on their ascent, blocking the shadows along the way, "But even more swords, really? I know you like 'em, but at least use some creativity in how you use them. That's how you throw them off, or even take it to the next level."

As Issac came to pass and come down with his overhead swing, Cevell simply shook her head as she spoke, "Let me show you." With that, Cevell fell forwards, doing a bit of a flip as she balanced the bottom of her feet on the sword, the metal clanging, and pushed off the meteor with her hands so as to divert the two juuust enough to the side so that the two would swing just past the meteor--and just as Issac would come to the end of his swing, Cevell leaped off, blasting both the low-powered jets on her feet and the shotgun to both distract Issac and boost herself as much as possible. That wasn't the end, of course, no, it should come as no surprise that that's just the beginning of this convoluted mess of an attack.

As Cevell flew through the air, the next meteor she got to, she also skirted along the edge, protracting her blade once more just enough to hinge herself and, with a few more well-timed jet boot bursts and blade-hinging, slingshot her way around the meteor, which would bring her right back to where she started... or rather, the opposite side of the meteor on which she started. Fist clenched, one last blast from the shotgun rang out as it propelled the previously-split metal fist forward, straight into the center of the meteor, shattering through the surface, through petrified floor inside, through all the remnants of furniture inside, through the 'home, sweet, home' mat, and out the chimney of the house that apparently rested inside (??), all to burst back out the meteor's other end, flaming-hot fist aimed right for Issac's jaw. "Like... THAT!" she screamed out, gritting her teeth slightly as the fist sparked all the more as it neared its target.

"PUH!"

Issac gritted his teeth and took the fist in the face like a champ, his body flailing off the meteor. He began to careen down and down before his determination reignited. "Hnn" He shifted once more and soon reappeared on the meteor Cevell had just jumped onto. His face was bloody and bruised, and his smile was reddened, but it shone the way his usually did. "Heh....hehe...that was a nice attack." He slowly moved his hand up and another sword appeared. The sword then pathetically began to fall off the meteor. He did it again, and the other fell.

"Hn....hnn..." He looked a bit weak.

"HAH!" Suddenly, 12 swords appeared surrounding the meteor! And! They all began to fall, too!

He did it again, and they fell again. He was looking pretty bad off after each one. But he kept trying.

"Hah....hah.....hah..."

This couldn't really be his last stand, could it?

_________________

"Hehehe... hahaha! You really don't give up, Big Guy, good, but... you disappoint me." Cevell laughed, but transitioned to a sigh as she shook her head and frowned. "I thought you of all people could take a punch, but your body's clearly not as determined as your mind. Should've gotten a new one like I did. I suppose it's a bit late for that now, though. Maybe that old lady can help you with that, if there's enough left of you." Letting out another sigh, Cevell slowly walked up towards Issac, looking down at her sparking metal fist, pumping it once again, at her side. With a subdued, solemn chuckle, she spoke, "It's been fun, Issac, but I believe we're done here."

With that, Cevell slowly rose her shotgun up, along Issac's torso, and then, pointed straight at his face... and fired.

The shot rang, but it did not connect, Issac disappearing beforehand, reappearing a few steps away.

"Heh...you think that's...all...it...would take..." As Issac began to speak, he slowly regained composure, looking like he hadn't even taken such wounds. "...that much to take me down?"

He moved his hand up into the air triumphantly. In an instant, a giant multitude of swords appeared surrounding the meteor. Some of them shattered, as though they were the ones Cevell had dispatched before.

"MULTI SWORD DANCE"

The swords all pointed at Cevell, then began to follow her. Something that was clearly visible to her was that the swords kept coming. And Issac wasn't breaking a sweat. It's almost like...he BAMBOOZLED her!

"Do I need to remind you, Miss Cevell? MY BODY IS PERFECT!"

As she would naturally start moving, Issac went in for the kill, slashing the Daedalus upward towards her. Knowing that Cevell would clearly dodge it, he let go of the sword. A hand formed by his side, grabbing the sword's hilt and effortlessly slashing down again.

And yet, knowing that it would not connect either, he went for the third attack in that split second, bringing his armored fist right into Cevell's face.

"Perfectly capable of taking anything you can throw at me. IT CAN BE BRUISED, IT CAN BE BLOODIED, BUT IT WILL FOREVER BE! MY SOUL WILL CONSTANTLY KEEP IT FROM ITS DEMISE! That is my power. I CANNOT DIE BY YOUR HANDS!"

Another three-way attack from before, this time his left fist connecting onto her face. "My determination is going to keep standing in your way, until you falter. Even if you destroy everyone below...even if you take over hell...I will always be there...constantly.....CONSTANTLY SHOWING YOU SOME HUMANITY!"

If Cevell had begun to move away from the attack, the swords would continue to follow her. Endlessly, it seems. As though she were a girl trying to dodge a giant multitude of tiny obstacles in a very tiny window that constantly came towards her to keep her from her ability to take over the underground soul cavern that....it's a bullet hell, okay? OKAY?

_________________

Indeed, Issac's first attack was side-stepped; the second, blocked by Cevell's blade. The punch, though, smacked her square in the jaw, her head twisted to the side as Cevell stood motionless from the punch as Issac went on his spiel.

...

"HAH!" Cevell spouted, her grin now back and bigger than ever (this is a lie, her head would have to physically grow larger for there to be more room for smile for such a thing) as she stood straight back up, "I should've known! All this time, and even you can still manage to surprise me. You truly are the Big Guy, the Biggest Guy." Cevell chuckled to herself as the second wave of a triple attack came at her, the fist managing to connect once again, although she seemed largely unphased this time (although her face had certainly seen better days) as she continued, "Perhaps there truly is more to you than the rest... but that makes it all the more important that I press on." As Cevell stared down at the upcoming torrent of swords, she was not given a moment to ponder as she was forced to dash to the side out of several swords' paths, and as more came, she took a small jump, landing her feet on the side of one of the shadows and propelled herself off once again as she leaped all the higher into the air, now back to meteor-hopping.

As Cevell looked skyward--dodging, blocking, or leaping off swords here and there--she let out another low chuckle. "It feels like it's been so long, and we've gotten so far, yet we're only just beginning, huh?" she pondered aloud, mostly to herself. It was only a matter of time until she'd reach the final, largest meteor, but it was still exactly that: a matter of time.