The image that Fishy was faced with, related to his own. His friend impaled in front of him, with his mind coming up with no options.
"Do I run away?" Fishy thought as he could no longer feel his feet.
"Can I carry them all and run away?" His heart was louder than his head. The marionette didn't waste time flinging the body on its swords against a tree.
Fishy watched as it happened but was unable to do anything. The girl behind him was in a similar state. The only person that could fight was Fishy.
He swallowed everything in his mouth and felt as his body accepted what was going to happen.
The marionette swung at Fishy who swiftly dodged. He darted forward to the marionette, slashing at its brown shell.
"What the?" Fishy said as he looked at his sword which had snapped into two on contact. His body, towered by the shadow of the beast. Fishy retreated as fast as he could but was constantly being chased around. Unable to outrun it.
Each time his foot touched the ground, he lifted it again. Even waiting for a second to catch his breath would cause him to meet his end.
"Huff...huff...huff…" Fishy could feel his lungs about to collapse. Having no other choice, he did what he's always done and stuck out his hand.
The marionette, that was at his face, retreated towards the trees. Carefully watching whatever it was that Fishy was about to do.
Fishy smirked at the beast that finally gave him space and flicked his hand creating a gust large enough to pick up Ziu and the girl, transporting them to safety outside the forest.
"How clever." A voice said as if it was coming from the marionette. "All this time you were making sure to keep it away from the girl and your friend."
"Huff..huff… you can talk?" Fishy was barely about to say.
"Of course, but I am merely using the doll to speak to you."
Fishy rested for a second. Seeing the distance he created he assumed it was fine. The beast appeared behind him again during his second of hesitation. Fishy ducked below, placing an open palm against the beasts rough wooden face. As his hand began to emit a blue glow, the beast tried to run, but a beam of pure energy pierced its head. Causing it to collapse to the floor.
"Fascinating…" The voice still spoke. "A cataclysm beam from a destroyer… powerful magic..."
Fishy wasted no time in limping away. He walked towards where he flung the others but quickly collapsed as his legs gave in.
"Truly interesting…" The voice spoke as Fishy looked back, only to see it rebuilding itself. Each tiny piece of wood that was blown off, all flew together to reconstruct the marionette. The sound of the wood regrowing strained his ears.
"You've gotta be kidding me…" Fishy smiled as he had no other way to process the dread he was feeling. The feeling of failure as he won't be able to return to the village that trusted him.
Fishy carried himself up, just able to stand. With sweat pouring down his body, he held his hand out again, however…
"ARGHH!" Fishy looked across at his arm that was no longer there. His eyes slowly panned down to see it resting on the floor, with his blood dripping over it.
Fishy screamed in pain as he tried to bandage the wound. As if he had gone insane from the blood loss, he tried to reattach his arm.
The marionette stood over him, about to swing his sword but was forced to halt.
"Interesting…" The voice said again. "You never fail to amaze me…"
The marionette stepped back from Fishy who pushed himself off the ground, with the arm that was just reattached.
"You are no normal human…" The voice spoke. "I want to experiment with you some more."
The marionette continued to swing at Fishy who was only able to dodge half of the hits. Each collision caused him to lose a limb, but it would pull itself back by dark string-like forces without him knowing.
"AMAZING!" The voice said as the marionette continued to dismember Fishy. "YOU HAVE TO BE SOME KIND OF DEVIL TO BE ABLE TO REATTACH LIMBS LIKE THAT!"
Fishy took each hit and eventually stopped screaming. His eyes that were once green turned a dark red as he continued to dodge. Each time with fewer hits being allowed in.
Within a second, Fishy was dancing around all the swings. Each slash that came his way from the giant claymores was being carefully manoeuvred around.
Fishy gained some distance from the eyeless beast that stared back at him. Fishy held his hand out one last time and saw the swing that would give the same results.
"Perish."
At Fishy's words, a large tornado of flames that spiralled to the heavens emitted under the marionette, melting its swords at Fishy's feet.
The flames eventually disappeared but the beast still stood, rebuilding itself.
Fishy launched the spell again, and again. Each time was just like the last. A large pillar of fire that would announce itself to the world. The force from it alone burned the surrounding forest. And until the beast disappeared, Fishy never stopped casting it.
"Outstanding…" The voice was still present even when the doll was reduced to a pile of ash that Fishy blew away with his wind magic. "To think the creature did this much to you… it never should have even moved one foot when you arrived…"
Fishy didn't move from where he was standing. He looked far to the mountains that were now revealed without the forest.
"Scary… to think you found me…" The voice said, "When you look at me like that… it almost makes me worried that you'll come and kill me… I do hope you can hold onto that pain till we fight."
The magic surrounding the voice left and Fishy looked up to the clouds that quickly flooded overhead, dropping rain on any flaming pieces of grass that were caught in the crossfire.
Fishy breathed out of his repairing nose and walked back out of the forest as his eyes started to fade back to green. He didn't speak, he just kept breathing as if it was all he needed to do. He walked over to the bodies of Ziu and the girl who were both unconscious. He ripped off Ziu's armour to inspect the damage, finding nothing. Not even a scar was present. He turned to the girl who was looking weaker and skinnier than before. Fishy picked the two of them up, carrying them on his back. The horses were nowhere to be seen. All Fishy could do is to carry them home.