"We have to run…" Rei shouted, holding his breath a moment later as he looked at the two masked reapers in front of them. "Where's the ship?!"
"Back in the air, Rei," the man replied, reeling in the chains that attached his staff to the boulder in the distance and watching it pop itself out before going back to him. "I would very much like to run right now, but unfortunately," he continued, letting down the chained ball to the puddle beneath them and gathering that liquefied concrete into it until it became as huge as his head. "We have to kill it right now."
"But… we can't," Rei responded, jerking his body back after a moment of hesitation. "No one can kill it! Except maybe Dolphin, WHERE'S DOLPHIN?"
"Oh, stop being such a bitch, Rei," the woman scoffed, taking another elegant step forward and kicking off a bit of the dust as her soles tapped the cold rough ground. "I believe that crossed a lot of things off of our list, isn't that right, Miggy?"
"I believe so, Miss Viela, but we do have another plan that might work just fine," Miggy replied with a smile as he placed his one foot forward. He made the ball behind him spin once again, which caught the air, ripping it and making it whistle as it revolved faster than before.
"What… what plan?" Rei shouted as he remained in the ground, swallowing his saliva and looking at Juanito before he returned his gaze at them.
"It's just a simple plan, really… it'll be... perfect," Miggy said with an almost melodic tone and paused as though he was waiting for something. After a moment of silence with nothing but the sound of his weapon gathering the wind behind him, he sighed and walked forward. Then, with a disappointed tone, he tilted his head and added, "Welcome to my life..."
"What?" Rei replied and looked at Juanito.
"You didn't get it, I was making a joke," Miggy continued, lowering his gaze to face the knight, who appeared to have damaged his armor, emerging from the shade and the dense cloud of dust that was birthed out from his previous attack.
"What, why would you make a joke?" Rei continued, raising both his brows in confusion.
"I got it!" Juanito shouted, almost in celebration and to that, the face behind Miggy's mask crept up a smile.
"Good job, kiddo, now get up from there… we need your help," Miggy added, without taking his eyes off of the knight that had his arms helplessly swaying back and forth as he staggered before them. "We need you so we could perfectly execute our plan."
"Sure," Juanito replied, taking a sharp breath and counting his steps as he followed their backs, hesitating as he placed his feet one in front of the other.
"I said, what plan… and why aren't we running already?!" Rei shouted with his tone that now seemed in pain and impatient. "You're not even telling me about it. All you say are plans and plans and plans and plans!"
"Stop being such a bitch, Rei, I told you that already," Viela answered, making her pike spin before she took her stance without taking her eyes off of her enemy. "Can't get our minds read, you dumb fuck. Also, if you haven't wondered, this guy always knows where you are."
"And knowing that, we can't take any chances." Miggy lifted his thumbs up in silence and then, to their attention, an ominous howl in the sky, sounding like an owl's, rang in their ears. "That's why we have some plans," he added with a tone as though his words were full of wisdom before breaking out into a laugh.
A blue stream of light engulfed their surroundings starting from the ground, to the tall and thick gates that enclosed them and to the towering trees among the houses that made everything beyond their sights fade into the shadows. They heard nothing except for the blowing winds soon after but at the moment that the knight began to move as if nothing had happened, a beam of yellow light came from the sky and summoned a huge explosion in a snap. The blow ruptured the winds, making Viela's tulle coat and Miggy's jacket sway as it tore through the ground, making a crater as it sent a generous amount of rubble their way. None of them dared to move as they waited for everything to settle down. However, at the moment Juanito and Viela took a deep breath to relax their bodies, they heard something move inside that tower of ashen smoke arising in the middle of that crater.
The knight's armor began to ring as though he was making his steps although the sound that he's making seemed to be almost too robotic and slow. Miggy raised his thumbs once more as a response and without any delay, three of those beams crashed down and lit the ground before them aflame. They heard a few cracks in their midst as the explosions that they had summoned forced them to hold their breaths, but its outcome remained the same. The two armed reapers readied themselves and raised their weapons and with Rei watching their backs, Juanito took his stance as the Knight emerged from the pillar of smoke right in front of them.
"Those were our strongest rounds, no?" Miggy let out a chuckle, looking at the knight's armor that was dented and cracked before he turned to Viela.
"AaaAAAAaaaAAAAaaaaaaAAAAAAAaaaA," it grumbled as it took its time to push itself forward with its trembling limbs as though he was trying to reawaken his nerves. It was only then that his armor, which was supposed to be pure white that got tainted, battered and turned dark because of the destruction that they had brought upon him, faded into their view. His helm was bent, his shoulder guards were gone, his cuirass was in tatters, and his gauntlets and boots seemed as if they were on the verge of breaking apart. The only thing that seemed to protect him from the reapers seeing his body was the darkness that covered his bare flesh like mail.
Miggy smiled at that sudden thought as he took a step forward. "I believe they were, and that that's second to the last plan that we have… so do we have to keep shooting or—"
The knight let out a guttural high-pitched scream and dashed towards Miggy. Juanito instinctively stepped back in fear and Viela on the other hand, made her spear spin and threw him off even before he could lay a finger or his comrade.
"That guy is a monster!" Rei shouted in panic.
"I guess… we can't shoot it anymore if it gets too close," Viela faced the sky and their enemy a moment after.
"Don't worry, kid, we have a plan," Miggy added, shooting off his chained ball towards the fallen knight and letting out a satisfied chuckle at the moment his helm rang like a frying pan.
"What plan, are we buying some time for Dolphin again or what?!" Rei shouted back in panic.
"No," Miggy replied as he pulled the ball towards him once more and made it bigger. Then, he looked back at him and as though he was smiling as wide as the grin plastered on his mask, he continued, "We're just going to hit it till it dies."
At his words, the knight emerged once more and bolted towards him. Veila, as though she too was smiling, gave Miggy a nod as she blocked his path with her spear, smashing him with its shaft that just made his body spin instead of sending him away. Instead of falling to the ground, the knight sank his boot to the floor and used it to propel the rest of his body upwards to deliver an attack of his own but to his surprise, he found himself looking back to his feet just a second after. He met the tip of her pike that carved another line through the surface of his battered helm over and over again. It went on with his body swaying from side to side like grass bending to the harsh wind against his will, however, soon enough, he was able to block it.
He raised his left arm to protect himself, which made Viela's spear bounce back along with her. When he finally thought that he could send his own attack, a ball that was as huge as his head passed by the woman's head in front of him and crashed into his body. It drove him back and made him roll on the ground and soon after, a yellow beam came shooting down from the sky once more and set him in flames.
"That was smooth, Miggy, I'd have to say," Viela said with an elated breath as she readied herself while facing the staggering silhouette emerging from the smoke before her. But then, with her voice turning sharp, she added, "You almost ruined my hair. I'll be asking you to do better from now on."
"Oh, I'm truly sorry, Miss Viela," Miggy said with a playful tone. "It has to be a top-quality sucker punch, so I would either go big or go home," he proceeded and though as if he was winking, he continued, "I only promise to try."
Juanito and Rei continued to watch them with their jaws dropped in awe and wonder and none of them dared to take as much as a step from where they were. On the other hand, above them, more than a thousand feet from where they were lies a humongous golden trawler, a luxurious fishing boat, that sank its hull on the sea darkness of the skies itself as though it was traversing an ocean's waterline.
It continued to hover above them in complete silence, letting only the moonlight and the fewest of stars shed its faintest of light to its carved decorative surface that carried the image of hands and arms being intertwined to the point that it looked like a dragon's scales from afar. The trawler stood there unmoved as its bow tore through the clouds that dared to block its view. It picked it apart and let it flow through its wide and waxed wooden deck, to cross its towering wheelhouse and down to its stern that carried a gigantic propeller that seemed to be able to command the wind itself. There, Mary stood at its side, grabbing the ship's fenders with her bandaged arm and squinting at the fading treeline from below.
With the sight of the tip of four thick cannon barrels protruding on the bottom of the ship in the corner of her eye and the smoke rising from the ground, she could not help but feel her chest tighten as time went on. The only thing, at that moment, that made her heart burn the most was the desire for her to get down and help so she would be able to see her dear friend once more. Then and there, as the harsh winds blasted on her face and made her shiver and with Rick's final words reverberating in her head that told her to just trust them, she finally took her leap of faith.