I quickly speak up.
"No! It doesn't make sense! Why us? If you are as strong as you seem, then why don't you continue to rule?"
She pauses, her expression becoming sad.
"If you had to sit in a garden, tending to the ever flowing current of time while keeping foreign powers at bay, would you be content doing only that? No one to talk to, no adventure to be had. Since I've ruled here, I've been pinned to the throne. It is true, I created this world and the wall that divides us from the outside, but I grow tired of defending it. I've been waiting anxiously, for a creation to free me, for one of my own descendants to free me!"
She pauses once again, clenching her fists tightly.
"BUT I REFUSE TO LEAVE THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLD IN THE HANDS OF THOSE WHO WOULDN'T STAND A CHANCE!!"
Our eyes locked, the drive clearly visible in her eyes.
"Don't you see? You're my escape, my way out. If you can prove to me that you are worthy, then you will inherit my throne, my kingdom, MY WORLD!"
Blankk quickly speaks, following her words.
"And, if we fail your test?"
She looks to him, almost saddened.
"I raised you better than that."
In a flash, four large white wings emerge from her back. She flaps her wings, lifting herself up into the air. She pulls her scythe back, waiting for us to summon our weapons. Blankk readies his fists hesitantly, while Zero pulls two daggers out of thin air. I quickly summon a sword, the same one I used to defeat Grim. We stare towards her, and she stares back at us. The air feels thick, the tension palpable. Blankk speaks up.
"You still never answered my question, who is our father?"
She lowers her weapon.
"Oh, apologies. I guess I was rushing too much. I can answer that before we fight. You each have different fathers. Xa, your father's name is Yuish. Grim's father was a man named Telas. Ayvex's father was named Ayden. Nevereth's father was Jexin. And Zero, your father's name remained unknown to me."
Blankk looks down, the blue tattoos slowly stretching across his entire body.
"So, I'll never meet him?"
She floats over to us, putting her hand on his cheek.
"Xa, you must steel yourself."
Zero watches her, then swings his dagger towards her neck. Almost out of reflex, she twists her wrist and blocks his dagger with the hard handle of her scythe. Looking closer, the scythe has small handles all over it.
"I'm far too old to be caught off guard by such a simple attack."
With a flick of her wrist, she flips the scythe around and gets the blade past Zero's head. She pulls it, the blade resting on the nape of his neck.
"I find it especially disrespectful to try to attack me while I'm consoling one of my children."
Before Zero can react, she pulls the blade away from his neck, and kicks him far back into the forest. Blankk clenches his fist, quickly uppercutting towards her. She blocks his full powered attack by placing her palm on his fist. A loud popping sound rings through the area as she slaps his attack away and puts her palm to his chest. She flexes her palm, somehow imparting enough force to launch Blankk through the house behind him. She looks to me, almost confused.
"I really believed that you would have intervened to save Blankk from my attack."
She quickly pulls her scythe back, grabbing onto different handles for better leverage and a more precise swing. I lift my sword, barely able to block her deceptively strong swing. I lean forward, digging the front of my boots into the loose dirt. I slide back a short way, damaging the flowers that had been carefully tended to. I take a deep breath, noticing Blankk and Zero also reentering the fight. They both look more serious now, less saddened by the sudden betrayal. We all jump forward, swinging as hard as we can towards her. Blankk throws a punch, Zero stabs his two daggers forward, and I swing my sword downward towards her head.
Right before we reach her with our attacks, she leaps off the ground. She tosses her scythe above her slightly, just out of her reach, then uses Blankk's fist to twist herself in mid-air. She drops her heel onto the top of Zero's head, which causes him to stumble forward, his daggers now stabbing towards me. As Zero is stunned, I hear Nevereth's voice again.
"Jump, idiot!"
Reactively, I leap up and swing my sword towards her neck which is just within reach. In the blink of an eye, she pushes off Blankk's fist, forcing herself to flip over my blade which is now swinging towards Blankk. I curl my arm mid-swing, narrowly missing Blankk. I roll, seeing her hand reach her scythe, and manage to pull my sword in front of myself to defend from her inevitable attack. She spins in air, much easier and faster than I did, and swings the blunt handle towards me. Surprisingly, it shatters the blade like it's made of glass. The end of her scythe hits me in the face, causing me to flip uncontrollably as I get launched away from the fight. I soon land, crashing through a few trees and rolling to a stop.
I cough, my entire body throbbing in pain. Suddenly, Nevereth speaks up.
"Listen carefully, you couldn't hear me before because of Zero. She is on a whole other league compared to all of us. It is impossible for you to defeat her in a fight if you keep fighting like this. I'll be reformed soon, and you won't have my magic creation anymore. I know you're used to using my strength, but you also have the strength of Grim and Ayvex. As much as I believe it insults her memory to use her power as your own, we aren't left with much choice. Switch it up kid, she's expecting magic."
I nod, understanding what Nevereth is saying.