Hy heart was pounding and the sulfur drenched air wasn't helping. Dramatic gusts of wind were making their way through the room with every blow that was taken or blocked, making dust spur and the wooden beams lodged horizontally in the ceiling creak and groan. Both Rico and I had managed to stabilize Julian, but in the process we'd left both Ray and Greyson unattended, sending the environment around us into chaos. Floorboards had been thrashed, torn to shreds, charred, or lit ablaze, and bodies of dead Syndicate guards Julian had previously bested littered the floor, some now swallowed by the fire that encroached the corners of the room.
Ray had gone ballistic, his usual feline ears had completely perked, standing so tall they seemed almost sharp. His crimson pupils had dilated, turning even more red than white, and the scarf around his neck was glowing a dark cherry, the tattered ends of the fabric fading into a red smoke as it swayed in the firelight. Ray charged as the air rippled through his now red tipped fur, he exuded the aura that of a feral beast and yet underneath there was still the composed Ray we all knew, just buried deep within.
Julian rubbed his scalp as he adjusted to his surroundings, giving his full support onto me as Rico readied the pistol he always kept as a backup. He appeared to be recovering fine, the impact against his skull was healing nicely from the spell I cast while Greyson was distracted.
"T-The hell?" Julian muttered, cupping his head with his free hand that wasn't slung around my shoulder.
I wiped the last remnants of the blood that dripped from his now healed wound with the cuff of my sleeve, "A good story, for another time." I went to continue, but a resounding boom from Greyson and Ray's ongoing spar shook the room, sending Julian and I to the floor as Rico dodged some of the crossfire.
"Can you stand?" I hauled Julian upright once again, he was heavier than I realized.
Julian let go of my grip, clutching his silver blade in the other hand. I realized he was barely paying me any peace of mind, hastily checking his sword for any damages as we barreled behind a nearby piece of large shrapnel to avoid a wayward blast.
"So…" I questioned, still on my toes from the impending danger. "Back there... that technique you used with the smoke. What was that?"
Julian flinched as another misfire sent the room into further chaos, "Curse magic is a dangerous artform." I watched as his nostrils flared, scaled hands brushing over the green gemstone embedded in the hilt of his sword. "This emerald assists me with that task if you will."
An earth quaking boom shuddered the room as a blast of Greyson's purple electricity rocketed into the shrapnel we were hiding behind, obliterating it into small chunks of smoking rock. It appeared both Ray and Greyson had come to a standstill, both adjacent to each other as their hands seared with energy.
It appeared blows had been given and taken, but it looked for the most part Ray had been on the receiving end. Greysin only had a few minor cuts and scrapes, while Ray seemed out of breath, clutching a massive gash on his side that crackled with purple energy. It seemed like Ray would lash out again at any given moment, but he simply stood there snarling, Greyson anticipating any attacks and ready to counter attack as the crackling of the room on fire filled the silence.
"It appears we've come to a stalemate." Greyson projected. His presence filled the room despite the fact he and Ray were at least twenty feet away. "It's your move, Marauders."
I felt myself immediately snap into view, as if my body simply moved on its own. However this wasn't to do with some odd instinct, it was an unusual sensation of courage and bravery, one I'd only felt few times before. I could almost see the gears in Greyson's mind twist and turn as I stood to speak, but for once in my life I was confident.
"Look who it is…" Greyson cooed, "Have you finally come to terms with reality sister? Or does your heart remain cold and barren, too naive to be influenced or critiqued?"
"What you're saying is impossible!" I felt my wings flare as my eyes sparked with energy. I would do whatever it took to protect my friends and bring this monster to justice, "Your logic passes all barriers of reasoning, it's moronic!"
"Well, look who finally read a dictionary." Greyson laughed, "Unfortunately for you, I speak the truth. You are a being unlike any other Alice. While you and I are both the same in age, around thirty four summers or so, you are timeless. Your recollection of abilities so vast even time itself stops to bow in awe. A deity conformed of raw power alone."
"Speak english." Rico mocked.
"There's no other way I can put it." Greyson shrugged, "I was there for your creation Alice, but if things continue down this path I'll be forced to attend your eventual demise as well. The choice is yours."
I laughed, "Your words ring hollow."
"Maybe so, but I suppose time will change your mind. In the meantime-"
Suddenly Greyson's monologuing was cut short as Ray's feral claws made connection with his face, sending him barrelling to the ground with an obscene amount of force. Greyson slid to the ground as he adjusted his footing, quickly repositioning himself as Ray advanced, however this time he was prepared. My distraction had worked.
Greyson wiped the blood from the clean gash on his cheek, dodging blow after blow from Ray as if they were nothing more than child's play. Each hit, each block, got faster and faster as every strike accelerated the more the rivals shared a vengeful spar, like that of an elegant yet resilient dance.
"You can't even begin to fathom your power." Greyson stared directly into Ray's cold eyes as he spoke, but somehow it seemed as if it was directed towards me as well. "You've barely scratched the surface of your abilities, an untapped well of knowledge and power awaits. But no, you chose to rot away in that dump of a city as you toil away endlessly, no goal, no reason, just endless retention."
Ray let out a final attack, his claws glowing with crimson energy as he thrust forward. However, Greyson sidestepped, his hand crackling with power as he firmly thrust it into Ray's rib cage, sending him spiraling into the far wall next to Rico. The heat in the room seemingly dissipated as he reverted back to normal, the scarf once again hanging loosely around his neck as the sound of rubble settling pounded against the walls of the room.
"I expected more from you, truly." Greyson spat, his attention focused on Ray's motionless body as he approached the rubble slowly. "But no, you're still nothing more than the scared child you were when I rescued you. Behind the edged exterior just a child buried beneath a scarf."
The sound of iron rocketing through the barrel of a revolver pierced the air as dust spurred at Greyson's feet. He stopped abruptly as the shell pinged and rebounded into a nearby wall, Rico spinning one of his many guns and sheathing it in its holster.
"Don't take another step Greyson!" Rico yelled.
"It appears you're a bit outmatched!" Greyson replied, turning his attention off of Ray's motionless body.
"And why would that be?"
Greyson shrugged, "It appears you've brought a knife to a gunfight. Or in this case… a gun to a spell fight."
"I think you'd be surprised." Rico kept his attention down the scope of his rifle.
"Oh no, I'm well aware." Greyson crowed, "Your abilities have never escaped my memories, despite the miniscule time we spent working together."
Rico's hand started to twitch over the brass trigger beneath his feathers, his pink tongue itching the side of his beak, "Yeah yeah, I've heard it time and time again. 'You messed up this' and 'you messed up that'. It's practically my life at this point."
"But that's just it." Greyson replied, "When we worked together, you didn't mess it up. I saw a side of you I'm sure not even your closest friends have."
Rico gave me a nervous glance, not a single word escaped his mouth.
"Your artless notions amuse me." Greyson laughed, a single pale finger pointed towards Rico as he trembled. "But I believe this pointless bantering has to come to an end. I've given the Dawn Syndicate what they've wanted, and I've gotten what I've needed." I felt that same tiny fire once again ignite inside of me as I readied myself. "Two of my most sought after accolades are in the same room together, my daughter is in my custody, and I will finally complete the mission my father failed to complete."
Two?
Suddenly I felt the ground shake as a resonating boom projected from the banquet hall, one of the wooden beams that held the ceiling together coming loose and careening into the floor, warping the already decimated surface into that resembling the curving ocean waves. Dust and smoke flew as splinters showered my face, creating a brown smog that masked the already smoking air.
Now was my chance, I instinctively ran towards Ray's unconscious body, hauling him upright and onto my shoulders as my back nearly gave way under his surprising weight. I coughed, blindly turning frantically in the smog, the crack of light coming from the iron door in the distance acting as my only source of direction. Rico and Julian were gone, lost to the smoke. I wanted to call out but I knew that somewhere Greyson lurked, even the smallest of noises would alert him of our presence and then it would be over.
Everything was spinning, the room, my head,and yet I pushed onwards. I wasn't sure if it was the full girth of Ray's frame on top of me, or the smoke that was making me lightheaded, but I sure as hell was. I wiped a single drop of sweat from my forehead as I silently crept towards the doorway, the room so deadly quiet even the beating of my rapid heart seemed likely to alert the beast that lurked in the smog.
Suddenly, a purple flash sparked in the smog as a screeching crackle echoed throughout the room. Greyson Okinji was out for blood.
"Where are you Ray?!" Greyson shouted, his silky voice had completely escalated into a psychotic roar.
I felt my heart skip a beat as I froze, Ray slipping forwards in my grip as I jerked to a stop. The violet haze in the smoke began to grow closer as Greyson continued to speak. My breath seemed to choke me like a gag as I felt my eyes shut out of fear. I wanted the anticipation to stop, if Greyson were to find me I would fight until the end. I only hoped the others had recollected their thoughts and were planning an escape like I was.
The light peering in from underneath the iron door was growing closer now. Each step, each breath I took seemed like a risk, as if at any given moment a purple streak of energy would bolt through the sky and I would be struck down like an insect buzzing in the sky. However, I was unsure of what I would do when I eventually reached that glowing viewpoint. Surely if I were to even as much as touch the door Greyson would know, but I didn't know what to think. All I knew was to get Ray to safety, and to survive.
I felt my filthy hand lightly tap a jagged surface, a wall of some sort. My breathing began to slowly steady as I shimmied against the wall, hugging Ray close with one arm while using my hand against the wall with the other. The light was growing closer now, the yellow glow pulsing with a hypnotic rhythm. My heart was beating faster and faster as I began to pick up speed, the shuffling against the wall falling into a rhythm that acted almost as a steadying melody.
Another burst of purple firelight streaked just but ten feet away from me and collided next to the steel door as I pressed onward, setting the smog alight with a violent discharge of violet and grandeur. Yet I persevered, halting as the rough surface of the cold wall shifted to a smooth steel, I had made it and yet I still stood frozen, a single drop of sweat dripping from my forehead and onto the charred ground. No matter how hard I thought around things, there was no way out of this situation. The blinding smog prevented me from using any teleportation spell at my disposal, and even if I did manage to cast it, Ray would be left behind. If I were to open the metal door that led to the banquet hall Greyson would surely see and I'd be dead where I stood. However I didn't see any other option, and truthfully... I hadn't thought I'd get this far.
I knew what I had to do. Slowly I felt my hand fondle the cool steel of the door handle, my fingers wrapping around it and beginning to pull, the crack of light beginning to widen as I did so. Like Pandora's box the door was now opened, unleashing a beast that I had yet to comprehend. I dared not look back as I sprinted out the door and into the tattered remains of the banquet hall, vaulting over pieces of rubble and shattered glass as Ray hung loosely around my shoulders.
"There you are!"
Greyson's enraged voice had emerged from the smog, I watched as a searing blast of purple lightning discharged just a few feet from my face as I slid behind a large piece of shrapnel to catch my breath. Ray hastily slid from my winged back and onto the linoleum flooring as I knelt, the smoke from the small room behind the iron door slowly beginning to seep into the banquet hall.
I sighed, feeling my weak knees instantaneously begin to stand, my body moving on its own as I stepped out from the massive shard of rubble that Ray lay behind. Feathers danced in the air as my wings extended to their full length, my hands glowing a soft sky blue as I readied myself for battle. Slowly I stepped into the spotlight, and like two fighters in an arena of gladiators, my opponent Greyson Okinji was waiting.
"Step aside." Greyson's boot kicked up dirt as he stood to face me from the base of the steel door, his silver hair almost glowing as the moonlight reflected from the stained glass windows that lined the hall. "This is where your journey comes to a close. We both know how this is going to end."
"I sincerely doubt that." I felt my hand surge with warmth as my hair pulsed with a sudden blue colour, "Why shouldn't I smite you where you stand?"
"Because you won't." Greyson slowly began to step closer, his hand whisking through the air like the conductor of a band as he gracefully stepped his way around loose pieces of shrapnel lodged in the floor. "I know you… Alice. You wouldn't hurt a fly, and that's not because you're some all caring passionate being. No, you're nothing but a pathetic child. That which my father wasted his entire life to create, all for his brilliant work to be slandered on a waste of potential. A girl who could barely find the will to make a single friend."
"Why do you do it?" I yelled, my hands were practically beaming with power now, the electric blue energy giving off light like a shining beacon.
"Do what?"
"This! Actively seek out those you wish to slaughter. What good can come from any of this?"
Greyson simply laughed, "When someone has a goal, a dream that not a single person could change their mind on, they'll stop at nothing to achieve it. You must know that feeling more than anyone, Alice. If there's anything I've learned in all my studies, in all my travels, it's that sometimes you have to pluck the prettiest flower in the garden. We don't know why we do it, and yet it feels right, don't you understand?"
"So your mindless killing comes off of a gut instinct?"
"Not necessarily. When my plan is finally achieved, all of this slaughter will not be in vain. Nomatter though, your replies are all paper thin." Greyson's cold eyes narrowed as he came to a stop. "If you wish to converse more, you'll have to do so with a knife lodged in your throat."
"So beit." I felt my hands explode with energy as I charged, my wings stretching so to intimidate as Greyson lunged forward as well, purple sparks trailing from his hands as he attacked.
Greyson immediately struck, his hand sizzling with energy as he went to throw a magic enhanced punch. However instinctively I felt my wing come to shield the blow, but instead of it getting shredded to pieces from the impact, it glowed an electric blue as the blast from Greyson's punch was deflected, knocking him off kilter as the confidence in his face slowly began to drain.
I was feeling energized now, all the burdens I had been carrying with me my whole life were slowly melting away as a hurtling blast of seething wind made contact with Greyson's chest, sending him tumbling to the floor before quickly standing upright again.
"Not bad." Greyson went to strike me again, but as I went to lift my wing he ducked, sweeping his foot under mine and sending me swiftly to the ground, "But you're going to have to try harder than that."
"You could say the same for myself." As Greyson went to strike my prone body, I rolled underneath his legs and quickly dashed upright to regain my footing.
Again we traded back blows, some leaving Greyson victorious, some myself. All throughout I felt my blood pumping, that same familiar energy I felt coursing through my veins back in the hotel swiftly returning. Each connection from my attacks willed me to keep fighting, each time Greyson Okinji fell, I felt a little more sane, a little stronger.
Greyson had cast spell after spell, each I had countered or dodged, my body moving with such a rhythm even Greyson seemed to stand and watch. He went to move in, but again I parried, my wings shimmering blue as I skidded backwards on the now decimated linoleum flooring.
If you were to only channel your offensive tendencies through your mind and not your fists.
Now was my chance, I immediately took advantage of Greyson's defenseless state, dashing forward as I felt the burning feeling surging through my body take control. However as I sprinted up to Greyson I didn't unleash a flurry of blows or a tactical barrage of spellwork. I felt the heat take control as Greyson moved to block my attack, but I instantaneously cast a teleportation spell as warmth surged through my body. Suddenly I appeared behind him, kneeing Greyson in the back and slamming down on his head with both elbows, making him crumple to the ground.
"At last!" Greyson chuckled, he simply laid on the ground panting as he scuttled backwards against my advancement, "A worthy opponent! You have no idea how long I've awaited this moment Alice."
"You have no idea how long I've waited to turn your face inside out." I felt my hand glow white hot as my eyes glowed a brilliant electric blue.
Greyson scuttled back quickly, pale hands dragging back on the shambled linoleum flooring and making dust spur. However, his squirming was cut short as he made contact with something, or someone.
Click
The cocking of a revolver rang throughout the hall as Ray stood behind Greyson's helpless frame, the barrel of his gun firmly placed at Greyson's skull. I felt myself begin to back down as Rico and Julian emerged from the smoke behind Ray, they both appeared relatively unharmed, although it was difficult to tell from a moment's glance.
"Go ahead, pull the trigger." Greyson laughed, his eyes seemed to almost pop out of his head as his voice chuckled in a crazed manner, "I already know you won't Ray Mejia."
Ray remained motionless. His solid frame didn't move an inch as he pressed the revolver harder into Greyson's skull.
"Heh heh…" Greyson spat, "You love her don't you? What would she think to see the boy so desperate to impress, slaughtering her own father?"
I thrust my foot into Greyson's stomach, forcing him to retch blood as he crumpled once more.
"Do it!" Greyson grasped the barrel of Ray's revolver, forcing it into his skull even firmer than before, "Strike me where I stand! Let my blood spill and end this turmoil! Isn't this all you've ever wanted?"
Again, Ray stood there motionless, his hand slightly quivered over the grip of his revolver.
"Heh…" Greyson rasped, "It's just as I'd expected. Nothing more than the pathetic urchin you were when I found you." Suddenly Greyson's ring flashed, catching Ray and I off guard as a blast of energy launched in a dome-like radius around him, tripping us as we fell to the ground.
"You have made a grave mistake, Marauders." Greyson Okinji was once again towering above us, a dark smoke now beginning to mask his form as he spoke. "When next we meet, it will be our last."
And with that, a shuddering bang echoed throughout the banquet hall as Greyson dissolved from view, the black smoke dissipating as silence filled the emptiness. The job was over, and somehow we had lost.