Hana's legs were like glitches, warping through a cracked screen, fist in debris, splinters pointing out knuckles, her head turned to where he now stood. The fist aiming to her face's side, eyes devoid of life in the pink-colored core, his very knuckles disconnected as the hand went flying into the air to vanish behind the clouds. Icarus widened his eyes as another weight slammed his chest back, feeling the edges of the ribs enter the shape of his heart for just a momentary slap to reverberate outward in the form of a resounding shock wave, the Master's hand against his bones... and the accumulated weight added to the push? It made for a deadly combination.
Needless to say, some shattered ribs, some ruptured organs, not to mention a cracked voice box later, he was left tumbling to the center. Crashing to that stone statue for it to collapse into bitter pieces scattered around his weakened frame, crawling through the patterned pavement for the tips of his fingers to sink into the ground, Chrollo's maniacal laughter inched closer to infiltrate her ears as the butts of her feet touched against the ground.
"You are the forsaken spawn of the Devil Prince made incarnate- the remnant of the Obliterating Incarnations' will. I shall erase you from this world without so much as a second thought!"
As that promise was yelled to the clouds, the Heavens shone on her face, for the moonlight was subsided by another's brightness. It was almost as though the curtain of darkness had faded in just a second, for what laid before she was none other than a baby blue sky, littered to the brim with disorienting cloud shapes. How couldn't she stop dead in her tracks? Of course, the ability to control the weather wasn't an impossibility for her, after all, her very existence was the former. But, of all the people to wield such power, was it truly the Jester, Vita vanishing from the remnants of his soul? The ability belonged to none other than her natural enemy. The Founder of Order on the hybrid island, sitting atop the roof of the Opera House, as if he were a conductor waiting for the performance to begin.
She moved her body from Icarus's defeat to Callum's stabilized stance, uncaring in the way he so naturally dangled his left leg off the edge of the building, knuckles melting into his right cheek. That look in his intact eye, though repaired, the scars of the past took form in widened blemishes spread wide over the outskirts of his left arm. It seemed he'd intended to finish this here and now, but even so, he, too, had to know... her power was surely absolute.
"So, you're here! The infamous 'Requiem Master.' I've heard so much about you!" His feet touched the ground, a roar echoing from the impact of his boots' soles as they formed that crater, he stepped forward as he perpetually ran his ever-going mouth, "It's a pleasure to meet you. Hana Saiai."
She giggled, mimicking that of the white-haired Wilder sibling as if a schoolgirl laughing at a classmate's simple joke. Finger over her lips, eyes closed, Rivers felt his face fall, curiously raising a brow over his repaired eye. Was this mockery? Was she intending on chortling this entire time while waiting for him to make the first move? Surely, that was a childish assumption, for she was ensured to respond, wasn't she? As the seconds transformed to minutes, he'd realized... the same panging sounds of her mocking laughter hadn't subsided. He was the Founder of Riverton! The wielder of the Incarnated Requiem Artifact, but even so, would he dare to get so angered at the sight of such a petty individual? No, of course not, for as his aura grew, there it was.
Chaotic streams made incarnate from a hateful destined to wipe out everything its path, for everything she knew about the Founder, he didn't seem like one to be so quick. A moth to a flame. Like magma outpouring a volcano's rocky surface, ready to run endlessly and revert it to ash. As stated earlier, not usual behavior for the signature nature of the infamous Riverton Founder, but rather, his counterpart. None other than the banished doppelganger of the Requiem Emperor, rearing out its ugly hide from the shield of its vessel. As easy as taking candy from a baby, she'd achieved that simple goal.
"You are incarnated in this world, after all, Naraku. And here I thought my nightmares were just lucky accidents. Yet again, you're at the epicenter of another tragedy… this will be your last. I'll kill you!" Hana's declaration was met with a raspy vocal tone, the Vita output increasing tenfold for cracks to form below footwears' bottoms, around her fists, what usually would be spherical balls of life energy… was more like fire, burning continuously around the shape of her knuckles until the target would be vanquished.
"Don't you mean you'll 'vanquish' me, Requiem abomination!"
The cloak of darkness fell over the Founder's recuperated shape, tightening his hands so the tips of his fingers, bearing demonic claws, would draw blood out from the palms' centers. The shape of his white eyes, like a predator just awaiting the right moment to strike at its prey, peered through the chimera of daytime to gaze right ahead. The soul of the Founder subsided for a dominant self to resurge, leaving only Naraku in this newfound vessel of his, admiring his strength as he flexed his muscles with wider eyes. A confusion exited his closed lips, the sound leaving her puzzled as if the epitome of the question mark made a sound.
"It seems I'm still not at my full strength. Unfortunately, a welch like you remains at the height of supremacy of the 'New World'. No matter. I'm not above resorting to allies to further my intentions. Requiem Extermination Unit - Awaken!"
Hana turned before it even began, a shield of aura building around her muscular shape, as the ground grew holes, indistinct figures shot from them into the air, revealing their arms and legs in mid-air with but a simple stretch. They landed everywhere, atop nearby structures left unobscured by the new veil, hiding behind statue remnants, it was like an ant's nest revealing itself at the stench of sugar. What more could she do but breathe? Face the chaos that laid before her, for the progenitor of that was none other than the Jester she'd so easily defeated… but even then, with her distracted, he'd managed to slip away like a rat in the sewers. She needn't look any further, however, for he was to the front of her face, standing to the right of that ancient evil as if the fangs of his malice were nothing but regular teeth.
If Icarus did have such a presence, to withstand staying with Naraku revealing his true form, this might've been harder than she assumed. Not to mention the plentiful amount of Incarnated Artifacts scattered around every which way.
'Get yourself together, Saiai! You fought in the First War beside the Allfather against the Devil King… you're the student of the Temple Guardian and the teacher of the Requiem Emperor; the New Allfather! If I want to get to Alex right ahead, then I'd need to slash right through all these damned beasts! But- August, Ben, Father… Do you think I can do this?'
Who was the one who gave that idea of nervousness? It originated from the self, she needn't accept that world-weighing burden on her shoulders, but even so, her selfless soul persisted on to protect those she deemed worthy of her grace. If only she knew where that heroic attitude would lead her, to an end where she was face-to-face with what seemed like evil incarnate. That realization made it obvious to her; the consequences of her actions, the ignorance of choice- free will.
'It's not a matter of 'can'... I HAVE TO!'
But one step onto the ground sent rocks to fly out from the impact of her foot, leaving only a shockwave to disrupt their footing, Icarus jumped ahead, monstrous being he was always on the offensive. Bearing newfound claws as he slashed at her figure, she easily weaved, sidestepping in the process, grabbing him by his long hair, then plunging her hand right at his throat as she turned him around. Another realization was the spinning of metal, creating a signature noise she knew to duck under, a fiery glow imbued itself along the sides of her fingers. Her skin was dark, unlike Darrell's black pigmentation, but a brown shade nonetheless, for that complexion didn't belong to her mother, but, rather, her infamous father.
She slashed at the upper half of her face, intending to easily dislocate the brain from the head's peak, but she rolled behind the Master, leaving only for Hana to turn her head and squeeze her fingers, forming a fist, invisible hold forming around the outskirts of the Spirit's soul. She could feel her very veins start to leak, for this Spirit's power was not weak, no, not in the slightest. As that hold released and the Master yanked her soul forward so her body would come flying back, she allowed her eyelids to close her sight. But even so, she couldn't close her ears, for those gasps, begging- pleading for air, they all belonged to her voice. One of the men she was assigned to train before that horrific Advent, this- this was none other than his child, his daughter.
"I'm sorry… Mary."
For it had only been an instant, but in that split-second, Hana had reacted almost instantaneously, throwing a punch right at the spine, splitting it in half and leaving Mary dismembered from the waist down, without a torso. The worst thing about it, she was still alive. Her heart, even disconnected from the rest of her entrails, continued to beat. But what more could she do? Trying to act selfless, for the sake of another person, at a time like this, when the very fabric of reality relied on their duties today? Without so much as a second choice, her eyes were taped shut, for only her ears were granted such a curse, to hear as the girl, unknowing of her origin, continued to whimper until her life's flame dissipated.
But as she mourned silently, another sound intruded on her, leaving her to turn her head to the source, correct in her initial assumption. Still standing on the sidelines with infinite power at his grasp, Naraku clapped. He mocked the very life of the girl he manipulated without a second thought as if she were nothing but a roach waiting to be squashed.
"Your very existence is a STAIN on my father's legacy. The very idea that humans, such wretched creatures they are, could withstand the might of the Angels' power, surely enough, he realized how ridiculous that sentiment was! Of course, it was too late, for he'd imbued the strength of the most powerful, his very own, into the rebellious souls of some flimsy kin. Surely you recognize your uselessness, for, in this trifle, you are nothing more than a pawn, at my hand. When causality is at its strongest, I reign supreme over the realm of superiority! No more of the Devil King or my impotent brother! No more of Father's relentless unacceptable scheming! I am the only one who remains. Do you truly believe your Requiem strength to be enough to counter me? ME?! The Blessed Emperor of Longing! The Heavenly Superior Emperor, infamous for… destroying the Multiverse. But one utter of my technique, and you, along with the rest of the remnants gathered here, in this whimsical little town, will be absorbed. For the cycle will begin anew, to be repeated, over, and over, and over, FOR ALL ETERNITY! That is the way humans should suffer. Don't you agree?"
Hana didn't waste a second to respond, for his very voice was damaging, not only to her but to the very idea of humanity.
"I… I do not believe humans to be pure creatures. They are ephemeral, they exist only briefly, with a lifespan shorter than the cosmos, and even so, that planet… has remained a stain on your life as long as I can remember. From the very beginning of your life, dwelling within the soul of the teenage Fool, you've despised them. I cannot say they're righteous, nor are they complete sinners. They hide their true nature, they manipulate, they love, they play, they joke, they steal, they kill, they fight. But even so, despite such wondrous things, despite such horrible atrocities humanity has done throughout their time on this planet, I cannot find a single word to describe them. Even the vessel you currently inhabit, that man, Callum Rivers, is not a 'bad' person. I don't know why, for he is the source of so many who've died, but, so were they. Does that make what he did righteously? No. I'm not justifying his sins, nor am I doing so for the rest of the depths of despairing humans who call themselves 'monsters.' I simply believe that humans are neither good nor bad, nor righteous or wicked. They are simply themselves. That's the beauty of being human. So, no, I don't agree. Do not call humans weak, and don't say they all should suffer for the sins of a select few. If you say that again, I will kill you."
"Ahahaha, what a joke! To think you'd believe I'd stoop down to hold a meaningful conversation with someone so lowly they'd side with the humans when they have such infinite power at the tips of their fingers! Of course not. You did well for the start, but now for the main course."
He snapped his fingers, The Spirits' eyes glistening as if robots abruptly activating with the flip of a switch, the thuds of their landings sent shivers down her spine, Hana was powerless, for all she could do was stare at their familiar faces. Distorted by the influence of a corrupted Emperor, with zero allies by her side to aid her, she faced down the embodiment of despair as the battle was just beginning.
To Be Continued.