Kira's presence disappeared, leaving only an unmoving body in her place, paralyzed in place while her head was stuck turned towards the ground; she didn't make a move, and neither did the people surrounding her- a tense peace that lasted a few seconds, as soon after she suddenly began to shiver and wildly sway her upper body, while the lower part looked like it fixated into the ground. Parts of her bark skin fell off, dissipating fastly into mist and a new set of skin regenerated over where the old one left a pink hole. The new one was slicker, shinier, and darker, each new iteration going from red to crimson, then burgundy. Her body had more roots and branches than before, fed by the puddle of dark water that was forming near her.
Feth, who was near her when the transformation started, warned everyone to stay back and not "Intervene! Not for now''. His commands were taken seriously by everyone except for Lian, whose scalding gaze made the fog firbolg feel a freighting, but familiar sense of dread. But, for now, the two ignored each other and diverted their attention to the crisis in front of them.
Masso came running back from beneath the arena's hallways and firmly asked for a report. In the meantime, Kira's branches approached the ash veil and a tip of the dark water linked to the barrier protecting the outside of the arena. Small holes started to appear and the branches managed to attack some of the visitors from the stands. It needed only a few seconds to dry out the energy of most of the victims, even bringing some of them near the end's edge.
The maker of the ash layer was the old firbolg Ashen, who quickly reacted by increasing the strength of his barrier. At the same time, he also felt how the liquid was also feeding from this temporary prison. His only options were to either stop weaving the veil and deal with the creature itself, or trust his fellow Union members to solve this issue in a more non-destructive manner.
Ashen- " Little ones…I'll keep this pang creature contained for as long as I can. In the meantime, find a way to stop it from growing. It's locked inside here…for now, but it's also using my power to increase itself", roared the old firbolg, with a reverberating voice that instilled a sense of unity and purpose into the rest of the Union members.
Masso- " Understood…Everyone present, hear my commands!", he yelled and everyone from the Union immediately turned to him and listened. " Me, Goidel…", and to the students' surprise, " Arim and Zinc, team A. Krass, Nizzio and Brigit, team B: we'll form two groups that will deal with the branches. Our task will be to buy time while Feth and Blitz come up with a method to stop this from becoming flooding. As for you two", he then pointed towards the two beaten-up fighters. " You've got 30 minutes to recover, then I want to see you back on the field, pronto!". Perren and Victor just chuckled and saluted their leader, before leaving the premises to do as told.
Brigit surreptitiously called out to Masso, while trying to point her fingers in Ogda's and Giol's direction, trying to convince her father to give the two a chance, to which he only replied with an ok sign and a plain, unreadable face. " You two! After you get the humans to safety, you can help us out if you want. Waterboy, you're with Krass, while the grasshopper is with me. Are we good now?", he asked, surprising both Ogda and Giol.
Lian was, once more, drained of all of her strength, but this time she felt like she had enough strength to keep her head up and handle the pain from the migraine. Furthermore, she was even able to help Maci carry Finley on their shoulders. Before leaving, though, she turned towards Arim and wished him a quick "Good luck", similar to how Goidel speeds up his words.
Arim -" Oh…thanks. Yeah, uhm…thanks", replied the young man, red in the cheeks and wide-eyed from the surprise cheer. A few seconds later, though, he smacked Zinc and Brigit with a whispered "shut up", who were giggling like children.
Ogda- " Hmm…I wonder what that was all about?" the firbolg asked, genuinely curious and a bit confused.
Giol- " Why don't you ask the lady? Or if you want, we can ask Arim when we come back."
Ogda- " Good idea. Lian, can you-", but the water firbolg stopped midquestion when he saw that the girl's face was hidden behind her palms, believing it was to temper the pain from the powers, but she did to hide her own red-printed face.
Tommen waited for them on the other side, prepared to help out however he could, which in this case was to grab on Finley and carry the teen to a medic as soon as possible. " Be safe…otherwise the apartment is all mine", he added at the end, smacking Giol firmly on the back, before making a run with the injured boy in his arms.
Giol- " Ha…dick", the firbolg said smiling, seemingly emboldened by what the artist told him. " Ogda, I'll wait 30 seconds before going back", he added before giving the water firbolg a light fistbump on his shoulder.
Ogda also wanted to say a short goodbye, but was surprised when Lian asked him to "Wait."
Lian- "I couldn't say anything with that librarian there…but be wary of Feth. I don't know what it means, but I saw a string on him…he's also linked to that dark ocean. And it's a bit…weird how the dark water in Kira started acting up after he got close to her."
Ogda- "Wait, I don't understand. You think he did something to the liquid?"
Lian- " Well…Yeah. Yes, I think that."
The water firbolg turned around, looking back to see all the fighters dodging, slashing, and destroying the branches…while they regenerated back, returning with double the numbers they had before. And then Ogda caught something else, he saw Feth not paying any attention to the action in front of him but instead his shocked attention was fixated on the amnesiac duet. Whatever happened between Kira and the Union members was less of a surprise to him than Lian and Ogda speaking.
Ogda- " Hmmm…We'll need proof, but the most pressing matter is helping Arim and the other stop the coral firbolg…So…I'll be gone then?"
Lian- " Hey…break a leg out here. This will be your first fight with professionals. Don't embarrass the family, ok?", the girl jested, which got her the first chuckle in a while out of the water firbolg.
....
A stalemate between the two factions reined in the arena for the past few minutes, with neither party backing down or making a step forward, just stuck in a clash; Kira's wild thrashing was futile against the coordinated attacks from the Union members, and Ogda and Giol provided support by cutting any stray vine that managed to slip through the first line.
Masso steered a fighting style based on his clawed gauntlets, which he used to swiftly slash the coral growths with ease. Each branch, twig, or vine that tried to pass by him or attack him directly would face a whirlwind of swift slashes that would cut them into small bits with ease.
While amid the fight, Masso would also keep a strategical eye on the others, picking up locations where Goidel should be to use his daggers with ease; give Krass enough space to run around, and try to chain down parts of the mutated body. After they managed to restrain some of Kira's movements, he advised everyone to simply conserve their energy and only counter, a strategy he thought could give Feth and Blitz more time to figure out another solution, besides the one they proposed at first:
Feth- " Hmm..I still think that putting her down would be the fastest way to stop her", explained the fog librarian, knowing though that the leader wouldn't accept it.
Blitz- " Feth…are you sure you're trying your best in figuring out how to save your assistant?", the mechanical firbolg was troubled with the situation, but he also found the librarian's attitude a bit weird; especially if the firbolg replied a bit too late, as if he wasn't paying attention at all.
Feth- " Hmm…you were saying?", he replied some long ten seconds later.
The robot firbolg got closer, and used his wings to lift himself into the librarian's face, staring angrily into his emerald eyes- " Can you explain to me why this is happening? I thought she purified that thing!", Blitz snarled at him. " So why is my…are my mental images from that day so foggy?"
Feth- " Oh?", he reacted verily surprised. " That shouldn't be right. Your first recollection is true, Kira did purify the water". The firbolg's foggy hand slowly lifted from the ground, traveling up Blitz's body, invisible to both him and the others on the field. " Now, for the rest of the part, remember it like this", Feth whispered a command, while his fog entered Blitz's head through the ear canal. " Some of the liquid hid…right, of course! It hid inside the human boy's bag! And he brought it out, which then infected Kira…Right?"
Blitz stared blankly at him, leaving his mind to complete the rest of the scenario. After a second, he accepted it as the most likely way this incident happened.
Feth- " Good. But I do think you're right, we should stop this charade…incident before it gets out of hand. Here's my suggestion for a plan."
…
Masso- " Tsz…I don't like it, but it's not like we have another option. Blitz, take over for Water Boy on the support line. The rest, hold on for a few more minutes."
After being told where to go, Ogda slowly approached the head librarian, keeping Lian's warning about him always in front of his head. Now that he got closer to him, though, there was something familiar about him.
Ogda- " Hi…are you also an elemental like me?", he asked, considering that might be a reason for the feeling. To his surprise, though, Feth chuckled.
Feth- " Like you?... Yes, you could say that. I'm actually more interested in figuring out if you're like me. Still, that should be a brainteaser for after this mission. Tell me you're abilities, for now, let's see if you can be of any use."
Ogda felt a bit irked by how he phrased it but told the librarian without any further commentaries. After explaining most of his known capabilities, the librarian tilted his head and then clapped his hands.
Feth- " Wonderful. This could work perfectly then!"
Ogda- "Great…So what do you want from me?"
Feth- " Well, here is the deal. I can control a bit of that dark liquid by raising and cooling down the temperature of my mist. But it takes a lot of control to switch between the two, at the right moment, while concentrating on the liquid as well.."
Ogda- " But with me taking care of raising the heat-"
Feth- " I can focus on just the other part. The second issue, though, is to find the location of the original liquid-"
Ogda- " Lian saw it."
Feth- " What?"
Ogda- " Her eyes…human…power? That's how she knew that Kira had some liquid inside of her. While her body is overgrown now, the source should still be in the same area, around the stomach."
The librarian stumbled a few steps backward, beaming a crazed smile under the veil of his fog; He was surprised, a bit irked even, as he never expected something like to happen to him.
Feth- " Ha..ha ha ha ha! Did she know?! What else did she see? The human girl? Are those her only powers?!'
Ogda- "...No, that's the only one. Is there something wrong with Lian? Do you know something about her?"
Feth- "...No…no. Just that I'm looking for something that could solve one of my major problems and I need a human for that. Anyway, sorry for my ramblings. Should we move?"
Ogda- "Hmmm…Right, take the lead."