Chapter 19

The Siblings

“Octa-def! Body Armor!” The second Vivian took to cast her enchantment on both herself and Emil was a second she immediately regretted. No sooner had she finished wrapping their bodies with a blue shield than she felt her leg grow cold. It was immediately followed by the agonizing pain that pierced the limb. Suspended in midair by the gravity, Vivian looked down to see that an icicle as thick as a blade had lodged itself in her calf. She resisted the urge to scream. This woman was not one for playing around.

“Viv, move aside!” She could feel Emil’s force on her body, pushing her out of the line of fire. His Gravity Blades were out, translucent and forming a dark orb that sucked in small chunks of metal within its field. Once large enough, he fired, and the attack split off into numerous projectiles that started to home in on Cynthia. “Gravity Impulse!”

The streaking shots of gravity tore away bits and pieces of the metal from the shaft, and even the chunks left behind by Cynthia’s breakage of her own ice. The former commander’s eyes danced with interest, and her feet soon got themselves on the move, creating midair ice that she danced to, causing each of Emil’s attacks to batter against the walls as the shaft shook. Vivian didn’t know from what; she was too busy trying to control her body without the gravity or footing necessary to make it easy. It gave Cynthia an advantage she absolutely never needed.

The Winter proved that when she snapped her fingers, and the last of Emil’s attacks froze in place, hanging as decorative baubles before she spun and sent both orbs right into their chests. They spun across the open air of the shaft from the impact, wheezing in their attempt to regain their breathing capabilities.

Cynthia wasn’t so kind as to let them.

“Did you expect me to give you mercy?” she shouted, her frigid tones as destructive as her ice. Her dancing steps across her suspended ice brought her to Emil, and she grabbed his neck with force. He gagged, and the woman pulled away, revealing that she had shackled his neck in ice, drawing a chain from it that extended at her will. “Did you expect me to go easy on you because you’re children?!”

“Gah!” Emil’s pained shout forced Vivian to recover earlier than she truly had the time to. Cynthia yanked on the chain, pulling Emil’s body with it and slamming him against the stone wall. He cried out, only for her to yank him back and kick his chest.

“This is the end of Marcus’s plan, our plan, that we worked for many years on! I’ll allow no one to interrupt it! Not even the admirable children that wish to oppose him!”

Cynthia’s lips were turned up, revealing the grin and pleasure she was taking in this. Emil’s chain was lengthening, showing Vivian exactly where she needed to strike. Pushing at the air with her arms, she managed to swim through it, understanding how the gravity worked. Her fingers glowed red, a third-level enchantment upon them and the air directly in front of her. Once the chain was in her sights, Vivian slashed down, firing the enchanted air in a crescent that narrowly missed the chain. Vivian fired another, this time at Cynthia, who froze the air before it struck her, breaking it into glistening mist.

“Is that the best you can offer? Please, I want you to try more, Lacroix.” Another pull of the chain, this time to send Emil careening into her. She didn’t bother apologizing as she swam upwards through the air to avoid it. Emil hit the wall, groaning, but protected by her earlier enchantment. “Or is it that you’re useless without your father’s weapon? Your magic is certainly weaker and less versatile, but then again, you and your family have always been more bluster and bravado than actual skill.”

The taunts were attempting to get into her head like worms, and Vivian knew that. She wasn’t going to let Cynthia have the satisfaction or take any more sadistic pleasure from knowing she outclassed them in many ways.

Emil wasn’t letting it happen, at least. He shot off from the wall, falling to the side with his gravity before allowing his body to float up, the chain clinking until he could get above Cynthia’s head. One of his hands faced her, palm down. The Winter glanced up as the ring surrounding them trembled with the new force exerted on it, threatening to rip what was left of it off its supports. Vivian could feel her limbs getting heavy, the pull on her body increasing. The only reason she wasn’t dropping like rocks was because she knew Emil was intentionally trying to keep her afloat, for all the good it did.

Although, she considered it a win that Cynthia fell, pulled down by the weight of gravity that she couldn’t freeze.

Emil, as expected, had miscalculated. Vivian resisted the urge to smack her face in the middle of battle, but Emil had apparently forgotten that he was attached to Cynthia. He, too, began to fall. “Idiot…”

She would have said it louder and to his face, except she noticed that the chain was snapping taut just before he began to fall. With Cynthia on a descent she’d yet to recover from, Vivian struck. Her third-tier enchantment lit up the air, slicing and severing the links of the chain. With the tension between them gone, Emil went spiraling, wheeling through the air as the shackle around his neck broke apart, its smaller pieces clattering to the damaged platform below.

“Glad that worked!”

“What, are you saying you planned the whole thing? Give me a break!” Vivian scoffed. Emil’s grin attempted to hide his likely bluff with swagger. She didn’t fall for it, her eyes on the now righted Cynthia. The gloves that were already off had just burned up. Vivian’s hand raised, ready to swipe down as the air in front rippled with a yet larger enchantment. “I guess I can give you some benefit of the doubt. You tend to be better in action than while thinking. No wonder you fell for the Renegades.”

“Your praise of me is astounding, Viv! Now, how about you take her out!”

Vivian couldn’t agree more. She slashed forward. The crescent of air, currently as large as her entire body, went flying for Cynthia as the woman created ice plinths to get back up to their level. “Cleaving Strike!”

The giant crescent turned in midair, swooping downward as a deadly scythe, breaking through the ice Cynthia had set up in advance. The woman leered, and was forced to bring her own hands together, snapping them out in order to freeze the strike that threatened to bisect her. Taking advantage of the effort, Emil pushed Vivian with his gravity, sending the blonde on a collision course with the Winter.

“Is that it? I told you. I wanted better! I wanted more!” Cynthia made a leap to the top of the frozen crescent. Its shattering provided her the momentum needed to leap at Vivian. “Give me a good fight! Prove to me how weak and worthless you are before I crush you. Prove to me, as your family and old Corps has again and again, how unworthy you are of leading this world!”

Vivian threw a punch out, her fist glowing red, only to miss the mark. Cynthia’s hand found her chest, and the two hung in midair above the soul of the world. Fearing for her life, Vivian could see Emil diving for her, and she chose to be defiant. “It’s always more with you people. You’re adults but you can’t even grow out of that and be content with what there is? No wonder the Corps became such a craphole.”

“Freeze.”

Cynthia didn’t banter back. Didn’t hesitate. Didn’t make some complex or lengthy spell.

Cynthia showed Vivian no mercy at all.

Her entire chest grew cold, and then her back. Her very insides felt frozen, and before the blonde knew what had happened, she was coughing up blood. Ice emerged from her back and arms, turning her into a frozen coffin of her own demise. For something so cold, it burned inside, ripping apart every organ she knew she had, and then some she wasn’t even aware existed. It was a surprise she wasn’t dead before Cynthia let go of her, letting her body fall.

“You BITCH!” Emil’s strike had come quickly, a high-speed punch to the Winter’s face. Cynthia flew back, breaking into the wall above the ring, her icy glasses falling to the floor of the platform, breaking in two. Vivian coughed again, beginning to plummet towards the Great Soul until Emil caught her, racing her back to the stable side of the platform and laying her on it. “Viv! Viv, are you all right?”

He turned her over, causing her to cough, but she found her breath easing a little. Now removed from Cynthia’s sphere of influence, the ice was falling away from her. The pain inside eased, and she began to realize that the cold had done more in making her think she was dead than she actually was. Feeling her stomach and chest over, Vivian still felt blood soaking through, but from mere shallow cuts than anything life-damning.

If Emil had been just five seconds late in saving her, it might have been a different story.

“Th-thanks…” she coughed. There was still some blood from her mouth, and her body took effort just to move a finger, but she still held to Emil while she stood. Her leg wobbled. Across from them, the icy plain of the ring was expanding. It was almost upon them, the ominous clicking of Cynthia’s steps self-evident. Both teens gulped.

“This world is beyond rotten,” she said. Every step brought forth a new pillar of ice, turning into a spike that wanted to impale them. Vivian was already shivering at the thought of possibly going through that again. “It’s selfish. Parents who hoard. Parents who hurt. People who mock others as lesser. I hold no love for this world as it is. Yet you would stand in the way of someone I do love. Someone whose vision and will can change it. Why?”

“Because we don’t think like you!” Emil shouted. He shoved Vivian behind him, his hazel eyes screaming at her to come up with a plan of attack, so outmatched by the woman that was Marcus’s right hand. “We don’t want a world where lives are disregarded, where everything’s the same. We’ve always wanted a world where we mattered.”

“And you will matter, as Marcus plans it.” Every single advancement of Cynthia’s was another piece of the platform freezing up. The burden of ice under their feet made Vivian slip, and the rumbles throughout the mineshaft buckled the stratum they were on, bringing it further away from the wall. The trickling water from above tinkled on the platform as tiny ice globlets. “You can be his hand, or his leg, or his heart. But everything will be free of those pesky individual desires, serving a greater whole. An ideal whole.”

“Sounds like…a lot of crap…to me…” Vivian gasped out. Her body was still recovering, watching wherever Cynthia stood. A single shot would never take her out; she’d freeze it before it came. Vivian’s mouth kept ejecting words in the hopes of hitting on an idea. “What’s wrong with feeling something? Those ‘ideals’…they’re just your way of pretending reality doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter. It’s you running away and convincing yourself it’s okay because you were loyal.”

“There is nothing but loyalty. That is how we work togeth-”

“Shut up, you cold bitch!” Vivian screeched. Her nails dug into her palms, her eyes threatened to spill frozen tears, and her feet wished to slip and let her rest. Her mind convinced them not to and she held her palms out, all ten of her fingers glowing yellow. Bow or not, she was determined to make this work. “Loyalty is caring about others! Loyalty is about fixing their path if they go astray! Loyalty is about going through hell for someone else just because you want to, for them!

“Your kind of loyalty just makes you a mindless puppet! Max-Strike! Area Shot!”

She enchanted as much of the air as she could, the drain on her magic making her knee slip, an easy feat on the ice. Emil wanted to grab hold of her, but the disgusted look she shot him made him back off, and he crouched to get ready for when the smoke cleared. The air became arrows without the need of a bow, each one lethal and prepared to impale Cynthia the Winter. The woman had stopped, and when she did, Vivian threw her hands down.

The arrows turned downward and began their barrage.

Vivian sincerely hoped that the woman wouldn’t be able to freeze them all at once, as she had with everything else.

The first of the arrows hit upon the platform, breaking it into pieces of ice that flecked the surface they were on. The rest of them rained directly for Cynthia. The woman didn’t take it lying down, racing forward and skating effortlessly upon the slick surface. In her hands, a rapier was created, made of pure ice. Emil floated off the platform, prepared to intercept, but the priest had no time for him. She made a swift and wide arc around him to come right for Vivian.

“And so what if I am, Lacroix?” she said. Her volume hadn’t increased. Her voice hadn’t wavered. Only the look in her eyes indicated an intent to end this and kill her. She jabbed forward, piercing Vivian’s shoulder. “A puppet is a fine thing to be. No more thinking. No more worry. No more expectations that are unreasonable to live up to. Isn’t that what you want?”

She withdrew the blade, prepared to strike again, only for Vivian to throw up a small shield with the magical energy she had left. The woman was relentless. Cynthia swirled upon the ice, showcasing her masterful control as she thrust her rapier with speed. Vivian blocked again, her body being pushed back and tripping along the ice. Emil flew for Cynthia’s backside, only to crash into the pillar she erected between the two of them. Cynthia’s blade found its way through her defenses again, this time cutting on her cheek, and then stabbing her knee before she could recover. Finished with her, Cynthia punted Vivian’s chest, throwing her against the frigid wall, where she slid down with a cough. More blood.

“Why would I want…a world…where I don’t get to be me?” Vivian tried to grab hold of the broken rocks on the wall, but her hand found no traction. “Why would I want to live in a world where the one guiding it is just like my father-agh!”

Cynthia had pierced her side, twisting the sword in with a snarl on her lips. “Marcus is nothing like your father. He doesn’t just consider his own advancement and legacy, but the prosperity of this world.”

“Really? Aha.” Vivian’s gut rumbled with laughter, starting off as a slight giggle before it thundered out of her lips. “Hahahaha! You see? See?! You’re so loyal to your precious Marcus that you can’t possibly see where he’s gone wrong. That’s not real loyalty. That’s hiding.”

“Says the girl that was so devoted to her own leader that she sent her on ahead without a second thought.”

“Mera? My leader?” Vivian couldn’t get up, not with the weapon held at her throat, but behind Cynthia, Emil was floating silently near, ready to strike. The blonde’s gaze was drawn below, wondering just what Mera was enduring now that she was brought up. “Yeah, I guess so, but there’s a huge difference between you and me, commander: I’m willing to call her out when she goes wrong or messes up, and trust me, she does. Mera is kind, empathetic and a guiding force. She’ll dig deep into the muck to drag us out, but if that’s the wrong way to do it, I’ll slap that piece of trash and tell her to stop.

“We’re not the same person, and I’d never want us to be. Not now. Not ever. Emil!”

Cynthia began to press the blade in on her throat, not wanting to hear anything else, but she was a second too late, her mind distracted by Vivian’s arguments. Emil rushed in from the side, his Gravity Blades knocking aside Cynthia’s rapier and managing to break it in two along the way. He kicked out, the gravity pushing Cynthia far along the platform.

The mineshaft shook, the platform coming further off of its supports, sending all the ice Cynthia had created, previously broken or otherwise, into a tumble on their level. From above, there was a sudden bang, and a stream of water fell like a tiny waterfall. Ideas came to Vivian’s head: a long shot at best, and the end for both of them at worst. Battle raged above their heads, Amelia and Rico having brought their fight to the next level. Cynthia ran for the pair, murderous intent flashing in her shining eyes.

“Emil…I have a plan…but it won’t be easy for you…”

“Never is with you, Viv. You always made things difficult, even in the Academy.”

“Guess that’s something I never grew out of,” Vivian laughed. This time she accepted the hand offered, letting Emil pull her up. They were wobbly, but both had enough magic in them for one last tussle, win or lose. “I need you to bring the broken ice above Cynthia, and once I finish separating this platform, you send both sides crashing right into her. That’ll give us distraction for one strike…”

“That’s…that’s gonna be a whole lot of magic. I can barely hold to either one of us, so I don’t know if-”

“Are you your parents’ son or not?!” Vivian yelled. They didn’t have time to argue about this, and before Cynthia could get to them, Vivian pushed from the wall, carrying her and Emil over the edge of the platform, right back to the center. “I meant what I said there, and everything I’ve said, Emil. You’re annoying, and I’ve hated you since we were classmates, but you’re still one of the most skilled mages I’ve met. You get that from your parents, and from your journeys and us!”

Ice flew from the platform, Cynthia not even bothering to physically come after them. Vivian deflected it with another shield. She knew she couldn’t attempt another one, or their plan would fail.

“You’re you! And this is a fight to make sure Marcus doesn’t take that from you! Are you going to accept who you are and what you’ve found? Are you going to accept that we’re friends?! Decide!”

Emil gripped Vivian’s shoulder, and his grin cracked through. “There was never another answer. I’ve accepted all that a long time ago.”

“Then let’s finish it! Max-fortis! Piercing Line: Wide Form!” Emil pushed away from her, floating up. The pillars of ice and all the small pieces that Cynthia had left by the wayside in their fight started to float up. Vivian’s body dropped a little, but she remained upright, twirling to make the space around her glow red in a circle. Above their heads, she saw the second level buckle under the weight of an attack, about to crash through. She remained focused, and then flicked her fingers.

The attack burst, acting like a wrecking ball that tore into the already loose platform. Its pure, icy content cracked apart from the force, causing Cynthia to jump on a midair ice plinth. Above her head, unnoticed to her eyes, Emil was gravitating all the pieces together. They were ready.

“NOW!” Vivian’s shout finally caused Cynthia to snap upwards.

“Gravity Press!” Emil put his full amount of magic behind that singular strategy. They were going to win, or go out with a bang. The pieces above fell and the ringed platform below rose. They each broke apart under the strength of the gravity, and Vivian began to fall. She trusted in her partner.

To neither’s surprise, Cynthia attempted to freeze the ice of her own making, but was unsuccessful, and the sheer bulk of it prevented her from breaking it apart until it encased her like a giant vice, crushing her. It wouldn’t last long, but Vivian didn’t mind. She had enough magic for one last spell, and Emil had enough for one last act.

“Your turn, Viv.”

The ice broke, freeing Cynthia. She was bleeding all over, snarling from the cuts of her own ice, dripping blood down to the level beneath her. Above her head, the metal of the second level broke apart, one section of the ring falling. Vivian didn’t focus there, instead enchanting her body with that last spell, flying forward under Emil’s loosening of gravity. He pulled her forward, right to Cynthia. The woman prepared to enact her spell, ready to touch her the second she got close.

“Max-fortis! Screaming Fist!” It was all she could give. The red glow around her fist gave the impression it was burning. The falling ice was leaving Cynthia’s domain, some of it melting, while the metal of the rung they had broken cut against Vivian’s skin and robes, tearing off a sleeve or bottom hem. She didn’t stop, even as Cynthia created a shield between them. There was no time left between collision, and Vivian screamed. “Go on, Cynthia Frigas, keep being a puppet to Marcus! But we’ll keep leading the world from our experiences, and you can feel it all…right here! Burn up!”

She could feel them giving her strength. All the memories she shared with Emil at the Academy. All the times she’d argued with Meredith. All the blushes and encouragement she’d gotten from Eddie. The support she’d been granted to pull herself out of the abyss. It fueled her magic, turning bright orange.

The shield didn’t stand a chance, torn through by the speed and strength of Vivian’s punch. It turned into an uppercut that didn’t stop before it collided with Cynthia’s jaw, tossing her straight up. The woman’s eyes popped out from the pressure, her tongue lolling out at the unexpected level of strength.

And from above, two cyclones cut through the second level, a screaming Caleb and Maria caught in them. All three priests were brought together, caught up in that single blistering blow before they were carried far below, to the fourth level, where they crashed upon the final platform there.

The cyclonic force flung Vivian away, right into Emil, each of the remaining platforms near them rattling off their hinges, though they didn’t need much help for that. Above, Amelia and Rico stood victorious. They were cut up in places, but proud in victory nonetheless. Vivian, too, allowed herself to feel that same pride before Emil’s magic gave out.

They fell, plummeting down to the same fourth level where the priests had been incapacitated. Light was shining closer now, a symbol of either the Great Soul or whatever Meredith was doing. Vivian couldn’t bring herself to care, just glad they hadn’t broken every bone in their body upon hitting the floor. They rolled along until they hit the wall and stopped, splayed out on their backs.

It was quiet.

“Holy shit…” Emil breathed, his voice teetering on the verge of laughter. “We just beat a commander.”

“Ha…yeah…top that, Mera.” Vivian threw what little punch she could make at the air. Her eyelids felt so heavy, the cold from earlier making her sleepy. Shadows were descending from above, but the ache along her body was too much. She needed this. Just a five-minute break. “I wonder…how Mera’s…doing…?”

Emil didn’t answer, and she didn’t expect him to. She soon joined him in the realm of sleep.

Howls of battle raged above. The Great Soul thrummed with the energy of many below. Meredith, however, could not stop facing ahead, watching her brother. Half-cloaked in shadows, his eyes reflected the division she knew was inside. His confusion.

His resolve.

“Why are you doing this, Ray?” she asked, taking a wary step towards him. He put his blade up, careful at her attempts to talk him down. A sigh left her lips.

“For a better world. Isn’t…was that not the Corps’ goal?”

“But like this?”

Everything was quiet, the two of them in a space where only they could see or hear. Meredith’s heart hurt, clenching at the thought of who was before her, at promises not yet kept. He didn’t have an answer, and Meredith began to think of ways to break through to him. She hadn’t settled on one when he spoke.

“This was the only way left.” Her blade rattled in her hand at that. “We tried. Tried to free the world from pain, but people just caused more of it, wanted more of it. They chose to run than face the enemy that threatened their friends. I…I don’t want a world where that happens. I want to erase their pain.”

“You…” Meredith’s free hand pawed at her vest pocket, desperate to find that happy picture for comfort, but she didn’t grab it. Her arm fell back down. “You can’t erase pain, Ray. Remember? You just have to live with it. Or is your peace really worth your individuality? Really worth the damage he’s doing?”

“I can try. I’m okay with becoming Marcus’s legs or arms if it means establishing that order and peace. No one will suffer anymore. No one will-”

“Stop talking! Just stop!” Meredith’s voice went hoarse, her body shaking from head to toe. Her eyelashes felt wet, and she hated herself for feeling this way. “You…I loved you, Ray…I loved your ideals and your drive. You always did everything better. Knew better. I followed in your footsteps, walked after you, always watching your back turn away from me, but I knew you were right.”

She wanted to cut the pain right out of her again, clenching to her chest. Eddie…Captain Clive…and now Ray. It felt like everything she once loved was taken from her, taking her from who she’d been. Yet Ray still stood there.

Save him.

“Mera…”

“But this time…” Meredith said, raising up, her sword held by two hands, “you’re wrong.”

Raymond’s hands were steady on his blade, but Meredith didn’t need to see any trembling to know the conflict inside. He was her brother. His head shook. “There’s no turning back from this, Mera. Shortly, Marcus will be finished, and none of this will matter. The Corps will have met its goal, and we can start something better.”

“And ask yourself if anything better has ever been made by trampling over the people you think you’re saving!” She couldn’t do it anymore. Couldn’t fight the anger towards him. Couldn’t fight the pain at what she knew she had to do. Her back, however, still straightened, and her hands grew firm along her hilt, the fangs of her sword bared. “Time after time, I trailed behind you, watching my better-at-everything brother succeed. Always one step ahead of me, cleaning up the messes I left.

“Well, this time, my stupid brother, I’m cleaning up your mess.”

Words were unneeded.

Meredith raced forward immediately, her blade reflecting the gloomy lights as she made her way across the platform. Raymond’s eyes grew sharp, reverting to the only thing he could be confident in. His sword sparked with electricity, transforming to the familiar whip. It snapped out, striking against the metal she stomped across. She sidestepped one stroke and then another, ducking as the attacks came overhead until she was right in front of her brother. He attempted one last lash that she beat aside with her sword and came to knee him in the chest.

“Oof!” Raymond grunted. His whip snapped back to a sword, the shock of lightning searing across her neck. There was no smile held for either of them, fighting for their conviction of what meant the better world, and it was that conviction with which she swung her sword.

They collided, glancing off each other before they slashed from a different direction, only for their swords to meet again. Raymond’s blows were heavier, and she knew that, but a hesitation was held behind it, allowing her to push up and gain some distance. She switched her sword around, and saw her brother separate metal from his sword, now holding two fully-functional daggers. They ran at each other once more.

With a silent cry, they collided. Raymond’s daggers held Meredith’s backhanded slice in place, his lips twisting with the effort. Inside his eyes, matching her own, she could see the twisted admiration he had for her, at how strong she’d gotten. Her old brother was still there, just unable to see the path forward. Putting the weight of both hands behind her attack, she threw the daggers up, thrusting forward at her brother’s chest. He deflected the attack downward with one stroke, bringing his other blade up to slash at her arm, drawing blood. She stumbled back, jumping a little to gain distance.

The middle of the platform was between them now, hanging over the depths of the mineshaft. Meredith bent low, never taking her eyes off her brother as he did the same. They touched the metal of the platform. She parsed through the souls, finding the one that made the metal breathe, and with its permission, she sent it racing for Ray in the form of giant fist. He did the same thing, electricity sprouting from the site of his. The platform rattled, the rest of the mineshaft shaking from it before they collided. The two fists broke apart, raining steel everywhere as the size of the platform shrunk, leaving little behind.

Meredith was up and moving in the hopes Raymond would take longer to recover. She ran up the incline of her own fist and slid down his. He was just standing, ready to block her next sword stroke when she punched him in the face, driving him to the ramp that lined the walls.

“Wake up, you dumbass brother!” she shouted. His dagger whipped out on instinct, slicing her other shoulder. The heat of blood stained her vest, but Meredith was determined to keep going.

“I am. I’m doing what’s right!” Raymond tossed his dagger into the air, spinning with sparks that she was forced to defend herself from. The blade became a sharp-edged boomerang, sailing right for her as her brother controlled it. “I’m-”

“This isn’t right!” She ducked, avoiding the blow that nearly took her head off. She straightened, but the whizzing, buzzing sound told her it was coming back around, Raymond’s fingers manipulating its trajectory. She used the respite to run at him. “You think mom and dad would want this? Their kids fighting over this!”

“They’d understand!” Meredith reached him, slashing with her sword. He failed to block this one, taking a cut to the arm. “They’d know when we’ve finally-”

“When we’ve finally what? Huh, Ray?” Snapping her blade around, they clashed, and she threw her full weight to try and push him back. The boomerang was nearly upon her, forcing her to disengage as it returned. The lightning proved that Raymond was forming another weapon from the conjoined pieces. “They’d never want this! Ask yourself deep down if your ideals are really worth your sister! If they’re worth the best relationships you’ve had!”

“Ideals are what the Corps should have! It’s what they’re founded on!”

“Not like thi-agh!” Raymond’s weapon had finished transforming into a mighty hammer. He swung it around, catching her in the chest and throwing her against the nearest wall. Her lungs felt crushed, every breath becoming an effort that she tried to ease. It hurt, and her faculties appeared to lose control for a moment, shaking wildly. On further review, she supposed it might have been the mineshaft itself that was shaking. Her brother, too, was off balance, and with her momentary advantage, she jabbed forward to drive her sword into his shoulder. “Your ideals, Ray…did you ever once ask if they were right? Were you ever questioned on the vision you had? What did you even see in the Trial of Enlightenment?”

“I saw a world where everyone is happy. No conflict or pain. I accepted what I had to sacrifice to make it happen. To make it reality.”

She hated that answer, and showed it by punching her brother back across the face. It released him from the hold of her sword, and without him supporting it, she started falling. Her blade screamed wildly as she tried to strike him, but she missed. His weapon was back into a whip, and with a single flick, it struck her across the chest, causing her already labored breathing to become a wheeze. She dropped to a knee.

“You just…don’t get it…” she hissed through her teeth. Meredith looked up, staring Raymond right in the eyes as she admonished him. “Sacrificing them isn’t right. Reality isn’t an ideal. Or are you going to say losing Eddie and Captain Clive, and every one of your comrades, even Commander Masters, was right? Are you saying you’re the authority on what the world should be? Because you’re not, Ray!”

“Shut up, Mera! You haven’t seen everything I did, and haven’t walked the road I did! The better world is waiting on the other side! We can have it here and now if we just sacrifice a little!”

“Open your eyes, Ray!” Meredith struggled to her feet and with a pained cry, ran at her brother, her fangs bared. His whip was back as a sword and they leapt at each other. The swords met, and though they didn’t have the souls of the Legendary Weapons, they cried for the clash between the two. “It’s about the here and now! It’s about working to make it better, not expecting the result to fall into our lap. Not a single one of us can decide that without trampling over everyone else! Stop being a loyal puppet!”

“Stop trying to lecture me!”

They threw their fists out at the same time, coming from the side. The mineshaft rocked with greater intensity, the platform upon where they stood weakened enough that it snapped off of its supports. The walkway plummeted further down to the next. The siblings fell off it, grabbing to the edge before they fell too far. Their weapons followed after, tumbling in the air to land on the lower bridge and spin aside, barely hanging on.

As their descending walkway crashed into the next, causing it to shudder, they let go, holding fast to that next length of platform, an entirely straight path leading from one side of the spiraling path to the other. The pull on Meredith’s body was great, and she coughed, her fingers attempting to find purchase on the metal, but daring to slip. Already, Raymond was climbing up, and she could see his eyes looking for his sword.

Meredith also sought her blade, opposite Ray’s with the wide expanse of walkway between them. The howl of the Great Soul was in her ears, its very depths visible to her by now. It would have been so easy to fall towards it and take the fight straight to Marcus, but one look at her brother’s sweat-stained, panting face, and she knew she couldn’t. With all the strength she could find, she dragged herself up, crawling atop the walkway and collapsing to her knees. The siblings caught their breath, and eventually she stood.

“Who else is going to do it, Ray?” she gasped out. Her weapon was behind him, and his behind her. Their fists raised, each prepared to fight the other. “Who else will lecture you? Scold you for your boneheaded decision?”

“I don’t…need a lecture!” He yelled, running for her as his fist sunk itself into her face. She stumbled back, sending an uppercut his way. Raymond broke off, causing Meredith to snap another punch across his cheek, bruising it. “There’s no time left! We have to save this world now, or risk leading it to a darker future!”

“Idiot!” Meredith cried. She bent low, driving her head into his chest, only to feel an elbow jam on the back of her neck, dropping her to the floor. Raymond leapt over her, going for his weapon. The second he was behind her, she snapped her legs, tripping him up. Her body twisted around, springing up to aim another punch his way. He caught it and kneed her in the stomach. “The future you’re leading it to…it’s plenty dark, Ray!”

Meredith pounded her fist into his face, the tears coming from her eyes as she was unable to stop them. Raymond gave his own uppercut, tossing her away from him. This time, he didn’t go for his weapon, lost to the need to shut her up. He came soaring down with a fist that she rolled away from, causing him to hit the walkway and scream.

“You were loyal all this time,” Mera shouted, her voice more pained with every syllable uttered. “You did the trials, never second-guessing what you were supposed to be, or how you were supposed to do it. You followed blindly. You kept going without ever wondering if the path you were taking was the right one. And then this…working with Eddie’s killer because it can ‘save the world’? How the hell can you call yourself a Guardian, Raymond Childs?!”

He screamed with rage, his own tears flying. The conviction in him wavered, confronted with the truth, driving him mad with violence. She lunged for him, the siblings grappling together as Meredith pinned her brother to the walkway. Holding him with one hand as he scrabbled to find her throat, to find the advantage, she dug in and pulled out the picture, shoving it in front of his face.

“Look, Raymond! LOOK!” she bellowed. “This is the world you’re throwing away! This is the future you think isn’t worth it! You’re lost, Ray! You’re not a Guardian…just a lapdog of the Reaper!”

“SHUT UP!” She didn’t care that he picked her up with little effort. She didn’t care that Raymond had slammed her back down to the walkway. All that mattered was that momentary fracture she’d seen in his eyes. That moment that told her he was about to break, on the verge of realizing all his experiences and missions and loyalty…they’d meant nothing if he chose this path.

Meredith panted, the very act of breathing causing her pain. Her legs were fatigued, and her chest was bruised, spots of her body bleeding out. No matter what, though, she crawled forward, determined to reach her weapon. Raymond, too, crawled for his, each slow in grabbing them, but turning to face the other once they did, in a race to see who could stand first.

It was Raymond who succeeded, and with a guttural roar, he descended on her. She raised her sword in front of her, one hand supporting the hilt while the other held the blade, no matter how many times it cut into the skin. Her brother cried out, tears flinging from his face as he began to batter her blade wildly, no restraint in his actions.

“I’m not! I’m not!” he shouted with every blow. Meredith felt her arms get weaker with every heavy strike. “I’m a Guardian! I’m not lost! I’m not! I’m not! I’M NOT!”

His final blow came, and Meredith’s fingers failed her. Her blade flipped out of her hands, tossing itself back towards the spiral, where it stayed in place, bathed in light and shadow.

Meredith closed her eyes, her brother rearing back with his blade set to plunge down. She accepted it, waiting for the end.

Then the metal descended…

…and embedded itself in the walkway beside her.

She opened her eyes, looking to her brother. Raymond was still kneeling above her prone figure, hands on the hilt of his sword. They slowly slid off, falling to his side as he collapsed fully on his knees, his body slumping. Meredith tried to sit up, propping her body on her elbows as she watched him.

“What…” he said, tears leaking from his eyes, “what the hell have I done…?”

“Ray…” Meredith tried to sit up, the pain in her chest scorching while she made the effort. She wanted to reach forward and cup his face, reassure him things would be okay.

“What the hell have I done?!” he screamed. Raymond’s body bent in on itself, his own hands cradling his face as he cried out his pain. “I betrayed my friends. I helped gather the Weapons. I embraced a world that’s coming to an end for this! And I…

“I was driven to hurt my baby sister!”

His anguish echoed around the mineshaft, his body falling back, wracked with sobs. Meredith, with what strength she could find, crawled forward and put a hand on his head. She couldn’t find the words right away, and his lamentations grew louder.

“I did all of this for a world that I thought was right! I wanted to believe it was right! Marcus had to be right or else everything, all my time in the Corps, and the trials, would have all been for nothing! I wanted to believe we were saving the world! But how can any world where I have to kill my baby sister be saved?! I’m so weak…I’m so…screwed up…”

“That’s…” Meredith brought herself back to her knees, and she wrapped her arms around her brother while he cried. “That’s what it means to be human, Ray. We mess up. We don’t always find the right path. We drown in our grief and despair. We cause pain we don’t wish to. We give in to fear. We’re complete failures most of the time.

“But we’re also capable of love and empathy and hope. We can still decide for ourselves and fix our paths ourselves. And that’s what makes it meaningful: it’s our choices, not his.”

“His choices…?” Raymond looked up, confused. He was broken, unsure of the right path to take. She drew back from him, smiling, and then she took the picture, sliding it into his hand. He looked down on it, watching the happy faces. “I…I don’t know what to think, Mera…I don’t know…what to believe in, or trust in.”

“And that’s okay. Doubt is okay.” He wasn’t so sure, his body giving out at the turmoil inside him. His thoughts were a mess, but Meredith knew he’d work it out. She just had no time to let him. As she stood again, she patted his head. “You’ll find the right path. That’s what we do when we come together. You’ll see.”

Leaving his head behind, Meredith shuffled forward. It had become a strain just to walk, her legs and chest burning with any and all movements. This time, however, it was him watching her back as she bent to pick up her discarded sword. He reached out to her, but his hand fell. “Mera…where are you…?”

“I’m going to face Marcus, as a Guardian. As a soul-user.”

“You…you can’t beat him…He’s…”

Meredith stood tall, spinning her sword around and placing it back on her belt. She looked back to her brother, and offered him a smile. “But I can save them. Just like I did for you. That’s my path. You find yours, Ray. Goodbye.”

Putting the fight with her brother behind her, Meredith shuffled the rest of the way down the spiral slope to Marcus Arrant.