'What's going on?' Syrce could not hide the genuine panic in her voice.
'I…hold on!' Noble had no time to finish her thought.
The relic arced through the air, coming dangerously close to Noble's head.
A percussive wave expanded out from the polished metal, hitting across Noble's helmet. Her ears rang from the burst.
Of course, the relic had its own enchantments. Noble inwardly rolled her eyes. Why wouldn't a sword double as a hammer? A two-for-one tool was both imaginative and utilitarian.
…and utterly annoying!
Child of Promise backed away to regroup. She needed a moment to think before another boom sounded in her ear.
The copy did not immediately pursue her, circling toward the water to avoid the heat from the dragons' latest fiery demonstrations.
'I found the mirror.' Noble told Syrce as she tried to clear her head. 'And, well, it fell into the hands of an Other.'
'What?!' Syrce's scream was both audible and inside Noble's head.
It was startling enough to make her nearly drop the Zenith. So she released her blade and let it fly toward the copy on its own.
'Not just any Other...my Other.'
The reflection dodged the sword, releasing her relic to fly at Noble in response.
'Oh no!'
'Oh NO!'
Both Syrce and Noble cried nearly in unison.
Noble dipped under the relic, escaping the bulk of the pressure wave that accompanied it by turning her feet towards it and pointing her toes. The edges of her boots sliced the air around her, making a pocket for her body for the wave to travel around.
'We are on our way!' Syrce announced.
Looking at how close they were to the Remant and his foe, Noble shook her head.
'No, I will come to you. Things are too hot over here.'
Indeed, she was missing her heat charm. It was still nestled in the warm embrace of Mirage's cloak.
How dare that fake take her elemental protection! There was an easy way to remedy that.
Dismissing the charm, Noble recalled it to rest around her own neck. Even before it was fully formed, Noble began to feel its relief.
'Much better...'
'You are better?' Syrce asked, confused.
'No, it's just... never mind. Get ready for a flyover. Tell everyone to aim all they have at my copy!' Noble retrieved her Zenith.
The flying sword was yet another tactic that wouldn't work. Noble needed a different approach.
'Is it obvious which one is you?' Syrce's question gave Noble pause.
She glanced at the Other Noble and narrowed her gaze. The cape had beautifully mirrored the real Noble's armor, even including the filigree on the chest plate. Other than the fact that the Other's outfit was made of fabric and Noble's was made of metal, the two were indistinguishable from one another.
And Noble didn't want to rely on her cohort's ability to discern fashion choices from two speeding figures across the dark sky.
Noble blocked a hit from the relic with the Zenith. The shockwave ran through her armor, vibrating her visor like a bell.
'Helmet! I'm wearing the helmet!'
That was easy enough; sure, they would not mistake the Other's blonde head for her silver-plated one.
Noble used the energy infused in her by the crossed blades to plummet toward the ground. The Other pursued her so close that the two nearly occupied the same space.
That was fine, preferable even. As the Other tilted her sword, Noble suddenly reversed her fall into flight, coming face to face with the other woman as she passed her by. Noble slashed at the Other with the Zenith, and when that didn't work, she pressed her feet into the Other and kicked her into the ground.
While not as spectacular as the two Dragons, the cluster of dirt thrown into the air still created a small dust storm.
And it was above the cloud that Noble disappeared.
'She still has the mirror,' Noble noted with her second sight.
If the monster had let it go during her fall, Child of Promise would have happily relieved her of the shiny relic. But the Other was just as keen to keep it as Noble, and so she held on even at the expense of her body.
Unlike Noble, the Nothing creature had no real belt to keep the mirror, so one of her hands would have to hold it at all times.
That was the Other's weak point. And Noble would capitalize on that.
It seemed the creature had not yet learned how to use her second sight, for she took much longer than Noble had expected to recover her bearings.
Did she have Noble's sense of direction as well? If so, Noble almost felt sorry for her.
She was about to venture into the settling cloud when the copy emerged with vengeance in her eyes.
"There you are! I was beginning to get worried!" Noble waved the woman forward. "Shall we continue?"
The Other held her sword up as she neared. Noble flew towards her.
But instead of a frontal attack, Noble twisted her body to dodge her copy and strike from the side. As she expected, the cape repelled her sword, the fabric responding like it was forged from the toughest steel. The zenith could barely snip a thread from the divine relic as it ran across the length of the shoulder, no less cause the being underneath any real harm.
However, it was what was between the shoulders that Noble was after.
"Ah!" The Other craned her neck, struggling to avoid the blade as it cut her skin.
Blood trickled onto the copy's collar. She gasped, stabbing at Noble with her relic even while she held the hand mirror to her neck.
"What did you do?!"
"What?" Noble watched the liquid from the Zenith mingle with her copy's blood. "It's just a little cut. I plan to do much worse."
"I'll murder you." The reflection seethed.
Noble smiled. "Oh, so you know my plan after all."
Child of Promise was not just taunting for the thrill of it–though she had to admit that it gave her a little pleasure to make an Other angry after how much trouble the humanoid monsters had caused.
Now that she knew the Other could bleed, she wanted to make sure the toxin from the blade permeated the copy's system. And the best way to do that was the get her heart pumping.
Noble discovered a second thing by injuring this Other. The black mist around them, which was still flowing into the mirror when it came near enough, was not coming to the fake Master's aid.
Whether from the inability of this particular Other or because the mist did not deem her important enough, the Nothingness did not heed her, treating her the same as the original Noble.
That meant she wouldn't need to try and weave another blanket from the few tattered threads left after the fight with Maelys. Noble's relief was profound.
But only for a moment.
Infuriated, the Other lashed out with a series of wild strikes. On the surface, they seemed uncoordinated, but Noble could see their deadly, precise intent.
'Time to get going!'
Having planted the seed from her sword and gathered some vital information, Noble took off at top speed.
"Running away, are you, coward?" The Other screamed as she chased her prey.
Noble smiled, her voice barely above a whisper. "On the contrary, I am running toward."
At that moment, the pair rounded a section of the ruins and found the four warriors waiting for them there.