Lila traced Ivy's movements as far as she could. But it wasn't long before she disappeared beneath the arena. The end had officially begun.
"Do you remember when we first came here?" Lunae's voice cut through her panicked mania. "Lila."
"Huh?" The Earthling sniffled.
She was surprised to find Lunae approaching from behind, no doubt beckoned along the trail by Yrix.
"We were just falling in love back then."
Lila offered the princess a meager hug, joining her hand in hand.
"Did you at least get to say goodbye?" Her words clung like ash.
"Yes," Lunae's smile buckled.
A frantic image ran through Lila's head, of a ballerina and her mate sharing an embrace. By then, the Earthling was skilled enough to deliver her own response, however choppy it might have been. Lunae seemed to like it.
"You two were always so…sweet."
Lila held back her tears. "Yeah."
As the students entered the colosseum, not even their grief could ignore the sheer presence of the Consortium. Lila couldn't even begin to count the amount of Daregen looming over the stands. Weapons in hand, they were joined by a few isolated groups of Vesper.
"Look," Rena whispered into Lila's mind. "Down there."
From where Ivy and Sonera had appeared last, Lila could just barely spot the tendrils of a Canere.
"Is this a trap?" The Earthling wondered between labored breaths.
"Shit if I care. I'll be ready if you guys pull something." Rena's voice carried a familiar sense of disdain. "Alien pricks."
The girls took their seats all together, Lila and Lunae still holding each other in their shared panic. A quick exchange confirmed what they both felt. Something had happened beneath the arena.
"Can't you even look at me?"
Sonera stared to her left with a vacant expression. She and Ivy waited atop a platform, set to ascend into the arena like caged animals. But even as the inevitable drew near, Sonera refused to lock eyes with her opponent.
"Sonera!" Ivy barked.
"I can't." The assassin muttered.
"Always 'I can't' with you. Where's your determination!"
"I..."
Ivy crossed the space between them with a confident strut, grabbing Sonera by her chin before pulling her in. She gazed wordlessly at her friend for a few moments before her breath finally began to hitch. Sonera finally began to understand her desperation.
"Now, you listen to me."
"No," Sonera begged.
"If I fall."
"Please."
"You take care of Lila," Ivy whimpered. "You love her as I love her. You protect her!"
"Ivy-," Sonera's voice croaked.
"Promise me."
They were both crying by then.
"I-I promise," Sonera sniffled. "Ivy."
"Say it again!" The heiress screamed.
"I promise!" Sonera wailed before her eyes widened with shock.
She wished she could stay forever in that moment, Ivy's lips pressed against hers. Sonera leaned into the kiss with feeble acceptance. But it wouldn't last forever.
"Then fight me," Ivy whispered, staring into Sonera's soul as she pulled away. "Kill me if you have to."
Sonera clenched her fist. "What about you?"
Ivy stared at her like a stranger. "Think about them, not me."
The assassin cocked her head. She had a terrible feeling Ivy wasn't going the way Yrix intended. But by then, she had already made a promise.
"So...be it," Sonera huffed. "Ivy."
The platform beneath their feet began to ascend as the sand around them shifted. Not far above, a terrible silence enveloped the arena. It seemed no one was having a sport of it, not even the Consortium.
"There they are!" Lila pointed. "I don't know if I can watch."
Lunae squeezed her hand tight. She couldn't bear to speak, not with her mind nor her mouth. All she could do was wait.
"There we are," Yrix projected her voice to all living beings in the arena. "You know what to do. Begin at your leisure."
Sonera and Ivy circled the arena barehanded. Accepting her role, it was the assassin who finally drew her blade first. The surprise on her face at finally witnessing its warped appearance was quite palpable. Sonera's once-straight edge, fashioned from both her and Yrix's memories, resembled more of an old Japanese katana.
She barely even recognized its handguard. The edge was sharp, however, lighter than ever before, as if it yearned for blood. Sonera had no choice but to point it at Ivy.
The heiress exhaled before summoning her staff—its mace-like tip replaced by a bladed end. She easily recognized Sonera's stance from their previous training. Yet the speed at which the assassin approached lacked all restraint.
Only Yrix could properly observe their exchange, the two combatants smashing against each other in all manner of places. It was like watching a painting unfold before her very eyes. For a moment, the Arch-Flayer even felt a bit of appreciation for her decision to pit the two against one another.
Like lightning they were, evenly matched in all ways. They had both come so far. Not even the previous battle seemed to have an effect on their perfect dance. If Yrix didn't know any better, she might have assumed the two were twins.
Fated to duel.
The colosseum was awash with colors of blue and orange - radiance and tessellation. Lila had to cover her eyes as the heiress ascended a set of hexagons before slamming her staff down upon the sand. The resulting sandstorm did little to impede Sonera, however. She could see Ivy with her mind alone.
They had both grown so much since their first exchange. Ivy relied little on ranged constructs. Sonera was more patient and reserved. It seemed, for the moment, that any one of them could emerge victorious.
"Lunae." Lila leaned closer to the princess.
Lunae gave her an approving nod. They were both scared. Even the members of the Consortium were shielding themselves by then.
"Remember what you promised me." Ivy slid in, baiting Sonera with her staff before placing her heels on the assassin's pommel.
Without a means of swinging back, Sonera twirled about just in time to block Ivy's thrust. She skidded back with a grunt before summoning a halo of radiant daggers above her head.
"Hmph." Sonera made sure to return the scowl at Ivy, descending further and further into a fighting mood.
Pulling her daggers closer to her wrist, Sonera spun them about like a saw before hurling them towards Ivy. The heiress dispersed them with a Psionic grasp, using her baton as a channeling device. She knew bait when she saw it.
Sonera sprouted her wings before cutting at the air itself. Her radiant blade, teaming with a refracted glow, managed to materialize a gash at Ivy's location. Such an absurd feat was hardly a surprise to the heiress. By then, she fully understood who she was dealing with.
A hail of radiant blades pursued Ivy all around the arena, followed by a single deafening gunshot that caused the sand around her to boil. Her eyes flickered red before the heiress called forth an imitation whip. Just like Lunae would, Ivy managed to spin the thorny appendage about like a lasso before catching Sonera's right leg.
The assassin responded in kind, shattering her own wings as she plunged towards the ground with a mighty tug. Ivy had no doubt she would lose the impending test of strength. Making the best of her situation, the heiress allowed herself to be flung towards Sonera, crashing into her as both their Ambience flickered.
"Shit," Lila grimaced.
The pair soon engaged in hand-to-hand combat, combining both feral desperation and ruthless discipline in a likeness only their enhanced physicality would allow.
"Good," Yrix practically salivated. "Good!"
She was proud.
Ivy could have sworn she heard a piano in the back of her head. A rhythm that could guide her through the heat and sweat of battle. Sonera, on the other hand, was grappling with the last bit of her sanity.
Is that all you can do?
"Shut up." Sonera clenched her teeth, grabbing onto Ivy's wrist before pulling the heiress into her knee.
Her victory was short-lived. For just as soon as the heiress flew back, a rogue baton struck Sonera on the back of her head. The pair shared a moment of pain before launching themselves back into the fray.
"Ivy..." Lila stamped her feet.
She too could hear the melody guiding her partner. Spurred on by her partner's bond, Ivy sprouted her own wings and flew towards Sonera. That was a dangerous gambit, given the assassin had retrieved her blade.
Ivy used every last drop of her skill to climb atop the katana's edge, using her weightless mass to glide over the danger. Sonera had no choice but to accept the incoming grapple, rolling around the sand with the heiress in a vulnerable spat. Relying on her own instincts, she managed to catch Ivy's baton before it could surprise her once more.
Sonera then clenched her fist and shattered the weapon for good.
"Enough," she thought.
The assassin vanished through a sea of sparks, emerging just behind the heiress with blade in hand. A shameful tinge of satisfaction stroked her tongue as the heiress reeled back.
"Ivy!" Lila cried.
Her partner could spot Sonera's crumbling psyche as clear as day, wrestling the blade out of her own flesh before slamming its grip into the assassin's ribs. It didn't seem like it at first, but Ivy had exacted equal measure on her opponent, as evidenced by the blood in Sonera's mouth.
"Splendid," Yrix commented. "Absolutely splendid."
The Arch-Flayer could appreciate every facet of the duel, like how Ivy used a clever wall of hexagons to collide with Sonera as she flew back.
"But one of you has to win."
Ivy cupped her wound, ignoring the stinging pain as she called for her staff. The fight was far from over. And she knew it.
"Come on," she grunted. "Sonera."