The Aerie was empty that night, its inhabitants crowding the arena outside. There wasn't a soul then to hear the slight clatter from Yrix's office. For deep within the confines of her vault, life began to stir.
A brief flicker revealed a pair of crimson eyes from behind the glass. It was the same dead stare that still brimmed with cold concentration. Yet for the time being, such relentless malice came from no more than a head.
Yrix had done far more than sever the Mimic's body that fateful night. Caution had driven her to separate a majority of its segments into a different compartment altogether. Though it seemed once more, she had underestimated the tenacity of Algernon's creation.
Neither the dark nor the disembodied aspects of its broken form could veil the Mimic's awareness. Having already discerned its condition, the blackened skull remained still as a great commotion began to envelop its surroundings. It was almost as if a legion of worms had wormed its way into Yrix's safe.
But the truth was perhaps far more sinister. For as the Mimic continued its disembodied struggle, a skeletal hand jostled free. That was all it needed.
Time was hardly of the essence. With Yrix gone, the dead-eyed creature was free to pilot its hand about like a twisted spider, freeing the other limbs with unrivaled coordination. All that was left was to assemble.
The Mimic remained completely emotionless as its head tumbled onto the carpeted floor, having been unceremoniously cast down with some help. And with a grueling display of bodily autonomy, the skeletal creature began to form piece by peice, one bone at a time. First came the hands and shoulders, then the ribcage, until finally half the Mimic could right itself into a reasonable position.
"Ivy." The Mimic droned in a cold voice as the machine snapped its legs into place. "Where...are...you."
A great rumble could be felt from the colosseum to the east. The Mimic's head swiveled in response. What could only be described as a great calculation soon followed.
"Ivy," it muttered once more.
The Mimic twitched with anticipation before jolting forward, contorting its body into a grotesque crawl as it disappeared beneath the office vent.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If you refuse power.
I will show you myself.
Sonera clenched her fists, unable to control her rage. What little she could do beyond futility kept her head hung low. Perhaps, if Ivy failed to recognize the shift in her friend's eyes, she'd simply wander off.
But that was delusion speaking. Ivy was fully preoccupied with her taunting parade, which by then had successfully goaded the entire Consortium fleet into an outrage. As far as they were concerned, the fight was on.
This.
Behold the sweet nectar of life.
The freedom to murder for murder's sake.
The assassin bit her tongue as her body began to shudder violently. She knew then Ivy would only come to her aid if she noticed.
"Huh?" Ivy looked over her shoulder. "S-."
A sharp claw latched onto her wrist, wrenching Ivy forward as her eyes quivered in fear. Such betrayal, she hoped, could be sensed within the heart of the one she called family. But there was nothing. The Sonera she knew was a shell, her hands crackling with a power that should have been dispelled.
Forgive me.
Lila watched in abject horror as Sonera struck her partner in the abdomen, producing a deafening crunch.
"Ivy!" She screamed.
The heiress released no audible sound, nor did she glide across the sand as one would expect. Instead, she crumpled to the ground in a broken heap, convulsing with electrical sparks as the energy from Sonera's singular punch dispersed through her body. Lila's heart had stopped.
"Ivy?" The Earthling pleaded, taking a brief moment to accept reality, as well as the visible hole in her partner's ribs.
Lila squandered not another moment. She raced to Ivy's side, supporting the heiress as she began to convulse. Only then did Lila realize their bond had weakened.
"N-no," she whimpered. "No! Ivy!" Lila tried to deny what she felt.
Ivy was dying. Her body, however it was designed to endure, was failing. And Sonera was the culprit.
"I-I..." The assassin fell to her knees, staring at her own claws in disbelief. "Lila..."
Lila knew better than to blame Sonera. Her logical side, however skewed, had already discerned the reason behind the calamity. Yet the face she gave Sonera when the assassin reached forward told a far different tale.
She was afraid.
Sonera didn't hear the words. But frankly, there was no need. Lila had practically screamed them at her.
"Stay away from her."
"I'm so sorry," Sonera cried. "Lila-."
Sonera hardly recognized Lunae's warm embrace before the princess pulled her away. But it seemed she too was afraid. Sonera could feel it. To witness her beautiful partner staring at her like that - like she were a monster- was tantamount to death.
"I'm...sorry," Sonera drifted. "Sorry..."
Whatever remained of her fragile mind was in tatters. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to faint. But really, Sonera was too shocked for either. It was as if she had shut down right then and there.
"Come on baby girl," Lila cradled her partner as tears rolled down her freckled cheeks. "Come on. Just breathe. Breathe for me."
"Nnh!" Ivy managed a scraggly moan. "H-help."
Those words cut through Lila like a razor. Ivy's fear, her failing lungs - it was all so much to bear. The heiress didn't want to die. She wished to see so much more with her beautiful partner.
"I'm here." Lila's voice cracked. "Just hang in there baby girl. I'm here."
"I-it's...my core," Ivy's left hand failed to respond after a brief spasm. "I-I can't..."
The heiress choked, struggling to push through the cascading failures in her body. By then, even her hands were crackling with unstable voltage. Everything that once held her perfect illusion of life was falling apart. Time was running out.
"I...lov-." Ivy trailed off. "Y-you."
"Ivy?!" Lila shook the heiress.
Her despair had reached its crescendo. For a brief moment, Lila considered abandoning life itself. Yet hope flourished anew when Ivy continued to convulse.
"Y-you there?" Lila shook her more gently. "Ivy!"
She leaned in closer, detecting a faint breath. The Earthling had no guarantee her partner would ever wake again. But for the time being, Ivy still had power.
"I'm getting you out of this," Lila mumbled, as if it were a secret. "I promise. Here and now."
Whatever hatred she might have felt against Sonera was long gone. For it was in Ivy's cold, lifeless embrace that Lila managed to steel herself for what lay ahead. Sonera was not the enemy. Though it seemed she certainly felt like one.
"Lila," Lunae called out to her. She too was cradling a fallen partner. "What do we do?"
The Earthling peered skyward to see Yrix looming over them from the highest podium. She seemed hardly fazed by all that had unfolded. And it was then that Lila knew the final trial was not over. It would never be over.
"Fucking bullshit!" Rena screamed.
Lila searched for the familiar voice. Though all she could seem to find were the agitated scores of Consortium warriors still brandishing their weapons in preparation for a fight. In fact, Yrix alone was likely all that kept their hand.
"Wait," Lila perked up. "Where-."
A sudden explosion shook the arena as the north stands became engulfed in flame.
"That's it!" Rena's voice became audibly Psionic. "This ends here!"
The Earthling watched in glee as Rena emerged from the lower stands, obscured by Alia's power and encased in her own mist. Clutched firmly in her left hand was a set of stolen grenades, cleverly swiped during all the commotion. With the spirit of rebellion in hand, the girls set upon their enemy with yet another devastating explosion.
"This is it!" Lunae whispered into Lila's mind. "I'll protect them. Go!"
The Earthling rushed Ivy into Lunae's embrace, yet before she could dart off and join the fight, a large chunk of ice emerged in her path.
"What the-," Lila gasped.
The ice melted instantly, revealing the plasma that scorched its surface.
"Mina?" Lunae observed in equal disbelief.
Their former enemy was the second to emerge, calling forth scores of ice to divide the battlefield as a horde of the Consortium began to leap from their stands and into the arena. Mina did not hesitate to meet them. She too had found her true enemy, and was almost delighted to lock blades with a pair of Vesper.
"Hell yeah!" Lila cheered, darting around a volley of plasma in a bid to join Mina. "Fuck you guys!"
Her tears from Ivy's fall hadn't even dried yet. But revolution was calling. For if the students could not have their way, then neither could Yrix.
Or so they thought. Yrix was eerily restrained given the circumstances. Despite all she had said to Premus, whose fleet began to drop even more Consortium into the arena, the Arch-Flayer seemed content to let things unfold.
"What is she waiting for?" Lunae squinted.