Kallen
Stone crumbled and fell. Kallen fell.
Sunny had banished the darkness that devoured the Forgotten Shore, while Nephis had slain the vessel fo the sun that rose above every day. Together—though Kallen didn't fully understand the mechanics—they had shattered the foundations of what ran the whole cursed land.
This cataclysm was its result.
Had that been what Nephis had meant by only one of them being able to escape? That was fine by Kallen. He only intended for one person to stay behind regardless.
Surrounded by a rain of falling stone, he gave up on any pretense of managing his chaotic descent. Instead, Kallen reached out for blood. Not much remained from where he'd woven it into the seams of his echo.
Sunny summoned some sort of Memory and reached for Nephis. Dark wings spread between his arms, slowing his descent when it formed around him, but Kallen flicked his wrist, and a trail of new blood running from the girl's side pierced through its fabric.
The two spiraled, hitting an edge of the spire, and twisting into an asynchronous dive.
Around, the Crimson spire quaked and convulsed. Whole sections of stone dislodged and fell, forcing both parties to focus their attention on not smashing into the falling debris.
Kallen didn't struggle, as his weight dragged him down quickly, and his armor prevented him from being damaged too much. Nephis and Sunny, however, took the full brunt of the collapsing tower's fury.
With air whistling by, Kallen glanced down and saw a circle of glowing runes arranged in a perfect circle.
The gateway.
All he needed was to place himself in front of it, and not let Nephis behind him. The runes pulsed with light; it was their one way out; the only one. That light flared and flickered as Kallen dropped, arms tucked in close.
He landed in a crouch, stone cracking beneath the weight of him and bursting outward, but he held steady. Behind, the portal back to the waking world shimmered, inviting.
Kallen rose to his full height.
Injuries riddled him beneath his solid-liquid hybrid echo. It was an odd structure, and one that resisted his aspect quite heavily despite the fluidity of it. Fresh blood spilled from several spots beneath its cover, which he was able to interweave into its structure.
The ability wasn't something that could serve as a permanent solution. The veins cascading like crimson rivers were weaker than the echo in constitution. However, neither was it simple blood either.
It was something of a mix of the makeup of the echo and the blood itself. As though treating the foreign substance as fuel to mend itself, rather than glue to hold it together.
Kallen rotated his shoulder as he lost sight of Nephis and Sunny. Then he tested the fingers of his offhand, flexing them. He inhaled deeply, then turned his gaze skyward.
Far above, black wings strained to hold their bearers aloft. Sunny held Nephis in a tight hold, angling them toward the ground in a controlled fall. Nephis's body dragged white flame in a long trailing tail behind them. The wind battered them and the crumbling spire shrieked, but they came anyway.
Kallen narrowed his eyes. His stance was loose but certain as he refactored the solidity of his armor. The metal covering his face shifted, moving down the rest of him and bolstering the defenses of his shoulder. There was practically nothing left of the mask anyways, and the enchantment that caused the psychic attack had long stopped working.
Nephis and Sunny were truly powerful foes individually, but together… it was like fighting one warrior with two bodies.
Kallen held his golden sword with a tight grip, but he didn't charge, and he didn't attack. He only stood like a sentinel, an executioner, someone who had already made peace with what came next.
But he would still parlay regardless.
Sunny hit first, the boots of his armor slamming into the stone. He dropped to a knee, one arm still around Nephis as she landed beside him. Her knees buckled, but he caught her.
Changing Star let go of him a second later, forcing herself to stand. The flame around her dimmed before surging, and she placed a hand on Sunny, healing the both of them. They still swayed, and the perfect platinum of her aspect was no longer brilliant.
Kallen took a step forward.
"It has to be one," he said. His voice was soft. Broken. "And I can't let Nephis leave… so Sunny, get out of here."
Sunny's grip tightened around the hilt of his curved blade, he shifted his stance, scanning their surroundings, then glanced at Nephis.
"No."
"I thought so."
Nephis took a step forward to talk. She would talk to him… stall him so that she could heal, but that was okay. Kallen never intended to survive anyway. What did it matter?
"I don't understand," Nephis said, placing herself in front of Sunny. There was no hate in her eyes, despite the ferocity with which both of them had battled. "Why would the House of Night want me dead? I understand valor…"
Instead of replying, Kallen held her silver eyed gaze and summoned a memory.
An unassuming tome formed in his hand, and he tossed it to her. It landed on the ground at her feet, and she looked at it, frowning before picking it up and reading what's inside. Then she handed it to Sunny.
Kallen didn't particularly care that she could see what he had told Caster. What he wanted her to see was the motivation behind what he'd done. She likely suspected it… but she had to know that he didn't want this.
Nephis looked back up at him. Sunny did too.
"Seren," she said.
Kallen nodded.
"That doesn't make any sense… why would the Song clan—"
Raising a hand, Kallen cut her off. "I do not know. Caster and I discussed it… neither of us could come up with a suitable explanation. But neither does it change what I must do." He took a defensive stance. "So I say this once more. Sunny, leave and go."
Sunny shifted his stance. "I will be leaving. Just not without her."
Kallen exhaled. He raised his sword again, and stood his ground.
~~~
Sunny
Saint hadn't recovered much in his soul sea, but now was as good a time as ever. The shadow knight appeared behind Sunny and fanned out along with he and Nephis. They formed a semi-circle and approached slowly.
Why had Kallen taken the time to offer Sunny the chance to leave again? He'd given Nephis plenty of time to heal, while granting himself nothing. It didn't add up.
But it didn't matter either. Sunny burst forward and with him came Saint, her dark blade mirroring his own weapon.
Kallen didn't wait. He crossed the space between them in a single bound, intercepting Saint before Sunny could reach him. The clash sent a shudder through the collapsing spire.
The shadow blocked, staggered, and parried. Kallen's golden blade crashed down and Saint met each blow as Sunny darted in from the side while Nephis held herself back, waiting for an opening.
Healing.
Gathering strength.
The blood blossom dangling from Sunny's neck had gone into a sort of frenzy. He tried to flank while Kallen was distracted, but the Nightwalker spun without hesitation and forced him back with a sweeping arc.
Saint countered again, but the guy anticipated her rhythm. He ducked under the strike, then stepped into her space. His fist crashed into the shadow's helm, caving the side inward. Then he struck again, and again, and then again before Sunny could intercept.
Ruby red spilled to the ground by the time he made it.
Sunny caught him in the thigh, his tachi punching through weak and withered armor. Without his own shadow empowering the blade, it should never have pierced through transcended anything. But with it weakened, Kallen exhausted, and the integral structure nearly failing, it worked.
That didn't mean he'd won, however.
As Saint staggered back, Kallen turned to Sunny before he could pull his sword from the gap. A golden blade struck through his stomach once again.
Sunny looked down. Then back into Kallen's eyes. The moment the golden man went for a follow up, Nephis moved. Just like they'd planned.
She struck with perfect speed, and perfect precision. Her aspect was barely visible now beneath the grime and blood, but still present, still burning.
Her blade kissed the crack on Kallen's side.
The golden sword was pulled free from Sunny.
Kallen tried to manipulate her blood—tried to do something to shove her back, but she slammed into him, taking a sword through the shoulder. She pressed him against the wall.
Just where Saint had lured him.
Just where Sunny had distracted him.
Nephis shoved her hand into a crimson fracture running along the chest of Kallen's armor. Her fingers dug into the space and as he reached a hand to stop her, she shoved her other hand into his face, pinning his head against the wall and leveraging her longer reach.
With a scream of effort, blinding white erupted from Nephis, and she tore. The breastplate groaned, bent, and then ripped open. The exposed skin underneath was painted red.
Real.
That was all Sunny needed.
He flashed forward, the Midnight Shard pulling his hands to their target. Nephis dropped, half from pain, half from instinct. Kallen's eyes widened as he noticed Sunny, but by then, his fate was already sealed.
Sunny's sword pierced through the open space. Past the ruined armor. Into Kallen's chest and through the stone behind him.
A gasp escaped Kallen's lips. He coughed, pinned against the wall, blood bubbling from his mouth. He raised a weak hand, trying to force the blood at Sunny, but after a moment it fell to the ground.
His sword clattered.
Sunny fell back as Nephis hissed, pressing a burning hand where she'd been skewered. The three of them waited, all of them panting, all of them bleeding, all of them shaking.
The Crimson Spire groaned as if it too had underwent the furious battle, and Sunny recalled saint back into his soul sea. It was over. They could leave.
The portal was only a few yards away… freedom remained.
But then Nephis had to go and ruin it. She had to ruin it with what Sunny had suspected… but never came to admit.
"Kallen," she said.
He looked up at her, those haunted eyes a bit more lifeless now. He offered a weak smile, blood stained lips straining. "Y-yeah?"
His chest rose and fell weakly. Shoulders slumped. His knees probably wouldn't have held him up if not for the macabre splint sticking through his chest. Sunny hadn't been able to hit his heart, but he'd die when the spire collapsed.
Nephis frowned. "Why didn't you use that trident of yours?"
Kallen didn't respond immediately. There was barely a shift in his expression, but he did force a hint of a laugh. "Performance issues… "
When Nephis didn't react, he continued. "Why does it matter?"
She shook her head. "Why did you let Sunny come back to help me? It would have been an easy fight for you if he hadn't come. So why?"
Yeah… Sunny thought. He'd been wondering that as well.
"I already told you earlier," Kallen said, his breathing coming in faster. If Nephis kept this up, he'd die before she got the answers she wanted.
"You said you couldn't kill him… but you also could have simply dragged him through the portal yourself."
"I—" Kallen said. "I had to help Caster…"
Nephis took a step forward. Her flames flickered dimly, casting soft, pulsing shadows. "That's not an answer."
Kallen coughed again. More blood dripped down his chin. He leaned back further into the wall, the sword pinning him like a broken painting frame.
"I told you already." He closed his eyes for a breath.
"No you were deflecting," she said.
Sunny moved beside her. His eyes were downcast, but he was still ready just in case something happened.
"Earlier, you let me stall so I could heal. You offered Sunny multiple chances to leave, and you never dealt either of us a truly fatal wound, despite having multiple opportunities." Nephis's gaze narrowed. "So tell me why you threw the fight."
The Spire swayed, shouting in pain.
~~~
Kallen
Kallen glared at Nephis, lifting his chin as she walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Weak, sputtering flame spilled out, keeping him alive. At least for now. He sighed, letting his head drop.
"Fine," he said "You win. Yes, I never had any intention of making out of here."
"Why?"
The all encompassing tightness in his chest nearly drowned out the question. He shut his eyes tight, gritting his teeth through the pain.
"It doesn't matter."
"The tower won't last much longer," Sunny said. Kallen couldn't see him, but he could feel the anger in his voice. "Speak quickly."
Kallen hesitated for a moment. "I don't know… because I'm a coward? That's why. You guys saved my sister's life. You protected her across hundreds of miles of the dream realm, and took her in as one of your own. You dealt with that hideous flaw of hers, and protected her, and didn't force her to be something that she isn't, and…"
He stopped, sighing deeply for breath. "I can't go back to living a normal life. I've seen… done too much. I can't eat normal food, I can't sleep without hearing that horrible skittering noise, or thinking of that thing I turned into back in that nest."
Kallen tried to hold his tongue, but the words just came spilling from his mouth. "I can't go on. All of this, everything that's happened was because of her. And I tried not to blame her, I tried and tried, but I just couldn't. I can't deal with it anymore. I don't want to deal with it anymore.
"I should be in college." He laughed a humorless, blood soaked, wretched cry. Then he gestured to the sword in his chest "Not here. I should be studying. Drinking. Living. I'm not a true legacy, and I wasn't forged by a life in the outskirts. I'm a normal person…"
Sunny's mouth twisted into a frown. "So you're giving up?"
"Don't you dare say it like that!" Kallen shouted, his gaze snapping to the boy. "Seren's dying… if Nephis doesn't make it out of here… if she doesn't awaken and fix that flaw in my sister's soul—or whatever the hell it is—then I have to challenge the second nightmare. I have to walk right into it with someone whose presence makes something like that impossible. I won't risk her in the second nightmare. So no, I'm not giving up, I'm just being pragmatic. You of all people should know what that's like."
Kallen didn't fail to notice that something in Sunny's face shifted. Or maybe the way he held himself. Something about what had been said elicited some sort of reaction. It just couldn't quite be placed.
"If I go back, they'll kill her," he said. "Nephis, surely you understand. They'll kill my sister if we both get out of here, and her chances with you are infinitely better than with me. So go. This won't kill me… I can cauterize the wound. I can mend it with a Memory. Puddle can hide me… "
Nephis stepped back from him and looked in his eyes. Then she looked at Sunny and nodded.
The two of them began to walk toward the portal. Sunny's sword disappeared in a flash of white sparks, causing Kallen to fall onto the rough ground.
He grunted, immediately patching the wound with his meager blood control. Then he summoned the gauze memory and held it to his chest, sighing and groaning through the pain.
But Nephis stopped.
For a long second, she didn't move. Then she said something to Sunny; it was soft, almost ashamed as she turned around.
A moment, then, "I told myself I was doing the right thing," she said. "That sacrificing your trust, manipulating you through your sister, was justified… because the stakes were so high. Because the Spire had to fall. I convinced myself and Sunny that was reason enough."
Kallen furrowed his brow as she approached.
"But it wasn't. It isn't reason enough. Not really—I was just repeating the same thinking that turned people like them into monsters. Powerful people… but monsters. I told myself that the ends justified the means, but the truth is…"
Nephis faltered.
"The truth is that I have a goal." She looked up at him, and her eyes no longer held that fiery conviction. There was fear there. Humanity poking through. "I'm tired of making choices that twist me into something I hate. So I'm not going to make this one…"
Kallen tried to adjust himself on the wall, biting back a pained shout. What the hell is she talking about?
Nephis drew a breath. "It would leave a bad taste in my mouth. Just like leaving a helpless blind girl, or a child to die alone would. I won't do it. If I did, I would be no better than those I want to destroy. What's the point if I become just like them?"
"I already said I can't," he whispered. "I made peace with that… I can't"
"Kallen," Nephis said, taking another step closer. "If you never came back, it would break Seren's heart. She would know the moment that attribute of hers failed. So we'll stay, and come with us. I don't want to see her hurt like that… and I don't want…"
Her voice cracked, but she caught it.
Sunny gave her an odd look. One that Kallen couldn't quite discern, but he figured it had to do with what Ariel had been—and still was—telling him.
"She's afraid you'll find out."
But along with it was, "She's afraid of becoming a monster."
Nephis didn't move. Just looked at him expectantly, searching even as the tower around them crumbled. It didn't matter what Kallen chose to do. He couldn't move yet… couldn't escape the situation like this; the portal would collapse before he could make it. But even still, she knelt beside him and a soft radiance touched his chest.
Nephis swayed as pain blossomed. The wound stitched. The wound which had been fighting against Kallen's aspect mended.
Sunny turned away.
"Damnation," he muttered, dragging two hands through his hair. "Damn it, Neph. This is… what are you, crazy? I just risked my life protecting you from this asshole! He tried to kill you! I want to go home… to get out of this hell, and here you are dragging me into your moral breakdown!"
He turned back, stabbing a finger at both of them. "This is suicide. Maybe the dumbest thing you two have ever done. And you—" he pointed at Nephis—"you think this makes you noble? It doesn't. It just makes you reckless and insane like always."
Sunny spun again, clutching at his hair, muttering through his teeth. "Damn you all. Damn you both. What the hell am I supposed to do?"
When neither of them answered, he sighed long and sharp. "Fine. Before I change my mind—damn it all, fine. I don't want to see that kid cry either, so… get on with it. Heal the bastard and let's just go."
Kallen opened his mouth, but closed it after a moment. He looked at the two of them, one glowing like a half-dead star, the other scowling like the sky just fell on his shoulders.
"Okay." A deep, heavy sigh escaped Kallen. Then, barely audible, "... thank you."
Sunny snorted. "Don't make it weird."
There was a crack through the stone balcony where the portal sat. It was so close to annihilation. Sunny and Nephis had been so close to salvation.
Looking away from the dais, Kallen felt the heat from Nephis's aspect spread through him. He was already past the point of being mortally wounded, but still she healed him even as her aspect failed her.
As the Crimson Spire groaned, stones raining from above as the structure came down in earnest, Kallen stood, helping Nephis to her feet with Sunny's assistance. The three of them stumbled, but remained steady.
"Truly… thank you. But before…" Kallen winced. "Before we go, can you guys tell me something?"
Sunny glanced over, annoyed. "Yeah. Sure, what is it?"
Kallen lingered for a moment, then said, "I've been wanting to know for a while…" turning to Sunny, he continued. "I won't use your flaw against you in the future… but please forgive me just this once…
"Sunny, what are you guys hiding from me?"