As Hugo forced himself to rise onto two feet, pain came in waves both rising and falling. It clung to him like a second skin, constant and unrelenting as the wound on his head throbbed with a deep ache.
The pain was tormenting but compared to what he felt during that time, this much was nothing. He'd keep fighting to see Roswell fall.
'If it's just pain, then it isn't a problem.'
And so he took action. Taking a single step forwards, he vanished without a trace once more.
Startled, the ship captain took a panicked step back while scanning his surroundings. Aiming to spot Hugo moving within the depths of the falling black feathers.
'I know for sure he didn't have an aspect until now because he hadn't used it at all, so his understanding of it should be half baked.'
And it was also then that he heard it again, the ever so close, yet somehow distant sounds of a bird flapping its wings.
'Are they the source of these feathers? There seems to be no end to them.'
So if he wanted the shower to stop, he'd have to kill it. But even that would be difficult if he couldn't even spot it. They only started appearing the moment Hugo awakened his aspect, so he must've been causing it somehow.
A razor sharp instinct slid down his spine, cold and immediate. It was a warning without sound, and certainty of imminent danger.
Once his thoughts caught up, his body turned sharply, boots grinding against the ground as he turned—just as a blade came down from behind him, slicing the air in a clean, silent arc.
Steel met steel.
The clash rang out—sharp, violent and brief as Roswell's dagger snapped upward to intercept it. The force of the impact jolted through his arm, but it was pitifully weak.
Sparks of metal flickered between them briefly, as he drove the opposing blade away with ease. Then with a swift, controlled motion, he twisted his wrist and and thrusted the dagger forwards aiming to gouge Hugo's neck.
But moments before it could meet it's target, he vanished once more. And yet again, Roswell could feel that sense of imminent danger. Turning around once more he slashed away at the air with his blade, finding Hugo's own and disarming it before he disappeared yet again.
"Coward!"
It came again, and the cycle repeated once more.
That same unnatural certainty warned him of danger as Hugo's blade fell down upon him. And likewise, Roswell rushed even faster to meet it before carving a precise, lethal path towards Hugo. To which, Hugo avoided as he vanished yet again.
The cycle went on, and on, and on..
It was annoying to say the least.
Roswell's aspect was terrible. In fact it was more like a party trick if anything. But still, he made did with what he had. That weak and feeble aspect in his experienced hands, had become something that had taken down countless terrible foes.
His dormant ability was simple. He could attract and repel small objects towards and away from him. It sounded pathetic, but if the opponent wasn't aware of this fact then it could quickly become quite insidious.
His awakened ability was akin to precognition. He could feel the imminent danger of actions, but only from a chosen target of which there was up to two. For now, he only had the ability active on Hugo out of worry for essence costs.
Roswell's goal, was now a battle of attrition. No matter how much determination Hugo had, he was still in a worse state than himself. And now that he was abusing his freshly awakened aspect so often, he was sure to fall for good.
Even if he could keep running away like this, he'd burn out long before him.
'I thought he was moving incredibly fast or simply turning invisible, but that isn't it. He's teleporting.'
That was sure to eat up far more essence than simple high speed movement. And using it as often as that meant it was only a matter of time.
In fact, he could already see it on his face. Those dark circles forming under his eyes, a sign of essence exhaustion. The end of this fight was at last nearing.
'I will win.'
But as his confidence grew, something began to irk him. An unsolved mystery scratched the back of his mind.
'What was the point of the feathers?'
They were hardly obscuring his vision so that couldn't be it, and it wasn't like they were affecting him negatively either. Even his mundane crewmen seemed to be unharmed.
Even so, the answer to that question was pointless now. It was time to finish things for good. He would die, and that mystery would eventually be forgotten.
Once more, Hugo reappeared behind him. Silent, sudden, and exactly where Roswell had predicted.
Before he could even steady his footing, before his blade could even begin its arc once more, something flew out from under Roswell's coat. Steel flashed in-between them briefly, as a second, hidden dagger plunged itself into his shoulder.
Hugo had not witnessed Azdin's defeat, so he had no way of knowing that he had succumbed to such a feeble aspect. And had no way of being prepared for it himself.
Unable to hold himself up, he stumbled back as he fell to the ground, his back landing harshly as cried.
Finally, that long and arduous cycle had come to an end.
Approaching him now with a smirk on his face, Roswell extended out a hand as he pulled back his weapon. It zipped across the air and landed back on the palm of his hand, with the fresh wound in Hugo's shoulder widening now as he groaned. Desperately covering it with his arm to try and slow the bleeding.
"I'll have to admit, I haven't had this much trouble in a long while."
Out of all the people he'd fought and battles he'd won against other Awakened, he never could've imagined that people this young could've caused him this much trouble. He didn't want to imagine what they would've done had they met under different circumstances.
He'd probably be the one bleeding out on the floor instead.
'But that's just the thing. We didn't meet under those circumstances..'
Chuckling, he muttered under his breath,
"It appears that fate favours me more than you."
He was the victor, he would get to see the sun rise of tomorrow, and the many that would come after that.
Stepping forward, he raised his blade with cold finality. There was no hesitation left in him now, no curiosity nor patience, and for Hugo there was certainly no more vanishing trick for him to slip away with. He didn't have enough essence for that now. The fact he wasn't running away was proof of that.
Finally, the edge of his dagger dropped downwards.
And then, it struck him again. That same instinct warning him of a harmful act. Despite Hugo already being defeated on the floor, his Aspect warned him yet again. That he had done something to oppose him.
Despite that though, he had not moved an inch.
Maybe it was only by chance, or maybe it was out of caution for his current situation, Roswell found him looking forwards. Looking far ahead, he at first wondered if their fight had drifted from where it started. But when he thought about it properly, he realized that it hadn't moved all that much.
So then..
'Where did he go?'
Right where Azdin should've laid barely conscious, there was only empty space.
Empty with nothing but a single black feather still fluttering in the air.
And that was when he finally understood. It all connected. But by then it, he was already too late.
'The feathers—!'
Panic broke through him as he turned in a rush. And there, he was only met with a single fist.
Azdin's knuckle collided into his face with explosive force, a brutal, merciless impact that flattened his face on contact. A violent shock tore through him, as his brain seemed to rattle along with his skull.
Driving it forward, his head snapped back as his footing ripped out from under him. His body lifting control while Azdin kept pushing, eventually smashing his head straight into the ships floorboard.
The wood shattered on impact, splintering outward as his head punched straight through it.
Roswell fell.
And he didn't rise again.