Emilie POV

  Blue and purple light exploded in her face as a massive fist of ice shattered her barrier and slammed her across the room. Time seemed to slow. She gritted her teeth as the world briefly went fuzzy, the pale white and blue ice blurring together as she sailed away from her friends, and she could faintly hear a muffled shout of her name.

  Hazy memories of slamming into the sand flitted through her mind. Of getting obliterated without even putting up a fight. “Not... again...”

  She couldn’t even focus enough to Teleport. Fucking hell, she hated how frail she felt sometimes. She tensed her shoulder and lifted her head up. Legends above this landing was going to–

  Be fine?

  She slammed into something warm and soft, like a long-used pillow after a full night's sleep.

  That hadn’t stopped moving.

  Taking a second to suck in a few deep breaths, she grabbed hold of the orange feathers in front of her as the fire bird darted forward, dipping just out of the way of half a dozen stalagmites that had jettisoned up from the ground below.

  ‘You alright?’ Suzy’s voice lacked its usual teasing lilt.

  “I– one second.” It took her longer than it should have to process what Suzy had even said. Her head was still swimming.

  Suzy hopped up and away from a foot slamming into the ground, cracking it beneath them as the angry visage of her final form hopped up after her. She twisted her body, turning in midair, and brought her own foot up to meet him.

  The two collided with a deafening crack, the force of the impact sending them flying away from each other. The ice Toa slammed back down into the ground, violently tumbling backwards along the cold surface as Suzy soared up toward the ceiling. She flipped and brought her legs up, the ice melting from her shin almost instantly, and stuck the upside-down landing.

  “Think... I’m going to be sick...” Emilie muttered.

  Suzy winced before tensing her legs and jumping down at the Ice Blaziken that was getting back to his feet. “Aim your vomit at the bad guys, then. Sorry, but I can’t stop–”

  That statement would prove a painful lie as both of them slammed, beak first, into a massive wall of ice that had lifted from the ground.

  “Ow...” Suzy muttered.

  Emilie rubbed her head before pushing herself up and taking stock of the room. Powdered snow flitted in and out of sight, and a giant wall had divided the room, cutting them off from the rest of the team.

  From Lea...

  ‘Cold...’

  Emilie whipped her head around. The whisper echoed inside her own skull, fully focusing her eyes on the block of ice beneath her. A block of ice that was doing its level best to pull them in.

  She brought her hands up and teleported down to the ground. “You alright?”

  Suzy rubbed her head before taking a deep breath, fire pushing out from her feathers as she exhaled. “I’m fine, shortstack. Thanks for the save.”

  Emilie nodded before looking across the room. The cracks that had appeared on the Ice Blaziken’s body had already fused back together as it rose up to full height, snow starting to swirl around the area next to him as another figure rose.

  “Great, the Ice God has a sense of humor.” Emilie sighed before bringing her hands together, an angry ball of red forming between them. “You feel up to tangoing with our “final forms”, featherhead?”

  Suzy spat out a glowing red ember before darting across the cave. “Just keep up, shortstack.”

  She got about halfway there before the ground beneath her started to rise. Emilie’s eyes glowed blue, and she shot her partner a mental image of where she was going. Suzy jumped up toward the ceiling, using the momentum of the rising ice block to speed up as her body started to ignite.

  Fractions of a second before impact, right as Suzy was starting to sweat, she disappeared. In a flourish of fire and pain, the featherhead reformed in front of the two ice sculptures. Fire engulfed that entire half of the room, and Emilie smirked as she spied two different creatures jump up from the blaze, their bodies steaming in the afterglow of Suzy’s inferno.

  “Can’t even finish them off with my help, huh featherhead?” Emilie smiled as she brought the orb between her hands up, before mixing it, focusing it inwards, and concentrating it to a single point as she wrapped the fire in her own psychic energy.

  The beam of heat pushed across the room, only to slam and be reflected as a sheet of solid ice formed between her and the Ice Blaziken.

  “Shit!” Emilie teleported out of the way of her own attack.

  “I’m doing just fine!” Suzy shouted as she jumped up from the fading flames and grabbed the Ice Gallade by the ankles. Fire flared up around her claws, sublimating the ice as it formed, and the fire type gave a mighty cluck before slamming the sculpture down into the ground, cracking both the stone and the ice. “Maybe you should worry about yourself, shortstack!”

  Emilie gritted her teeth before teleporting again, narrowly moving out of the way as the Ice Blaziken slammed its foot down into the ground, freezing the ground beneath it solid. She swore as the creature was already on her. “How-”

  Before she could teleport again, the fake got slammed into by its own partner, sending the two of them flying toward the massive wall of ice at the back of the room.

  Suzy jumped up next to her, her breathing hard and ragged. ‘You’re welcome.’

  “I...” Emilie bit back her insult. Stupid bird. “Thanks. Guess ranged attacks aren’t the best idea.”

  ‘At least not that beam attack.’ Suzy hopped up into the air before breathing out a massive stream of fire. Steam pushed out as snow and bits of ice pushed through the attack. ‘And for fuck’s sake, switch to telepathy, it’s hard as fuck to hear in this, and it’s easier to do while we’re fighting.’

  Emilie shot the firebird an odd look. ‘What are you-’

  ‘I think it’s time you stopped playing scared, don’t you?’ Suzy shot her a cocky look as she passed the mental image to her partner.

  Emilie winced. ‘I don’t think-’

  ‘You’ve been playing keep away with these things since I thawed.’ Suzy’s look shifted to a glare. ‘That’s not like you at all.’

  Emilie winced before looking across the room. The two sculptures were both giving the stream of fire cautious looks as they inched around the room.

  ‘You going to suit up or not?’ Suzy asked, her tone clipped. ‘I’m not going to do this forever. Come on, the fire’s fine, show me a brand new Emiliena-’

  ‘Shut!’ Emilie shouted as she brought her hands up and grabbed the inferno, before pulling down and surrounding herself with it. ‘Up! That is not what it’s called!’

  Emilie floated upward, her feet resting on a clear barrier that folded up and wrapped around her in a see-through barrier as the fire slowly engulfed her. Sweat dotted her brow as she threw her arms out, and the blaze flowed out and took shape, warping into something more human.

  ‘I’ll fucking show you. Who the hell did you say was playing scared?’ She leaned forward and urged the barrier to move, smiling as the fire moved with her. ‘Like hell am I going to let you use that cursed name. Let’s see you keep up, featherhead!’

  ‘Doubt I’ll even have to try!’ Suzy shouted as she darted behind her, her feathers lighting up once more.

  Emilie twisted, her body turning in midair as she threw out a roundhouse kick, the fire mimicking her movements. She smirked as the flames licked outwards, pushing beyond her normal range.

  The Gallade had brought its arm up, and she locked with it, a glowing red barrier digging into its arm with a petulant hiss. She let her control slip slightly, and a portion of the fire she had been holding back breached containment, bathing the doppelganger in a sea of flames.

  Ice Blaziken leaped forward, only to slam its leg into Suzaku’s still-burning arm.

  “Oi, don’t look at them.” She brought her head down and slammed it hard into the creature's stomach.

  Emilie smiled before feeling her leg get shoved backward. She floundered for a moment before catching herself as the Gallade jumped back, the left half of its body slightly melted like something out of one of Lea’s horror movies.

  Water refroze and bulged in odd, misshapen ways as the creature flung its arms out, sending out an arc of water that quickly froze into a single blade.

  Emilie grinned. “Nice idea. Mind if I steal it?”

  She threw her own arm out and let the captured flame go. As soon as the two attacks made contact, and it looked like the ice might even push through, she clenched her fist and pulled the air into the inferno. The attack exploded, sending shards of ice flying out in every direction.

  ‘Slow...’ The whispers felt like hissing in her ear as she reached up and clutched at her skull, her vision going spotty. Emilie took in a deep shuddering breath, then looked up to see no sign of her opponent.

  “Did that... do it?” She reached out for a jewel and felt only ice shards and disappointment.

  Two hands rose up from the ground and wrapped around the barriers that held her creation’s feet together, freezing them before shattering them completely. Steam pushed out briefly as the fire making up the bottom half of her golem flickered violently before being cast out into the frigid air.

  Emilie’s heart seized as she moved backwards on reflex, her eyes locked with the Ice Gallade’s. A single, glowing blue orb grew between its hands as it pulled back, a listless expression on its face.

  A beam of cold screamed through the cave, solidifying the air it moved through before slamming into the ceiling above with a tangible force. Small cracks briefly formed before widening as a massive ice lattice pushed out from the fissures.

  Emilie sucked in deep breath after deep breath as she looked at the fracturing mess of barriers and ice she had almost been a part of. Legends above, she actually felt the pull of the teleport for once. Fucking hell, she needed to focus. She needed her damn heart to slow the hell down.

  ‘You... need... us...’ Each word came out as a whispered promise, dripping with warmth and calm. ‘Just reach out.’

  ‘Shut up!’ she hissed. ‘Don’t know what the hell you are but stay out of my head and let me focus on the damned fight!’

  No response.

  She sighed before tensing up as the invisible wall around her froze solid. Her eyes locked onto where her barrier shattered and teleported away.

  ...Directly into the path of a flying orange bird, damn it all. A warm set of feathers slammed into her, and she instinctively teleported again, dragging Suzy along for the ride.

  “Hey! I was winning!” Suzy shouted before snapping her beak shut as she realized that Emilie had teleported them a bit farther up off the ground than she would have preferred. “Damn it.”

  Both tumbled roughly, Emilie letting out a soft cry of pain as she rolled across the ground. Suzy rolled forward before scooping the psychic type up and running, clawing at the cold stone floor with her feet and narrowly staying ahead of a giant frozen leg that dove down into the ground.

  This stupid fake was entirely too fond of the dive kick.

  “Sorry! I just... reacted.” Another deep breath in. Dammit all, why couldn’t she calm down. “I don’t–”

  The world lurched as Suzy jumped through the air, narrowly jumping out of a pair of hands that were reaching up from the ground. A yellow glint left Suzy’s eye as she opened her beak wide and bathed the ground in yellow flames. Her eyes narrowed as she instantly jumped again on landing, barely keeping ahead of the angry Ice Blaziken that smothered the fire with a single touch.

  ‘Okay, why the hell is a fake fighting type the world's most annoying camper.’ Suzy spat more fire behind her. ‘Damn thing’s just hiding and waiting for a chance to pull me down into the abyss.’

  ‘Well, it is based on Lele, who never wanted to be a fighting type.’ Emilie winced, wondering if she was supposed to share that. ‘How are you staying ahead of that, anyway?’

  Suzy ran a few more steps, rounding a corner before jumping once again right as the hands shot up. ‘I’m abusing Detect like crazy, that’s how, and it’s starting to do trippy shit to my brain.’

  ‘I’m giving you some platforms to jump on, sorry if they’re a little hard to see, but just... trust that I won’t let you fall.’ Okay. Breathing’s getting more under control. Good. Just stay calm and maintain the barriers.

  ‘Just know that I won’t ever let you hear the end of it if you–’ Suzy skidded to a stop as a long, ice skewer shot up in front of them, cleanly skewering one of the longer feathers on Suzy’s head.

  Emilie threw her hands up, and the barrier they were standing on moved higher. ‘You okay?’

  ‘Yeah…’ Suzy swallowed before freezing in place. ‘Open a hole in the barrier, now!’

  Emilie nodded as her partner leaned back, a massive ball of fire forming in her beak. Heat washed across her skin as the stream of death pushed through the opening, consuming the fake Blaziken just before he made contact. A grin pulled at the psychic’s lips for the briefest of moments, right up until the momentum carried the monster the rest of the way.

  A half melted, misshapen mess slammed into the wall with a violent crack, fracturing what was left of their platform as a malformed hand reached through the opening for Suzy’s throat. The fire bird instinctively backed away, her foot slipping off the barrier as something that’d put Lea’s horror movie monsters to shame closed the gap.

  Emilie lifted her head up and froze as the still solid Gallade surged out from the giant wall separating her from her trainer, arm pulled back as it glided through the air.

  She focused on the ground below, held tightly onto Suzy’s feathers, and teleported back to the ground, Suzy collapsing on re-entry.

  “Ow...” Emilie muttered, her head pounding as she shoved at the fire chicken. “Get off, would ya? You are entirely too heavy to be on top of me like this.”

  Suzy dug her elbow into Emilie’s side as she got up, more than likely on purpose. Stupid featherhead. “Muscle is heavy, I don’t know what to tell ya.”

  As the featherhead moved her oversized behind out of her field of view, a brilliant light shined from above, more radiant than that of the crystal prison. Shielding her eyes as she gazed up, she winced as all of Suzy’s hard work was undone. What had been a barely cognizable blob of water, ice, and snow had congealed back into a much more tangible form. Still, something felt off. Why would–

  A loud grunt pulled her from her thoughts as her partner pushed off from the ground, her body aglow with a blazing light.

  “Wait!” The warning came out far too late as a massive frozen barrier materialized between Suzy and her targets. She winced at the sickening crunch that Suzy made on contact, her Flame Charge pushing out harmlessly as she slowly slid down with a sound reminiscent of skin rubbing against glass echoing through the chamber. Another wince at the impact with the ground.

  Legends above, she was hopeless without her.

  Emilie teleported on top of the groaning bird, before teleporting again as the massive ice wall moved down to press them into the frosted stone floor. ‘Alright, so we tried it your way. Didn’t work. Are you willing to listen to the psychic that has a functional brain as opposed to bum rushing the ice monsters?’

  “Tell me... where she is... and I’ll be down...” Suzy muttered between pants.

  ‘Worthless.’ The word came with a sharp spasm of pain that lanced through her skull. ‘We’re more than enough. Call us...’

  ‘Shut up.’ Emilie bit her lip lightly to hold back a shout of pain as she clamped down on her mental barrier. She lurched forward as a pair of hands pulled her up from the ground, and fought against whiplash as they moved across the ground, narrowly staying ahead of the large chunks of ice that were falling from the ground.

  ‘You alright? You keep spacing out and it’s starting to worry me,’ Suzy shouted over the chaos.

  Emilie opened her mouth but felt her tongue stick to the top of her throat. Stupid– ‘Been better. We’ve been fighting almost non-stop since we got here. I think it’s starting to catch up with me.’

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  God, the look she was giving her made her feel pathetic.

  ‘So, I'm guessing the potshots you fired while I was half out of it on the ground mean you’ve got some kind of plan? Care to share?’ Suzy tilted her head at her as she jumped up, her feet digging into the wall as she darted up before backflipping over the oncoming ice spears.

  Emilie nodded once. ‘We’ve been playing a small game and trying to take these things down with normal attacks. It hurts them, sure, but–’

  ‘It’s not enough.’ Suzy finished and let loose a Flamethrower at a set of oncoming ice spears, then dodged under what remained and sprinted along the edge of the chamber. ‘So what would you suggest?’

  She grinned. ‘I’m suggesting lighting the whole damn chamber on fire, preferably all at once.’

  Suzy stopped moving and just stared at her for a second, and Emilie slapped her forehead before teleporting them both across the chamber, away from the pursuing… everything.

  Legends above there was so much ice and snow moving through the room right now and all of it looked deadly.

  ‘Ya, mule! If you stop moving we’re dead! Teleporting doesn’t mean much if the whole room’s a death trap!’ she screamed.

  ‘Running!’ Suzy darted forward, ducking her head down below a massive spinning block of ice as she cradled her closer to her chest.

  God, of all the ways to carry her, this stupid chicken had to pick bridal style, really? This was only barely better than being chucked over her shoulder like a damn cavewoman.

  ‘So how exactly do you propose we blow up the chamber? Did you bring like, three dozen Pineco from the Petalburg Woods and stash them in a pocket dimension or something?’ Suzy was running up the damn wall again. ‘You better not be thinking of having me provide it all. I can barely see where I’m going when I fire off Flamethrowers.’

  Emilie winced. That… that was problematic. ‘Well, the plan was to have you blow out a lot of hot air and for me to keep it going, until I pull it and a punch of air into one spot and let it blow up, but–’

  ‘Shortstack, I need to be able to see in this bullshit.’ Suzy jumped up as spears of ice launched from the ground, her eyes glowing slightly. ‘Fuck, my head hurts.’

  ‘It’s because Detect generally isn’t something that’s supposed to be spammed, idiot.’ Emilie glanced up at her fire-clad escort worriedly.

  ‘You want me to try and predict this shit without it, midget? We’d be skewered in less than ten seconds.’ Suzy winced slightly on landing. ‘You’re the one with the fancy brain powers, why am I the one with the headache.’

  To be fair, she had a headache–

  Wait. That… that could work. ‘I… Have an idea. Suzy, I know we don’t usually agree on a lot of things, but-’

  ‘What do you need me to do?’ Suzy deadpanned.

  She winced. ‘Do you trust me?’

  ‘You’re an idiot, of course I do. Now fucking hurry up and tell me what your stupid plan is before we get turned into fine works of art, because I gotta tell you, the stupid golem does not give you enough time to make a badass pose and I’m still fucking freezing from the damn thawing process!’ She jumped and slammed her foot, talons aglow with an orange blaze, and slammed it into another wall of ice, sending them both backwards as the blockade cracked and steamed under the force of the blow.

  ‘What I need you to do is why I asked, idiot.’ She threw the half-hearted insult back at her. ‘Put me on your shoulders so I can see better. I’m… we’re both overwhelmed right now, but–’

  Suzy pulled her up with one arm, and moved her to her side. ’Be careful while you climb, you’re too big to piggy back, but just… I dunno, wrap your arms around my chest or something. I’ll hold onto your legs.’ She winced as a spear of ice glanced her thigh. ‘And for fuck’s sake, stop dancing around it and spit it out, I’m dying out here.’

  ‘Our issues get solved if we share the load,’ she spat out as she crawled around and grabbed a hold of Suzy as she’d asked. ‘I’ll link my mind with yours. Shoulder the strain of Detect and let you see through my eyes.’ She swallowed. ‘I… I don’t know how to limit the connection, we’ll be able to see just about anything and everything. Every–’

  ‘For crying out loud, quit yammering and do it already!’ Suzy shouted. ‘We REALLY don’t have all day.’

  ‘I–’

  ‘Trust you,’ Suzy finished. ‘So stop talking and start doing. I like your plan. Let’s blow up the damn cave. It looks ugly as sin and needs to be burned down.’

  Emilie felt her mouth drop down before nodding. ‘Just, open your mind, as much as you can. I’ll do the rest.’

  ‘How the fuck–’

  ‘Just don’t think a lot, for you it should be easy.’ Emilie grinned at the glare before reaching out. In the span of about two seconds, she instantly felt herself lose a few IQ points as her mind touched Suzy’s. Her view widened, and she was amazed at how easy it was to feel at home. Normally the brain would offer some token resistance, even if the other person was willing.

  She wondered not for the first time if Suzy was actually brain damaged. The sudden influx of rage reminder her that this was a two way street at the moment, before working to take on the mental strain of her partner’s battlefield clairvoyance. She briefly balked at how much of a baby Suzy was before sharing her line of sight.

  The homicidal intent was held back by a since of urgency we both seemed to share. Probably a good thing for their continued health and welfare, honestly.

  The connection lasted all of two seconds before a flurry of images washed over her. This was something she had intended, but she wasn’t quite ready for the sensory overload of it.

  Neither was Suzy, apparently, as the featherhead tripped over her own two feet almost instantly. They flew forward, and Emilie turned her own gaze up, and spied a single floating ice block sailing towards them.

  Emilie imagined them there, and they disappeared. Suzy threw her feet down instinctively and started running up the block. Fire streamed out from Suzy’s mouth, the ice block steamed, snow evaporated, and she lifted up one of her arms and pulled. Pulled as the stream swelled up into an inferno as the fire Suzy created pushed past it’s normal lifetime and evolved into something more.

  A tingling went off in the back of her mind, and she teleported them both back to the ground, mentally grabbing her captured blaze once she reformed as three skewers of ice punched holes through it.

  That was Detect? Seemed… incredibly simple. Useful though. Very useful. She’d have to tell Lea later that she found the Pokemon equivalent of a spider sense. Now she was wondering if any new scans from Unova were available. She’d have to look once they got Sergei back.

  She ducked down below an chucked icicle skewer and chuckled at the exasperated ranting she was pulling out of Suzy’s head right now. It wasn’t her fault the featherhead couldn’t compartmentalize.

  Legends above she missed this. It wasn’t the quite the same as what she had shared with Lea, but it was close.

  She teleported them to the other side of the chamber as another tingle scratched at the back of her mind, and grinned as Suzy seamlessly moved with the teleport, another flamethrower at the ready.

  Emilie captured this new blaze and glanced out across the room. She couldn’t find her opponents. She knew they had to be somewhere. They were still getting everything and the kitchen sink chucked after them, after all, but still. Lele was the distance fighter, at least, she assumed, why wasn’t Toa out here hunting them down in the snowstorm.

  Her answer came as another tingle pulled at her mind, this one louder than the others.

  It also came far too late.

  A pair of hands had wrapped themselves around Suzy’s legs, and she bit back a scream as she felt the pain feed through the loop. Gritting her teeth, she glanced down as red fire pushed up against the ice trying to work it’s way up Suzy’s body. As she pushed through, Emilie sees it.

  There, glowing in the middle of the fake Lele’s head, were two glowing yellow gems.

  To hell with that stupidity.

  A new flamethrower joined the fire pushing out of the lower half of Suzy’s body, yet the stupid thing seemed to be holding firm, barely melting despite the insane amount of heat.

  Another tingle, and Emilie whipped her head away from their captor to see, spears chucked their way from all sides. She couldn’t force a teleport. Why the hell couldn’t she teleport?

  She lifted her hands up and a barrier formed around them. Pain wracked through her body at the impact as she strained to maintain the wall between them and potential certain death.

  She feels lightheaded for a second, and winces as the flamethrower pushing out of Suzy’s mouth slowly died off, her body sagging as she finally pulled herself from the icy grip. Tendrils of snow followed after them as they trailed backwards, a frozen arm reaching out as they moved, almost desperate.

  Emilie felt exhaustion wrack the both of them as another Flamethrower left Suzy’s beak, this one noticeably smaller, yet still enough to shake off the offending snow, and provide a bit more to the fire she was guiding. Steam had started to fill the chamber as more and more snow passed through her creation.

  She teleported as another tingle hit, not even bothering to wait to look where the attack might be coming from before doing so. Like hell was she going to make the same mistake twice. Her head drooped down slightly on re-entry.

  Fuck, she was tired.

  The Ice Gallade was gone again, but she didn’t think that mattered as she started pulling the artificial inferno closer, bringing in as much air as she could with it as she focused on a single point within the firestorm to bring it all together.

  She brought her barriers up, and as the attack finally came together, let her control slip and let nature run it’s course.

  Their entire side of the chamber was enveloped in a radiant heat, fire consuming everything as the energy she had collected violently rebelled against her psychic hold. Frozen platforms vaporized. Barriers shriveled and died. Spears dissolved inches away from their faces as the firestorm consumed anything and everything in the makeshift arena below.

  It was taking everything Emilie had to direct the blaze away from them, and even then, her barrier was fraying at the seams. Too much.

  ‘You need only call...’ The words were whispered in her ear, sweet as honey, and a violent contrast to the rest of the world. Yet despite that, no pain accompanied their plea.

  Emilie glanced nervously toward Suzy. Despite their new link, the featherhead seemed unbothered by the words. She seemed content to just gaze at the dancing flames below.

  Could she not hear them? Were the words something only she could grasp?

  A crack formed at the base of her barrier, and she let a curse slip as she threw another beneath their feet.

  She could worry about this later, she needed to focus now! Suzy–

  Would, honestly, probably be fine. She briefly toyed with the idea of kicking the firebird out into the blaze to make her life a bit easier but quickly discarded the idea as Suzy reached over and grabbed her arm.

  Could she actually still hear her thoughts?

  “I don’t know what you’re thinking anymore, but that look in your eye spelled trouble. Let’s hold off on the practical jokes till after we’re sure they’re dead, alright?” She tilted her head and shot her a smug grin.

  Rude.

  “I–it’s dying down,” Emilie sputtered. “Thank whatever legends out there that aren’t this stupid frozen piece of crap.”

  Tension left her shoulders as the fire slowly started to die down. She let the barrier stand, her brow furrowed as she glanced around. Small sections of the chamber were still on fire, though what kept that blaze going was something Emilie wasn’t sure of. She was honestly terrified that she wouldn’t be able to breathe if she stepped out into the chamber proper. The oxygen had to have been obliterated from that, right?

  This merited testing.

  She teleported to the ground and winced slightly. The floor was still hot to the touch.

  ‘Can you breathe?’ Emilie asked.

  Suzy looked at me funny. “Yeah? Should I not be able to?”

  Idiot. She’s a moron. One of her closest friends had air between her ears and why the hell did she just think of her as one of her closest friends?

  Legends above she was so tired...

  “Fire burns oxygen, and I just shoved a metric shit ton of it into as much fire as I could possibly control. Use the empty space between your ears and figure out why I might be concerned.” She let the barrier bubble they were standing in fade as she gave Suzy her most unimpressed stare. Like hell she was going to let that insult be a quiet thought, that was a good one.

  Suzy’s eye twitched. “Just find the fancy yellow stones before the wall does, would you? I don’t know that I have a round,” she stopped and started counting on her claws, “four in me right now.”

  Emilie grinned before reaching out with her mind and tracing along the ground. Among the ashes and soot, she found two solid objects resting listlessly.

  Her grin widened as she pulled, and the badly charred yellow stones lurched from their resting spots. Victory, finally. Now they could focus on blasting that damn barrier to kingdom come. They only had a few more fakes to bash up and then...

  God, what then? They had already dealt with so many ice monsters, what else was this thing going to throw at them? How much longer could they last against this?

  Whatever, they’d deal with it as it happened. Right now, they just needed to deal with what was in front of them. She grinned as the yellow gems got closer. At least these two wouldn’t be an issue anymore.

  A massive tremor rocketed through the chamber, knocking her off her feet. She briefly lost focus, and the yellow orbs dropped–

  Right into Suzy’s hands. She shot me a cocky grin as she held up the two fancy rocks between her talons. “What would you do without me?”

  “Live a long, happy, peaceful life,” Emilie deadpanned.

  Suzy chuckled before running back next to her. “Sounds boring. Any idea what that was?”

  “My guess is we’re not the only ones fighting. We–Lea!” Her heart seized as she remembered they weren’t anywhere close to done yet. “Help me blow this wall down! We need to get to her yesterday, I–”

  A single cracking sound was the only warning they got. Another tremor wracked through the cave, this one more severe. The wall in front of them shattered outward, a pulse of energy following behind and blasting through all of her barriers as though they were made of paper and throwing the two of them across the room, slamming them against the wall.

  The harsh impact sent spasms through her back as she bit back a scream of pain, her vision swimming as she slowly felt gravity run its course and pull her to the ground. No soft orange feathers softened the blow this time. A soft cough left her lips as she pushed herself up, her head throbbing as she looked towards Suzy.

  “You...a-alright?” Legends above she hated how weak she sounded right now.

  “No...” Suzy held her side as she pushed herself up. “I think I'm solidly in the not okay camp. R-really wish the world would stop spin–” Suzy’s beak froze as she looked across the chamber, her eyes wide and terrified.

  “Suzy, what’s-” Emilie froze as she followed her gaze.

  Lea was held high in the air, her body hanging limply, a massive, cold blue hand wrapped around her. Two swords were sinking into the ground, completely frozen.

  No.

  Why?

  How?

  ‘You can’t do this on your own.’ The voice was pitying now. ‘Please, before it’s too late.’

  “LEA!” Emilie screamed, sprinting across the dust filled room, her previous exhaustion forgotten as her heartbeat picked up to a fever pitch. She could hear other screams in the background, but she didn’t care.

  She needed to get to her.

  The mockery of Tito tossed Lea behind him, toward the flower at the back of the chamber, and turned to look at her dead on. Four glowing yellow jewels blazed in the thing's forehead.

  A wave of cold slammed into her, locking her feet in place. Her eyes pulsed and she disappeared, an orb of fire growing between her hands.

  “Burn, ass hat!” she screamed as she formed above the monster and fired, putting everything she could into it. The fire washed over it, bathing it in the hottest fire she could muster.

  She let out a yelp as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her down, narrowly dragging her out of the way of this thing’s massive arms. “Let go--”

  “Are you insane!?” Suzy screamed before hopping backwards, away from the Hariyama.

  It looked completely fine. She put everything into that attack, and it did nothing.

  “I know you’re pissed at that thing and scared out of your mind, but getting yourself flash frozen isn’t going to help Lea. We need a plan if we’re going to–” Suzy stopped talking, her eyes wide.

  “Suzy?” Emilie tilted her head, confused as they jumped to the left.

  Her face scrunched together, a wince crossing her features as a bead of panic shot up my spine.

  She shot her a grin. “Sorry for being a shitty damsel in distress.” A glint left Suzy’s eyes as she lifted her up. “In my defense, you were a horrible hero.” Suzy threw her across the room.

  “Suzy!” Emilie screamed. “What the–”

  The words died in her throat at the shrinking image of Suzy freezing solid and tumbling along the ground as thrashing blue tendrils rose up from the ground and sunk into her.

  Emilie slammed into the ground and rolled twice, her vision finally starting to fade as a cold feeling settled into her bones.

  ‘No!’ The single word echoed through her skull, each reverberation sounding different, like hundreds of people were trying to talk to her all at once. A pulse of heat pushed out from her core, turning the frost that’d started to coat her body into a cloud of steam.

  This time, though, she could tell. She could hear where the whispers were coming from. Her eyes locked on to the little red orb, resting a few inches from Lea’s still unfrozen form.

  ‘You’ve reached the end, child, but one choice still remains.’ She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the orb. Each word pulled her in closer, tantalizing. ‘Finish what was started and accept the bond. Break both our cages.’ A deep throaty chuckle sent shivers down her spine. ‘And burn it all down.’

  Her arms moved on their own, and the orb shot to her faster than lightning, burning through three separate tendrils that had shot out of a fake Brawly’s shadow and tearing a hole through the fake Tito’s chest.

  All just to get to her.

  The second she touched it, an overwhelming feeling pushed through her. Like fire was running through her veins. Heat poured out of every pore. Steam pushed out from her mouth as she let loose a deep, shuddering breath. Despite the overwhelming sensations though, she felt no pain. In fact, she struggled to remember a time she had ever felt better.

  A loud bang sounded through the chamber, yet she couldn’t tear away her gaze. She just basked in the radiant heat, a smile pulling at her lips as her body moved of its accord.

  A wave of euphoria pushed through her brain as the orb was pressed against her chest, a feeling that was amplified exponentially as the orb slowly sank below her flesh. The world around her faded, and in its place, a giant molten basin rose up, surrounding her with an unyielding heat that felt nicer than the warmest blanket.

  She smiled, wide and radiant, because in this hellscape, she’d found what she needed.

  An ally.

  A massive creature pushed out from the magma, rising above her as the angry red and orange liquid was shoved aside, revealing a creature only spoken about in reverence from some of the oldest religions. Angry red skin was marred with silver spikes. Veins of magma pulsed between plates of armor.

  She stood before something primordial, yet she felt no fear. Only a desperate desire to be closer, yet her body refused to move. She could only watch as the black inky abyss that was this thing's eyes snapped open, its pupils shrinking down to pinpricks as it focused entirely on her, its gaze overwhelming and intense. A roar spilled out from its mouth, shaking the very foundations of the chamber itself. The very next second, she was awash with a power not her own. She felt her body change. The lines along her skin pulsed with the same red glow as her patron’s. Her skin hardened. Heat pulsed out from her very core.

  Her mind, fully overwhelmed with sensations she couldn’t even begin to process, went blank as the world faded to black.

  Sol’s POV

  Something was wrong.

  Heat washed over her fur as she slowly got back to her feet. She gingerly glanced toward where Apollo was, only to see the last bits of his frozen forehead sink into the quickly diminishing ice.

  Considering the sorry state he was in; she supposed that was a good thing. Still...

  A hollow feeling settled in her stomach as a dark premonition washed over her. They had been fighting for their lives for the better part of at least a day, yet she had barely felt so much as a trickle of warning. Yet now...

  Why did it feel like the world was ending? She didn’t even feel this bad when her parents were killed!

  A loud crack brought her out of her pondering, and she whipped her head up to stare across the now very open chamber.

  Two separate frozen constructs were desperately wailing away on a red barrier, each hit creating a shockwave.

  Her heart stopped as she looked at the barrier’s contents. She moved to help, only to freeze as she got a better look at her friend.

  The look of longing and manic glee that radiated through her expression as she gazed down at Lea’s pilfered goods was enough to make her want to take a long, hot bath. Steam was pouring off her in waves, the lines along her body were glowing vibrantly...

  Her eyes were the same blood red as the orb.

  The horrid feeling in the pit of her stomach grew ten times worse as the orb descended into her chest. Sol shoved both paws over her ears as a loud, piercing scream pushed through the chamber, Emilie’s voice echoing alongside a hundred different voices. The noise felt like it went on forever, and before long, a light rumbling took its place. Sol shakily pushed herself up, before lunging forward. Her body moved of its own accord towards the back of the chamber, right towards–

  “Lea!”

  She wasn’t frozen. How the fuck wasn’t she frozen. Out of everyone here, the squishy human would’ve been her pick for the first to be dipped into the deep freeze.

  Whatever, she didn’t know what the hell was happening right now. All that mattered was that she was between her, and whatever disaster was brewing.

  She’s out cold. Of course she was. She was still breathing, at least. Now–

  She felt the ground shift violently beneath her feet and finally lost her battle with gravity as she landed flat on her face in front of her trainer.

  Red and orange liquid rose up from cracks in the floor, and all at once, the temperature of the room ratcheted up even more. She panted lightly as what she assumed was magma rose up and surrounded something she barely recognized. It was still... Kirlia shaped, but... she hadn’t ever met a Kirlia in what looked like white armor traced with glowing red lines.

  A low growl instinctively pushed out from her throat as the new Emilie slowly rose to full height before locking eyes with her. She saw nothing. No hint of mocking humor nor any kind of emotion that would even hint at recognition. Only a battle hungry grin.

  The two frozen sentinels moved, inching ever so slightly closer to the monster wearing her friend’s flesh, and the spell was broken.

  A low warbled cry sounded through the chamber, and ice and fire clashed.