The sky’s beloved moonlight shines down on the two fighters as Fionn and Diarmuid dash towards the other. Fionn throws a forward jab, making Diarmuid duck under it. He attempted to slash upwards with his blade but Fionn shifted to the right, planting his palm on the ground and making the patch of grass below Diarmuid break apart like dust. Diarmuid’s instincts kicked in as he jumped backwards, noticing the decay would’ve rotted his body as well if he hadn’t noticed. “What the heck?!” he exclaimed in shock

  Fionn leaps forward, shooting a fireball as a distraction. Diarmuid slashed through it with his sword, keeping his eyes on Fionn, who was already blasting more yet again. Diarmuid slashes through the fireballs as a reflex, making sure to not falter his gaze. Fionn leaps forward again, slamming both of his palms against the grass again to rot the ground in a larger area of effect. Diarmuid uses his spear to vault himself away, seeing that a straight line of dust devours where he previously was. Fionn laughs to himself, finding a sick joy in how Diarmuid was moving. “So he’s wary of my decay, and his sword can even cut through elements,” he noted, sprinting forward. “What else can he do?.”

  Fionn goes for an uppercut, missing just by a hair’s length as Diarmuid leaned backwards, aiming upwards with another slash that only cuts a few small strands of Fionn’s hair. Fionn used an open palm fire attack that forced Diarmuid to lean all the way back to dodge, leaving him in a seemingly open state. He lifted his leg and attempts to stomp through Diarmuid’s stomach, but he only crushes the grass and dirt below as Diarmuid rolled out of the way just in time

  Diarmuid pushes off the ground, using his lance to try and pierce Fionn’s abdomen, but couldn’t land a hit. He shifts his body to the side upon another miss and tries to cut with his sword, but Fionn leaned back as well, going for a small kick by using his momentum. As Diarmuid came down for another slash, Fionn bounced on his other foot and twisted in the air. He goes for another kick, but Diarmuid blocks it with grace, making the both of them push off from each other again

  Diarmuid’s eyes narrowed on Fionn, who was keeping a close eye on him too. “He’s starting to annoy me,” he thought, clutching his spear again. “Do I really have to use Beagalltach to get a better chance?”

  Diarmuid glanced over at Fionn’s position, seeing that he’s always on the move, bouncing and shuffling his feet like a boxer. Diarmuid’s eyes narrowed slightly in anger. “He is faster than I thought, so I need to stop treating him like he’s some small fry,” he thought to himself, making Gae Dearg disappear with a bright red flash. A bright lemon yellow and white light shines in the air around his palm, making Fionn’s eyes squint slightly at the blinding sight. “Ack,” he mutters, shielding his vision with his left arm. “Is he using a flashbang?”

  Diarmuid flips a yellow gladius sword into the air, the blade itself flashing a mustard yellow color and silver gray handle. He points the red blade at Fionn’s head, a flat, stoic expression appearing on his face all of a sudden. “I am Diarmuid Wagner, better known as Diarmuid of the Love Spot. I am Toy Two of King Brennen’s toys,” he said, leaning forward like he was going to sprint again. “You’re pretty fun for an Anomaly, but I’m not going to lose to a Pseudo.”

  Fionn’s eyes widened in recognition of the name, but his curiosity was broken at the unnecessary slur. As much as he wished he could ask Diarmuid if he knew Grainne—a better question, if he was married to her—to fulfill his curiosity, but it shifted into disgust the instant he heard the slur. “Tch,” Fionn scoffed, meeting Diarmuid’s staredown. “I was beginning to like fighting you, but you just had to ruin it, didn’t ya?”

  Diarmuid’s eyebrows twitched slightly. “What are you talking about?” he asked simply, a smirk creeping onto his face. “Offended? You shouldn’t be. How many times have you been called a Pse—!” Fionn’s elbow crashes into Diarmuid’s chest at blinding speed, knocking the air out of his lungs. “Gah!” he groaned in pain, allowing Fionn to land a sharp roundhouse kick on Diarmuid’s jaw, knocking him down onto the soft grass

  Fionn’s body started to glow, emitting a white light as if he was a shimmering star in the bright night sky. His veins illuminate themselves and brighten on his skin, showing a mix of bright red, azure blue, shamrock green, and iris purple lines running all over his face and hands. His eyes shifted to a charming sky blue color instead of its usual green

  An evil, crazy grin stretches across his face, anticipating how this transformation would ruin the fight even more. “You were saying? Don’t go quiet now, Wagner.” Fionn said, staring at Diarmuid’s confused face. Fionn’s expression almost looked as if he was used to ending fights with unnecessary kills. His blonde hair fades into a beautiful pearl white, flowing with the wind like a wild, dancing fire. “I was thinking of using this form on someone who can handle it, but I guess you’re going to be a good substitute. Just scream whenever a bone breaks so i can rip it off.”

  Diarmuid’s focus didn’t waver, scoffing at Fionn’s new transformation, but his body trembled at the new power-up. “I should’ve known you got a trump card or something lying around. You Creation Anomalies always do,” he said, growing impatient the longer he gazed at Fionn’s new look. “Quit talking and just fight!”

  Fionn makes a flicking motion, charging energy into his middle finger, using his thumb to hold it in place. “If you’re really from the modern era, does this motion look familiar to you?” Fionn said, aiming at Diarmuid’s body. “Dodge."

  With just the flick of his finger, Fionn directs a gust of compressed air at Diarmuid, who was forced to dodge the impact—blocking it head-on would’ve caused him to be caught in whatever Fionn had planned next. Fionn shows his teeth with a far too amused grin again. He hops in the air, gradually reaching higher with each bounce. “Oh yeah!” he said aloud, dashing towards Diarmuid at high speeds. He sticks his right arm out, snatching Diarmuid by the collar of his clothes, and slams him into the ground repeatedly. Fionn leaps into the air and drops Diarmuid like he was discarding trash, then rams his heel against the middle of his left ribcage with a spinning kick, causing Diarmuid to crash and skid against the ground, although he was stopped as he roughly lands against a rock with a backbreaking thump. “Grg!” he cried in pain, blood oozing from his mouth and small trickles of red breaching from his battered body. “What the hell was that?!” he exclaimed, darting his eyes to where Fionn was descending down from

  “Yeah… I like this form,” he said arrogantly, looking down at Diarmuid from above. In the instant of a second—millisecond maybe—Fionn appeared above him, aiming to flatten his body with a brutal stomp. Diarmuid threw himself out of the way at the last moment, rushing to get to his feet. Fionn’s attack misses, but the bystanding grass and rock were demolished, now just a slightly deep crater. Fionn made a finger gun at Diarmuid, shooting bullets of electricity at him. Diarmuid blocked the attacks with his swords, but was unaware of Fionn’s speed as he took a painful knee to the gut. Fionn grabbed him by the hair and tossed him into a tree, teleporting to it simultaneously and delivers an unnecessarily devastating right hook to the side of the head, making his head bounce off the tree and sends his body skidding across the ground again

  Diarmuid uses his yellow sword to stop his momentum, darting his eyes forward to see Fionn’s threatening march towards him

  His breath hitched in slight fear, “W-what happened to this guy? Just earlier, we were evenly matched up,” he thought, struggling to stand upright. “Now all of a sudden he’s kicking my arse like it’s nothing.”

  He shakes his head, clutching both blades tightly until his knuckles turn white. “Focus!” he yelled at himself, pushing past his aching pain and sprints forward while Fionn rushed towards him as well. Each slash from Diarmuid only seemed to miss their mark by a wide region, while Fionn was grinning with dreadful glee as he dodged each attempt. “How’s he so fast?!” Diarmuid asked himself, almost as if he was searching for a way to counter it

  From his right ear, Diarmuid heard Fionn’s voice talk to him despite fighting the real thing in front of him. “Focus, idiot,” Fionn taunted, causing Diarmuid to take his eyes off him for less than a second. As a result, Fionn sneaks a critical uppercut, snapping Diarmuid’s head upwards to look at the night sky. His back slams into the ground from a vicious downward punch by Fionn, who then plants his foot into his side with a painful kick, pushing him forward against the dirt

  Diarmuid’s battered state filled Fionn with an unusual sadistic glee. “Hahahahahahaha!!” he laughed hysterically, holding his sides. “I love this form! The blood rush, the power, the overwhelming strength! Adrenaline is such a powerful drug!” Fionn said, cackling and crossing his arms, levitating in the air for fun. Diarmuid struggled to get up again, looking over at Fionn

  Fionn floats over to him, looking down at him. Diarmuid was trying to breathe properly after the brutal onslaught, slowly regaining his strength. Fionn glanced at his colorful weapons, then noticed the name engraved onto his right gauntlet. His eyes opened in shock, realizing his previous question would’ve been answered. That had to be a joke, right? “Grainne?!” Fionn exclaimed, wiping the sadistic grin from his face completely. This Diarmuid was married to Grainne?! But the Love Spot could charm just anyone, no matter the era. If this Diarmuid was really from the modern era, why is he all too similar to the real hero?!

  Fionn’s face twisted to a look of disgust. “This had to be a joke, right? But also, why does this version seem so… weak?” he thought, looking down at him again, attempting to see if this was all there was to him. But the spider faced woman’s comment from a few days ago echoes in his head like a chiming bell

  “Not everyone has the luxury to be as strong as you, boy. Your bloodline makes it nearly impossible for anyone to match you, so it’s only plausible that you don’t see why people stand back instead of act”

  “Ugh…,” he groaned, his form starting to flicker away with the wind. “As weird as that woman was, she was right about the power imbalance with other people.” His hair droops down into long golden curls, his skin returning to normal as his veins fade away too. “Jeez, I lost the will to kill him,” he said, turning on his heel to exit. “I don’t even have a reason anyway.” Fionn began walking away, seemingly to leave Diarmuid alone

  Although he was spared, Diarmuid’s bruises and beaten voice ripped through the air. “Coward!” Diarmuid snapped at him, clutching his swords

  Fionn’s footsteps froze in place as he heard him, turning his head slightly. “Hm?” he mutters, confused by the sudden yell

  Diarmuid’s expression looked as if he had gone mad with the pain inflicted. “I’m not even dead yet, and you have the nerve to walk away?” he said, finding his strength to stand upright somehow. “What kind of warrior are you?”

  Diarmuid makes both of his weapons disappear, re-summoning his Gae Dearg. “You won’t walk away from me until one of us dies!” he declared, taking a closed stance

  Fionn’s face was flat for a moment, pausing as he looked at his beaten state. “Is he serious?” he thought, then remembered how often near-death experiences are an even greater boost than adrenaline. A smirk plasters his face. “You know what,” Fionn started, lifting his arm out, palm facing Diarmuid, “I’ll make it count then.”

  A flicker of green, white, and orange auras engulf his right hand. “I don’t use this weapon often, but I think it’s a good display of my skill right now,” Fionn said ominously, another grin stretching across his face. The colors mix together to perform a glowing golden spark in his hands, transforming into the silhouette of a boar spear. The staff itself was made out of bronze while the blade was black steel. “My daggers would be more effective, but I like using this staff.” Fionn said happily

  Both fighters took a stance: Fionn standing with his spear staying behind him, while Diarmuidn shifted to a more open approach, seeing the spear. “He’s using Gae Dearg. Keep him out of reach,” Fionn told himself

  “What kind of spear is he using? It has to be something similar to mine, right?” Diarmuid thought, taking a breather. “Doesn’t matter. I still have a trick up my sleeve if things go south. I just need him to stall until I can use it.”

  Fionn dashes forward, thrusting his spear forward. Diarmuid quickly shifts to the side, spinning his staff in an attempt to cut Fionn’s forehead, but he had already ducked down. Fionn aimed to sever his knees, but Diarmuid flips backward out of the way. They clash spears, then push off of each other. Diarmuid twirls his weapon, attempting to skewer Fionn again with relentless stabs. Fionn leaned out of the way upon seeing the first two, then blocked with his staff before finally getting a cut on Diarmuid’s right arm. Diarmuid grunted in pain before switching tactics and switched to Moralltach and Beagalltach again, catching Fionn slightly off-guard. “A mix-up?” Fionn thought, quickly ducking a downward slash

  Diarmuid grazes Fionn’s shoulder with Beagalltach, smirking slightly as he sees a small tear in Fionn’s coat. The staff blocks two of his slash attempts, then Fionn aims to stab him in the neck. Diarmuid blocks just barely with his blades, struggling to hold the staff in place. “Damn him!” Diarmuid mutters. Fionn thrusts his spear forward, then gets a clean cut on Diarmuid’s right thigh. He twirls his spear again and cuts Diarmuid’s left shoulder

  Fionn flicked his spear up to throw him off his game, backing up slightly in an attempt to bait Diarmuid to attack. He twirls his staff, preparing to counter as Diarmuid dashes in, slashing downwards with his yellow blade. Fionn steps to the side then kicks Diarmuid’s elbow in an attempt to break it. Diarmuid grunts slightly, but doesn’t let the pain make him falter. He slashes relentlessly at Fionn, forcing him to evade every slash. “One fatal cut from the red sword might kill me. It can cut through anything I think, just like the real one,” Fionn thought, recognizing a pattern in the way Diarmuid fights. As Diarmuid shoots his red blade forward for a stab, Fionn leans all the way back to dodge. However, he was momentarily left open, allowing Diarmuid to stab him in the chest with his yellow blade

  “Gotcha,” Fionn thought

  Even with the sword in his chest, Fionn snatched Diarmuid’s arm in a tight hold and flung him away with a powerful throw. Diarmuid flies slightly in the air, but stops himself by using Moralltach. He looks at Fionn with a stunned face, confused by how he was standing. He just pierced him in the chest! How is he still standing?! “W-what?!” Diarmuid exclaimed, eyes narrowing on the stab wound. “How are you standing up? Did I not pierce his chest?”

  Fionn smirks again, pulling the yellow blade out. “Did you really think a weak stab from this boring sword could kill me?” he asked, making the blood fall like a waterfall from the wound. “Cool sword though, heh.”

  Diarmuid attempts to dispel it, but the sword remains whole in his enemy’s hand. “What the hell?! What are you doing to my sword?!”

  Fionn made the sword dispel on his command, pointing his staff at Diarmuid. “Beagalltach isn’t yours anymore,” Fionn announced, his smirk widening in a mocking manner. “And soon, none of those weapons will be yours.”

  Diarmuid growls in protest. “You got some serious balls for stealing a legendary weapon!” he said, clutching Moralltach tightly as if he’ll truly lose it too

  His vision blurred to sparks of red and black for a moment—second even. Diarmuid’s anger stiffened just as he froze. “W-what was that? Everything just went—!” he stops, the flicker feeling like a distortion now. Fionn started muttering something incoherent to him. What was he saying? It looked like a chant of some sort, but it was hard to make out. Fionn’s spear glows with a black aura, sparks of crimson red fuming in small spots

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Fionn stomps his left foot forward, a wide grin plastering his face with glee. “GAE! BOLG!” he shouts at Diarmuid. The night sky only illuminated the glowing spear more as it tears through the air, directly at Diarmuid. “Chase him, boy!”

  Diarmuid’s eyes widened in recognition of the name. The famous, mythical spear. Used by Cu Chulainn, a formidable fighter and hero in Ulster Ireland. That spear would kill anything its user wanted it to do, whether it was a simple crook or a god that gone ill, Gae Bolg was as shockingly powerful as it is useful and versatile

  Diarmuid’s body didn’t react to the impact, as if he had the choice to do so. Even if he ran, dodged, or simply blocked, it would’ve pierced through him. He knew it would it was pointless to run away from certain death. He takes one last gaze at Fionn as the spear breached through his chest, skewering him as everything faded to black

  A little later after the impact, Fionn was humming the lyrics to a song by Futaba called “I’m Me”. The beat was a piano playing a graceful and beautiful melody, while Futaba’s blessed voice was much softer and slower than some of her other lyrics in her songs

  “I am who I am. I am me, that’s what you see

  From the beauty of my face, to the songs that I see

  I am who I am. I am me, that’s what you see

  Never stopping for the bad, only focused on me

  Queen of my body, I’m as happy as can be

  Searching for my siblings, nothing will ever stop me

  Bonded by blood, crafted with glee

  I am who I am. I am me, that’s what you see”

  Her voice cracked slightly at her own lyrics, but her smoothness didn’t falter. She had a beautiful, soothing voice that was comforting the earlier tension and calming Fionn’s nerves. Although, the area of where they previously were was destroyed beyond recognition. As the dust from the dirt finally settled and the innocent trees stopped falling from the gaping wounds in their bark, Fallen trees were laid to rest against the grass, bushes caught in the crossfire were forcefully removed from their roots, and the ground suffered from a huge trench that could’ve been mistaken for an Earthquake. At the end, Diarmuid’s unconscious body laid against the dirt. Blood trickles and slides down from his eyes, racing down in thick streaks from his head, broken and red marked body, oozing out of his ears like jelly. His eyes had rolled back into their sockets, although it was unclear if they naturally did so or because of the painful damage he took. Fionn steals Gae Buidhe, Gae Dearg, and Moralltach from Diarmuid like he said he would, sealing them away to his pocket dimension of weapons.

  “I shouldn’t have dragged that out for so long,” Fionn thought to himself, taking a final glance at Diarmuid. “He was pretty strong, but not my target,” he said, fleeing the scene. “Hell, I wasn’t even supposed to kill him. He just got in my way.”

  Fionn looks around the forest, taking small sniffs in the air to track scent too

  “Where’s that Shadow Anomaly?”

  Elsewhere, Skadi was inside the walls of the city, wandering around the quiet city like a child lost in a new school. “Althea better not have ended up somewhere else—Diarmuid as well,” she mutters to herself, keeping her guard up. “Where is the Creation Anomaly? Master Illusion had said he would be out here, but never gave a specific location.”

  A few male citizens were casually talking amongst each other, laughing while sharing ginger ale drinks. Skadi waltz towards them, gazing over them in measured glances. She speaks up innocently, like she lived within the city since she was young. “Excuse me, gentlemen,” she announced calmly, putting her hands together in front of her like a common maiden. “Have any of you happened to see a blond haired boy? He wears white, and has green eyes.”

  The men looked at each other in confusion. Blond hair? Green eyes? That could be anyone. The man on her left spoke up first, correcting his voice after taking a sip of ale. “Uhm… sorry, young lady, but could you be more specific?” he asked politely

  Skadi quickly thinks of what Fionn looks like. “Ah, I should be more specific,” she mutters, standing straighter. “He looks rather young, but looks around my height. He was previously around the blacksmith shop that a woman named Sana Muramasa works at.”

  The men all finally recognize who she was referring to. “Oh! You mean the Pseudo,” the man on her right said, taking another sip of ale. “That little twat made a lot of noise for the heroes. Apparently, the Snake Knight took him to meet Queen Elara.”

  The man on the left joins in, laughing slightly. “If I recall, it was something about her deciding what to do with him. He’s probably dead now, hah!” the man said gladly

  Skadi’s eyes narrowed. A Creation Anomaly dying that easily? No one would believe that even if they were drunk. “Creation Anomalies are the pinnacle of Anomalies, and Mind Creation Anomalies are at the peak of it,” she thought to herself, her face scrunching up slightly. “Smell, Touch, Taste, Sound, and Sight all come second to Mind Creation Anomalies.”

  Although she knew it was a false outcome, Skadi puts on a front, pretending that Fionn is truly dead. “R-really?” she asked, adding practiced worriness to her voice. “But he’s a Creation Anomaly.”

  The man on her right speaks up again. “That’s what we thought too,” he admitted. “A Creation Anomaly that dies easy? It sounds stupid, but we haven’t seen him since.”

  The man in the middle finally speaks up. ‘“I’ve always wondered if the victim was a friend of his. She wasn’t a registered hero, and only that short woman in white could identify her,” he said, taking a long drink of ale. “She had quite the mouth on her. Not a single sentence was pure—only swears. Poor lady.”

  The two other men nod in acknowledgement. The man in the middle speaks up again. “Right… if it weren’t for her giant friend, I can guarantee she’d be rampaging still.”

  Skadi’s eyes opened a bit. “There’s more of them?” she thought, an idea forming in her head. “The Creation Anomaly is with others? Please, where do they stay? I’m looking for him.” she asked, as if she was looking for an old friend. The man on her left points to the inn that was currently closed for the night. “You can try there, but I’m pretty sure Mrs. Winston and her children are asleep as well.”

  Skadi’s face twisted with forged sadness. In reality, her soul was grinning sadistically. “So there’s more people than just the Creation Anomaly… I can work with that!” she thought to herself, masking her face with another quick frown. “I see,” she said eventually

  She bows politely. “Thank you very much,” she said, rushing off to the inn as the men waved her goodbye

  “Losers,” Skadi mutters to herself, smirking. She turns the corner and hides, looking at the inn from a safe distance. “Where is Althea?! She should’ve been here by now.”

  She lets out an annoyed gruff, crossing her arms underneath her chest and walking towards the doors of the inn. She attempted to casually open the door, only to find out that it’s locked. “Damn it,” she mutters. She checks her left and right to make sure no one is watching her moves as she creates a miniature snowman agent. “Spy on this facility, my creation,” she commanded, leaving it there as she walked away. “Master Illusion isn’t going to be so happy with this display of ‘partners’, as if he has any right to judge,” Skadi mutters to herself with an arrogant scoff. She stops by a bridge, gazing down at the flowing, happy water reflecting the moon’s light like a pleasant mirror. Despite the situation, moments like these are always beautiful when the time comes. “I do hope that Creation Anomaly is here. It’d be a shame for someone so handsome to not at least die by my ice.”

  She looks up to the moon with a huff. “Yasmin hasn’t returned either. Gi, I don’t care much for,” she thought to herself. “If that annoying oaf got himself killed due to his own arrogance, I will personally march to his grave and freeze the grass around his pathetic grave.”

  While Skadi was mocking Gi in her mind—unaware of what did take place—for her amusement, a short woman with lavender hair was walking around with a dog wagging its tail. The woman was wearing a white, thin trenchcoat that seemed a bit big on her. On the back “DC.V.5” was written in bold white and outlined in black, with her hood up. She was wearing white steel gauntlets, black trousers, white steel knee guards, leg guards, white steel-toe boots with black laces, and noticeably had a cybernetic sword strapped to her hip by a worn leather belt

  Whenever Skadi noticed the woman, she recognized the smaller height from what the men said earlier. “She looks like a child,” Skadi taunted

  The woman came to a stop, leaning against the bridge as well. She didn’t look Skadi’s way, but the dog stopped wagging its tail. The woman was keeping her posture stiff like a board, similarly to a disciplined soldier. “You recognize me, don’t you?” the woman asked ominously, staring down at the water

  Skadi’s face cracks into a confused side eye. This was the short woman they said, right? “Does she mean me?” Skadi thought, turning her head slightly. She speaks up with practiced innocence again. “Oh, please excuse me. I was just wondering—” she stopped as she quickly ducked under an unknowing slash from the woman. Skadi’s eyes widened in bewilderment, confused whether her instincts randomly took over for a second or if it was because something was off about the woman

  The woman’s voice came out much more strained than a woman’s natural voice would. “Don’t play innocent! I hate when people do that!” the woman snapped

  Skadi’s face was frozen, still trying to piece together how she was able to dodge something so fast. “W-when did she draw her sword?! She was just standing there!” Skadi thought, eventually moving to stand up straight. Her voice drops the innocent act immediately, narrowing her eyes. “Who are you really?” she asked, taking a warrior’s stance

  The woman holds her sword idly, then takes a familiar stance—Yoshi’s

  Her voice was more calm than before, almost as if she was just taking a stroll through a park after nearly beheading Skadi. “I am Shakti Varma of Chrona Riftworks Protocol. Captain of Division 5 and the strongest female captain,” she said with a practiced introduction

  Skadi smirks, then puts her hands on her hips. “Ah, so you’re the human the Pseudo was with,” Skadi taunted, blowing cold air into her hand. The particles of ice from her breath formed together to create a broadsword. The icy blade was jagged but polished, showing the reflection of the moonlight despite the packed ice from which it was made from

  Shakti took her hood off, allowing her lavender hair to flow freely with the small breeze. “Onion, go alert Julius and Division 2,” she ordered, never taking her eyes off of Skadi. With a bark of agreement, Onion dashes off, his paws and nails clattering with the cobblestone ground

  “Sending your mutt away so he doesn’t have to watch—”

  Shakti’s blade would’ve severed Skadi’s head yet again if it weren’t for missing a neck hair’s length. “Shut up and fight. I’m not in the mood to hear your taunts,” Shakti said coldly

  Skadi’s face twisted with slight annoyance. “You dolt! Who do you think you are?!” she snapped, slashing aimlessly with her blade. Shakti ducks under two missed slashes before finding an opening and piercing Skadi through her right thigh, dragging it down to almost hitting the bone, Skadi stumbles away just before her right leg was cut off, gritting her teeth in pain. Her blade clatters against the street. “W-what?! T-there’s no way she already has a wound on me!” Skadi said, looking up at Shakti’s cold, hard face

  Shakti narrowed her eyes on Skadi in return. “If you call my friend the P-word again, I’m going to scalp your head and drown you in your own blood,” Shakti promised, sheathing her blade. “Am I clear?”

  Skadi’s face shifts to slight confusion. “I’m being… spared?” Skadi thought to herself. But why? There had to be a motive, right? There’s no way Shakti would’ve lashed out on a civilian like that just out of the blue. Skadi, knowing she wouldn’t stand a chance, quickly nods out of fear of what Shakti would’ve done if she had continued. “Y-yes ma’am,” Skadi said politely

  Ugh…,” Shakti said, turning on her heel and started to walk away. “You weak punks make me want to vomit. Hitting the gym isn’t that hard, you loser.”

  As she disappeared into the city, Skadi’s face was slowly boiling with mixed emotions. “I… I was disrespected!” she finally realized, grabbing at the ground in disgust of herself. “I didn’t even land a hit! She just blitzed me!”

  Skadi bites down on her bottom lip. “THAT STUPID BRAT!” she thought to herself, biting down hard enough to draw blood. She ignores the pain on her lip by freezing the wound on her thigh, wincing at how deep it truly was. “I swear, when I—no, we get the Trial Code, I am going to make myself stronger! Elara is the key!”

  While Skadi was fuming to herself—awkwardly too—in the middle of the street, Althea was running away from knights after unintentionally alerting them. “Ugh!” she groaned, ducking under a tree branch

  The cat knight’s voice breaks through the tension, his voice much more serious than ever before. “Don’t lose track!” he ordered, galloping on his horse, halberd in hand. “This is one of the women who dared to try and snatch Queen Elara!”

  Althea sprints in different directions, trying to gain distance from them in any way. She had previously lost one of her eyes—likely ripped out from an attack—while her gray dress was torn around her mid-back, showing her shoulder blades. Her gauntlets had small streaks of dirt on them, while her leg guards and breastplate were damaged with obvious pierces that made the armor crack. She was noticeably missing both of swords, seemingly disarmed by the knights. “What the hell?!” she exclaimed in shock. “These damn knights! They were hiding in the woods like cowardly animals!”

  She almost crashed into a tree, narrowly dodging it just as the bird’s boar spear nearly pierced her shoulder. “On my mark!” the cat knight shouted. The bird, bull, lizard, and porcupine knights fall back, seemingly to allow Althea to run off. “She’s quick on her feet, but lacks the strength to fight back,” the cat knight said, analyzing her movements. “Snake and Wolf, you two will march forward on your horses and stalk that evil wench. Bear, you pursue her.”

  “Right!” the knights said in unison. The snake knight and wolf knight split to the sides while the bear knight’s horse sprints forward. He drew his sword, different from the claymore strapped to his back. “You will not get away from us again!” the bear knight promised, charging forward

  Althea looked behind herself to see the bear knight’s threatening eyes. “What kind of knight doesn’t stay by their queen’s side?” she asked, running in a different direction to divert his increasing speed

  “We have butlers and maids who are a force to be reckoned with! Our Queen won’t be stolen from us again!” the bear knight said, guaranteeing his statement. Althea smirks to herself despite the blood loss and panic. “You sure about that, you worthless knights? The other toys are out and about,” she said, climbing up onto a tree branch. “I’m merely the distraction you idiots fell for!”

  The bear knight’s drive didn’t stumble, aiming to cut the branch. With a clean and swift cut, the branch was severed with relative ease, making Althea’s eyes widen with a minimal amount of shock. “Since when could wood be cut that easily?!” she thought, pushing off the branch and leaping to a rock to gain momentum. The bear knight didn’t pursue just yet, smirking underneath his helmet. Althea looks behind herself to see that the bear knight was stationary

  “What is he doing?” she asked herself, looking forward again to see where she was going. Her missing eye made her view more narrow, and the darkness didn’t help much either. A flicker of green passes by the tree, which she mistakenly assumed was just a bush

  She was starting to grow wary of whatever the knights may have been planning. She was already on a hit-list to them, and they clearly weren’t going to let up. “Where did the other knight go?” she asked again, slowly coming to a halt as she evaluated the situation. “Something isn’t right,” she mutters

  She takes a look around the darkness. The winds were casually flowing through the leaves, giving a small sense of uneasiness in Althea. Her feet crunch on a twig, startling her nerves as she jumps out of paranoia. “You’re scaring herself again,” Althea said aloud, clenching her fists to continue running away. Just as she takes a step forward, a javelin skewers through her right knee. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!” Althea screamed, falling onto the grass and clutching her knee. She grunts and winces in fear, darting her head in different directions to at least prepare for the next attack. She hears faint galloping, assuming it was the knights, but a looming.knight with a wolf styled helmet stares down at her from above

  His voice was unnervingly calm and deep, intimidating Althea slightly. “Treason is not tolerated under any circumstance,” he started, drawing his halberd axe. “And repeated offense excuses all other laws. You are to be sentenced to death unless you can prove that—”

  “STOP!” a familiar voice snapped from behind

  The wolf knight stepped down on Althea’s leg to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere before tilting his head at who interrupted her execution. “Ugh… of course you showed up.” he groaned

  Fionn was floating in the air, a wide, cheerful grin on his face. “Yo, what’s up?” he said casually

  “Do you not have any manners?” the wolf knight asked, lowering his axe. “You have interrupted a decided death.”

  Fionn shrugged, hovering over to Althea. “Hey… wait, knights hunt children? Jeez, how messed up is this place?” he joked, finally landing on the ground. The other knights arrive as well, confused about what Fionn has planned

  “Sir Fionn? What are you doing here?” the cat knight asked calmly. Althea looked over the other knights, then up at Fionn, who was staring absently at her flat eyes

  “I just got a few questions for this…,” his voice trailed as he tried to figure out who Althea was. “Child? Short woman? Homunculus? I don’t know, she looks like all three.”

  “Make it quick,” the wolf knight snapped, stepping off of her

  Althea huffs slightly, sitting up straight as Fionn squats down. “Damn, you got your ass kicked! Hahahahahaha!” he taunted, his grin widening like a madman. Althea narrowed her eyes at him

  “I don’t care who you are, Pseudo,” Althea snapped fiercely, glaring daggers at Fionn's eyes, “you don’t get to mock me!”

  Fionn’s face darkened, but his grin remained the same as the trick under his sleeve gleamed with a terrifying glow. “Yeah, I’ll mock you however you want,” he said, making a grabbing motion in the air

  Althea and the other knights were confused by what he was doing until a small rift appeared in front of his palm. He reaches in, then pulls out a disgusting, bloody head out of the rift. Althea’s demeanor shatters like glass. Her eyes widened as panic took over. Her skin paled to the color of snow. Even her body locked up out of shock

  Fionn drops Diarmuid’s severed head onto the grass, his dead eyes looking up at Althea. “Going to cooperate now?” Fionn asked, his earlier joy replaced with a cruel, evil aura

  “DIARMUID!!” Althea’s voice screamed, tearing from her throat that almost caused her vocal cords to rupture. Tears flood her eyes like a broken water gate, raining down her cheeks and chin. “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU! MONSTER!”