No sooner had the question been thought by the tired minds of the crew, before a loud explosion erupted from three thirds of the way up the stone tower of Kane'Artem, like a violent volcanic beast throwing its final tantrum amidst the chaos brought by the fleeing pirates. Those with an adept perception aboard the ship would notice a few details that followed, one was that bodies fell from the tower among the chunk of debris, the other was the distinctive silver hair and black sword that fell beside them.
~~~~~ Thirty five minutes before the explosion ~~~~
A flurry of flashing arcs made the only physical sign of her blade passing through the air as she dispatched a small group of passing guards that'd been on route towards the chaos. Alicia had made a decision to head toward where the Marines appeared to be reinforcing from, having learned that the floors where being shut down from above, reinforcement descending downward towards where she was sure the rest of her crew were headed. Fortunately during her distraction effort she'd come across a crude simplified map of the prison, discovered upon the body of a fallen marine officer. There appeared to be a large linking bridge type structure that separated the rest upper half of the tower from the bottom half.
It seemed to her like an obvious weakness, given that she intended to exploit it... but perhaps if one were trying to escape it'd make things considerably more difficult to bypass.
'Should be just up ahead now' she thought to herself, passing through the narrow maze like corridors at speed before sliding to a stop at the foot of the connecting bridge. Air blew in from open stone holes in the walls, creating an oddly strong draft that seemingly disappeared every few minutes. The swordsman could already hear the patter of feet accompanied by the chants and cries of rallying marines. Alicia exhaled deeply, for it was here that she intended to stop them. If she could halt the reinforcement, even for a short amount of time, it'd make all the difference to the others bellow.
"Officer! step aside your blocking the way!" a gruff marine shouted towards her as their group advanced, hands clutching swords and riffles wearing fierce expressions, perhaps empowered by the momentum of having easily reclaimed the floors above. Alicia responded by pulling her sword from it's saya in one smooth motion, laying it to rest beside her with it's tip facing downward. The officer raised his hand to order the force to halt, brows furrowing as his expression contorted in part confusion, part irritation. "Officer I said stand asi-" her arm moved with the speed of a bullet, shooting forwards causing the blade to whip and strike his throat. He collapsed in a heap, knocked unconscious in a single moment.
"Shes not an officer she's one of them!" one of them cried as they brought weapons to bare, a few officers from behind the group moving out to pull their fallen comrade behind their front line. By now one half of the entire bridge was full with marines, backed up into the upper half waiting to advance. "She can't take us all! push forwards!" another voice from the crowd called and a resounding battle cry followed as they began to advance again. Alicia shed the officers coat with the symbol of justice painted across its back, seeing no more need for it as she readied herself for quite possible the toughest odds she'd ever faced.
She started to walk at first, which picked up into a jog, then eventually a full sprint as she moved to meet the horde of marines head on. Bullets whipped past her head into stone, filling the space with a chaos of noise before she allowed her own cry of battle to join theirs, her blade moving in swift flurries against the wall of swords that came endlessly. Whenever one would fall, another took it's place seemingly instantly. Rifles never stopped where there was room to take shots at her, and Alicia never once stayed in one place, ever moving to avoid an impossible number of dangers attacking from multiple angles.
What felt like hours passed by in only minutes, overwhelming numbers pushing against her to overpower and seize control of the vital location, the location that linked the halves and would allow them to advance towards the others. Beads of sweat formed on her face as she fought, the marines moving in and out of each other when some of them became tired from fighting, replacing them with fresh rested fighters to take advantage against her exertion. Despite Alicia's prowess with the sword, even she couldn't surpass these odds in such a small space, taking hits and cuts every so often which threatened to weaken her resolve.
Bodies continued to fall, creating another problem as they filled space that neither side could afford to lose. The fighting continued on, Alicia could feel herself faltering against the insurmountable strength in front of her, her body tiring and her grip on consciousness wavering due to physical exertion. She considered falling back when finally the wall broke and withdrew from her position, back up the bridge a short way away from her. Alicia placed the tip of the blade on the ground and rested upon the hilt for a moment, breathing deeply as blood ran from the fresh cuts where some of them had landed their blows.
"She must be one of the Cuthroats! no other pirate could fight like that!" one of the marines still standing shouted to his fellow men. "FOOLS!" a voice echoed over the others, causing them to part to either side as a man with an exceptionally long katana walked into view between them. "That is no Cuthroat... that is a Stardusk, and the first born of Sakura Hikari" there were some surprised expressions and some gasps from the marines, but the newly arrived swordsman's face remained stoic. "How disappointing, Sakura was a living legend and here you are, a mere pirate" his eyes bore down at her, one of his hands holding his swords saya like a staff while the other rested casually on his other arm.
Alicia regained her composure, standing straight as she faced the newcommer. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is
Ironwill Presley, your mother was one of my great idols. Hence my disappointment upon learning how her daughter has amounted to nothing" his words were spoken as if they were fact. "You know nothing of me... " Alicia responded, her throat slightly dry which carried in her words. "Clearly" he responded. "Though I believe I will have plenty of option to do so once you're given your very own cell here in the prison. I mean you didn't honestly believe you'd succeed here did you? and even if you did, how would you escape?" Presley's expression appeared casually amused as he spoke.
Alicia swallowed, trying to ignore the complaints of her body as she gave her own response. "For some of us to win, some of us may need to lose" Presley shook his head, once again appearing disappointed. "Noble, but I bet your friends would never even know your sacrifice... you will rot here, without them ever knowing what you did" Alicia allowed a small smile to grace her tired beaten expression, "Then you mistake my honor for the pursuit of an ego boost" Presley's expression hardened with her response and he pulled his sword to reveal a blade with elaborate designed engraved into the silvery metal. "I grow tired of this, of you... time to remove you".
Alicia barely had time to ready herself before he flashed behind her, slamming his fist into the back of her head with such force that she was sent bounding across the stone floor. The marines didn't move but merely watched with expressions of shock and fear as Alicia rose only to be met with his large sword arching across her body, it's power sending her flying against the wall with such force that a normal human would have probably been out right killed. "Did you expect to win this fight, daughter of Sakura. For every kind of fruit user... weapon user, person with unnatural ability... we have someone here suited to stop them" He spoke as he walked casually towards her. Alicia shakily rose to her feet, leveling her blade before moving to strike him, moving at her usual staggering speed.
Presley side stepped and moved between her attempts as if he weren't really trying, countering with ease. He suddenly moved beyond her speed again and grabbed her by the throat, "And that is why I'm here" he said before throwing her against the wall. This time Alicia managed to counter and push her feet into the wall she was thrown against, bending her knees before unleashing a powerful strike as her eye ignited with destructive power. Presley merely grinned, placing the flat of his blade against the incoming strike to absorb the energy before locking his blade back inside it's saya. "Goodbye, daughter of Sakura.... " he said with amusement before unleashing his blade back towards her, sending not only her power but also his own back at her. Alicia's eyes widened and she gasped as she placed her blade in front of her to guard against the attack.
An explosion erupted around her as the entire wall crumbled, sending her and bodies of marines hurtling from the tower. Her vision began to flicker and fade, the sounds of her heart thumping in her ears as her body felt hot with sweat and the feeling of blood on her skin. She began to black out as air whistled past her ears. Alicia was going to die.
"Alicia... ALICIA WAKE UP!!"
Her vision returned in time to see the ground becoming bigger and bigger as she fell. The swordswoman rotated mid air and swept her sword behind her in one final exertion of energy. A ring of wind burst her forwards in the air, just enough to push her outward from hitting the ground, clearing it by just enough so she hit the water after it along with some of the bodies. The cold hit her almost as hard as the stone wall from the bridge, her senses numbed as cold needles jabbed and bit at her skin. Alicia gasped for breath as she broke the surface, crawling from the water onto the dock arm that lead back towards where the ship and the rest of the crew were located. It was easy to see just how hurt she was as she slowly pulled herself to her feat, water dripping from her clothes and her hair as she began to slowly limp down the dock arm.
The gates to Kane'Artem opened behind her, revealing a regrouped portion of marines from the other sectors, rifles open fired down the dock arm as they began pursuit in a last ditch effort to stop the pirates. Alicia was unable to quicken her pace, resorting to swatting away the rifle bullets that would otherwise hit her as she continued making her way towards the ship. Bannon was the first to speak up on the situation, "It's Lady Tashigi! get my spear!" he boomed to one of his subordinates before the ships captain spoke up, "Sir! the prison's defenses are coming online, we have to set sail or we'll be annihilated!" Bannons hands gripped the wooden rail, almost crushing it in anger which turned to shock as the captain turned and made order to steer away from the dock. "We can't leave!" Bannon shouted.
The captain rounded on Bannon with an expression that told of a man complying with something he didn't want to. "Admiral Tashigi has ordered it! and communications aren't getting through!" Bannon once again turned to watch Alicia as she continued to limp down toward the ship, "Then delay the command! please I'm begging you" the captain paused before giving a solemn nod. Just as their conversations finished, the outward cannons of the prison began to fire down on the dockyard, vacant ships being obliterated as the marines searched for which ship housed the fleeing pirates.
A ship exploded close to Alicia, engulfing her in fire and wooden shrapnel. It was almost enough to assume she'd been immediately killed before a sharp swathe of wind cut through the fire, parting it for the swordswoman to limb through. Cannonballs were deflected as some of them took aim on her, others hitting the water or parts of the dock to add to the chaos. "TASHIGI!" a voice pierced the destruction and the cannons ceased fire almost immediately. Alicia turned, her tired beaten featured looking back to see Presley marching up the dock arm. "You survived... impressive. But I'm afraid once again I must remind you that there is no victory to be found for you here" his stoic expression relaxed to allow for some amusement to slip in.
Alicia looked back at the ship for a moment before turning fully towards Presley. "Allow me to ease your suffering" Once again the large blade came out before him, he took a stance before bringing the sword in a downward arc, letting out a powerful shout as a brutal wave of energy began to race towards Alicia, splintering and destroying the dock arm as it traveled towards her. Alicia went to grip her own sword, but then all of a sudden let go of it altogether, leaving herself defenseless. "ALICIA!" Bannon and Hanako shouted almost in unison as the swordswoman closed her eyes.
~~~~~ Two years ago ~~~~~
Alicia and Satia stood in the courtyard of their estate, the same stone courtyard where their father had fallen to the mysterious swordsman shortly after the invasion of Yula Fei. They had argued over who should maintain ownership of the estate and the school, their opinions on such subjects having differed greatly which wasn't uncommon among sisters. This time they had decided to settle it in a duel, not to the death but merely as a test of skill to decide whom had the truest right to take full ownership for the affairs and direction of the estate and school that had belonged in their family for generations on their mothers side.
The duel started with a respectful bow from both of them, the sisters taking their stances before settling into a combat ready position. Petals from the trees fall like snow around the courtyard, the remnants of their yearly cycles swirling in the wind between the stone steps and statues that faced in towards the arena. Both of them visually exhaled before the battle would begin, the display a spectacular feat of skill and power
They appeared to almost dance with each other, demonstrating all of what they'd learned up to this moment. While it was true Satia was younger, she'd come a long way in her training, enough to be a more then reasonable challenge to her older sister. Both o f them refused to give ground, parrying, countering and performing feats of acrobatic ability around the other. It was almost poetic, elegant within a nature beyond the natural world.
Satia managed to give herself some ground, spinning herself into a sideways roll away from Alicia. Upon touching the ground she took up both her blades and unleashed a powerful volley of destruction towards her older sibling. Alicia saw the power within her younger sister, the aspiring nature of Satia's will to see Alicia as equal and not as lesser. It was in that moment that Alicia truly understood her, and was both humbled and proud.
Alicia dropped her sword to the ground, and exhaled from her body as her arms moved in a fluid motion before her palm extended towards the incoming attack. Satia's eyes widened as she let out a terrified cry, "NO!!" but it was already too late, The attack struck Alicia, but instead of tearing her to pieces, Alicia closed her eyes and once again began to move her arms in a fluid motion, as if she were moving the power around herself.
Her arms expelled it towards the sky and a loud thunderous boom echoed the land of the estate, the trees shaking from the wind that furiously swirled around her. Alicia held her pose for a moment more, blood beginning to leak from the corner of her mouth before she fell to her knees. Satia raced to her side, her eyes filled with tears as she shook. "Alicia! please say something!" she said as she held her older sisters body.
Alicia looked up with a small smile, "Fear not Satia, I'm still here". The younger swordsman embraced her older sister after dropping both her swords, accepting defeat by withdrawing from discovering the extent of Alicia's power and progress.
~~~~ Present Day ~~~~
Alicia held up her palm towards the incoming attack, the powerful destructive arc colliding with it before she moved her arms gently and elegantly in dance like movement. Alicia opened her eyes with a small smile before she released the redirected energy back in an outward cone towards Presley. The force caused the remaining ships to burst into splintered wood along with the rest of the dock arm, leaving only the marines and Presley stood on the other side just out of harms way. There was a brief pause of disbelief on the face of the marines, but Presley appeared to be smiling at Alicia. "Sir! orders to advance!" one of the marines asked, looking to their officer. Presley gave a subtle small nod towards Alicia before turning to his subordinate, "Tend to the wounded, we're done here" he said before turning to walk back towards the prison. "B-But sir!" the marine protested, "That's an order!". The marine nodded, taking a look back towards Alicia and the crew before they withdrew from the dock. Alicia turned and continued her limp towards the ship, eventually reaching it and climbing aboard where she collapsed entirely, her body having finally given up under the stress of the battle.
