Saving The World In Spite of Ourselves

[Kura]

After letting out her roar, Lilith watched as the light in Shols'a eyes dimmed then died completely. Knowing that this couldn't possibly be the end of the fight, Lilith remained silent and still. After what seemed like ages of watching the girl intently, ice began to cover Shola, continuing the battle just as Lilith expected. With an ice covered fist this new Shola knocked Lilith off several feet on to her back. The werewolf gasped when the landing knocked the breath out of her, but then hurried to sit up and get back to her feet.

Lilith barely had time to stand before Shola had summoned her whip.

"No one gets to beat on me anymore,"

To her own relief Lilith managed to avoid the first attack Shola dealt, but the second time she wasn't so lucky. She cried out as the jagged ice crystals left gashes down her leg, and soon the pain was followed by an intense frozen ache. With her leg temporarily useless, the werewolf once again struggled to her feet only to be knocked to the ground again when Shola attacked.

"No--one--gets--to--beat--me--"

After the first few blows to her body, Lilith found that the occasional block with her arms helped a little bit. Multiple blows to the stomach had caused on overwhelming feeling of nausea, and just as she was ready to give in to the young Shola she spied it. The very tip of the knife poking from Shola's chest. What they had been doing was working, meaning that this was not the time to be giving up. With that Lilith found new energy, and after many successful blows Lilith grabbed one of the other girl's hands as it shot towards her. Once again Lilith's feet sank into the dirt to hold her steady as the remains of the clay figures rose into the air around them, forming a large whirlwind behind Shola that slowly made its way towards the pair. When hit, the tiny pieces of sand acted like tiny daggers against Shola's flesh and slowly began to chip away at her new pair of wings.

 

[Midian]

"I don't know what else to do except attack Shola head on," Dante admitted. "This isn't my strong suit-- war isn't my thing. I don't really know how to fight things like this. I don't know how to help Lilith."

He looked downcast and sullen as he spoke, glancing back at Trevean. Dante didn't know what to do to help Trevean either, and it was apparent Nadia didn't either. She was petting Kalya with her foot and patting Trevean's hand, watching the fight between Shola and Lilith. At least Lilith was winning, but what happened if she lost? Nadia looked over at Kaden and frowned; he didn't need to lose any more family.

But with the whirlwind at her back, Shola at that moment wasn't processing Lilith, only the chips to the ice over her arms and the bits of her wings that were being shredded away. Futilely she beat her wings, but they weren't powerful enough to stand up to Lilith's attack. She struggled in Lilith's grasp, trying to yank away from the Daalai girl, but after a few minutes of that she stopped abruptly. Suddenly Lilith felt her body temperature beginning to drop steadily until she was forced to let go or be frozen to death. Once she had Shola hit her, knocking her backwards before she could get her feet out of the earth.

As she got control of the whirlwind herself, Shola loomed over Lilith, her damaged wings shivering noisily. In her hand she created a great spear of ice, getting ready to stab Lilith with it. However, with the wind settled, Dante had his chance and fired at the ice spear, shattering it. She whirled around and glared at them, summoning up blade-armed ice figures to charge at them. Turning back to Lilith, she covered the ground around them in thick ice and raised her fists, striking at Lilith sure-footedly on the ice.

Meanwhile, Dante quickly found he'd only had a few bullets left and had to hack away at them with his knife instead. A particularly large one had decided it wanted Kaden, swinging its bifurcated arms at him. While it pursued him from the front, another came up behind, swiping at his back to keep him from backing up. However, as the larger went to stab at him, a needle burst through its chest and kept it from advancing. Behind it, Nadia pulled on the threaded needle, causing it to stumble a little. Looped over one arm was what looked like a skein of glowing yarn.
"Break its arms!" Nadia shouted.

 

[Kura]

Lilith held on to Shola as long as she could until the cold was too much for her hands. On the brink of frostbite the Daalai girl let go, immediately allowing Shola a chance to knock her backward. Lilith's attention was forced to focus on her own fall rather than maintaining control on the whirlwind, and Shola took control in her stead. Awful fear settled in the pit of Lilith's stomach as she watched Shola raise the shard of ice, and Lilith crossed her arms over her face as a halfhearted attempt at blocking.

The crack of Dante's gun caused the werewolf to jump in surprise, and to her relief the shard shattered and showered her in small pieces of ice. Through the bond Lilith sent Dante her thanks, then barely managed to stand before a thick sheet of ice covered the ground. With Shola's attention on the others, Lilith looked around wildly for anything to use against her next. Time ran out before she could figure anything out, and when Shola struck Lilith jumped to the side to barely evade.

"Shit." she said, struggling to find her footing on the ice, "She is just way more powerful than I am when it comes to ice and water."

Lilith stomped in anger, but noticed that a small crack in the ice formed where her foot fell.

"Maybe.."

Turning to face Shola once more, Lilith launched herself into the air and came down heavy with both feet, wincing as she landed on her wounded leg. The remained unchanged for what seemed to be forever, but Lilith watched, determined. Soon a large crack formed in the ice between the Daalai woman's feet, growing in size and racing through the ice towards Shola. Lilith brought her palms together and waited until she was satisfied with how far the crack had gone before pulling her hands apart. As if on cue the ground below them split, causing the ice along the cracks to shatter as the earth divided and left a small ravine between them. With new access to the earth Lilith summoned a large boulder into the air that she sent flying towards Shola's right wing.

 

[Falcon]

Kaden took the chance he had and smashed his hammers into the creature as instructed, swinging again for it's legs as the arms shattered. A moment later he had turned for the second one coming after him, aiming in a similar fashion.
"Dante," he shouted over the battle din, "you doing okay, Bigman?" His attention shifted back again to the girl who had quite possible just saved him.
"Nadia, you got Trev covered? Damn but we need him to snap out of it!"

He struggled for footing as his sister's actions caused the ground to tremble.

Trevean watched.
He saw it all
Dante struggling to fight with his knives
Kaden doing everything he could with his hammers,
Nadia learning new tricks with her purifier powers
Eleanor and Piper struggling to protect them all
Kalya obediently guarding him

He needed to do something
Needed to stop it
Needed to try
. . .
But he couldn't quite care

 

[Midian]

The boulder struck Shola and knocked her flat on her front, struggling under its weight. Her right wing was shattered completely and it was only with great effort that she managed to free herself, struggling to her feet. The ice on her arms was cracked too, but they were slowly healing themselves as well.
"You bitch!" she shouted, but it sounded as though multiple voices shouted along with her. "I'll kill you!"

She charged Lilith, missing her on the first charge. Shola lost her balance, falling to her knees, but quickly picking herself back up. Her eyes blazed with unfettered rage and she attacked Lilith recklessly again and again, growing sloppier with every rush. As her temper heated up, so did the ice patch on the ground, quickly melting again. Her wing was slowly rebuilding itself, but it seemed to be draining her. All it took was a few well-placed attacks from Lilith before she collapsed, lying motionless on the ground. The ice patch finished thawing completely. The ice creatures did so as well, and the entire battlefield was covered in a thick, muggy haze.

In the heavy silence they saw a great mass of ice reaching upwards, and as the fog cleared they saw it looked like a ten-foot frozen lotus, tightly closed.
"That's gonna suck," Dante said just as it began to bloom, revealing what they had to assume was Shola. Its lower half tapered inwards from the hips down like a dagger, and all of her was frozen solid. From her icy torso four jointed arms emerged and in place of the wings she'd lost were four new ones. Even her face was covered entirely. The new monster raised its hands, calling forth a rain of freezing blue fire from the clouds overhead. When it struck the shields Dante and Piper made, it slowly ate through them. As Lilith moved to attack her, Shola flicked two of her hands, trapping Lilith in a water bubble.

 

[Falcon]

"Lilith!" Kaden screamed as he saw the water overtake her. "Shit, SHIT!" He didn't know what to do anymore, there was nothing he could do anymore. Kaden sure as hell couldn't swim.
"Someone find some rope or something to throw to her, drag her out!" He cried looking wildly around himself for anything that would work. That's what you did when a person was caught in water right? got them something to hold onto, pulled them out?
"Damn you Trevean!" he shouted in desperation and anger at the whole situation."Can't you do anything? Can't you at least try!"

Try
Try
Try

His words finally penetrated the nothingness that held Trevean in check. They were an order, a direct instruction on what to do.

"Can't you talk her out of it!?" Kaden shouted again latching onto what appeared to be a set of torn curtains and running full force to when his sister was imprisoned, trying to stuff one end into the bubble for her to grab "Dante, give me a hand! Come on, Bigman, hurry!"

As Kaden and the others worked on freeing Lilith, Trevean finally stood. He took one step, and then another. "Shola," he whispered, "Shola, please stop." With each step with each word he seemed to go stronger. "Shola, this isn't you. this isn't what you want to do. We know you, know you don't want to hurt us." But there was a deadness to his tone, a lifelessness in his voice that seemed to rob it of some of its power. He pressed closer to make up for it. If she wouldn't listen maybe he could get close enough . . .

Shola's attention turned towards him, watching. Meanwhile Kaden and Dante had managed to pull Lilith's head and arms out. She could breath now. Just a little further.

And then it all fell apart.

Shola's hands flicked, another water bubble formed, and this time, it began to freeze over, quickly.

Trevean's first thought was it was cold. He was trapped in the bubble of water, most would have drowned, and for a moment that's what he thought she was trying to do before he remembered he was a nack. His second thought was that because it was water he could escape, the shock almost throwing him back to rationality, but the moment he reached the edge Trevean was forced to snatch his hand back. It was ice. Thick, solid, ice. He could feeling the chill growing as the ice crept inward, freezing from the outside. He hurriedly returned to the center, the warmest spot. If the ice reached him, if he froze, he would die.
Part of him wondered if that might not be for the best.

He could see outside, barely. See Kaden leaving Lilith in the hands of her other to be freed completely, as he raised a hammer and rushed back towards Trevean, no doubt blaming himself for this. Trevean did know Kaden that well. It was obvious the Daalai man intended to smash the ice and let Trevean pour out with the water. He never got the chance. Kaden took his last step, raise his arms for the swing, and Shola flicked her hands again.

This time it was not a bubble, but frost. Ice raced across the ground, entrapped his feet, and climbed up his body. The hammer dropped from fingers too cold to maintain their grip as the frozen liquid pulled him backwards, bending his spin, taking his balance. It wove around his legs, torso and arms, before creeping up the back of his neck and taking hold of his head. Slowing then, though frost continued to grow, bridging the gaps. Soon, there's be nothing left but a statue.

And Still Trevean was trapped, the centerpiece of the giant snow-globe that was layer by layer freezing inward.

 

[Kura]

"You bitch!" Shola shouted, but it sounded as though multiple voices shouted along with her. "I'll kill you!"

Lilith dodged Shola's first attack with an ease that surprised even herself. The girl fell to her knees momentarily, but then shot towards her with attack after attack, full of rage. With each attack Lilith managed to block but only barely, almost stumbling with each step back. Lilith noticed Shola's wing regenerating, but also noticed that it seemed to be draining her at the same time. Lilith took advantage of the opportunity and placed several kicks that sent Shola to the ground.

Lilith took the silence to regroup, placing her hands on her knees and breathing deeply. It wasn't until she heard Dante's voice that she looked up and saw the large mass of ice towering over them. The version of Shola inside proved to be even more terrifying than any other form they had seen. The natural decision to be made was to attack her head on, and Lilith did so-- running towards the new creature with her hands clasped preparing to attack. With only a flick of her hand, though, Lilith found herself trapped inside a bubble of water. Having not taken a breath before before trapped inside the werewolf panicked, her body frantically snatching back and forth as she was only able to focus on trying to breathe.

As time passed Lilith could hear the muffled sound of Kaden's voice through the water. Luckily Lilith managed to hold her breath until the last second, and as the others retrieved her from her bubble, she took a large gasp of air before falling into Kaden's arms. Soon she was passed off to Dante where she continued to recover, soon regaining what little strength she had before being trapped in the water. Looking over the battlefield she saw Trevean trapped inside a globe of water turning to ice, and Kaden advancing towards Shola.

"KADEN. DON'T!" Lilith cried, scrambling to her feet. It was too late, though, and with a flick of her hand Shola summoned frost that began to wrap itself around Lilith's brother. With a yell of rage, Lilith took off towards them. Her hands flew to her sides, and with each step the earth below her feet rose to move her faster. Once she reached Kaden the earth at her feet overtook her body up to her fists, which she then used in an attempt to break the ice.

"Kaden, you idiot. Don't worry, I've got you. I've got you." Lilith mumbled.

 

[Midian]

Dante hadn't been fast enough to find something to pull Lilith out, nor could he keep up with Kaden as the younger man ran to Lilith's aid. Dante limped behind him, finally able to join him and help pull Lilith free of the bubble.
"Are you okay?!" he asked as she gasped for breath. "Lil, are you okay?"

He looked over at Shola, who hovered in air with a cold, assured indifference.
"Is that even you in there?!" he shouted. "What's happened to you? Shola, you're not really a monster, why are you acting like one? We trusted you!"

Whether or not she heard him was unclear, but as soon as she seemed to register that Lilith was trying to free Kaden, she reached out and made a grabbing motion at Lilith, jerking her arm back so that Lilith went careening towards her. Each hand grabbed one of Lilith's limbs and held her soundly, almost as if inspecting her with the flat ice mask. After a few minutes, she began trying to pull Lilith into pieces. Nothing Dante or the others below did anything to distract her; an ant might as well have petitioned a car.

Watching from afar, the Dire Queen sighed resentfully and raised her own arms, summoning two Nitildare from her shadow on the ground.
"Go and help. If either of you try to eat them, I'll turn you into coal sprites," she threatened them. They paused for a moment before lumbering towards Lilith and Shola, dragging Shola down to the ground and prying Lilith out of her hands. The one that was left holding her paused, and suddenly the front of its body turned into a great, yawning maw, pulling Lilith towards it until the Dire Queen shouted and cursed, causing it to drop her. The other one was trying to pull Shola's wings off. However, before it could get all of them off she forced it off and rose into the sky, three of them remaining. Both Nitildare retreated a little, but stood not far from Lilith.
"You've got some help, kid! Put their lazy asses to work!" the Dire Queen shouted. She made no move to help Dante as he tried to break Trevean's bubble while Nadia tried to chip away at Kaden, but at least Shola was focused on Lilith and the Nitildare instead of the others.

 

[Falcon]

Neither Trevean nor Kaden were much use, all either of them could think about was how cold they were and how this was not the end they would have chosen. One floated uselessly in the center of the frozen water bubble, waiting patiently as the ice crept slowly in, and barely registering the foggy form of someone outside trying to chip away the ice. The other struggled with everything he had, pouring all his remaining strength into breaking free, straining his muscles against his frozen chains, and got nowhere. For Trevean it was the end he deserved, all hope was lost anyway. For Kaden it was the ultimate shame, a death that served no purpose. If only he had managed to free the Nack first he would have been content.

"Not . . . like . . . this . . ." he grunted through rapidly chattering teeth. He could feel his body freezing, feel his mind slowing. "Can't . . ." If only he had an arm free, or even a shoulder, if he could just get his balance back. He felt as if he was being bent backwards in two. " . . . Nadia, . . . spine . . ." it was too hard to get the words out.

 

[Kura]

Lilith screeched as she was sent flying back towards Shola. The monster's four limbs clamped down on to Lilith's, lifting her into the air and allowing the young werewolf to stare back into the shield of ice covering it's face. Unable to move, Lilith could only watch until Shola made her next move.

"Come on." She murmured, "We both know you're going to kill me, and I can't stop you. Just do it. You big bitch."

Each agonizing second passed slowly, and it was almost a relief when Shola began to pull on Lilith's limbs. White hot pain started in her joints and raced down her limbs as Lilith tried to fight, but it was in vain. This danger was much bigger than she was and she hadn't managed to achieve controlling her powers without movement of her hands. With a large sigh Lilith finally gave up, going limp in Shola's hands. The other Guardian closed her eyes and waited, only to be surprised when the Nitildare began to drag Shola down.

Lilith used what little strength she had to help the creatures release her from Shola's grasp, scrambling wildly when the one left holding her attempted to take a bite out of her. Thankfully for the Guardian the Dire Queen was able to rather colofully persuade it to do otherwise. Once free and back on her feet Lilith stood facing the Dire Queen, nursing her dislocated arm.

"You've got some help, kid! Put their lazy asses to work!"

The Nitildare stood surrounding Lilith as she nodded, motioning to Shola with her functional arm.

"GO. Pull her out of the sky again. I'll join you once I'm fixed." With her orders given she briefly watched to ensure things were underway before hurrying over to Dante.

"Dante, do you think you can help me out?" Lilith said, nodding at her injured arm.

 

[Midian]

The Nitildare paused, listening to Lilith's order before lumbering with singular purpose towards Shola. Dante met Lilith as she came to him, glad she was at least walking after being held by Shola like that. At the moment he couldn't process how much it had frightened him to see her that way; old habits in the heat of stress had kicked in and he inspected her, his hands rough and probing.

"Dante, do you think you can help me out?" Lilith said, nodding at her injured arm.

"Got it," he replied. "At least it's easier to do on someone else."

Dante grabbed her arm and shoulder, forcing the joint back into place as quickly as he could so as not to draw the process out.
"Flex it for me," he said, watching her move it until he was satisfied that it was in correctly. Over her shoulder he watched the Nitildare shield themselves from Shola's bursts of blue fire that froze the ground as they tried to approach her.
"Holy shit," he mumbled, bowing his head tiredly before shaking it and straightening up again.
"What's next, Lil? How do we un-monster her?" Dante asked. He glanced over at where Nadia was hacking at the ice on Kaden with one of her needles, chipping off bits and pieces with fervor. The Nitildare were doing the same to Shola, having finally made it through the fire and gotten her back within their grasp. One grabbed one of her arms and tore it off, flinging it away, while another tore off another wing.

However, they hadn't been paying attention to the increasingly-soggy ground that suddenly lit up with electricity, causing them to jitter and seize. Shola rose above them again, although much lower than before. Her entire form trembled in the air now and Lilith could barely hear a high-pitched screeching coming from the ice rubbing together. As its smooth mask watched them, a deep crack cut through it.

From the crack came a violent burst of blizzard air aimed at Lilith and Dante. Dante covered his face with his arm and backed away.
"Lil, are you gonna be okay? I'm going to get you some real help!" he shouted, going over to help Nadia finish chipping Kaden free. As Shola bore down on Lilith she noticed Dante and Nadia freeing Kaden and sent a spark of lightning towards them that hit Dante squarely in the back, sending him crumpling to the dirt. Nadia looked down, horrified, but her last blow shattered the rest of the ice on Kaden.
"Please help them!" she begged him before running over to make sure Dante was alive.

 

[Falcon]

Trevean was losing sight of the battle outside his prison of water. The ice that slowly inched in growing thicker and frostier until all that was left was light and shadow. It was even growing harder to hear the sounds of the fight outside, or perhaps that was his brain growing sluggish with the cold. Some small part of Trevean screamed that he should fight, shouldn't give up so easily, but the rest of him couldn't quite care. What did death matter when all hope was already gone.

---

Kaden struggled for breath as Nadia began to crack through the ice that encased him. As she struck key parts he began to struggle again, using his brute strength to flex and add more strain to the cracks Nadia had created. But even as she freed him, one thing was clear. He wasn't in top form. First the journey across the water that had robbed him of the content of his stomach, then a storm that had filled him with an awe and fear he had never faced before, then the bitter cold of the ice chains had stripped him of his strength. Not to mention they were all short on sleep.

Kaden staggered when the ice fell free, struggling not to fall flat on his face even as Nadia's words filled his ears.
"Please help them!"
For a moment it was an order and all he could think about. A single purpose in a fuzzed mind that had moments before been sure it was about to die, about to fail.

Kaden stood on shaking legs, and reached for the hammer he had dropped. He tried to hide how much extra effort it took to raise the tool now, and tied it back to his belt beside the second. It was then that his eyes fell on the still slowly freezing water glob that encased Trevean.

"Don't forget Aquaman," he managed, forcing his teeth not to chatter. "I'm not sure how long he can manage in there . . ."

It took everything he had for Kaden to turn and leave them there, that is until he remembered he was heading for his sister. He had no clue if she would let him help, if he even could, but he had to try.

"What do you need, Sis?" he called when he was close enough. "What can I do?" Kaden forced the bravado into his voice, managing to stand tall in a widened stance, faking the strength he was no longer certain he had.
"Tell me what you need?" there was still a bluish tinge to his lips.

 

[Kura]

"FUCK." Lilith cried with a wince as her arm was popped back into place. She panted heavily as she did as Dante instructed, flexing her arm to ensure that it was placed properly.

"What's next, Lil? How do we un-monster her?"

"That's the part I'm trying to figure out. Clearly I'm not tapping into what power I do have. I'm not sure that I can beat her until I can, and I'm not sure I even know how to. I should have asked her to teach me so long ago, but I had no idea that this was what we could be."

The Nitildare seemed to have Shola contained momentarily, and it came as a surprise when the ground beneath them crackled with electricity. Lilith grunted with frustration as they watched Shola once again rise into the air. At least this time she wasn't unreachable. A crack raced through the monster's ice mask and Lilith stood her ground through the freezing wind as Dante backed away.

"Lil, are you gonna be okay? I'm going to get you some real help!"

"Just help with Kaden! I'll be fine!" Lilith shouted back, pushing against the winds and slowly making her way towards Shola. It wasn't until lightning shot past her that Lilith turned away, and as Dante fell to the ground the color drained from her face. She darted towards them, the fact that Kaden was now free from the ice not even registering in her head.

"Dante!" Lilith cried, passing Kaden and shoving Nadia aside as she landed on her knees next to him. "Dante? I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. This is my fault. I'm so sorry. Please be okay." The Daalai girl's lip trembled as she spoke, but after tapping Dante's cheeks with no response Lilith's expression froze into a cold stare. She stood, turning and flexing her injured arm as she spoke to the others.

"Nadia, Kaden's right. We need to get Trevean out of that bubble before this situation gets any worse than it already is. You start chipping him out. Kaden, what I need is for you to watch over Dante and make sure he stays alive. My lack of strength as a Guardian is what put us in this situation. If something happens to him, you'll be dealing with two angry monsters."

Without another word Lilith turned towards the source of the blizzard and began walking. Anything caught up in the wind was instantly broken or deflected as it flew at her. As she approached stronger winds the earth around her feet kept her planted until the opportunity opened to break free and slide underneath Shola to the other side. Not giving the wounded monster time to react, Lilith summoned two giant stone fists that rose to grab the monster's two remaining limbs. As soon as Lilith was confident that Shola was securely in place, another boulder was summoned and sent flying into the only remaining wing.

"Fuck you. We did NOTHING to you."

After the initial blow came another, then another. Lilith remained her normal size but stood her ground, her eyes now glowing a light green to mimic Shola's blue.

 

[Midian]

The remaining wing shattered and now, flightless, Shola settled on the ground, the point of her "feet" resting just above the earth. The cracked mask had shattered even further, barely together, and the ice all over her body had began to flake away, revealing the ice construct to be a hollow shell. The monster tilted its broken head a little as Lilith spoke.

"Fuck you. We did NOTHING to you."

The cracks on the mask moved and formed into a jagged mouth curved downwards in agitation and confusion. After a moment it reformed into a straight line and the creature broke its arms off at the shoulders, floating away from Lilith and leaving her holding the arms, their fingers still wiggling. The armless monster bowed its head and shuddered, pieces of ice beginning to break off as it shattered into splinters and chunks until there was nothing left. The ice began to evaporate and the sky darkened, clouds growing dark and heavy. The Nitildare wandered over to the Dire Queen who dismissed them, causing them to sink into her shadow once more.

Meanwhile, Nadia helped Kaden break the ice bubble Trevean was in, eventually causing it to burst and free him. Eleanor and Piper, who had been working on making sure Dante would wake up, now turned their attention to making sure Trevean could start getting warm by conjuring a small fire.
"Is everyone okay?" Nadia asked, then paused a minute before continuing:
"Well, I mean... Is nobody about to die right now?"

She looked at the place where Shola's ice had fallen and then up at the sky before looking at Trevean and around at the others.
"Is she...? I mean, is she gone?" Nadia asked softly. Dante shook his head to try to clear it and looked up at Lilith, taking in that her eyes were still glowing.
"Lil...? Are you okay?" he asked, still looking dazed. Eleanor divided the fire to give some to Kaden and warm him up too, looking up at the sky.
"Is it going to rain?" she asked, but was cut off by Nadia before she could say anything else.
"Why are you worried about rain when SHOLA MIGHT BE DEAD?!" Nadia cried.

A clap of thunder made her flinch and the Dire Queen looked up as well, although she didn't speak to them.
"What do we do now?" Nadia asked in a small voice. "What do we do?"

 

[Falcon]

"Aquaman's the closest to it," Kaden answered when Nadia asked if anyone was about to die. He huddles closer to the fire keeping and eye on Trevean who seemed to need help to do much the same. The nack was in bad condition, his skin tinged blue as a whole, to usual electric blue of his gaze now more a pale ice, but worse was the man's attitude, like all the life and hope had gone out of him. Kaden knew that feeling, had faced it recently, and it scared him to see it in another.

"Why are you worried about rain when SHOLA MIGHT BE DEAD?!" Nadia cried.
A clap of thunder made her flinch and the Dire Queen looked up as well, although she didn't speak to them.
"What do we do now?" Nadia asked in a small voice. "What do we do?"

"If - if it's going to rain," Kaden started, "If the pattern continues, it is very possible Shola might rain down with it. She dissolved and reformed before, right?"
It was desperation talking, and Kaden knew it. But without Shola they were leaderless. Trevean might have managed, but without Shola it was clear he didn't have it in him, and Kaden didn't think the rest of them knew enough to keep things together moving forward. Perhaps Dante, But Dante seemed to want to be in the shadows not to mention his current state . . .

Kaden suppressed a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold and turned his gaze to the strange woman who somehow had stepped in and known exactly what to do. Her perhaps? but could they trust her? And yet she radiated a power that made him feel she might be their only chance.

"Please," He started, struggling to rise to his feet and ending up kneeling at hers instead. "If there's anything -- tell me what to do. ow do I help my sister. How do we save the boss lady?"

 

[Kura]

After the monster had disappeared, Lilith followed the Nitildare back over to the others and settled at Dante's side. It wasn't until she stopped moving entirely that she felt the full force of what had been happening to her body. Not only was she sore, but she was completely exhausted. She glanced around at the others to judge the overall state of the group, then turned her attention to Dante as he came to and shook his head.

"Lil...? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. We've caught a small break, I hope. I'm afraid she'll be back though." Lilith settled against a piece of wood, allowing Dante to lean on her shoulder and rest.

"If - if it's going to rain," Kaden started, "If the pattern continues, it is very possible Shola might rain down with it. She dissolved and reformed before, right?"

Lilith nodded in agreement with Kaden. "But hopefully all of this work means that we're wearing her down."

Kaden turned his attention to the Dire Queen, asking her what they could do to help Shola. Lilith looked to her tiredly as she waited with the others for a reply.

 

[Midian]

The Dire Queen looked at Kaden and rolled her eyes, summoning a parasol and popping it open as the first drops began to splatter on the ground and all of them.
"Boss lady, that's rich. Don't worry meatshield, you're about to get her back. Now if only you could say that of the respect of your peers," she sneered. Dante glared at her and flipped her off from where he leaned on Lilith, his forehead resting against her jaw. Nadia curled into a ball and put her chin on her knees, watching the water patter down on the ground. Could she really come back like this? The Dire Queen had walked away from Kaden and was looking up at the sky again.

After a few minutes the water began to drip up from the ground, and Trevean was also able to watch it drip up from his arms and fingers as well. Nadia's eyes widened as the puddle began to flow upwards as well, and in the ruins of the house the water seemed to be collecting in a column. The water mass grew and grew, reaching at least three stories high as twisted and quivered. Inside of it a light was slowly beginning to burn, growing brighter and larger until it was the size of a car. When it had stopped growing it began to beat like a heard, the great sound causing the ground and everything on it to shake with every boom. The Dire Queen looked down at Trevean, and then to the great mass that was Shola.
"That's it, the truth of what she is. Without the clay body the goddesses trap her true potential in, that is her. Without you to hold her back, that's what she's truly capable of. Pure and raw elemental power. Tell me Trevean, can you love that? And can it truly love you?"

Inside of the water, however, Lilith could clearly see the shard floating freely.
"Now's your chance to knock it out," the Dire Queen said to Lilith. "But if you shoot, make sure you use enough force to go all the way through. The arrow CAN'T get stuck in her. Do you understand me?"

 

[Kura]

"Now's your chance to knock it out," the Dire Queen said to Lilith. "But if you shoot, make sure you use enough force to go all the way through. The arrow CAN'T get stuck in her. Do you understand me?"

Lilith stared up at the creature that was Shola, then back down at the Dire Queen. "So, in other words, no pressure, right?" It's not like we'll completely fail at saving humanity if I don't put enough power behind this arrow."

Scooting out from under Dante, Lilith carefully helped her Other lie back comfortably and kissed his forehead before standing and retrieving her bow from where it sat on the ground. She drew the Dire Queen's arrow from its keeping place in her quiver and looked to Kaden.

"I don't have the energy to use my magic for reaching that high AND firing the arrow with enough force," she said, looking up at Shola, "I need you to throw me. I'll use whatever height we can get to my advantage, and you're the biggest one out of all of us. I know we're all exhausted, but maybe this will be the last hit we have to make."

With a deep breath Lilith launched into the air and readied her bow, closing an eye and concentrating on the shard. For a moment the open eye glowed green as Lilith put every remaining ounce of strength she possessed, Guardian or other otherwise, into the shot. She held her breath as it flew through the air trailed by a line of green light, entering the being from the front and emerging a fraction of a second later from it's back. The shard remained at the point of the arrow until it hit the ground, then shattered into small pieces.

Lilith, barely able to land properly on her feet, smiled before collapsing to the ground.

 

[Falcon]

Meatshield?
Kaden winced and shot a hesitant glance at the others when the stranger hinted he had done something worthy of losing their respect. But then, he had already screwed everything up so badly that it hardly mattered at this point what they thought of him. Worse still was her comment to Trevean. The nack already looked like he had lost everything. Did she really have to push his nose in it like that?

The woman was, however, cooperative enough to help Lilith, and Kaden quickly learned of his sister's plan. He didn't exactly like it, but it was all they had. So he positioned himself at and angle to throw her, held his hand in a stirrup Lilith could launch herself from, and as soon as he felt her feet touch his palms Kaden threw her with all his might and prayed it would be enough to give her the height she needed.

It used the last of the energy he had, he could feel it. If his sister missed it was all over.

He turned to watch with worried eyes and let out a war whoop as Lilith's arrow struck true. A moment later he was at her side helping Lilith to her feet.
"Are you okay?"

 

[Midian]

As soon as the shard shattered the arrow transformed back into the obsidian knife of Shola's childhood and lay glinting on the ground. The water column quivered and collapsed into steam that gradually faded away, leaving Shola lying on the ground in the ruins of the house. The Dire Queen knelt by her and inspected her for a long time before standing again and simply disappearing. Nadia looked from Shola to Trevean and then to Lilith and Eleanor.
"C-can't we wake her up? Fix her? Something?" Nadia asked and Dante sat up wearily, looking dazed and more than a little out of it all.
"Can't get her through the bond?" he asked, and then blinked and shook his head as if remembering. However, Eleanor's face had lit up and she turned to Kaden.
"Can you help me get her over here? I think I can help, at least," Eleanor said breathlessly. She helped Kaden drag Shola over to Trevean, seeing how out of it he was, and once they were close she removed the iron-rimmed glasses from her pocket and put them on. At first it looked like she was just plucking at the air, but her fingernails began to glow and soon a bright, shimmering thread became visible where it was wrapped around her fingers.
"Trevean? I'm... I don't know exactly what's going to happen, but from studying the bond, I think I can sort of reconnect it. It wasn't totally severed, just really badly thinned, and I think I can undo the spell the mater did to make it that way. I hope."

Eleanor connected the spell to Trevean and bit her lip, waiting. At first nothing happened, as was usually the case, but soon Trevean could feel the bond beginning to fill the void it had left behind. After a few minutes it had filled completely and Shola grunted, blinking rapidly and forcing herself into a sitting position. She looked at Trevean and the others, and then at Eleanor, and then at the others again.
"What... What happened? I..."

Shola shook her head and then her face paled as she began to remember. She covered her mouth, and then her face in shame as she shook her head.
"I'm so sorry, everyone. I'm so, so sorry. I've hurt the people who mean the most to me. I'm so sorry.