The Siege of Evermere: Retaliation

Yuna slowly walked in Itsuki's direction, continuing to pepper the Goddess with one bullet after another. Each shot knocked her back farther and dismembered her more and more, but she wasn't dying or crying out in pain. 

In fact, her body seemed to be regenerating significantly faster than Itsuki expected. The arrow wound that Yuna previously inflicted had taken awhile to heal. These were patching up almost as fast as Yuna could create them. 

The Goddess was regaining her power. Her body began to slowly light up. Like a battery charging and getting ready to explode. 

It was a worst-case scenario. He wasn't entirely sure what the best course of action was. Fortunately, Yuna had it under control. 

"This is Yuna reporting in!" she exclaimed, sheathing her weapons and talking into some type of earpiece. "I've got Itsuki! The two of us need a swap-out!"

The Goddess' brightness was almost blinding at this point. Itsuki instinctively grabbed his tome and crawled backwards. He eventually bumped into Yuna, who knelt down and wrapped her arms around him. 

"Now!" she screamed. 

***

Suddenly, the blinding light vanished and was replaced with the dark night sky. It took a moment for Itsuki's eyes to adjust and take in the environment. 

Itsuki and Yuna were now standing under clouded skies, atop a hill just outside Evermere's range. It was far enough away to have some measure of safety, but close enough to witness the siege as it continued to play out. 

The entire top half of Evermere's tower had erupted into divine light. An orb encompassed fifty stories now engulfed the top half of the tower. From it, countless sparks of divine energy bolted out and began bombarding the battlefield. 

Not only were droves of Directive soldiers wiped out in an instant, but the army of Evermere was coming back to life. Their empowered bodies began to shred through the Directive's forces, freeing up the Goddess to begin dismantling the Starbeasts within Evermere's walls. 

Itsuki observed with a mixture of amazement and horror. With Evermere back to full power, the tide of the battle had turned within less than five minutes. 

That being said, it didn't seem like the DIrective intended to pull back their forces. If anything, it seemed like they were pouring soldiers in even faster than before. 

"This is where things get difficult," Yuna admitted. "We've gotten off easy so far, but..."

She didn't get to finish. Before she could, Itsuki had wrapped her in a tight embrace. She almost let out a squeak at the unexpected affection. 

"I know you've only been gone for a day," Itsuki noted. "But I couldn't help but think the worst. Especially once I saw the armies beginning to march..."

Yuna wasn't entirely sure now was the time for this, but she couldn't help herself. She smiled and hugged him back. 

"Glad to hear you missed me," she replied. "I'm hoping we don't have to keep getting separated, but I'm going to need you to wait for me at least one more time."

Itsuki pulled back to meet her gaze. 

"I figured as much. This glow-up of yours couldn't just be for the sake of getting me out of there."

"You're pretty important," Yuna giggled. "But you're half-right. You were one of two objectives. The less dangerous one, if I'm being honest..."

"Don't tell me that..."

Yuna smiled, then her expression returned to being a bit more serious. 

"Your brother is the leader of the Directive. He knows our location, and should be pulling you to the headquarters within the next minute or two."

She dropped the information casually - like it wasn't a bombshell. Shin was only twelve years old. How could he be the Overseer? How long had he been here in the Fallen Lands? He had learned a lot about Evermere, but the Archives had very little about the Directive. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Yuna's form pulling back and walking away from him. 

"First Objective complete and waiting for transport," she spoke again into her ear receiver. "I'm going to be heading back in for Objective #2..."

Itsuki observed her, unsure of how to feel. He thought back to when they first meant in that prison cell. She was so much more meek and quiet back then. In the short amount of time they had known each other, she had become such a powerhouse. Itsuki knew that trauma could cause a lot of growth in a person, but still...

"You've managed to change so much since Brightmoor," he noted aloud. 

Yuna turned to look at him. She seemed a bit confused by the comment initially, but then just smiled. 

"I've been through a lot, you know," she giggled. "I'm pretty good at surviving and doing what needs to be done. I guess maybe I just express it better now because I actually have someone I want to fight for."

Itsuki felt the same wave of pain he had felt earlier in the day. When he had been sitting there, waiting for Yuna's return, he had felt an emotion that could best be described as 'uselessness'. He didn't want Yuna to face this alone. He wanted to fight alongisde her - to be useful and contribute...

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked, almost pleading. 

"Just stay safe, for me. And wish me luck, of course!"

Itsuki wanted to riot, but he knew it was pointless. Just like in Velmoria, he was completely out of his depth. As the Judge, it was not his job to fight - it was his job to experience. To live, to learn, and pass judgment based on the wisdom he had gained. 

While that day was likely a far ways off, there was some judgments he could make now. Some ideas and experiences didn't need to wait until he was fully prepared. Especially the ones that he felt could have a positive outcome. 

Without hesitation, he marched back up to Yuna. Yuna turned towards him, confused by his sudden approach. 

He didn't take time to think it over. He took her by the shoulders, pulled her close, and pressed his lips to hers. 

Her entire body stiffened and her eyes widened in response. She didn't pull away, though. Before she had time to process or reciprocate, he pulled away from the kiss. 

Itsuki looked at her. Her eyes were wide and her face was tomato-red. It was noticeable despite her glowing blue form. 

"Good luck, Yuna," Itsuki spoke with a smile. "Make sure you come back safe."

At that moment, like an ironic twist of fate, Itsuki disappeared from where he stood. He had vanished in a flash of blue light from the battlefield. 

"Yeah, of course..."

Yuna slapped herself on the cheeks, pulling her focus back to the situation at hand. She couldn't pretend she wasn't full of emotion, but that emotion would only fuel her ambition to succeed. 

"Mission Two commencing now!" she exclaimed into her earpiece. "The Goddess' Heart will be ours!"