As Alive As A Dead Tree

With a second flash of light, the three of them reappeared in the main hall of the Angiporium, just as it had been left.

“Lucius, how did it feel this ti-”

TSNIKTTTTTTTTTTT

The sound came before the blood, but it quickly followed as Lain’s abdomen started to turn a crimson hue.

She gasped, a sharp, sudden intake of breath. As suddenly as the dark blade had been thrusted into her, it was removed and ready for its next attack.

“LAIN! NO!! RUUAAAGHHHHH!!!!” Surazal screeched like a bird of prey, his Onus Wings unleashed and charged at the figure behind her.

There, emerging from the shadows menacingly stood a man in a suit that absorbed the light, the only glimmer visible in his indigo hair and writhing orchid blade.

“Malicious Shroud, leave me be,” Iscarius calmly ordered, his full figure now visible out from the depths of the shadows.

Surazal flew at him with his bladed wings pointed straight ahead, ready to tear through the intruder.

Effortlessly, Iscarius raised his Cursed Gladius upwards in a smooth motion, cleanly slicing through the right wing.

As the two men fought, Lucius dropped to Lain’s side, his eyes beginning to fill with tears once again.

“Lain! Lain!” He panically said. “It's okay, you’re going to be okay right? You can heal, you can use Tranquil Terra! You’re going to be okay!”

Amidst the excruciating pain from the burning blade, Lain was still able to give Lucius a feeble smile, reaching down to hold his fingers in her delicate hands. Through clenched teeth, she gathered what little energy she could and began to speak.

“I…am afraid…it doesn’t work like that. My ability…is a gesture for others, not…for my own.”

“No No No No! You can’t- you can’t go!”

Lucius was now yelling, tensing up his entire body to try to bring forth his resonance ability, to do anything to help this person who had done so much to help him.

“Pleasepleasepleaseplease! Just work!” His voice echoed throughout the chamber, resonating off of the two brawling men.

As Surazal’s wing had been cut with no time to heal back to its proper state, there was no other choice but to remain in grounded combat. His left wing was wrapped around the front of his body, acting as a makeshift shield, while his right hand burned with the brilliance of a golden flame.

“Aureate Flame, release!” he growled, sending a burst of yellow fire straight towards Iscarius.

Iscarius held his blade with the flat edge pointed at the oncoming flames, splitting the embers into two sections that passed right by his sides.

“If you all would just stop struggling, this could be finished much quicker,” he spitefully remarked, closing the gap between himself and Surazal.

With Surazal’s golden wing shielding the front of his body, he prepared for the thrust of the glowing blade, hoping for an opportunity to engulf Iscarius’s head in his flames of penance. Readying himself, he positioned one leg slightly back to brace the oncoming impact, his right hand burning an even deeper hue in preparation.

Wait for the opening, let him slip up, he thought.

Iscarius plunged his blade directly at Surazal’s chest, seeming indifferent to the protective layer guarding his vitals. At that moment, Surazal knew something was wrong.

The black blade drove right through the middle of the wing, finding its target in a soft bed of flesh. Surazal gasped, his interrupted focus caused his resonance to fully disappear from his body.

Falling onto his back, the blade stuck out from his chest as its dark aura spread throughout his body like a cancer.

“Hmmmpff,” he groaned, as the rot continued to grow within. “You’ll…never win…this will not…be the end…this will not be…the end…”

Iscarius stepped with his left boot onto his chest, twisting the blade deeper in as Surazal’s eyes began to turn dark.

“Yes, just accept it. That’s right, let the darkness in,” he purred, his grip tight around the blade’s handle.

Across the room, Lucius continued his attempt at releasing his resonance, the very essence of his soul, in order to defeat the malicious force ripping his companions away. He would have sacrificed his entire being, but his attempts had resulted in no avail.

“I cant- I can’t do it Lain!” he frantically uttered through tearful eyes, “I can’t save you.”

Lain’s skin had begun to change to an even paler hue, her dress now almost fully a crimson mess. However, in spite of her pain and nearness to the end, her expression remained one of peace.

“Hush, Lucius. It is alright…I will be alright.” Her right hand still grasped his shaking hands, but with her left fingers she steadily wiped away the tears on his cheek. “You are so strong, your path is just beginning. I know it…I believe in you.”

She reached down into an invisible fold within her dress, retrieving a sketched drawing on a torn scrap of newspaper. Her index finger had brushed against the drawn base of the tree, leaving a smear of her own blood running down the charcoal trunk.

Placing it into Lucius’s palm, she closed his fingers around it tightly, securing it in his grasp.

“You must continue on your path…see it to its end, for all of us. When you arrive…seek out the twins…they will know what to do.” Lain’s voice was beginning to grow even quieter, her soft words barely making it to Lucius’s ears.

“The twins? What twins? What are you saying? Please, please don’t go,” Lucius begged, a familiar feeling erupting within him.

Iscarius had now removed his blade from Surazal’s chest, and called out from across the chamber.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you two. You’ll both be joining your friend here soon.”

Lucius’s face was flushed pale, his mind sprinting through everything that he would never be able to do if he died here, everything he would never be able to accomplish. He had too many amends to make before he was ready to die.

Lain’s hushed voice brought his focus back down to her as she began to speak, both of her elegant hands placed directly on top of his.

“Remember…our time together. Keep the memory of Andromeda…alive, it is yours…to carry now.”

Lain had gathered all the life essence that she had left, all that remained of her resonance, as her body began to emit that same angelic glow that flowed out from her wounded chest. Even now, her beauty was as noticeable as ever before.

“Be strong…Lucius, be…strong.”

As his eyes welled up with tears, Lain turned her head away from him and towards an empty wall, whispering under her breath words that he couldn’t make out.

Her white aura had reached Lucius’s hands, her resonance built up just enough for one last use. In a flash like a bolt of lightning in a thunderous storm, Lucius was teleported away.

Lain gave a final smile, filled with peace, as she closed her eyes and transfigured into pure divine energy, accepting her reward of a well deserved rest.