Doormat that Fights Back

Nao didn't have any stones, which meant-

"Ibuki," Ria breathed.

"So you know these people."

What Reign asked wasn't a question.

"Yes, they're my friends!"

"Friends?" Reign's tone wasn't quite curious, but wasn't quite amused either. "So you should know the demon child one has two Hui-t'ien Stones embedded in her body. She's an extremely rare case, and removing two stones will be especially dangerous - which makes her all the more of a perfect demonstration."

Ria stepped forward, wanting to protest but Reign continued before she could speak up.

"I simply want to show my sister what we're dealing with. I'll remove one stone, and if you'll keep her from bleeding out. Since she's your friend, I imagine you'd be extra motivated to succeed."

Ria's hands trembled. She wanted to help Ibuki - of course she wanted to - but what if she messed up? What if Ibuki bled out because Ria couldn't control blood properly?

Otou-san's right., I really don't have a spine.

"Wait!"

Nao's voice cut through the heat.

"Why do the stones have to be removed at all? If people simply don't use them, isn't that the same as removal?"

"An interesting proposal. But tell me, human, how long do you think someone could resist using a Hui-t'ien Stone when their village is under attack, or when they could save a loved one?"

"That's…"

"Even the most innocent will give in to temptation eventually. The only path to peace is removal."

"But she'll die!"

"Not if my sister succeeds."

Reign stepped toward Ibuki, flames gathering around his palm, when Nao interrupted.

"Hey!" Nao shouted to Ria. "You're not seriously going along with this nutcase, are you?"

"But this is the only way to end the war…"

"The only way? He's going to carve up Ibuki to prove a point! What's wrong with you?"

"Nao, I know it sounds bad, but-"

"Sounds bad? It is bad! When did you become such a doormat?"

With an angry huff, Nao then chucked something small and feathery into Ria's face- Tyrant.

His talons dug into Ria's cheeks, her forehead and every part of her face, really. They scraped across her skin as he struggled to find something to hold on to, leaving something warm trickling down her cheek.

Ria pressed her fingers to it.

Blood.

She'd never tried it before - manipulating water inside a living body was one thing, but her own blood was another entirely. Still, blood was mostly water, wasn't it?

"You're right, Nao. I'm being a doormat, a spineless doormat at that. But this spineless doormat is going to fight back!"

She finally wrenched Tyrant off her face - the bird immediately latched onto her shoulder instead - and focused on the warm liquid trickling down her face, reaching for it with her magic the way she might reach for a stream. The blood wobbled awkwardly, dripping sideways, then up, then sort of vibrated in place before finally - finally - responding properly to her pull.

"What-"

But Reign didn't get to finish.

Ria compressed the blood into needles so thin they were nearly invisible, then flung them outward in every direction. They scattered through the heat, seeking their targets.

A wall of flame erupted between them. Reign must've spotted the blood vanishing from her cheek, but his reflexes came a heartbeat too slow.

The needles were already gone.

Ria sensed them immediately - they were all embedded in flesh. One in Reign's shoulder. Two in each arm. Three more scattered across his torso where the flames hadn't quite caught them all. Otou-san had a few in his legs. Nao took one in the thigh. Ibuki's wooden limbs absorbed a handful, the blood soaking into the wood. Even the guards stationed further away now carried her needles in their skin.

Reign's flames died down. 

"What exactly did you just do?"

Ria didn't answer. She reached for the needles with her magic, trying to pull them through Reign's the way she'd done with Breaker. The blood wobbled inside his shoulder but mostly refused to budge. Blood wasn't like water at all - it was to stubborn to manipulate with any real precision. 

"Blood projectiles, how clever." Reign rolled his shoulder. "But you can't control them once they're embedded, can you? Otherwise you would've paralyzed me by now."

He was right. The needles just sat there, refusing to move the way she wanted.

But he was also wrong because now Ria could sense him. Every movement, every shift of his weight, every breath - the needles told her exactly where he was in the haze.

"It's not too late, you know. Help me remove the stones with less casualties, and we can still end this war together.

"No thanks. You just tried to rip Ibuki apart."

"Suits yourself." Reign lowered his hand, flames already gathering around his fingertips. "I'll do it anyway, even if it means more sacrifices. The stones will be removed, sister, with or without your help."

Reign flicked his wrist.

Ria dropped before the flames even left his fingertips. The burst of fire roared overhead, singing the tips of her hair as it passed. She felt how his shoulder shifted through the blood needle, which told her exactly where the attack would go half a heartbeat before it happened.

One thing about fire stone users, Otou-san had once told her while drunk and attempting to roast a fish by breathing on it, is fire needs somethin' to burn. They can't just make it outta nothing. They gotta start somewhere, keep feedin' it, or it'll die like a - He'd paused to hiccup. Like a fish. A dead fish. Ah, hell, I think I lost the analogy."

Ria had assumed that was more of his usual nonsense, but watching Reign's flames now, she understood. The fire didn't just manifest wherever he wanted- each burst had to originat from his hands, his breath or elsewhere from his body.

Reign sent three bursts in rapid succession, but Ria managed to weave between them. The flames crashed into the walls behind her, leaving scorch marks on the stone.

"How interesting, you're reading my attacks somehow."

"Maybe you're just predictable."

That was a lie. Reign wasn't predictable at all - he was fast and oh so terrifyingly good at controlling fire. But the needles gave Ria an up, and she wasn't about to explain that, but that didn't solve her actual problem: she had no way to hurt him back. Everything would evaporate before they got close.

Which left exactly one option.

Ria charged straight at Reign.

"Sister, have you lost your mind?!"

Probably, but she was committed now.

Flames erupted in her path. Ria threw herself to the side, heat scorching her prison clothes. The blood needles screamed another warning as Reign drew back his arm for a point blank range. Before he could release it, she skid to the ground and shot between his legs.

Ria popped up behind him, grabbed his shoulders for leverage, and cracked her forehead against his.

Stars exploded in the back of her head. Reign staggered backward, and she heard him make a noise that might've been a curse. Blood was trickling down her face, and also down his. She could sense it through the moisture, two fresh streaks painting matching lines down their foreheads.

Oh hey, that's perfect.

Ria yanked the blood away from their skin. The liquid wobbled, resisted, then finally obeyed. She compressed it into needles again but thicker this time, and drove them straight into Reign's shoulders, his arms, anywhere the previous needles had already weakened him.

Reign's flames sputtered.

"Did you just headbutt me so you'd have more blood to work with?!"

"Worked, didn't it?"

Reign laughed at this, the sound echoing off the scorched prison walls.

"I didn't know my sister was this much of a wild animal!"

The blood needles jutting from his skin began to smoke. The puncture wounds were being cauterized them from the inside, the flesh sealing itself shut accompanied by sizzles.

He straightened, rolling his shoulders like he'd just finished stretching.

"That was clever, I'll admit. But-"

Ria didn't wait for him to finish. She launched herself forward again, trying for another headbutt because that was her one decent strategy, but that only made her head erupt in pain.

Oh right, headbutting people hurts.

The prison spun in circles around her. Multiple Reigns stood in front of her now, all of them looking mildly concerned.

"There's four of you now," Ria mumbled. "That's cheating."

"There's one of me."

"L-liar...!"

She tried to stand, but her knees had other ideas. They buckled, and she had to catch herself on the wall, leaving a smear of blood from her forehead across the stone.

Reign's footsteps echoed as he walked towards her.

"If you're not going to help," he said, voice flat with disappointment. "at least don't interfere."

The heat intensified as he moved toward Nao and Ibuki. Ria tried to push herself off the wall, but her legs felt overcooked. She slid back down, leaving another bloody smear on the stone.

Get up get up get up -

That's when something sharp stabbed her right in the scalp.

"Ow!"

Tyrant pecked her again, harder this time. He flapped furiously and chirped toward Reign, as if trying to drag Ria back into the fight himself.

"I know, I know! I'll get up."

But as Ria placed one hand against the wall and tried to stand, her knees buckled again. She tried to catch herself, but whatever strength she had left was gone, and she simply melted down the wall until she became an undignified heap on the hot prison floor.

What else could she do…?