Best Friends

Across the square, Sylvanie struggled against Yvonne. Her irises matched Divia's, and she moved around Sylvanie with effortless grace, using her wheel blades only to block and parry. Sylvanie swung her scythe to cut Yvonne in half, but Yvonne slipped past the blade and drove a knee into her side, knocking her off balance. The dark elf answered with another flurry of attacks, yet Yvonne leaped back beyond the scythe's reach. She then surged forward with a barrage of strikes, forcing Sylvanie to parry with the desperation of someone fighting for her life.

"What's wrong?" Yvonne taunted in an eerily calm voice, spinning her wheel blades in a lethal arc. "I thought you were going to fix this mistake." She feinted left, then struck right, forcing Sylvanie to stumble backward. "Where's all that fire now?" Yvonne darted to Sylvanie's left and leaped before she could react, driving a knee into the side of her face and sending the dark elf crashing to the ground.

Sylvanie slammed into the ground, her scythe clattering from her grasp. She rolled on instinct, barely evading Yvonne's follow-up strike as sparks flew. A bruise formed at the point of impact, but Sylvanie scrambled upright, seized her weapon, and raised it defensively.

"Don't… Don't get cocky, you traitor." She returned. "I'm just…getting started."

Yvonne smirked at the remark. "Show me something then." She said as they charged each other again. Yvonne launched into a spinning leap, bringing her wheel blades down on Sylvanie. Sylvanie used her speed to phase through the attack and swept her scythe horizontally at Yvonne. Yvonne countered in kind, reappearing behind Sylvanie and kicking her hard enough to send her crashing back to the ground.

"Damn it…" Sylvanie growled, forcing herself upright before charging Yvonne with a relentless flurry of slashes.

Yvonne flowed through every strike as if the battle were a dance she had mastered long ago. Sylvanie's attacks came fast and fierce, yet each one met only empty air or the effortless turn of a wheel blade. This wasn't a fight anymore. Yvonne was simply playing with her.

"You're slowing down, Sylvie," Yvonne observed. Tilting her head, she blocked another strike and leaned within inches of Sylvanie's face. "I never took you to be this weak."

Fury blazed in Sylvanie's eyes. She pulled back, then drove her forehead into Yvonne's face, forcing the other dark elf to stagger for the first time in their fight.

"Weak?! I'll show you weak!" Sylvanie snarled as she leaped in the air. "Die! You Traitorous—"

Yvonne had already recovered. In a blur, she appeared before Sylvanie, wearing the same smug grin. Surprise flashed across Sylvanie's face as time seemed to slow and their eyes met. "Still too slow, Sylvie. You're going to have to do better than that." With that, she drove a hard blow into Sylvanie's gut, then twisted into a roundhouse kick that sent her crashing to the ground.

Sylvanie struck the ground hard enough to leave a small crater, blasting dust and debris into the air. She lay there for a moment, coughing violently as she struggled to catch her breath.

“…Damn it…” Sylvanie growled, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth as she struggled unsteadily to her feet.

Yvonne landed lightly a few feet away, her wheel blades turning idly at her sides. "You know what your problem is, Sylvie?" She began walking toward the struggling dark elf. "You fight with all this emotion. This rage. Hatred. Just swinging your scythe around like a baby elf throwing a tantrum. How do you ever expect to save anyone fighting like that is beyond me."

"Go screw yourself." Sylvanie regained her footing and glared at Yvonne. "The last thing I need is some traitor grilling me about how to fight." She snarled.

"You're only saying that because you're losing," Yvonne responded. "Pretty badly, I might add." She rested one hand on her hip, the wheel blade hanging loosely from her fingers. "Honestly, you really should rethink this whole thing, Sylvie. Vel'Andria is gone; nothing you can do will ever change that. Even if you somehow manage to beat me here. You still have the rest of the Jaegers and the Order to go through. Not to mention the elves that once lived there are either dead or scattered around, hiding like roaches." She smirked at her former best friend. "Offers still open, Sylvie. Join us, and you can keep your sister. All you have to do is say yes."

Sylvanie clutched her scythe tightly. "Why would you even ask that?" Sylvanie questioned, narrowing her eyes. "Join the bastards that killed my people?" She spat to her side and glared at Yvonne. "I'd rather die fighting than become a monster like you."

"Monster like—Sylvie, I'm trying to save you. We don't have to do this. I'm giving you a chance. You and your sister." Yvonne gestured with one hand. "Come, join us, forget all this. Forget the human and stand with me. Just like we used to."

Silence followed. "Stand with you? Like we used to?" She shook her head slowly. "We used to stand against people like the Order, Yvonne. We used to protect our people—not slaughter them."

"Things change, Sylvie." Yvonne regarded her with calm, almost pitying eyes. "The world isn't what we thought it was. The Order showed me that. They gave me power—real power. Not the false praises your precious Kingdom threw at us." She took a step closer. "Your sister's ideals?

They're beautiful, sure. But they're fantasies. The strong survive. The weak perish. That's reality."

"No, Yvonne. The reality is you made a choice." Sylvanie stood. "A choice to stand by those who would rather see us dead, no matter what we do."

"I made the choice to survive, Sylvanie." Yvonne fought back. "And you can too, you and your sister. You both can survive this. Ditch the human and come with us." She asked again, almost pleading.

Sylvanie's expression hardened. "Survive?" She let out a bitter laugh. "You call that surviving? Being their pet? Their weapon?"

She pushed herself upright, leaning on her scythe for support. "I told you I'd rather die. Die on my feet fighting for something real than live on my knees serving the bastards who destroyed everything we loved." Her voice dropped lower, more dangerous. "And you want me to abandon the human? The one person who actually helped us when everyone else turned their backs?"

Yvonne's jaw tensed—the first true crack in her calm facade. "He's using you, Sylvie. Can't you see that? Humans always do. They take what they need and—"

"No." Sylvanie interrupted, her voice sharp as a blade. "You're projecting, Yvonne. The Order is using you. They've twisted you into something unrecognizable, and now you're trying to drag me down with you to make yourself feel better about the choice you made."

The words struck deep, wiping the smirk from Yvonne's face. "You hate humans, Sylvie. You always did. It's only been a few days since he broke you out. You can't tell me you can't turn your back on him. You owe him nothing." She added. "Why are you standing by him?"

Sylvanie didn't respond immediately. "… You're right." Her reply came at last, quiet and low. "I do hate humans. I hate what they've done to us. What they've taken from us." She shifted her stance, gripping her scythe tighter. "But you know what I hate more? Traitors who abandon their own people for scraps of power."

She took a step forward. "That insufferable human that you're talking about. He didn't ask for anything in return when he helped us. He didn't demand loyalty or servitude. He just…helped." A bitter smile crossed her lips. "Which is more than I can say for the Order you're so desperate to defend."

Yvonne's eyes narrowed in frustration. "Sylvie, I'm—I'm really trying here. I don't want you to die, and that foolish human is going to get you killed. You and your sister. What are you even fighting for now? Come on…Just please, come with me and leave all this."

Sylvanie's expression softened—a flicker of the friendship they once shared passing between them. Then it hardened again, resolute.

"What am I fighting for?" She repeated quietly, almost to herself. "I'm fighting because someone has to. Because if I don't, then everything we lost—everyone we lost—it all becomes meaningless." Her eyes met Yvonne's directly. "I'm fighting because my sister still believes in something better. And maybe…maybe she's right."

She raised her scythe, shadows coiling around the blade. "I'm fighting because that stupid insufferable human showed me that not everyone in this world is a monster. And I refuse to become one just to survive."

Anger and grief warred on Yvonne's face. "Then you're a fool, Sylvie." Her wheel blades spun faster, the sigils in her eyes glowing brighter. "And I can't save fools."

"I never asked you to save me." Sylvanie's voice was icy now, final. "I asked you to stand with me. But you chose them instead." Shadows surged around her scythe, dark energy crackling through the air. "So, if you want to stop me, Yvonne… you're going to have to kill me."

Yvonne's lingering softness vanished, replaced by a cold, irritated glare. "…So be it." She moved first. "All that means is I'll just have to beat some sense into you!"

The dark elves collided with explosive force, their weapons scattering sparks through the swirling darkness. A purple aura flared around them as they traded blows, hurling them apart across the town square.

Even so, the clash remained one-sided. Yvonne's enhancements pushed her speed beyond its earlier limit, and her relentless assault forced Sylvanie onto the defensive.

Each time Sylvanie swung, Yvonne answered with an elbow or kick, her wheel blades grazing past as Sylvanie stubbornly fought back. Soon, Yvonne was little more than a violent blur. She feinted high, swept low, and forced Sylvanie to leap back—only to intercept her midair with impossible speed.

"I already told you! You're too slow!" Yvonne drove her knee into Sylvanie's ribs with force.

The impact sent Sylvanie spinning through the air and crashing into a market stall in a burst of splintered wood. Still, she refused to stay down. Dropping to one knee, she growled and slammed a palm against the ground, summoning three shadow tendrils that surged toward Yvonne. To Yvonne, however, the attack was little more than a nuisance.

"Tsk…" Yvonne clicked her tongue and charged. She sliced through the first two tendrils with ease, then spun aside from the third and cut it down as it struck. All three dissolved, but Yvonne never slowed, racing toward Sylvanie as the dark elf struggled to rise.

Sylvanie barely raised her scythe in time to block Yvonne's brutal overhead strike. But the attack was only a feint. Yvonne spun and drove a kick into Sylvanie's side, sending her crashing through the market stalls lining the square.

"Stay down, Sylvie," Yvonne said calmly, placing her boot on her back and pinning her. "Stay down and let Vexes and others finish what we came for." Sylvanie groaned as Yvonne kept the pressure on. "It'll be over soon, Sylvie. Just let the human fall." Yvonne knelt on Sylvanie's shoulder and neck, seized the back of her head, and slowly forced it up. "Let's watch the human fall together." She leaned close to Sylvanie as they watched Oreon's battle with Grunk unfold.

"I see you're finished up on your end." Divia said from behind Yvonne, casually dropping the defeated Celestia beside them. "Didn't take you long."

Yvonne glanced back, a satisfied smirk curling across her lips. "She fought harder than I expected…but not hard enough." She pressed down slightly on Sylvanie's neck, feeling the dark elf struggle weakly beneath her. "What about you? "Did the Queen give you any trouble?"

Divia scoffed and nudged Celestia's limp body with her boot. She had reverted to what Divia assumed was her normal form. "Hardly. The nonsense of compassion and mercy, truly, a sheltered child. In the end, this is what it amounted to."

Celestia lay motionless, pale-blonde hair fanned across the ground. Each shallow, strained breath seemed like a small triumph over the pain coursing through her body.

"Sis...ter..." Sylvanie's voice came out as a broken whisper as Yvonne's knee pressed harder into her shoulder. She reached for Celestia, fingers scraping helplessly across the ground, but Yvonne only tightened her grip on Sylvanie's head.

“Nah-ah-ah…Watch, Sylvie… It'll be over soon." Yvonne spoke as all four watched Oreon burst through another window and crash into a wooden cart, sending it into a nearby stall. Blood ran from his head as he struggled to catch his breath.

"This is insane…" Oreon exhaled, his gaze rising to meet Grunk, who was slowly exiting another structure and advancing toward him. "How the hell do you beat someone like this?" He questioned.

"You don't," Eilist said. Beside Eilist, Vexes stood with arms folded as they watched Oreon struggle against the larger dark elf. "You can't beat what you're incapable of understanding. However, I will give credit where credit is due. You're durable for a human. Dare I say, the only human, or any species of that matter, to last this long against an enhanced dark elf like Grunk here. It's intriguing, to say the least. No doubt it's more than likely because you're our almighty purifier's son, but regrettably… You're still just a human. A human who was not deemed worthy to be blessed by the purifier."

Oreon forced himself upright, bracing against the wrecked cart as he glared at Eilist. "Yeah, well, guess what, asshole… I'm still alive, and not being blessed by that pompous jerk hasn't stopped me yet." He raised his daggers and settled into a fighting stance.

Vexes remained still, his expression unreadable as he watched the scene unfold. "Useless words, human. Regardless of your banter, the result doesn't change. You will fall today and be brought to the purifier for your actions against the order. You and the Dragon Shard."

Grunk cut the conversation short and charged, each thunderous step shaking the ground. Oreon rolled aside just before Grunk's fist smashed down, obliterating the remains of the wooden cart.

"Shit!" Oreon scrambled back, daggers raised, but Grunk never let up. Despite his massive frame, the enhanced dark elf moved with terrifying speed and appeared directly in front of him. "What the…Did he get faster!" His mind raced.

Grunk's fist crashed down like a hammer. Oreon crossed his daggers just in time, but the impact jolted through his arms and sent him skidding backward.

"Gah--!" Oreon dropped to one knee, pain lancing through his wrists and arms, but Grunk gave him no time to recover. Another punch hurtled toward his midsection. Oreon twisted aside just in time, but Grunk's backhand slammed into his chest and sent him tumbling across the square.

Oreon slammed into the stone fountain, cracking it on impact. Water erupted around him as he gasped for breath.

"Cough…cough…cough."

Blood trickled from Oreon's mouth as he fought to move, but his body refused to respond. His gaze grew unfocused as he struggled to remain conscious.

"See, Sylvie. Look," Yvonne said with dark delight, forcing her to keep watching Oreon's battle.

Frustration and helplessness burned in Sylvanie's crimson eyes as Oreon struggled. Her fingers clawed at the dirt, faint shadows flickering around her hands, but Yvonne pressed her knee down harder and drove the air from her lungs.

"Stop…fighting it," Yvonne whispered. "Just watch. It'll be over soon." She added, as if she were comforting a friend. "This is how it ends, Sylvie. How it always ends. The weak fall…And the strong survive."

Grunk advanced, each heavy step shaking the ground. His massive frame cast a shadow over Oreon, who still struggled to rise from the shattered fountain.

“…No…” Celestia's voice was barely audible as she dragged herself forward with one arm. But her body failed her, and Oreon remained far beyond her reach. "We…Have to….do…Something." She said to herself.

Divia crouched beside Celestia, watching as Celestia's body stopped crawling, too tired to continue. "This is what happens, Princess." She spoke slowly, watching Grunk stand over Oreon's prone form. "And to think, this isn't even the start of it. Tomorrow. More people who stand against the Order's vision will be snuffed out without a second thought." She slowly turned her head down to look at Celestia. "And today, you're lucky enough to get a front-row seat."

Meanwhile, Grunk kept his gaze fixed on Oreon as the fallen fighter rolled onto his stomach.

Grunk loomed over him like a death sentence, his cold stare unbroken. Then his foot snapped forward into Oreon's midsection, the impact jolting Oreon's eyes wide and lifting him off the ground.

Oreon hurtled through a wooden fence and slammed into the side of a building. The impact cratered the stone wall before he crumpled to the ground.

"Frail…human." Grunk approached the fallen Oreon without haste. "Come to Grunk." Oreon lay motionless, struggling for breath, his daggers resting beside him.

"How disappointing," Vexes commented from his position. "The son of the Purifier is nothing but a broken human."

Eilist chuckled darkly. "Well, what did you expect? That's all he is after all. No divine blessing, no holy power…just flesh and bone." He tilted his head. "Just a stubborn little meat sack." He continued watching as Grunk stood over Oreon once again. "And it looks like it's about time to wrap this up."

Grunk seized Oreon by the throat with one massive hand and lifted him effortlessly. Oreon's feet dangled above the ground as he weakly clutched Grunk's wrist, gasping for air.

“Grunk…bring the human… It's time we deliver the human to the purifier." Eilist smirked, clearly pleased with Grunk's work.

Grunk tightened his grip, drawing a strangled gasp from Oreon, then began walking back toward Vexes and Eilist.

"Well done, Grunk," Vexes remarked, his voice devoid of emotion. "Secure him properly. It's time we head back."

Sylvanie's body trembled as she tried to claw frantically towards the battle. “No, no, no…Move, you stupid human! Do something! Kick, punch, something!"

Yvonne drove her knee down harder, forcing Sylvanie's face into the dirt. "Stop struggling, Sylvie. It's over." Her voice carried a twisted mix of satisfaction and sadness. "You chose the wrong side…And you lost."

Celestia tried to crawl forward, but her body refused to obey. She trembled helplessly on the ground, as powerless as she had been when her kingdom fell. “…No…By the gods, this… can't be how it ends…We can't…Not again."

Grunk calmly headed back toward his group, Oreon hanging limp from his grip.

"I…I can't move." Oreon thought to himself. "My body…It won't…I can't…It hurts…Everything hurts." His thoughts drifted as his exhausted body refused to move. “Why…I…tried…I tried…so hard…how…why do I…keep…”

His vision blurred as the world spun. Through the fog of pain and exhaustion, fractured memories surfaced—the night his father attacked, the elves' burning village, and the faces of his mother and sister.

“…Why do I… Keep losing…?” The thought echoed through his fading consciousness.

Grunk's grip tightened slightly, choking off Oreon's remaining air. His lungs burned for breath as darkness crept into the edges of his vision.

Celestia dug her fingers into the dirt, trembling as she fought to move. "Please…" She spoke, her face in the dirt. “Someone…anyone…”

Desperation widened Sylvanie's eyes as faint shadows flickered around her pinned body. "You insufferable—" She gritted her teeth in frustration. "Not again, dammit! There's got… to be a—" she screamed, struggling desperately against Yvonne's hold.

"Shh… That's enough, Sylvie." Yvonne leaned closer and closed her eyes, unable to bear the look on Sylvanie's face. "It's better this way. No more fighting. No more losing people…just…" She sighed. "Accept it, and the pain will go away."

Grunk marched steadily toward Vexes and Eilist, each heavy footfall echoing across the ruined square.

"Finally," Eilist said with a satisfied smirk. "We can—"

“EKLCANOS!”

In a sudden flash, an arrow-shaped blast of light streaked toward Grunk. His eyes widened as the radiance swallowed him, leaving everyone frozen in shock while the blinding glow swept across the square and engulfed both him and Oreon.