The Hero of Old

Rell floated in that darkness for a long time. He'd long since forgotten who he was. He didn't even register himself as living. He was just something; a consciousness that had nothing to interact with. 

Despite the fact that he had forgotten even his own name, strangely enough, he still remembered his friends. 

He remembered the spicy smell of Anto's curry. He remembered how irritated he was at West whenever his glasses were smudged and how he'd refuse to wipe them. He remembered how Mara would sing to herself, thinking no one could hear her. She had a beautiful voice. 

And of course, he remembered Alicia. That soft, innocent smile of hers, that remained even after all the bloodshed. He remembered having to drag her out of her bed whenever she was late for a mission. He remembered her laughing at the stupidest jokes Mara and Anto could think of. Usually puns. 

Of all his allies, her face was the thing that he remembered most. It was so important to him, that he could see it clearly, even in this darkness. Yes. She was right there in front of him. 

Elena narrowly dodged the shadow's attack, it's blade arm digging into the crystal behind her. She called upon Wind Nin, forming a bubble of green runes in her hands. She flared her fingers, letting out a burst of air that blasted the shadow backwards. 

She reacted quickly, picking up a piece of rebar and launching herself into the air with Nin. she flipped upside down, letting her boots clatter against the roof before launching downwards, driving the rebar deep into the shadow's head, killing it. 

Her breath of relief was short lived. Several dozen other shadows poured into the crystal's chamber. 

"Dammit..." She cursed under her breath, yanking the rebar from the shadow's head with effort. "I'm not going down without a fight!!" She screamed. 

Elena launched herself at a shadow, sliding along the ground. As she slid under it's legs, she let out a burst of wind, sending it flying at the ceiling. With another burst, she spun her body upright, pirouetting around another shadow, digging the rebar into its leg and causing it to buck. 

A shadow swung at her with its blade arm. She pulled the rebar out, barely parrying it. The force knocked her to the ground with a yelp. She had landed on her injured side, the adrenaline in her body keeping the pain from crippling her, even as the makeshift bandage grew crimson. 

The crystal began to crack from the damage of the earlier Shadow's blade arm. It spider webbed, fractures running along the entire surface. 

Elena knocked a shadow to the ground, shanking it with the rebar, letting out a violent scream as she did so. She endured an attack, barely dodging as the blade arm cut into her arm, shooting out a spurt of blood. 

Four shadows remained. Elena suddenly collapsed to her knees. 

"Huh? My legs..." She let out. Even her fingers quivered. She could barely hold onto her makeshift weapon as it shook in her hand. 

"Elena!" The light orb panicked. "You need to hang in there!" 

"Ah." She laughed to herself, eyes turning glassy. 

A shadow stood over her, raising it's blade, ready to strike her down. 

"I don't want to die." She closed her eyes. 

"Alicia!!" A voice shouted. 

Rell closed the distance in an instant, parrying the killing blow, before following up, driving his sword deep into the Shadow's chest. He pulled it free just as Shadow drove it's arm through his chest. 

Rell evaporated in a mist of red energy, suddenly appearing behind the shadow, stabbing it in the back. He drew his weapon, parrying two more attacks and countering, striking down the last two shadows in two swift strikes.  The Shadows fell to the ground, defeated. 

"Huh?" Elena's eyes widened in confusion. "Who? The human?" 

Rell sheathed his blade before turning towards her. 

"Alicia. You all right?" He asked, stretching out a helping hand.