Shattered Remnants of a Dream

97. Madness to Bite

Madeleine watched as Rose slammed the massive turtle with as much water as she could muster. The turtle howled in pain, but the assault seemed to only enrage it further, rather than debilitate it. After a few seconds of flailing, Rose's body flew off Xuan Wu's rampaging body and slammed into the mirrored wall. She could feel herself scrambling to run to her ex-teammate's aid, although she didn't completely understand why. Rose was just another hypocritical human who let emotions string her along, yet for some reason, it now hurt her to see Rose in pain.

As she ran, Madeleine transformed into the body of Bruce Wernhart in order to move faster and gain the size she needed to adequately defend Rose. Xuan Wu towered over Madeleine, and soon both Zodiacs were seconds away from being crushed under one of the tortoise's stump-like legs.

Madeleine picked up Rose in her arms and barely jumped out of the way as Xuan Wu came crashing down into the rock.

"Bruce..." Rose was delirious in the shapeshifter's arms as she struggled to stay awake. "Honey...you came to save me..."

In silence, Madeleine distanced herself from the monstrous God Beast as much as she could. A sour twang pulled at her heart, and for once, Madeleine found herself able to push aside her negativity and comfort her ally.

"Don't worry," Madeleine spoke through Bruce's mouth. "I'll keep us safe."

Blinded and furious, Xuan Wu continued rampaging in a sloppy circle. By this time, Madeleine had made it to the opposite part of the room, far from Saffron as he continued to clash with both Bai Hu and Zhu Que.

"Look," Zhang Guo pointed out. "Even your allies desert you. They have seen how futile this battle is, how its conclusion shall bring nothing. Even so, you continue. Why?"

"Conclusion?" Saffron grunted and parried another one of Bai Hu's assaults. "My hunt is amaranthine."

As the phoenix closed in on the Dog from behind, he spun around and sent Rosencrantz rocketing from his wrist like a javelin. The cord connecting Saffron's wrist to his blade's hilt that had once been used against Vance began to unravel, and the heavy blade jettisoned upwards. The nimble phoenix dodged in time, yet its size left it little leeway. Saffron's weapon ripped through the edge of one of its massive wings, and he yanked it back. Mildly crippled, Zhu Que flapped in a desperate attempt to stay airborne.

"Forsooth, they 'scaped with right reason," Saffron decided. "'Tis all for the better, lest I injure such friable maidens."

"What do you seek?" Zhang Guo pressed. "What could you possibly desire in this painful reality?"

"Pain is my principality," Saffron replied, as he skewered the white tiger with Rosencrantz. "My progress for which I perpetuate my prosperity in this phantasmagoria. I enlisted with the Dark Zodiacs to consume and elicit bloodshed – for no other purpose do I breathe life, Zhang Guo!"

"Then die."

Fuming, Zhang Guo released a massive shockwave of psynergy aimed straight toward the swordsman. Saffron flared up his own aura in return, and the tails of his wild hair reeled in deep fluorescent light. Madeleine did her best to shield both herself and Rose as the the shockwave hit the swordsman straight in the chest, drawing more blood and rocking entire the cavern.

"Survived have I through death and thunder, with mine hands rout an empire asunder, slit the throat of my mother and trampled my father...and lastly..." Saffron's eyes flashed, expelling Zhang Guo's energy in all directions as his decimated body swirled in a riptide of dazzling power. "I dueled the last Albavitrean...Vance Darcouver!"