Corrupted Timelines

Finding a Way

Group B, consisting of Gura and Calliope, walked off in the opposite direction of the other group. Their side of the Hatchery was technically smaller, but not by much. A lot of the nearby buildings were also destroyed over here.

They explored several buildings, dodging the traps that were inside. Gura was amazed by how fast Calliope could react and move. To her, it looked almost instantaneous. She got a few hits of her own in, though.

Eventually, they stumbled on a building with an odd symbol above the doorway. It looked like it was missing half of it, though.

"This is the symbol of the Phoenixes here," Calliope said after being silent until now, "but it's missing its other half..." She pondered why that might be. Her phone ringing helped her solve the problem.

"Ina's calling?" Gura asked. Calliope nodded and answered.

"We have one here, too. It has a bunch of lines curving around in an arc. Yes, correct. Ours is on the left and when put together it creates the symbol of the Phoenixes. Goodbye." Calliope hung up and looked down at Gura. "They found the other half. Let's go inside." Gura entered behind Calliope and began searching.

Gura let her trident glow a bright blue in order for her to see. Calliope had very good night vision, so she left to go search for anything on her own. However, she made sure to not go too far from Gura. It took a few minutes of searching, but they eventually found a crack in the wall that was suspiciously sword shaped.

"That looks like Kiara's sword..." Gura mumbled to herself. Calliope appeared next to her from a nearby shadow. Gura jumped slightly, having not gotten used to the Reaper's preferred method of moving around.

"You're up," she said simply. Gura looked at the hole and then at Calliope. She put her hands above her head and made an exaggerated shrug.

"Where am I even supposed to start?!" she asked, incredibly confused. The Reaper pinched the bridge of her nose. Gura stood off to the side awkwardly, as Calliope thought about what she was supposed to say next.

The phone ringing broke her out of her thoughts. She quickly answered and almost yelled into it, "We've seen the sword hole. I'm trying to figure this out with Gura, so leave us be... please," she tacked on at the end. She then hung up and continued thinking.

"What have you been working on with Kiara?" she asked Gura. The other girl bit her lip nervously and tried to think of an answer that Calliope would like.

"We've been trying to figure out a fighting style for me," she answered. Calliope nodded and thought for a little while longer.

"Have you worked on control at all?"

"With Primal, yeah." Calliope rubbed her temples, trying her best to stay calm. She was asking the wrong questions and Kiara hadn't bothered to actually help Gura with magic, instead focusing on combat.

"Sounds exactly like her..." she mumbled to herself, "Magic isn't a weapon, Gura, it is a tool. Since all you've seen it used for is combat, I don't blame you for thinking otherwise," she then explained.

"I guess..." Gura said hesitantly. She wasn't exactly sure what Calliope was referring to. The Reaper sighed and vanished from Gura's sight into a shadow.

"This seems like something that could be useful in battle and it is," she said, her voice coming from behind Gura now. She turned around quickly to see Calliope disappear yet again. "But it is also a very fast way of moving." Gura flipped around again and saw Calliope standing where she had been originally. "Water magic can be used for more than just slashing and piercing. You can manipulate it into whatever shape you want or swim through the air with it."