The HoloChronicles

Chapter 19

#A/N: The events in This chapter take place at the same time as Chapter 18#

"I won't be surrendering this time." Fauna stated, looking Ina
directly in the eye.
"No matter how many friends you brought."
Ina, Chloe, Noel, and Flare stood across from Fauna, with their weapons at the ready.
"You won't break me, Fauna." Ina told her.
Fauna smiled slightly, "Maybe not right away."
"Alright, enough talk!" Chloe demanded.
Fauna's smile fell and she glared at Chloe, "I'm surprised you actually came here after what we did."
Chloe gritted her teeth, "You hurt me, you hurt my friends, you won't get away with that!"
Fauna laughed sinisterly, "Is that your attempt at a threat?" she mocked.
Chloe narrowed her eyes dangerously and tightened the grip on her pistol.
Flare placed a hand on her shoulder, "Easy..." she whispered.
"As you said, enough talk, let's finish this." Fauna grinned, a light green glow rising from her hands.
Chloe smirked, and she held her pistol up with the muzzle pointed straight at Fauna, "Let's just get this over with then..."
She fired, but a barrier of thick logs erupted from the ground in front of Fauna just before the bullet reached its target.
The goddess of nature chuckled, "You think I wouldn't be prepared for such an overpowered tool?" she smirked, vines of ivy snaking down her arms and around the group's ankles.

Flare quickly launched a blast of fire magic at the vine, causing the plants to immediately burn to ash.
"Ah!" Fauna yelped in surprise, disconnecting the vines from herself before the fire could reach her.
"I didn't count on fire magic..." she muttered.
Noel took the opportunity created by Fauna's moment of shock and attacked, leaping forward and swinging her mace in a wide, horizontal arc at the goddess.
Fauna managed to jump back at the last second, disarming Noel with a quick blast of green energy.

"Shoot!" Noel exclaimed as her weapon flew from her grasp and Fauna readied another attack.
"Look out!" Chloe cried, rushing to try and block the coming blast.
Thankfully, Chloe didn't have to, as Ina blocked it easily with her tentacles.
"You can't be everyone's shield!" Fauna shouted and sent a barrage of green blasts at each of the four women.
Ina gasped in surprise but managed to deflect most of the attacks with her tentacles; Flare countered the few shots she missed.
Fauna visibly flinched as a few stray embers turned a patch of flowers to ash.
"Enough of you!" she yelled.
The goddess of nature conjured green vines which burst upwards from the ground to entangle Chloe, Noel, and Flare effectively eliminating them from the battle for the time being.

Ina looked between her three captured friends before moving to free Chloe.
"Ahhh!" Chloe cried in pain, the vines tightening around her body.
"Before you do any more damage..." Fauna called, "The harder you try to free any of them, the deeper the thorns on those vines will dig."
"Which means, the only way to help them, is to defeat me." Fauna smirked, knowing she had backed Ina into a corner.
Ina froze, she had promised never to use her powers to harm anyone, but if she didn't take down Fauna her friends would...
"What are you waiting for Ina!?" Flare cried in a pained voice.
"Don't... let her... win!" Chloe begged.
Ina's mind raced, she knew she could deal with Fauna easily, but the last time she tapped into the ancient one's power she couldn't stop herself.
If she lost control again, it would only make things worse.
Then, she got an idea.

"Flare, I need you to use your fire magic!"
"Are you crazy? If I used it now... it would... burn us all to a crisp along with the vines!" the half-elf replied, struggling against the vines as they tightened.
"Try to aim for a tree or a patch of flowers, I don't want you to burn the vines." Ina instructed.
Flare stared at the priestess for a moment in confusion, but followed the order regardless.
Flare raised her hand as best she could and managed to send a small fireball at a nearby tree.
Fauna cringed, "What are you doing!?"
"Testing a theory." Ina said with a smirk.
Fauna looked on as the tree burnt to ash, her expression twisting into one of pain and anger, "Why are you doing this?!" she screamed, "Do you think it will benefit you?! It won't! You're just making things worse for yourself!" she growled.
"I'm doing this because it's hurting you, isn't it?" Ina replied.
Fauna looked as though she wanted to say something else but instead closed her mouth, clenching her fists tightly.
"Flare, burn another one." Ina commanded.
Flare nodded and blasted a nearby bush, finding it a bit easier to move against the vines this time.

"Uuuuuu...." Fauna whined as the grass around the bush caught fire and burned away completely.
"Stop!" The Goddess of Nature ordered, "Just... stop!" she screamed, raising her hands towards Ina who stood there calmly.
"Let my friends go." Ina demanded calmly.
Fauna glared at the priestess, trembling slightly, "Never!" she spat, "Whether I let them go or not, the fire stops, you have no advantage here!"
"Are you sure about that?" Ina questioned, a small purple flame appearing in her hand.
"Huh?" Fauna blinked in shock, clearly having not expected it, "How-"
"Priestess' have more skills than you may realize." Ina interrupted, taking a step closer, "It would be wise to consider your next move carefully."
Fauna stared at the little flame as it crackled menacingly.
The Goddess of Nature swallowed before the vines wrapped around Chloe, Noel, and Flare slowly retracted into the ground.
She couldn't let anymore of her precious nature be destroyed.

"Good choice." Ina said with a smile, extinguishing the flame in her hand.
Fauna took a deep breath, her gaze lowering to the ground.
"I suppose your friends won't be so merciful." she stated, looking back up at Ina, her expression sad.
Ina was a bit taken aback by The Goddess of Nature's soft tone, "...It depends on who you're talking about." she answered.
"Please... Baelz is the true villain here, she... her idea of a bright future is no longer shared with some of us... myself included." Fauna explained softly.
"I see..." Ina murmured.
She wasn't exactly sure what to make of Fauna's words.
Chloe scoffed from behind her, "You expect us to buy that?"
Fauna looked at Chloe, "Believe what you want, I've said what I know to be true."

"Come on, let's end this." Ina spoke after a moment, extending her hand to Fauna.
Fauna looked down at the offered hand with hesitance, not sure if she should accept it.
"If you're telling the truth, then help us." Ina added.
Fauna looked Ina in the eyes, allowing the priestess to scan her for any signs of deceit.
"Okay." The Goddess of Nature relented, grasping Ina's hand.