Broken Hourglass (Sanscest Multiship)

Chapter 5 - Haunting Memories

In a pile of ash and dust, and hand pulls out a solid object, a knife. The metal was blackened by the flames that had torn through the village, and the ruins of what had once been a home encrusted the blade.

Cross considered it chance that he was gone when the blaze was set, and perhaps it was that, but maybe it was something else too.

Sifting through a different rubble pile produced a gold heart locket. It wasn't anything he had seen before and when he touched it, a searing pain shot through him. Although Cross couldn't tell, one of his eyes had changed colors, from red to white.

As he stood and walked away, a small human child stood beside him. Humans were rare in these parts.

"It's cold," they said.

Cross looked them up and down, assessing the situation. All around the both of them, figures began to appear. The town that had just been dead seemed to come back to life somehow.

The child seemed worried and angry. "What's going on?"

He didn't answer, just shoved the locket in a pocket and ran away from that place and whatever was happening there.
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Cross twirled the small knife in his hand. That was the shape his biorod had chosen, or rather he had subconsciously chosen. It was an exact match for a knife he had back home. The only thing that survived the fire.

"Boring! I want to see what it turns into," Chara said. The ghost was floating next to Cross, but no one else could see or hear them.

'I don't have time to deal with you,' Cross thought as he wished his magic worked so he could send the ghost back into the locket where they couldn't bother him. But almost on cue, they disappeared.

"You're no fun," Chara said before going silent, which is what they always did when sent back to the locket.

So his magic was working again, that was good. He almost said something about it Blue when Fresh shouted down at them, "Ok, On your mark.... Get set..... Fight!"

It is always better to have information that your opponent doesn't know in a fight, so Cross didn't say anything. Instead, he tried to will the biorod to do something. It worked and the metal began to change shape until it settled into a final form, a much larger knife.

This fight shouldn't be too hard, as Cross was clearly bigger and stronger than Blue, who now had a broadsword. Based on how he was standing, Blue was used to having a shield in his non-dominant hand and wasn't quite sure how to deal with having a free hand. Easy.

The pirate took a swing at Blue, missing because the knife was too awkward to hold in one hand. Readjusting with both hands holding the handle, he was able to deflect the incoming slash.

They took a minute to size each other up before Cross made the next move. He swung at the knight, the sheer force knocking the sword from his opponent's hand. Keeping himself between Blue and his weapon, Cross slowly cornered the other.

Blue managed to dodge the next swing, but unable to reach his sword, he was running out of options. It should be over soon.

Cross took another swing but was almost knocked over by the recoil of his knife bounced off something. At first he assumed he hit the wall, but then the blade was knocked out of his hands by a blur of magic.

Blue sprinted past him and retrieved his sword, now using his free hand to manipulate a shield of blue magic. He seemed much more confident than before now able to fight like usual.

This time Blue struck first, but was deflected, leaving the pirate an opportunity. He took it, slashing at Blue but the knight stopped him with his magic shield. As much as he wouldn't like to admit it, Blue's powers were much more useful in a fight than his own.