Chapter 20: Breaking Wind

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"Okay- I- I promise it's not what it looks like. Cynthia is my younger cousin, our family is mainly deprived from species of birds infused with deers and basic human body- Cynthia's memories and body were ripped from her after she stole something from She-Whom-Unnamed, nobody knows who cursed my beloved cousin... And nobody knows who in the damned sun brought her here?! AND CAGED HER?!" Clarinet said. "Umm... Was that a rhetorical question or are you actually asking us?" Horus asked, summoning a mocktail, setting the space in the middle of his fingers slide through the stem and latch onto the bowl of the glass he was holding.

"Obviously, she's asking us" Syra answered. "Oh well then. I have no idea" Horus chuckled. "HORUS- THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER! What would you do if Aral was kidnapped and hidden right beneath your nose?!" Clarinet shouted. "Calm down. At least she's alive" Luminara scowled. "Whoa Lumi" Xyn said, elbowing her. "Hey! Only I get to call her 'Lumi'" Aral said, crossing her arms. "I'd thank Ra for the blessing he has granted me?" Horus answered. "Hey!" Aral shouted. "We- we need to find what did this" Clarinet said, pounding her fist against the table. 

"Not what. Who..." Luminara said. "I suspect somebody's doing this from the inside" Xyn said. Aral's head perked up, glancing at Clarinet. "She's lying. She has nothing to do with Cynthia. She even didn't get her name right. The Siren is called Ronwyn" Aral said. "What?! Excuse me?" Clarinet stammered. "What? Is everything a lie then?" Xyn said, her cartoon-ish shaped eyes shaping from sad then towards anger. "Th-this isn't even her sanctuary. She used us to get here- She-"

Clarinet quickly swung her wings around, throwing Aral across the garden. "ARAL!" Horus screeched, quickly flinging a chicken bone out of his mouth, ripping his Ankh medallion from his chest, shouting something in ancient language. Then everything slowed down, rings of glowing gold light bashed into Clarinet with such intensity it shook the ground. Luminara found herself bolting towards Aral. "Aral?! Are you okay?" Luminara asked, she brought her body up and laid it against a nearby tree. "B..behind you" Aral coughed, throwing a scarab forward, which exploded into a plume of colorful dust. Luminara quickly got up. "Damn this universe- I forgot my staff!" Luminara shouted. 

The shape of a large multi-winged beast rose from the dust of the scarab, it was Clarinet. Now she was an 8 foot tall, three-winged horned beast. The beast let out an earsplitting screech, and ran forwards towards Luminara. a sudden disturbance stirred the celestial air. Unbeknownst to her, a pair of formidable antlers materialized from the astral shadows, their tips gleaming with an otherworldly luminosity. With an eerie grace, they darted forward, converging on Luminara with unpredictable precision. 

As the antlers impaled her, Luminara felt the familiar embrace of pain enveloping her essence. Celestial currents of agony surged through her celestial form, creating a symphony of suffering, of realization, that echoed through the expanse.

She watched as her emerald green blood exploaded, her blood- A celestial torrent of stardust-like particles emerged from the celestial wound, mixed into the green juice of her inners, painting the looming surroundings with astral hues of celestial green and astral silver. The calling blood of stardust mingled with the astral energies of the astral realm, creating a surreal tableau of celestial chaos. she felt the beast twist its head and bury itself deeper into her. The piercing weight of the horns slamming into Luminara.

She felt empty. 

She had always spent time with somebody; the elder spirits, dead. Her mother, dead. Now her friends, soon to be dead. What?! What are you thinking Lumi?!  The eerie echo of somebody else's thoughts seemed to pause time, slow down the pain in her chest. What? Who's speaking in my mind?? It's me Lumi. Aral. Get up. Fight. Haven't you wanted to punch something in awhile? Well- No? Save us. You're seriously going to let some little lying shoe-eater get in the way of  claiming vengeance for your mother?!


No.

Luminara held the horns, hitting them with her knees and breaking the both of them off. The red blood splashed against her skin. She licked a bit of it off her cheek. 

Tasty..?

She pulled the antlers out of her body, swinging them around. Her body was well exposed thanks to the ancient Egyptian themed clothing Aral lended her. But it wasn't going to be a problem. She jammed the antlers into the gooey spot in-between the lower and upper skull. She curled up her fist and had no regard for pain anymore. She blew her fist up into an uppercut, which broke the antlers in the beast's jaw in half. 

She hit through more synchronized blows, the thoughts of Nocturnis seemed to drug her with anger. Seraphina. The name echoed through her mind. She shot up and pushed her weight forward into a blow which cut through the beast's throat, she gnawed on the hole and ripped it apart with her teeth. She held the skin and muscle of that was left of the neck and ripped. 

"Whoa Lumi! You're a machine! Damn remind me not to mess with her" Horus chuckled."Hey! Only I get to call her Lumi!!" Aral screeched. "Oh come on! Cut me some slack for nicknames, her name is so long" Horus groaned. Luminara didn't realize this but the pain of the two holes in her body quickly shot through, and her body collapsed.

"Luminara!" Syra and Xyn shouted, running over. The shadows of their silhouette looming over her body. "Syra, can you heal her?" Anomedan said, his wings seemed to be torn apart, a majority of the feathers were missing and his bones were visible. "I- I'll try" Syra said. Her jaw dropped, and in-between her tongue and her teeth, a large ball of white fire formed in her mouth, and quickly coated her body in sprinkling shimmering warmth.

The feeling of the ever-so comforting fire covered her, like a weightless fluffy blanket. The fire seemed to connect with her soul and shape her body, filling in the inners and bits of muscle which were torn out by Clarinet.

Suddenly, Rain runs forward, panting and she seemed awfully worried. "Where have you been?!" Xyn asked. "Th-there's no time for questions Xyn! we're getting feed of shadows enclosing the sanctuary, Nocturnis has found us!"

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