The Flux's Flower

All That Glitters

Nano woke in a cage of black energy, her head pounding. Groaning, she got to her feet. "Ugh" She pressed her temples "What happened?"

Lalna sat up next to her. "Not sure, but whatever Mother did, it'll have to wait" He pointed to the door, where golden energy flickered, and Shadow's screams could be heard from the other room. "As much as I don't like it, he got us this far, so its only fair we help him now"

"That would be a wonderful idea, if you knew how to get through this cage."

"There's no need for that" Mother walked in, throwing a smoking Shadow to the ground. "As long as you help me, that is" She held out her clawed hand "Hand over the hairpieces, child"

Nano backed up "How about no?" Lalna tossed her sword to her, and she brandished it at Mother, who simply chuckled. She flicked her hand, and Nano's blade, as well as Lalna's, flew out of their hands and stuck to the walls. She made a pulling motion, and Nano flew to Mother, who picked off her hairpieces. "You can't possibly hope to defy me." She pointed at Shadow "Now, make the golden king relinquish his power to me, and i'll let you go free."

Nano eyed Mother, who stared back. "Fine. But if you're so powerful, why don't you just take his power like you took mine?"

"I would have loved too. Unfortunately, his kind is more resistant to my magic than others."

"Then what about his flux?" Nano looked over at Shadow "If he's so resistant, why is he fluxed?"

"There is more than one way for a being to be fluxed, though how it befell him specifically is beyond me. Now, stop wasting time." Mother shoved Nano over to Shadow, who looked up at her. He had horrible cuts and slashes all over him, but despite that, he glared at Mother "You know you can't beat me, so why are you trying?"

"I may not be able to defeat you yet" Mother snarled. "But your time will come."

Mother slammed the door, and Nano glanced over at Shadow "The golden King?"

"She's crazy." Shadow stood, his injuries glowing gold. "I found this key."

"Alright, enough lies." Lalna stood and leveled his blade at Shadow. "You're Midas, aren't you? I've done my research. That's how you killed Daedalus. You summoned Excalibur."

Shadow chuckled "My, aren't you clever" In a flash, he had Lalna pinned to a wall with one hand, summoning Excalibur to keep Nano at bay. "Yes, I am Midas, keeper of the Golden Key, and slayer of the Order of the Aesir. I killed them all, but our sworn enemy, the Flux Queen, the one you call Mother, took the artifacts from me. They were scattered in the resulting battle, and i've been hunting them since. After nearly five thousand years, I had finally located the Apple of Grisaia, but once again, the Flux Queen just had to intervene."

Midas threw Lalna away, Nano running to his side. "This time, I won't lose." Midas transformed, his skin turning to golden flame, and he blasted the wall apart, flying after Mother, leaving Nano with a barely conscious Lalna.