Souls of the Fallen

Lingering Issues

"Get him out of here!" Ein yells pointing at Riku. The building's fluorescent bulbs are now the strongest source of light in the lobby. Broken ceiling tiles, shattered floor tiles, and blood splattered walls have changed the scenery to something completely different than when the party first walked in. It's more gruesome than a battleground after a war.

"Don't worry about him," Taj says. "He's probably better off that way. I'll take over..." He barely noticeable shard just under his eye fills with a color similar to Riku's. Its translucent shell is now solid as if it were originally in the same alignment with Riku's shard. His eyes react in a similar fashion by turning from a dull grey to a vibrant purple. "The potential in this one," he mumbles.

Riku slowly stands but his eyes remain closed. Lucas nudges him. "You okay dude?"

"Don't waste your time," Ein says. "Taj is controlling him. Your friend is still sleeping." The shade that they are staring down continues to growl and glare at its opposition. It roars and dives into the floor, crashing in their direction with the apparent intent to begin this altercation. Ein holds his ground as it erupts from the floor at him. Its arms flare out in an attempt to wrap him up in its clutches. Black ooze drips from what may be its dirty pink tongue as it dangles from the beast's mouth. The Eon whips his hair at the creature. Sand flies into the shade's mouth and the hole down the center of its face that serves as its eye.

It screeches in pain as it collides with Ein. He is able to deflect it but as he attempts to grip the creature on the floor, it sinks again. "We have to figure a way to hit this piece of shit!"

"Working on it," Taj says. Riku leaps into the air towards the retreating puddle of darkness. He delivers a punch to the ground that lifts the broken tiles and foundation under it into the air. The creature reforms in the air among the broken ground. It whips itself around and extends its arm at Riku. The black limb barrels towards him and spins until it comes to a sharp point. It crashes into an invisible force field as Riku's hand opens just before it. He stands and clutches the same hand. The shade's arm is squished between the force of Riku's ability. Taj grins. "I'm having a little fun with this one honestly."

"Damaging this thing through force won't be enough, Taj," Myra says. "I will assist." She lifts the index and middle finger of her right hand. Myra points at the lights above the creature and Riku. Swiftly, she yanks her hand back causing a beam of light to sever the shade's arm from Riku's grasp. The beast screams in agony causing the others to cover their ear from the powerful sound. It rolls away from the young Eon and eventually makes it to its feet. Slumping from exhaustion, the shade holds its arm near the bubbling injury from the searing light. "To defeat darkness, one must use light."

"Makes sense," Ein says. "We'll hold him while you chop him up."

As if the beast could understand their conversation, it screeches again. This time, its intent is on a higher level of thinking than just an angry shade trying to put fear into its prey. Everyone in the room covers their ears again but the sound reaches a pitch high enough to shatter the lights in the ceiling and sconces across the walls that haven't already been damaged from the previous attacks. Darkness envelopes the room as the last bit of sunlight slips behind the skyline from the windows. The misty purple and white flame in the creature's face gives away its position. A smile reflecting the same colors come from its mouth. It's apparently pleased with the current advantage that it has gained.

A sick giggle comes from the creature as it begins to slide through the darkness on the other side of the room. "What do we do now?" Naru asks. "You need light to use your abilities, right?"

Myra nods. Her back is slightly lit by the red emergency led lights from the room behind them. "This fight has turned sour. Very unexpectedly, if I must admit. The lights in the other room aren't strong enough to draw power from."

The clicking sounds from before echoes in the dark lobby. The crack in the shade's head closes until the size of the light is smaller than a fingernail. It floats vertically. The beast now has the ability to move freely in the darkness. It is no longer limited to only drifting across the floor. The sparkle of light zips at the party. Its vision is not impaired by the lack of light. It reaches Riku and slashes at him. Taj is able to avoid its attack through Riku's sense of relevance. His shard is sending out subtle pulses to reference distance. The two get into a flurry of swings and misses. It is nearly impossible to see their interaction but it is a vicious one. Taj stays focused on keeping Riku safe from the creature's assault but fails to notice that he has been dodging so much that he is inches away from one of the unconscious officers. Taj directs Riku to step backward but he instead trips over the limp body.

Riku's head thumps onto the floor, jolting Taj's concentration on controlling him. Riku grips his head as he wakes suddenly. He's surrounded by darkness and is unsure what is going on until the mouth of the shade approaches his face. It attempts to take a bit of the Eon before it but an icicle shoots through its mouth behind its front row of teeth. It headbutts Riku instead and tumbles beside him.

Reno steps out from the hole in the wall, followed by Shina and Sol. "Who turned off the lights?" Reno asks.

"BRO!" Riku screams as he scurries to his feet. He runs to his brother's side as the creature writhing in pain next to him struggles to remove the icicle from its mouth. "This has been the weirdest fight!"

"Calm down, Riku," Reno says. "We've got this from here."

Riku looks back and watches the shade rip the icicle from its mouth. "I dunno, bro... This thing is pretty persistent."

"A shade, huh?" Sol says walking up to them. "Fighting one of these bastards in the dark is a bad time."

"Any ideas, fire-man," Shina says sarcastically.

"Are you asking for a light?" Sol jokes.

"Please," Reno says while rubbing the back of his hand. "That last attack was a shot in the dark. I like to be more precise..."

Sol smiles and the shard between his eyebrows ignites. The small flame on his forehead dances in the dark room. He opens his palms and two more flames appear. The excited Eon pulls his hands back then quickly thrusts them forward in the direction of the recovering shade. Two flames become one spiraling vortex. It streams towards the creature, lighting the room in the process. The shade dives out of the way but the attack singes its bulky legs. The remainder of the fire sets a nearby ficus ablaze along with the wall behind it.

"Taj," Sol calls out to his ally. "Get the injured out of the building. I can't promise that I'll be able to hold back. This feels too good after so long..." Taj leaves his place on the wall and wanders to the cells. The shade gets up once again and glares at the man that creates light with his flames. "Mad? Don't worry you little shit. I'll be sure to burn you down until your essence is merely ash." His hands erupt in flames and light the room. The shade winces from the sudden bright light and is hit by a small, fast fireball. It burns through the creature's core and slams into the wall, bursting into embers.

Myra, slowly drains light from Sol's aggressive attacks. She builds up a reservoir of energy as he continues to fling blazing attacks at the shade. It avoids most of the assault but is taking a beating. It can't get close to him due to the intensity of his flames. It still glares at him, making Sol even more excited. "Reno, was it?" Myra says.

"Ma'am?" Reno answers.

"You'll be needing this to stop this fight." She holds a concentrated ball of light. "Give me your hand." Reno reaches out to her and she puts the energy into his palm. His right hand glows pure white and emits a white mist. "That creature has noticed Sol's weakness and I looking for an opening. Once it strikes, you have to move quickly."

Meanwhile, Sol is laughing heartily at the shade trying to keep from getting set ablaze. He lowers his hands to his sides and their flames light the area around him like a bonfire. The shade sinks into the floor once again. "Stop hiding... I wanna keep hitting you." The puddle of darkness fades as Sol waits for the shade to reappear. The dark hunter shows its prowess by silently rising from Sol's shadow that his blazing hands are making. Before he is able to turn around the beast roars loudly and brings its mouth down on his neck.

The shade's weight lays across Sol's entire back and its head lays over his shoulder. Reno stands behind the both of them with his hand in the shade's back. Its shadowy skin melts as it makes contact with Reno's hand. He rips his hand back and a black organ sizzles in the light. He clenches his fist, crushing the pulsing organ. Darkness melts to the floor and flows to the unconscious officers of the room. The damage to the creature does not recover and it falls from Sol's back. Sol sighs. "Myra..." he says.

"Yes, my son?"

"Thanks... I got sloppy in my excitement."

"I know. It's therapeutic to have fun, but I'm here to watch over you all."

"That's it!" Naru screams.

Shina looks at her friend with a confused grin. "Are you okay, girl?"

"Myra should lead the city! With that douche murderer dead," she points at Weiss' body, "she'd be the best fit!"

"I'm not even from here, child. I don't think the people would approve."

"That doesn't mean much. I know you wouldn't hold a grudge against the residents here and you have the caring heart that we need to recover these pains that separate us," Naru explains. "I mean, think about it! If we close the gate -" She interrupted by a walkie-talkie going off on the knocked out officers. "Hue, Reporting in from the sighting investigation. We were unable to find the reported Eon. We followed traces of activity next door where we were required to use lethal force against the resident there. She held a child that has a cluster of shards growing on his hand. We are in route to return with him to the mayor's mansion. Over."