Alter Ego

Alter Ego, Pt. II

ALTER EGO, Pt. II

With a loud roar, Connla Alter twirled Gae Bolg in his hand and lunged at Cu Alter with all his might.

"That won't work!" Cu Alter declared, then swung just once.

"Gah!?" Connla Alter yelled, skidding several feet backwards. That single blow was so powerful that he wasn't prepared to fend it off. While he was off-balance, the Mad King charged at him and pointed his blade at his exposed midsection. Connla Alter just barely managed to deflect it, then he grabbed his father's long hair and forcefully bashed their foreheads together. Blood dripped from their heads, but the younger warrior wasn't done yet. He bared his sharpened teeth and bit down hard on Cu Alter's shoulder, taking a decent bite-sized chunk of flesh off.

The pain was certainly mind-numbing, but the Berserker ignored it through sheer willpower and grabbed Connla Alter's throat. He lifted him off his feet, then slammed him head-first into the pavement. The Alter Ego was stunned for a moment, and he watched as Cu Alter raised his foot to try and stab him with his pointed heel.

Connie noticed that her brother was having some trouble, so she hopped forth and tumbled along the ground into a crouching position while avoiding some spells flung by Cu Caster. She cast an intense light spell, then thrust her palms forth and unleashed it at Cu Alter while shouting, "Dagaz!"

"Tch!" he snarled and covered his eyes with his arm, blocking out the blinding light but leaving him vulnerable to Connla Alter's back attack. Cu Alter lowered his spear at the same time Connla Alter raised his. The air itself reverberated, and both warriors were pushed back by the incredible force.

The siblings stood back-to-back as they faced their respective opponents and breathed heavily. Connie couldn't help but admit, "They're as tough as I thought..."

"What's the matter? Are you guys reaching your limits?" Cu Caster wondered. "We haven't even started yet and your breath already sounds so labored."

"Shut up," Connla Alter snapped. "There's no way anyone else should be in this dream. Furthermore, it's you and that thorny bastard. I can't stand seeing any of you Cuchulainns whatsoever."

Cu Alter smirked, "Big talk for someone who takes forever trying to kill an army in the simulator. Guess it's too much to ask for my own offspring to be as powerful as me."

"Hmph."

"Anyway, the long and short of it is that Caster and I noticed something peculiar about you two, so we decided to infiltrate your minds the moment you made contact with the kid. Looks like our intuition was right."

"P-Peculiar?" Connla Alter stammered and clenched his teeth.

"Oh? Did I hit a nerve? Is it possible that Caster and I are on to your little secret?"

Connie glanced up at her brother and wondered, "Secret?"

He ignored her and yelled, "You say that like it's no big deal to just barge into someone else's dreams! How the hell did you pull it off!?"

"Come on, Scathach should have taught you the basics of the Laguz Rune," Cu Caster chuckled. "The Rune of subconscious and evolutionary process?"

"Ugh. Goddamn hag..."

"Ringing any bells now? Yeah, I used Laguz on myself and Alter to dive into your minds."

Connie tilted her head, then asked Connla Alter, "You didn't know about Laguz?"

"Uh, well... I just forgot, that's all."

"So you didn't use Runes to reach me in this dream? How did you get here then?"