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Enter- Harrier A'Cal


The adrenalin was pumping through Harrier's veins, the fight had just started and no major blows had been made- but he could already tell it was going to be tough. And bitter sweet. The woman had vanished away and appeared behind him and Jolyre, who had joined in the fray after Harrier had chased the crystal knock off into her. He would have to apologize later for getting her opposite.

“Nebelim? Good- I like to know the names of people before I kill them!” Harrier shouted at the offending woman. He was mad. Very, very mad. But grateful of the Light shield that Jolyre had put around them, protecting him from her needle like shards that swirled toward Nebelim. Without a second thought he added a swipe of his blades to her attack, a small tunnel of wind rather than a scythe formed and carrier the shards faster along with his own power.

“That's Viper poison on her daggers- it paralyzes. I can fend myself of her blades and melee her if you are willing to attack the way you are. I know I did a crappy job of bringing the fake dark over to you, but sometimes it plays that way,” Harrier said quietly to Joylre after they stood for their attack to look over the extra dust that powdered.

With no chance of another addition to his words a sword pierced out of the veil trying to attack them both. The two quickly dodged out of the way and Harrier charged forward, taking a few seconds to calculate where the woman was and the best way to strike. On the right wall, attack got left side, missed vital organs, arm injured, ready to attack again, must disable weak arm...

The dust still clouded most of the room with the commotion the others were causing with their own battles against, a few shouts and yells were heard from both sides. Harrier looked up and scanned the area for the closest battles; Suri and Miya furthest away, Gio and Orin closest to fallen wall, Alane and Kasumi still out of fight, Rigo engaged with the fire.

With a growl Harrier lept from where he was to his enemy was, the woman was already posed over to jump herself in attack and he got her with his blades in the weakened arm- good. One poisoned weapon ou- she just turned to him, both weapons in hand and charged forward. Why didn't it disable her?!

“Ak! Damn it,” Harrier yelped as he flung himself back out of the woman's reach. She had a sadistic grin on her face and gave a laugh as she poised her blade, ready to strike. He rolled just out of the way just in time so only some of the blade got the side of his armor. There was a small bubbling noise and acidic smell where the little bit of poison ate away at the armor. It didn't hit flesh- that was the good thing- and there was little enough so it didn't make a gaping hole. But it still wasn't good, the blade scratched his side.

Exit- Harrier A'Cal

Kasumi looked at Alane and shook her head. "Im good here." she smiled. She then looked to see Gio smashed through the wall and outside. She knew he had to be hurt from an impact like that. "Gio are you alright." Kasumi called out as she rushed to his side, shielding her eyes from the sand.

Enter- Alane Shoudu

Alane's mouth fell open as she scanned the area of someone to help. She abruptly closed it when she choked on a mouthful of dust that was emitting from every fight. She turned and almost got hit with a small wave of fire from one of the fake crystals. What was this? The day for meeting strange people and getting attacked?!

She ground her teeth and drew her two daggers from behind her back before stalking over to where the person who almost attacked her was fighting Rigo. Good- he was alone so he wouldn't mind a little help.

Once in range she jumped up on the man's back and stabbed her two daggers into his shoulders. A cry of rage and pain rang into the air and the sudden wave of fire that was around the Nero Angeal disappeared.

Alane held on tight as the man tried to pull her off, his fire burning hands were looking for a spot on the back of her armor to throw her away. He found one, a small plate under her back that separated the leather with chain mail for movement.

She held on with the daggers, taking them and stabbing him in different places to get a better hold on him and hurt him more.

The small melted metal oozed down her back and she yelped as she was distracted and pulled off- being thrown into a table.

“Ahk!” she screamed as she ducked down from a wave of fire that the man created with his hands.

“Rigo, help!” Alane said as she ran from the man's other attack. The wall crackled but didn't burn and it flew to follow Alane as she ran.

Exit- Alane Shoudu

(( I guess I get my running from fire scene then. ))

((When I was describing Nebelim's daggers, I was trying to describe the way the blade curved, but wasn't able to quite get the point across. This is the kind of curve that I was trying to describe in the blade, only wider and more exaggerated. So just imagine the blade winding even more to the sides, but looking pretty much like this one.))

The Bearer of Fate turned his gaze and gave the Bearer of Ice a dull, disinterested look. This weakling would strike at him? With a block of ice? Surely if he was any sort of serious they would have been razor shards rather than a large, easy to handle, block. "When speaking to me, you should address me as Kai, you pathetic fool, Orin Beleren," he said calmly, the ferocity of his gaze increasing. With but a raising of his hand and a flick of his wrist, an invisible force shattered the block of ice into microscopic flakes of diamond dust. "You are no match for me, in magic or in combat, so stay out of this if you wish to keep your life for at least a little longer."

Kai's attention was brought away from the Bearer of Ice for a moment as he sensed a small presence pass behind him. His brow furrowed as he realized that the Bearer of Water had gotten by him and into the sandstorm. Was she stupid? Or just too considerate for others? Dry, sandy air like this wasn't good for the moist, scaly skin of a Sahagin. It would be like a steady drought on her body until she collapsed of dehydration. And on top of that, the fierce sands outside would cut into her skin, just as it already was doing to that Gio boy.

Turning his attention completely away from Orin, he stepped out into the fierce winds. However, the sands did not touch him. Instead, they flowed around him as though dispersed by an unseen barrier. His eyes remained affixed on Gio, his prey, which held his prize somewhere on his person. "So this is the boy who was entrusted with the death-sentence that is the Fate Crystal?" he asked in a menacing tone as he approached the boy and the Sahagin. His voice dripped with a malice unmatched as he continued, "That Crystal brings death to anyone who holds it except its true bearer, and it was entrusted to a pathetic weakling like you? You're human parents would be ashamed to see what a weak coward their son turned out to be. Especially your father."

Gio tried to push himself up on all fours, but was having difficulty with the myriad of pains and injuries that now littered his body. Of which, his back was the most excruciating injury, causing jolts of pain with every twitch of his muscles. He looked up from the ground and saw Kasumi run past the Fate Bearer, who called himself Kai, and reach his side. "Kasumi," he hissed through the pain in his back. "Get-- Get out of here! This guy will kill you if you don't run!"

He could feel fresh blood trickling from his wounds, and falling from his face like bloody tears, though the lower half of his face, from his nose down was protected by the wrapping of his cloak. With each moment he was out in the open sands, he could feel them slice through his skin, causing him to lose more blood. He was already beginning to feel light-headed from the blood-loss, and the blood was seeping into his clothes, giving him a very battle-worn appearance from just a single blow.

"You have to get away from me," he said to Kasumi, "He seems focused on me, so get inside and at least help the others. If they beat their enemies sooner, then they can help with him." He honestly didn't think he could live long enough for anyone to help him, but he was saying whatever he could to get Kasumi away from this danger. This guy was on an entirely different level, even compared to the already powerful False-Bearers.

He whipped his head away from Kasumi when he heard Kai say, "You're human parents would be ashamed to see what a weak coward their son turned out to be. Especially your father." Did this guy know who his father was? Or was this just some cruel bluff to mess with his head before killing him? He wasn't going to take that chance, so he wouldn't indulge the comment with a question. He would rather not find out from him anyway, even if he told the truth. He would want to find out who his human parents were on his own, and not from such a wicked tongue.

Kai stopped a few feet in front of Gio. The pathetic kid couldn't even pick himself up after one attack. And he hadn't even struck him directly, only knocked him back and disarmed him with the impact. The display of weakness disgusted him, to think that the boy held such a large portion of the Fate Crystal, while he himself only held a single fragment. It was pathetic.

Kai's dark eyes turned to look at the Sahagin girl, who had yet to move away from the boy, even though he implored her to wisely back away and retreat into the building. "Think carefully about what you do, girl, as your choice determines how long it is until you die."

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Jayden roared as pain stabbed through him, literally stabbed him through the back. He didn't feel a Crystal, but he distinctly felt a light, small-framed figure had jumped onto his back. It was that one girl who didn't bear a Crystal. They had been told especially about her, as she was a real wild-card in the battle for the Crystals. "Alane Shoudu!" he shouted, grasping over his head. He roared as several stabs pierced into his back, luckily missing any vital spots due to their wild and unplanned nature, and finally succeeded in getting a hold on her. His burning gloves grasped at hard metal beneath the fabric of her clothes, and he held tightly, searing into the metal as he threw her over his head and into a nearby table.

He sent a swath of fire at her to keep her back, making her run away since she had no magic to counter with. The wounds she had inflicted would be trouble, but could be substantially reduced in severity. He grimaced in pain as he gave a low bellow, creating a writhing flame that consumed his back, scarring the entire part of the surface that held wounds in order to cauterize the stabs and prevent bleeding.

The flames caused his shirt to completely fall off, revealing a lean, but distinctly muscular build calloused with many burn marks from learning to master his flames. He hadn't a moment to spare after that, as he was consumed in a pitch black darkness. Logically, an attack would come from behind in such a situation, so he took a chance by whirling around in order to guard against a rear-attack, leaving him vulnerable from any other direction. Fortunately, his hunch paid off as he was struck from behind by the Bearer of Darkness. He barely managed to turn around and catch the blade in his glove, so instead of cutting him, he was pushed back into the nearest wall. Hard.

On impact, he created a pulse of fire from his gloves, not of the damaging sort, but the kind that would easily disperse the dark around him, allowing him to see. When he regained his vision, he saw Rigo before him, ready to strike again, but he wouldn't be ready for what would happen next.

With a confident grin, Jayden disappeared in an instant, propelled at incredible speed with his flames. Before the Bearer could catch up with his movements, he was above and behind him. In midair, kept afloat by propulsion of flames from his gloves, he was angled with his shoulder facing Rigo, with that hand held up in front of him, clenched tightly, and the other flung out behind him, fingers spread and fire erupting from it. The fire he was emitting behind him was not intense at all, and when it struck the roof it didn't so much as cause a burn. It was a soft flame that he had put no damaging power into. It was his support. The other hand however, clenched with the back of his glove facing Rigo, was glowing with a darker, more radiant flame. The process was delicate. This move had to be performed with the perfect alignment of his arms and the perfect output of power on both ends, but he had mastered it enough to give an output of about twenty percent of the maximum, which was still lethal.

Spreading his hand out towards Rigo, he aimed carefully and released the pent-up flames in a wide torrent, shouting, "Take this! Blast Burner!" The way he had aimed it, no other fights would be interrupted. He didn't want their little freak or Nebelim to pissed off at him for ruining their moments.

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Nebelim's violet eyes narrowed as their two spells became one. So this is simulcast, the power that not even Servant Crystals can achieve! she thought to herself, wanting that sort of power for her own. The wind would be like knives slashing across her, but not nearly as lethal as the shards of light aimed at her. Not only would the go right through her and pierce anything they touched, but they would also severely weaken her just from the light touching her darkness. And on top of that, the dust funneled in by the wind shrouded them and made it difficult to spot them!

In the cloud of dust, wind, and light that was created, she cried out briefly as her arm was maimed, but moments later threw one of her daggers out at them. This provoked them into an offensive, thinking she was down one weapon and hurt badly. When Harrier charged through the dust, she was ready. She guarded against his strike, but felt a sharp pain as her arm got slashed, slashed so deep that it reached to her tendons, and would have her disabled. However, a split second later she had whipped around from the blow, both of her daggers still in her hands, and her arm unhurt. Harrier was a lucky ranger, as her blow was barely avoided, leaving a sizzling acid hole in his armor, but otherwise leaving him unharmed.

"Hahaha! did you think it would be that easy?" She chuckled from behind Jolyre. She also laughed as she stood before Harrier, who was putting distance between the two of them. There were two Nebelims. "Darkness is an element of deception, an element of illusions. However, an illusion can be composed of enough darkness to take on physical presence. They can also be shallow enough to be seen, but not even be real. Reality within the illusion, and illusion within reality. Which is real? Which is not? Are any of them real? Are all of them real? Only those with exceptional intuition can see through such things."

Both Nebelims jumped back, merging together into a single whole. "You don't know if this is even the real me. I could be somewhere else, or I could be real. Even my daggers could be fake while I am real, you could try to block, but my blade would pass right through, then I could strike with a real one in my other hand, where you are defenseless. There is no way for you to win."

Nebelim was making a fine bluff. There was a way for them to beat her illusions, as she had already considered all options when mastering the technique, but a battle between Crystals was a battle of both skill and imagination. They certainly had skill, but if they didn't have the imagination to keep up, then she would kill them quickly and brutally.

((Jeez, writing for four characters is not easy! I feel like I'm writing a novel! This is my longest post yet, I think!))

Kasumi knelt down by Gio side. The harsh sand and wind dried up her skin quickly. She folded her ears back to prevent them from drying out. 'I have to do something. What should I do?' she thought as she looked around.

She looked up at Kai as he spoke. Sure she had only met Gio and the others but what Kai said about Gio made her angry. "Shut up! You have no right to talk about Gio parents that way! What gives you the right to talk like that?!" she said, glaring at him. She could feel the sand begin to cut through her skin and flinched slightly but stayed at Gio side.

"Its going to take more than that to get rid of me Gio. I'm a stubborn girl." Kasumi said, looking at him and smiling. Her skin was dried up and the sand kept cutting into her but she never stopped smiling. "The others should be able to handle themselves. I will only get in the way if I try to help them. Besides, you need the most help right now." she said. She knew it was probably suicidal to stay with Gio out in the harsh weather, but he was the first person that really befriended her and she didn't want him to die.

She heard Orin yell to shield herself. "I think I can do that." she said as she formed a shield of water, just big enough shield Gio and part of herself. The ice shards stung as she felt a few hit her, but paid no mind to it. 'Ice is water and water is ice, just colder right?' she thought as she kept the shield up. She looked at the blood coming from Gio wounds and knew she had to get him out of this storm quickly or he would die from the blood lost. 'I have to get him out of here somehow before we both die in this stupid weather.' she sighed as she felt her body become weaker.

Kasumi eyes widen in shock as her barrier became nothing more than a puddle, quickly dissapering in the stand. It took her a minute to process what had happen. All she saw was a blur of Kai sword and then felt the pain of being cut across the chest. She stood there, in shock, as she felt the blood began to leave her body and fall to the ground. The sand swarming around them only made the pain worse.

She stood there, unable to move or speak. 'is this the end for me? will I die here?' she thought as she saw Kai ready his sword and aim it at her heart. 'At least Gio will be safe.' Kasumi thought as she waited for the pain of death, but it never came. She heard a loud noise, the sound of two swords hitting together and watched as Kai was flown back from the impact. She finally felt her legs give in and began to fall backwards.

She heard Gio voice and felt his arms gripping her shoulders. She flinched a bit and looked up at him. "I-Im sorry Gio. Guess I wasn't much help huh." she said smiling at him gently. She could feel herself getting weaker from the blood loss. "I'll be okay Gio." she said. She didn't know if she would or not but didn't want him to worry about her. She did her best to keep herself awake but it was getting harder for her. 'No I need to stay awake...I might not wake if I fall asleep.' she thought. "Maybe...it would be better if I died here...I wouldn't be a burden anymore to anyone." she said quietly. She meant for the words to be a thought but they escaped her. She tried to move any part of her body but failed. She then felt the sudden change in Gio and looked up at him. 'What is this feeling? Is it pain? anger?' she thought as she did her best to stay awake.