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Kill him.

I intend to, Kai thought to himself as he took a quick step back, breaking the clash. The disadvantage was his since a pole-arm weapon had a much longer reach than a sword, so he had to take any opportunity he could and use any tactic available.

With a roar, Kai swung his blade over his head and brought it crashing down, causing a flash of ethereal force to fly at Gio.

Gio responded, slamming the butt of the pole into the ground and using it to vault into the air, flying over the flash and descending on Kai with the blade aimed down. This strike failed, however, as Kai took a quick step back and slashed sideways, his blade glowing with power. This time he split the pole in two, causing the higher end to spin crazily in midair, only to have Gio catch it in one hand, grasping the grounded half with the other. His mind flashed back, seeing a new weapon in his mind, one he had held to his own throat.

The hard steel of split halberd shimmered and turned to a swirling mass of energy, this time forming into a set of white-steel gauntlets. The bladed surface of the weapons gleamed through the blowing sands as Gio leaped forward.

Kai didn't allow himself a moment of surprise. If he had the luxury, he would have been flabbergasted. This was nothing like Crystal Weapons, where a weapon is formed from the Crystal itself specially for the bearer. That sort of thing could have explained the halberd, but to change that weapon to something else entirely was impossible. No Crystal had the power to form any weapon at any time, except when contorting an element into the shape of said weapon. It would make the element function in a manner similar to the weapon, but it would still be just a concentration of elemental energy.

He swung again horizontally, attempting to make Gio take a step back and allow himself to go on the offensive, but it was blocked again as Gio raised his left forearm to catch the blow on the gauntlet. At this range, he could see the weapon in close detail. It indeed wasn't a concentration of elemental force, or even a concentration of raw energy, which would make sense if this were the power of Fate. This was a steel gauntlet, and he could even see the leather on the inside of the weapon that protected the knuckles and vulnerable flesh from being damaged on the inside by the hard steel around them. It was impossible. How did he turn a mass of energy into two entirely different materials? Steel and Leather. It furthered the impossibility of the situation.

And for that matter, where did the brat learn to use the weapons like this? He did a back-flip to avoid a vicious uppercut from Gio that would have slashed his throat in an instant. At the same time, his foot connected with Gio's Chin and sent him flipping head over heels. Kai knew it wouldn't be that easy, though, as Gio twisted in midair and landed squarely on his feet again.

Such quick responses, and such speed and strength in delivering these accurate blows. He most definitely couldn't have fought like this before. And the look in his eyes... his once gray eyes were a bright silver, and they seemed to shine with a light of blood-thirst like that of a berserker. He was insane. Having almost been a witness to death, something had snapped in his brain.

Gio's mind was running on automatic. He was in full control of himself, but at the same time, he wasn't. He could stop himself at any time if he so wished, but if he weren't like this right now, he'd have never been able to fight at this level, even if he could perform the weapon-making-magic he was using. Somehow, all of the movements, all of the attacks, dodges, and blocks, were all feeding into his mind one after another. He could see countless different warriors in his mind every moment. Each of them fighting with the same maneuvers he was using. His blows and twists mimicked theirs as the knowledge poured into him in waves every moment.

Next, he saw a man with fire-decal gloves and a tattoo on his face fighting furiously with fist and feet. In his mind he also saw the gauntlets he was now wearing, and he twisted them in his mind, imagining what they would look like and their every little detail as a set of grieves.

With the image in his head, he put his hands on his knees and in a whirl of energy, the cloud of force was pieced into the same grieves he had imagined. At the same time as making these new weapons, he felt himself grow more tired. It took no effort to make the halberd into the gauntlets, since the material was already there, but making something new took his own strength.

In an instant he kicked off from the ground and launched himself forward, shooting just past Kai on his side and grinding to a halt. Turning that inertia around, he swung his leg up in a swift roundhouse kick, which was quickly ducked under. Then, with a spring of his grounded ankle, he narrowly jumped over the low-swung blade of his foe, from which a swath of energy scorched the ground. His trajectory would move him back over to where he had been before, the direction Kai had been facing.

Kai cursed under his breath as Gio vaulted over his strike, and turned that swing's momentum into 360 degree spinning slash, raising the blade up in mid-stroke to reach for his mid-section. However, just like before, when Gio landed he raised a gauntlet and caught the blow on the protective metal. However, that did not save him from the residual blade of energy that leaped from the steel sword. The energy bent around the gauntlet and cut deep gashes into the side of Gio's face and the top of his shoulder, causing more blood to stain his skin.

That wasn't enough, however, as the wounds healed before his eyes. Just what was this kid? Such powers weren't human! Even the elements of Light and Water didn't have healing properties as strong as this.

He had to calm down. A lethal blow was all it would take to put this kid down for good. Decapitation was the ideal route. He just had to work with his advantages. He had magic, while this kid didn't, in a sense. This weapon power might have been some sort of magic, but it wasn't like casting a spell in any sense of the act. He, however, had the most raw-powered element, raw ethereal energy. That destructive force was what he needed to use in order to come out of this in one piece. (lol One Piece. Can I get that in Funimation Dub form? 4Kids sucks!)

Kai pulled back his blade and slashed again, this time not aiming directly at Gio as he released a blast from his blade at close-range. The boy attempted to block by crossing his arms in front of him, but the plating of the gauntlets shattered and his torso and forearms were singed and lacerated by the rush of energy. The kid was looking to be quite the bloody-body, but with his wounds healing so fast he hardly seemed dampened by them. In fact, the only thing it seemed to do was put exertion on him. Perhaps if he could do enough damage, then the boy wouldn't be able to heal anymore, but that came second to trying to end him swiftly.

Kai pulled his hand back and gathered power in his palm. The power pulsed in rhythm in his hands before he thrust it forward, shouting "Wave Cannon!" The attack had come too soon after the injuries he had already inflicted, and Gio didn't have time to react to this one. The blast struck him full in the chest and sent him flying across the rough, barren, rocky ground. Distance would be Kai's ally in this fight. If Gio couldn't get close, then the boy was done for.

Gio gasped in pain as he pushed himself up as quickly as he could. That last attack was not meant to kill him, but it had hurt him badly nonetheless. The wounds were gone in a second, just like all the others, but he was left breathless as the automatic use of the power took its toll on him. He couldn't keep it up if he kept getting hit. Perhaps the distance could work to his advantage, if only he had something to close the gap for him.

His head swayed woozily as he felt more thoughts flash through his mind. He saw a young woman with short black hair wielding an enormous shuriken in order to strike her foes, and at the same time he saw middle-aged man with long black hair and a blue uniform firing a machine-gun.

Gio snapped out of the thoughts as he saw Kai's next attack coming. The attacker had fired another round of energy, but this one was condensed into a small beam that would pierce him through if he let it hit him. He ducked and rolled to the side, the beam breezing past the side of his head as he brought out his next attack.

Two whirls of energy came from his hands, taking the shape of two large windmill shuriken, both of which he threw at Kai. He then charged forward, creating a machine-gun in one hand and jamming a clip home with the other. He took aim and squeezed the trigger, emptying the whole clip while he closed the gap.

Kai staggered after he released the beam of energy at Gio. He couldn't keep this up much longer. He was being forced to use too much power at once to try to kill Gio quickly. The last thing he was expecting was to see two spinning wheels of metal death coming straight for him from his flank. He tried to evade, but only succeeded in limiting the damage to two deep gashes, one from each shuriken... one on each of his legs. He was effectively limited in movement because of that, and his outlook was all the worse because of it.

And then to top off the surprise offensive, the boy had created a gun! Was luck against him? How could he have known the boy could also make something as advanced as a gun? Compared to a melee weapon, a gun was far more intricate and complex, it should have been beyond him. Apparently it wasn't.

The only thing that saved Kai's life from the hail of bullets was the quick use of a wall of raw energy erected between him and the attack. He could feel his strength fade with each impact, and just when he heard the repeated banging of the gun stop, things got even worse.

Gio threw the gun aside when the clip emptied out. Kai had put up a barrier to protect himself, but he would break through it no matter what it took. Just in front of the barrier, the two shurikens still lay buried in the ground. The large weapons were a perfect size for both long-range and close-range attacks, so he scooped them up in each hand and struck at the barrier as hard as he could. He heard the energy pop and sizzle against the metal, and he pushed himself to his limit to break it down, his left eye glowing yellow as he felt a small bit of strength flow into him. The defense held up for a moment before it shattered like a pane of glass.

In an instant, Gio closed the short distance between Kai and himself. With a spin of his weapons he disarmed Kai of his sword, making it go wheeling into the air and fall blade-first into the ground some ten yards away. In the next instant, Gio dropped to the ground and swiped Kai's legs legs out from under him. At the same time, his grieves cut into the tendons of his lower legs, eliciting a bellow of agony as he fell over on his back.

Gio's eyes of silver and yellow were flashing dangerously as he thrust his right hand down at Kai, intending to end it with a blow to the neck, but at the last moment he froze. The blood-thirsty look in his eyes vanished, though the silver and yellow hues of each eye remained. He was about to take another person's life... Was it any different from the slaughter he had commited two years ago?

He choked.

((So, what do you guys think? Try playing all of that in your heads in real-time speed rather than the time it takes to read the paragraphs, and try to tell me that isn't a well orchestrated fight? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it all in the OOC thread. And I hope you don't all think I'm going to over-power Gio in the long-run. I have ways in motion already that will keep it so he doesn't become a cheap character.))

All the bearers stood on the sideline of a battle they knew they couldn't interfere in. Well, not couldn't so much as they knew this was Gio's. They could help kill Kai, the wielder of False Fate, but what would Gio have gotten out of that?
Hmph. If it IS Gio in there. Some ancient warrior ghost of some forgotten land legend looking for a vessel more like..
Jolyre refused to believe that the boy battling in front of her was Giovanni Dragoni the whimpering pathetic doll Who couldn't even speak confidently. Her resolve to not believe it was him strengthened when she saw that his halberd and split, shrunk, and reformed into something new.
A pair of pale-steeled gauntlets.
Her eyes narrowed. Was he mocking her? That wasn't brilliant. It with extreme reluctance that she noted his skill with them. Alexei had trained Jolyre since she was a young girl back in Lamina on short-range combat with bladed gauntlets and it took her years to acquire the intensive skills and agility she owned today. Gio had forged them and fought with them for about three minutes now and was good as the angeal, if not better, after years of training. She didn't take kindly to that.
There were several dramatic slashes and flips and close calls. The battle seemed to balance on the edge of a knife.
Kai, it seemed had developed, a battle plan. Keep hitting Gio, don't let him get up, or regenerate. Utilize magic over the prowess of weaponry. The air caught in Jolyre's lungs as Gio was launched backwards. Was he downed? For good? She wouldn't be surprised. But he wasn't. After generating a new arsenal of giant shurikens and..a gun? really? Gio had Kai's legs out from underneath of him and was readying the finishing blow...
But it didn't come. The ragdoll boy had froze. How typical.
"For the love of..." she muttered harshly. "Gio, kill him!" she yelled viciously. The deader that man was now, the longer she and the bearers would live. It was simple, so why was the boy freezing up?

"Leave here now."

Kai opened his eyes to see Gio standing over him, shurikens in each hand, reared back in preparation to strike. His eyes still burned with the fervor they had in their fight, but there was also a flickering of doubt beneath. The boy was just full of surprises. He turns from a meek weakling to a vicious and skilled fighter on a dime, and then refuses to deal the killing blow. And what was up with his eyes? First they were gray, then they turned silver, and now the left eye was glowing yellow. Another force was acting through him, but he still was himself at the same time.

Gio felt his arm flash forward, stabbing out with the deadly tip of the shuriken. His hand aimed for Kai's throat, and he felt something scream in his mind to kill him, just like his friends were imploring him to. Fear filled Gio's eyes, as he had acted against his will, and forced himself to stop. He stopped the tip just short of Kai's jugular, and slowly pulled it back with considerable effort, his own arm resisting him considerably. "I will not be a killer. I am not a killer. I am not a murderer!" He took a few steps back from Kai and gave him the same intense gaze as before, trying to show that he was still ready to fight. However, he wasn't sure about that. His own body ached from every muscle and bone, and he hardly felt like he could move another step. He repeated his words. "Leave here now. I never want to see you again. I'll give you more of the same if we ever meet again!"

Kai laughed at Gio's pathetic babble. He may have been disarmed of his weapon and crippled, but he was far from giving up. A strategic retreat was in order, but he wasn't going to follow into the boy's demands. "You are a fool," he said smugly, "Do you thi--" He was cut off as he saw his sword quiver in the ground, shaking like something possessed. What was happening to it? Was the Crystal reacting to something?

With a flash of metal in the sunlight, the sword spun into the sky. It arced high into the air before falling to earth once again. Gio didn't even notice in time as suddenly the sword stabbed into him. The broad blade pierced down into his torso from an angle, piercing his heart. Was that it? Was the boy dead? Had it taken matters into its own hands?

Gio felt pain explode into his chest, pain that made him instantly flash back to being impaled by the mantis from earlier that day. He fell on his knees with the blade jammed into his chest. The tip of the blade touched the ground as the hilt of the blade cut into his back, causing blood to pour down his back and the front of his chest. He felt his body growing cold, felt his thoughts grow slow. His heart had stopped. Was he going to die?

No, that wasn't it. He wasn't going to die. As he touched his hand to the blade that leaped from his chest, he felt it shift and change under his touch. The blade wavered and shrunk as he felt it retreat inward. In a flash, the weapon disappeared, and Gio was left with an ugly scar on his back and chest were the blade had been. His mind cleared, his body warmed, and his eyes became their normal gray once again.

What had happened? Had that sword been Kai's Crystal Weapon? Had it.... merged with the rest of the Crystal on its own?

Gio looked up at Kai and saw that darkness was wrapping around him, pulling him into the ground slowly.

"About time Nebelim," Kai said tersely to no one in particular. He knew Nebelim could hear him. He turned his gaze to Gio, who had made another miraculous recovery, and absorbed his Crystal. Now it made sense. The Fate Crystal was in his heart! Now he understood exactly what was going on. "You can look forward to seeing me again, Kid. Next time, I'll have even more power, and we'll crush you and take the Crystals for our own. You can count on that."

As he descended into the blackness, his right eye glowed bright red, just before disappearing into the dark.

Gio swayed on his knees after Kai was taken away. He then finally grew aware of everything he had lost focus on in the fight. His body was a wreck. Even though he was almost un-scarred despite so many injuries, he was more exhausted than he had ever been in his life. He was also able to notice that the sandstorm was receding. Harsh winds still flung dust everywhere, but it no longer cut into his skin like it had been.

With a small sigh of relief, he fell forward on his stomach and passed out.

Suri smirked as the fight drew on, and held his breath when the time to strike the final blow came. But it never did. Gio, with some visible effort, managed to restrain himself from killing Kai. Suri understood this, even though he knew they'd all be back, and they'd all be causing trouble for them again. They'd try to take their lives and their Crystals for their own devices. But Suri would have a hard time killing any of them...except Aztherus. That was not a creature he considered human, even though it took human form.

The fight had stopped, Kai still lay on the ground, crippled by Gio's adept weapon skills with the shuriken. Gio stood back from him, he told Kai to leave, and then Kai's massive weapon shook itself from the ground. Before Suri could even react to what was happening, the weapon had impaled Gio with lightning speed, skewering him completely through the chest. Suri was already in a stunned silence, his mind practically shot with the amazing turn of the events, and it was even further shocked when Kai's weapon started to quiver and writhe like a living thing. It slowly shrank into Gio, not a trace left behind but for an obvious scar. The storm began to fade away as Kai was pulled into a pool of darkness, saved from the retribution Suri was sure the other bearers would have aptly provided. And then, as the storm continued to drop, Gio collapsed to the ground, his brother catching and holding him.

"This...is too much." Suri said dumbfoundedly. He looked around. There was blood all over the ground, there were bodies and debris everywhere inside the building, and they were in part to blame for it. "Such heedless slaughter...I'd opt for a proper service to these unfortunate people...but I don't even know if the other citizens here know what happened because of the storm. Burning down the building wouldn't be right by them either would it?" Suri said solemnly, sparing a compassionate look for Harrier and Alane, and of wary wonder for Gio. "The Fate Crystal...so aptly named. Fate is the biggest wild-card in life, and so it is proven by what has happened here...Rigo, let's get Gio out of this blasted sand, we need to decide what needs doing before we head to Renara." he said as he began to walk towards the ruined bar, for lack of anywhere else indoors to go to.

"Gio." Kasumi cried as she saw the sword began to be absorbed into his body. She ran outside and knelt down next to Gio and Rigo. "Is he going to be alright?" she asked looking at Rigo. "You better wake up soon Gio. I still want to thank you." she said quietly.

Kasumi looked around at the other crystal bearers. They were all safe and alive. Kai was no longer around and neither were the other fake bearers. 'I wonder if they will come and try and attack us again.' she sighed.

Enter- Harrier and Alane

It had worked. Jolyre had taken down the illusions of Nebelim and Harrier had cast the real one off into retreat. It seemed as though Alane and Rigo battered down their enemy enough that Nebelim made a grab for him and vanished. Suri was also there to help. He and Maya must have been done with theirs as well. The only other fight was the one going on was outside the outpost's walls, with Gio, Kasumi and Orin.

Both Harrier and Alane watched with their breath held, the seemingly weaker Gio attacking and fending off the fake crystal bearer. It seemed to go by in flashes of moves and attacks, in the end Gio refused to kill his enemy; who took advantage of the situation before, too, being whisked away by Nebelim.

Harrier was the most confused of the two, the way Gio used his- no. It wasn't his crystal that was the cause of it. Maya clarified. But it still puzzled him. With the talk of leaving to Renara he turned to look at Alane. They still had families to inform their situation about, and with the sandstorm just subsiding the markets would yet be open to the public. Probably not until dusk. And there was the matter of the outpost- Crystal Guardian or not it was Harrier's duty to inform of the tragedy that had taken place. The guild would take care of the bodies and inform the families.

“I know we are in hurry to Renara, but I doubt they will be attacking so soon. I must inform the guild of what has happened, they will handle the mess here, and then speak with my family,” Harrier announced.

“No need to tell them, I can get Maurik and fly over since it's a ways off. I would be more worried with supplies, the markets would still be closed unless we plan to wait until later. And your family, Har. Your mother can be ferocious. My dad should be fine with a pat on the back and a walking stick,” Alane interjected. She was tired and would rather take a long nap in her bed, but if travel to Renara to retrieve the Earth bearer was on the top list then they should probably stock up immediately.

It happened so suddenly, but the weight of what had just happened fell harshly on both of their shoulders. Harrier looked a little worse for wear and Alane looked as though she would rather crawl under her bed- which is exactly what she wanted to do.

“In the mean time while I'm being an informant Har'll be more than willing to house you at his place- aren't you Har?” Alane chirped, “'Mum will be more than willing to take care of Gio. Plus you can go over what you need.”

“I really don't think they want so many people breathing down their necks,” was his weak retort.

Exit- Harrier and Alane

Rigo looked at Gio carefully when Kasumi rushed over and asked if his younger brother was going to be okay. He nodded to the Sahagin. Gio's wounds were closed. Physically, he seemed fine. Mentally could be a totally different matter. The noble looked at Kasumi, seeing the blood stains on her person. He could not see any wounds though. "Are you fine?"

The Nero Angeal carefully picked the brown haired human's body up, upon hearing Suri. It wouldn't do to just stand outside in the sandstorm. It wasn't healthy. And so, Rigo carried his broken through the hole into the damaged bar, which still held shelter from the sandstorm and a whole lot of dead bodies.

If the situation hadn't been so grave, Rigo would have laughed at the exchange between Harrier and Alane. Alane definitely seemed to be the more open of the two. He and the others would have to thank her for the hospitality. He also agreed that someone should be told about the deaths of the people. It was not right to just up and leave. Those innocents needed a proper burial.

The dark haired brother's head turned when Miya cut in and stated that Gio had not been under the influence of the Fate Crystal. What? It had been what he assumed. "Well, what is it, Miya? I would like to know as his brother. Please tell us what you know about the Crystal and my brother's ailment."

Kasumi looked at Rigo when he spoke to her. "Yes I am. Somehow Gio healed my wounds before he began to fight." she said as she followed him inside. The dead bodies around her didn't bother her as much as she would have thought. "We should bury them after the storm has calmed down. Its the least we can do." she said quietly. She looked to Miya as she spoke. How could Gio use all that power when he did not have it in the first place?
"The Fate Crystal does not heal, that's a specialty of the Water Crystal I believe."
Kasumi looked at Miya as she spoke those words and nodded. "Water does have some healing properties yes. Some of my people are very good at healing and treating others." she said.