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"Y-yeah...." Gio blushed deeper still, as the woman's demeanor changed, her voice becoming kinder, but obviously not very much invested in the conversation. "I don't kn-kn-know why I ran here, but we were just a-about to go into the nearby village. We r-really should be returning."

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Now was the perfect opportunity. The creature had noiselessly creeped to the woman's flank, still looking down on the group from above. From this vantage point, a stealth-kill would go off flawlessly. It's black eyes fixed on her in the darkness, it's green, razor blade pointed tip-first at her, ready to stab through her heart.

Giving away its position even a second early could ruin the attack, so it had to be perfect. The razor blade glinted fiercely in a stray beam of light as it kicked off of the wall it was latched onto, diving at the woman from the darkness above.

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Gio was about to turn away from the woman, already feeling that the situation was awkward enough without him just standing there. However, out of the corner of his eye he caught a glint of light from the shadows, and though he couldn't see it, he could feel that something huge was coming straight at them... straight at the woman. He didn't have time to refasten his sword to his belt, so he grabbed it by the scabbard and held it tightly in his left hand, then ran at the woman.

For the moments before he reached her, his mind was swirling. He didn't know why he was doing this, especially for someone they had just met, but he did know that this was something he did of his own choice. It may not be the smart choice, and he wouldn't call himself brave for doing it, only foolish, but he did this by his own choice, and no one else's. He just really hoped she didn't strike at him when he got close.

"L-Look out!" he shouted, slamming his shoulder into her to knock her aside. The impact caused his own body to turn in mid-run. The next moment, searing, unbelievable agony rent him as a long, green edge pierced through his left shoulder, spraying blood out.

"AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Gio threw his head back and screamed in an agony the likes of which he had never felt, a blinding, searing pain that made all other senses die away. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear, there was only pain. As soon as his scream died out, his head fell, hanging limp and almost lifeless. The pain had been to much for him, and he had passed out.

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The attack had failed, the weak one had seen his attack coming and interfered. It could still kill them though, they couldn't match the strength it possessed, it was confident of that. They may have been close, but it was stronger. Its attention turned to the other two as it lifted the limp body of its victim into the air.

With the guise of the shadows gone, the creature's form was revealed to be that of an enormous mantis. It's dark green exoskeleton had allowed it to blend perfectly into the darkness. Jutting from its thorax were four long, multi-jointed legs that it had used to cling from the walls, and in front were two long, sickle-shaped blades. Embedded in one of these bladed claws was a tiny sliver of clear stone, and that very blade held the unconscious Dragoni impaled on it. He looked dead with how he hung limply there, the only sign of his life being the tight grip he had on his sword, still sheathed.

"Aaaarrgh," the creature hissed angrily, "Foolish child, he got in my way." The creature talking was not a normal occurrence. This was no ordinary monster.

Gio had yelled and Jolyre had the ground with a hard thud before she even grasped the situation. She gazed up, dazedly, and saw a looming green monster. Worse yet, she saw the clear sliver he had embedded in him.
Not good..
Then Gio screamed in obvious pain and passed out. Still attached to the talking mantis monster
It dawned on her that that should have been her. He had pushed her out of the way. Now, angry at having been attacked by a monster in Tylem, saved by a weakling, and now being obliged to help the brothers, Jolyre leaped into the fray.
Lythe leaped under the monster, hoping it was preoccupied with Rigo. She gazed up at it's underbelly.
Exoskeletons...whose had that great idea she thought wryly.
She cried out and unleashed a series of angry slashes, twirling gracefully under the monster, slashing at everything she could reach, her speed and strength enhanced by the fate shard. It looked like a beautiful, lethal dance. Jolyre was all spinning blades and blond flying hair.
If it came to it, she would sear the damned thing with light, but not if she could help it. The Crystal of Light and the shard were things best kept secret.

((Lythe, feel free to post whenever. So, you don’t ever have to wait for me if you are.))

Rigo moved his blade to parry the other scythe blade that came toward him. The mantis hissed “Darkness” upon contact with the blade. There was another white flash from somewhere under the mantis, and the mantis suddenly launched itself away. Light? The Nero Angeal’s eyes darted to Jolyre, showing a bit of surprise in his expression. Two full crystal holders at the same time. By pure irony, it was a pair of opposites.

Four crystals? Rigo could only count three. Himself, Joylre, and the mantis with a shard of Fate that must be the reason why the mantis could talk. He had never met any monster similar to the likes of this one. What was the fourth crystal? And why was the monster calling them mortals? Surely, it was mortal too. However, Rigo was furiously trying to think straight while being tortured with the view of Gio impaled and hanging limp upon the mantis’s scythe while dripping globs of blood.

“It can be said that Fate awaits everyone,” the Nero Angeal stated. He eyed Jolyre, wondering if there was a plan to execute that could be communicated without the mantis noticing. Rigo couldn’t help but wonder if the mantis had encountered actual crystal bearers to make a statement like that. He was not content with the situation, but he knew he had to stay calm and be careful since Giovanni's body could potentially slide even further down the blade and be more wounded. “You are very confident for one who only has a mere piece of one crystal.”

"Hah!" the creature chuckled, "It is you who are mistaken. You do not understand the true depths of Crystal magic! You do not know how to draw their true might! And as such...."

The creature accentuated its statement by leaping through the air faster than they eye could see, only to land right behind the two of them. It then struck at both the young man and the woman almost at the exact same time, but only using one of its blades. Its intent was to intimidate them with the strike, and to force them backwards. The incredible speed was brought out by the power of the Fate Crystal, which strobes as he draws on its power. It did not strike with the blade that held the young one so as not to lose his hostage. "....You cannot hope to match me!" it screamed. "Memory. Memory is a part of the crystals, and with that memory, I see that you children are as nothing before the previous generation of the Warriors of Light."

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Gio coughed up blood as the violent shaking of the insect's movements jarred him from his unconscious state, though only barely. His mind was clouded by pain and endorphins, which rushed through his body like mad. He could feel the living blade that had plunged through his shoulder, only inches from his still-beating heart. How long it remained as such, he could not guess. He couldn't move his left arm anymore, with almost all of his nerves cut off from his brain, but still managed to cling to his sword without really intending to.

His vision was hazy from the pain, but he could make out the outlines of both Rigo, and the woman they had met, and strangely, it looked like the woman's hands were glowing, or rather, the gauntlets on her hands were. He couldn't see anything else because of the murk in his vision. He was losing too much blood. He could taste the coppery liquid in his mouth, and could feel it drenching the torn fabric around his wound. How much longer would it take for him to die? The pain... he wanted the pain to stop.

He wanted it to be over. He wanted to be alive and well with his brother, not wanting his brother to have reason to feel guilty. He also wanted all of them, even the woman that he didn't know, to live, more than anything. He wanted them to be protected, by anyone. He didn't care who it was. He didn't need strength.

That was his wish.

...He wished for them all to live on.

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The mantis looked at the young boy on its scythe-like blade and the way its eyes looked almost made it seem like it were smiling. "This boy's life is nearing its end," it sneered maliciously, pulling its free blade to Gio's throat. "What say I put him out of his misery? Maybe if I cut it right, I could catch his head and eat it!" There was an urgency stirring deep in the beast. The boy needed to die quickly, because if it was the right boy, and not just someone that had stumbled upon it....

Jolyre recoiled from the mantis's blow....just like it had wanted. They couldn't do much because what would happen to Gio? Gio the rag doll boy whose bravery would surface only at the thought of prevented harm to another.
"...I see that you children are as nothing before the previous generation of the Warriors of Light."
Jolyre bristled at the thought that this monster had access to her minds, but calling her nothing was an extreme breaking point.
Jolyre Aegis was one of the strongest, merciless warriors the Glorion Crystalis had to offer.
And that was counted as nothing?
Then it spoke again. Of killing Gio. If that had been Jolyre's last straw, then Rigo had lost it ages ago and was simply very good at hiding. She caught the nod from Rigo and understood everything completely as all warriors should understand each other.
Whipping out her guns, Jolyre bombarded it with blasts of light aura, and worked her way in closer. Once close enough, the guns disappeared and Jolyre cried out, sending an angry spire of searing light energy up at the creature.
All this crystal work was tiring, but her shields around the three stayed intact. She knew that once Rigo enveloped it all in darkness, she wouldn't be able to do as much.

Failure. Gio's body was gone. Rigo's brother no longer seemed to exist, and it was Rigo's fault. His ploy had not worked, and neither had the combined strength of him and the unnamed woman. "Gio..." Rigo muttered softly with gritted teeth.

The scythe blade looked odd and crystal like, not so much metal like as before, and the exoskeleton had been blown away in that area, but Rigo's thoughts were on Gio and how he had failed to protect him before Gio ever returned to himself or the other.

However, when the green creature yelled loudly at the sky, Rigo's attention turned back to the mantis. His eyes narrowed. "Who cares about the Shard of Fate? You, creature, will die." Rigo's aura was flaring with a killing intent toward the creature. If it was any compensation, Rigo would kill off the b*****d that had caused Gio's death. He launched another wave of darkness at the mantis, and the darkness from the mantis's own shadow began to grab at the mantis.

((Edited.))

Jolyre's eyes widened in horror as the energies converged. It was terrifyingly beautiful, the light show of pure power that rocked the ravines. It stunned her as it rebounded. When the flash faded, the boy had disappeared. Vaporized in the storm of power they dually created.
"No.."she whispered.
Now the creature before was not mantis but a monstrosity of crystalline. What has he done?
A young boy was dead. And Jolyre had a hand in it. The guilt punched in her the ribs, breaking all of them and dropping organs in the dirt of the ravine, her heart falling last.
"....Wait....where is the Shard of Fate...?" she realized slowly.
The boy's brother didn't care for such things. He was all fire and revenge. Fire is catching and soon Jolyre's blue eyes were blazing too. She couldn't save this man's brother, but she would help slay this creature, if not satiate his own need for revenge on his brother, then to slake the shame she felt for letting such a frangible being die so brutally.
The wind in the ravine was still brutal, but less so than the plain, and Jolyre only needed a jump. Knowing she'd regret it for the rest of her stay with this mysterious young man, Jolyre unleashed her wings, half-feather, half-light and kicked off the ground. She fought the winds only long enough to fly back down, landing roughly on the mantis. Not worried about the wave of darkness that would indefinitely envelop her, she started slashing. With every blow, rays would burst making angry crashing sound. "Follow through with it!" Jolyre cried to Rigo. She was sure he would, but in case he had any misgivings, he needed to rid himself of them now. Her light shield would keep the majority of it out. she hoped.