Lunae clenched her fists. Proving Lovatte wrong meant the world to her. But something had to be done.
"Hmph." Yrix leaned forward, putting effort into her struggle with Sonera.
The impossible had been achieved. Yet Sonera could only do so much. She was giving ground, and it was only a matter of time until something broke.
"I'm sorry." Lunae shut her eyes. "You were…right."
The princess looked over her shoulder at the Arch-Flayer with divine indignation. She had sat on her ideals long enough. Perhaps, once upon a time, Sonera was not worth giving them up. But the Infestare had made her decision, exactly as her mother said she would.
"Lunae?" Sonera's eyes widened. She knew what was coming. "Wait-."
Her strength was at its limit. Yet at her time of greatest need, a sudden push lifted Sonera through her struggle, empowering her to move forward. Only then did Yrix truly budge.
Lunae fell to the ground. She was free from the mighty Psion. Though it came at a predictable cost.
Retracting her hand, the Arch-Flayer stared in disbelief. "Look at you two. Lunae, really, you've done all this…just for her?" She nearly chuckled.
The princess writhed on the floor, her Infestare urges flaring up the moment she struck Yrix with the Psionic push.
"Aaah!" Lunae screamed in agony. "N-no!"
The Arch-Flayer was merely pushed back, having slid a few feet across the rough terrain. Lunae, however, was practically beaten by her own actions. She was at the mercy of whomever.
"Yrix!" Sonera shouted.
The assassin wasted no time in dashing forward with blade in hand. If she could not push her advantage, then Lunae's efforts would have been for naught. Her fight had finally come.
"Very well," Yrix shrugged. "I'll consider her infatuation with you a feat of strength. You have earned this."
As if it were a reward, Yrix called forth a singular blade, preparing herself for battle. The design of her chosen weapon, called forth from the same murky portal as her bow, was nearly identical to Sonera's - albeit much larger. She alone was the alpha and the omega, a fact Yrix wished to demonstrate with more than just fashion.
The two Psions charged past Lunae, leaving the girl in a coiled mess as they clashed blades. Despite the gulf between their respective height, Sonera had managed to meet Yrix with equal measure. A sea of sparks shot forth from their two blades as a signal for the final dance.
"You and me." Sonera glared up at Yrix. "We end this."
Despite her student's feat, Yrix still seemed unusually confident. "I wonder…if our fates were switched. Would you still be fighting me at this very moment?"
"Shut up!" The assassin roared.
Sonera had been fighting all day. But to her credit, and thanks to the fury Yrix inspired, the assassin moved with seemingly endless vigor. One could even claim she was faster than before.
"Make me." Yrix taunted, casually reposting an overhead swing from Sonera as the girl leapt into the air with wings ablaze. "Sonera."
Her student fought with a precision that had come to be expected of her. The duel with Ivy was only the beginning. Yrix, on the other hand, was far more elegant in her approach, floating across the ground with a Psionic push as she continued to deflect Sonera's every move. Such was her skill as the teacher.
Still, something was amiss. Sonera expected her foe to be bristling with tricks far beyond her imagination. Yet all Yrix had mustered was a single blade. Surely there had to be more.
The assassin would never forget how useless it was to attack Yrix from when they first met. Her Psionic Ambience was beyond comparison; more like an ever-present shell than anything her students could wield. And if the Arch-Flayer had enough mastery over her own powers to levitate, then there was no telling what else she could be capable of when utilizing a proper construct.
Sonera could feel the ground beneath her lose its meaning. No matter where she flew, the agility of a ballerina could do little to deter Yrix. Her teacher was practically without flaw.
Is she toying with you?
Their battle had already left the confines of Lunae's struggle, well into the sandy dunes of the wasteland Yrix called a mindscape. So much carnage in one day; the princess could hardly process it all. She could not, however, accept her meager aid as enough.
"Get…up," she cursed herself. "Get up, Lunae!"
Useless.
The markings on her body pulsated with conflicting colors. After living so long in denial, it was hard to believe she was really trying to let loose. No amount of Infestare heritage could account for such a drastic switch.
"To hell with your stupid morals!" Lunae screamed. "She needs your help!"
Despite her reservations, the princess was well aware of what her cowardice had cost her family. That much was never in doubt. She owed them her effort.
"Come on!" She clutched her skull, trying to force her power to unveil itself. "Does this mean nothing to you?!"
Lunae rarely acknowledged her other half. Not since the forest had she even spoken a word. To demand so much of her at the last minute was trifling at best.
"Having a bit of trouble?" A familiar voice slithered into her mind.
The princess stared at her bloodied reflection in disbelief. "How?"
"I told you to be prepared." Lovatte shrugged, albeit with only her disembodied voice. "Silly girl."
Lunae cast aside her image of rebellion completely. "What do I do?" Her pupils violently narrowed.
"Accept the pain. It's a part of our contract."
"Contract?"
Lovatte chuckled. "For power. Look at you, going through elementary at the last second. Did you forget already?"
In hindsight, Lunae knew exactly what she was talking about. So many sacrifices had been endured for Sonera and their love. She simply never grasped how close in proximity her violent urges had become.
"Then show me. Whatever it costs. No matter the pain," Lunae grit her teeth with a snarl. "I'll do it. For her."
For her.
"Those are powerful words, dear," Lovatte sighed. "Do you mean them?"
"Always."
"Then stand. Become what you were born to be. One of us." The dark mother paused for just a moment, her hesitation palpable. "Perhaps even more."
Lunae could feel her insides churning as she rose to her knees. Her entire spine was buckling at the slightest movement. Deep within her core, spurred by the acceptance of her strength, a set of wings began to sprout.
This was no Psionic trick. Lunae had nothing to project. Her mutation, violent as it was, came from within. The thermodynamics of violence etched into her people's legacy had spoken. Though she no longer sang against the tide.
"Aaa-aah," Lunae's voice quivered, transforming from a meek whimper into a siren's song. "Aaaah!"
"There's my daughter." Lovatte cheered. "You show that Psion you're more than just a pair of tits!"
"Aaaaaah!"
"Take that girl for yourself! Marry her if you have to! She's yours! Fight for it!"
A well of energy burst forth from Lunae's chest, engulfing the mindscape in a sea of violent red. Her transformation was far from complete. But she had power - something to fight with.
Lunae looked over her shoulder to find a set of draconic wings, tattered and covered in blood. "Sonera," she muttered to herself in a low voice.
Far off in the distance, her partner was coming to terms with the futility of her efforts. It didn't matter how genuinely impressive she had become. Nor did it matter how little of Yrix's actual power was being deployed. The Arch-Flayer was committing enough.
"Strong." She stared at Sonera with a dead look in her eye. "Yet terribly mundane."
Yrix had only been engaging in swordplay to satisfy her own addiction. Dropping her guard, the Psion allowed Sonera to land a clean hit, only for her blade to be rattled against a strong barrier. That accursed purple shell, shimmering with the color of the void, continued to pester Sonera beyond the limits of her patience.
"My turn." Yrix squinted.
The Arch-Flayer clenched her fist, shattering the mindscape around her as Sonera felt a sudden rush of gravity. Tumbling into the void, she reached for the gloomy sky above, only to be met with a sudden blast of wood and carpet. Sonera's wings took most of the impact as she collapsed into a heap.
"Ugh," she coughed. "What-."
Sonera could see the Aerie. A perfect replication. Though she held out no hope that it was a genuine escape of sorts. For starters, it was daytime in the old bedchambers she called home. And there was no sign of the battle with the Consortium.
"Lunae?" She looked around in fright, clutching her blade ever tighter.
Sonera knew better than that. She snapped out of her stupor just in time to spot the Arch-Flayer emerging behind her with breakneck speed. It was only through her impressive reactions that the assassin was able to slide under Yrix's tall legs and avoid the impending cascade of Psionic energy.
With a single push, Yrix had shattered the room into a thousand splinters, any one of them threatening to impale Sonera. But the assassin was too quick. A look of genuine pride washed over her face before the Arch-Flayer could return to her usual zeal.
"You can do whatever you want to this place," Sonera spat. "It will still be your grave."