Reversed Circumstances
Even with this sudden serious shift, a large portion of the crowd still persisted in agitated arguments, a factor which left the potential risk present of even greater danger or casualty. The price of such a casualty had already been great as things stood, an almost disgrace of the hard work the three girls had put into the preparations for such an event.
Neither Sryine nor Vwyx were aware of what Riyxia had figured out, but the notable sense of urgency displayed was really hard to miss. Vwyx pinpointed the location Riyxia had travelled to, quickly setting up a bridge that extended over the crowd, leaving Sryine in a rush to follow behind her. On arrival, presented with the bloodied scene and a tear stricken Riyxia, it was far too obvious how grim the situation had become. Sryine turned around to scan over their surroundings, taking awareness over what had brought them to this point. She could hear some of the closest arguments and the context of the dispute. Really, a group name, everyone was having an identity crisis over that? It wasn’t even anyone else’s name, no one else should be complaining but themselves about any given choice. Sryine took a moment to recall all of Riyxia’s initial struggles with her own identity, her own semblance of a name, all caused because others felt she should have a name beyond her own wishes. There wasn’t a single other person with the right to enforce any name onto any of them, no one beyond themselves. For someone to have been driven to take the life of anyone else out of utter blindness to this undebatable fact was inexcusably ridiculous. Sryine took to her concerns for anything further going wrong, using that thought alone to instill her with an augmenting fear.
“Everyone should just shut the hells up!” Sryine’s voice boomed across the field, her augmented illusion projecting the sound very loudly to everyone remaining present. “None of you have any right to correct any of your peers in whatever name each of you decide to randomly come up with for whatever you could conceive as fitting for our little group. I can assure you, we haven’t even taken the opportunity to come up with one either, so there isn’t even a right answer to your arguments. Where you become wrong is when you start hurting each other over the whole thing, ruining things for everyone else. If you are our fans, then by the divine stop hurting.. stop killing our fans!” Sryine’s outburst was responded with absolute silence, the people present becoming ashamed of letting down the group they had became devoted fans of. Arguments ceases instantly, and the crowd rapidly dispersed.
Vwyx was on her cell the entire time, trying to get Dhyinze’s attention in an effort to relay the urgency of the situation, herself not being aware of what condition Ayzherie had fallen to. Sryine’s outburst made vocal communication impossible in that moment, but a simple and quick text message had left enough of an impact: ‘Ayzherie is seriously wounded.’ As the crowds dispersed, Dhyinze had shown up to take account of the same scene, having become separated from Nuiqhyx at one point during the commotion. Jwyexzn had even appeared from the shadows, his reporting gear put away so as to keep such a personal scene excluded. Everyone stood in support of the tear-stricken Riyxia in tending to the fallen Ayzherie. To have lost such a dear friend so suddenly in the chaos of such a grand concert, it was too cruel a fate, one Riyxia simply did not want to accept. Even her spectre knelt before Ayzherie’s fallen form, taking the cold hand with her spectral one.. and feeling the substance behind it.
Ayzherie’s essence, it was still present, but it would be fading fast. She grasped the essence, her rage flaring like a bright flame as she pressed her will onto the essence, offering it like fuel for another fading flame. That essence was not allowed to surrender, not allowed to give up, not allowed to move on, it was only allowed to keep living. A rush of cold filled the air around everyone else, a cold that had nothing to do with the temperature itself, a cold that permeated their very being.
Sryine and Vwyx were well aware something even more significant was going on, as a faint shimmer pulsed and faded through Ayzherie’s body. It was unmistakable, the astral flame was being used before them on another essence. However, rather than a feeling of the flame’s consuming presence, it somehow seemed the exact opposite, the void of a void. The flame was not bringing death to another, it was being used to deny the death of another, to bring life instead. The power to command both life and death, Vwyx and Sryine could only stand and watch as a miracle was enacted before them. In resolution to Riyxia’s strength of will, a miracle of life did indeed occur, as Ayzherie coughed through newly reawakened lungs.
“I.. ~cough~ I missed something important, didn’t I? Wow I’m getting rusty, maybe I might need to arrange a few spare lessons for myself.” “Careful, don’t move, I’m still making sure you’re perfectly stable.” “Stable? Riyxia, you’re amazing, you know that, right? A wound like this, I should have been dead. I don’t even understand how healing could have been enough to deal with an instantly fatal injury.” “You’re right, it wouldn’t have been. My healing gift, even augmented, had no way to save you. Fortunately, I have a few more resources than just that.. a few more options.. and had felt the risks required to refine such dangerous abilities could be well worth the effort.” “Wait, you mean.. well, I guess I was very wrong after all. You’ve taken ability and potential to new heights I couldn’t even assume to understand, to a tactical field completely out of my own league.” “Quiet down, you’ve lost a lot of blood, you will certainly need some rest if you are to get better at all. We’re also going to need to figure out a good way to bring you back safely.” Riyxia brought her spectre back, letting her augmentation end and getting her own chance to relax. She was finally convinced that Ayzherie was going to be okay, as long as Ayzherie got the chance to recover naturally the rest of the way. Vwyx and Sryine noticed that the pulses of shimmering around Ayzherie had gone away as well, Ayzherie was enduring strictly by her own natural health at this point. However, defying death had visibly taken a lot from Riyxia in turn, her body had also suddenly lost consciousness at that point, and her spectre seemed itself especially drained.. like it might for the first time ever also be tired, as it also withdrew into her body.
“Vwyx, make sure her doll is okay, we’ll need to bring it with us then without anything possessing it, apparently. Jwyexzn, can we borrow your vehicle? We’re going to need a way to transport all three of them safely, though I guess the doll would be fine without much in the way of comforts. Dhyinze, even with everything Riyxia’s done, it would be smart to have Ayzherie get a medical checkup once we return, can you call ahead and make sure things are taken care of. I’ll carry Riyxia to the vehicle personally, though if there isn’t room I wouldn’t mind making my own way home.” “No, Sryine, you go with Jwyexzn and bring both of them back safely, Dhyinze and I will make sure the doll gets back too. At the very least, I can adjust the doll’s material to make it easier to transport, but I personally would feel better if things moved along as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, if there is any further danger to either of those two, you can be ready with any of your illusions, maybe even make some things invisible. That cold feeling from before has still left me concerned, so I would feel better if there was someone at their side that had the gift for keeping them warm.” Sryine nodded to Vwyx, catching on to the specific concerns and agreeing with them. Both groups split their ways at that, due to meet up once again back at their usual home with the hunters.
Jwyexzn brought his vehicle into the field, something he’s said he’s had to do in the past, so it wouldn’t attract any attention, while Sryine kept watch on the two sleeping figures. She could see the spectre moving faintly, like a restless person devoid of all of their stamina. Riyxia was still thus most likely aware of what was going on, but not in much of a position to do anything in response. Ayzherie meanwhile had also gone to sleep, and her sleep was similar to that of ordinary people, so she would be without awareness nor ability to do anything. Sryine was the only one at this point, it was all up to her. Invisibility was a good way to start, setting both of the others invisible and leaving only herself visible so that Jwyexzn could find her. She might only be being paranoid, but it was a lack of such concern and security that had gotten them into this situation in the first place. To keep herself safe as well, she went fully augmented, her paranoia being all the fuel her augmentation needed. In this state, she could even be randomly attacked by any number of accidents, and just shrug it off like it never happened. It was her fear that brought her sanctuary, she could see the irony of that, but Riyxia had shown them that their own destructive aspects had the potential to even completely reverse in their nature, to make life from death itself.
To Sryine, the wait was ages, but in reality Jwyexzn had returned only moments later, his vehicle already being mostly in the field in case he had found need to pick up any additional supplies. Once he arrived, Sryine made use of her augmentation to carefully pick up both of the sleeping women, one after the other. Jwyexzn rushed to make room in the back for both, securing his supplies safely out of the way so that it wouldn’t cause further injuries. With both loaded in a stable and secured place, Jwyexzn motioned Sryine into the seat at his side, ready to drive off. Sryine nodded and took to the chair, her attention always invested upon the two in the back. She had applied her gift to freeze a collection of spare objects into places to keep the two firmly belted to the bottom of the vehicle, and otherwise as comfortable as possible. The two of them wouldn’t move, but she had to additionally supplement them with heat so that the ice didn’t chill them. Jwyexzn still drove off as carefully as possible, to ensure there would be no additional issues.
Vwyx heard the vehicle depart as she finished making adjustments to the doll, which was found having been abandoned a good distance away from where everything had just happened. She knew she was being left with the less important responsibilities, but that this way there would be no conflicts of interest with their limited resources. Dhyinze had also just gotten off his cell, having not only passed on the message he was requested to convey earlier, but also having tried to contact Nuiqhyx as well, a secondary goal which had ended in futility as Nuiqhyx was once again leaving his cell without any of his focus. Vwyx pulled a blanket made from the ground, yet another of her random creations, and used it to wrap up the realistic doll which had collapsed into a distressing disfigurement. Once the doll’s form was stable, she also procured a bag for it using her gift and added it to the rest of her stuff. The next thing she did was readjust the dress she wore into a more travel friendly form, keeping the design generally similar but having it designed as legged tights rather than a formal dress, a process she could then also easily reverse later. It was also another reason why she had wanted Sryine to travel in a comfort that would at least be more tolerable in the dresses they wore, Sryine wouldn’t have any means to make alternatives for herself and would have thus would have probably toughed the whole thing out instead.
As Dhyinze had come here originally making use of the same public transit as the girls had made use of getting here themselves, the two of them would inevitably be returning in much the same way. However, there were quite a number of the audience still left trying to depart, a large number which also made use of public transit, so all of the bus stations in the immediate area were packed. Fortunately, Vwyx knew of one other route they could take, a route leading to the mall from here that they had taken that one time before in reverse. However, Vwyx was also fully capable of recalling exactly what sort of danger that path had offered them originally. She wasn’t transporting anyone unconscious like Sryine was, but she still had Dhyinze to worry about, and she knew that the package she carried was actually treasured enough by society that there was a degree of danger in its transport. More so, she did not have an illusion of her own, anyone would certainly recognize her in all of her popularity, a potential that could lead to even further risk. For this reason, she brought up her augmentation as a shield, a way to ensure healthy safety rather than pain and suffering, a reversal in much the same way Sryine had herself contemplated.
Sryine meanwhile had found their return obstructed by a major traffic jam, the nearby roads having filled to capacity just like the bus stops. This brought traffic almost to a complete standstill as vehicle accidents sprung up everywhere. Sryine was almost aghast at the disasters she felt responsible for invoking, a feeling that only got worse when she realized the same solution as before wouldn’t work this time. People were already panicking, causing them to make mistakes, so instilling more fear would only incite more panic. Even Jwyexzn was visibly shaking due to the pressure of his circumstances. People needed less fear, not more, it was something much more complicated. Could her gift even achieve that, was there an illusion that could compel circumstances at all? No, not directly, but illusions were just sensory figments that compelled the mind to believe it was true. Sryine suffused herself in her own fears, drawing upon the flame in a wish to deprive others of their own fears. She used her augmentation then to wash an expanse of her gift over a massive area of the streets, an illusion without any form. Her illusion did not start with senses, it infused its will straight into the minds of those influenced, like a calming daydream. Everything was going to be okay, there wasn’t much farther to go after all.
The pedway towards the mall wasn’t filled with a couple of street thugs waiting to ambush a select group of opportunities, it was a full on den of thieves with several major gangs working in tandem trying to intercept the best opportunity ever seen before. Vwyx clearly wasn’t the only one who had this idea already, seeing a couple run past with their possessions deprived, both of them cradling a handful of demonstrative injuries. A few steps further was a woman who had probably tried to defend herself, either unconscious or dead. The halls weren’t congested at all, but it was obvious this path held problems of its own. Vwyx was in shock, just how much pain had their actions invited? She considered for a moment trying to find another path, but wasn’t certain that other options would be left without consequences of its own. This path meanwhile held a personal meaning for her, a path they had already suffered along before, one suffused with even more suffering. She wouldn’t shy away from the truth, she would instead confront it. However, she had someone else to worry about in the process, Dhyinze was still with her, she would have to ensure that even he remained safe from harm. It wouldn’t just be him, she needed to cleanse the halls of pain and suffering that she felt responsible for, she would create her own opportunity to take away such torments, and give shape to such a vision. She took up her augmentation and suffused her gift into the entire landscape. Nothing moved, not yet, but the very land itself awaited her command, ready to protect at a moment’s notice.
“Well now, I’m guessing this was all you, Sryine. You’re pretty amazing, you know that right? I thought you might have been a big deal from the moment we first met back with a certain car accident almost a lifetime ago at this point, but you’ve only managed to shine even brighter ever since. You’re not just some great news story anymore, this is the sort of thing that creates legends that last forever.” “Is this really the time? We still have to figure out how to get out of here, and traffic still isn’t going anywhere. I knew Vwyx should have been here, she could have made another road or something, she was far better qualified for something like this.” “Qualified.. if we’re worried about qualifications, I’m sorry for not being as skilled as my sister. We started at the same level, with almost the same gift, and yet she’s done so much more with it. I just hide in the shadows, but with her at your side, she could have probably opened a gate through all this traffic, warping you to the other side…” It seems Jwyexzn was also holding his own inability up to high critique, just the same as Sryine was. The two of them were really left sharing critical circumstances. Sryine even had to admit, Jwyexzn might have them both beat in this case, Ieqyisa’s warp gates would have a greater return than even Vwyx’s road creation, covering vast distances in the span of an instant. As a phase gate, it would work like a road of light, providing passage between two locations by phasing out the object in one location and having it appear in the other as a transference of light. From darkness unto light, even Ieqyisa had managed to reverse the origins of her gift overtime then.
Wait, if it was possible to encase space within light, and have light itself handle the transfer, what was stopping a number of other similar elements from achieving the same purpose? Her second gift gave her command over the elements themselves, with lightning quickly rising as a personal favourite. Lightning and Light, there were several similarities between the two, including how fast each was. However, she wasn’t sure how she could shape such lightning properly, her world having no practical experience with fantasy concepts such as electricity. Even so, there were books that reflected on the concept, more of the Terran Mythos she’d always grown to love, and in countless times since.. the dreams of her stories found a real world reflection somewhere. Amassing in reflection of her imagination, lightning surged in sparks around the vehicle harmlessly as an electrical current built up in a circuit around them, encasing them in an electrical sphere. Sparks rippled across the ground as the current continued to build. Sryine pulled out her cell to review a map of their path, but the high density of the gift made any signal impossible. There was no help for it, she would have to guide the storm by impulse alone, her mastery of the elements imparting will over the span fragmenting moments. This would require her thoughts to be faster than a strike of lightning, to interpret the surroundings of a bolt mid-flight, determine a solution, and impress her will, faster than naturally possible. To achieve this, she suffused both aspects of her gift through her, a thought process augmented by her own augmentation, a mind suffused in lightning time. This made everything appear to move remarkably slowly for her as she made all of her final preparations, checking to ensure that the sphere encasing them was stable and complete. In that moment, it felt like she was trapped in a world of her own, outside the laws of reality, where her laws had full domain. In the span of a moment that felt so much longer for Sryine, the bubble folded over itself, and the vehicle was gone along with all of its occupants in a flash of lightning and a roar of thunder.
“Look here everyone, it’s the catch of the day. Not just one of the bloody hunters that always have their heads so far up their arses, but even the acclaimed Vwyx herself. Hells, I don’t think I’ve ever been this lucky before.” The thief wasn’t even brandishing a weapon, her gift ignited in full display as flames frolicked over her hand. The others around her turned in kind, some carrying weapons, most instrumental, some resorting to their own gifts as well. These weren’t common riff-raff, they were skilled thugs with a strong grasp of their own gifts. More than that, there were a number of common folk around too, people being tormented at the time, others having been brutally assaulted and struggling to flee. Vwyx knew she had to put a stop to this, but that her own rash and brutal assault wouldn’t fix anything. This however put her at an exceptional vulnerability, it was Sryine’s illusions that could instill harmless fear, or Riyxia’s enchantments that could weaken her foes to a state of harmlessness.. even slumber. Vwyx’s gift was far more physical, far more direct. Dhyinze however raised his weapon, taking aim in threat for their defense. Vwyx however interfered, seeing the frenzy in the eyes of their foes clearly undaunted by such threats, stepping forward in his way. Their foes only took this outcome with even further glee, a few of them rushing towards them.
The first slammed hard into a wall of stone that had appeared suddenly before him, falling backwards stunned for a moment in an otherwise harmless daze. The next dodged such a wall, only to slam into another moments after. The very land moved in Vwyx’s defense, she needed no offense. One thief thrusted a blade towards an innocent a short distance away, the blade bending by the suddenly impermeable material of the cloth it had failed to pierce. Vwyx would remake everything in the defense of the innocent, to keep people safe, not just herself, not just Dhyinze, but even the victims scattered around. That wasn’t even the end either, as one of the thieves tried to slug another for their incompetence, only to find that blow blocked as well. Vwyx was in control, there would be no pain while she was on guard. However, to the thieves, this was nothing more than a challenge, the vast numbers threatening the limits of her abilities with the mass combination of their own. Flames surged towards her, washing around walls in a blast that pressed ever onwards. A surge of lightning scoured the corridors, piercing through the very walls like they didn’t even exist. A massive boulder surged forward, crushing through stone like such walls without the least bit of remorse. A collection of frost gathered from all directions, leaving no real opportunity to block. A flurry of the elements, this was far more Sryine’s expertise than Vwyx’s own.
“It’s a shame Nuiqhyx isn’t here, he was always far better at holding a defensive line, I’m not even sure if I’ll be of much help in this situation. A weapon like this is far more designed for long range than close quarters, for piercing the line than building a front. Nuiqhyx would probably have traps setup everywhere.. if only that jerk ever answered his bloody cell.” It appeared Dhyinze was also comparing himself to his partner too. Vwyx could recall even her first experience seeing such trap mastery in action, the first beast that had been handled in the end by the same pair of hunters in question. She had learned that Dhyinze had used special bullets that day, customized for putting the beast to sleep, while Nuiqhyx had thrown a trap snare like a grenade to complete the capture. It was in that moment that Vwyx recalled that she herself was carrying grenades, she had been the whole time, in fact she had only gotten a single opportunity to use them. However, much like Dhyinze’s firearm, her grenades were currently only configured to kill or destroy. It would take a different combustion chamber to yield any other result, not exactly something she was presently prepared for. However, what exactly was stopping a craftswoman like her from simply making what she needed, anyway?
“Pass me one of your bullet clips, quick, I need a good example to work from.” “Is this really the best time to start experimenting with new ideas?” “If there is one thing I’ve picked up from Riyxia and Sryine, it’s that there isn’t ever a bad time to be open to new ideas. The only real challenge is making stuff work, really.” Vwyx took the clip from Dhyinze after they both dodged another round of elemental strikes. The whole opportunity reminded her of when Fhyernx invited her to look under the hood of his vehicle, way back on their original journey. Even within the box was an assortment of shells that reminded her of the boxes Fhyernx had always brought to her every so often, way back in the village, things she had used to create so much more. So many things could be made to be empowered as an instrument, they just needed the right components. Once created, an instrument could be made to achieve a world of other things, surpassing even the limits of any of the people involved. The most fundamental component was simply that one small black crystal, the augmenting crystal that pushed the limits of both the user and the creator. She could even have the small thing able to do things she herself would be incapable of, even emulate a fraction of the gift available in her friends, or even from anyone else. Now, it wasn’t as if she would then have much control over what such an instrument did once it was used, that was something she would have to be prepared for in advance.
“Try these instead, should be far more useful in our situation.” “Oh, let me guess, I better make every shot count.” “Actually, no, you probably couldn’t miss even if you tried. You just might want to stick to some long range shots, and be ready for some nasty kick.” Vwyx passed the revised clip back to Dhyinze as she finished her own adjustments for her own weaponry. Dhyinze looked at the pack and gulped, generally concerned what act of god had just been passed over to him. Even so, he wasn’t in the best of circumstances to doubt his temporary partner or her judgement. He’d seen the sort of remarkable things Vwyx had achieved before, he knew he could trust her to create the impossible from any circumstances. Dodging once again, he prepared to offer his partner some cover fire, bracing for some inhuman kick as he pressed the trigger of his weapon. In that moment, he went flying backwards in a tumble, but braced for the sudden impact in his fall, totally alright. The projectile meanwhile howled through the air like a banshee, the soundwave alone rippling a wave of force that sent everyone before him to their backs. The projectile screeched through the air until it finally came in contact with a wall a fair distance away. A black spherical pulse erupted from the impact, a force which drove everyone hard onto their backs as they tried to stand up once again. Vwyx caught on to the oncoming blast and went flat to the ground, inspiring Dhyinze to follow her example. A wash of gravitational force erupted over them, pinning everyone hard to the floor. This gave Vwyx an opportunity to finish what she was doing, as she used her augmented strength to stand up once again despite the immense forces at play. She finished preparing her grenades and produced a strange mask for both herself and Dhyinze, putting his mask on for him as he wasn’t exactly in any position to do so himself.
Sufficiently prepared, Vwyx then primed one of her explosives and threw it into the hallway. Rather than anything even half as violent, this grenade simply started to hiss softly, almost harmlessly. Eventually, the gravitational forces of the first projectile started to dissipate, giving Dhyinze the chance to stand up once again. However, he noticed he was the only other one to stand up besides the already standing Vwyx. In fact, no one else appeared to even remain conscious after Vwyx’s gas grenade. Dhyinze realized the magnitude of Vwyx’s strike, holding his mask tighter to his face in his own defense. Vwyx however had taken her mask off already, looking around carefully. No one was really harmed, everyone was going to be okay. She held out a hand to Dhyinze, offering him to keep following her onwards.
“You can take that off now too, if you want. It’s a really dense gas, only sticks close to the ground. Made it that way by design, so that it combined well with your own.” Vwyx lead the way forward as the two of them departed the pedway and finally reached the mall. Dhyinze realized the depth of Vwyx’s planning, that the shot he fired was intended to both provide a distraction and to force everyone to the floor in order for the gas to work correctly. An act of god, Vwyx might not even be a hunter, but she was probably the best hunter he could ever hope to have as a partner. The two broke through the mall, raising a fuss in their passage, Dhyinze’s cell ringing as they reached the exit.
“What do you mean, where have I been? Where have you been, we’ve got some criminals that need detainment in the pedway and some innocents in need of a rescue. Look, my cell probably just had no connection, we were underground for a while after all. If you want to be useful, maybe you could help provide us with a better exit, maybe some real transportation. Okay, thanks.” Dhyinze hung up his cell, Nuiqhyx having let him know that there were people on the way. Vwyx checked her own cell, verifying that it hadn’t lost connection once since the incident at the park. Had Dhyinze actually let his focus laps for once, or was Vwyx just that good?
Through all of the commotion, it hadn’t dawned on either girl that they had successfully been with clear minds and made careful decisions all despite being fully augmented. However, on their successful yet exhausting return, both girls had decided to take from Riyxia’s example.. to get a bit of extra rest.
Luminaeris 