77. Souls
Without Bodies
"God is almighty," Zeigfried declared,
"and his will shall always be done."
Ravi stood on the ground, staring across to Kamo,
who lay crumpled in a pool of his own blood. The potent psynergy that had once
cloaked Ravi was now gone, along with her wings, and she’d reverted to her original
form. Across from her, Azuka stood still in the center of the highway, eyes locked
on her manipulator.
"Come on, Azuka!" Bruce shouted at
the Knight. "Kick that guy's ass!"
"Unthinkable," Zeigfried cut in.
"Azuka will not raise a finger against me, will you, Azuka? You're too
smart. Too God-fearing. And...you have too much on the line."
Hearing this, Ravi and Kamo looked closer at
their ally, studying her hesitation. Her face remained frozen in anguish, and Ravi
understood what was churning within the woman's mind.
"Terror, despair, guilt, responsibility...and
that's probably not even half of everything you're feeling," Ravi ventured.
"Maybe you even want to curl up and die. We understand, Azuka...but we're
still on your side. We believe in you!"
"Just don't leave us hanging..."
Kamo coughed out – but the mess of blonde hair and flowing white-and-red robes
gave no response.
"Have you finished your last rites?"
Zeigfried's cold voice crept out to the five. "As I said, it's futile...I
gave you a chance at retribution, and you spat in my face. Now, you will repent
for your sins!"
Zeigfried gazed down upon them from the sky, allowing
clouds of vapor flow out along the abandoned highway.
"I wonder if you are all familiar with the
element known as Manganese," Zeigfried said. "It's a fairly common
mineral on any normal planet, and essential for good health...within small doses,
that is."
The cloud thickened, surrounding the group as
it took on a deep, maroon color. Ravi cast a panicked look to Kamo, who was
still collapsed on the ground. A few steps away from him, Rose was struggling
to support Bruce on her shoulders. Finally, left with no other choice, Ravi turned
her eyes back to Azuka.
"Lo and behold: The Haze of Penitence,"
Zeigfried announced. "Absorbing Manganese from the earth into a highly-concentrated
vapor is a simple task thanks to the power God has given me."
Maroon psynergy emanated from the cloud,
spreading out as a nearly invisible mist. Ravi's psynergy barrier was still powerful
enough to keep Zeigfried's might away, but she realized it didn't matter. Regardless
of how strong her barrier was, she had to breathe, and no amount of psynergy
could fix the air once it became fully contaminated with poison.
As if to assuage her fears, a whirling spire
of psynergy exploded up from the ground and blew the poison up into the sky. As
the smoke cleared, Ravispotted Captain Azuka Ingram glowing with an iridescent
aura.
"You fool..." Zeigfried shook his
head. "How could you give into such temptation? After all your hard work,
all the times you’ve begged for my assistance...how could you do this?! Yamato
will burn! Your father will die in vain! You–"
"Shut up," Azuka commanded. "I’m
done listening to you."
Zeigfried frowned. "Then you too shall
be judged."
Azuka nodded. "But I won't go quietly."
Saying that, the Knight took a flying leap into
the air and attacked Zeigfried head-on. Not an ounce of fear resonated from her
as she slashed outwards and bombarded the Apostle with a series of continuous
sword strikes. Zeigfried dodged each and every one of them with finesse, but
Azuka never let up. Kamo, Ravi, Bruce and Rose were astounded
*************
as she continued to stare at the figure of Victoria
Vance. The dark woman stood calmly with a hand on her hip and gazed back at Eden
with warm eyes.
"Well?" she asked, startling the
girl as she spoke. Her voice sounded deep and caring. "Can I change back
now?"
"Victoria..." Eden gasped. "Is...is
it really you?"
"Amazing!" Trunculo's voice boomed.
"It seems as if Averyl has revealed his true identity...a woman from Eden's
past! What could this mean for our fighters?!"
Eden staggered as she continued to stare at the
woman who had always represented everything she wanted to be.
"Mom..." From afar, Vance's heart beat
in overdrive. "How...how is this happening?"
Laughter trickled into Vance’s waiting room as
Averyl slid out through a portal. "This is so much fun...isn't it, Vance?
Reliving old memories..."
"Averyl?!" Vance spun around to face
his uncle, who had removed his disguise once more. "What the hell
is going on here?!"
Averyl laughed madly as he basked in the moment.
"I love seeing you astonished like that, Vance! It's priceless!"
"Tell me!" Vance ran up and grabbed
his uncle by the sleeves of his cloak. "Why is my mother here?!"
"Well..." Averyl regained control
of himself, then bent his head down so that he could whisper into Vance's ear. Tendrils
from his heavy breath tickled over Vance's eardrums.
"That’s because Eden is your sister."
Vance backed up silently from Averyl, monochrome
eyes wide as he desperately tried to grasp the situation. "No..." He gasped
for air, choking purely on his bewilderment. "That can't be possible!"
Averyl threw his head back, laughing even louder
as he gripped his sides. "Oh, I've always wanted to play that joke on you,
and it was so worth it. Ahem," Averyl coughed, trying not to choke himself
as he resisted laughing a second time. "Oh, my, that was just too funny. I
do love you, nephew."
Vance growled and began shaking his uncle
violently. "Can you give me a serious answer, just this once?!"
"Of course." Averyl easily lifted
Vance's tight grip from his clothes and guided the young man over to the window.
"I'm glad Eden remembers your mother. Victoria was the one who stole her
from the Church and gave her a childhood of peace, you know."
"The Church?" Vance asked. "Why
was she there in the first place?"
"Never mind." Averyl rubbed his chin.
"This is nothing but a symbol, Vance, the war cry to signal our revenge. Eden
isn’t the only one who was meant to see Victoria, you see..."
"Whatever!" Vance shouted impatiently.
"Just tell me how she’s out there!"
"That isn’t really her." Averyl stared
solemnly outward.
"I figured that much out!" Vance ran
his fingers through his hair. "Who is it?"
"You'll see. More importantly, I'd like
to speak to you about your next battle."
"Don't worry about it," Vance said
quickly. "I got it covered."
"I believe..." Averyl narrowed his eyes.
"That things may not go as smoothly as you anticipate."
Outside, Eden continued to stare at Victoria
with perplexed eyes. "Have you been alive this whole time?"
Victoria let out a tired yawn. "Nah. Actually,
I'm not Victoria. I just came out here because I owed someone a favor. He didn't
give me any more instructions, though."
Eden blinked. "Are you going to fight me,
then? I mean...what other purpose could you have to come out here?"
"I dunno." The fake Victoria studied
Eden. "I'm trying to figure out what's so special about you, though."
"Huh?" Eden stammered. "What do
you mean?"
"I mean, why is everyone after you?"
Madeleine continued. "You don't look like anything special to me. You're
not that pretty, your psynergy isn't that special, and you don't
seem to be that smart."
"Excuse me?" Eden said, frowning.
"Says who?"
The fake Victoria's body began to twist and
distort as she replied. "Madeleine, 7th of the Dark Zodiacs. You
know, I just got a really great idea: I'm going to kill you."
"Woah, check it out, people!"
Trunculo shouted with enthusiasm. "Averyl, Victoria, Madeleine, whoever it
is, they're transforming yet again! What could possibly be next?!"
Everyone watched as the tall woman was reduced
to a 9-year old girl with strawberry blonde hair, wearing a bright yellow t-shirt
and a faded pair of jeans.
"Yeah, this'll be great," Madeleine
said. "The Dark Zodiacs want you...the Guild wants you...even the leaders of
the Church want you, just because you're the coveted Daughter. But if I kill
you before they get to you, everyone will be screwed. Especially Grayson!"
Psynergy rushed through Eden's body. "But
you’re one of the Dark Zodiacs...I thought you all wanted to use me to destroy
the world."
"I'm not like you humans," Madeleine's
big blue eyes twinkled. "This is all just one big game to me."
Eden furrowed her brow as the words sunk in. "You
aren’t...human?"
Madeleine's tiny mouth shifted into a wan smile.
"I'm a bio-weapon that was originally created in the Sagacia Laboratory
way back before the Dark Zodiacs laid it to waste. My 'true form,' if you can even
call it that, is just a mass of pink goo, a combination of my psynergy and the mutated
cells that allow me to assume any form I wish. I was supposed to be the ultimate
spy."
Eden listened carefully. "But you
escaped? "
"We were at the final stages of development
when I awoke to my trouble," Madeleine continued. "They gave me advanced
intelligence, so I quickly became smart enough to function on my own and escape
from their petty bondage. I killed many. They were sick...all of them. This little
girl was the first thing they forced me to transform into, you know. They all
wanted to use me...for many things."
Sadness contorted Eden's face as she
listened, noting the numb abandonment with which Madeleine narrated her origin.
The more she listened, the more this sadness transformed into rage.
"Once I escaped the lab, I encountered the
Dark Zodiacs – a group of people who were equally disgusted with the human race.
I told them what the scientists on Sagacia were up to, so we laid waste to the
entire facility together. In the end, we used their own nuclear weapons on them
to completely destroy their world."
From the committee room far above the arena,
Grayson and Roufas watched as Madeleine relayed the Dark Zodiacs' secrets to the
public.
"Are you listening to this?" Roufas
looked to his partner. "I only hope you didn't entrust her with any other
confidential information."
"Ah, but do notice, Madeleine is not the
only traitor here," Grayson said, raising his finger with an amused smile.
"Averyl must have relinquished his position to her for a reason."
"He's probably just trying to cause trouble
for his own amusement." Roufas rubbed his chin. "We can deal with him
later, but Madeleine has to be stopped. She's completely out of control. If she
were to hurt the Daughter..."
Grayson chuckled. "Don't be foolish, old
man. As if the Daughter would fall to her, of all people!"
"Grayson!" Roufas shouted.
"Stop treating me as if I'm senile! I’ve had enough of your disrespect."
"Hush." Grayson said, raising a finger
to his mouth. "Don’t you want to see what your precious girl’s truly capable
of?"
Below, a bright pink spire of psynergy
exploded out from Madeleine's body. Eden's eyes were pleading for her to cease.
"Why are you doing this?" Eden asked.
"There’s no reason for us to fight!"
"Says who?" Madeleine rolled her eyes.
"I guess you just don't want to look like a monster in front of all these people.
Or maybe you want to impress someone. Don't bother talking anymore, Eden. I
know the 'sweet little girl' is all just an act. You want everyone to like
you...but I hate you."
Eden was taken aback for a moment, but she stood
her ground. "Madeleine...I’m an orphan too. I know our circumstances were
very different, but I can at least understand some of the pain and loneliness
that’s within you."
Madeleine's eyes flinched for a moment, but the
skeptical glare did not disappear. "What's your point?"
"We grew up all by ourselves, and we aren’t
like others...people want to use us...we’re actually shockingly similar when
you think about it."
"Shut up!" Madeleine screamed.
"Stop trying to preach to me. I'm not a weak, jealous human like Winslow.
It didn’t take me long to realize the Dark Zodiacs are just as stupid as everyone
else. Conceited, too. I used to fear one of them, so I opted to cooperate...but
I don't care anymore. I'm just going to kill you and destroy any chance humans have
of ever salvaging their stupid world!"
With that, Madeleine opened both of her palms
and released a beam of pink psynergy. Eden raised her hands up to protect herself,
but she was knocked back by the force of the shockwave. In the next moment, Madeleine
was in point blank range, pummeling Eden with a flurry of fists that created a mist
of pink psynergy with each strike.
Eden matched her blow for blow, but the sheer
force behind each strike was hard to keep up with. She could feel Madeleine’s
psynergy searing through her barrier and scorching her skin no matter how well
she tried to defend.
Growing fearful, Eden leapt up into the air. Madeleine
responded by charging up a blast of psynergy larger than Eden’s entire body and
lobbing it at her. Frantic, and realizing there was no way for her to dodge the
blow, Eden transformed into a shooting star and flew straight through the massive
attack. Madeleine’s psynergy tore at her as she traveled into the arena, but
Eden cut through it all without slowing down. But as soon as she hit the tile
on the other side, she collapsed back into her human form, searing with neon
pain. As Eden struggled to catch her breath and rise, Madeleine’s attack
crashed into the arena’s barrier, letting out a booming thunderclap.
"You've never felt love, have you?"
Eden asked with honest eyes. "Not even once...with anyone."
"Shut up and try to kill me," Madeleine
commanded, as she raised two more glowing pink orbs. "Otherwise, you'll just
become another sack of smoldering flesh."
Next: A Human Creation
