Equinox Festival - Part 2

From her place atop the tallest building in all the city, Amelia Laflamme observed the rain falling beyond the horizon. Londorus seemed to be covered in a gray, cold and indifferent mantle.

**A super wet mantle.**

Sitting at the edge of the rooftop, she then looked down at the street, having a view of her hair and the fabric of her dress forcibly stuck to her chest, but she did not mind. She needed all that coldness to feel something.

**Anything…**

She swallowed saliva, tasting it bitter. In less than a minute, she had ignored three social notifications from her ex-guild partners.

**Three… More than I expected.**

The first was a call from Karen Svensson, who was quickly ignored as soon as it popped up.

**She surely wants to brag about the great job she did. Yes… Your new 'Master' will surely be proud. Go to her side while wagging your tail, come on.**

The other two messages were from William The Stoic and Marco Souza, making the same question: 'Where are you?' The difference between the two was that William's message started by calling her beautiful, and Marco's text was more demanding.

**I should do this sooner than later.**

She opened her User Interface, selected William and Karen's names from her Friend List, and tapped 'unfriend'. Only Marco Souza's name remained. She could picture his squinting look, daring her to continue.

She wanted to ask him if stealing from the Shooting Star's vault was his idea, but last night's remarks had already given her the answer.

++++++ " This is all strategic—These stopped being quarrels between rival groups, these are private companies now. " +++++

**Well, my former 'Lord', my sister is still in that guild you fucked…**

After glancing at Marissa's name and her current 'Offline' status, she tapped Marco's and removed him from the list.

She sighed as if a load had been freed from her shoulders and pointed her face upwards to receive the chilly rain directly. Her winged tiger whined, beside her.

"Oh, sorry! Your wings must be completely soaked. Rest a little, I'll get down on my own."

The beast became incorporeal and turned into a jewel that gently fell on her palm.

As she looked at the distance, she felt a set of eyes piercing the back of her neck, coming from something that was always present. Always vigilant.

Amelia sighed. "What is it, Belphy?" she asked aloud, addressing someone standing behind her. "Is there something you want to say? Because this is the time to do it!"

The slim feminine silhouette did not reply, limiting herself to only keep her distance, prompting Amelia to click her teeth and stand up.

"Are you also going to judge me?!" Amelia cried, striding towards her. "Do you think I enjoy this?! Do you think I wanted this to happen?! Sure, why not? I wake up every morning, eager to fuck someone else's life! That's ME, every single day! This whole situation is so absurd that I can't stop laughing! Ha—Ha—HA!"

The tall entity tilted her head when Amelia fell to her knees, sobbing.

"Just a couple of days ago, I was chilling with my sister in the Trophy Room, mocking the insignificant feats of the weakest members… We were planning on raiding the Etzebel Castle later this week and celebrate our victory at her favorite place, where they serve those salty nachos. But then the COCKROACH showed up and fucked everything! If it weren't for him, maybe Marco would have quitted the guild in another less… destructive way… Or am I being delusional?"

Amelia looked up, looking for answers, but the ghostly apparition in front of her did not move an inch.

The specter only remained still while every single drop of rain falling over her round hat passed through. A black through-see veil covered her entire body, and in her hands, she held something resembling a bouquet, composed of knives, pistol cannons, and wrenches.

What am I doing? Amelia lowered her head and bit her lower lip, drawing blood. **Talking to this… thing.**

An explosion was heard in the distance. Although she was used to hearing them all the time, something about hearing it inside Londorus' Safe Zone made her uneasy.

**Was it my imagination?**

Frowning, she looked for the source, until another blazing light, followed by a burst of flames could be seen, 2 miles away.

**Lancesmith bridge is in that direction, but… Nan… It can't be. It must be just a coincidence. Unless…**

Amelia imagined a quite colorful scene involving the real Astrid, kicking Karen's ass after finding out what was going on.

**But not even that monstrous woman could cause such destruction… Not here, I mean.**

Amelia exhaled, reprimanding herself. **Whatever. It has nothing to do with me.**

She then turned around and jumped down the building, ready to leave the city and everything behind.

She fell 100, 200, 300 feet, until a memory flashed in her mind.

+++++" This is a serious issue, Marco! The integrity of this ship and its population is at risk! "+++++

Amelia shut her eyes and groaned. "ARGH! Ça me fait chier !"

Before crashing into certain death, she sprouted black wings at the last second, landing safely.

"If this ends up being bullshit, I'll show him hell…" she muttered, glancing in the explosion's direction.

+++

++

+

+

The humongous dragon crawled towards the city.

Its height rivaled the city's skyscrapers when it stretched out its long necks. While making its way out of the river, it crushed a yacht with one foot and leveled a mansion with its fat, round body.

The white head fired an incandescent beam that melted anything in a straight trajectory, and the black one emitted a chilling cry that created seemingly controlled black holes that consumed everything in a 100-feet radius, before imploding and blinking out of existence.

If left unattended, Londorus would cease to exist in a matter of minutes. Realizing it prompted Alan to draw his bronze-tier sword.

"Stop that thing, NOW!" he yelled, threatening the girl in black.

She turned to him, calmly. "Put that thing away before you poke someone's eyes."

"Only yours! Why would you bring that thing here?! This is not a dungeon nor a battlefield!"

"Is it full of 'civilians'? Is that what you're trying to say?" she asked in a monotone voice.

"Y-YES! Most of the people living here aren't members of a guild! You're practically attacking innocent people!"

Although it was impossible to see her expression, Alan was sure that the young woman was glaring at him.

"You're not making any sense, Alan Warden," she said, turning her voice deeper. "So is it okay to kill people as long as they have a weapon in hand? Do you think chivalry has its place in war?"

She snickered, deviating her gaze toward her monster in the distance, giving Alan the opportunity to check his feet. **The shadow bounding me has disappeared.**

He then tightened his grip on his sword's hilt. **Even if I know it'll be impossible, I'd later feel 100 times worse if I never tried!**

He charged against the unsuspected girl, and swung his sword, going for her neck. "You asked for it!"

The blade passed through, but it felt null as if he had cut the air. The weight of his weapon after drawing a long curve almost threw him off balance.

**What happened just now?!**

He glanced back, finding the girl's head still attached.

**Did I miss? N-no, I don't think so. Or maybe she moved so fast that I didn't notice, like in those animes! Can people do that here?! …C-Cool?**

"What were you trying to do, Little Mouse?" she asked, smirking. "Doesn't matter. I promised you a front-row seat, right? What are we waiting for, then?"

She stretched out her hand again, ready to bring another abomination into the city, but when the summoned creature materialized, it was smaller. Her Mount had the head and the glossy wings of a crow and the body of a black slim mare.

"Seats ready! Hop up, Little--" She beamed, but when she turned around, looking for him, he had gone. "Of course he'll escape," she said to herself, sighing until she saw him crossing Lancesmith bridge at full speed. "Is he going after my adorable Draquinox?" She chuckled. "Seriously? Well, I don't want to miss the show…"