GODS, IMPERMANENT

The wind began to pick up along the garden's path, for a moment only the hazy sound of rustling trees could be heard. Alcaeus felt as resolute as ever, although his lapse in memory prevented him from accessing many of his advanced combat protocols, it was also true that Arian's arm, while biologically fully healed, still felt agonizing to move around due to the psychological strain of having just broken it. All things considered, it could be said that the two currently stood on equal ground, but still:

Both felt their own reasoning for fighting was stronger than the others. But before either had engaged, Alcaeus quickly realized something.

(Hold on… She's… She isn't moving?)

It was only a single second of hesitation, but even that was enough.

The first move was Arian's.

(I've progressed my technique quite a bit since back then in my match with… With Eion.)

After tearing off his cast, Arian immediately broke off into a slanted sprint, before completely leaning back and, using his left arm to support himself, seemingly sliding over the ground.

Alcaeus: "W-wait-!!"

It was like he was gliding over the pavement, in just a few seconds he'd not only closed the distance between us but had also pivoted to my opposite side.

(One thing's for sure, this guy's definitely not normal.)

I turned to face him as quickly as I could, but he'd already halted himself in place over 12 feet away from me. The second I met his gaze, he raised both his arms in my direction.

(Gods, what, apart from flying does he shoot lasers from his fingertips too?)

I watched him intently as he clasped his palms, and then after locking his fingers together stretched his hands outwards.

Arian thought to himself for a moment.

(I haven't really tried this out before but… Might as well at this point.)

Although Arian was definitely not one to take so many risks in a fight he thought he had no choice but to win, something about Tifon made him act entirely irrational even now.

(Here goes…!)

Like a hose, instantly a jet of mist shot out of his hands, and after a second it started rapidly spreading through the air. It wasn't long before the haze had covered Tifon and him entirely, along with everything that was between them.

(Adding my fingers like this to the ritual seems to almost filter the ice storm I produce, perfect for cover. Though, to be honest I wasn't all too sure if it would work or if it would just rip apart my fingers instead.)

Alcaeus: "?! I can't even make out where he is now an- Aukh!!"

Out of the haze, a single silver fist jetted out into his stomach, instantly knocking the wind out of him.

(You gotta be kidding me… What even was that punch just now?!)

Tifon couldn't help dropping to his knees, each second his body felt heavier than the last.

Alcaeus: "The mist… it's starting to clear?"

In a few moments the savage image of Arian was finally visible to him, and only then did Tifon notice exactly how he'd lost.

(His fist, it's still connected to me!)

Not only that but there was a thick layer of ice spreading from it, enveloping my entire chest. From the look on his face, it was obvious, he intended to freeze me whole right then. But something was different, now that the haze had cleared the ice spreading from his fist had become less thick, it was more like a thin sheet of frost than anything else.

ΔΔΔ: "That's about enough, you idiots!"

Finally breaking his gaze from me, Arian looked over in the voice's direction.

Mitsuno: "Aurora?? Aurora!"

He let out a frustrated sigh before looking back at his opponent. Arian begrudgingly deactivated his Boon.

Palae and Mitsuno had only noticed right after the mist had completely cleared, they rushed over immediately but it was as they feared, Aurora was completely catatonic.

Although now freed from Arian's Boon, Tifon still found himself completely sapped of all his energy. Just staying conscious was all he could really manage. Arian however, didn't waste any more time on him, now all 3 of them had begun surrounding her, however, just before Tifon's view of Aurora was completely obscured, he managed to take witness to an incredible scene.

(I must've moved around a lot when I was in that mist, seeing as she's quite a bit away from me now.)

Aurora lay motionless on a patch of soft grass, her hair spread across like the brilliant rays of a sun. Her rosy, flushed face blended perfectly with the pinkish background behind her characteristic to the start of a new day.

"I know her situation might be dire but…"

(I can't help thinking of how peaceful she looks right now, almost like an art piece.)

"…Almost like one of these statues."

But there was something else, something I couldn't quite understand, she was different.

Suddenly her color changed back to the whitish shade it had before, at last then I noticed, the sun was reflecting its color almost perfectly onto her all that time. Now that the dawn was over, so was her magnanimity.

(So that's where her beauty came from, that's why it surpassed even these statues.)

"It came… from its fleetingness…"

Mitsuno: "Aurora?! Please, we're begging you, come on! Wake up!!"

Palae: "We need help right now!"

"Tifon! What are you doing there?! Can't you see she's------------"

From then after I couldn't tell what they were screaming about, it all blurred together with all the rest of the nonsense in this world. All I could think of in those moments was her, that perfect scene, something that could never be replicated again.

But in the back of my mind, I couldn't help shake off the feeling.

(Have I seen this all before?)

My eyes began to dampen as I finally succumbed to my weakness. I didn't understand why, but before I had closed them fully, I felt a single tear escape as it streamed down my face.

Arian: "I… Can't believe this, what are we going to do?!"

But there was no way any of them could respond to his question, their frenzied state had left each of them already preparing for the worst.

^^^: "There! They're right there, I see them!"

†††: "Hey, Kids! You all dead or what?!"

Though, perhaps there was still one odd combination that could get them out of even this situation.

Nurse Ias: "Quickly kids I need you all to step back now for a moment."

Palae: "…Miss Ias?"

Finally snapping out of her despair, Palae noticed a new face beside her.

"We don't know why but s-she just-"

Nurse Ias: "It's alright now, don't worry yourself."

The Nurse answered her hastily as she checked her patient's vitals.

"Everything's in order, she'll be fine after some rest."

The nurse was an old hand at comforting people in situations like these, like many in her field. Though perhaps unlike the rest, she was more than capable of insuring them completely due to her Favor.

Commandant Calli: "What's the damage?"

Nurse Ias looked up at the commandant with worried eyes, after gently laying Aurora on her back she answered.

Nurse Ias: "I don't really know how you were aware something like this might happen but… I'm glad you brought me here."

She moved in closer to Calli so that the others weren't in earshot, unsuspecting of this the commandant recoiled just enough for it to be noticeable.

Ias: "There is something though, all my life I've been working in this field, and not once have I seen something quite like this. The closest thing I have to a diagnosis is catatonia, but she doesn't have most of the symptoms for it."

Calli: "I-I see, yea that is weird… Good thing I got you here in time."

Ias couldn't help but smile at the odd juxtaposition of a seasoned warrior being intimidated by a nurse. Now wasn't the time for bonding though, even if Aurora's life wasn't in immediate parrel, they still had no idea what exactly caused her to end up like this and whether or not it would happen again.

Ias: "The kids look like they're still in shock, but that's to be expected… I can't imagine what they're feeling right now."

Calli only looked back at the children for a moment, to her they seemed just fine, but she didn't feel like imposing.

Calli: "I was specifically assigned to retrieval duty so I'll be leaving now, you've got everything here under control right?"

Barely stifling a laugh, Ias slyly moved her gaze in Tifon's direction.

Ias: "Well, to be fair, I should've known where your priorities would lie, seeing as the history you have with accompanying his injuries."

Tifon was now more than just sound asleep, having been practically drained of all his energy during the fight, his well-deserved rest would've been all but guaranteed, if only the commandant wasn't the one in charge of retrieving him that is.

Just as she'd said, the commandant didn't stick around much more after that, pleasantries weren't necessarily her specialty, even with Ias. Mitsuno and Palae didn't dare leave Aurora's side, much less inquire about her condition from the nurse, but Arian was a different story. As much as he really was concerned over his friend, her safety, in truth, was never his priority and now he was well aware of that.

(If I wasn't so… Possessed with beating him maybe-)

Arian: "Maybe I could've stopped this from happening."

He finally gathered the courage to look back at Aurora, the paleness of her face struck him. It seemed as though she wasn't moving before, but now that she was recovering thanks to the nurse's Boon her breathing had grown more noticeable, but there was something else.

(She's… Shivering?)

Arian looked down at his hands, they were practically trembling with fear. He stared intently at his fingers, noticing how bits and pieces of his skin had been scraped off, and near the openings, discolored patches of it hung on by a thread.

And so he looked on at his pathetic battle scars, he felt only one thing in his heart, out of all the many emotions he'd gone through today, this was the strongest.

He felt utterly disgusted.