13. THE BIRTH OF TWO BATTLES

Ragnar smiled widely, displaying almost all her teeth. Akasha stared at her concerningly wondering if she was just crazy or very strong.

The amethyst badge she's probably an UR Legionnaire, Akasha thought.

Akasha realized how hard it was to find a UR Legionnaire out in the open. But then she wondered why she was here in the first place. Had she not any better thing to do? Something wasn't adding up.

Akasha knew that a UR Legionnaire was strong enough to take a 10★ Scar. Those Scars were usually very big in size and often caused a lot more damage than this one was.

So what was so damn important about this Scar that she had to show up?

Ragnar tossed her sword at the Scar and mood after it following up the attack. Akasha couldn't keep up with her speed and found out she was left standing where they both met.

The Scar picked up a few cars and blocked the incoming sword. However, it was not enough to withstand the speed and sharpness of the blade. The buster sword effortlessly cut through the cars and went right into the Scar's chest. Ragnar came immediately after, and grabbed its head. With one quick swoop, she pinned it to the ground.

Akasha could sense the thrill and excitement in Ragnar's eyes. She was enjoying this.

Watching from a distance, Akasha noticed the scar release the same liquid from earlier before. She hadn't told Ragnar about its teleporting abilities. But it seemed like Ragnar was prepared because she immediately responded to its incoming attacks from her blind spots.

The liquid was transparent making it impossible for Ragnar to see it. So how did she know it was going to come out there, Akasha thought.

Whatever it was that Ragnar was doing, gave her a very good sense of her spatial awareness. It was like as if nothing could pass her without being noticed. Akasha, standing still from afar, wondered if she should even assist her anymore.

She was still in thought when she felt a hand grab her shoulder from behind. Her pupils dilated and moved to the corner of her eyes as her head tilted slowly sideways, attempting to look back at what had grabbed her.

Her face was struck pale.

It was the Scar.

She couldn't understand how fast it moved this time around. It was almost like as if it had doubled its speed. Nothing made sense about its movements.

Why did it just ignore Ragnar? Why did it attack me? Akasha thought.

Ragnar quickly looked towards Akasha and spotted the figure there with her. She rushed over—almost at light speed—to smack the figure away from Akasha.

However, the figure reacted in time placing Akasha between it and Ragnar's incoming sword. Ragnar twisted the blade, changing its trajectory and purposely missing her target in order to spare a Akasha's life.

Akasha tried to hit the Scar with her elbow but the snapping of her clavicle beat her to it. Her brain went numb due to the pain of her broken bone. She screamed in pain and made an attempt to grab its head with her other hand with the little adrenaline that pumped through her.

Ragnar who stood beside them with her sword in the ground, grabbed its head. She collided its head against hers, distracting it from Akasha.

While the Scar was still thrown off balance, she hit its hand off Akasha's shoulder, forcing it to let go.

The Scar skipped back quickly to create distance between them.

Ragnar went down on one knee and touched Akasha's shoulder.

"Shit, kid, I'm sorry. You're going to be fine, yeah?" Ragnar looked at her eyes. Akasha's pupils were not in sight and evidently rolled to the back of her eyeball.

"Hey, kid!" Ragnar shook her vigorously. But Akasha was unresponsive. Ragnar laid her body on the blood covered ground. "Fuck!" She ripped off the sleeve of the tattered cloth Akasha was wearing.

Akasha's entire arm had become pale-looking and her veins assumed a purple coloured, making them well visible to the naked eye. Ragnar's finger lingered on her wrist, hoping for a pulse.

Fifty-eight...

Fifty-nine...

Sixty.

A whole minute had passed.

There was no pulse.

Akasha had died.

***

The tall boy followed Claudius closely from behind. He was light skinned and had a triangular build. His hair was a simple but rather interesting shade of black. His eyes kept meeting Orion's as the five walked through the woods.

"Is this the place?" Claudius signed to Freida.

She nodded.

"He ran in that direction," Freida pointed further into the woods.

"Of course, he ran that way," Alto scoffed.

"Then let's go," Orion marched on forward without hesitation. He was most eager than everyone else.

They all followed him.

Petal stared at Alto. She was worried that he had other reasons for coming along. She slowly walked to his side and tried to keep up with his pace. He looked down at her with confusion.

"What're you doing, Alto?" She asked.

"The fuck does it look like I'm doing?" He frowned. "We're looking for Nyx, isn't it?"

"We are... But are you?"

"Of course I am—"

"You almost killed Nyx once, Alto."

"That was a long time ago—"

"And now you're just, what, having a change of heart?"

Alto stopped walking. "You think I don't know that you still love him?"

"What?"

"You do, don't you? You always have."

"I—I don't know what you're talking about," she stuttered.

"It hurts you so much that you can't talk to him the way you used to."

"Don't change the subject."

Alto wore a disgruntled look on his face and walked further up to meet the others.

Petal folded her fingers into her palm. She bit her lower lip and looked down at her shoes.

Nyx...? Love...? She thought.

"Hey." She looked up. Kerith stood before her. "Let's go," he said, stretching out his hand towards her.

She took his hand and they both walked on. The five of them walked up to what seemed like the middle of the woods. Whatever direction that was looked in, nothing else but trees were seen.

Claudius looked around while the others stood discussing and brainstorming about where Nyx could've gone.

"She lost her hearing!" Orion raised his voice. He had been arguing with Alto and Kerith who started to think the issue was smaller than what it was treated as.

"What if Nyx just ran into some locals?" Alto asked.

"Without coming back?" Orion scoffed. "Freida might've even lost her powers. She is deaf and selective hearing is her ability. Without it, she can't hear. There's something out there and Nyx might be in danger!"

"Wait," Petal spoke up. "I can find him... indirectly though."

"Yeah!" Orion's eyes brightened. "You can feel through the trees, right?"

"Yes...and I have..." She replied.

"So why haven't you said anything?!" Orion questioned.

"There are many people, isn't it?" Claudius joined in on the conversation. "You can feel many people through the trees, right?"

"What?" Orion frowned.

"There are too many fresh footprints and markings on the wall like the trees have recently been cut." Claudius ran his fingers down the tree's trunk. "It's almost as if whoever put them there was marking the area as a signal to others."

"As if they're searching..." Kerith understood.

"For Nyx?" Petal asked.

"Let's not hope so," Claudius said.

"Guys!" Freida raised an alarm. They all turned to her. "I can hear...!"

"What?" They said collectively.

"I can hear the sound. The thumping...! It's back!" She said. "I hear something else too..." Her eyes widened, "It's Nyx!"