"Well, I'll be. Seems your friend is more interesting than I thought, Orion," Aquila muttered, wings fluttering as she leveled her spear at Stefan.
He stood motionless, rain trailing down his face, his expression a quiet storm of something unreadable.
"You! What's your name?" she barked, eyes narrowing.
Stefan didn't answer. He stared at his open hand, watching as rivulets of cold rainwater slid across his skin.
Slowly, he raised it, fingers trembling slightly as the water ran in streams down his arm, dripping from his elbow to the earth below.
"…Hah," he exhaled—a breath that twisted into a smile, then broke into a laugh. Low at first, then unhinged.
"Aha… Ahahahaha!"
The laugh was cracked, rasped, something else entirely.
"I've never felt this way before," he said through crazed laughter. "This is amazing!"
"Answer me!" Aquila's voice rang sharper now, her tone commanding. "Who are you—and what's that symbol on your chest?"
Is he a constellation? she wondered, eyes flicking over him. No… I've never seen a mark like that before in Enmida.
It's almost looks like one of the Zodia—
"Huh? Me?" Stefan pointed at himself, still chuckling. "Name's Stefan Hart. And the symbol? Uh…" He glanced down at it, puzzled.
"Beats me. Looks cool though, right?" He poked at the strange emblem as the snake coiled beside him let out a sharp hiss.
"A-ah! Sorry!" he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
From behind, Ozai burst through a curtain of flame, black ash and charred wood kicked into the air as he staggered forward.
His skin was marked by bruises, but darker than that, something black crept along his arm, pulsing slowly.
He looked up—and froze.
There, in the center of the field, Stefan gasped for air, the snake now wrapped tightly around his neck.
"I… said I was… sorry!" Stefan choked out.
Aquila snorted, laughing under her breath. The snake loosened its grip.
"I've never seen someone so amusingly pathetic," she said, tilting her head. "You must be one of the goddess's failed creations."
Stefan glanced at the serpent, then back at her. His smile faded.
"Oh, right… I almost forgot," he muttered, voice cold.
"I have to kill you."
Aquila scoffed. "Kill me? Are you serious? I'd like to see you—"
She didn't finish.
In an instant, Stefan vanished—then reappeared directly in front of her, fist slamming into her chest like a thunderclap.
The impact sent her flying backward, the force so immense it momentarily silenced the rain.
But Stefan wasn't done.
His body froze mid motion, becoming a stone-like afterimage. Then, just as quickly, he reappeared behind Aquila as she hurtled through the air.
He kicked her mid-flight, sending her crashing into the afterimage—only for his body to warp and rematerialize in its place.
He caught her by the throat, and slammed her into the earth, leaving a massive crater in the soaked ground.
"Hhngh—how?!" Aquila gasped, coughing as Stefan dragged her across the field. White fire blazed in his wake, burning a streak through the wet soil.
With a sharp twist, he hurled her skyward.
The snake spiraled around his body, its hiss morphing into a howl. In a blinding flash, it transformed—becoming a massive white serpent that coiled once in the air before diving after her.
Aquila tried to block with her spear.
It was useless.
The serpent's jaws snapped shut around her, and the two crashed to the ground with explosive force.
A shockwave rippled outward, shaking the trees.
As the smoke lifted, the serpent melted away in a cascade of glowing white, leaving Stefan standing alone—his body steaming, shedding light like skin.
Aquila lay in the mud, feathers falling from her tattered wings. She scrambled to crawl backward, desperation set on her face.
Stefan stalked toward her.
Aquila raised her spear with shaking hands, unleashing a burst of violet lightning that struck him head on. He grunted, sliding backward as arcs crackled violently across the field.
Then silence.
She spun around, wings flaring, desperate to escape into the sky.
Stefan watched.
He crouched—then launched upward like a bullet. The ground beneath him split, his afterimage left etched in the scorched earth where he once was. He caught up to her midair, grinning.
"You having fun?"
Aquila turned—just in time to see him seize her by the arm.
He hurled her back down. As her body fell, Stefan switched with the lingering afterimage on the ground, leapt again, and met her mid fall—knees first.
His strike crashed into her ribs, a sickening crack echoing as Aquila coughed up blood, splattering onto Stefan's face and clothes.
With one hand, he wrenched the spear from her grip.
White fire consumed it, burning away whatever corruption had once tainted the weapon.
Then, without hesitation, he aimed and fired.
Instead of lightning, a pillar of white flame burst from the spear, swallowing her whole.
It ripped through the remnants of the safehouse, detonating in a silent bloom of white fire that twisted into bubbles, then vanished.
Aquila slammed into the rubble, eyes wide in disbelief as Stefan stepped forward, dragging the glowing spear behind him.
"Man," he sighed, shaking his head. "You're super weak. I'm disappointed."
He picked at his teeth with the tip of her spear.
"M-my weapon… how are you able to wield it—?" Aquila stammered, struggling to rise.
Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it obvious?" A faint bell chimed somewhere behind his ears—
But he didn't care.
"You don't deserve this thing." He grinned. "I do."
The snake coiled around the shaft of the spear, white embers trailing from its scales.
Aquila trembled, trying to push herself away, but her limbs were unresponsive—numb from pain or fear, she wasn't sure.
"A-Avatars aren't allowed to kill each other," she choked. "The goddess will destroy you if she hears of this!"
Stefan laughed.
"You think I care what your goddess thinks?" he said, stepping closer. "If anything… I'm doing her a favor."
With a cry of desperation, Aquila turned her wings into blades, launching a barrage of razor feathers.
They struck Stefan head-on, slicing into his skin—only for white flames to burst over the wounds, healing them instantly.
He didn't even flinch.
Stefan drove the spear into her wing, then gripped it with both hands and tore it from her body.
"AAGH!" Aquila screamed, blood pouring from the ragged wound as he hurled the dismembered wing into the trees.
She collapsed, chest heaving, eyes wild with terror.
"What... are you?" she whispered. "I-- I've never seen anybody like you."
Stefan stepped onto her chest, pinning her down.
He raised the spear above his head.
"Exactly," he said, eyes glowing.
"Nobody's like me."