And the world went dark. It was an ephemeral kind of love, the warmth that kept Lunae at the cusp. Her bond was the last thing she could sense.
"Lunae," Sonera's distant voice sang to her.
There were many concepts of the afterlife for the Infestare, theorized by Lovatte to be an endless ordeal of possibility. But only Lunae had become certain of its finest tenant. To die was to live.
Though perhaps it was far simpler than that. A bit less poetic. When Yrix came down upon the princess with one last blow, there should have been hardly a moment to ponder.
Though it was not to be.
Lunae gasped, inhaling a breath of fresh air after what felt like an eternity of suffocation. Her lungs had collapsed. Her ribcage was shattered. Only the miracle healing of her people kept the princess from a slower demise.
A gift from her mother.
The warm breeze that passed her face had told Lunae everything. Yrix was gone. A streak of light had taken her away from the princess, carving a hole into the mountainside as light trickled in.
"Sonera," she replied meekly. "U-ngh."
Lunae was spent. Yet her bond with Sonera felt stronger than ever. Somewhere out there, between the black abyss of two monsters, she had received a confession.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Beyond the reaches of the Aerie, a green countryside lay in ruin, smashed to pieces by a comet of radiant splendor. The Psion that emerged from the ashes seemed delighted in posture, her ambience flickering in the wind. Yrix would have smiled if she could. The Psion that stood before her was well and truly grown.
A risk taker.
A god defier.
"This gambit you play," Yrix flicked her wrist. "If you lose-."
Sonera stood, legs spread apart, leaning just a bit off-kilter to the left as her eyes sparkled with diamond. Her ballerina attire had turned completely black - sleeves scaled and twitching with vigor. Even her prosthesis had warped into a beautiful yet twisted mirage of murky white.
"You'll be dead before then."
Yrix sighed, her breath manifested as the wind that blew through the mindscape. "Atta girl. If you can beat me."
"He's next," Sonera snapped. "I promise."
"He?" The Arch-Flayer chortled. "If only. That monster, whom I pray you one day defeat, will be you. And then it, once enough time has passed."
The frail girl extended her hand, a blade protruding from its scaly palm. "I know. But it's time we ended this."
Yrix cocked her head, analyzing the curved blade that no longer resembled her own. Neirophen's power had taken it completely. Yet deep within, a spark of Sonera lingered. It was a spark - a sense of spite unique only to the girl on Mars who so fiercely loved her family.
"I agree." Yrix blinked. "This day, do you have even the slightest clue how long it's been in the making?"
"Since before Lunae was born." Sonera took hold of her blade, striking a leveled stance. "And now-."
"The end," Yrix scoffed, extending a pair of spindly claws as her own power began to well. "My dear Sonera. It has come at last."
The Arch-Flayer crossed her legs with a forward stride, gracefully parting the air around her as two identical blades emerged from the earth. Sonera never once witnessed her true strength. Yet she refused to express amazement.
She knew Yrix well - her power gleamed in a dream yet to be had.
Two blades.
One dance.
Yrix's eye plate quivered, bursting into tiny levitating pieces as her entire face emerged. She was no longer shackled. Not by amusement, but by trust.
"Come on, Sonera."
The ground around them vibrated with anticipation.
"Show me who you really are."
Sonera leapt off the ground like a beast, smashing into Yrix like a comet. The two collided with equal measure as the grass surrounding them burst into flames. Their final exchange had commenced.
Sonera maintained her writhing wings, though in truth their flight was all for show. She too had mastered the art of levitation. And much like Yrix, gravity was a suggestion to the girl.
Yet there appeared a stark contrast in how they fought. Yrix remained more grounded, using her twin blades to eloquently carve a path through Sonera's every possible avenue. There wasn't an inch unoccupied by a skillful flurry, nor was there a sliver not disguised in feint deception. Sonera, on the other hand, fought like a feral beast, using raw instinct to keep her disciplined form intact. Her frame was a blur - teleporting to and fro the mindscape between every swing.
Together, they were the pride of all Psions.
Fated to fight.
Disputing the very meaning of their existence.
Yet also in complete agreement on what must be done.
The two were tireless. Victory would come only through strength of will. It was everything Yrix had dreamt of. Without restraint, she fought for both duty and pleasure- the chance to finally let loose.
Yrix lunged forward, cutting through a sea of grass with two rising blades, their upper slash forming an elegant trail of sapphire. Just when it seemed she was about done, the Arch-Flayer came down with the same stance, creating a vortex that threatened to consume Sonera.
"Hmph," Sonera cut, dispersing the vortex before its delayed explosion could damage her. "More." Her voice never left her mouth, drowned out by the silent determination of a champion gone wild.
She could only match Yrix's superior height with careful levitation. And for all her Psionic talent, Sonera was the physically inferior of the two. Her fight was that of reckless desperation - fueled by a strength that could finally sustain itself. Every trick Yrix could muster at last met its counter.
"There she is," Yrix whispered to herself, in full agreement with Sonera's silence. "More indeed!"
The Arch-Flayer twirled her swords like batons, summoning a horde of spectral blades that hovered ominously over Sonera's head. Her student simply countered with her own, purple against white, mixed in with the occasional flicker of orange.
The color of Hope.
Sonera answered the trade with her radiant sidearm, firing a volley of six streaking bullets. Yrix glided back carefully before deflecting the barrage with a few careful shots of her own contraption. She was far more than amused. It was the fight of her life.
Sonera seemed to disagree. Every second of Yrix's continued existence left her more enraged than ever. She had a call - her heart screaming for the answer.
It was her very soul that yearned for a final resolution. Screaming like a rabid animal, Sonera abandoned her ranged dispute and dove straight in.
Yrix caught her blade with relative ease, but was surprised to face the brunt of Sonera's mechanical fist. Dual blades offered the Arch-Flayer an edge in swordplay, not a scrap. But Sonera didn't care how badly she was cut during her charge.
She wanted blood.
Yrix reeled, deflecting Sonera's punch with her hilt. The assassin was all over her. Tossing her blades into the sky with a precise Psionic grasp, Yrix closed her fists before engaging in a proper close-quarters duel.
"That all?" She spat, smacking Sonera's curved sword clean out of her hand with a clever kick from below. "Daughter of Mars!"
Sonera hadn't bothered to read Yrix's mind. Though her rage shone through all the same. She responded to her own disarmament with renewed ferocity, flipping towards Yrix with a sharp heel.
The Assassin's prosthesis had been enhanced by Neirohpen. Every blow came faster and with a degree more weight despite feeling like a feather on Sonera's body. Even her knuckles glimmered with a faint refraction.
But Yrix was no stranger to a scrap. She met Sonera with the calculus of a revered assassin. History was the course of her stroke, not blind rage. A quick shuffle of her hands managed to redirect Sonera onto her side, forcing the girl into a scramble as the discarded swords from Yrix hung above her like a guillotine.
Clenching her fist, Yrix slammed the floor with enough force to part the air. Sonera dug her claws into the earth to avoid a more disastrous position, snarling as she fought. She knew well what trap Yrix had sprung.
Sonera looked skyward with gritted teeth. Burying her heels into the dirt, she raised her claws in defense as Yrix's blades came screaming down at her from high above. It was but a miracle that only her shoulder splattered with blood.
"Not enough." Sonera shook, having caught one of Yrix's blades just in time. "Die!" She roared before hurling the weapon back at her teacher.
Yrix expected to retrieve her blade in good order. She was surprised then to find it a splintered mess of obsidian. Like the other, which lay shattered upon Sonera's body, it was unable to resist her growing flame. Terror had been provoked.
The root of nightmares.
Sonera reached into a murky puddle, reclaimed her blade from its depths, and blitzed toward Yrix.