When it came to fighting, and everything about it, Thalia knew her role well.
She was not the one who beat people up like Jax.
She was not running around at top speed and attacking like Aiden.
She did not have some finishing special move like Liora.
And she could not get hit with a building and survive like Selene.
Thalia had accepted this.
Her role in the performance was not to be the star.
She was the conductor.
The one making sure everyone was in the right place when the curtain fell.
As they materialized out of the sparks, system messages appeared.
The most glaring was the one in bright red.
Liora and Aiden rushed away.
Thalia used her strings to hitch a ride, letting her feet slide along the cobblestones as they ran.
It hurt.
But she needed to be there to help.
Especially now.
Everyone was going to be hyperaggressive because of grief and anger.
They rounded the corner, rushing past where the desert woman had been in the kitchen area.
Then they saw the scene unfolding.
Jax was spinning his head back into place.
Beatris had blood running down her side, and Selene was holding her.
Jax took a moment to stare toward the necromancer and her minions as they moved backward to protect their master.
Then his eyes panned over to them.
They were his eyes.
His body.
But he was not in there right now.
His face shifted into a manic smile.
Aiden moved first.
He yanked the pull cord at his shoulder, and the muffled labyrinth filled with the sound of an engine as he rushed forward.
Jax moved.
His fangs dove for the back of Selene's neck.
Aiden tackled Jax from the side and wrapped his arms around him.
The hold did not last long.
Jax kicked Aiden, sending him flying back into the wall.
Aiden raised the shaft of his spear.
Jax's fangs clamped around it.
Then his paw slammed into Aiden's chest.
The sound of breaking bones echoed through the room.
Aiden cried out.
Jax pressed down on him.
Aiden was already struggling to hold him back, and the broken ribs seemed to halve his strength.
Thalia swung her hands out.
Her strings flew forward and wrapped around Jax.
She yanked.
Jax was sent rolling back before landing on his feet.
Party member Aiden has activated the Revolution Core.
The Revolution Core V2 is online.
Party member Aiden has shifted the Revolution Core V2 into Low Gear.
Party member Aiden has activated Clockwork Coil (E).
Party member Aiden's senses and body are pushed faster than normal.
Party leader Jax has attacked party member Aiden.
Party member Aiden has taken 35 damage.
You have used skill Marionetting Fingers (D).
Party leader Jax has been moved.
"Jax, what the hells!" Liora yelled.
She ran toward where Aiden was partially slumped against the wall.
As she moved, Thalia felt a mechanism through her strings.
But before she could warn her, the wire caught Liora's ankle.
A spring-loaded sound snapped through the air.
The little necromancer, Lily, let out a giggle and spoke in a singsong voice.
"Pretty bird, pretty bird, why stray so far? If I break your wings, will you stay where you are?"
From the ceiling, a metal grate covered with nails, spikes, and, strangely enough, teddy bears swung down toward Liora.
Liora was already falling forward.
She could not jump back.
Yet as the grate swung into her, it seemed to miss.
Like she had not been there at all.
Liora burst into a cloud of feathers.
Most scattered through the air, but a few gathered like a ball before landing.
From within them, Liora appeared in a crouch, one hand clamped over her bleeding shoulder.
"Who straps teddy bears to a death trap?" Liora yelled.
Lily cocked her head as if confused.
"Because it's cute," she said. "Why else would you make a teddy launcher?"
Beatris ran over to Thalia while Liora and Lily continued arguing.
"Sera says we can fix Jax," Beatris said quickly, "but I need Liora's mana, and I need Jax held down."
She glanced toward the undead.
"Can you stall the skeletons and the girl?"
Thalia looked down at Beatris.
Selene dove and tackled Jax out of the air before he could attack Aiden again.
The two wrestled on the ground.
Selene was being scratched up as Jax thrashed, while Aiden, despite his broken ribs, hobbled over and tried to help.
A small bottle bounced across the tiles, the last remnants of a potion inside it.
Thalia let out a sigh and began channeling mana into her strings.
"The best I can do is twenty seconds," she said. "Will that work?"
She stepped forward.
The once-retreating zombie and skeletons began to rush forward, seeing the chaos as a good chance to strike.
Beatris nodded.
Thalia channeled mana from her ring and formed her extra arms.
Behind her, Jax thrashed and writhed.
Aiden struggled to stand after Jax's foot kicked out and caught his ribs.
Selene was barely holding Jax down as he flailed, her face and arms covered in dozens of small bleeding wounds.
Thalia shut it out.
Before her stood a massive, hulking, skeleton-faced zombie.
Several recently revived skeletons.
Even a wraith shot toward her.
Thalia shut it out.
The system buzzed and pried for her attention in the chaos, telling her every skill and every move people made.
Thalia shut it out.
She forced the noise to quiet down.
For a moment, she was reminded of her grandfather's woodshop.
The dolls moving and dancing after she had only just gotten her class.
For a moment, she stood still, reminiscing about the scene.
Yet she could not hear his voice.
Could not hear the sound of his tools.
Could not hear the small jingle of the bell as the door opened and people walked in.
Instead, all she heard were shouts.
Splintering supports.
Crumbling rock.
Thalia's eyes shot open.
Her six arms moved.
The ring bottomed out, and her own mana supply began being tapped into at an alarming rate.
She did not care.
Her strings shot forward in a web of wires.
The undead and their controller were quickly caught in her threads.
Behind her, plants sprouted.
Beatris hissed in pain.
Jax's struggles seemed to grow fainter and fainter.
Thalia turned back to the scene in front of her.
"Liora," she said, "I have a clean shot lined up for you."
It took a moment.
Thalia glanced back and saw both Beatris and Jax lying on the ground.
Both were breathing heavily but steadily.
Both seemed unconscious.
Liora stepped back, looking drained and like she might throw up.
But she was still standing.
"Yep," Liora said in a groggy voice. "Got it."
She held her staff out.
Wind began to swirl.
Lily squirmed and struggled in the strings, turning to her undead as if they could save her.
She looked around desperately.
Then her chest began to rise and fall faster and faster.
She started hyperventilating.
Her eyes locked on the wraith.
Then she let out a loud scream and began begging it.
"Mama, I'm sorry! Please let go, Mama! I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry!"
Liora's wind faltered.
Only for a moment.
Then the blast fired.
The skeletons, zombie, and wraith were whipped away in a violent burst.
Thalia waited for the follow-up shot.
It did not come.
"You forgot the girl," Thalia said.
Liora turned to her, a sickened expression on her face.
"You can't expect me to kill a child who clearly has some kind of mental problem."
Unpleasant memories welled up in Thalia's mind at the mention of a child with a mental problem.
Her expression twisted into a snarl.
She turned to Liora with a look that must have startled her, because Liora took half a step back.
"That little girl killed ten people," Thalia said, practically spitting the words. "Or would you like to go to their families and tell them we were going to arrest her, but then she started crying?"
With the wraith gone, Lily's breathing had calmed somewhat.
Behind Thalia, Beatris staggered to her feet.
Selene hoisted the still-unconscious Jax onto her back and started heading toward the entrance, with Aiden using his spear like a crutch beside her.
Both looked battered and tired.
Thalia turned back to Lily, still suspended in the strings.
Only then did she notice several black vials along the girl's side.
Each one housed a name.
Thalia looked back to Liora, ready to argue that she needed to do this.
Before she could, Beatris began walking into the room and toward Lily.
Lily calmed a little as she watched Beatris approach.
"Pretty fox," Lily said softly. "Can you join my family? Pretty please?"
Her voice trembled.
"It's scary being alone."
Beatris did not respond.
Instead, she climbed some of the strings until she was eye level with the girl.
Then she said, "Being alone is scary."
Her eyes narrowed.
"I bet those people you killed would agree."
Lily did not have time to react.
Beatris lunged.
Her fangs sank into the flesh of Lily's throat.
Then she yanked back with a wet ripping sound.