"A-Anya…let…me go!"
"Not until you calm down."
Two voices rang out through a small section of the Middle Core, devoid of any life. From the beautiful cascading pillars of water that poured into skillfully crafted fountains, to the barren metal pipes that struggled to contain steam, the girls ran far.
Steam hissed through the crackly valves that snaked the side of the control watchtower that overlooked a mesh bridge that stood over a bottomless pit filled with rising steam. The gears still turned despite the heavy blanket of dust that covered every inch of the room. It was a testament to the functionality of the city's infrastructure without the aid of human hands.
Through the broken glass, I found the two women standing in a stalemate on the bridge. Anya, winded from all the running she had done, kept a firm grip on Celia's wrist. Celia desperately tried to pull, but she lacked both the strength and the energy.
While the two women caught their breath, something in the distance caught my eye. A figure. It seemed to have pulled something out of its pocket, and a small light followed.
"I am calm!" Celia spoke, pulling my attention back to the bridge. She slapped Anya's hand in an attempt to free herself. "Now let go!" She yelled, her pitch clear as day from where I was watching.
"I won't," Anya spoke in a tone that was barely louder than the steam leaking from the pipes and gears turning. "Tell me what's going on, and I'll let go."
Celia stopped resisting, and her arm fell to her side. Anya released her grip, taking a step closer to her friend. "I trusted you..." Celia said softly. Even with my good hearing, it was hard to hear her speak.
"…" Anya pulled off the fake glasses and tossed them aside. She kept her eyes on Celia, who balled up her fists and looked at Anya head-on. She squared up to her, pressing her chest against hers.
"That man you brought…he's with them!" Her voice rose in pitch with each word she spoke. "He's with them!" She repeated. "Those bastards who are going around and killing everyone! Is this your kind of sick plan? Just to get back at me for getting with Ritair!?"
*CRACK*
A sharp sound echoed as Anya's palm crashed into Celia's face. A jolt tickled my skin as Celia's head snapped to the side. She slowly brought her hand up, rubbing the spot where she had stuck.
"You dare believe that he has anything to do with this?" Anya spoke, her voice rupturing with rage. "That scumbag forced himself on me as payment for a promise he never kept."
"Liar…"
"What?"
"I said you are a liar!" Celia screamed. "Ritair isn't that kind of man. Stop trying to get between the two of us, Anya. You lost your chance with him, so move on!"
Anya stepped back, placing a clenched hand to her side. From this angle, I could not see her face, but I could tell how she was feeling. I mean, it wasn't hard to.
"You're being used." She simply said, her hands falling flat to her sides. All emotion from her voice was robbed.
"That's rich coming from you," Celia retorted. "You use everyone all the time, every night. Those men who come seeking attention, you just use them for their money. You were once respected as a star of the city's nightlife because of that. Now look at you, desperately clinging to your past ways even after all that's happened."
"Is that all you have to say?" Anya asked.
She stepped forward with small steps. Closing whatever distance remains between the two. Their faces were close. Anya brought her hands up to Celia's shoulders, inching towards her neck.
I pulled out my pistol, aiming at the ground next to them. Had she lost her mind?
Right as my finger touched the trigger, she ripped open the top of Celia's clothing. I lowered my gun as my eyes fell upon the blood-soaked bandages that clung tightly to her chest.
Like Kelly.
Like the guards.
Those wounds on her chest, the heavy clothing that hid the bandages; this woman was undoubtedly brainwashed by that artifact.
A small locket hung around Celia's neck. A shimmering light reflected off its metallic surface. Anya reached for it and pulled it off her neck. The broken chain that once held it slipped off the locket, falling through the flooring of the bridge.
"W-what!?" Celia stepped back, fixing her clothes. "G-give it back!"
"…" Anya turned around. She was fighting tears as she held the locket close to her chest.
"Anya! Give it back!" Celia stepped forward, but the moment she did, something appeared behind her.
SHIT!
I put my gun away and grabbed my sword.
"Sorry, ladies." A figure behind, dressed in a black cloak, spoke.
I jumped out of the control tower, sliding down the side of the building, my hands scraping against the rusted exterior of the metal pipes.
"I really hate to interrupt this little kitty fight."
I surged forward, keeping my eyes on the man who had his hand on Celia's neck. Anya's eyes widened as I passed her.
"But I have business with—oho!" The man swung his left arm out, blocking my attack with a dense metal wrist guard. Sparks flew as I pressed the edge of my blade against his arm. "Golden Steam…well now."
Without hesitation, the man spat out his cigarette and tossed Celia to the side. He countered me with his right hand. His fist grazed my face.
"CELIA!"
A bloodcurdling scream rang out as I instinctively turned towards the source. Anya was hugging the edge of the bridge, holding tightly onto Celia, who hung freely over the side.
"Did you forget?" The man's voice came from behind. I moved my blade behind me. A solid strike vibrated through my blade as I slid forward. I turned back to keep my eyes on the man who stood behind me.
"How could I forget, Galahad."
The man smiled at my response.
"H-hang on, C-Celia!" From behind me, I could hear the struggling voice of Anya. She was right there. Desperately clinging to her friend, who was in danger of burning alive before becoming a pancake at the bottom of the pit.
With the man standing there, there was nothing I could do but listen to her struggle. He threw off his cloak, showing off his body forged in the hell known as the Lower Core. Scars covered his face, telling countless stories of where laws are merely a suggestion to those with strength.
Galahad reached into his clothes to pull out a small pendant in the shape of a sword. This pendant was the symbol of a knight of the cult. He was the seventh seat, also known as the second knight.
"Tick-tock," he said, swinging the pendant like a pendulum. Each swing is in sync with Anya's desperate breath.
I was at an impasse. Two choices lay before me. Save Celia, and risk all of us dying by his hands, or fight him head-on, allowing Celia to die. This was no accident, no coincidence either. This is how he fights.
The air grew heavier with each swing of the pendant. I knew that Anya's strength would eventually give, yet here I stood, watching this man looking down at me with his hazel eyes and smug grin.
"What's wrong, 'Hero'?" he said. "Got cold feet? Or are you quaking knowing that you cannot beat me?"
I clicked my tongue as I tightened the grip around my sword. No matter what, I need to keep my eyes on him.
"You know, I heard something from the fifth seat after our first encounter," Galahad said, putting the pendant away. He must have noticed that I was ready to attack as he took a defensive stance. He held his fist low while his wrist guards were out in front. This was the one time I needed to have my gears, yet I failed to repair them in favor of making weapons for the girls.
How foolish.
"He told me," he continued, "that you suck at defending those in need of protection."
I clamped down hard on my teeth. Rushing him head-on with a sword is worthless; I need to force him to turn around.
"That lady of yours, Rinara, was it? You killed her instead of saving her. How tragic."
My body moved on its own, charging headlong with my sword low to the ground. I closed the gap between us and swung upward. The tip sloppily scraped the floor of the bridge, losing its force as it slammed into Galahad's arm.
He pushed off the attack and threw a right hook at me; I narrowly dodged, bending backward. As I did, I lost sight of him.
"I love human emotions!" I felt a kick to the back as I stumbled forward. He was no longer where I had just been. "They are just too easy to toy with!" his voice rang out from behind. I blocked his attack by moving my sword behind me. The force from his strike pushed me forward, but I was able to turn around in time to keep him locked in sight.
Galahad shook his fist from the recoil of his attack and looked at me smugly. "You're faster than last time, I'll give you that." He prepared himself to attack. "But can you save someone this time?" He ran forward.
His movements were slow, fitting for someone of his size. He threw three strikes, each aimed at my head. I dodged each attack with ease, but with his wrist guards protecting his body, there was little I could do to counterattack.
He leaped back, reaching into his pocket, and ran forward. He tossed something small in my direction. Instinctively, my eye followed it.
Another mistake.
I couldn't react fast enough as a solid punch to the back sent me flying into a metal beam of the bridge. It creaked as rusted bolts broke off, falling into the boil pit below. The bridge groaned as it shook from the impact.
"H-hang on!" Anya shouted as her grip on the bridge was giving way. At this rate, it won't be just Celia dying.
"Why are you helping me!" Celia said. "Aren't you still angry?"
"W-why d-does that matter! I-I won't let you d-die!"
"How sweet!" Galahad said, cracking his knuckles. "Though I wish you would stop staring at me like that, Golden Steam."
"Why would I?" I stood up, my weapon still in hand. "The moment I take my eye off you, you'll appear behind me like some kind of fairy tale monster."
This man is the sole reason I hate fighting those with artifacts. But time was running dangerously short. If either Muller or Margaret were here, they could stand equal with him in strength, but not me. Speed with forte, even I could outmaneuver his attacks, but outlasting him is the problem.
Galahad's posture softened as he looked between the struggling women and me. "You know," he said, "that woman was supposed to be bait for the second seat, Ritair, you know, the replacement for the first knight you and that priest killed a while back? But to think it would lure you, well, hell, I might as well play the lottery."
What could I do?
Trust in the sky, ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇.
An echo—no, Rinara's voice spoke to me with the name I've blocked out of my mind. A shadow snaked across the ground.
"W-what?!" Galahad shouted as he stepped away from the shadow that danced around him. "H-how can you…impossible!"
The shadow materialized as a twisted fragment of how Rinara used to look.
"Maybe I should play the lottery," I muttered.
If that shadow manifested into something real, maybe it could prevent his artifact from activating. I turned my attention to the women and rushed over to them.
"Fool-huh!?" Galahad's overconfidence melted into confusion. My guess was right on the money.
I reached over, next to Anya, and grabbed Celia's hand. The two of us pulled Celia up onto the bridge, where heavy steps echoed in my mind. I grabbed both of the women and leaped to the side. Galahad slammed his fists where I had just been. He turned to face me, anger burning in his eyes.
A flash of blue light illuminated the ceiling above, dividing the Middle and Upper Core. Something large whistled towards us.
"Tsk!"
Crap!
With the girls in arms, I rushed over to the opposite side of the bridge. The grating sound of metal tearing apart filled my ears as the bridge shook violently. I turned back as we ran to find a streak of blue light lingering in the air as a strange sword forced itself through the center of the bridge. Galahad stood on the other side of the bridge with a grappling hook in hand. He must have used it to escape the blade that tore through the bridge.
The bridge collapsed towards the center the moment we made it off the mesh floor onto solid ground; the bridge fell into the void of steam below.
Released the girls and looked at where the once was. That shadow, it was the second time it took the form of Rinara. First at city hall, and now here.
Both times, a leader of the cult was present.
"Well, looks like the dirty fighter ran away." A voice I was unfamiliar with called out from next to us. A woman with blue hair dressed in church clothing looked over to the other side of the boil pit with an overly animated motion.
She then turned her head to look at me. This woman was the same one who was in the alley before I met with Anya and Celia…and the same one who took out the sniper that had their sights trained on Celia at the cafe.
"That's…twice now?" She said, putting a finger to her lips. "Father Muller is gonna praise me for this!"
"You still call Muller Father even though you are the same rank, Lilas?"
"Why wouldn't I?" she tilted her head. Blinking rapidly with her only eye. "Besides that, how do you know of me?"
"…" I would rather keep my mouth quiet on this subject. Muller has told me countless stories of this woman…and none of them were very favorable.
"Heh heh." She puffed out her chest with enough pride to compensate for what nature had neglected to give her. "I bet Father Muller told you countless stories of my exploits." She squealed as she thought about possible falsehoods that never happened. I neither had the heart nor the energy to tell her the truth.
I ignored her and focused my attention on both Celia and Anya. Celia gave me a passing glance before facing the ground. But Anya gave me a deep look of disappointment as if I had done something wrong.
"You both are idiots," I said.
"…"
"Excuse me!?" Anya stood up, but an outstretched hand stopped her.
"He's right," Lilas said. "Running off while the city was in a state of chaos, how dumb are the two of you?"
Without waiting for a response, a gentle blue light illuminated from Lilas's hand. The white cloud of steam that blanketed the boil pit reacted with the same glow as a strange-looking sword flew out from it. A sword of steel and crystal landed nearly in her hand, and she glared at Celia as she stabbed the blade effortlessly into the ground. Celia flinched at the sight.
So this was the maiden of metal. And I assume that artifact in the shape of a sword was the source of her powers.
"Ferromancy, I'd take it?" I said.
"Yes," she responded with a click of her tongue, "and I'd rather you not call it that. It's too on the nose, and anyone could figure out how to counter it."
"Right…"
A pair of steps came running up from behind. I turned only to get tackled by Sara. "Mister!" she said, rubbing her small face into my chest. "You're alive!"
"Wh-what!" Lilas exclaimed, sounding almost as if she were heartbroken. "I saved your life, and I never got that from you!"
"That's because you didn't save us." Rinne walked over, leaning against the side of a building. She caught her breath and looked at me with excitement in her eyes. "We, minus…Mother Lilas, killed a void spawn."
She looked just like Lilas, expecting praise. I sighed as I stroked Sara's hair.
Galahad escaped; why he was even here was beyond me. The shadow, I might have an understanding of why it appears as Rinara, but twice isn't absolute. There were more questions than answers, but at the very least, they are alive—Sara, Rinne, Celia, and Anya.
Sure, I failed to save Rinara years ago and to stop Kelly from being taken, but at least I saved someone.