"Im...possible."
Zhong laid on the ground, blood pouring from a new chest wound he had suffered. A truly deadly level of damage for someone of his age.
"To think...that I would be defeated...in a fair match nonetheless..." Zhong gasped, "Am I truly that old? That weak? I had hoped...to die by the blade of strategy than a simple brawl."
"…'To defeat someone as skilled as you, there is one trick we can preform.'" Roswell said as he stood over his defeated foe, "'That is to disturb him enough to act irrationally. So that we don't actually have to deal with the totality of their abilities.'"
"...I see..." Zhong chuckled, "Was that part of Roko's plan?"
"Yeah."
"To think I still had enough to taken by emotions. What a simple end to my long life. And yet...I feel...at peace."
Zhong then closed his eyes peacefully. Watching his foe closely for another sign of life, Roswell collapsed onto the ground with a deep sigh, Melia rushing to his side to hold him up.
"You did it." Melia gasped as she rested Roswell's head on her lap.
"I see you can move again." Roswell offered a small smile.
"And you?" Melia smiled back, "How much of you can still move?"
"Just my left arm."
"Damn, that's not even your dominant hand." Helena's drone cut in as it poked itself out of the ground again.
"Haha. Yeah, it was real do or die there."
"I'm just proud of you." Melia said, caressing and petting Roswell's head.
"Anything for you, milady." Roswell smiled.
"Aw that's cute." Helena nodded, "And it seems Gallus is back on our side again."
"I didn't think the police would show up." Melia remarked, "Was this also part of Roko's plan?"
"I wouldn't put it past him." Helena nodded, "If nothing else, I sure hope the Min Al Az'al team is doing better..."
"Fireball!"
Kaguya dodged to the side as a giant fireball the size of a tree set another of the trees in the garden ablaze.
"I'm not quite used to such hot temperatures I'm going to be honest." Kaguya winced as the fire died down with minimal damage to the trees.
"My homeland was hotter than this." Ashlesha replied coldly as she summoned another fireball and threw it at Mikado.
Mikado hid his head behind his shield and blocked the attack as the flames dissipated around him.
"I fear I might start overheating soon as well." Mikado grimaced as he looked down at the searing hot shield on his arm.
"Looks to me like you're starting to get a bit of a tan." Kaguya giggled.
"Well...if she could use something other than a fire spell, it'd help." Mikado sighed, "But seeing all this greenery, I don't see why she wouldn't."
"Be glad she isn't using her gigantic building destroying fireballs." Kaguya replied, "Not that she'd be particularly inclined to with Naga here."
"Glad I'm contributing somewhat?" Naga said from behind a rock, "Still, I'm not sure we can beat my mom like this."
"Well we do have our ace."
Everyone turned their eyes towards Ashlesha who was struggling with a very acrobatic spider dancing around her, never getting quite close enough to attack but persistently within a hair's breath of laying hands, or a sharp claw, on her. The grand mage was continuously turning, flipping around and around to fire a warding fireball but never able to truly dislodge her assailant.
"T-This monster..." Ashlesha growled, "It's like she's jumping in mid air!"
"Hm?" Aranea said as she landed in mid air, "Can you not see them? Then I'll make it so you can see them for a moment."
All around her, long taunt threads of spider silk began to glow a deep black and red, revealing the true extent of how truly surrounded Ashlesha was.
"Dark infused threads." Aranea explained, "Thin as can be but reinforced with magical matter. Roko says it's now a specialty of mine. Not even your fireballs can break them."
"Dark magic?!" Ashlesha exclaimed.
"Yes. Like this. Dark."
Ask she spoke, Aranea summoned five walls of dark magic to surround Ashlesha and with a clap of her hands, the sides slammed together to form a black box, capturing her before she could even react.
"Is it over?" Naga called from afar as Ara jumped back towards them.
"No way." Kaguya shook her head, "No way a mage like her can be captured so easily."
"Exactly." Aranea nodded, "I can sense her magic building up from the inside. It won't be long before-"
Before Aranea could even finish her sentence, flames were already leaking out from the edges of the dark prison. And sure enough, the black box soon exploded, the dark wall, or what's left of them were sent flying in large pieces that quickly disappeared. The dark threads that Aranea had set up now laid slack and broken as Ashlesha emerged from the torrent of flames she created. Tossing her hair over her shoulder she said,
"Hmph. A cool summer evening I'd say."
"Does she live on the sun or something? I only felt the heat waves and I'm sweltering." Kaguya sweated.
"Naga?" Mikado turned to the child.
"I-I don't know, I lived here all my life." Naga shrugged.
"Look at you." Ashlesha frowned as she stared at her child, "Hiding behind a rock while others do the fighting for you. Do you really think you're fit to lead? Come back to my side and let me handle everything."
"I...I..." Naga looked around nervously, briefly cowed by his mother's stern words. He looked around for comfort and his eyes settled on Aranea.
Aranea, noticing his stare turned towards him and gave him a reassuring nodding smile, "Don't worry. We'll win."
"Oh will you now?" Ashlesha called, drawing Aranea's attention back to her, "You may have rare magic but I'm clearly a better mage than you."
"My mistake was trying to capture you alive." Aranea replied, "But it seems that won't be easy."
"Capture me? Are you trying to spare the feelings of my dear Nagaraja?" Ashlesha scoffed, "Then you truly won't defeat me."
"If only I had some sort of paralyzing venom." Aranea scowled.
"Hm? Do...you not have any poison?" Kaguya asked.
"No, I wasn't born with any venom." Aranea shook her head, "Not one that works on humans anyway."
"...Huh. Guess it's up to me then." Kaguya said with a wry smile.
"Huh?" Aranea turned to Kaguya in confusion.
"Nothing. Just give me some time." Kaguya said, placing a finger to her mouth as she disappeared into the garden's shadows.
"K-Kaguya?!" Aranea cried, shocked.
"Don't worry." Mikado replied as he lifted his shield, "She can take care of herself. Our duty is to distract and wear down the target until an opportunity reveals itself."
"R-Right." Aranea nodded, "Let me a hand, Roko!"
Naga watched the battle from behind his cover. He was fraught with frustration. The knowing that he was doing nothing and could do nothing. Was he really fit to be king? Someone who rules and guides people? Someone who's supposed to stand at the front of armies, to lead with his own justice?
But he was just a child. What could you really expect of him?
And yet Aranea was right there, fighting alongside adults. An anomaly for sure but one he couldn't stop from admiring. Not even for her inhuman skills that made her as close a match to his mother as anyone he's ever seen. She was braver than he was and kinder than he was. To come into this mission knowing full well that she could not kill her opponent. Without anybody even telling her too. She knew without telling and acted without confirming. Did she know her companions would think the same? Or was this all part of Roko's plan? Something that he had simply not caught on? Thinking more about it...
There were stronger members within Roko's clique that could've defeated his mother with ease. Perhaps Momo had the physical and magical abilities to overwhelm her and from what he's heard, Varis might be even stronger than that. But against a true threat, his mother would not be able to go easy on them. Death, on either side, would be unavoidable. With Naga there, Ashlesha would not be able to use higher magnitude spells but with their current combatants, using spells of that magnitude would not even feel like an option that needed considering. A redundancy that gave Ashlesha...peace of mind? It certainly made it safer for them but if they wanted to defeat her, even if it meant the possibility of death, then escalating it would be inevitable, they'd certainly need some greater power or some sort of trick. What was Roko thinking?
"This isn't a combat, it's a coronation."
Naga quickly covered his ear as someone suddenly whispered into it. He snapped his head around to find them but whoever it was gone with the rustle of some bushes as they disappeared leaving behind only the slightest of giggles. Though it wasn't a mystery who it was, Naga clearly recognized the voice as Kaguya. So all that's left was the message. Something that certainly sounded like something Roko would've said. But as for what it meant...that too was clear for Naga. So he steeled his nerves and stepped out from behind his rock.
The intense fight between his mother and Mikado and Aranea was an awe inducing sight that left a preliminary chip in his courage but he pressed forward regardless,
"You say to let you handle everything...but what exactly have you been preparing? You spend all your time away from me yet I don't even know what you've been preparing for me!"
"That's..." Ashlesha's attention was cut away by Naga's sharp words, a distraction that opened up an opportunity small enough for Aranea to land an unexpected cut on her side.
The strike hurt Naga's conscious just as much as it hurt his mother and possibly just as much as Aranea but it was no grave wound by any means. Instead, Ashlesha wound up a hammer of fire and used it to drive away Aranea as she continued to fight again as she replied, "Kids don't need to worry about that! Just I've already got everything handled so just trust your mother!"
"Perhaps it's fine to coddle a child but not for a king." Naga continued, "I may not be wholly prepared to rule in my father's place but can I really count on these deals you're making? When the contents of these deals are a mystery to me? When these deals are made without even me in attendance? As the future king, I will have no choice but to be honest with my fellow nobles. Both to build trust and to uncover what exactly you've been trying to build for my reign!"
"I...A child doesn't need to concern themselves with things like that!"
"Even when the rebellion is breathing down the neck of my own father this very instant?"
"That's what I prepared for! I prepared so you wouldn't have to worry!"
"What king can be told not to worry about their own affairs?!"
"That's because of your stupid ideas!" Ashlesha cried, "If you just listened to you mother and let me handle everything then-"
"The rebellion will not stand for a divided Mulapin! If you were truly paying attention you'd know that!"
"The rebellion is more powerless than you think! Who do you think runs the markets?! Keeps goods flowing in and out of the city to make the city flourish?!"
"You mean make the rich flourish!"
"Okay, fine, we can fix that but that doesn't mean we have to tear Minchir down!"
"Why?! Why won't you let the people be whole again?!"
"Because those in power don't want to, alright?!" Ashlesha roared in frustration, "They have their own lifestyle they've been living for years and they don't want to lose it!"
"Is that what you promised with your deals?!"
"So what if it was?!"
"Those people just want to use me to maintain their lifestyle after overthrowing Sirius! They're just trying to find a way to ignore the Earthbound's demands! That'll only cause another rebellion in the future!"
"That's why we WILL make it better for them! But not all at once!"
"You just want people to forget!"
"It's better that way!"
"Better for who?!"
"For US! We can live an easier life that way! That's all I ever wanted!"
"Then why should I be king?!"
"It's the easiest way to live without want or fear!"
"That is not what a king is for!"
"Shut up shut up shut up!" Ashlesha screeched as she clutched her head, her frustrations flaring up in the form of a pillar of fire that surrounded her and prevented anybody from approaching her.
"Her magic seems inexhaustible." Mikado remarked as he and Aranea blocked off for a second.
"Sorry." Naga gulped, "I think I might be making things worse."
"No, you're cornering her." Naga almost jumped as a hand plopped itself over his head only to turn around to see a slightly singed Kaguya, "Mentally anyway. Just a few more steps and we'll have the opening we need."
"..."
"Are you having second thoughts?"
"It's just...I wanted a normal family. To have parents that love me. That love each other. Is...is this how I achieve that? Am I still working towards that?"
"...Naga, I don't have the verbosity to put this to you nicely and you probably already understand this anyway but...your parents hate each other. You can't keep two people together who don't want to be together."
"...Then what am I fighting for?"
"You know what you're fighting for." Kaguya replied simply, "You just want us to tell you that what your fighting for is worth it. But we won't be here forever. Whatever comes next is going to have to be a fresh start. For you and for Mulapin. That's what being this rebellion is all about."
Naga's mind went blank. He was following the plan as he understood it but in doing so he was rejecting his parents and now, in the aftermath, he was realizing the people who brought him this far and guided him this far was bound to abandon him soon. Was he going to be alone? Could he do anything alone?
Sensing his waning resolve, Kaguya gave Naga a cheeky smile and a wink, "I know what you're thinking. And to be clear, what I'm saying right now is not inspired by Roko in anyway. That's the thing with him. He knows what's right and does it for it's own sake. He doesn't need a reason to do the right thing. I'm not telling you to think or act the same way but it does make him a bit callous in situations like this. You have my condolences but also my reassurance that you will definitely not be alone by the end of all this."
Naga wasn't sure how to take this information, as a definite promise or just pure reassurance. It certainly wasn't helping his shaking nerves. And it was then when a particularly large wave of fire blasted forth from his mother, rolling towards them in the seconds for them to recognize it. And before anybody could defend themselves,
"Dark!"
A black wall of dark matter spawned from the ground and blocked the wave of fire, deflecting it to the sides where it burned the walls black. Standing in front of them, Aranea turned back to smile at Naja,
"Don't worry! I won't let you be alone!"
Naga watched with awe as the small spider child leaped up on top of her own wall to try and counterattack only to struggle against the arid winds flowing from the distraught Ashlesha. The ever timid and nervous child that failed at everything she did was now protecting them and even reassuring them with a smile that knew not of trauma or fear. Even if he had known her for such a short time compared to everyone else, Naga could tell just how much Aranea had changed. And he knew just how much she truly hadn't. In some deep dark part of her the trauma remained, haunting her but having a life like none before gave her strength. Made her so strong that she could stand up to his mother. In turn...he…
Nagaraja slapped his cheeks and nodded as he steeled his resolve again, "Right. Even if I'm alone. Even if everyone leaves me. ...It's for her."
And before the adults could speak, Naga jumped, high over the wall and landing on Aranea's abdomen. Aranea cried out in shock and buckled from the surprise weight but managed to hold on to her wall just fine. Meanwhile, Naga took a deep breath before he shouted with all the strength,
"WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT?!"
His voice cutting across the flames and confusion, Ashlesha regained her senses and the flames stopped. She didn't seem to have quite come up with the answers that she needed but Naga wasn't about to let her take the time to prepare.
"It's clear that you don't actually know what you're doing." Naga said cold heartedly, "I'll have to speak with everyone to see exactly what kind of compromises that you've been making behind my back. But until then, I'll be taking the right to be king back from you."
Aranea looked back to Naga and after receiving a firm, confident nod back, Aranea nodded back with a mischievous smile and jumped down from the wall to run right at Ashlesha, carrying Naga on his back,
"Charge!"
If she wasn't afraid of spiders, the scene would've been absolutely adorable. Her son, Nagaraja riding the back of one of his friends to charge at her. The tiniest little shock troopers. But even her fear of spiders was being push aside for the mid life crisis she was having. Was she wrong? Was it not enough to guarantee the safety and comfort of her child? Did Nagaraja just not remember? How hard their lives were before meeting Sirius? The days she spent cuddling her baby in the rain? The indignity of poverty? Was everything she did...unwarranted?
"Give..." Ashlesha reached her hands out, almost in a trance as she struggled to even recognize the child charging towards her as her son, "Give me child back!"
And to Aranea and Naga's surprise, Ashlesha unleashed a torrent of fire right at them. With nothing else they could do, Aranea threw up another Dark shield and continued to charge through the flames.
"Are you okay?" Aranea shouted.
"I'm good!" Naga cried back, "What do we do now?!"
"Don't worry! We still have friends to rely on!"
And as if response, Mikado's shield came flying from behind Aranea's shield, ricocheting off the wall and flying right into the side of Ashlesha's head. The mage, ever clad in fire, managed to lower enough of this attack's speed to only be briefly stunned by the attack. Her flames faltered as she recoiled from the attack but she remained at least one hand out to expel flames at Aranea.
"Now! Dark!"
At Aranea's words, two dark boxes appeared Ashlesha's head...and suddenly opened up.
"Now!"
"Grab her staff!"
To Ashlesha's surprise, two kids suddenly dropped from these black boxes, a young boy grabbing onto her arm and pulling her down as another child grabbed onto her staff and ran off.
"What the-" Ashlesha cried, utterly baffled but the mothering instinct in her quickly began extinguishing the flames around her in a panic. And that was the opening someone needed to nick her side with a unique dagger.
"Gotcha." Kaguya said, wrapping her arm around Ashlesha's neck so that she could not escape, "The battle's over."
"Already?!" Pluteum cried, still dangling off of Ashlesha's arm, "But I just got here!"
"Ow ow ow." Medeia winced as she picked herself off the ground, "I tripped while I was running away."
"Y-You two!" Naga cried, baffled by the appearance of his two other friends, "When did you-"
"They insisted on helping." Aranea explained as she lowered her shield, "So I hid them in a subspace within my dark spell." Turning back to Naga again, she gave him a proud smile, "See? You're not alone."
Not knowing how to response, Naga just sat there on Aranea's back trying to come up with something to say but instead overwhelmed with constant emotion.
"Ah! Naga's crying!" Medeia cried.
"No I'm not!" Naga said as he began wiping away his tears.
"Ah! He's riding on Aranea's back!" Pluteum said as he dropped from Ashleha's paralyzed arm, "No fair, I wanted to do that too!"
"Me too!"
"Eh?!" Aranea cried as her other two friends began running over, "W-Wait, I can't carry all of you at once!"
"WEI!"
"AHHHHHHH, I'm getting crushed!"