"Pick one." Mina gestured with her wrist blade. "We only need one."
Sonera refused to meet her demand. A silent scowl was all she could offer.
"You're trapped," Dina added with a low snarl.
The twins were encircling her like sharks by then, renewing their advantage with a duplicate each. There was little stopping them from breaking off and assaulting the more vulnerable prey. It was vital then that Sonera retain her opponent's attention, regardless of the danger her offensive would present.
Yrix's training kept her safe enough as she lunged forward with a powerful thrust. But her chances were already showing their ill mark. Unlike the mortal members of the Consortium, the twins could not be simply dispatched one at a time. Even after a moment of superior swordplay, in which Sonera managed to grab onto a frail wrist and slam her knee into one of the girl's skulls, she had made little progress.
Mina and Dina had hidden their duplicates well, making sure to reinforce each other if Sonera were to ever discover the real twin. They only needed enough patience to maintain their winning strategy.
"Stop," the twins barked in unison.
With a flourish, the four girls coated their blades with their respective elements before unleashing a coordinated flurry. The tide of ensuing carnage resembled something of a storming blizzard, leaving in its wake a parade of starlight that Lunae could barely watch.
"Sonera!"
She had intended to assist her partner, yet before the blessings could flow through her palm, she sensed something dire. Lunae only barely deflected the icy dagger that flew towards her head, soon followed by countless more. It was through their blinding display that the twins continued to harass Sonera's family.
But that was far from the extent of their treachery.
"Hey!" Rena squawked. "We're right here!"
She and Alia were sitting ducks where they lay. Yet the twins didn't seem to care at all. Their so-called partners were more of a liability, if anything, bound tight and defeated as they were.
A numbing sting on the assassin's side soon forced her to retreat. It was under such pressure that even a single mistake could mean everything. The fear in her heart, however, came not from the threat of defeat.
"I'm sorry." Sonera flinched as her Ambience began to flicker.
She wished not to give in. But there could be only so many lucky escapes before Sonera had a frigid knife sticking out of her back. The time for holding promises was over.
The lone wolf, beloved to Lunae, had finally snapped. "I'm not trapped with you." The faint glimmer in her eye refracted like a rainbow. "You're trapped in here with me."
Indubitably.
Her shift in both posture and mood had somewhat rattled the twins. They were smart enough to know when a cornered animal was no longer afraid.
"Now!" Mina whispered to her twin. "Before she catches her breath!"
Outnumbered four to one, Sonera relied almost entirely on the voice in her head as the twins lunged forward. She had already discerned that it was not their first time flanking a powerful opponent with both numbers and momentum. And in the past, Sonera would have been happy to meet their crew with her own. But the assassin was alone.
Three's training wouldn't be enough.
Not even Yrix's training had run its course enough to save the assassin. She was left no choice. But for all her hesitation, Sonera wasn't exactly ready to apologize.
The assassin felt nothing as her blade glided through the air like a feather, deflecting the unending tide of strikes with effortless grace. Yet something was off-kilter in her form. Sonera wasn't moving like the stoic girl on Mars, nor did she carry Yrix's confidence.
She moved like a manic dancer more than anything, occasionally stumbling as if drunk with power. Even the twins were taken aback. Mina and Dina dedicated years to ensuring their assault was varied and deceptive, mixing martial techniques with the faux pressure they were so easily provided through numerical advantage. And yet Sonera seemed above it all.
The air around the lost girl grew hot as her skin seemed to radiate a sheen of prismatic light.
Can you hear it?
The melody of power realized.
Ivy's whimpers hitched, a grave malfunction having taken hold of her voice. The heiress's movement was still impaired from the shock despite her efforts. Such a feat, she figured, was unachievable through any conventional means.
"Bastards," she tried to crawl towards Lila.
Crippled or not, something had to be done. The heiress couldn't simply shrivel up and hope her condition would improve. As the battle of Psions ensued, the storm of elements that followed in their wake had grown increasingly dangerous.
"Pull me," she whispered to Lunae through their connection.
The princess yanked Ivy closer, her thin figure skidding across the floor like a wet towel. She managed a haggard cough before suddenly sprouting a set of pale wings, harnessing their span like a defensive net around her family. Lunae then followed suit in formation.
"Ugh," Lila woke just in time to witness her partner hovering over her with a stern expression. "Did we win?" She groaned, feeling the air get a bit toastier thanks to Ivy's mimicry. "And since when did Lunae have butterfly wings?"
"I hope sometime soon!" Alia complained, writhing about in her bindings that Lunae had so carefully provided. "These fucking traitors were gonna kill us!"
"Thanks for going so easy on us," Lila teased with a cough, trying her best to alleviate the situation. "We'd be cooked otherwise."
"Screw you." Rena kicked the downed Earthling with her heel.
Lunae wasn't playing along with the ragtag attempt at brevity. She could feel Sonera's mind slip with each passing moment. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Nothing at all.
The assassin's speed by then was untenable, her glowing figure leaving afterimages where she once stepped. Even her blade appeared innumerable as the refracted light of its edge danced through the air like twinkling starlight. Beautiful as it was, Lunae could sense the tired, sickly aura that emanated from her partner.
Someone was playing with her.
Sonera plunged her fist into the ground, summoning a static field of Psionic energy that warped the very laws of physics around her. Gravity held little meaning as she flung the twins into the nearest wall. With their duplicates having been vanquished in the impact, Mina held out her arms alongside her sister in a unified effort.
The resulting cyclone of ice and electricity crashed into Sonera's mechanical arm, transforming the sandy ground into a thick, muddled glass.
"Ngh," Sonera finally made an audible sound, if only to grunt like an animal.
She dug her arm into the glass floor, using its grip to maintain her footing as the assassin skidded across the ruined surface. By then, Sonera could surely feel the bite of Psionic energy crawl over her skin. But she remained unfazed.
Feel it.
Pride.
This is your strength.
Her pupils widened as a retaliatory light appeared above Sonera's head. Its shape, much like an angel's halo, was accompanied by a set of spectral tendrils that writhed along her back. Only then did her imminent victory become truly apparent.
Sonera scowled, intensifying the field of gravity around her until the earth began to quake. The ceiling itself gave in not long after, much to her own momentary surprise. The sea of ash that then followed left Sonera regretting her outburst.
"Lunae!" Her eyes dimmed as she cried out.
She could still sense her family somewhere in the debris. But through her search, Sonera became momentarily distracted. A sharp exhale shot out of her mouth as the assassin stumbled back.
From deep within the ash came Dina, her composure shattered and her body covered in gashes. She seemed rather relieved to shove a dagger into Sonera's gut. That joyous expression, however, soured in haste as Sonera ripped the blade out without hesitation.
The assassin didn't think. She didn't taunt or announce her intentions. Nothing but feral instinct drove the blade back into Dina, and all without a blink.
"Uh!" The twin stumbled back. She could barely even process how quickly Sonera had responded.
But she lacked the strength of the true killer. Her wound proved mortal as she collapsed into a bloody heap. Sonera simply stared as a distant wail filled her ears.
The first of many.
Sonera clutched her head, falling to her knees as she gritted her teeth. Whatever euphoria she had felt from her empowerment had been replaced by agony. It was as if her soul was leaving her ribcage.
"Stop..." Sonera thought to herself in a haze.
She could spot Mina in the corner of her eye, rushing to her dead sister in visible anguish. The fight was over. And while Sonera refused the calling of guilt, she still felt like an animal.
"Holy shit."
Lila's tired voice drifted across the room as Sonera fell to her knees. She wondered then if the following gasp of terror was from Lunae, or just her imagination. Either way, her body continued to grow numb.