Piano & Forte

by zacknapattack

Piano & Forte

 

piano.png

 

Piano & Forte

Reference Sheet
Audition Passed
Round 1  Won
Round 2 Won
Round 3 Won

Tournament Status:

 Won 2021's Writer league

zacknapattack
av_forte.png

Aliases/Nickname(s)

Zack

Pronouns/Gender/Sex

[He/Him]

Vocation

 writer
Social Media

Discord:

zacknapattack#8757

Twitter:

@zacknapattack

 


[Piano & Forte] Reference

Original Doc

Main Fighter: Piano

Aliases: Talent, The Silent Shadow.


Age: 23


Race: Devil Blooded


Gender: Female


Height: 5’9”


Weight: 137 lbs.


Appearance: A woman of slim, but muscular build, showing her intense training. Her skin is a crimson red and her hair is a dark black that goes to mid-back that she keeps tied back with a simple ponytail. She has two horns coming out of her head, but they are mismatched. Her right horn is short and pointed, as if it was broken off at some point. The left is longer, close to her head with a slight curve in the center so that if you looked closely, it could be mistaken for the top of a quarter note. Her eyes, which are round but normally kept half-lidded to give her a more demure appearance, are likewise mismatched in color. Her left eye is an amethyst purple, while the right one is a shimmering golden color. Her face has a sort of softness about it and her ears are slightly longer than a human’s and come to small points at the tips.


Her outfit, in seeming stark contrast to her personality, is a bright, lilac piece that seems made to draw attention to her. She wears a violet leotard, over which she wears a white dress shirt buttoned all the way up and a golden vest likewise buttoned. She then wears a lilac coat with gold trim over those, with two long coat tails with bells attached to the end that trail off behind her and frame her slim, arrow tipped tail. The interior of her coat has numerous secret pockets from which she draws weapons from. She wears a pair of lilac high heels, though her opponents will quickly discover that these shoes can actually “break off” the heel and switch to more comfortable for combat flats, while she uses the new blades as preliminary throwing knives to test her opponents. She also wears what appear to be fishnet stockings, but are actually just tights that are skin color to her with the appearance of fishnet stockings, which she uses to hide some of her weapons. Overall, her ensemble resembles strongly that of a magician’s assistant in appearance.


While she does primarily fight using her fists and legs, she does carry a small assortment of weapons to use in fights she deems necessary. Her primary weapons for fighting at a distance are two sets of throwing knives, which are hidden all throughout her body. One set is made of tempered silver, while another is a darker red in appearance, forged using her blood as a quencher. She also possess a ninjato with a dark crimson blade, also forged using her blood, which she brings with her as needed. It is a short blade, only about half an arm’s length, but she keeps it in a bigger blade’s sheath to deceive her opponents of its length. Her tag is a simple necklace around her neck.


Personality: Piano is shy and demure, almost to a fault. She refuses to talk to most people, usually preferring to have her brother handle most social situations. If she must talk to someone, she tries to keep the conversation shorter, getting the important points across while still respecting the other person’s desire to talk to her by not brushing them off. She is highly empathetic, but due to her abilities and work, she’s been forced to stay more closed off and reserved to protect herself. When she thinks she can get away with it, she’ll try to help people in silent ways that she hopes goes unnoticed, so her presence will go unseen.


Piano’s abilities and skillsets lead her to be very observant, easily able to notice things that most would miss, but could hinder her job if she didn’t notice them. She is also a pretty good judge of character, usually able to get a good idea of what kind of person they are with some cross confirmation from her brother, Forte. While he’s more logically and socially intelligent, her words carry enough weight that her words are needed before he can confirm a plan. She often puts Forte’s desires and tasks ahead of her own, her diligence often ensuring that she’s still able to get what she needs in the end.


In combat, she generally has two methods of acting. When dealing with those not worthy of “stealing” from, she prefers to put a swift end to combat, knocking out her foes before they have to feel any pain. If they prove stronger than expected, she’ll resort to blades and other implements, but still tries to ensure it’s painless as she takes them down. Piano only kills as a desperate last resort, and will retreat long before resorting to it if possible, and taking as long as possible to start resorting to lethal level force.


If her opponent is worthy of “stealing” from, however, then she will instead try to draw out the combat as much as possible, attempting to watch them fight for as long as possible, even at great risk to herself. Once she has completed her observations and performed the “theft,” she will quickly switch strategies to take out her opponent so that she might retreat with that precious “talent” in tow. In all things, she tries to ensure her presence will interfere as little as possible while getting the most of what she wants.


Backstory: Piano and her brother, Forte, were born in a war torn continent, with various powerful factions fighting each other and bringing ruin and destruction everywhere. The two were orphaned for as long as they can remember. The pair managed to survive by working together, the male half using what boyish charms he had to find marks and distract them with his slowly developing silver tongue, while Piano used her burgeoning physical abilities to pick up what food and money they needed to get by for the week.


That changed when Forte tried to use his usual tricks against a much more observant target. But rather than get angry at them when he caught them with his wallet at their hideout, he gave them an offer: a place to find food, shelter, skills beyond what they could imagine, and a purpose greater than even the gods could offer. Forte eagerly accepted, with Piano coming along for the ride.


Over the next decade or so, the pair were trained extensively into their own specializations, with Piano honing her physical talents. She mastered quite a few martial arts techniques, unarmed and with a variety of weapons. This training was augmented when she was in her teens, when she was granted the ability to “steal” the “talents” of those she observed for a decent period of time, allowing her to master skills in hours or minutes which took their practitioner entire lifetimes to perfect. Her quiet nature was also honed to make her a perfect spy, with enough social training to make a decent infiltrator, at least when paired with her brother.


Eventually, the pair were deemed ready and sent out into the world to collect talents of great importance, which the two were beginning to work on. They were handling targets of middling difficulty to obtain and were working their way up to bigger targets when Piano got an invite to join this tournament for a wish. While the pair seemed skeptical of the whole thing, the moment she saw her brother’s eyes read the words “God Eater,” she knew what she had to do. She’d participate in this tournament, collect what she could while her brother did his “work,” and if she was lucky, she’d even get a wish out of it. What she’d wish for, not even Piano knew.


Abilities: First and foremost, Piano is an expert martial artist, with a mastery of a wide variety of fighting styles from stand up striking to grapples and ground combat. She also has skills in most forms of bladed and bludgeoning weapons, as well as a number of ranged weapons and firearms. Her chosen style however, causes her to mostly use her weapons defensively, using them in various locks and holds so she can strike with her fists and legs. But for the purposes of the tournament, she will have her ninjato sword and a few sets of throwing knives hidden among her person.


Devil Blood: Being a descendant from devils, her blood has a high corruption factor about them. When her blood touches someone that isn’t devil related themselves, it begins to burn their skin much in the same way a powerful acid does. It does affect objects as well, but to a much lesser degree, only causing slight corruptions of the material and maybe melting some holes with enough blood. Her weapons that were forged using her blood carry some of this corrupting property as well, causing intense pain and making it difficult for healing magics or regeneration to occur along the wound for some time.


Ki: Through intensive training, she is able to manipulate the natural energies flowing through her body, allowing her to enhance her body’s performance in a variety of ways. Mostly this results in the strengthening of her blows and defenses, allowing her just slightly superhuman physical abilities. She can also alter her temperature nearly 50 degrees in either direction, alter the flow of blood in her body to gather in one place before impact or speed it up to create a doping effect to further enhance her strengths, hold her breath for dozens of minutes even without prior preparation, mitigate the effects of foreign chemicals in her body to a decent degree, and sense the life forces of creatures around her in a limited area. As this draws on her life energy, though, it can easily wear her out if used too long, so she tries to limit her use of this in short bursts, and not too much at once unless absolutely necessary.


Talent Thief: A unique ability of hers, this ability allows her to, after a certain period of observation, copy the ability of the person in question perfectly, including aspects of that ability the person didn’t show her at that moment. With martial techniques, this lets her instantly understand their principles and weaknesses, allowing her to create counters to them while she incorporates the strengths into her ever expanding fighting style. She can also copy non combat abilities as well. Her current list includes:



While her ability to copy physical abilities is flawless, she does not possess the capability of copying magic or abilities wholly stemming from magic.


Strengths: Olympic level physical capabilities, further enhanced with ki, keen senses, martial abilities that make her hard to deal with at close and mid ranges, ability copying for physical skills, devil blood that corrupts on contact.


Weaknesses: Lots of ways to drain her stamina and wear herself out, few long range options for this tournament, bludgeoning attacks don’t allow her to use her blood effectively, blessed weapons or attacks from beings that are blessed are more effective against her, for opponents with interesting talents will risk drawing out the fight to get them. 


Motivations: She’s merely trying to provide an entertaining show so as to allow her brother to get everything he needs. She will attempt to win the tournament, but she has no inkling as to what she would wish for if she won.











Supporter: Forte

Aliases: Forte (like the skill), The Silver Tongued Snake


Age: 23


Race: Devil Blooded


Gender: Male


Height: 5’9”


Weight: 135 lbs.


Appearance: In many ways the opposite of Piano, Forte is a thin male, with short black hair neatly trimmed and styled and crimson skin. His horns are similar to Piano’s, only their position on his head are flipped. Likewise, his eye colors are flipped sides, over which he wears a simple pair of glasses. He occasionally wears hats to cover his horns as needed, and he keeps his tail under his clothes to hide it as well. His facial features are sharp and handsome, and his slightly narrow eyes belie a hidden cunning that matches his sardonic grin.


His clothes, also in contrast to the bright colors of Piano’s outfit, are darker and more subdued in color and presentation. He wears a white dress shirt under a simple black vest, with a twead jacket over top with leather patches on the elbow. He wears black dress pants and simple black Oxford style shoes.


He keeps a small bag on his side, which holds a number of books locked with a key only he can get access to. He has a simple wand in the shape of a fountain head pen, which he uses to write out his spells when needed.


Personality: Forte’s demeanor is one that appears to be open and communicative, but with that he hides a secretive and conniving personality. He often speaks with an overbearing, overly complicated manner of speaking that combines older words and fictitious words with which he overwhelms the listener with a deluge of language to misdirect his conversation partner. Despite that, he still manages to maintain an amiable talking style, often putting on the charms with people he’s interested in.


An objective oriented person, he’ll use whatever means he needs to in order to get access to the people he’s most interested in. He will tell whatever lies are necessary, manipulate whatever persons he needs to, and utilize whatever schemes puts him in front of his target. But once he gets what he wants, he abandons all interest in the subject in question, quickly departing before too much attention gets drawn towards him.Combined with his particular ability, he does possess a certain degree of egomania revolving around himself and his sister.


Despite this, he desperately does not wish to have his presence at events of importance noted, quickly vanishing the moment things start heating up. He always prefers, if having to get involved himself, to use means that don’t implicate himself in events, only resorting to more drastic means if pushed to the last resort.


Backstory: When his sister and him were taken in by the group that trained them, he was taken aside to hone his already skilled tongue to allow him to be a better manipulator. Both of people, and of the arcane arts. Trained in magic along with deception and other espionage techniques, Forte proved to be a skilled speaker and an adept spellcaster.


Like his sister, he was given a unique ability to steal something from others. In his case, he was given the ability to “steal” people’s true names, writing down their personality, motivations, and other defining traits into a particular way of writing their name. With that in mind, he was tasked with grabbing the names of figures of great importance, so that their names can be recorded carefully.


Using the guise as a writer journeying to do research for his magnum opus, he conducts interviews of people high and low, gathering names of ever increasing importance. When Piano received the invitation to participate in the God Eater’s tournament, his eyes gleamed, as he thought that it was time that he started moving up to taking from the gods themselves.


Abilities: With words being his primary means of navigating difficult situations, he is both a skilled negotiator and a highly proficient liar. He often tells lies on multiple layers, allowing his targets to detect certain lies to allow himself to hide bigger lies more easily. He’s a good judge of character, allowing him to more easily manipulate people to do what he wants.


Devil blood: Like his sister, his blood has corrupting properties. Unlike her, he is unable to control the flow of his blood, making it much harder for him to weaponize his blood. But he can find uses for it, on occasion.


Illusion and charming magics: A spellcaster of decent talent, Forte’s main focus of expertise is on utilizing illusions and enchanting spells to delude and lead his opponents in the directions he wants to go. He can create pretty realistic looking illusions, allowing him to disguise his appearance, create images and objects to mislead his enemies, and subtly manipulate someone’s choices to make them think they want to do something minor that benefits him. He likely is capable of doing more magic, but for this tournament, he would rather keep his abilities on the down low.


Name Thief: After conversing with someone for a certain amount of time, Forte can attempt to “steal” the true name of someone. This process involves careful study of the person’s personality and way of speaking, so he requires them to talk for his ability to work, but he usually can get anyone to do that for him. Once he’s written it down once, though, he can copy it anywhere he wants as many times as he wants. He usually keeps these names in one of his many locked books, each one holding more important names than the last.

Method of Assistance: While Forte is almost assured that his sister can best most of the other competitors in the tournament using her skills, he’s certainly not above tipping the scales in her favor. He employs means of subterfuge and sabotage prior to the start of the match, looking for ways to weaken her opponent before the match starts, though in ways that are not obvious in intent, nor easily provable to connect to him. He won’t get too involved otherwise, preferring to go after his quarry such as the God Eater and other persons of interest.


Motivation: To fish throughout the tournament for important people, stealing their names as he sees fit. His biggest prize is of course the God Eater Chifu, towards whom he’ll do anything to gain her true name. If Piano wins, he might suggest ideas for wishes for her, if he doesn’t end up taking the wish for himself if she lets him.

[Piano & Forte] Audition

Original Doc

“Good ladies and gentleman of this fine establishment this evening, I must humbly thank you all for being such a wonderful audience for my magical illusions! I do hope I have lifted the veil of the mundane from over your eyes onto the true wonders that exist in the world!” The handsome man on stage - an illusionist by trade if his large crimson cloak perfect for obscuring his next trick, voluminous scarlet top hat with plenty of space for secrets in abundance, and larger than life personality was anything to go by - gave his audience his deepest and most sincere bow as one of his beautiful assistants stepped out of the hanging structure she had just been seemingly teleported into to join his bow, another running from her place at the side of the stage to join them. Both women were dressed in lilac leotards underneath a white dress shirt and a lilac coat with long tails with bells attached to the end, gold trim abundant throughout the design, with lilac high heels and what looked to the audience to be fishnet stockings rising up their long legs to meet the outfit above. The beautiful blonde woman with the clear pointed ears of an elf, not normally found this far into civilization, was joined on the magician’s other side by a red skinned woman with long dark hair and a pair of mismatched horns - one short, one long and flowing towards her back - as the two colorfully dressed women bowed next to him as the crowd before them erupted into cheers at the wonderful performance, the spotlight bright upon them as they breathed heavily from their work.


“That was a marvelous performance.” A well dressed woman adorned with quite a few sets of jewelry said to her partner at one of the tables near the front, the pair having gotten a good view of everything from their seats as the magician put on quite the masterful performance. “I can’t believe we were able to see the Great Illumaine in person like this. You’d almost believe he was using actual magic for his tricks, the way they’re done so perfectly. It makes his admission that everything is done without any actual spells being cast all the more impressive.”


“Quite so.” Her partner chimed in, clapping his well-adorned hands a few times in appreciation as well. “We have the Vicatrino family to thank for tonight’s performance. I heard it’s the Don’s daughter’s birthday tonight, so she asked him to get Illumaine for her birthday entertainment. I guess even a world famous magician like him can’t resist the call of the Vicatrino family.”







As Illumaine and his assistants stepped off the stage as the curtains drew across, the couple sat down as the woman spoke up. “So true. I knew accepting their invitation tonight was a good idea. I mean, I’ve been meaning to butter up with the Don, but getting a show with such a spectacular magician was a nice treat as well.” The two laughed in a haughty manner, the woman covering her mouth with a gloved hand as she did. “And an elf and a girl with devil blood as assistants. That’s quite the rare pair there. I guess Don Milifone put some good coin into the entertainment.”


“I wouldn’t be sure of that.” The man spoke in a low whisper, covering her hand with his as he spoke quietly. “Elves don’t normally leave their forest homes and venture so far into civilization. I personally think she was a present to Illumaine in exchange for coming here.” The woman looked at him, glancing around before mouthing the word “Slave?” He nodded, steepling his hands in front of him as he leaned back into his seat with a serious expression. “The Don is rumored to often force people into serious debt, then force them to work in order to pay it off. I suppose this girl got lucky that she just has to perform in a magic show.”


“No doubt. And what about the other woman, the devil child? Think she’s one of those too?” She said “those” like one would speak of an exotic animal, rather than as a person.


The man considered it for a bit, a frown forming on his face as he thought. “Hard to tell. The elf tried to look happy, but she couldn’t get that sad look out of her eyes. Poor thing’s probably untrained in how to hide her feelings. But the horned girl… I don’t know, something about her seemed different. And I could swear she kept gazing up at the Don’s booth when she thought everyone was focused on the tricks.”


“Oooh~” The woman suddenly looked interested. “Do you think she joined the show to try and get close to the Vicatrino Family? Help put on a good show with such a prestigious figure and maybe earn their favor that way? Maybe ‘accidentally’ finding herself in the Don’s bed tonight? I hear his wife is on a trip to another continent this evening, so he’s probably feeling pretty lonely~”


The man shrugged, clearly unconcerned as he held up his glass as a waiter walked close with a bottle of champagne, filling it with practiced precision. “Seems likely. Why else would anyone come here willingly if not to win the Don’s favor?” He and his partner laughed another haughty laugh together, clinking their glasses together in celebration as other guests seemed to share in that sentiment all around them, all the guests eager socialites trying to earn the mafia boss’ favor that night. Unaware, of course, of the coming force of change that was about to unfold that very night.


--------------------------------------


“I must say, Mr. Illumaine, that illustrious performance of illusory imagery and marvelous manipulations of minstrel oratory and mazed masses to magnify your magecraft monumentally. It would scarce cross one’s thinking that such a phenomenal artist of sleight of hand started his professional vocation as a mere peterman.”


In Illumaine’s dressing room backstage, two men sat across from each other, each in a different state as they spoke to each other. The magician was currently reclining across a comfy couch in his room, his cape and hat haphazardly hung nearby as the man looked almost unwell now that the public’s gaze was away from him and he was talking to the person in front of him. That individual, in contrast, was much more cheerful, his tanned hand holding a pen on his notebook as looked at the magician intently. He wore a simple vest and shirt combo, and wore a simple bowler hat on his head and a simple pair of glasses on his face as he spoke a veritable cascade of linguistic chaos upon the beleaguered magician, who sighed in response.


“I still can’t believe you squirreled that bit of history out of whatever dark hole you found it in. Guess I shouldn’t underestimate the ability of a journalist looking for a scoop. Especially one willing to blackmail a magician in exchange for an interview, an exclusive backstage pass for after the show, and for having me take on that deviled woman nearly three days before the biggest show of my life.”


The apparent journalist laughed, as if the illusionist said something humorous. “Forsooth, not to brag on about myself overmuch, but my abilities as an intelligencer are among the most first-rate for my chosen occupation. Though I’d scarce imagine that your opinion of the maid I presented to you is held to a much greater regard than my own talents?” He looked almost smug as he spoke, sitting up and smirking down at Illumaine.


The magician, for his part, sighed. “I’ll admit, I had my doubts about her when she first showed up for practice after my last assistant suddenly came down with a severe illness right before the show. She was so shy and scared to talk to just about everyone, I thought there was no way she’d make it on the stage for the show. But when we started practicing the tricks, it was almost amazing how quickly she picked up how each trick was performed and could pull it off flawlessly. Hell, I could swear she could probably do my part as good as me if I let her.” He gave a humorless laugh, looking more scared at the prospect than amused.


“A frightening prospect for a world class illusionist, I would presume.” The confident smile the journalist gave him was enough to unnerve Ilumaine. “Be that as it may, the tricks were accomplished and the illusions upheld. And likewise, you have upheld your end of the bargain, so I am of the opinion that there is not much-”

“What are you really after?” Illumaine cut him off, sitting up now as the self-confident journalist fell blissfully silent. “You’re not really here for me, are you? You’re doing this whole bit as a formality, aren’t you? There’s something else you’re here for, which is why you wanted to do your little interview here, rather than literally anywhere else. What’s your angle?”


The tanned skinned journalist gave a thoughtful expression at that, as if not sure how to answer. Then, he shrugged, his aloof smirk returning. “Why else would one venture to such a place as evenfall approaches? I wish something of Milifone Vicatrino only he can grant me.”


Illumaine, for his part, looked blown away at the bluntness with which the journalist laid out his intentions. The color in his face drained, taking on the color of one of the wings of the doves he released for the climatic finish of his show. His whole body seemed to shudder and nearly collapse in on itself with the weight of those words. “You’re fucking crazy. You have to be.”


“Be that as it may, it is what I intend to do. So, before I depart, might I request for your name once more. Not your pseudonym, of course. Your name of birth, if you so please.”


The illusionist sighed, running a hand through his hair as he seemed to look more exhausted than he was right after getting offstage, this conversation more harrowing and filled with frights than his burning box escape trick. “The name’s Paul Morgetson. That do it for ya’?”


The man’s pen was writing extra fast, the magician couldn’t even keep up with it, his eyes used to following elaborate sleights of hand unable to fathom the pen work. Though now that he was looking, was the pen suddenly more brown than black like before? And Illumaine… Paul could swear there was a slight flash of red as the man was writing. No, he shook his head, looking up at the lights above. Must’ve been the lights in this dressing room. They were much too dark and mood setting to be useful for seeing anything in this room.


The moment he was finished writing, the notebook slammed shut loudly, the pen stashed away in a coat pocket, and the notebook itself returned to his bag as he quickly rose to leave. “Well, Paul, this conversation was rather illuminating I must say. But I must beg your pardon, but I simply have another interview to conduct with the famed proprietor of this establishment, and you have an iron horse to catch with your illustrious servant whom you wish to release from captivity. I pray my work offers you a modicum of assistance in gaining such distance. And with that, I bid you adieu.” And with a bow of similar magnanimity as the one the magician gave on stage earlier, the supposed journalist took his leave.


“What a fucking madman, that guy…” he cursed, looking at the closed door. He then walked over to his desk and opened a drawer, confirming he still had his train tickets for that day. The famed magician sighed, then reached into a breast pocket and pulled out the picture used in the “assistant” catalogue Vicatrino showed him of the elven girl, sighing sadly at it. Then he steeled himself, spun around quickly, and got to work packing his bags. If shit was about to go down, he’d better make himself scarce to avoid the wrath of Milifone. He knew better than to be around when he was put into a bad mood.


Outside the room, meanwhile, the journalist was walking over to the dressing room of the devil blooded assistant, knocking twice upon it, followed by a pause. He knocked twice more, paused another length, then four more knocks. A second later, the voice of the woman inside responded. “Did you get what you required from him?”


“But of course. To do otherwise would’ve been an insult to the labor of my trainers that poured their life’s work into perfecting my skills. The Great Illumaine’s true name is mine to behold.” The man looked smug, twirling the pen… no, the wand in his hand as he spoke. He leaned against the door, ensuring he could hear her as clearly as possible as she spoke, given her soft tones she usually relied upon to convey her intent.


“That is good. Then we are prepared to tackle the real challenge for today?” She sounded somewhat relieved at first, then apprehensive, though not seemingly at the task at hand. “I just want to get this done. I think I’ve talked to enough people to last me a month.”






“Now now, my dearest sister.” He reassured her, tapping the door slightly. “I understand that such people work must’ve been quite the ordeal without your more articulate brother to fend off any ill-intentioned suitors and the world weary magician wounding you with venomous criticism that were without much merit in the end. I most humbly apologize for having abandoned you so cruelly to such a task when it is my most elusive target you were giving me the simplest of assistance with.”


“It is fine, brother. You were busy studying how many guards he’d have and how the security would be set up. I was just reading your work on that before we started. With all this, I’m not as worried about what I need to do.”


“And for what reason were you afeared for then? If any task allows the two of us to consult and collaborate with one another, then it is one that is already complete, except for the doing of it. My work will be complete post haste.” He glanced over to the side, noticing a trio of guards heading his way, one with a small batch of flowers in his hand. “Now I must bid you adieu until we reconvene shortly. Your most ill-favored of suitor approaches.”


Piano groaned inside as her disguised brother began to step away, letting himself get revealed as if he was casually walking away from down the hall. Two of the guards instantly shot up, hands going for their guns as they called to him. “Oi! What’re you doing back here?”


The supposed journalist gave a deep bow, pulling out his notebook. “I do apologize for my intrusion. I was merely conducting an interview with Illumaine in his dressing room. I have my pass here to prove my intentions.” He pulled out the small card that had let him in, which caused the guards to relax, though the one with the flowers still glared at him.


“Well, you did your business, now fuck off. You can’t be hanging around here looking for more scoops, reporter man.”


“As you wish.” The writer did not argue, quickly moving past. Once he rounded the corner and was out of sight of anyone else, he dropped his disguise, revealing his more devilish appearance, a male mirror of the assistant the guards now approached. “Our first steps in this operation are progressing with great speed. I shall now hurry hence to my location, that I might meet my target at the designated locale.”



As he donned his next disguise as one of the guards and walked off, the three guards were cooling down from the confrontation and approaching the door to Piano’s room. The one with flowers was looking confident while the other two looked bored. “Why’d ya even bother with the flowers, anyway? It’s not like you gotta impress her or nothin’. It’s not like she can really refuse ya, can she?”


“I know that, moron! But it’s good to put her at ease, make her think she has a choice. Otherwise, she might run for it and that would be a pain. All I gotta do is give her the flowers and make her let go of the door and I can make my way in regardless of what she wants.” The smile on his face was cruel, while the other two nodded on.


“But why her?” The third asked, looking confused. “Isn’t the elven bitch one of our bosses girls? You give her an order and she’s gotta listen.”

But his companion shook his head. “Nah, that girl’s Illumaine’s now. I can’t touch her or the boss says that’ll be bad for business. But this girl’s all clear. Besides, I’ve always wanted to try those devil bloods. You know what you can use those horns for?” He raised his eyebrows suggestively, then all of them laughed.


“Well then you’ve lost the race to her! Some other bloke’s done broke the one before you could get it!” The cruel laughter grew louder at that, though Piano had long been listening to their conversation prior to that. She took a deep breath, steadying herself as she heard a knock on her door.


“Who is it?” She tried to make herself sound meek, which wasn’t that hard given her demeanor. The guards outside could hear the bells on her coattails ringing as she approached the door.


“Open up, buttercup! I’ve got some… important business… to discuss with you.” The trio of snickers outside indicated otherwise.


Piano opened the door, her garb a little more open than normal as she appeared to be part way through getting changed. The guards' eyes indicated they noticed the change, while the devil woman appeared to look shy at them all. “Oh, I apologize. I didn’t think there would be so many of you. Now, what was this about important business?”





The lead guard was already in action, pushing his clump of flowers, which was more a grouping of wildflowers found around the perimeter of the building than anything one would give a lady, into her hands and taking her hand’s place on the door. He quickly took a step forward, towering over her as she appeared to almost shrink in his presence as she clutched the greenery to her golden vest. She let out a nervous noise as his hand went to her cheek, causing her to take a step back, the bells ringing with the movement as he gave a low chuckle and stepped more into the room with her.


“Oh, just a few things I’ll need to discuss with you. I’ll just shut the door now, hmm?” Even as he said that, he was already beginning to close the door behind him, the other two guards giving her smirks as they took positions outside the door to make sure nobody disturbed them.


The two outside heard the bells on her coat ring a few times as the two inside seemed to move deeper inside, then silence overtook them. The two men stood fairly still, used to this kind of work, as they watched the magician and his other assistant walking together hand in hand at a hurried pace. The men said nothing, though they snickered to themselves once Illumaine was out of earshot. But as time went on more and more, the two started to get annoyed.


“What’s takin’ ‘im so long? He should be done by now, shouldn’t he?” He slammed his fist into the door, knocking loudly as he shouted. “Hey, bastard! You done in there or what? We got other shit to do, yeah?” The was a prolonged silence, which set both the guards on edge instantly. They drew their sidearms, one of them pulling out their key to the room. “Morgan, speak to me mate. You in there?”


They waited for a few moments, waiting to hear something inside. When only silence greeted them, the older guard started silently counting down with his hand, the other reaching forward with the keycard. As he clenched his fist, the keycard unlocked the door and his hand went to the doorknob and swung it open. The two rushed in, only to be greeted with a strange sight indeed.


Their companion, who was hale and hearty not too long ago, was now slightly pale and unconscious. His hands and feet were both bound with lengths of ropes, intricate knots tying him down and keeping him still. The older guard rushed forward, going at one of the knots with gritted teeth. “Fucking shit, what ‘appened to ya? How’d you let that little girl get one up on ya?” As he struggled with the knots, seeming to make them worse, he swore up and down. “Damn it all, boy, aren’t you gonna help me?”


He was once again met with the quiet room. As he froze in place, listening carefully, he suddenly heard the clattering of something metal onto the ground. Grabbing his gun and spinning around, he saw his companion still near the entrance. The younger man’s gun was on the ground, one of his legs kicked out as he tried to brace himself on the other, the devil girl’s arm around his neck as he struggled vainly for another second before passing out from oxygen deprivation.


“Wha-” He barely had time to react as she dropped his unconscious friend, pushing one of her shoes as the heel broke off. Catching the flipping heel on the arch of her foot, she swiftly lashed her leg out towards him, the purple stake striking at his firearm and sending it spiraling out of his hand. As he jolted and drew his knife, the second heel was already released and flung his way. He managed to swat the projectile out of the air, only to see that she had crossed the length of the room in the span of that motion, her fist colliding with his jaw and sending him reeling back in pain. She quickly grabbed a hold of his arm and with two twists, released his hold on the blade before shoving him back and delivering a straight kick to the upper chest that sent him flying into the large mirror in the room. As the glass shattered from the impact, his eyes rolled up in his head as he passed out, a rain of shards following him as he collapsed painfully onto the ground in front of the table.


Piano maintained her battle stance for a moment, her calm breathing barely rising above the ambient noise as she listened for further backup. Hearing none, she silently dashed to the door, her lilac form a blur as she moved swiftly to ensure no danger was outside. Once fully aware there was no greater danger set to arrive, she set to work. She grabbed the keycard from the younger guard, checking to make sure he was still alive in the process. She went over to her couch, removing the cushions to reveal the blade she smuggled into the mafia’s stronghold when she had arrived. She also grabbed the removed heels from her shoes near the third man, checking him to make sure she didn’t go too far with him. Seeing he still was breathing regularly, she silently stalked out of the room once more, placing a sign that indicated that “she” didn’t want to be disturbed as she danced among the shadows of the theater’s backstage towards the restricted access areas.








Pausing at the door, the lilac shadow closed her eyes and focused her thoughts to the internal energies that flow within her, using it as a reference point as she expanded her mind’s eye to look for other sensations similar to it on the other side of the door. She detected four men on the other side: two close to the door, and two down the hall, slightly elevated which indicated there were stairs on the other side or some form of ramp. Breathing a long breath that shifted the flow of ki, she pressed the keycard to the lock, unlocking it with a beep. She backed up slightly, then gallop stepped forward into a front kick to slam the door open.


The first guard was hit with the door as it swung wildly towards him, slamming into his chest as he let out a noise of surprise as Piano burst into the room towards the second while the other pair at the top of the stairs were still reacting to the sound of the door being kicked in. As the second guard drew up his gun, she quickly took control of his wrist and forearm and began pulling him along with her in motion, now making it difficult for the other two to aim at her with their guns as she almost seemed to dance with him as her partner. As the first shoved the door on him shut with a huff, he suddenly found his partner flipping towards him, having just been judo thrown towards the occupied guard as they now collapsed into a heap of tangled limbs and cursing.


The moment the other two guards raised their weapons to fire, a flash of steel reflected in the air as a pair of throwing daggers came hurtling their way. One guard was slow on the draw, his weapon being knocked from his hands as his fingers were slashed from the projectile, while the other ducked out of the way. By the time he recovered and went to draw a bead on her, she was already gone from that position. He looked slightly right just in time to see her running along the wall at him before she pushed off and with a spinning kick, sent him flying into his friend and knocking them both down the small set of stairs together in a huddle, crashing down at the bottom with a loud thud.


She only took but a moment to relax, however, as she could already sense another guard approaching, one with a stronger flow of ki within him. Sure enough, another guard rounded the corner, a man with an orcish appearance to him and a hand made of brass. As he saw the unconscious guards behind her, he grinned, throwing aside his gun and pulling out his blade with his hand that still had flesh, his brass right clenching into a fist as she pulled one of her throwing daggers out to match his steel.






The two began circling the hall towards each other, crossing the distance between themselves within a handful of moments. Both their blades touched each other, but still neither swung as both began applying pressure on the other’s knife, attempting to gain control before attacking with the more threatening fist each had prepared for the other. His natural strength was greater than hers, but she had a much more masterful control of her blade, which made him hesitate to press too hard to avoid her pulling a trick on him. 


First he gained the ground with the center of his blade at the tip of hers, leveraging it back. Then she slid down to his hilt and started twisting, causing him to move his feet quickly to circle with her motion to avoid being disarmed. He made a feint, pressing in slightly before easing off, but she didn’t change her actions too much in response as she saw the test for what it was. The two were locked blades for what felt like an eternity, his cruel black eyes glaring at her mismatched pair as the only thing that separated them was the steel between them.


But his patience wore out before hers. He quickly pressed his full weight onto her knife for real, clearing it to the side as his brass knuckles came hurtling towards her with the weight of his anger and frustration behind him. But she clearly had been expecting it, spinning into the pivot he did, causing his fist to scream past her head and embed itself into the concrete wall behind her with shattering force as she quickly bent his arm to make him drop the knife before he could pull himself away from her. He sent a wild backhand towards her, which she had to lean back to avoid, only for him to try and drop his whole arm down onto her to crush her.


She quickly pushed off the ground and planted her feet on his chest, before similarly pushing off of him to create some distance. He stumbled back, before stomping after her as she handspringed back onto her feet, kicking out as he got within range. He blocked the kick initially, only to receive a fist to his solar plexus that he couldn’t see through his guard. His skin was tough, able to withstand the average person’s punch, but even so, her blow still struck home hard and drove the air out of his lungs with sharp precision. He let out a groan of pain, clutching his chest as he kicked out at her to let him recover.


But Piano ducked under his kick, before her leg snaked out and struck his plant foot behind the knee, causing his leg to buckle and his balance to go out of whack. She then gripped his face and pushed further, lifting him off his feet and slamming his head against the wall with enough force to slightly crack the wall herself. His limbs slumped with unconsciousness, blood trickling from his head as she let him fall to the ground.


Piano took a breath of relief as he stopped moving, having had to exert herself quite a bit to override his natural toughness. She bent down to check on him, making sure she didn’t hurt him too badly, though she was sure the only thing she heard crack was the wall from the force. Sure enough, her knowledge of first aid told her his skull hadn’t fractured or anything from the blow and had held strong. She glanced around to make sure she wasn’t spotted by anyone else, despite knowing there was no one else in the immediate area, before darting off to another section to continue her mission.


As she left, one of the guards began to stir, lifting his head up slightly in confusion. Remembering what happened, he reached down to his radio and turned it on, issuing a warning to the rest of the building.


“Intruder…. Alert…. Highly dangerous….. Be….. Careful-”


Piano slinked into the shadows of the next room as the alarm was raised, all the guards suddenly having their weapons drawn and were on the lookout for her. In the distance, she could hear the screams of guests as they were starting to be ushered out. She knew from the floor plans that the major exits were now going to be occupied with guests all streaming out, and her current rampage would take her along the back exits that would normally be used by VIPs. If she did her job right, then Milifone would have to take the exit of last resort: the roof, where Forte would be waiting for him.


But first, she thought as she focused her attention on the guards, she’d have to continue taking down threats. Moving along the shadows silently, not even her bells making a noise as she moved, she closed in on the first guard. The moment she felt the others weren’t looking at him, she wrapped an arm around his neck, kicked his legs out from beneath him, and dragged him into the darkness using strength enhanced with ki as she pressed her forearm against his throat to strangle him. Once he stopped struggling beneath her, she let him go and climbed a nearby vent duct, taking her above to another guard who was looking down at things. With a swift chop to his neck, she knocked him out, grabbing his body and gun before either fell and created noise.









After ensuring his safety, she leapt down at another guard below, her knee slamming down on his shoulder as he was quickly knocked unconscious before she flung herself at another pair of guards who started to turn to see what was happening. They were both quickly dispatched with a series of blows from her fist and feet, alternating between the two as she quickly swapped between threats. By the time she finished with them, she was already drawing a throwing knife and chucking it at the nearest corner as a guard rounded it to see what the commotion was, dropping his Tommy gun as his hands were slashed, before a punch to the throat and a knee to the stomach drove all air and consciousness from him. She then dashed off to the next room, following each bit of life she could sense as she continued her mission.


-----------------------------------------



Within minutes, nearly thirty guards were rendered unconscious or unable to fight as she moved from room to room, as other guards found fallen comrades and began flooding their radios with panicked reports, unable to find the devil in darkness downing all of them. Milifone huffed angrily as he could hear the panic in his men from one of his personal guard’s headsets. “What the hell did I pay you all for if you’re going to fail like this at such an important moment?” he complained, to which the guards around him all looked nervous. “So, how’s my escape route looking? Is it clear?”


“No sir. It would seem the intruder has taken out most of the guards around the back exits. It would seem our only option would be the secret roof exit.”


“Good thing we had that installed long ago for just such an occasion. Take me out of here before I make your wives and children into my next products.” He looked icily serious for a man half of their sizes, and the four quickly began to stride towards the secret entrance to the rooftop exit. As they opened the door to the exit, simultaneously getting another report of a fallen guard, the two in the front froze as they saw something they weren’t expecting.









Placed on the small rooftop balcony was a table for two, that was already lit with candles and a bottle of wine set near the middle. Two glasses were set at each end of the table, one empty, and one half filled in front of a man strikingly similar to the assistant that had performed onstage earlier that night. The devil man adjusted his glasses on his face as he gave a cheery wave to the guards now pointing guns at him. “Greetings and salutation, fair folk. I do most regrettably understand for what reason that you draw such devices upon me, but I must most humbly request you lower them for the time being. I wish no great harm upon your charge. On the contrary, I but require a brief exchange of words with your employer, merely to satiate my curiosities before I return to you the ladder with which you plan to make your descent and evacuate to safety abroad.”


He gestured towards where the ladder should have been, which was in fact missing entirely. As the guards ran over to look aghast at the problem, Milifone stepped forward confidently, the shorter man glaring up at Forte with an expression that promised death. His bejeweled hands clasped in front of his rather prominent belly, before he walked over to the chair proffered for him. One of the guards quickly ran forward to pull out the chair, pushing it in as Milifone made himself comfortable on the plush cushion. The mafia don snapped his finger and the guard swiftly grabbed the wine bottle and filled the glass with crimson liquid with practiced precision.


Milifone swirled the wine in the glass with a careless gesture, examining the swishing fluid before tasting a sip of it. Deeming it satisfactory for the conversation at hand, he finally addressed the diabolic writer. “So before I let you drag this thing out to something stupid like what sort of reason you have to get revenge on me or whatever you little people come up with to justify coming at me, I have to know: how did you get Illumaine to let you little devil girl onto the show for my daughter’s birthday? I explicitly told him not to include anyone in the show that wasn’t needed. I even provided him with the two slaves he wanted to make his show work. He shouldn’t have been a security issue. So how could your girl have gotten in?”


Forte shrugged as two of the guards stood a distance behind him, posting a guard there as the other two lingered on Milifone’s side to keep watch. “I merely proffered some help to assist Illumaine when circumstances struck dire for him. Unless you can conceive of some method of providence that allowed my mortal hands to direct a pestilence upon the second maiden that was to provide entertainment for the night. There has been a minor plague spreading among some of the encampments you provide for the provisions with which you stock. I’d say then that the err in the security lies upon your shoulder, not upon mine or the illusionist.”


Forte lifted his glass, going to take a drink before a loud shot rang out into the night sky as his glass shattered in his hand and spattered his clothes with wine. The writer looked unfazed as he set the broken glass down, picking up a cloth to wipe some of the mess up as Milifone’s gun shook in his hand with anger, his warning shot making his intent clear as he let out a calming exhale. “I will not have you tell me how to do my job. I’ve been in this business longer than you’ve been alive. So I’d watch what you say with that tongue before I have my boys remove it.”


“I must beg your pardon.” Forte said, in a tone that almost implied just the opposite, his smirk not wavering in the slightest as he set the stained cloth aside. “But as a writer, I study a great many things, and it is with great trepidation that I find that you develop a more logical outlook on the methods those who are in the employ of the things you study. I was merely speaking what I would have my characters do in my novel, if I wanted to prove them a competent slaver. I meant no injustice upon your professional aptitude.”


The three guards all looked apprehensive at the conversation going on as the shorter man merely cycled the next round in the chamber of his revolver. “Of course you don’t. Otherwise, I’ll finally get to see if devils bleed red on the inside like the rest of us do.” Milifone took another sip of wine, his hand now steady pointing his weapon at Forte.


“Oh, I would not advise that. I’m afraid my blood possesses certain qualities that you might find distasteful for your flesh. But enough about me. I would much rather hear the tales of the man that managed to build his way into the Vicatrino family and marry his way into his name.” Forte leaned forward on the table, his notebook on the table as he prepared to take notes.


Milifone just laughed at that, looking back at Forte with a cocked eyebrow. “That old tale? I’m sure you’ve heard all the rumors already. Why talk to me about that old thing?”


“Oft in tall tales and darkened speeches, the crux of the matter gets lost in the fog of misinformation and confusion. I find that it is thusly a more lucrative venture to seek out the subject in question, to get the perspective closest to the matter, as they would have the greatest investment in ensuring the tale gets told honest.”




“There’s really not that much to tell if I’m honest.” Millifone admits, shrugging carelessly and leaning back as the pair of guards listened intently to the conversation between the two seated men. “You might say I’ve always had a talent for inspecting people and determining their exact worth in society. So I decided to make a career out of it. Turns out the mafia’s always looking out for people like me, so I made a killing pretty quickly.”


Forte laughed, jotting down a note as he winked down at the half man. “I’m sure it would also prove a significant asset when it comes to threat assessment, am I wrong? I would presume that is why you felt little danger in engaging me in conversation as we are, that you presume I could not overpower you directly.”

“So it would seem.” Millifone looked miffed at that, having not expected such a reaction. “Though there’s something about you that throws me off. After all, not just anybody can even get this close to me, much less talk to me. Just who are you?”


Forte just waved away the question. “I am merely a crafter of inken words with a keen interest in people of import as inspiration for the major cast of my magnum opus. Think of me naught. After all, this conversation is all about you.” He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his cigar case, taking his time picking which cigar he wished to smoke. As he picked his chosen poison, he put away his case with a casual ease as Millifone watched confused. As he pulled out his lighter, the Don’s bodyguard reached for his weapon, but lowered it as Forte merely lit the cigar, a small stream of smoke emitted from the cigar. 


As Forte leaned back, Millifone shook his head. “No, I don’t think we’re going to continue this conversation anymore. You see, I am a busy man and I don’t quite have time to amuse every writer that wants to take down my life’s story. Now give me my ladder back or I’m going to make sure you’re sleeping with the fishes.” He raised a hand and his solitary guard raised his weapon again… then they both realized the problem. “Wait, what the? Where did my men go?”


Before Forte could answer with words, the last guard suddenly felt a fist to the jaw. As he reeled in pain, Piano swept his leg and punch his chest, knocking him out with a solid blow to the sternum. The silent warrior stood up straight as Millifone fell off his chair, screaming as he did. “What the fuck? How the hell did you get up here so fast? I thought you were beating up all my guys downstairs?” As he panicked, he reached behind his back and pressed a button hidden beneath his clothes.



Piano quietly shrugged, as Forte spoke up. “My sister here is quite the talented warrior, hence her name. Her skill in the martial arts are almost unparalleled by anyone on this plane or any other plane in existence. It is of no shame for your blackguard that they stood naught a chance to her fist and fury. But enough talks of mundane quality. Mayhaps we can return to our prior conversation of a more important matter.”


Millifone just shook his head, as Piano’s head whipped over to the nearby wall. Forte quickly moved to the side as Millifone laughed. “You think a man like me would plan an event for my little girl and wouldn’t provide the best security available?”


There was a series of thunderous crashing sounds coming from the passageway Millifone had come up from, drawing closer and closer with each one. That was, until finally the door was punched in, flinging the entryway into the table as they both smashed to pieces and flung over the side, much to the horror of the guests fleeing below. As the smoke around the former opening began to dissipate, there was a slight clicking sound, before a cacophonous boom as Piano rolled out of the way of the blast area. The piece of building where she was standing was nearly obliterated from the force of the shot, as the shooter was now revealed in the blasted away smoke.


A troll of monstrous size now stood, eight feet in height and a pillar of flesh and muscle. He wore a badly fitted suit, torn pants, with one hand completely free to utilize his sharp claws, while the other held an oversized double barreled shotgun, which he broke open to reload as he let out a massive snort. Millifone let out a whoop. “There you are, you lazy bastard! Now do what you were paid for and smoke these intruders!”


As the troll nodded, six daggers suddenly sprouted from his chest. Three were made of steel, and three of what appeared to be a red metal. As the troll looked down annoyed and swept five of the daggers off his chest, Piano closed the distance and kicked the tempered steel still embedded in its chest. It merely caused it to roar in anger, swiping at her as the blade dragged across its chest and she was forced to make her distance with several backflips, diving to the side at the last minute as another blast of its weapon rang out, demolishing the railing and a distant tree was stripped of all greenery.







As the troll glared at her and reloaded, she saw that the large wound was already healing, as had most of the other wounds. But not those of the red steel. Those still bled red, though the troll didn’t notice as it began to charge towards her, stomping his foot just before he swung, trying to stun her with the shockwave. Her legs shook from the force, but with the strength of her ki, she was able to push through and dive just under his arm, running past him. As she did, she drew her blade, slashing his side and drawing more blood. But the toughness of his skin meant that her blade didn’t pierce as deeply as she was expecting, making only a flesh wound in the process.


 With a roar, the large beast of a man swung his shotgun behind him, clipping Piano’s horn as she tried to duck under it. As she stumbled, she heard the click of the shotgun being fully loaded and leaned to one side. She then quickly ran the other way as she heard the roaring destruction of the adjacent wall as she shook her head and recovered. She closed the distance as he attempted to reload, slashing at him two or three times as he roared in anger. She leaped over another lumbering slash, landing on the arm as she cut an x across his chest.


Suddenly, he swung the shotgun first, making her backflip away from him. But it seemed she underestimated his reach, as suddenly the talons of the troll finally connected along her thigh, leaving a large gash. But as Millifone cheered, Forte smirked as blood spurted out of her leg at an incredible rate. As the black blood splashed across the troll’s face, it suddenly screamed in horrible pain, covering its eyes as steam rose from beneath his fingers. The troll stumbled back, swinging his hands angrily as he tried to gain distance from her. But he forgot how far along the balcony he was, pressing against one of the destroyed sections of the railing. As it leaned back, losing its balance in the process and firing his shotgun into the air and destroying more of the balcony roof, Piano gathered all the ki into her legs as she crossed the distance in four steps, before leaping up and delivering one last kick that sent it tumbling back over the edge. A second later, there was a terrible crash, a series of screams, and the alarm of a car as the troll fell upon a limousine that was parked out front for Millifone. The half man ran over to the edge, looking down at his fallen bodyguard distraught as Forte and Piano approached behind him.


“Well, I can quite imagine that you're feeling the weight of all those coins spent plummeting into the depths of nothingness. A real shame as well. That monstrous brute was quite the fearsome beast of a sentry. I doubt you could find an equal nearly as impressive if you searched for the next century. But mayhaps you will be capable of locating such a wondrous find Mr…?” Forte clapped a hand on his shoulder, blowing a bit of cigar smoke into the mafia don’s face.


“Millifone. Millifone Vicatrino.” was the weak response returned to the writer. Forte eagerly wrote it down, nodding his head excitedly as Piano took some of the scraps of the tablecloth to patch up her leg, which had stopped bleeding due to her ki’s control of her blood.


“Thank you kindly for your time, Mr. Vicatrino. It was a valuable experience indeed.” Forte stood up straight and snapped his fingers, dispelling the illusion hiding the stairs as he went towards it. But as he did, he also revealed a small white fox sitting in front of it, a large fluffy tail with an eye symbol flicking behind it and a scarlet letter in its mouth. “Ah. And pray tell, what is this canid doing so deep in the clutch of civilization?”


In answer, the fox leaped over to Piano and handed her the letter. The devilish martial artist looked confused as she opened up the letter. She looked down at the pretty script, Forte looking over her shoulder.



To Piano <insert last name here>,


I wish to invite you to a tournament of amazing proportions, taking place in the Crossroads, with fighters from across the planes of existence. And such an impressive challenge deserves an impressive reward: one wish, granted by me. I hope to see you fight, and I look forward to seeing what your heart’s desire might be.


The God Eater, Madame Chief.


As Piano finished reading the note herself, she could hear her brother getting excited as he got to the end of the letter, letting out a huge puff of smoke.As he rubbed his hands together, she just flung a knife up to the balcony roof, snapping a rope and causing their stuff to come swinging down from the rafters and land in her arms.


“Well, dearest sister, I must apologize deeply for asking you to work on such tasks of great magnitude in such rapid succession, but a name like “the God Eater” is one that I simply cannot pass on. We shall be attending this Crossroad’s tournament post haste.”


“Of course brother. Perhaps there will be talents to steal among these fighters, along with your names.” She looked down at the letter again, then at the fox.


“I have little doubt in that, and great faith in your talents. Let us be off with not another ounce of starlight wasted shining down on us further.” He tossed his cigar to the side, the remains of it bouncing off Millifone’s head as he still sat distraught.


“What would we even wish for?” Piano asked confused, looking down at the last part. Forte shrugged, uncaringly.


“Such petty desires are beneath us. We have more important aspirations to reach for. Though I would imagine that since you are like to win such a martial event, I suppose we should place some of our thoughts into deciding what such a reward should be.”


“Very well. I accept your invitation.” Piano spoke to the fox, who’s tail suddenly grew in size and wrapped around the siblings, the large eye symbol looking out. Then, with a wink of the eye, the trio suddenly vanished, leaving Millifone alone on the roof with the sound of sirens and screams echoing beneath him, an unknowable future remaining ahead for him.


------------------------------------------


As the devil pair suddenly blinked, shading their eyes as the sudden shift from near dusk to bright daylight was nearly blinding to them. As they recovered from the shift in lighting, they saw the bustle of people milling around the town. As they started getting their bearings, they saw a pair of guards begin to approach them. Forte instantly stepped forward, holding out the letter he took from Piano’s hands.


“Good day good sir, good madam. I do believe I was invited to this tour-” But even as he spoke, the guards shook their heads, pointing at Piano instead.


“No sir. We’re here for Mrs. Piano here. She’s the competitor.” The twins looked surprised they could tell, but one of the guards just gestured at his neck. Piano reached down, seeing a small tag around her neck now. “That’s your tag, lose it and you lose your place in the tournament. Mrs. X would normally give you the rundown, but she’s currently speaking with another contestant. Follow us, we have a powerpoint to show you.” 


“Hold, good sir!” Forte called to the guard as he tried to lead Piano away. “ I have a few brief, but vastly important inquiries to make of you. Would you set aside but a few more moments of your likely crowded itinerary.” The guard sighed, clasping his hands together in prayer.


“Madame Chief, please give me patience.” The guard muttered to himself. His hands glowed. Forte raised an eyebrow, curious about the gesture.


“Firstly, I wish to ask for the locale within which I might rest, preferably one circumjacent to our immediate area.” The female guard pointed at a tall building in the distance, with what looked like two sleeping foxes on top of it. “Verily. As for the second inquiry, might I inquire as to where I might find where vast multitudes prefer to gather for recreation in this fine borough?”


“You’ll want Sake’s Bar. Most people like to drink there. Is that all, sir?” Forte gave a nod, and the guard looked happy, nodding to his fellow guard and then to Piano, before leading the way to a nearby building.


As Forte watched the three of them walk away, he couldn’t help but laugh to himself. There were so many interesting people walking around him. Oh what fun this “tournament” was going to be for him. But first, he had to find more information on this “God Eater” that seemed to be running this tournament.

[Piano & Forte] Round 1: A Dance in Shadows

Original Doc

Dawn of Conflict:


Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock.


The ever present ticking of the countdown on the monitors surrounding the Cross Colosseum was enough to set everyone in the surrounding business district abuzz with excitement, even as most of them attempted to keep their heads down and busy with their day’s business. At 8am exactly, the brackets for the afternoon’s tournament match would be announced by none other than Miss X, who had seemed pretty excited at even announcing the time of the announcement, having put on quite a show of it the day before.


As the time of revealing closed in more and more, bystanders began to slow their gait, their eyes, feelers, tendrils, and other sensory organs towards the gigantic screens that encircled the top of the Colosseum, waiting for the sounds of Miss X’s voice to ring out from them. With only a minute left until the announcement, the normally bustling Business District of the Crossroads suddenly went eerily silent with everyone’s gaze all facing the same direction like they had all been brainwashed to watch the same program.


With a sudden hiss of static, the screen began to shift as there was a collective gasp of surprise from the bystanders. With a few flickering transitions, the blank screen began to show the image of a pink heart nearly filling the screen. There was a cheer from the audience then, as the “heart” began to move around frantically.


“Hello? Is this thing on? Can all of you bea-u-tiful people see me?” The source of the voice began to back up, revealing the tutu wearing, cat-inspired figure of Miss X for all to see. She spun around on her spot on the platform in the arena, spinning her microphone in her hand as she gave a cutesy pose to the camera as her bells jingled with all of the excited movement.



“Can my wonderful fans hear me?” There was a loud cheer from the people outside, which she put a hand up to her ear as if to hear the sound that bellowed from all around her and filled the business district with noise. “Good! That’s the sound I love to hear in the morning! Now, are you all ready to see a heart pounding show today?”


She grasped her chest as she said it, a large, pink cartoon heart bursting out of her chest in a few exaggerated pumps as she said that. The audience gave a loud cheer, though not quite as loud as the first as laughter also echoed from the surroundings from the absurd display she put on. “How meow-verlous! Now, while I don’t have a concert planned for today, I did bring you something even better: the first round of the Crossroad’s Tournament, starting this afternoon!” More cheers as she pointed up in the sky dramatically, holding that pose as the adoration poured in from around her.


“Madame Chief has brought together eight of the best fighters she could find, all vying for a wish granted by the God Eater herself? Isn’t Mom just the best? Who will have what it takes to earn that coveted wish and get whatever it is that they desire? Join me in this purr-fectly spectacular adventure!” She gave a cheerful pose as a fireworks display went off behind her, creating another roar of cheers from the surrounding audience.


“Now, let’s give you all the thing you’ve been waiting for: the name of the warriors who will be fighting for your entertainment!” She gestured upwards with her hand as the camera followed her movements, going to a large screen she projected as eight names appeared on it:


Quan vs. Prince Armius Tu El Kaligos

Piano vs. Angelique.

Volley vs. Vilivian.

Rum vs. Pembrooke.




As these eight names lingered on screen for a bit, all the people surrounding the Colosseum began to murmur to each other, each trying to figure out if anybody had heard about or seen these eight in town over the last day or so. Some made note of Volley, the nephew of the bartender Saki, who had a reputation among regulars of the bar. Pembrooke also created a stir, many having noted the mech near the beach for storage and the man who maintained it for the tournament. The rest didn’t seem to ring any particular bells at the moment, though a few did begin to ring as Miss X began to move and take the focus of the camera and audience once more.


“Ahem. While we currently won’t show the fighters themselves until the tournament proper, that doesn’t mean you can’t all start getting ready to show them that good ol’ fashioned Crossroads Pride and give them a hearty cheer of welcome, does it?” The roaring cheer in response was enough to shake buildings, each person giving a bellowing cry of welcome with all of their might as Miss X gave a cheer of her own. “And now, let’s leave this off with a quick word from Madame Chief!”


Miss X gestured behind her, to the regal red chair that Madame Chief typically sat on. It was empty when the camera focused on it, but when Miss X said those words, nine tails suddenly obscured the throne from nowhere, each of the eyes giving the camera a wink. Then, with the ringing of bells, the tails parted as the elegant Madame Chief now sat upon her throne, resting her chin on her hand at a tilted angle with a look of amusement on her face. She donned an outfit of resplendent red and gold, her nine tails acting as a cushion for her as she sat with her legs crossed as she gazed down at the camera with her pipe in hand.


“Show me a good time, and I might just grant one of your deepest desires, dear travelers~” She gave a blow of smoke from her pipe, the lens of the camera being filled with white and red smoke. Suddenly, everyone who was watching the broadcast had their vision filled with the smoke as it took the form of a white and red flower that bloomed, then scattered in a brilliant light as people clapped and cheered for the start of the tournament.


 

With that, everyone was suddenly sent scattering. Some went to begin producing merchandise for the competitors, while others began making bets and wagers both openly and in secret shady corners. Some went off to scour for the competitors or to talk with those who might not have seen, while others went to where they knew they might find one or two.


At the beach, a mech was suddenly seen powering on and taking off, it’s thrusters giving off a whitish-blue hue as it flew high in the sky above the Crossroads as people shouted up at the fleeing competitor. The pilot inside just gave the crowd a salute, waving down at them as he flew off to a different section of the Crossroads so he could focus on his maintenance of his ATG.


 The Fox’s Den, meanwhile, was being overrun with curious customers that were both trying to start the gossip of the fighters, while others began poking around for the whereabouts of Volley, not realizing the boy was already out training for his match that day. At first, Saki tolerated the sudden increase of noise, but as more people came in without getting drinks and started getting more nosy and invasive, eventually even her patience ran out as she set a nice Irish coffee for one of her customers, a tanned skinned demon woman accompanied by a blonde woman that was trying to look small among all the noise looking for her exactly. “Pardon me just one second.” the oni bartender excused herself, rolling up her sleeves as she walked to the divide in the bar that let her out.


Grabbing the first four of the intruders she could reach, she pushed them all close to give herself a good front of the group, then bellowed, “If you all aren’t going to be respectful customers, then I must ask you TO LEAVE!” With a strength beyond imagining, she began shoving into the group, creating what looked like the most lopsided scrum the multiverse had ever seen. The massive press of people slowly grew as she pushed them back more, the crowd gathering their strength to try and stay in. But as the oni gave another mad bellow, they found that their combined strength was no match for her, and soon the backline of the horde was starting to get pushed through the door at the entrance.



There was a brief pause as the largest section of the crowd were all squeezed together and blocking the door, giving the rest hope that they might stop the furious oni’s forward press. But with a crossing of her arms and one last shout with all of her might as she charged forward, the crowd was suddenly all pushed through the door at once and sent flying through the air outside as Saki slashed her arms in an X-formation. The forms of a few dozen people now laid outside the tavern in various states of consciousness as Saki dusted off her hands.


“And don’t come back until you learn the first thing about how to behave in a bar!” She ordered, glaring at them all before returning to her position behind the counter, cleaning a glass as everyone in the bar gave her looks of awe or respect at such an impressive display from the former champion. She looked to the next customer she was supposed to help before the interruption, as if nothing had happened. “So, did you need anything from me?”


Meanwhile, at the Kit Inn, one competitor and her brother were about to begin their day of preparation for the tournament...








Initial Discovery:

“So, that is the visage of that which I seek~” Forte gave a pleased hum at the end of the presentation, having finally gotten a good look at his quarry. Piano sat nearby, taking an oiled rag to her ninjato in preparation for the fight she was going to face that afternoon. “She certainly strikes a most stunning figure for such a title as ‘God Eater.’ That moniker is most assuredly deserved having now gazed upon her myself~”


He took in a deep inhale through his nostrils, trying to pick up the last lingering smells of the opium that the Madame Chief had blown in everyone’s faces. In normal circumstances, he would’ve pulled out his cigar as if to match the atmosphere the God Eater had presented. But seeing as he was alone with his sister, he had no need to put up the front of a smoker when he had no need for disguises. Instead, he directed his attention to the seven names he wrote down earlier, of the other competitors in the tournament, tapping each one of them with his wand as he gave a thoughtful look.


The room he and Piano shared was rather sparse, a bare room with two beds and a few bits of furniture. While they had been there a day or so, their presence in the room was practically nonexistent, with only the slight ruffling of the pillows and blanket a sign the beds were slept in and even then, it seemed it was rather light sleep from the pair of them. Neither of the twins kept any of their personal items set up anywhere in the room, as if they were hiding every aspect of their personality in case an intruder broke into their room to gather information on them. 


Forte sat near one of the desks, his notebook open in front of him as he consulted his notes, while Piano’s weapons and other supplies were on the other table as she prepared them for tonight’s battle. They were arranged by type, half made of tempered steel, half made with steel quenched in her blood that gave a dark red tint to it. Forte looked down at his notes, circling the name “Angelique” written down in plain letters, the rest of the words around it written in his usual cipher.


“But first, I suppose we will need to start making arrangements to gather certain pieces of intelligence about the ones arrayed against you in this contest of martial capability. Having said that, this Prince Armius certainly draws the gaze of this humble writer.” He shook his head, looking back towards his sister. “But I would scarce say it would be ill of me to focus on my ambitions and not on the pressing matter of your opponent indeed. This Angelique figure shall be the first one who’s form we shall firmly take grasp upon before you must render her unable to progress in this tournament hence.”


Piano shook her head herself. “It shouldn’t be a problem if I have to take care of it all myself. It’s what we usually do.” She inspected the keen edge of her blade, pulling out a whetstone and sharpening the weapon slightly to make it easier to slash open her enemy and put the corrupting force of her blood in her enemy. She also had a collection of knives on the table nearby, ready to be re-hidden throughout her body.


“All the same, I must already endeavor to inspect each of the warriors to see if they are of great import individually. A paradigm shift to put your priorities over mine is but a trifle for me. Be not afeared, my sister. I shall be the opening cannonadery in bringing down your foes, each in turn. Plus, assuring your victory is the most erstwhile manner in which to place myself within striking distance of the famed God Eater herself~”


Piano just gave him a long look, before nodding and sheathing her blade. As she started to hide her daggers in the various hiding spots she had sewn into all of her clothes, Forte looked at the tourist map of the Crossroads he had found, tapping certain landmarks with his finger. “The Fox’s Den shall be the most expedient location for intelligence gathering. I would imagine with some coin, the barkeep lips should prove the most likely harbor for that which I desire.”


“Of course brother.” she responded simply, the last weapon hidden out of sight. “And I shall keep an eye out from the shadows. If anything goes wrong…”


“It won’t, dear sister. Any chicanery I participate in should go unnoticed by any that would be of consequence. The Crossguards have yet to take issue with my probing inquiries, so I have little doubt my current escapades shall be of little fault. And if it does prove to be of a more troublesome scenario than originally scripted, then we have quite a few alternative ventures at the ready to pursue before danger assails us too greatly.”


Piano looked worried, but said nothing as she stepped out the window, bracing herself on the edge of the ledge as she looked at her brother. Then, without another sound, she disappeared over the roof of the building, climbing up and seeking out the shadows as her brother calmly closed the window behind her, chuckling to himself as he looked down at the list of names with a confident smirk. “And now, to which of you will my gaze land upon first? Shall I find my target on the first outing, or shall it be quite the ordeal to obtain what I desire?”


With a hum, he stepped out of the shared room and locked the door behind him, smiling to himself as he made his way out of the inn. By the time he started making his way out the door, his features were already being altered by magic, his skin now an olive color, his eye a shared hazel, and his more diabolic features hidden from sight. With his disguise in place, he began making his presence known to the locals by beginning to interrogate them about what they might know about the other fighters.


While he had said that the Fox’s Den would be the best place to look for information, he also knew that most people were more perceptive than they gave themselves credit for. And yet, so far, he didn’t get any usable information from anyone on the street. It seems with so many unique individuals running around the Crossroads, narrowing down the likely candidates for the tournament was already a full-on game that even the people who live there all their lives still hadn’t mastered. If he was going to have any hope of finding Angelique or any of the others, he was going to need to turn to an expert in information gathering, such as the bartender of the Fox’s Den.


 

For a moment, he thought he felt someone move past him, though when he turned back, he saw nothing. Forte brushed it off at first, but then he noticed that he could no longer feel his sister’s gaze watching over him. Assuming she went to investigate whatever he felt and knowing she could catch up with him at the Fox’s Den, he shrugged and moved on to the bar itself. 


Though instead of heading straight there, he took the scenic route, both to ask a few more people questions and to give his sister time to finish her own investigation. Despite his confident words earlier, he knew he didn’t want to be entirely alone when he had finally caught his quarry.


He knew how much anger his words could draw upon himself, after all.


------------------


With all the troublemakers having been forced out by Saki earlier, the bar was now much calmer, though there was still an air of excitement as discussion of the potential fighters was already abuzz. There were quite a few people of various races sitting around talking, including quite a few Crossguards that were off-duty. Though one didn’t seem to want to wear his outfit right, the top half hanging off his chest and his raccoon like tail swished behind him while he drank at the bar near a tan girl and her blonde companion.


 One woman looked confident, talking loudly to her companion as her teeth showed from how excitedly she talked. The blonde woman, which Forte could only tell from the strands that stuck out in front of her hood, rubbed her arms that were covered in long sleeves as she seemed to quietly respond and looked around the room as if looking for a threat. Her eyes met Forte’s and she gave him a glare, but he just seemed to brush it off for now, looking away casually as he strode forward. Forte decided to sit between the two groups, bracing his arms against the bar as he looked out for the barkeep.


 


He didn’t have to wait long. Within the minute, the red oni barkeep made her way down from the VIP Lounge, carrying with her an empty margarita glass as the sound of a woman giggling followed her down. As Saki resumed her position behind the bar, she turned her attention to the newcomer. “Welcome to the Fox’s Den. I’m sure you’re here for the same reason everyone else is?”


“Ah, I believe my motivations have been sussed out so expediently. Was my intentions so wantonly painted on my visage?” Forte gave a chuckle, tapping his fingers along the bar as if writing a message.


“No. But it’s what everyone’s talking about, since the tourney starts today.” she replied coolly, not responding emotionally to his baited response. “And I’ll give you the same answer I gave everyone else: buy a drink or two and I’ll point you in the right direction.”


Forte considered it for a second, then put down some coins on the bar counter. “Consider this a forward payment for the next few patrons that wish to partake in your potages. Though I doubt with all the festivities, such a kind offering will last until even half till eventide.” He smirked at his joke, though Saki only rolled her eyes.


The man in the Crossguard outfit suddenly turned to Forte, setting down his cup of water as Saki casually walked over to take it away, placing some utensils on the counter in front of him instead as his tail swished behind him. “Why would you do that?”


Forte gave the man a curious look as Saki raised an eyebrow, looking between the two of them. “And pray tell as to what you are referring to?”


“What you just did, buying all those drinks, but not taking them yourself. Are you planning on giving those to your opponents, in hopes of inhibiting them for the match tonight? In which case, I will pass. If you’re hoping to get any information by giving out those drinks, then I’m sure the locals will appreciate it more than your opponents will. Or are you hoping to do both?” The man gave Forte a strange look at that.


Forte, for his part, looked rather bemused for a moment, though his usual visage soon graced his face once more as he recovered and thought up his next line of dialogue. “Ah, that is indeed usually the custom upon most planes I have visited upon. I was hoping to use these potages as a means to ply for intelligence about the warriors. But not because I myself will be participating in the melee. I am but a mere journalist, investigating those participating in the Cross Tournament and encouraging the excitement surrounding them all.”


The man tilted his head, nearly tipping over during the motion.. “A journalist, you say? And you’re interviewing all the fighters?”


Forte gave a nod of his head, pulling out his notebook. ”Forsooth. I also intend to interview the proprietress of the entire battle royale herself, Madame Chief. I imagine she would make quite the interesting character interview.”


“The God Eater? Is your only purpose in doing all this really to talk to the goddess of the Crossroads?”


Forte gave a thoughtful expression at that, though inside he was already pretty settled on his response while Saki moved down the bar to talk to the two women for a bit. “I suppose if I must conjure a response to that, I would say that while I am interested in the competitors themselves, I would be remiss to say that I’m not supremely fascinated in the likes of a mortal who has ascended to godhood.”


“Are you interested in immortality then? Are you hoping she can provide you with the means to obtain it yourself?”


“Not in the slightest, good sir.” Forte said, sounding offended. “I’m merely satisfying an idle curiosity of mine regarding such beings. Is there aught wrong with that? Such creatures are rare treasures, anthropologically speaking. To pass such an opportune moment to seize upon an interview with such a being with such a storied journey into the present.”


“I suppose not.” The man responded, returning to an upright position. “But if that’s all you're interested in, then I can satisfy it for you. After all, I am an immortal being forced to inhabit a mortal body for this tournament.”


Forte leaned back for a moment, seriously studying his conversation partner. His eyes narrowed, the disguise’s brown sparkling for a moment with his natural colors before he spoke. “Is that so, good sir? Well then, I pray you tell me more of such a revelation, for you have most certainly captured my fullest attention.”


The man in the Crossguard uniform crossed his arms, his expression unreadable. “I am a shinigami, a death god that guides the souls of the deceased to the other side. In this place, I go by Rum. I suppose it is the custom of mortals to say it is a pleasure to meet you.”


If Forte was surprised, he did well to not show it as he pulled out his notebook and wrote something down. “A most interesting admission indeed. And one of the names of the warriors participating in the Madame’s tourney. I was seeking out the likes of you. But I think that this was quite the initial greeting. I gathered enough material to establish a preliminary article upon your personage. If you progress any further amongst these fighters, I shall need to conduct a secondary interview. Mayhaps we can settle our little discussion at a later time, in these common halls. For unlike you, time is ever my enemy and this eve’s tourney is fast approaching.”


As he said that, Saki returned with a plate of food, which she placed in front of Rum as he turned to her. “I suppose. For now, I would like to eat. Having a mortal body is so troublesome.”


The barwoman gave a sigh. “I’m sure it is for someone like you. I can’t believe the Madame is having me take care of you while you’re here. I already have my hands full between the bar, Chifu, and Volley.” She then turned to Forte. “And as for you, you wanted information on the fighters, right? Well, you’ve already met Rum, so I hope that makes you happy. If not, I can point you to one more fighter.” She jerked her head down the bar.


At the other end, the two women were discussing quietly among themselves, one with a new tankard of ale in her hand as she spoke, the other looking like she was doing her best not to draw attention to themselves as she tried to hush her companion. Forte gave the two of them a studying look, ignoring the scarfing noises of Rum behind him. Saki produced a glass from seemingly out of nowhere, cleaning it with a rag as she shrugged.


“One of those two girls is the fighter you’re looking for. I would tell you which one it is, but you didn’t give me enough coin for that after I already gave you Rum. You’ll have to figure out which one is which on your own.” Saki gave him a look as Forte’s confident grin returned to his face.


“This should make for an amusing diversion indeed. I prefer this kind of task than a more simple retrieval mission of intelligence. I must thank you most sincerely for your continued generosity and your assistance in guiding me towards my incoming interview.” He stood up from his stool, making his way over to the girls.


As he began to approach, both girls took notice of him. The blonde woman was instantly on the defensive, giving Forte a quick glare. The tan skinned woman, however, quickly turned to block her from sight with her body, giving the newcomer a friendly smile. 


“Well hey there. What’s a guy like you doing, approaching two girls at a bar, especially when one has a drink in her hand? That seems awfully suspicious to me.” Her words sounded somewhat hostile, but her smile showed she wasn’t upset with him yet.


Forte returned her jovial mood with a grin of his own. “I happened to notice you partaking in a beverage of a spirited variety not too distantly ago. Perchance you did not depart with any coinage when you conducted your transaction?”


 

The women looked somewhat confused at his words, taking a few moments to translate his words in their heads as he grinned at them and seemed to jot something down. The blonde hair woman still kept her glare at him, while the tanned woman recovered her smile. “Yeah, I think. The bartender said that this drink was free, already covered on someone else’s tab. Were you the one who bought this drink for me?”


“I am afeared I am merely guilty of a misdemeanor in that regard. While I purchased a few drinks, none of them were patently directed for your tastebuds. You merely took advantage of my more general generosity.” He took a seat near the tanned woman, leaning onto his hand as they talked.


“Well thanks anyway. With how crazy today is going to be, I think this drink will go a long way before the match.” She raised a toast to him, taking a draught of alcohol as he laughed in response.


“Forsooth. This eve will prove quite the exciting event indeed. I pray that all of the fighters prove to be as capable as their selection by the God Eater would suggest them to be.” At that, the blonde woman seemed to wince, though the tanned demon’s body blocked his view of her.


“Well I don’t know, you tell me?” The tanned woman flexed her arm, showing off her impressive muscles. Forte raised an eyebrow, sitting up as he looked at her musculature. The fact that she gave away her identity as the fighter so quickly was suspicious to him, especially since he hadn’t even asked them yet. But he said nothing as he reached forward.


“Would you mind if I assessed your prowess for myself more tactilely? I don’t quite have the keen gaze when it comes to physical strength, so I prefer to use my more finely tuned fingers to make a proper judgement on such matters.” He gave a wry grin, laughing as he did.


The tanned woman gave her own laugh, not seeming to reject his reach. “Normally I’d charge for such a touch. But since you bought my drink for me, I suppose that should be fine.”


Forte took a feel of her arms, impressed by the raw strength she seemed to possess. He didn’t quite have the skill to assess someone’s physical ability like Piano could, but even he could tell just how strong she was. If she really was one of the fighters, she might prove to be a formidable opponent indeed. Though unless has some other talents that make her strong, Forte doubted she would be an opponent Piano couldn’t beat.


“I must say, I am quite impressed indeed. Whatever implements of destruction you utilize must be equally as intimidating as your strength alone proves you to be. I feel great fear for whomever draws the rather dubious misfortune of facing you as a rather formidable obstacle in their bid for the God Eater’s wish.” He thought that flattery might prove useful against such an opponent.


It did seem to endear him to her, as she laughed and gave him a smack on his back in a friendly manner, though the term “God Eater,” drew a shudder and a shake of the head from the less talkative woman.. “You’ll have to wait till the match to see that. I don’t give up anything valuable on the first date. Good try though.”


“A great shame.” He teased back, winking at her. “Surely I can gleam but a small morsel of your talents just prior to the match as recompense for purchasing your eve’s quenching?”


“Sure. Are you volunteering to be the testing dummy?” She gave him a laugh, giving him a punch on the shoulder. Even though she was being gentle, his arm still felt slightly sore from the bump. He gave her a laugh as his eyes began to sparkle with mischief as he was ready to move to his next target.


“I had to endeavor to at least make the attempt to get that exclusive scoop prior to the match. Journalistic instincts. Speaking of such…” He leaned around the demon woman, looking at the blonde hiding behind her. “... my instincts tell me that I would be remiss if I didn’t address your partner to your far side.”


The blonde woman flinched, keeping her arms close to her as she turned to the conversation now that she was being addressed. “Your instincts are wrong. Keep that tongue to yourself if you’d like to keep it.”


“Ah, what a fiery maid indeed. I thought I was already discussing matters with the firebrand, but it was in the shadows I should be wary.” Rather than be upset, he looked rather amused by her words. He seemed used to dealing with aggressive people, leaning into the conversation as he now had two people to split his attention with.


She rolled her eyes. “Congratulations, you got yourself burned. Not back away before you really get yourself seriously torched.” The tanned demon between them just took a sip of her drink, a look mixed between worried and amused by the developing conversation. But she made sure to keep her body in between them literally, ensuring that he knew she was keeping her friend safe.


Forte took note of this, looking between the two women with great interest. ‘So the demon warrior is protecting the more humanly maiden? An archetypal relation to point, but that is not like to be the sole facet of this pair. Mayhaps the more solemn one is of greater import than the demon wishes me to circumgather by information gleamed thus far.’


Speaking out loud, he addressed the frailer woman once more. “I do beg your pardon, but if these sparks are the greatest your embers can burn, than I have little to be afeared when it comes to the bite of your choleric tone. I’ve dealt with harsher hellfires than the small blaze you wish to set upon me as your definition of ferocity. Nonetheless, I should as like begin making my intentions known to the pair of you. I am but a humble journalist sent to the Crossroads to do my due diligence of covering the Cross Tournament. In particular, I choose to focus on exposes of the warriors commissioned to compete to give the audiences abroad a greater appeal towards the ones they wish to cheer for.”


 

The hooded woman gave him a skeptical look, not really believing him. “Sorry, I’m not doing interviews at the moment. You’ll need to talk to my agent, and they’re sick at home.Besides, I have nothing to do with any of this. So why don’t you go take a hike and look somewhere else for your big scoop.”


“Well as it just so happens, my darkened companion, that the proprietor of this establishment, after I made the purchases of the spirits your partner currently imbibes so dutifully, imparted onto me the knowledge that one of the eight warriors gathered for this day was seated in this specific location, so I would be rather remiss if I allowed such an individual to leave my area of inquiry without a preliminary conducting of ideal exchange.” As he spoke, he began writing down more notes in his little book, drawing the blonde’s attention.


“Then like I said, it’s got nothing to do with me. She’s the one fighting, so go back to talking to her.” She jerked her head at her partner, her arms staying crossed near her torso. The mentioned friend gave a polite wave, smiling all the while.


But the writer was undeterred. “Alas, as amusing of a conversation partner your living blockade is to engage with, my instincts inform me that you are the more likely one to engage with. Given the defensive behaviors both of you exhibit towards yourself, either your constitution is that of a far weaker being to gauge as capable, or certain conditions have led you to masking your role in this adventure. And given the amount of gudgeongry you have proven to manifest thus far, I have little reason to trust that it is the first condition that you exhibit. Which leads me to the latter, which seems a much more logical approach.”


Both women stiffened for a moment, looking at him with more openly suspicious looks. The demon responded first, leaning onto the bar to further block his view. “Oh yeah? Well as nice as it is talking to you, my friend said she doesn’t want to talk to you, so I’d suggest backing off now.”


“I pray you give me but a few moments longer. I consider it a duty of a most royal calling to-”


“And what do you know about royalty?!” The hooded woman slammed the bar with her fist at that, surprising the two more demonic individuals and spilling the rest of the alcohol. Forte had to bite back a grin as he jotted down something in his book, though he hadn’t noticed the almost metallic bang of her arm on the bar, nor did he notice her curled up fingers having a more metallic appearance as well.


‘The portcullis has lifted fractionally.’ “Well, while I certainly can make no claims about my condition as a member of nobility, I have conducted quite a few interviews with members of said status back on my plane of existence. As a matter of speaking, engaging in verbal combat with yourself has proven to remind of me of-”


“Don’t you dare compare me to them, you flashy bastard!” she shouted at him, standing up and her hood coming back to reveal her full face. Her blonde hair resting just past her chin swished with the motion, her dark blue eyes in a hard glared meeting his false hazel ones. The shadows around her feet seemed to darken, almost moving, but Forte had no way of noticing that between meeting her gaze and the demon woman going to stand up as well. 


“I pray beg your forgiveness, I meant to draw no further ire by the comparison. Though I see little reasoning for such acts to draw offense, no matter how much I ponder it. Your raiments certainly lack a regal regalia’s appearance, though your feminal visage certainly draws one’s thinking towards-” His smirk was unmistakable as she went to take a step forward, the whole bar’s attention now drawn to the shouting match. 


“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME! DON’T YOU GO MAKING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT ME!” She went to move forward, but the tanned woman put her arm out. “Vivi, let me go, I’ll-”


“No Angie, you need to calm down.” Vivi said, rolling her shoulders as she looked back at Angelique as Forte grinned at having finally confirmed it. “You need to save your energy for your match in a few hours.”


Angelique shook her head, still angered at his words. “You heard what he was saying. He knows nothing about what I’ve been through, and he’s making all those assumptions about me! I’m not going to sit here and just listen to him smugly talk about me like he knows anything about me!”


“If it is of any assistance,” Forte added, causing both girls to turn to him, “I was not attempting to make any such assertions that were meant to cause distress. I was merely probing into the psyche of my interviewee, hoping to gleam anything worthy of telling a story about. If you wish to relay it to me, I can be more careful in crafting what linguistic communications I impart upon you.”


Angelique glared at him, a few spells already on the tip of her tongue for him, but Vivi’s touch drew attention again. Her companion shook her head in an attempt to calm her, though she knew at this point, a fight was going to break out. It was more of a question on who would be dealing with this annoying guy.


“I’ll deal with this guy.” She began to walk forward menacingly, cracking her knuckles menacingly before raising her fist up as she prepared to give him a haymaker he won’t forget anytime soon. 


As the other patrons in the bar looked on excitedly, Forte didn’t even flinch. He simply reached up to take off his glasses, as if preparing to take the blow. But as he started adjusting his clothes nonchalantly, he stood in place as Vivi’s fist began to rocket forward towards his face, racing towards him with an alarming speed and the force of a semi as….


--------------------------


 


Piano was balanced on her heels on the rooftops, jumping from roof to roof after her brother as she stepped with quick, but silent steps on the angled slopes above the street. She wasn’t the only one above the others. Various winged beings and other entities that do not wish to be seen were also skulking along the roofs with her. Most didn’t acknowledge her presence, but a few attempted to proposition her, which she quietly denied while making sure she didn’t lose track of her disguised brother.


One didn’t take too kindly to that. He was a man with large ears, tanned skin, and a pair of bat-like wings protruding from his arms. He gave her a wide grin. “Now come on little girl, spend some time with me before the tournament begins. I can guarantee you a good time if you just follow me~”


Piano gave him a suspicious look, not sure why this guy was approaching her. Her mismatched eyes examined him, though she quickly noticed his own eyes all over her. She got a bad feeling just being around him, and the way he smiled at her gave off a feeling of depravity. If she went with him, it was unlikely to end well for her.


So instead, she tried to wave him off. “Sorry, I was busy with something. Maybe later.” Internally, she cursed that she wasn’t being more forceful in her rebuke of him. This feeling solidified into regret inside of her stomach as he raised an eyebrow, leaning in as her insides churned with disgust.


“Oh really? Running around on the roofs in that outfit is something important?” He pointed at her flashy outfit, especially the lilac heels she was balanced on. “It certainly seems like you’re looking for attention. And I have plenty of it to give you~”


Piano gave a shiver of disgust, glancing away to look for her brother’s form below, though she noticed the creepy bat man’s ki move closer the moment she looked away. She didn’t move as she turned her attention back to him. “Like I said, I’m sorry, but I’m busy. I really should go…”


  He attempted to grab onto Piano’s arm. “Now hold on girlie, we ain’t done-”


His words were interrupted by the heel of a palm slamming into his nose, a sickening crack echoing out as his nose broke upon impact. As Piano broke his nose, she reached past his face to grab the back of his head, kneeing him in the face before sending him tumbling off the roof. She knew his wings would allow him to slow his fall, so the light impact she heard below was not a surprise. She glanced over the edge, seeing him slumped in a pile of garbage in an unconscious stupor. Someone else looked over at him, then shrugged. “I’ll call the Crossguard to pick him up. They’ll deal with that creep.”


Piano just nodded, before moving on as her brother finished speaking with a few people and continued his way through the business district. As she watched, she saw a pair of Crossguards move past her brother. As they did, she suddenly felt a ki presence that was moving at an impossible speed. Her head whipped over to the source, her eyes narrowing in focus.on the person that was rapidly approaching.


She saw a blur of a man, with pale skin and dark hair with white streaks. She couldn’t make out too many other features as he ran through the Crossguards, nearly upending them as he ran by. She noticed her brother looking around, though he didn’t seem to notice anything as it happened too quickly for him from his position. Figuring that he might be a fellow competitor, she stood up fully and began to make her way after him.


At first, she did a decent enough job catching up. He was always slightly faster than her, but every time he needed to turn, she would cut diagonally along his path, closing some of the distance between them. Her own parkour skills, stolen from two people of exceptional talent in the skill, meant that her movements had as little waste as was possible, ensuring she remained at top speed at all times as she crossed gaps and roofs faster than their occupants could even realize she was there. She watched his running form, trying to see some of the mechanics of his movements to see if they were worth stealing for herself.


But as it turned out, his technical running form wasn’t quite as good as she suspected. If anything, her form, borrowed from a professional runner, was a superior form for a natural runner. The ki within his body also seemed to flow at an almost unnatural rate, providing his body with the life energy needed to operate at an even greater speed than was technically needed to operate at the speed he currently was going. Which meant that his ability was either a natural quirk of his body or it was done by magic, neither of which made them great candidates for her to steal his talent from him. But if he really was an opponent she would be facing in the tournament later, then it was worth observing him to look for weak points to exploit instead.


As she cut a tight corner to try and keep up as he turned, someone almost got in her way. She had sensed their approach and had already adjusted her path to avoid them, but the lady she blew past still gave a shout of surprise as Piano passed by, drawing some attention her way. Looking down, the devil blood saw her target looking up at her. He seemed confused at first, but then he seemed to laugh.


“Oh? You thought you could keep up with me and wanted to go on a run? Well then, how about we have a little race then? See if you can keep up with this!” He gave her a quick wave, then with a slight tensing of his legs, Piano could feel the ki in his body explode into activity. In the blink of an eye, he was already at the other end of the street, turning the corner at breakneck speed. 


Piano’s jaw dropped slightly. She had expected his speed to be higher than he was showing before, but such an extreme difference was something beyond her expectations. She knew that even if she pushed her body to its breaking point, she could never hope to even trail behind him, much less match him. In just a second and a half, he had already left her ability to sense his ki. In ten seconds, he would likely already be a quarter of the way around the Business District.




Such impossible speeds would certainly make him a difficult opponent, Piano reasoned. She’d have to start planning her strategy to take him on now, if she wanted a chance to beat him in the later rounds. She dropped down to the ground level, landing with a gentle touch, not even a bell on her coattail ringing as she looked at the chaos his passage had caused. Many people were knocked over from the speedster having blown by them, and there was a few carts of fruits and vegetables that had been scattered by the quick passage of someone jumping through the gap. If she didn’t see for herself who caused it, she would’ve thought a hurricane had passed through and wrecked the whole street.


As she began to collect her thoughts and recover her senses, she suddenly felt another powerful source of ki in front of her. Her eyes looked up, purple and gold eyes met emerald, a stern expression on the shorter woman’s face as the latter seemed to study the former. The large braid of red hair easily dwarfed Piano’s ebony in volume, while the woman’s clothes were rather plain in comparison to the outrageous flashiness of the false magician. A sword was at her side, but the moment Piano looked at it, the shorter woman turned her body to hide it slightly, forcing Piano’s eyes back up as she began to speak. “....Your blood.” The woman’s voice was low, so low Piano almost didn’t hear it at first. 


Piano looked confused, staring back at the woman with a look of surprise. “What are you talking about? What about my blood?” While her voice remained steady, it had a certain timidity to it when compared to the sturdy tenor the woman spoke with.


“Your blood.” The woman repeated again, her gaze unwavering in the other’s shyness. “When I first met the oni that runs the bar, I thought her blood would be the one that runs the hottest in this place. But yours… the taint that your blood carries is almost blazing in its aggression, on its desire to be let onto those near you. I couldn’t let you walk by me without getting a better look at you.”




At that, Piano’s eyes went from fearful to examining, a reaction the woman seemed to approve of. While Piano didn’t think of her blood as something of a big secret, in a tournament like this hiding that fact before the fights would have given her a slight upper hand, a tool her opponents wouldn’t expect.


But this woman seemed to have the ability to sense it. The most obvious thought was vampire, but her being out in the sunlight meant Piano had to dismiss that line of thinking. There were several creatures throughout the multiverse that could sense blood after all, most of which also tended to feed on it. So the fact that this woman approached Piano on the subject of blood meant…


Piano tilted her head to the nearby alley. “I think we should talk out of sight. I think people are looking at us weird. It’s making me uncomfortable.”


The woman raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think it was anything for someone like you to be embarrassed about.” Nevertheless, the woman followed Piano into the shadows. It seemed that whoever this woman is, she certainly had the confidence in the strength her ki implied to the martial artist. 


“...I’m not used to beings like you being so direct about my blood.” Piano explained, crossing her arms in a somewhat defensive gesture. “I have to fight today, so I can’t let you have any. I’m sorry, you’ll have to wait till after the tournament is over.” 


The woman looked surprised, as if not expecting that kind of response. “Don’t worry, I am in complete control. While the fragrance of your blood is certainly the most intoxicating one I’ve experienced in a long time and the strength and aggressiveness your body possess interests me, I have no need to drink it, if that’s what you fear. Your blood is the most unique I’ve ever seen, so I’m very interested in seeing how you utilize it, Blackblood. For you are not alone in being a warrior in this tournament.”


Piano let her mild surprise show, her mind racing. There were only two identifiably female names on the list besides her own, with Volley and Rum being potential candidates; Angelique and Vilivian.. And one of those was her opponent. If she had found her now, this was a great chance. “...Piano.” was all she whispered back, judging the reaction of the older woman.


The woman in front of her listened, then gave a noise of disappointment. Without even saying her name, she had already identified herself as not being Angelique, which meant that this woman had to be one of the three likely candidates on the opposite side of the bracket. “I am Vilivian. It means both of us will have to win two bouts if I am going to have a chance to see what makes your blood so special for myself.”


Piano looked away at that, looking slightly embarrassed at those words. While it was what she intended to do, it was weird to hear a potential opponent encouraging her to win. Especially one that was mainly interested in seeing her blood being spilled. “Of course. I have things I want to get-”


But she stopped as both she and Vilivian sensed more people approaching. Piano recognized one of them, as the batman from before landed in the alley with them, a small gang of thuggish looking individuals accompanying him, including a large stone man who cracked his rock like fists. His nose was still bent at an odd angle, and his voice was more nasally as he spoke. “So, this is where you were trying to go, girlie. But I’m afraid this is as far as you go without paying your debt.”


Vilivian jerked her head towards them, looking at Piano. “Do you know these males, Blackblood?”






Piano shook her head quietly, glancing between the woman and the men. She didn’t think he would be this persistent, nor that he’d have this many allies. Her first instincts told her to run and hide to avoid drawing too much attention, but it didn’t seem like this guy would let her go so easily. Maybe she could knock him and his buddies out so she could get away from him and meet up with her brother. But with that many, she might start burning through her stamina to do so, which would make the fight with Angelique later that much harder.


The batman meanwhile was looking at Piano’s conversation partner with a sneer, looking down at her with his crooked smile. “Ah, so is this who was so important for ya’ to meet that you couldn’t spend time with me? You should’ve let me know, I would’ve invited her too.”


The glare she gave him was withering, making the man step back. But he quickly got his nerve back as she shot an equally withering retort at him. “I have no interest in males like you. Leave us now. This is your only warning.”


All the men looked at each other, then they all began to laugh. Both women stared as some of the thugs began to double over with laughter. Even the large stone man, who easily towered over eight feet, was chuckling with its arms crossed in front of it. “Now boys, these girls are clearly new to the Crossroads. So they don’t know who we are. Look, there’s a reason the Crossguards don’t mess with us. So you best be coming with us.”


“We’re not interested, male. We’ll be going now to continue our conversation.” The red haired woman whirled around to walk away, Piano getting ready to follow her with wide eyes, looking back at the thugs.


“Nuh-uh, where do you think you’re going little ladies?” The batman asked, his sneer at its widest as he jerked his head. The stone golem walked forward, reaching forward to grab the red haired woman’s arm.



The moment his hand touched his arm, her head spun around, a dangerous gleam in her emerald eyes as she grabbed a hold of his arm. Pulling him forward with impossible strength, she gave a haymaker directly into its face. The large man suddenly went flying down the alley, bits of his stone skin cracking and flecking off its face as he went flying towards the other. Most managed to dodge, but one man was completely crushed under his friend. 


All of the thugs looked shocked at the feat of strength. Piano also looked surprised, but quickly sprang into action as well to try and end the fight before too much attention was drawn to them. All of the men spun around, just in time for one of them to receive a right cross from Vilivian, turning his neck at an impossible angle with a loud crack, while another had his leg kicked out before being axe kicked into the ground by Piano.


While they took out the thugs, Piano knocking them out and Vilivian seeming to kill them with single blows, Piano watched her future potential opponent movements to see how she fights. All of the Matriarch’s movements were smooth, controlled, and deliberate with no movements wasted. Her impressive strength meant that she just needed direct hits, so she seemed to always aim for the torso. As she watched Vilivian, Piano came to the realization that what Vilivian fought with wasn’t a martial art in the traditional sense. It was more like a proto-martial art, the base upon which other martial arts could be built upon.


For someone of her talents, such a thing was highly sought after, especially one as refined as Vilivian’s. Piano had to be careful to put some of her attention on the thugs, choking one of them out as most of the others went to try and gang up on Vilivian, only to get flung away and most of them knocked out from the backfist she dished out on them. The devil blood would have to try and watch most of this opponent’s matches, but knew if she really wanted it, she would have to face her in battle herself.





None of the men that were arrayed around them even stood a chance with the combined force of both warriors, Piano’s skill and Vilivian’s overpowering strength too much for even the toughest of them to handle. Neither woman even suffered a blow as Vilivian killed a solid quarter of them, the others she fought being severely damaged, while Piano did her best to cause as little permanent damage as possible while she incapacitated them.


.As the stone man stood up once more, he gave a loud bellow and charged forward, running towards Vilivian with both hands raised in a hammerblow. But just as he reached her, she leapt up towards his head, jumping over his attack as he cracked the ground. She gave a ferocious punch to the face, fully cracking it with the force as a shockwave emanated from it. She followed through on the blow, using gravity to enhance her already immense strength as she slammed his rock-like skull onto the earth below, cracking and shattering the ground with the blow as the force of it shook the nearby buildings.


Piano, meanwhile, noticed the batman beginning to fly away. Running up the wall slightly, she jumped after him and grabbed his leg, throwing him off-balance as she slammed him into the ground. With a quick blow to the back of the head slamming his face into the ground, he was once again rendered unconscious for the day.


Vilivian stood up from the small crater she had created with her attack, shaking off some bits of rock from her hand before brushing back a loose strand of hair from her face, turning back to Piano. “Tch. Just as I thought, these weren’t even worth my attention. Now, back to what we were talking about…”


Piano cleared her throat a little, looking embarrassed once more as she had turned to see people outside of the alley looking in with slack jaws, having been disturbed by what they had heard, especially the sickening sounds of men losing their lives. The talent thief didn’t want too much attention drawn as it was, and certainly not by getting into fights alongside supernaturally strong fighters she’d have to take on later. “I, uh, think we’ve caused a bit of a mess. Perhaps we can continue this later, when everybody isn’t looking at us.”


Sure enough, Piano could hear them discussing if the two women in the alley were some of the competitors and excitement was beginning to rise where fear or surprise once took hold. Piano’s skin darkened as she began to blush, wanting nothing more than to return to the shadows and be hidden. The Matriarch gave a sigh. “I’ll let you go for now, Blackblood. But I will take your words as a promise of future meetings.” She began to walk away, then looked down at the foes Piano defeated. “..You’re too soft. Someone of your pedigree had the right to end these fools for bothering you. I suppose that’s something else for us to talk about next time.”


The older woman left the alley first, the people blocking the entrance parting ways as she made to walk past them. Despite visually being one of the smaller people on the streets as Piano followed her out, the latter’s ki sense showed that she was in fact one of the biggest people in sight. She would prove to be a dangerous opponent for Piano indeed.


As Piano made her way back towards the Fox’s Den, she suddenly felt the presence of the speedster’s key as she felt a hand on her shoulder nearly as soon as she felt it. “Good try. Maybe next time.” Before she could turn to see him, he was already down the street and moving out of sight. Piano gave a confused look, before walking away.


The devil blood moved quickly, trying to reach her twin before he got too into trouble. Just as she was reaching the entrance, she felt the presence of several strong kis. Most were inside, three of them close to where her brother was. There was another source that inside was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It gave off such a strange, almost otherworldy aura, it almost distirubed her.


But the presence in front of her gave off an almost overwhelming sense of strength, even greater that Vilivian gave off. She had only felt a few people of this level of life force, and all of them had been people she wanted to avoid. It was so great, she almost didn’t notice the also powerful, though clearly malevolent source that was right next to them, which only made it even more overwhelming just sensing the pair of them. She began to look for the source of it, just to see who she would need to avoid in the future.


But then she heard a commotion inside, and knowing her brother, it was likely not good for him. Hoping the overwhelming presence didn’t notice her, she dashed into the Fox’s Den, looking to see what was going on inside.


-----------------


As Viola reared her fist back to punch Forte, the false journalist just rocked on his heels, presenting his cheek to her. As the tanned demon’s fist came rocketing towards him, there was a  flash of red and violet raced across the room.


In just a moment, Piano had raced from the entrance to the bar, placing herself between her brother and a threat. As the punch reached her, Piano caught the blow, redirecting the force of the attack into a more circular motion and causing the demon woman to get flung into the air. With the force of her own attack being used against her, Viola was flung halfway across the room and landed with a hard thud, causing drinks on the nearby tables to vibrate and nearly tip over if their owners didn’t grab them hurriedly.


Everyone looked at the newcomer with some surprise, Saki and Forte being the exception. Forte looked proud of his sister, while Saki was keeping a careful eye out to make sure the bar fight didn’t get out of control. But she had noticed that Piano had carefully aimed to ensure Viola wouldn’t hit anything. It would be interesting to see what some of these new fighters were capable of up close.


Angelique looked concerned for her friend, running over to help her up. “Vivi, are you ok?”


Vivi got up slowly, rubbing her back as if it was sore. “Well, I wasn’t expecting to be on the ground while trying to punch a nerd. But that wasn’t too bad.”


Angelique looked up at Piano, glaring at her. “So why did you decide to jump into this? This fight had nothing to do with you.”


Piano looked back at her brother, who gave her a shrug and a smirk at everything that was going on. “I was just protecting someone who lets his words get ahead of himself sometimes. I’d like to ask you all to forget what he said and just move on.”


Angelique glared at her even harder, pointing at him. As she did, Piano noticed that while ki flowed through her body like normal, her arms didn’t seem to receive any. Looking closer, Piano noticed the metallic look on her fingers. Between the expression and emotions she showed, and the damaged her body seemed to sustain, Piano could sense there was something dark involved in her past. ‘Prosthetics? I can only imagine what she’s been through. The anger and sadness she holds must be great.’


“He just sat there insulting me this whole time! He needs to apologize first, and even that won’t be enough.” Angelique stood up, as did Vivi.


Piano stood her ground, still in a martial arts stance between them and Forte. She shook her head, even knowing he probably was purposely pushing the pair’s buttons. “I doubt he sees anything wrong with what he did. He thinks that to best find out a person’s true personality is to see every aspect of them, including anger. Please don’t hold it against him.”


Forte gave an almost mocking bow at that, smiling up at them all. “A more apt description, I could scarcely manufact. I must thank you so kindly for such a succinct description of my interviewing process.”


Vivi cracked her neck at that, rolling her shoulders in anticipation to continue the fight. “Wanting to see our true personalities, are you? Very well, why don’t I give you a close up preview?”


 


She held her hand out, and Piano grew more tense as a shape started to appear in her hand. A large dark red club with dark gray spikes materialized into Vivi’s hand, who then swung the weapon a couple of times as if to test the weight despite clearly being very familiar with the weapon. Behind her, Piano could hear her brother writing down a few notes on what was happening, the sister sighing knowing he was getting his job done.


“You ready, devil girl? I’m not going to hold back for you!” Vivi charged forward, swinging her club at Piano wildly. The acrobatic warrior backed up as she was approached, her brother quickly moving out of the way as they reached the bar. Jumping over Vivi’s attack, Piano grabbed the mostly empty drink that the former had just been drinking and flung it in the demon’s face, blinding her for a moment as the slighter girl leaped over her to get space once more.


As Vivi cleared her eyes and turned to face Piano, the latter began to move to circle… and there were two of them now. The tanned demon rubbed her eyes again to try and clear them, but the illusion still remained. She looked between them for a moment longer, then picked one and charged. This Piano went to dodge, but Viola anticipated it and went to intercept her with the swing, only to pass through air as the illusion faded.


She wheeled around to find the other, only to feel the heel of Piano’s foot embed itself into her cheek. Viola barely moved from the blow, as Piano realized just how tough her opponent was and quickly dropped low before Vivi could grab her leg and retaliate. Piano glanced at her brother as he began writing again, seeing his lips moving as he began to cast another illusion to aid her in this fight.


But before he could finish, he suddenly felt a woman drape herself upon his shoulder, the man nearly dropping his notebook as he moved to catch her. He certainly wasn’t as strong as his sister, but even he could carry someone as lightweight as this woman, both physically and in relation to alcohol. The woman had red hair and dark clothes, with the smell of alcohol on her breath as she looked up at the man who caught her with a smile. Two pairs of mismatched eyes met, both having a single gold orb, while red and purple separated the similarities between them.


“Thanks for catching me~ I heard a lot of noise downstairs and came wandering down to see what was happening. Looks like I tripped down the stairs. Good thing you were here to catch me before I hurt myself~” As she explained herself, she gave no effort to remove herself from his person. He tried to push her away, but she seemed to only cling tighter to prevent him from letting her go. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought that she was trying to keep him from casting more illusions to help his sister, but he knew that was impossible. There weren’t many in town who would know he had that ability.


As his sister was forced to cede more ground to the more powerful woman as she was chased away with club and fist, Forte turned his attention to his new burden. “Ah, so you ascended down from the heavens above to alight yourself among the rest of us mortals. Shall I take this to confirm that you must be a rather frequent imbiber of this establishment’s spirits to be so easily allowed within the hallowed halls of the VIP lounge above?”


The woman nodded heavily, resting her cheek on his shoulder as she watched the frantic fight in the center of the room, people moving out of the way as Piano dived over a table to avoid an attack, only to scramble underneath as Vivi raised the table up to get another swing. “That’s right~ I’m the most regular regular Saki’s got~ My name is Chifu, the local gossip~ It’s a pleasure to meet you~”


“And the personage I go by is Forte, a traveling author who seeks interesting characters of note to utilize as fascinating facsimiles in my tales. With their permission, of course~” He gave a wink, which sent the woman giggling. “And if they protest, I can always manufact a character of merely passing likeness, so warped by my influences that any comparison is rendered null to even the sharpest of critics.”


 



Forte’s sister, meanwhile, landed a couple of blows onto her opponent’s torso. Against most opponents, this would be enough to wind them, but Vivi was a more experienced warrior than that. Instead, she attempted to grab Piano’s arms, but the smaller woman was too quick to be so easily grabbed by such an obvious grapple. Vivi then thrust her club forward, forcing Piano to create more distance. Vivi looked around at the bar, knowing she couldn’t use any of her magic in the bar without risking being kicked out, but this woman was just too hard to hit normally. Getting frustrated, she jerked her head towards the entrance, but Piano shook her head, not agreeing to a situation that would give her opponent an advantage. Giving a snarl, Vivi charged forward, closing the distance once more to finally land a hit.


“Are you really now?~” Chifu asked, a hand on her lips as if to hide her smile. “And would you mind if I got a sneak peek at it before you finish?~”


Forte gave her a wry smile, shaking his head in disapproval. “I’m sorry fizgig. I’m afraid I’m not in the business of giving away my manuscripts to anyone but my editor before it is of a remarkable quality. I would lose what upper hand I have among writers. You’ll just have to purchase a copy of my tome once it is of adequate work along with the rest of the multiverse. Mayhaps if you keep as good a company as your reputation at this place of patronage suggests, I might offer such a grimoire at a more reasonable rate~”


Chifu gave a disappointed whine, though she was still smiling. “Really? Oh well. I suppose I might have to get some reading done for once instead of just enjoying all of Saki’s wonderful drinks~” She looked over at the fight going on, seemingly amused by the fight. “My my, those two are raring to go~ Too bad we won’t be seeing them much during the tournaments. I’m sure everyone would love to see it~”


Forte looked at the woman suspiciously. Something about her appearance bothered him. Her hair and outfit… he swore he had seen them before. But he couldn’t quite place it at the moment as he shook his head to focus. “And pray tell how you came to that conclusion? Have you been eavesdropping on the going on of this tavern long before you claim to have investigated the source of this frenetic activity?”


The woman just gave a happy hum, rocking back and forth. “Like I said, I’m the local gossip~ I know things that other people don’t~”


Forte gave a small frown, though his smirk returned just as quickly. “That doesn’t quite rectify my lack of knowledge. Are you truly leading me to believe you noised about and stumbled upon the knowledge of the competitors so easily, when their announcements were but a mere few hours prior? I have been venturing forth throughout the district since the announcement hence, and I’ve just barely scraped together but a pair of fighters, much less the full eight figures entailed in the tourney. Your intelligence gathering skills must be on par with all but the most legendary of spycrafters.”


 “I have my sources~” Chifu teased with a grin. She then pointed at the fight in question. “But we’ll have to continue this conversation later. Maybe over drinks~ Right now, things are about to get interesting~”


Piano at this point stood away from Vivi, the former looking barely phased by the combat while the latter took a number of light blows across her body that were starting to wear on her. Growing tired of this, Vivi gathered earth magic through her club, the whole thing thrumming with energy as the very air vibrated from its power. Even if she missed now, the impact of her blow would send vibrations that would disrupt Piano, making it easier to land the next blow.


As Vivi charged with a roar once more, Piano’s mismatched eyes grew wide… then turned towards the entrance, no longer paying attention to the woman in front of her. As the club was raised high to strike, a translucent barrier suddenly materialized between them, to the shock of just about everybody. The club met the barrier with a loud clash, the air bursting with a shockwave from the pure force of the two sides. For a moment, it seemed everything froze, all becoming still. But then with a shattering sound, the barrier broke and Vivi’s arms were thrown back, the War Beast being driven back by the small eruption. Everyone turned their attention to where Piano’s was, looking at the one who finally intervened in the fight as even the Crossguards were caught unsure of how to proceed.


At the entrance stood a tall man with black hair and golden eyes, his gray cloak fluttering in the wind from the outside and his wine colored jerkin showing he was ready for combat, his hand resting casually on the sword at his waist. His other arm was up, having just projected the barrier to stop the last attack as he looked somewhat surprised. He looked down at his hand with some surprise, as if shocked by something as he flexed his fingers under his own gaze.


Vivi turned to him and called out, “And why are you stepping in now? First she throws me across a room, now you’re throwing in forcefields. Has anybody here ever heard of a fair fight?”


The man looked surprised at her hostility, though quickly brushed it off. “My apologies. But that last attack of yours looked like it would do quite a bit of damage to this bar, and I don’t think anyone would appreciate that, so I decided to protect it. But I must say, you’re pretty strong. My barriers aren’t that easy to break.” Despite how boastful his words were, he sounded rather humble as he spoke as he gave her a big smile. He seemed almost excited at the prospect that someone could break his forcefields.


“What- I- Thank you?” Vivi said in confusion, before shaking her head. “Whatever, you’re right, I let the fight get ahead of me.” She turned to Saki, bowing her head in apology. “Sorry for nearly breaking things in your bar.”


Thanks to Piano and Vivi being careful even while fighting and the quick work of the patrons and staff, only a few drinks were spilled in the ensuing brawl, but no furniture or tables were broken, and with no downward swings till near the end, not even the floor was damaged by the battle. Saki just cleaned a glass, though her sleeves were conspicuously rolled up at this point. “It’s all good. Next time take it outside or I’ll throw you all out myself, competitors or not.” She pointed at the three who were scheduled for the tournament that day. 

 

 

Piano looked to her brother, who nodded to her slightly, before she turned her attention to Angelique, studying her future opponent. Vivi and Angelique look surprised, looking first at Piano then the newcomer realizing these were two of the people they would need to take down. Angelique focused on Piano while Vivi walked up to the male.


“Wait, you’re one of the competitors?” the blonde asked incredulously, looking at the red skinned woman. The two women couldn’t be more opposite in appearance. Angelique was quiet, subdued, and darker in terms of clothes, while Piano was bright, flashy, and stood out with her clothes. With each motion the latter made, the bells on her coattails didn’t chime for even a second, her movements were that graceful and careful. And she seemed capable of taking Vivi in a fight, who was a strong fighter herself. Something about this woman made Angelique feel… angry? Disgusted? Maybe jealous, that she could wear something like that so openly, without any sort of fear? Whatever it was, Angelique just glared at her opponent, still upset she had intervened when it came to Forte.


Piano just gave a nod. “I’m Piano. And if my information is correct, you are my opponent in the upcoming fight, aren’t you?” To the devil blood, the slim woman across from her was reserved and defensive, seeming to keep as much to her chest as possible. While Angelique got a good showing of what her opponent could do, Vivi being the one to fight meant that Piano was going to go in blind to her match that day. It was not the best situation, but one thing Piano could tell was that if Vivi was the better fighter of the two, then Angelique would be easy to physically overpower. Which meant there was likely another trick to look out for. Piano bit her lip, trying to prepare her battle strategy.


Angelique looked surprised, not expecting to run into her opponent before the match. “You? Then why would you go jumping into fights before our match?”


“I wanted to make sure my brother didn’t get too hurt. He really doesn’t mean any offense with his words. He’s just trying to learn as much as he can. It just sometimes comes out in a way that upsets people. Please try not to hold it against him.” Piano gave a slight bow, as if asking for forgiveness.


“Brother?” The look of confusion on Angelique’s face was apparent, as she turned her head towards the “journalist.” He was busy setting Chifu onto a barstool, Saki pouring her another drink as she giggled to them both. Angie turned back to Piano. “How is that your brother?”


Piano just shook her head. “You’ll have to talk to him about that. His secrets are his, and mine are mine. Not that I have many secrets.”


“I’ll pass if you don’t mind.” Piano shrugged at the former princess’ response. Her brother could solve that problem if he needed to. “But since you seem to be in the mood to share, why don’t you go ahead and tell me what you plan to wish for if you win. What are you fighting for that that fox woman can give you?” She referred to Madame Chief with some derision, an obvious distrust plain in her words.


Piano shook her head once more. “I don’t really have anything I want to wish for yet. There’s nothing I can think of that the Madame Chief could give me. But my brother said it would be a waste to let the opportunity for a wish go by, so I decided to participate anyway to see what I can get from it.”


The statements were all independently true, so Piano wasn’t technically lying. It was true that she had no wish, and that Madame Chief couldn’t give her anything. But her brother could certainly get something important from the God Eater, and the tournament held quite a few things that Piano needed. So Piano didn’t feel too guilty telling all those half truths.


“So we’re the same then.” Angelique nodded. “Neither of us knows what we want, but both of us joined this tournament anyway. But only one of us will get the chance to figure out what we want out of this.”


Piano gave Angelique a solemn look, her purple and gold eyes looking so sad as she spoke. “Well I hope that either way this goes, you find whatever duty in life you need to find purpose in what you do.”


Angelique looked absolutely befuddled by that. “What are you talking about? What do you mean?”


But Piano didn’t continue the conversation from there. Instead, she went to one of the staff members and got a mop to help clean up some of the mess, leaving Angelique entirely alone with the words the devil blood left for her.


“What does that even mean?” Angelique asked once more, looking both confused and angry at the farewell she was given.


Vivi, meanwhile, stood in front of the man who interrupted her fight with Piano. She was just shorter than him, and he seemed rather calm as she assessed him. “And who are you? You seem pretty confident, with all you said.”


The man was quick to answer, a confident smile on his face. “I am Prince Armius Tu El Kaligos. Back where I’m from, I was referred to as the Strongest Man in the Universe. Though it seems when I came here, some of my power was limited to make it fair for everyone else. I’m still testing my limits, which is why I was surprised you could break my forcefield.”


Vivi raised an eyebrow. Meanwhile, across the bar, Forte’s ears perked up on hearing the words “Prince” and “Strongest Man in the Universe.” He looked to Chifu as she was happily drinking a margarita, sipping some of the salt off the rim as she wiggled in her seat. “Mayhaps we can reconvene tomorrow so that I can enjoy the splendor of your company further~ After all, you seem to be quite the fount of intelligence.”


Chifu gave a giggle, licking her lips satisfied with the taste of her drink. “Sounds like fun~ See you tomorrow.”


With that, Forte began crossing the bar, moving past Angelique as she talked with his sister. Vivi, meanwhile, motioned outside. “Strongest Man in the Universe, huh? Why don’t I give a shot at knocking you down a peg outside?”


Prince Armius gave a huge smile at that, excited at the prospect of a spar. “I’ll let you try. You’re pretty strong, so it’ll be a good warmup for my match today.”


Both fighters stepped outside, Forte joining them with a notebook in hand. The two stood across from each other for a few moments as most people cleared off the street to give them room for a fight. Vivi’s weapon began to vibrate once more with earth magic, while Armius drew his sword to be safe.


Then both rushed forward, weapons swinging with immense force. The clash in the middle created a shockwave of immense size, cracking the earth beneath their feet as the two held for a minute. The vibrations rattled Armius’ sword, but his arm held steady as he soon overpowered Vivi. With her weapon lowered by the weight of his sword pressing down on her soul weapon, he punched her in the chest, sending her flying down the street.


As Vivi finally slowed down, she coughed a few times, trying to recover her breath from having all the air forced out of her chest from that immense blow. He wasn’t kidding when he was saying he was strong. And if he was to be believed, he was even stronger than that.


The man, meanwhile, was shaking his arm, the vibrations making the tips of his fingers go slightly numb. “Wow, that swing of yours is really strong. Nothing’s affected me like this in all of my life. There are some really impressive people here.”


 



“Forsooth.” Forte chimed in, hiding his shock at the power of the blow. The strength and speed with which this man fought was almost unimaginable. Even if Piano did her best, even Forte doubted she could take him in a straight fight. If this man made it past this round, Forte would have to do something in order to help his sister beat the Strongest Man. “Though I could scarce say anyone is nearly as impeccable as you, Prince Armius. Your surely live up to your moniker.”


The Prince looked surprised, looking over at Forte. “Thank you, I suppose. And who might you be, stranger?”


“Myself? I am but a humble traveling crier who specializes in the craft of transcribing events onto paper and ink. I am currently on a journey to gather the personas of those that wish to challenge the trials of the wish granting tournament. As such, you are one of the ones I wish to speak with.” Forte gave a bow, holding his hat onto his head as he grinned up at the prince from a distant world.


“Really now? Well, we can talk later. That sounds interesting.” As he spoke, he turned back to Vivi, whose weapon was now wreathed in flames. He gave a smile and a wink. “But first, I have a spar to settle. The first fair one I’ve had my entire life.”


As both powerhouses hefted their weapons and charged towards each other, a flash of pink suddenly erupted between them, sending them skidding to a stop. Large white and red signs advising them not to proceed forward were imposed between them, blocking their vision of each other.


“Now hold it right there, busters!” Miss X shouted loudly, causing everyone around to cheer at seeing her. “Look, I like watching epic fights as much as the next announcer, but a girl’s gotta think about the people that spent money on PPV for these fights! Can’t have you guys giving away free fights on the street like that! Save it for the arena!”


Both warriors looked embarrassed, while the writer on the sidelines gave a low chuckle as the rest of the crowd laughed at Miss X’s jokes. Both weapons were stowed away in their respective sheathes, as the holographic barriers were lowered.


“You!” Miss X turned to Vivi. “You’re not fighting in the tournament, so normally we don’t care if you get into a fight or two. But you’ve fought not one, but two of the contestants of today’s matches before their opening fight today! You’re going to spoil all the juicy surprises for the audience if you keep this up!”


“And you!” Now it was Armius’ turn. “We’re having your promotions lined up as the Strongest Man in the Universe! Don’t go wasting all that young energy on random street fights! There’s a wish granting tournament you can try it all out on!”


“And you!” She wheeled towards the entrance of the bar, where Piano and Angelique now stood, the latter looking at the former as Miss X talked to Piano in a reprimanding tone. “You’ve gotten into not one, but two fights today! And fighting alongside one of your competitors too! Are you trying to draw attention to yourself?”


Everyone looked surprised at the revelation that Piano fought multiple times today. Forte was surprised that Piano would do something that draws so much attention to herself, when normally she’d keep out of sight, out of mind. Vivi and Angelique were surprised that after all of that fighting, Piano still looked perfectly fine, barely a drop of sweat on her after fighting two fights in one day.


“Now, I’m a nice girl, and give all my kittens one free forgiveness. So to help make things up to me, why don’t you all head towards the Cross Colosseum? The first match starts in just a little bit. I bet you all didn’t notice the time flying by with all the action going on.” She winked towards the “camera,” much to the confusion of everyone standing nearby that wasn’t local to the Crossroads.


As everyone began to depart towards the Coliseum, Forte turned to his sister. “Well, I’ll continue gathering intelligence from the audience. It’s not oft I pass the leading role upon you, but it is onto you that the spotlight of public perception lays upon you. I entrust it to you with hope you’ll uphold my legacy with the grace with which you fight.”


Piano just gave her brother a nod. “I’ll try to win. There’s already one person I’d prefer to fight. Her talent might be worth it.”


Forte gave a grin. “That’s splendiferous. I’ve got a quarry or two to pursue myself. May we both gain purchase on our objectives.” And with that, the two twins parted ways, independently making their way to the Coliseum with the rest of the throngs of people.


-----------------------


“Goooooooooood afternoon my darling little kittens!” Miss X’s voice echoed over the various speakers both around the Coliseum itself and the Business District surrounding it. “I can practically feel the energy all over town, all that excitement over the fights tonight! I know some of the fighters couldn’t wait till their official matches to get things rolling, so let’s hurry things along before these guys chomp through their bits!”


There was a large roar of excitement that ripped through the crowd, as the eight fighters were assembled below. As Piano suspected, the speedster from the streets earlier was one of her potential opponents. He gave her a wave, his crooked smile showing he recognized her from earlier. 


To her right between her and the speedster was Prince Armius. He gave her a small nod, recognizing her from the bar just moments before. To her left, Angelique was still looking at her, still trying to figure out what Piano had meant earlier. Just beyond Angelique, there was a boy with red skin like her, who seemed to resemble the barkeep Saki from earlier. He wore a white t-shirt and black cargo shorts, and his two horns were shorter than even Piano’s. He was bouncing on his heels, clearly ready for his first round match as he shadowboxed the air.


Just past him, Vilivian stood with her arms crossed. She looked at all of the competitors with her cool gaze, but her eyes locked onto Piano’s with greater interest, the conversation from earlier still echoing in Piano’s head. Past her, the one known as Rum was just standing around, looking at everything with an almost imperious gaze, his tail slowly moving behind him.


Lastly, and most striking of all, was the fighter at the furthest end. He looked like a military man, with his black undercut, tan bomber jacket, and a black pistol at his side. He stood at attention as the audience's eyes were on him… and the large mech behind him. A large machine of steel and firepower, the multiple guns mounted along it certainly made it an intimidating sight and put him in a league of danger along with Vilivian and Prince Armius.


As the fighters all stood at the center, Miss X started going over the rules while Madame Chief sat behind her in a relaxed pose, smoking her opium as she looked down at all of her assembled warriors. “So for these fights, there are two ways to achieve victory.” She materialized a second her that looked evil, with a necklace with a bell around its neck. She quickly reached forward and snatched the bell from the evil clone, which made exaggerated swinging motions as it’s tag was stolen. “The first is to steal your opponent’s tag and hold onto it and yours for thirty seconds. Like a nice little game of tag. Only with explosions!”


She then wound up a punch and hit her clone which made a dramatic motion to collapse on the ground. “The other is to knock out your opponent or otherwise render them unable to fight further. This one’s pretty exciting for the audience, so we hope you all pick this one the most!”


There was a loud cheer from the audience in agreement, as the evil clone exploded into fireworks, a heart shaped explosion emanating from it. She leaped through the smoke and slid to the front of her platform, fireworks firing off around her as she got into position at the end. “And now let’s get our first match going! Quan and Prince Armius, take your place on center stage!”


The two men stepped forward, facing off with each other as the rest started to leave the arena, Pembrooke taking the longest since he needed to climb back into his mech, activate it, and maneuver it back into the fighter’s waiting room.


“Now keep your eyes quick and ready for this first fighter, or he’ll have already stolen the show! Here comes Quan coming in hot! A rough and tumble fighter, he goes to show that when life’s got you down, all you gotta do is pick yourself up and work to make it better! Having superspeed to move faster than the eye can see certainly helps with that! Let’s hope his opponents can learn to keep up or he’ll be running circles around them!”


There was a smattering of applause, as Miss X presented an animation of a man moving lighting fast across the screen, as a picture of Quan took up the screen. The speedster gave the crowd a wave, smiling cheekily as he did.


“And his opponent needs no other introduction that his name, the great Prince Armius Tu El Kaligos, the Strongest Man in the Universe! And that name’s no joke either! He’s the real deal! Where he’s from, every aspect about him seemed almost made to shape the world to his will! Can anyone hope to somehow match and take down this behemoth of a warrior, or will he be able to prove that he’s worthy of the title of Strongest Man in the Multiverse while he’s at it?”


Lots of oohs came from the crowd, as the image of the Kaligos family crest was proudly displayed on the screen, followed by Armius’ visage gracing the screen. The man himself gave a humble wave as well, before facing his opponent once more.


Miss X gave a hearty cheer of her own, before setting a countdown to display on the screens, around the Coliseum, and in front of each of the fighters. “Now make sure you guys trade a nice, friendly blow to each other to get the match going right after the countdown! Three! Two! One! Fight!”


 

As the countdown finished, Quan quickly crossed the distance. Armius quickly swung out a punch, meeting Quan’s in the middle as their blows clashed. As they did, an unnatural shockwave radiated out as a loud bell sound rang out from the clash, and suddenly their entire surroundings began to shift…


--------------------


As the first match began with a roaring cheer, most of the other fighters were preparing for their matches in the waiting rooms. Most were alone in private rooms, doing what last minute prep they needed, but Pembrooke required a small hanger to prepare his ATG in. As he performed a last minute tune-up on the mech, he heard a small clearing of a feminine throat. Looking away from his work, he would see Piano beginning to approach him.


“Oh, you’re that Piano girl, right?” he asked, more confirming it rather than actually seeking information as he got back to work on his machine. “We’re on other sides of this bracket, so we won’t be seeing each other for a while. So why are you coming to me now?”


Piano looked a little awkward at first, trying to find the words to say. In truth, she didn’t really have anything she wanted to say. She was more interested in what he was doing. Mech repair and mech piloting were two skills she didn’t possess yet, so she was hoping to catch him doing the former for what little time she had with the monsters that were the first two fighters going at each other.


“Yes, I am. I just…” She thought for a second, biting her lip in thought. “I just wanted to talk to you. Since we don’t have to worry about fighting immediately, we can get to know each other a bit before we get matched up?”


 “Why would we do that?” Pembrooke asked somewhat incredulously, not looking at her still. “A soldier who gets to know his enemy is a soldier that hesitates at the wrong time.”




“A soldier, you say?” Piano didn’t look surprised. She wasn’t that familiar with mechs, since they weren’t common yet where she was from. But she could tell that it didn’t look like something a civilian could make. It definitely had the look of mil-tech. “So then you were sent into this tournament as part of your duty as a soldier?”


He gave a sigh at that, shaking his head. “No. No I didn’t. I’m doing this for my own sake.”

 

“There’s nothing wrong with that. Not everyone can do nothing but serve their duty for all of their lives. Having personal aspirations is normal behavior. Especially when one is being offered anything they desire.”


“Sure, that’s fine when you don’t have responsibilities to anyone or anything else.” He shot back. “But for those of us who hold the line of duty, this could be seen as pushing my luck. It’s just…” He gave a sigh. “There’s so much I want to do, but I’ve had to put my duty first. This is my first time really doing something for myself.”


“That’s good, isn’t it?” Piano said, though she looked pretty guilty herself. She could see lots of similarities between his duty as a soldier and hers as… with what she does with her brother. She’d never had a chance to do anything for fun herself, always putting the needs of survival or her work over her own happiness. “People aren’t made just to work. They need recreation to keep themselves sane.”


“I suppose that’s true,” he conceded, “but why do you care? We’re possible enemies in the next couple of days.”


Piano gave a shrug as there was a loud cheer. “I don’t know. Perhaps I’m looking for something myself and was wondering if you could help with that. Maybe we can talk another time to figure it out. But I have a match to make it to, so maybe another time.”


And with that, she began to walk away as Miss X announced the winner of the first match, leaving yet another contestant confused by her motivation.







































Battle of Darkened Warriors:


“Alright everybody, who thought that last match was super exciting?” There was a loud cheer of agreement. “Madame Chief sure knows how to pick a good start to a match! Now, we’ve got a bit of a calmer one, but I’m sure these two beautiful girls packed a few surprises just for us!”


Standing at the center of the arena was Piano and Angelique, standing apart from each other as they looked at the other with some determination. Piano was starting to focus herself into mission mode, while Angelique was still looking at Piano with suspicion from her comments from earlier.


“For our next match, we’ve got a warrior that looks like she’ll be putting on quite the show for us all! Let’s welcome Piano to the Colosseum! While her looks might be flashy and her personality might be timid, I wouldn’t take my eyes off of her! Otherwise, she'll have you reeling on the ground faster than the Saki Special on an empty stomach with her martial art moves! Will this Violet warrior have what it takes to bloom on the field of battle, or will she wilt away under the pressure?”


The image of a purple flower began to bloom, revealing Piano’s face as people began to cheer. Piano didn’t even react, her usual timid demeanor being pushed down for her combat demeanor.


“And for her opponent, a regular to tournaments like these worlds over, we have Angelique! An experienced veteran at fighting opponents from all walks of life and forms of existence, her experience and skill are sure to lend themselves well to a bout in our humble Colosseum! Whether through crushing blows or devastating magic, there’s no doubt this silent warrior will prove to us all what it is that keeps people like Madame Chief clamoring for more from her!”


There was a passage of shadows across the screen, before Angelique’s face peered out from the darkness as people cheered for her. She tried to keep small, not wanting too much attention on herself as she steeled herself for the first round of yet another tournament for her.


“Now, onto the main event! Fighters, ready yourselves!” The countdowns appeared again, the audience priming themselves to count down with it. “Three! Two! One! Fight!”


Both women ran forward at roughly the same speed, meeting in the middle of the circular arena. Both planted one foot and spun around into back kicks, both of their legs meeting up high. As they clashed, the same strange shockwave and the ring of a bell chimed out as the environment went into a metamorphosis

.

The ground beneath them became soft and muddy, pockets of water beginning to form around them. Dark trees encroached above them, darkening their surroundings even more as a slight fog began to settle over the arena.


“Looks like we’re going to a dank, dark swamp everyone! Hopefully we all brought our bug spray to keep away any nasty mosquitos!” Miss X commentated, the holographic woman not being in any danger of that.


The two women split apart for a moment to assess their situation, adjusting themselves to the softer ground. But that time was plenty for Piano, as she suddenly broke off her heels. As Angelique looked over just in time to see lilac projectiles hurtling towards her. She managed to block both of them, kicking one away and dodging out of the way of the other.

 

But as she went to look for her opponent, Piano was no longer in front of her. Looking around, she suddenly took a punch to the face as Piano snuck up the side to strike her.


“Ooooh, hidden weapons in the shoes! Piano knows how to turn any part of a women’s wardrobe into a weapon! Talk about femme fatale!”


As Angelique recovered, she threw a kick out towards Piano, who easily matched the kick with one of her own. The two women exchanged a series of kicks, each one switching back and forth between legs with ease with each blow. Piano was utilizing kickboxing techniques from multiple styles to change up her angles, forcing Angelique to try and counter as she kept switching things up.


“We’ve got a mirror match folks! And what a reflection it is! I don’t want to look away, and I’m sure none of you guys do either!”


But despite Miss X’s words, it wasn’t quite the mirror match it seemed to be. With each blow they exchanged, Piano’s strength proved to be just a bit stronger, pushing Angelique’s leg just a bit aside with each one and recovering her attack just a bit faster. After one particularly strong kick, Piano managed to transition from a back kick into a full body spin and a haymaker across the former royalty’s face. She swayed back and forth into a rolling combination of punches, getting a few good hits in before Angelique could start blocking. The moment she crossed her arms to provide herself some safety, Piano gave a straight kick that pushed Angelique against a tree.


At this point, it was obvious that Piano was the physically stronger warrior. If the fight continues as it does, there’s no way Angelique would win. She would need to switch up how the fight is going if she wanted to win. She lowered her arms to begin taking on the lilac shadow… only to find herself alone.


“Uh oh! Looks like our flashy friend is really good at hiding! Guess the mind games begin now! Look out in every shadow for devil bloods!”


Piano, rather than lying in wait to attack, was instead running from the middle towards where she remembered one of the exits was when the arena was normal. She had a few things she wanted to test when it came to the arena for future rounds. And if it made Angelique more stressed or angry doing so, it’ll make fighting her easier. After all, Piano could sense her ki from any point in the arena, so approaching would be easy.


After a couple seconds of running, she reached an invisible wall. ‘So, the arena stays the same diameter, thirty meters to any side from the center it looks like. Now to test this wall.’ She stepped back, and gave the wall a kick. There was a soft ringing of bells, the solid impact of the invisible wall taking her kick with ease. ‘Pretty solid, but could break with some force. Let’s see if it changes in strength on the part that should be a solid wall’


She walked about a meter to the left, where she figured it would be a wall again and gave another kick. There was another ringing of bells, though this one was much softer in volume. Which confirmed to Piano that there was a difference in the strength of the walls. ‘It’s like they want us to fight out of the arena at some point...’


“Looks like Piano is testing out her new fighting space! Smart, but she’s given her opponent too much time and her location! Watch out, danger!”


“Take aim, my shadow archers!” The incantation of Angelique began to emanate from the mists of the swamp. “Notch the might of darkness for your target is in sight!”


 For a moment, there was silence once more, then suddenly the area around Piano was bombarded with sharp knives and arrows made of pure shadow. Piano quickly drew a pair of throwing knives and deflected some of them as she dove behind some cover. The bark of the trees were being torn off, limbs being severed and ripped asunder by the barrage of projectiles as the wall behind Piano began to ring with the sounds of bells going off repeatedly from the impacts.


Normally, her opponent switching from blunt force to sharp implements was of benefit to Piano, but with the distance between them, it would be ineffective to start bleeding now. She’d have to get close again if she wanted to damage again.



As the storm of blades finally dissipated, Piano rushed out of her hiding place and closed in on Angelique. If she had to chant to use magic, then all the devil blood had to do was stick close and give her no chance to chant anymore. Within a second, the blonde was in sight and Piano prepared to attack. But with a wave of Angelique’s hand, a tendril of shadow erupted from a nearby tree and struck the martial artist in the shoulder.


Piano whirled away, unable to toughen her skin from the unexpected blow as she quickly tried to recover as Angelique closed once more. Piano quickly lashed out with a back kick to meet Angelique’s front kick. At the last second, Piano noticed the purplish energy surrounding her opponent's foot, giving her just enough time to brace for her mistake as their feet met. With an overwhelming force as gravity suddenly shifted itself to her opponent’s whims, Piano’s kick was blasted through and the thin red girl was sent spiraling into the swamp, tumbling on the ground with the ringing of her coattail bells as she did her best to protect her head and horns.


“Piano may have been winning earlier in the physical department, but now magic’s on the field! And with all this swamp, she’s got enough mana to blast away to her heart’s content! Looks like the magician is putting on quite a show with her new assistant!”


Angelique chased after her opponent, who suddenly leaped from the ground onto a nearby tree, before springing forward back towards the foe who sent her flying. But as she charged forward, Piano swung her arm, sending three steel projectiles towards her now surprised opponent. With a swipe of her arm, Angelique sent another tendril to deflect the three projectiles, only to be met with a fist to the face as Piano closed in during the opening to get a punch in.


Now Angelique was sent rolling as Piano quickly went to hide once more. Direct confrontation was no longer an option, as Angelique’s magic was both versatile and powerful. ‘Looks like she uses shadow magic.’ Piano began to break down her opponent’s magic. ‘And it looks like on her world, shadow and gravity are intrinsically linked. So she now has power, range, and options on her side. I’ll have to be careful how I-’


Her train of thought was interrupted by the sight of a small bubble floating to her right, as deep a purple as her natural eye color. Her eyes widening, Piano quickly ducked and scrambled out of the way as the bubble touched the tree where she was. With a sound like a shotgun blast, part of the tree’s trunk was blown off, sap oozing from the gaping hole in the tree.


Piano quickly rose up, only to see two more bubbles making their way towards her as she heard a pair of other blasts from different directions. She could try to avoid them, but she had a feeling Angelique would just keep sending them until they either hit or she learned Piano’s location. So instead, she drew two throwing knives and flung them at the bubbles, popping them from a safe distance as two explosions erupted back to back in the middle of the air. The knives were bent, rendered useless from the strength of the bubbles.


“Looks like Angelique was holding a bubble blowing party with nitroglycerin in the bubble formula! Too bad Piano keeps popping them with those sharp knives of hers!”


Angelique soon came to investigate the rapidfire popping, and was met with Piano rushing her once more. Both women started clashing with kicks, though now with the knowledge that at any point, the magic user could enhance her blows to get the win. She was, in fact, giving herself a bit to cooldown after using so much magic back to back, welcoming the physical match for a bit. But any moment, before Piano fully overpowered her again, she would use another gravity kick to set up her next move to finish off the devil blood.


But Piano didn’t let it go that far. After a few blows, Piano drew a pair of red throwing knives, different from the purely steel ones she had thrown earlier. At this range, there was no time for magic, so Angelique had to block with her arms. As the blades grazed her arms, there was a soft hissing noise as something about the weapons began to burn away at her clothes and some of her arms.


“A close range blade attack! Wait, what’s this? Something’s happening to Angelique where they hit! Looks like Piano’s blades have got an extra nasty surprise on them!”


Angelique, put off slightly, quickly prepared another gravity enhanced kick to create some distance to think. But this time, Piano dodged the blow, catching the leg with one arm. Holding her securely in place, Piano then swept up the veteran tournament fighter’s other leg and caught it too, holding her in perfect hammer throwing position. Piano began to spin in a circle, disorienting Angelique with the centrifugal force before flinging her into one of the thinner trees.


The impact looked painful, as Angelique was slammed in the center of her back into the tree. As she opened her mouth to let out a small scream of pain, Piano suddenly closed in and slammed her open palm into her opponent’s diaphragm, muting the scream into a painful exhale as all the air was driven out of her. Piano let Angelique hit the ground gasping for breath, then kicked her in the stomach to send her flying a bit away.


“Looks like Piano’s got the upper hand again and she’s getting brutal with it! Looks like she wants to end it before Angelique can use her bigger spells to really get the win here!” The audience gave oohs of sympathy for Angelique as Piano hit her opponent hard.


Piano moved forward to try and finish the fight, but a shadow tendril wrapping around her ankle put a stop to that real quick. With a quick whipping motion, Piano was flung away from Angelique, hurtling towards a tree some distance away. Piano couldn’t recover control before she hit, so she figured out where she was going to be hit. Manipulating the ki in her body, she toughened the skin and muscle around her chest and arms, crossing the latter over the former as she suddenly made impact. It still hurt, but it was nowhere near as damaging than if she had just taken the hit. But as she went to stand up…


“Sdoulc fo dica, dnecsed! Nrub yawa hself dna enob ekila litnu enon sdnats ni ruoy yaw!”


Between Piano and Angelique, a cloud of green suddenly began to form. In an instant, all the grass and trees in the area began to corrode away, until there was nothing left of them as the caustic cloud burned away all within its touch. It then began to slowly roll in the direction of Piano, who was forced to beat a hasty retreat.


“Madame Chief! It looks like someone’s pissed! A cloud of acid is filling the arena, burning away all those good, solid, oxygen producing trees! What’d they ever do to you, Angelique, besides hit you just now? The barrier Madame Chief put up should protect all of us, but in any case, it looks like Piano’s in a really dangerous situation!” The whole audience gave a gasp at the cloud of acid, some people in the front row still fleeing higher as a safety precaution to ensure they didn’t get hit.


Piano ran in the opposite direction of the cloud as quickly as possible, though she quickly ran into an issue: the edge of the arena. Despite looking like a swamp, they were still in the Cross Colosseum, and she just hit where the wall was. She knew there was no way she could break through it before the cloud reached her, and she doubted even with her blood, she’d survive direct contact with the caustic barrage. As her options slowly dwindled, she began to breathe very quickly, as if she was beginning to hyperventilate as…


--------------------------


After about a minute of having the Caustic Cloud spell up, Angelique dispelled it before the wind could pick up and carry it back towards her. Where once there were plants and wildlife in half of the arena, there was now nothing but mud and water, all living things in its path were completely wiped out. She had heard the sounds of bells ringing, surely from her opponent trying to escape, but those had stopped halfway through, which was a good sign for Angelique.


“That should’ve taken care of her, right?” Angelique asked out loud, visibly frustrated and angry. She had pushed herself near her limit, and she was getting tired and frustrated. She didn’t think her first opponent would push her as far as she did, and she wasn’t looking forward to dealing with the others.


 


“Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.” Miss X gave a loud hum, looking at Madame Chief. The regal goddess, flanked by her five Crossguards, merely gave a coy shake of her head, laughing to herself with her pipe. Miss X turned back towards the “camera.” “Sorry, but it looks like your opponent’s still kicking! Guess you’ll have to find her and knock her out or take her tag!”


“Are you kidding me?” Angelique roared with frustration. “There’s no way she survived that! Just let me go and I’ll-”


Her tirade was interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing off to her left. Her head whipped over, to the section of the arena where the treeline still existed. Did she really manage to…?


“Alright, let’s get this over with!” she roared, racing over to where she heard the noise. As she passed by one of the ponds, a hand suddenly grabbed hold of her ankle. Before she could even comprehend what happened, she was suddenly dragged under the water.


When she could see again, she saw a horrific scenario: she was now underwater with Piano above her holding her down beneath the surface. Of course Piano escaped the spell by going underwater, it was the only possible explanation. But surely she must be running low on oxygen right? It would have to be a breath holding contest, though the punches Piano was raining down made that difficult despite their weakened force underwater.


In truth, Piano had prepared her lungs to hold her breath for as long as possible. She couldn’t set up all the way, so she only got a little over forty minutes of air in her lungs before she dived under the water. She thought the spell would last longer than it did, but when Angelique ended it early, she knew what she had to do. This method would both put the battle into an endurance race that Piano easily won and render Angelique’s magic unavailable.


“An underwater battle! This fight has everything! Let’s see who can hold their breath longer! Though it looks like Angelique is already beginning to struggle!”


Sure enough, Angelique was already starting to run out of air, while Piano was still taking control, starting to wrap her hands right around the magic user’s neck to speed up the process. Panic began to set in as oxygen levels were getting low. ‘No! I’m not going to lose this early! I can’t lose like this again!’


Getting her foot under Piano’s stomach, gathering as much mana as possible. Powering the strongest gravity spell she could, she shoved up with immense force, blowing both Piano and almost half the water out of the pond, the ground appearing dry now as the devil blood was sent sky high with a gasp of pain. A good portion of the excess moisture was even blasted off of her from the force, her damp clothes flapping in the wind as she reached the apex of her launch.


“Hrrraaaaggggghhhhhhhh!” With a roar of anger as she regained her breath, she used one more gravity spell to hurtle Piano down to the mud, the red skinned woman bouncing from the force of impact with a low thud before slamming back onto the ground as the gravity spell forced her back down. A trickle of black blood began to trickle down from the top of her head, a good portion of her body now bruised and injured as she lay unmoving for the moment.


“What a turnaround! She sent Piano flying high like a firework, only to slam her down like a meteor back down to earth! Will that be enough to finish off this intense battle?” The audience was beside itself in excitement, people screaming like mad at the exciting turn of events.


Angelique did not seem to think so. As she stumbled out of the now half empty pond, she made her way over to Piano’s prone form. Standing next to her head, Angelique put a gravity spell on Piano one last time as she lifted up her foot. This is the end…

 

Piano’s golden eye suddenly shot open, shooting up just as Angelique’s foot slammed where her head was. Standing up on her hands even against the force of the gravity, the lilac clad woman gave a kick to the black clad woman’s face with a blow that was much harder than any that had come before. As they both got back onto their feet, it was clear something was different with Piano.


She had been lucky to toughen her body at the last moment before she slammed into the ground, which was the only reason she was still conscious. But she was fast burning through her stamina, so she couldn’t take anymore damage like that. And she hadn’t achieved her objective, so she had to go on the offensive. Getting her blood pumping through her body at a much faster speed, doping up her body to act at a much faster rate was her last resort to win. Piano’s skin was now darker from the increased blood flow, her veins bulging on her skin as they worked much harder than they usually did. A blood vessel on her forehead also pulsed, her eyes looking bloodshot with black veins as she got into a fighting stance.


Angelique, meanwhile, had already pushed her mana to its limit. She needed time to recover, so she’d have to fight kick to kick with Piano. But the moment she moved forward to attack, Piano had already reached her, slamming a fist into her chest, before kicking her side and sending Angelique stumbling away.


“Uh oh! Looks like Angelique is looking tuckered out, while Piano’s putting on a desperate last push! Who’s gonna run out of steam first? It’s all coming down to the wire! I can barely keep on my stage with all this excitement!” The audience was completely silent at this point, everyone at the edge of their seats as they watched closely to see who would come out on top.


Piano comboed attack after attack on Angelique, her power and speed much faster than she had shown throughout the whole fight thus far as her opponent was put fully on the defensive. But the wound on her head was bleeding quickly, and she could feel her heart and lungs tightening from the intense strain doping her blood put on them.


‘Come on! Come on! Show me what I need!’ Piano begged in her mind, punches and kicks coming out faster and faster. At last, Angelique lifted both of her arms to block. But this time, she angled her block to ensure she covered both her head and chest, having learned from Piano’s blows earlier in the match. ‘There! Objective complete!’


Drawing a throwing knife while she faked another punch, she barely grazed Angelique’s arms as Piano placed the knife on her forearm. Her pronounced veins made it easier for her to surgically slice open her vein and aim her pressurized blood.


Nearly a liter of black blood shot out of her arm as an intense spray that completely splattered both of Angelique’s arms, her sleeves already being corrupted into nothing. At this point, Piano was pushed to the edge of her endurance, but as long as she held out for just a few more seconds, she could win. As the blood soaked into the metal of Angelique’s arms, they began to sizzle and smoke, the connections keeping the arms together beginning to fall apart as they were being corrupted and damaged.


“What’s going on?” Miss X was beside herself, as was the audience as they all screamed in horror or excitement at the gout of blood. “Piano’s arm sprayed blood like a fire hose! And what’s this? Angelique’s arms are made of metal? And they’re beginning to melt? Who knew Piano had acid blood in her? I guess Madame Chief invited a xenomorph into this year’s tournament!”


Piano charged forward while Angelique looked confused at what was going on. She attempted to summon shadows to save her, but Piano was too fast, planting in front of her opponent and spinning around into a back kick directly onto Angelique’s arms. Both limbs shattered from the impact, scattering into pieces around the veteran tournament fighter as she was slammed into a tree. As she slid down into the pile of scraps that were her arms, Piano made her approach towards her fallen opponent.


The blood vessels throughout her body began to calm down, the skin lightening up slowly as the veins stopped bulging as Piano got close enough. Angelique looked rather disturbed at the whole turn of events. As she looked down at where her arms were, her damp blonde hair covering her face, she let out a noise of sorrow and anger. “It’s really not fair.” She said in a low voice.  “You’re strong, you’re pretty, and you're confident to wear stuff like that. We couldn’t be any more different. I guess I’m just a broken girl after all.”


Piano hesitated with her hand hovering near Angelique’s neck for a moment. “That’s not entirely true. I can’t tell you how to make yourself confident to do what you want. That strength is for you to find. And I don’t think you could’ve ever found it here.” And with that, she reached forward and took off the tag. “Just sit there and let the match end. I don’t want to hurt you anymore than I have, physically or emotionally.”


“And Piano has taken Angelique’s tag! Let the countdown begin!”


As both women in the arena stared at each other, one with a look of defeat and one with a solemn, but somewhat comforting smile, they both listened as the audience and Miss X counted down till victory. Madame Chief simply looked down at the proceedings with an amused smile on her face, already giving a light clap even before the countdown ended and fireworks began to erupt as the arena returned to normal, all of the damage to the swamp vanishing as bells rang once more.


“And there you have it folks! The winner of the second match of round one, after one of the most intense mirror matches I’ve ever seen, is none other than Piano! Be sure to give her a Crossroad’s Cheer as she moves on to round two to face the previous match’s winner!”


As the crowd began to cheer, Piano walked around and picked up all of her weapons. After putting the heels in her shoes back on, she walked forward and bent down to Angelique as the latter looked confused, before picking her up in a fireman’s carry.


“Hey!” the woman complained, trying to look over her shoulder at Piano. “I already lost, you don’t have to embarrass me anymore! What do you think you’re doing?”


Piano gave a shrug as she began walking out of the arena to the applause of the audience, noticing Vivi’s ki beginning to go to meet them at the exit. “Well, you need new arms after I broke yours, right? There’s a blacksmith that can handle that for you in town. And besides,” she adjusted her grip of Angelique on her shoulder, “I heard from my brother you don’t like being treated like a princess. So this was the only thing I could think of.”


As Angelique looked mighty embarrassed by the whole affair, Piano couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. After all, from the moment she had noticed the arms, she had instantly thought of the ever grouchy blacksmith Nephro she had met the other day. She had known he could build prosthetics, such as his own, and that was a skill she highly sought after. But he wouldn’t show her his skill just on its own. He kept turning her away, saying he didn’t have time for apprentices and would rather deal with actual paying customers if he had to deal with other people. But if she brought someone who needed a new pair of arms…


As Piano began to exit through the doors to acquire a new talent with Angelique’s unwitting aid, Madame Chief watched the two leave with a smirk of satisfaction. Her eyes twinkled with mirth as the tail on Angelique slowly began to fade, and a second tail grew on Piano as the tails on each of the God Eater’s side seemed to “blink” in response.


“My my, that was a rather amusing match to say the least~” The Madame commented to her guards, the six of them all standing at attention near her. “I look forward to seeing how the rest of this tournament proceeds~ And to see which wish I get to fulfill~”


As she spoke, the Crossguards all were busy dealing with a crisis, as there were only supposed to be five guards guarding the God Eater at this time. But they seemed to have an extra for some reason. But they knew not to interrupt the Madame Chief while she was being amused, so they stood at attention and waited to deal with it later.


Meanwhile, the disguised imposter did all he could to contain his own smirk, glad that his sister’s match proved to be a big enough distraction to allow him to infiltrate the God Eater’s personal guard. The next steps in their plans could continue without a hitch, as the next two days were sure to prove to be an exciting affair...

 

[Piano & Forte] Round 2: Violet Winds

Original Doc

Dance of the Fox and Snake:


“And that was our last fight of the day folks!” Miss X’s cheery voice rang out over the speakers, drawing some boos from the audience as they were disappointed that the fights were over. “Settle down, settle down everyone! After all those intense matches, our fighters need a little cat nap to recharge perky and ready for tomorrow’s fight! And plus, now that you’ve seen some of their stuff, you can go buy their merch at one of the many stores in the business district to show support for your favorite fighter! Twenty percent of all proceeds go towards the Rescue Fox Foundation, so that no fox goes unfed!”


There was a mixed applause at that as people began to stand up and leave, talking about the day’s matches. While they were used to some of the fights being brutal in the past, most had seemed to underestimate this year’s fighters, thinking all of them were looking softer than previous years. But after the first couple matches, the crowd’s lust for blood had been more than sated, and the latter half also kept it up. Many who hadn’t picked their favorites that morning were now more sure of which fighters remaining they would root for. 


“Alright my kittens, good night! Sweet dreams! I love each and every last one of you! Hearts for all of you!” Miss X gave a cheery wave, before fading from view. At the same time, the curtain to the God Eater’s private booth was drawn to a close, the snow haired goddess giving a look down at the audience below with great amusement as her view faded. 


As the room darkened from the lack of natural light coming in, Miss X reappeared with a wave, approaching the goddess. “That was such a good group of matches, Mom! All of them were absolutely amazing! I can’t wait for tomorrow’s matches!”


The God Eater gave an amused chuckle at that, giving a languished wave at her holographic daughter. “I’m glad you’re having so much fun~ You did such a wonderful job entertaining the audience today, as you always do~ Maybe I should give you a bigger allowance as a reward for your hard work~”

Miss X laughed at that, going to elbow her mom as her limb phased through the God Eater. “Yeah right, like that’s going to happen! We both know you’d want to spend all that money on more bo-”


The white haired fox simply raised a finger up to Miss X’s lip, silencing her in an instant as the announcer looked confused. The kitsune goddess merely waved six tails, causing the hologram to examine the guards in the room carefully. Seeing the problem, she nodded her head in understanding.


“Well, I believe today’s been exciting enough for me~ I think I’ll go rest in my room~ You four,” The God Eater pointed to four of the Crossguards in the room, who all stood at attention for her command, “you all gather the palanquin and bring it to the Fox’s Den, as usual~ You two will come with me~ Daughter, I take it you’ll ride on the palanquin back home and say hi to all your adoring fans~”

“Of course Mom! Operation Placating Palanquin is a go!” Miss X then disappeared in a cloud of pink hearts, presumably waiting below for the four Crossguards who likewise made their exit. The God Eater then turned to the last two guards in front of the sliding door at the back of the VIP room.


“Now then, shall we retire in my suite?~ Kindly get the door for me, would you boys?~” She gave them a languid smile, as the two guards reached for the edge of the door. As their hands touched the slight opening simultaneously, the sounds of bells filled the room. When the doors were opened, a luxurious suite appeared before them in an impossible location, since the only thing that should’ve been on the other side of this door was the opening towards the arena.


 




The bed was made with soft linens, with several sets of large, fluffy pillows like curled tails curving from the head around the sides. A large gathering of pillows sat right in the center of the crook of tails, looking perfect for a goddess to lounge comfortably upon. There were several other large pillows scattered around the room to lounge in, all with a perfect view of one of the many windows that looked out towards the four corners of the Crossroads. As the sun was beginning to set outside, it cast the whole room in a brilliant orange light, coloring the various amounts of white and darkening the red as the God Eater entered her abode with her two Crossgurads.


She sat down on one of the large cushions sitting near a small kotatsu, a bottle of sake and a pitcher of water already waiting for her there along with two small cups. She gestured to one of the guards, signaling him to come forward and pour her a drink. As she did, the other Crossguard gave the indicated one a look that was hard to read through the blindfold, but the body tension indicated some hostility as he then bowed and stepped out of the room.


With just the two of them alone in the room, the Crossguard grabbed the bottle of sake and poured one of the ceramic cups full for her, being rewarded with a soft chuckle of amusement as she gestured for the guard to sit. “Please, have a seat for a bit~ I know you were standing around for quite a bit today~”


“.... And what, pray tell, gave up my ruse?” The “Crossguard” asked, lifting up a blindfold to reveal a golden iris looking back into her golden ones as she gave him a knowing smile. She watched as his features shifted from a more generic humanoid into the familiar figure of Forte, his tail seeming to reappear in the gap in the Crossguard pants as it curled behind him with some amusement, before moving out of the way so he could sit. The God Eater’s own tails swished behind her, the eyes on them almost seeming to look down on him when she no longer could, given his taller stature. All the eye iconography was certainly making him wonder if she could see through all of the eye motifs throughout the town, which would make his work much harder. “I had imagined that my visage was impregnable to scrutiny and my thoughts masqueraded perfectly. I did not think there was a singular flaw in my trick for you to exploit.”


“Nothing silly like that~ I simply know all of my Crossguards very well, from their names and personality, to their family life and hidden desires~” She explained, pointing one of her tails towards the door. “For example, the man that just walked outside has a daughter with an interest in mechanics~ He’s hoping working will give him enough money to get her through school~ So the moment I didn’t recognize you, I was interested to see who you really were and what you wanted with someone like me~”


“‘Someone like me?’ What curious phrasing indeed.” Forte mused, leaning into his seat as he watched her take another sip of sake. “I would not expect such humility from the goddess of the Crossroads, a multiversal hub of travelers and those of great power. Someone who can maintain order and guidance for those beneath you cannot truly feel fit to have such humility and submissiveness about her position. Nay, I would expect one in such a position to be more regal and prominent.” He gave her a flattering smile, as she started waving it away.


“Me?~ All of that?~ That’s not possible~ I’m just a little fox that likes to have a little fun that everyone’s making a bigger deal about than needed~ Keep putting all these expectations on me and you’ll make me blush~” She laughed at that, refilling her cup with sake as Forte drew out his notebook. His wooden pen was in his hand, the golden eyes of Madame Chief following it as he spun it in his hand before putting pen to paper.


“And yet here you preside, the hostess of a cross-dimensional tourney of powerful warriors that you’ve managed to collect with the promises of a wish beyond imagining and yet you dare say you are not worthy of regard? Surely you see the folly in that?” Forte challenged her with an inquiring look, while she merely shrugged it away.


“I just give people what they want~ Just like you sister, Forte~ I’m sure there’s something she’s looking for by coming here, don’t you think?~”


 


Forte looked somewhat surprised for a moment, before quickly recovering. “I’ll pray leave the manner of your intentions for inviting my sister to your tourney for a moment. What sorcery did you utilize to acquire knowledge of my name without my granting it to you, either via verbal audition or mentally thievery?”


The God Eater gave him a wink, swirling her alcohol in the small cup in her hand. “I know the names of every person within my domain~ I hope you don’t mind me knowing that~”


“As it happens, I have a preference for giving myself a proper introduction. But I suppose for one of your position, you had no ken of such a restriction, so I shall provide you some grace in this instance. But mayhaps in return, I can receive some small manner of recompense.” He gave her a sly grin, which she matched in kind.


“Oh really?~ And you don’t think getting to talk to me alone is a good enough apology?~” She gave a chuckle. “I’m even offering you some of Saki’s best~”


“Are you implying that what the bartender uses below to cater to her clients is not her most refined potables? That she serves second rated brews to those that grace her with coin?” 


His teasing was met with an amused chuckle from the goddess, who didn’t take his bait. “You’re avoiding my question from earlier~ Why did your sister want to get a wish from me?~ What could she possibly want that her brother couldn’t get for her?~”


Forte gave an expression of annoyance, but inside he was practically leaping for joy. He had successfully ensnared her in his conversation. Just a little while longer and his fangs would be ready to bare themselves towards a goddess and he could ascend to greater challenges. It took some effort to keep his expression from showing too much of his inner thrill as he responded, “While my sister and I are but one soul divided among two vessels, that does not grant me a greater insight into her inner motives than anyone else can hope to glean. You’ll have to seek that answer for yourself when she comes to you to have her desire granted.”


“Confident she can win, are you?~” The God Eater mused, her tails swishing behind her one at a time with amusement. “She’s got some tough opponents ahead of her to beat if she wants to get her wish~ Maybe you should try and wish her some luck~”


Forte gave her a wry grin, leaning back into the cushion behind him, his tail flicking to his side. “I have little need for such advantages. My sister has proven herself martially again and again in our travels. I only pray that she doesn’t feel too guilty at bringing harm to her opponents to surpass their threats. She is a sensitive soul, you know, and such harsh actions take a considerable toll on her psyche.”


“I see~ Well, Saki has plenty of alcohol to numb the pain if she needs it~” Madame Chief gave a laugh, taking another drink of said alcohol as she got more comfortable in her cushion, seeming to lower her guard around him.


Forte grinned to himself, writing down something in his notebook. “Unfortunately for her constitution, she’s developed a strong tolerance for any foreign substances that attempt to influence her bodily functions or mental faculties, so imbibing of spirits is a trial truly too difficult for her to overcome.”


“Oh?~ Well that’s a real shame~ I would’ve loved to see what she looked like wasted~ Maybe I’ll ask Saki to look into making something strong enough to get even Piano drunk~” She gave an almost evil sounding chuckle at that.


“And what intentions do you have with my sister? Needs I keep my gaze upon you to make sure you have no ill acts to direct towards my sister?” He teased the goddess, raising a suspicious eyebrow at that.


“Oh, you don’t have to worry about what I’m going to do~ But after today’s matches, there’s going to be lots of merchandise and other memorabilia of your sister and the other contestants~ You’ll need to keep your eyes on all the men buying stuff of your sister~”


“I have a keen eye for men of that baseborn calibur. They shall not even get within the same locality of my sister’s presence.” Forte gave an almost smug look at that, straightening up proudly as he did so. “And if they did, I’m sure what blackguards managed to make their way towards her would quickly regret such a chance misfortune.”


“Is that so?~” The God Eater seemed amused at that as well. “Maybe I should direct some people her way to see how she deals with them~”


“Don’t force my hand against you either, Miss God Eater.” Forte teased, before seeming to “realize” something. “But I am afeared we have strayed towards topics that are otherwise ill-needed. Mayhaps we should bring this little interview to a close. And to draw these curtains hence, I suppose I should ask for a proper name to put down for your entry, if you would be so kind?”


Forte’s grin externally was friendly and conversational, but internally, there was a wicked amount of pleasure at what he was about to steal from her. His wand was in his hand, ready to take down her name as she looked at him with slightly pursed lips, as if thinking about her answer. 


“Hmmmm~ Well, if you have to write down a name, the God Eater should work~”


Forte gave her a long look, his grin plastered on his face before he wrote in his book. But as he finished writing the name down, his golden eye seemed to dull slightly, losing some of its glimmer as he looked back up at her. His tail froze in place at his side, anger welling up inside of him at having been tricked at the name. He went to open his mouth, though not even he was sure what he wanted to say right now.


But at that moment, the sliding door reopened and two Crossguards entered the room. One of them pointed a syringe gun towards Forte, the loaded syringe dripping with tranquilizer as the writer looked his way as he composed himself once more. “Intruder, the Madame might have allowed you to enter her room with her, but now I must ask you to leave. Immediately.”


Forte looked at the man with a long look, as if wanting to object. But then he looked behind the threatening Crossguard to the three behind him, and merely shut his notebook, shaking his head. “I shall permit this abrupt departure for the time being. But I little doubt this little interview between us has ceased but for the shallowest of descents of Time’s sands. We shall have to reconvene, mayhaps after my sisters success is assured for all to bare witness to?”


“Maybe~ We’ll have to see~” Was all the response Forte got, which he seemed to accept. He strode forward between all the Crossguards, who watched him carefully as he left, before looking at their goddess. She merely took a sip of saki as the elevator doors opened and closed, sending its lone passenger back down towards the Fox’s Den below as Miss X appeared in the room now.


“I wonder what was up with him?” Miss X asked, tilting her head as a number of question marks floated around her. “Isn’t he Piano’s brother? He seems to be following you around like the woman that’s with Taleus in the other tournament. They both even disguised themselves as Crossguards. The similarities are almost spooky!”


“Popularity is certainly a curse, isn’t it?~” Madame Chief giggled, as she began to shift her form from her goddess form to her more casual Chifu guise. She then turned to the Crossguard with the syringe gun, the yellow skinned humanoid putting away his weapon as his antennae twitched. “And what made you all run in like that?~ Did you sense something up with him?~”


“I sensed a great surging of anger, along with the feeling of a wounded pride.” The man said calmly, the empath bowing his head as he spoke. “While I’m sure he couldn’t hurt you seriously, we felt it was best to keep the competitor’s brother from doing anything rash to avoid disrupting the tournament.”



“And that’s why we employ you~” Chifu complimented, reaching up to rub his antennae. This caused the Crossguard to blush, before walking away to take a stiff stance to continue his guard duty. “Well, if we’re worried about what he wants, I’ll try to figure it out tonight~ I’m sure I’ll be having some interesting drinking partners tonight~”


Miss X just giggled as well, looking at Chifu. “Well then, I’m going to have to keep an eye on things too!” Both women looked at each other with a grin, knowing that tonight was going to be an interesting one.






















Mounting Pressure:


“Ok, now I just need you to flex your elbow at first. Start from there, then we’ll go to the wrist and then the fingers.”


Nephro, the local blacksmithing expert, currently had Angelique sat in a seat in the back room of his shop, a new pair of prosthetic arms attached to her as the mechanical prodigy tested the connection with the blonde magic user before sending her off. In the corner of the room, Piano sat watching, her golden eye seeming to glitter with a mysterious light as she watched the proceedings. 


She had brought her opponent to this place partially to assuage her feelings of guilt at having broken Angelique’s metal arms, and also as a method of finally getting Nephro’s prosthetics-making talent. It had taken quite a bit of convincing on her part to convince both Nephro to let her watch and Vivi not to smash her face into the wall for what she did to the demon girl’s friend. But eventually she was allowed to do her job and she successfully pulled off her theft. Now all she had to do was find the perfect time to make her leave without causing a scene and she would’ve done a perfect job.


Angelique flexed her fingers, the former princess having been silent nearly the whole time Nephro worked. Once he gave her the green light that her arms were working fine using his machines and knowledge, she walked over to where Piano sat. The devil blood looked up at the blonde, which gave the latter the perfect opening to grab a hold of her neck. Piano did nothing to fight the grab, trying to remain calm as Nephro gave a cry of protest.


“You have no idea what it is you did to me today.” Angelique stated coldly, looking Piano in the eyes as she lifted the latter onto her feet. “The memories you forced me to relive. Another pointless tournament where I’m left lying on the ground, armless and broken. And for what? You don’t even know what you want, yet you’re willing to go so far as to destroy my arms? What are you hoping to get by doing all this?”

Piano stayed silent for a while, the glimmer in her eyes now gone as regret was clear on her face. Vivi stuck her head in at this point, looking at the two women while Nephro huffed with annoyance at the distraction. Finally, Piano gave an answer in a quiet voice. “I thought based on how well you fought around your arms, I thought you had that wound for a while. I didn’t realize it was so fresh for you, nor that it was so deeply rooted. If I had, I would’ve looked for another way. I didn’t intend to hurt you, I was just trying to ensure the fight ended as quickly as possible, and that was the only way I could see without drawing my sword. All I can ask for is your forgiveness.”


“My forgiveness?” Angelique asked in a dangerously low voice. “You think you can just blow off my arms like it’s nothing and then turn around and ask for forgiveness? You’re going to have to do a little more than that.” She let go of the thin martial artist’s neck, Piano instantly recovering having made sure to hold her breath before being grabbed.


The moment she was free to act, she let Angelique back up, before the young devil blood went on her hands and knees, bowing before a now surprised Angelique. “Of course. Words can only do so much. And while I can’t offer to give you my wish, this is the only thing I can think of to show my sincerity in wanting your forgiveness. I’m not asking you to be my friend or anything, but all I ask is that you don’t treat me as an enemy for what I did to you. Could you find it in your heart to do so?”


Angelique took a step back, as if unsure how to react to this. She looked to Vivi, who only shrugged to show that it was all up to Angelique how to respond. Eventually, she gave a slightly annoyed huff and responded with an equal measure of annoyance. “Have you no shame? Or did you lose it all so you could dress like that?”


Piano was sort of glad this position made it impossible to see her face, for she looked plenty embarrassed at Angelique’s words. “I don’t know what my clothes have to do with this, but I feel plenty of shame. I just don’t think it should stop me from doing what needs to be done in situations like this.”


Angelique just rubbed the back of her head with her new hand, before putting her hood back on to hide her expression. “Just stand up already, would you? And if your annoying thesaurus of a brother waiting outside to ambush again? Should I send Vivi outside first to send him running?”


Piano stood up quickly at that, brushing off her dirty, damaged, and somewhat bloodstained clothes as she straightened herself up. “No, I think he said he had other work to do. He should be busy with that for most of today, so he can’t talk to you anymore today.”


“Lucky me. Well Vivi, let’s go back to our room. I think I just want to take a nap until our boat comes to pick us up.” Angelique brusquely strode out the door with but a moment’s wave to the two remaining occupants of the room.


Viola looked back towards her retreating friend, looking worried but slightly relieved, before giving the two in the room a wave of her own as friendly as she could manage. “Sure thing Angie. I’ll bring you your food tonight, but tomorrow, we’re going to go out in the town while the fighting’s going on and everyone else is busy.” The pair quickly left the store, leaving the young prodigy and the talent thief alone.


Nephro gave an annoyed huff of his own, bothered by all the distractions that were going on today. “Was there anything else you needed from me today? I noticed those daggers of yours were bent pretty bad. Did you want me to fix them or did you bring them in to admire the damage under my lights?”


Piano looked at the couple of bent throwing knives she had set down nearby. Angelique’s bubbles had bent the blades facing completely backwards, the points practically buried in the hilt at this point. Piano shook her head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for these to take up space. I just brought them with me as a memento. These are just tempered steel, so I can easily replace them. Don’t worry about it at all.”


“Ok then. And what are you going to do about your clothes? I doubt you’ll want to walk around with all those holes in them?” He pointed at her clothes, which were torn in places from the attacks Angelique had leveled at her with magic. It was also covered in some of the black blood of the devil woman. “Not that I do much with clothes. Although I was working on an electro-polymer bodysuit lined with nanomachines to enhance the physical capabilities of the body, but that’s more of a side project. Otherwise, clothes are off limits as a job.


Piano looked down at it, and then shrugged her shoulders. “I guess I’ll just sew this outfit up the best I can and prepare another one for after the tournament. Looking at every other fighter ahead of me, I don’t think it’s worth burning through that much material for a new outfit every match.”


“And what sort of material would that be? You said the other day that most materials couldn’t hold your blood for long, and the ones that did wouldn’t be enough to hold blood for quenching. And yet your clothes aren’t being destroyed by your blood. So what’s it made of?” His metallic claw closed around his hand and opened with a snapping sound, the click of his bladed feet as he adjusted his position to look at her.


Piano gave a slight flush at that, as if embarrassed by the information. “Well, this is normally just plain silk, the kind you can find in any dimension and world. But there’s a certain alchemical process that you can treat the bolt in that purifies it in a way that lets it resist the corruption of my blood. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about alchemy, would you?”


Nephro just gave a disappointed look, shaking his head. “Sorry, I don’t deal in magic. I prefer things grounded in logic, reason, and science. Something that’s consistent, not up to the whims of the universe it takes place in. You’ll have to look to Saki for something like that.”





“The barkeep? Got it.” Piano nodded, taking that information in. While it was certainly a surprise that the bartender of the Fox’s Den was talented in alchemy, that was unfortunately a talent that Piano possessed, so there was no point trying to steal it. But having an alchemical lab was not possible for Piano on the road, so borrowing Saki’s would be appreciated so she could fix her clothes.


 “Is there any other reason you’re standing around here then, or can you go now?” His metallic claw whirled as it shut around his robotic hand, his impatience to get back to his many projects apparent in his body language as he snapped her out of reverie.


Piano shot to her feet, grabbing everything that was hers. “No, sorry. I’ll leave now.”


“Good. Get going.” He hurried her along as she quickly stepped outside, apologizing the whole time for taking up his time as she retreated to outside of the store. With a quick motion, he slammed the door shut, putting up a sign to indicate he wasn’t accepting any more customers for the day.


Piano looked back at the building with a sigh of relief, glad she could get something she was after today. It was only at that moment did she realize there was the ki presence of someone nearby that she recognized. One that went at a remarkably high speed, high energy and full of life.


“Man, it sure looked like you guys were having a good old party in there? Were you girls having a special talk with no boys allowed? Oh wait, I guess that one kid was there too, so I guess it couldn’t have been too girls only if he was allowed to be in there. So I guess you guys were making up then? My opponent and I left on good terms cause we didn’t really hurt each other, but I suppose that’s cause we didn’t really fight, cause that would be crazy! I was fighting the Strongest Man in the Universe! There was no way I could take him on in a fight to the death! Thank goodness there was this whole tag thing, right? Otherwise it would be hard for people like us to win against some of these monsters, am I right?”


If Piano hadn’t spent all of her life listening to her brother’s ever evolving barrage of language, such a lightspeed interrogation as the one she received from Quan would’ve been overwhelming for the wallflower of a warrior. As it was, she had to grapple with which parts of his verbal assault was meant to be responded to or not as she formulated her own words. “I was just making sure she could get a new pair of arms. The blacksmith here did a good job, so everything’s good. And the tags are nice, they mean we can end the match on our own terms.”


“Yeah, I think I’m going to need it again this time.” he admitted, moving up to get near Piano’s face and causing her to flinch and take a step back. “When I signed up for this tournament, I didn’t expect to run into anyone with acid blood. Then again, we’ve also got a chick who can transform into a horrifying monster and a guy with some giant scary metal monster with him, so I was hoping you’d be the least horrifying of the group. But I guess a kung-fu fighter with acid blood is probably the least intimidating look of the three.”


“Thank you?” Piano said with some uncertainty, trying to decide if he was complimenting her or not. She certainly didn’t want to be seen as scary or imposing. Especially because that would draw too much attention to herself by being intimidating. “I just use what I have, same as everyone else. There’s nothing that special about me.”


“So you’re saying I have a chance?” Quan shot back, giving a wiggle of his eyebrows and a cocky grin at that. Piano could only respond by looking somewhat bewildered, backing up slightly as he moved forward to keep the distance the same.


“I mean… doesn’t everyone have a chance of winning?” Piano asked, unsure herself. “I wouldn’t think the God Eater would set up a tournament where only one of the contestants has a real chance to win? All of us should, while not equal in power, be able to win with some skill and quick thinking?” Her tail curled around her wrist in a comforting act, tugging slightly and applying light pressure to soothe herself. 



“I suppose that’s true.” Quan agreed thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. “But she is a trickster goddess. You never know what sorts of schemes they can get up to. I remember one time I met a fairy queen that offered me a place to sleep, only to realize she meant that I was the place for others to rest! I just barely managed to get out of there before I became a spider hotel! Luckily, I was able to convince her that unfortunately, I have a strict no tarantula policy for my body, so she was forced to look for someone else to set up shop somewhere else.”


The face Quan had was one of delight, having just shared what he thought was a funny story. Piano, on the other hand, had an expression of immediate concern as she thought about what he said. “I’m sorry that almost happened to you. I hope the Madame Chief doesn’t do the same to us. I would hate for those little foxes to try and live in me. They might get hurt by my blood.”


Whatever response he had been expecting, that was not it, as the young speedster began to laugh in response. “Yeah, I suppose they would have to worry about that. The rest of us don’t have that to protect us though, so we might be in trouble.”


“I suppose that’s true.” Piano said thoughtfully, adopting a thinking pose herself. “Well, I know foxes hate the smell of garlic, so maybe you can just eat more food with garlic in it so they don’t want to live in you?”


“That could work.” Quan admitted. “But I don’t think I could do that. I’d get tired of eating garlic after enough time.”


“That’s true…” Piano agreed, looking concerned at this. “But I suppose the tournament is only going to last another couple of days, and there are dozens of recipes that include a decent enough amount of garlic, so there should be enough variety for you before anything could happen.”


“Huh. Guess I’m going to be snacking on some garlic then.” Quan snapped his fingers, pointing at her. “Thanks for the advice, uh, Piano, right?”


“That’s the name I go by here.” Piano affirmed with a slight nod. “And you’re Quan, right?”


“Call me An. I like it better. So, since we’re opponents, we should get to know each other better. For starters, we should talk about your match. Your moves were incredible! And the way you kept her from getting your tag… actually, what is your tag? I don’t think I ever saw it in your fight with that girl with the prissy name. Can you show it to me?”


But before she could open her mouth to speak, she suddenly felt her brother’s usual presence returning to her side. At the same time, she noticed Quan start looking in his direction as Forte strode up back in his usual attire, interceding between the two future fighters before the scene could continue further.


“I must sincerely beg your pardon, dear lad, but I’m afraid if one is hoping to obtain such vital intelligence, then it would be most generous if one were to offer the same level of intelligence prior to ensure an equal sharing of material. Mayhaps you could procure us with this information post haste, if it is of great interest to you?”


Quan gave him another look, as if trying to read Forte, before smiling and pulling out a knife. “That was a lot of words, but if you’re asking me to share first, check out this knife! They gave it to me when I came here. Doesn’t it look pretty cool? Makes me glad I signed up for this thing to get one of these!”


Forte examined the knife with some apparent curiosity, though his sister noticed a certain stiffness in him that was abnormal. The only other times she saw it was when his targets had lied to him about their names. Which to her meant that’s what had just happened and he was highly irritated. Hopefully he doesn’t do anything in his anger to her future opponent....



“My, what a charming apparatus you’ve managed to procure.” Forte complimented falsely, a charming smile on his face as he spoke. “And pray tell, from whence did you obtain such a dagger? Mayhaps you perused the wares of the humble blacksmith we stand afore and made you acquisition thenceforth, whether by legitimate means or by falsifiable trickery and peddermantry to forestall such funding necessities?”


He gestured at The Iron Claw, to which Quan just gave him a blank smile in response. “Yeah, I’m just going to pretend what you said made sense. Anyways, this place is pretty cool! Look at the flashing lights on the outside! It must take a lot of magic to maintain all of that!”


Forte looked at the neon lights on the building, and on the ones around it. “The lighting is certainly an aspect of the Crossroads that captures one’s focus upon any manner of examination. But the lighting of the noble gas neon to produce such fluorescent displays is but a cheap parlor trick to entice the baseborn into the meager shops they adorn is a classic trick for civilizations possessed of more modern technologies. You certainly are not so easily swayed by such simple pagentries, as a moth is drawn to roaring flames?”


“Are you calling me a moth?” Quan asked, tilting his head to the side with his arms crossed. “Cause I’ll have you know I am a hedgehog, thank you.”


“Forsooth?” Forte questioned, reaching forward towards Quan’s hair. “Then if I were to probe these protrusions upon your brow, I can expect to feel a pricking sensation upon my extended appendages?”


Quan instantly backed up, creating the desired distance from the twins that Forte was aiming for, as well as finding a weak point. “Don’t touch me!”


As Piano relaxed now that Quan had backed up, she turned to her brother. “Thank you. Talking is more your strong suit, so I’ll let you talk to him. I’ve got things to take care of before tomorrow.”


“Of course dear sister.” Forte assured her, even as his tense body language did nothing to reassure her. “Your brother Sharp shall handle such niceties normally expected of you.” He gave her a bow, sending her on her way.


Putting a mental note of the false name he was going by for now, Piano gave a polite wave to Quan as he quickly got himself back to a normal state, before quickly vanishing into the shadows.


“Wow, it’s crazy how easily she can disappear without magic!” Quan remarked, pointing to where he last saw the devil blooded woman. “That would’ve been useful when I was running away from those killer sword bees a few months back. I think they can lock onto you by smell, because I had to go sewer diving before they finally left me alone. But I got to meet a sewer naiad that was able to show me all the cool things she collects from people flushing it down there.”


“Well my spirited cadet, I would scarce imagine she would have provided you some other remedy to such a malady if she were still present, but I am afeared that today’s performance has siphoned what energy she possesses for social events. She shall need eve’s touch to squander up another dosage of charisma for tomorrow’s bout with you, Mr. Quan.” Forte’s performative language was followed with a gesture to follow. 


There was a bit of suggestive magic in Forte’s tone, but Quan just shook his head for a moment, frowning slightly. Forte frowned in response as well, wondering why the magic didn’t take hold. But even without the arcane persuasion, Quan soon caught up and they walked down the neon lit streets as the sun began to set beyond Ume Bay. 


“Just call me An. I don’t like being called Mr. It makes me feel old.” Quan corrected, looking at the various shops like it was his first time down them. “And you said your name was Sharp? Does that mean your blood can turn into swords? Or does it smell like cheese? Oh oh, or maybe it tastes bitter? What does Piano’s blood taste like? I’m sure it must be sweet, before it melts your tongue off.”


Forte gave a chuckle, shaking his head. “I’m afraid I do not possess such fantastical properties within the sanguitas portions of my physicality. All of our ken possess the same corrupting qualities in the black ichor we spill. Such a state is both highly feared and desired by those that differ from ours.”


“Interesting. Hey, they sell rings like mine over there!” The fae boy pointed to a nearby stall, which directed the diabolic man’s mismatched gaze towards a nearby stall, where a stout man with a tangled beard. In front of him was an array of rings for both fingers and necks on the counter in front of him, which a number of interested passersby were examining for themselves.


His was not the only stall on this street that had paraphernalia of the Cross Tournament fighters. Nearby, a long haired woman had a stall of figurines of Pembrooke’s mech, and a blue skinned man sold red and gold hair ribbons for Vilivian and Piano respectively. There were even a few shops that had the costumes of all the fighters for people to cosplay as. There were a few Vilivians and Pianos walking around already, and there was someone walking out of the shop in a Quan outfit, with a fake forehead scar stickered onto his forehead.


“It certainly seems that this tourney provides not only a spectacle within the hallowed fields of the Colosseum, but upon the streets of the Crossroads itself.” Forte commented wryly, looking at a pair of men leering at a woman in Piano cosplay with more causticity than his blood could ever hope to burn them with. “Mayhaps the God Eater puts on this tourney merely to give the mercantile class extramaterial products to produce for such a splendiferous event for her own amusement? For the performance of the fighters certainly does not cease the moment the Colosseum empties its stands at eve’s fall.”


“Uhhh…” Quan seemed confused with the way Forte talked, trying to process all the words he just heard. “Well, there’s quite a lot of cool looking people around. Look, that one looks like the lady that’s running this thing!”


Forte looked to where the young fae was pointing, where sure enough several women were dressed very similarly to the God Eater, wearing a similar dress and tights with the ornate design on them, and a singular fake fox tail that bounced behind them. Their hair was styled similarly as well, with two ear-like protrusions sticking out the side, though the total length of hair varied by woman. They were all milling outside of a grand building, with flashing lights drawing attention to it and a large fox mascot curled around the top above the words “Faux High Inn.”


As the two men looked, one of the workers noticed them and approached, a dark haired woman with light black scales along her face and arms as she leaned in seductively to address them. “Good evening gentlemen~ You two look like you could use a little more excitement after those matches earlier~ Why not join one of our lovely little foxes to cozy up against at the Faux High Inn, run by one of the very mayors of the Crossroads itself, so the quality is guaranteed~”


Both men gave her looks of interest, though it was Forte who spoke first. “My dear madam, did you say that one of the fine established leaders of this province? What makes such a political leader run such a fine establishment such as this in his free time?”


“Oh?~ An educated gentleman?~ I appreciate those~” The woman complimented, moving to his side and grabbing his arm. “And you’ve got it backwards dear~ He became a mayor because of how he ran the inn~ After the Madame’s lodges in the Fox Den and the Kit Inn for the fighters, the Faux High Inn is simply the best place to lay your head~ If you’d like, I could show you why~”


“A most generous offer indeed~” Forte replied, graciously removing her arms from his with a gentle touch. “But I’m afraid I agreed to be company to this young cadet for the eve, and must decline your offer at this time. But mayhaps when I have a free opportunity I might rejoin your number, so that I might get a chance to greet this enterprising owner of such a luxurious establishment.”


She then looked to Quan, giving him a smile that he easily shot back. “Oh, that shouldn’t be an issue dear~ We’ve got plenty of special offers available during the tournament, including group rates~ I’m sure I can get a good deal for you two~” She gave them both a wink, gesturing to the other girls around that were talking to other people passing by.


Quan looked eager to say something, but Forte just raised a hand dismissively. “I’m afraid my young companion here might not have quite the experience to handle such temptuous encounters. I was merely seeking to speak with him upon the ordering of food and beverages at the Fox’s Den. He seems to be quite the store of divers tales to tell.”


Quan finally spoke up, looking offended at Forte’s words. “Look, I might not know what all your fancy words mean, but I know when I’m being underestimated! I’ll have you know that one time I went on a date with three different water spirits all at the same time. Compared to that, this will be nothing.”


Forte gave him a raised eyebrow, looking amused. “Oh? You hear that fair maid? The cadet sees you as of little challenge. I’m almost tempted to bestow upon him the opportunity to test his romantic prowess against your occupational experience~”


“I think he is.” She replied, leaning over to talk to Quan, running a finger through her hair. “And looking at you more closely now, you’re one of the fighters in the tournament aren’t you?~ You’ll get a special rate as well~ So what do you say?~ Care to put those water spirit seducing skills to work on me?~” She reached forward to give his arm a squeeze playfully, trying to draw close to him.


Quan quickly ran around to the other side of them before either could react and gave Forte’s back a pat. Forte raised an eyebrow at the younger man, but said nothing. “Sorry, but he was right that we wanted to get food! I haven’t eaten since the match began, so I’m going to have him treat me to some good ol’ bar food. Maybe afterwards we’ll come back!” He shot her a pair of finger guns, his rings flashing in the multicolored lights emitted by the pleasure bar.


She gave the two of them a pout, as Forte helplessly shrugged. “Fine, I know when a girl’s not wanted. You two enjoy your boy’s night. If you need a girl’s company, you know where to find us~” She gave them a wink, putting on one last show for them before beginning to walk away. But then she turned back to them. “Oh, and tell Chifu I said hey~ And that she needs to stop by again soon~ It’s been ages~”


“I’ll be sure to pass on your regards~” Forte gave her a deep bow, holding his hat to his head as he did so. Quan gave a friendly wave and a “Bye bye!” before the two men walked on into the coming night towards the towering Fox’s Den.


As they walked along, Quan’s hands behind his head as he did so, he gave Forte a curious look. “Why didn’t you stay to talk with them? You seemed interested in that place. I wouldn’t have minded going by myself. Or I would’ve gone to look at all the lights around town once it’s dark out, I’m sure it’ll all look better at night, you know?”


“I’ve certainly got my reasonings.” Forte replied casually. When this clearly did not satisfy the younger man, he went on, “From my initial findings and postulations, I imagine such an establishment is unlikely to lose either workers, leadership, or clientele in the nearest future. As such, I see no immediacy in partaking in that particular maiden’s company. What’s more, I intuited that the proprietor of the business was not available at the current time. As the most highly stationed figure among the staff, it would be of great shame to spend time there without seeking the value of their conditioned time also. Overall, there is little opportunity to be gained by seeking a venture there at the present moment.”


“So basically, you’re saying nobody there was worth your time, right?” Quan replied after a moment of thought.


Forte gave a slightly displeased look at that. “That’s a rather unflattering manner to phrase it as, but I suppose there is a measure of truth that could be gleaned from that. But to say that was the whole truth would in fact be a lie of omission, a crime I imagine neither of us truly wishes to commit.”


Forte gave a smug smile at that, which Quan missed as he looked away almost casually. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”


“But of course. My profession involves a certain deal of perusing, both of the inken intention of others and the verbal conveyance. I do tend to have a habit of delving deeper into either on both accounts. But in this case, it has led to certain discernments I’ve made as to your demeanor.”


“You’re saying you know something about me?” Quan asked, clearly confused.


“Most certainly.” Forte confirmed, nodding his head as he adjusted his glasses. “You are an itinerant wanderer by nature, are you not? You only reside in a destination for as long as the novelty remains, before departing the moment your interests begins to wane and the looming specter of boredom rears its fangs toward you. Such a free-spirited individual would be unlikely to linger long in even a locale as mystical as this one if there was nothing to tether him strongly to such a place.”


“So you think your sister can beat me, huh Sharp?” Quan shot back, though whether that was to dodge Forte’s assessment or not was hard to tell.


“That is beyond any reasonable doubt.” Forte said with a level of assuredness that showed there was not a trace of doubt in his mind. “Unlike my sister, who spent the brief interlude during which your match took place to converse with the machinist, I took the liberty of viewing the fullest extent of your bout. And I must say I am not terribly afeared for my sister’s chances of matching you in combat, much less overcoming you in such a trial.”


“Ok, now I know you’re calling me weak.” Quan gave a big pout, crossing his arms and puffing out his cheeks. “Look, they put me up against a guy called the strongest man in the universe. What’d you want me to do, fight him fair?”


“That wouldn’t have been quite the necessary action, no.” Forte conceded, smirking down at the shorter man. “But presenting at least the front of a capable warrior might’ve made my presumptions harder to come upon. Especially since you were first matched with such an imposing figure, one might presume you would at least put up the pretense of presenting a challenge. The fact you went straight for circumnavigating your opponent indicates that your fighting prowess is likely less than my sister’s, who would’ve been able to confront such a formidable opponent.”


Quan’s mouth dropped in shock, looking at Forte unbelievingly. “Wait, you’re telling me that quiet girl could take on that strong guy? She could barely hold a conversation with me, but he could beat that guy? Wasn’t she all beat up after her fight?”


“Which only serves to exhibit the fortitude possessed by the martial artist known as Piano, that she was able to fight despite such formidable odds against her. In comparison to a man that took the simple man’s solution, it’s impossible to fathom a scenario in which she does not come out on top. With motivations as fickle as yours, the moment my sister proves more dominant and more challenging to overcome, you’ll quickly cede the match to avoid the trouble.”


As Forte gave that prediction, the boys had arrived at the Fox’s Den, the older man holding open the door to look at the younger one. The fae looked at the devil with a look that said he was about to give him a piece of his mind, only for the two to be interrupted by a voice from inside.


“So here’s where you two were!” The cheery voice of Miss X greeted them as she stepped out of the bar, looking at the two with almost pulsating heart eyes. “I’ve been looking for you two! Come on, get inside before it gets really dark out!”




She gestured for them to enter, which both men did with false, but convincing smiles on their faces as they followed the announcer into the building. Inside, the building was full of people excitedly talking about the matches earlier that day, which were still being played on various tvs throughout the bar as people wildly gesticulated at them to prove their points. Various specials were being served tonight, each themed after the eight fighters originally hosted, but with the four semi-finalists being the more popular drinks. Over at the bar, Saki was serving a glass of milk to Volley, with Vivi talking to him and seeming to give him advice over her tankard of ale.


“You said you were seeking our company, were you not?” Forte asked as they walked in, giving Saki a nod as they walked by. “Was there anything of notice you wished to impart upon us? Any alterations to the ceremony that might inhibit or enhance the enjoyment of those partaking in the festivities?”


“What? Oh no, nothing like that.” Miss X waved away his question, before giving a pop idol wave to one of the patrons that noticed her. “Everyone’s here celebrating the matches from today and there were a few of you missing. Where’s your sister F-”


“My kin is taking care of certain affairs prior to her match tomorrow.” Forte interjected before she could reveal his true name. “I would imagine she’ll make a passing appearance in due time, but I harbor little hope that she will linger longer than it takes to accomplish her desires. Her social faculties are also strained from today’s proceedings, both for the duration and the preceding times of combatual engagement. She will likely perform a spiritual cleansing throughout the night to permit her to engage once more upon the sun’s grace returning.”


“Really? That’s a shame. I was hoping to talk to her after that exciting match she put on today! And I’m sure Chifu would love to talk to all the contestants before the next match!”


“The local gossip?” Forte asked, amused. “I had some business to attend to her about, courtesy of the Faux High Inn. Might you assist me in reaching her?”


“Yeah, sure!” Miss X agreed, directing them towards the stairs. “She’s up in the VIP room. As a competitor and a supporter of a competitor, you two are allowed to follow me up!”


“Most excellent.” Forte bowed, stopping near the bar to address Saki. “I would request a brandy brought up for me. And for my younger companion…?”


Quan shook his head and waved his hands, protesting exuberantly. “Nah, I don’t drink. Not after I had some Ogre Brew and lost a whole week to it. But I will take some chips and salsa.”


“Oooh, Chifu will love chips and salsa!” Miss X commented, halfway up the stairs already. “And she’ll probably need another margarita to fill her up!”


Saki nodded, sliding another glass of Demon Blood down the bar as the trio ascended the stairs to the lush and well decorated upper floor of the VIP lounge. There weren’t many people up there, but there was one in particular that Forte recognized: the lush Chifu, who was leaning against some cushions with her opium pipe in hand and letting a lazy trail of smoke rise from her.


As she saw them approach, she waved, slowly sinking off the cushion until she was fully on the ground, before standing up with a slight sway. “Good evening everyone~ It’s so nice to see everyone after such exciting matches~”


“Did you even get to see any of them?” Miss X asked, going to “sit” on one of the cushions. “Or were you passed out during my amazing commentary?”


“Well…” Chifu trailed off for a bit, rubbing her head and giggling. “I might’ve slept through the first match… and the second match, and the third and the fourth… But I was awake for the last two!~”


Forte and Quan both laughed, but the faster boy answered first. “There wasn’t a fifth or sixth match. Maybe you were dreaming a little too much while you snoozed!”


That got a laugh out of everyone as Chifu gave a big pout, crossing her arms and sitting down near Miss X with a huff as she looked away from them all. Forte and Quan sat across from each other, just as a server with a lizard-like appearance walked up and delivered the orders from earlier. Chifu gave an excited squeal, forgetting her anger as the lizard woman put the margarita and chips in front of her, as well as the brandy in front of Forte.


“A most excellent and timely service. Though I would expect no less from an establishment that wishes to house a goddess.” Forte’s comments were paired with a quick raising on his glass before he seemed to take a sip. Quan and Chifu began to dig into the chips, both getting generous dips of salsa with each one.


“Wait, you mean that white haired woman lives here?” Quan asked, surprised at that. “I would’ve thought she’d live up in the mountain or some other mumbo jumbo. The gods I’ve seen had all these elaborate set-ups that made seeing them hard, and then they’d always talk down at you like you were stupid for bothering them. It was always annoying whenever I accidentally ended up in one of their places.”


“Yeah, Mom lives upstairs!” Miss X supplied, as Chifu put her lips to the salt-covered rim of her glass and took a deep sip of margarita with a pleased smile. “She’s probably resting up after everything that went on today so she can look her best for the matches tomorrow! Like your’s and his sister’s! I’m sure you two are anticipating that match first thing tomorrow!”


Both men kept quiet for a second, though it apparently seemed to be Forte waiting for Quan to respond, who himself was munching on some chips. But eventually, the young fae spoke up. “Yeah, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. I think this fight’s a little more fair for me than the other one, so maybe I’ll get to show off all my awesome moves I couldn’t pull off on the other guy!” He made some karate chops in the air, sending a chip flying towards another table and nearly hitting one of the wait staff.


Forte gave a slight bow of his head. “I’m sure then that my blood can utilize more of her martial arsenal that she held at bay out of fear of harming an opponent as physically ill-suited as as an arranged opponent. But surely the male specimen of physical prowess that could stand so mightily against the Universe’s Strongest Warrior must surely be more formidable and thus more worthy of her greater strengths. Mayhaps we should refer to this cadet as the Prince’s former title in his stead?”


Quan thought about that a moment, before flexing his arms like a strongman. This got a laugh from the two girls, with Chifu laughing the hardest as she was only just able to keep a steady hand on her glass while she covered her mouth with the other. “I think I’m ok with that. Give me something new to share the next place I go.”


“And if my sister proves to be the conqueror in tomorrow’s bout, you will be forthright in bestowing your newly obtained title upon the one who seizes victory over you?” Forte asked with an amused smile, lounging on a hand while he swirled his brandy in front of himself.


“Sure, no problem. Names come and go, but fun never goes away.” Quan looked unconcerned as he shrugged. “And this place has been fun so far. There’s so many interesting people that I haven’t met yet! Like all those women at that one place!”


“Forsooth. The fine women of the Faux High Inn send their regards to you, Mrs. Chifu.” Forte relayed with a nod of his head.


“Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve seen those girls~” Chifu purred, lounging back in comfort. “I should stop by once the tournament is over~ Their boss owes me a few drinks as well~”


“Mayhaps I can accompany you on such an expedition?” Forte offered, adjusting his glasses. “I do have an interest in some of the finer individuals this section of the multiverse has to offer~”


“Why am I not surprised?” Quan said “under his breath,” causing Miss X to laugh at that. Chifu gave her own giggle, looking at Forte.


“I’ve never gone to meet escorts with an escort~ It should be something fun~” Quan ate another handful of chips, before waving for one of the wait staff to bring more.


“And what’s your sister going to do while that’s all going on?” Quan asked, leaning back in his seat. “She’s not going to stick around waiting for you to finish all this stuff you’re going to be doing, is she?”


“She can manage her affairs while I manage mine.” Forte explained, turning to Quan. “When we are ready to depart, she and I can reconvene at our leisure and venture forth back to the lands we alighted on prior to our sudden but fortuitous invitation to this gala of carnage.”


“But what about what she wants to do?” Quan asked, seemingly confused.


“And by what are you insinuating from such a statement?” Forte asked, in a more neutral tone from before.


“I mean, it sounds like she’s not going to have a say in it and is just going along with what you want. It just seems a little weird, you know?” Quan explained as both women looked between them. “Are you sure that she’s doing what she wants or is she too scared to ask for what she wants?”


Forte kept a cool gaze as he set his glass down and pulled out his wand, spinning the pen-like device idly. “Piano is a woman grown, with her own means of reasoning and parsing out what actions should constitute her interests and ideals. If my engaging in the local populace should prove to be troublesome to her desires, then she is free to set her own itinerary. We have our methods to reconvene at a later date to resume our partnered journeying, so it’ll be a trifle for her to depart on her own.”


“And if she wins the tournament, I’d be happy to talk to the winner of the tournament while she waits for her brother!” Miss X chimed in, waving her holographic arms as the women reasserted themselves into the conversation. “Assuming she’ll talk to me, given what you guys have said!”


“Speaking of winners~” Chifu added, her eyes going to Quan. “What do you think you’ll wish for if you win?~ And what do you think you’re sister will wish for if she wins instead?~” She addressed the last sentence towards Forte.


Quan perked up, giving a big smile. “I have no idea what I’m going to wish for. Maybe I’ll ask her to send me somewhere fun once I’m done here. Think I can put getting my wish on hold until I need it or do I need to cash it out right after I win? What’s the interest rate on a wish? How long would it take for me to build up to a second wish?”


“That’s not quite how it works…” Miss X corrected, rubbing the back of her head. Quan shrugged with an “Oh well,” as the woman turned back to Forte. “And does your sister have a wish in mind too? Have you guys talked about it?”


Forte gave his own shrug, as if it wasn’t an issue. “She is still undecided as to the exact nature of her desires of which she will make her request of the God Eater. But regardless of that lack of fulfilling knowledge, we have certainly enjoyed our visitation of this proud section of existence. I’m sure by tourney’s end, I can scarce imagine she will fail to manifest a meaningful manifestation of desire to have bestowed upon her.”


Chifu tilted her head for a moment, taking another sip of her drink. “Well, have you given her any ideas?~ I’m sure she’d grant your wish if she can’t think of one~”




Forte kept a straight face as he turned to the smiling drunk, though his hand went to his books hidden within his jacket. “I have no desire to perform any chicanery towards my own blood. Her efforts garner their own rewards and I would not seek to seize such a serendipitous opportunity after she has tilted with such marvelous meleers.”


“Oh?~” Chifu mused. “So you don’t have any wishes you would like to see fulfilled?~”


Forte gave her a look, the names that he took down in anger after failing to get the Madame Chief’s name burning under his fingertips. But he gave her a grin. “I have nothing that I desire so strongly as to cause undue distress to the one that shares my blood.”


“If you say so~” Chifu said cryptically, as Miss X stifled a laugh. “In any case, we’ve got two well-traveled men with plenty of stories to tell, a night ahead of us, and plenty to drink~ Let’s say we swap stories and gossip for a while?~”


“An exchanging of storied tales and flights of fancy? A most astute of games indeed.” Forte agreed. “We shall allow the youngest of our number to establish the genre and tone of said tales, and I shall adjust to his pace.”


“Only if you can keep up!” Quan challenged, giving him a grin. “Cause I got a story about meeting a burning man riding on a Charizard and I know you can’t top it!”


“A competition, is it?” Forte seemed rather amused, pulling out one of his books to consult his “notes.” “Well I hope you’ll forgive my determination, for I am the more competitive of the pair that is Piano and myself. Though since my stories come somewhat from the lived experiences of others, the vernacular used to convey them will be of a more rudimentary temperament to make it easier to parse for those not educated to be fully elucidated”


“This should be fun!” Miss X cheered, hearts radiating off of her.


“Yes it should~ It’s going to be a long, fun night~” Chifu purred, leaning onto the cushions as she took a breath of her opium pipe with a smile.


“But I must request that you indulge us as to the manner of the inciencidary individual’s origin of flame? Was it a natural occurrence, a freak twist of nature, or a manufacted means of self-immolation?”


“Well, I wasn’t there exactly for how he got on fire, but I do know it involves the Charizard, some bad decisions, and six gallons of fish oil, which might have been my fault…”


While Quan began to set the scene for his story, Forte began to do his own scene setting, his wand “writing” in his book like he was taking notes. While magic couldn’t affect the young fae directly for some reason, as long as the spell didn’t affect anybody, it should work out. The rest would lay on Forte’s skill with words and getting Chifu to act the way he wanted to, and he could get everything he could possibly want.


--------------------------


Piano quickly and quietly made her way to the room she shared with her brother, ensuring that she ran into no one else of note on her way there. Once she was there, she decided to give her brother time to lead Quan somewhere before she made a public appearance again. She took out all of her useable knives from her clothes and got into a meditative stance, concentrating on her ki and feeling the life energy flowing through her body. Against her next opponent, she knew that her physical senses would only slow her down, so she would need to rely on her ability to sense his ki if she hoped to deal with him.


‘..You’re too soft. Someone of your pedigree had the right to end these fools for bothering you.’


‘You don’t even know what you want, yet you’re willing to go so far as to destroy my arms? What are you hoping to get by doing all this?’


The words of the other women in this competition rang in Piano’s head, making it harder for her to concentrate on her meditation. After about twenty minutes of failing to meditate, she knew she needed to do something to get her mind off of her worries. Grabbing her sword to have something to defend herself and going to her bags and grabbing her bulky brown sewing supplies bag, she made her way over to the Fox’s Den. 


The bar was still fairly crowded as she entered, though Volley had already vanished back to his room at Saki’s order. Vivi was still drinking at the bar, though now she was joined by Pembrooke as the two enjoyed drinks side by side as they laughed and joked with each other. 


Piano hated how much she feels like she stands out now that she fought her match, much less with her bloodstained and tattered clothes, but she made it to the bar without being spotted. Saki didn’t notice her arrival at first, tending to the needs of the other patrons. The oni woman began to clean some of her glasses, still not noticing Piano until the young woman gave a slightly embarrassed clearing of her throat, startling the stronger woman.


“Oh, I didn’t notice you girl.” Saki apologized, looking to Piano as she spoke. “Though I think that’s more because you need to learn to assert yourself. So, what do you need? Did you come to try the drink we made in honor of you?”


Piano flushed, not wanting to think about anything she just said as she reached into her bag. “Well, I heard you were an alchemist, so I needed you to make something for me.”


She placed three bolts of silk onto the bar, as well as two different vials and some herbs as Saki looked somewhat excited and set down her glass. Piano continued, “I need you to make a potion to soak this silk in so it resists my blood. It’s a mix of troll blood as the base, with essence of light and Bouldilair’s herb mixed in. You’ll stir it counterclockwise once every minute for ten minutes, then put in the bolts and stir continuously for the next thirty minutes. Once the mixture becomes a bright yellow, you’ll pull out the silk, put more herb in, then put them in and let them soak again for another thirty minutes with no more stirring, and then it will be finished.”


Saki took all of that down in her head with a nod, her gaze never leaving Piano as Pembrooke and Vivi looked over at the now rapid fire talking Devil Blood with some confusion or awe. “Alright, I’ll have your materials out in an hour. Essence of light, huh? I assume that’s to counteract the corrupting force, with the herbs maintaining the mixture’s consistency, given how fickle the essence of light is…”


Saki still went over everything out loud with some excitement as she took the bolts and walked into her backroom, giving a motion for one of the other servers to take over the bar. Piano requested a glass of water to drink as she now had to wait, while Pembrooke moved over to talk to the young woman.


“Wow, I’m pretty sure that’s the most anyone’s heard you speak at once since you’ve been here, from what I’m told.” he joked with her, giving her a smile as she flushed with embarrassment.


“Is it? I didn’t notice.”


“You must really know your stuff! I didn’t even understand half of the things you were saying there.” he admitted, as Vivi nodded in agreement.


“I have to know this one. It’s the only way I can make clothes for myself and my brother.” Piano looked away shyly, drinking her water to try to avoid talking.


“Wait, you can make your own clothes too?” His surprise was apparent, as he leaned in to talk to her as she moved away. “So you can fight with crazy kung-fu moves, you can do some weird alchemy stuff, sew your own clothes, and seem like you know something about machines? Is there anything you can’t do?”



“Well, there’s lots I haven’t learned to do yet, but I’m working on that.” Piano said quietly, looking away still. “My brother and I didn’t get many luxuries as kids, so we had to learn to take care of ourselves, including making our own clothes. So really, what I do is nothing special.”


“Ah, I see. Sorry to hear that.” Pembrooke apologized, bowing his head. “Here, how about I get you a drink to make up for it and we can talk while we wait for Saki to come back with your stuff?”


“Sorry, I need to keep my head clear. I have to patch up my clothes, sew a new outfit for after the tournament, then I’m going to go into the woods to do some training to prepare for tomorrow’s match. My opponent’s pretty fast, after all.”


“He is.” Vivi spoke up. “And hey, be careful out there. Not only are there ghosts in the woods, but Angie was harassed by some weird guy out there, so look out for stalkers. You did win the first round after all and I’m sure people will be after you.”


“Ghosts and stalkers? Well, I already knocked out some people following me yesterday with Vilivian, so I don’t think anyone will come after me today. As for ghosts, I’m not sure. I’ve never seen a ghost, as they were a major information leak threat so they were always exorcised upon being discovered. Hopefully I can do something about them…”


“Information leak?” Pembrooke asked, leaning in. “What, is your world at war or something?”


“The section of the world I’m from is always at war.” Piano explained, looking at Pembrooke. “Various factions vie to rule the entire area. We have to hid underground in various hidden bunkers to avoid being killed during assaults. So when somebody dies, a priest immediately goes out to make sure there are no ghosts, who might be resentful enough to tell an enemy where people are hiding.”


“Damn, that’s rough.” Pembrooke said solemnly. “And you said you and your brother lived on your own? That must be why you had to pull yourself up like that.”


“Pretty much. We couldn’t afford a spot in the shelters normally, so we had to make our own way in the world. But as my brother has said, the experience also made me fully capable, especially for situations like this.”


“But not ghosts.” Vivi pointed out. “What are you going to do about them?”


Piano nodded. “I have my sword, I’ll be fine.”


Vivi looked at it. “I suppose you didn’t bust that thing out on Angie, so I have no idea what it can do. But if you say so, I’ll let you do you.”


Piano nodded once again. “Thank you for the warning.”


There was a brief pause, as the other two waited for Piano to add something to the conversation, but she just kept looking at the bar counter as she waited for Saki to return. Pembrooke tried to get her to join in on the conversation, but small talk with Piano only lasted a few lines before she went silent again. Eventually, the two went to talking mostly to each other, though they both made valiant attempts to get Piano to contribute with occasionally surprising insights.


But eventually, an hour or so passed and Saki stepped back out with the bolts of silk. Fresh out of the concoction, the silk seemed to glow slightly as the oni handed it over to the devil blood.


“Well, that was certainly an interesting recipe to make. If you need me to make it again, don’t be afraid to ask. I even went ahead and made extras of the ingredients just in case, so you don’t have to hand those over next time.”


“Thank you kindly. If you all will excuse me.” Piano gave a deep bow to all three of them. “Thank you two for talking with me. I wish you luck in your match tomorrow, Pembrooke.” And with those final words, she stuffed away the silk and made her way back into the now night air.


It didn’t take her long to get to the Sacred Forest, climbing onto the roofs to parkour above the milling nightlife below in the Crossroads as she made it to the dark forest. She journeyed in for a few minutes, clutching her bag to her side as her grip on her blade never wavered. Once she made it to a clearing with a boulder at the center, she decided that’s where she would stop for the night.


Taking off all but her leotard, she climbed to the top of the rock and pulled out all of her sewing supplies along with the enchanted silk. Grabbing her coat first, she began to stitch up the holes Angelique and her made in them, using the silk to patch up the bigger gaps as her stolen expertise quickly fixed up the first couple articles of clothing. Once she was done sewing, she would wash out the blood in a nearby stream and clean it up for tomorrow’s match.


Just as she finished repairs and was laying out the silk to make a new coat for herself when she suddenly felt a presence. She didn’t sense any ki, which is why she didn’t notice them approaching earlier. Which meant…


“Foolish mortal!” A ghastly voice echoed over the clearing, as a woman with a fox tail and translucent skin floated out from the treeline and made her way towards Piano. “That you came out here alone was your biggest and last mistake! Surrender your body to me and-”


Before the ghost could finish it’s spiel, it suddenly noticed that Piano was no longer on the rock. At the same moment, she “felt” the corrupting blade of Piano pass through her body. While the weapon itself had no effect on the ghost, the sensation of Piano’s blood’s corrupting influence sent a shiver down the ghostly spine of the woman.


Piano, for her part, looked down at the blade with some interest. “Didn’t feel like anything. Guess them not having flesh really makes a difference when it comes to hitting things.”



While she was musing about her first time slashing a ghost, the ghost in question was reeling from the feeling of being slashed by Piano’s sword. While it did no damage, it was so unpleasant that she decided to disapparate rather than try to possess Piano again. So did the other ghosts that had surrounded the clearing also began to disappear, the haunting atmosphere they had established slowly fading as Piano felt she could relax again.


“I guess ghosts aren’t so bad after all. Time to finish sewing, then I can work on some speed exercises.”


Her next couple hours went by without further issue, two new sets of clothes laying on the boulder and her clothes for the tournament hanging to dry on some nearby tree branches. With that done, she stood in the middle of the clearing, picking a set of trees to serve as her practice dummies. She closed her eyes, sensing the faint bits of ki that flowed through the trees as she imagined them to be Quan moving around quickly.


For a few moments, she stood with her hand on her sword. But what made her hesitate was not the thought of her opponent, but imagining the moment beyond him. She imagined Vilivian or Pembrooke standing before her, with the God Eater looming above her, magic in hand representing the wish that was waiting upon victory. What did she truly want from this tournament? What could she do to prove herself worthy of getting such a wish?


She saw Angelique’s angered expression once she lost, and Vilivian’s disappointed one in the alleyway. And feelings of doubt further arose. But then she saw the God Eater’s amused expression and her brother’s high expectations as he expected her to win the tournament. His words prior to the first day of the tournament ringing in her head.


“While your purpose in life does not normally suggest actively causing harm to others, in this one instance we must make special exception. While I know your gentle demeanor will stay your hand from bloodshed beyond what is necessary, that in itself may prove to be the boon you need to get the decisive slice upon your opponent’s flesh to warrant your blade’s purest victory.”


With a dash of speed, she rushed forward and drew her blade as she delivered a swift slash. But instead of slicing through the tree, she instead had just the tip of her blade cut into the bark, leaving a small cut along the bark. She smiled to herself in victory as she looked at her work, a black corruption spreading across the bark as it ate its way through the living material. 


All she had to do was repeat that against Quan and she should be good. She had another hour before her clothes were dry, and there were plenty of trees along the clearing to practice that cut.


An hour later, at the edge of town, Vilivian spotted the young Devil Blood woman stepping out of the treeline, a bag under her arm and her clothes freshly mended with sweat dripping down her forehead. But the thing the Matriarch noticed the most was the look in Piano’s eyes.


“That looks suits your blood better, Blackblood.” Vilivian commented to herself as she saw the girl walk towards the Kit Inn. “We shall see each other in the next round.”


Deep in the forest, several trees had large gouges melted into them, with several of them having collapsed from lack of support as the bark was corrupted away. Even the boulder in the center had a large cut in the center of it as a final practice, with the surrounding rock crumbling away from the corruption.





As Piano laid her stuff down, she noticed her brother wasn’t home. She remembered who he was with, and the anger she had noticed in him. Knowing her brother was capable of fending for himself, she wondered exactly what he was going to do to Quan tonight as she got the rest she would need for her match tomorrow, planning to meet with her brother again after the match…



























Violent Winds


Forte and Quan had traded stories for a while now, each of them telling more and more extravagant stories with each one, as if trying to one up each other. Miss X, halfway through this little competition, got up and left, citing other business she needed to get to. Chifu, meanwhile, had passed out around the same time, too drunk to continue listening despite how much fun she was having.


As Forte finished his story about two lovers in opposing families nearly ending their lives in order to be together before cooler heads prevailed, Quan punctuated its conclusion with a yawn, looking at the night sky outside the window.


“Man, that was a lot of fun. Despite sounding like a pretentious jerk, you’ve got some fun stories in you. Maybe when you finish that book you kept mentioning, I might have to steal a copy to read. Make sure you get a print all the way over to my world when you finish.”


“I can promise you that my utmost desire is to spread my literature to every bit of earth and stone that a star’s light descends upon, from the far-flung reaches of the multiverse to the core that these Crossroads lie about. Though I do pray that if you must commit larceny to retrieve my novel, that your pettemanry goes towards another so that I might receive the royalties due to me.” Forte gave an amused chuckle, sounding quite tired himself.


“I can’t promise you nothing!” Quan promised, before stepping away from the table.


But he only got a few steps away from the table before suddenly his entire surroundings had changed. From the sounds of bar goers downstairs loudly cheering and the darkened interiors that had been the atmosphere, an unsettlingly quiet bar brightly lit greeted him. Forte and Chifu disappeared, replaced by a startled looking serving man who looked at the hedgehog fae with confusion. As Quan froze in confusion at the sudden change, Saki stepped upstairs, pointing directly at him.


“There you are! Everyone’s been looking for you! Your match begins in ten minutes. You’re pretty fast, so I’m sure you can make it in time, but you better hurry!”


Quan looked at her with some horror, before running back to the table. As he did, the night sky filled the windows once more as Forte and Chifu reappeared.


“What did you do?” Quan asked, looking tired, confused, and upset at what was going on. “How did you make it night out?”


Forte just gave a tired grin, his eyes barely keeping open at this point. “A mere parlour trick, one that could fool even your senses if you were thoroughly distracted. As fate would have it, you are so enamored by the sound of your voice telling your finest tales and the rapt attention of those around you, that your surroundings and perception of time are easy to blend into false pretenses. But now you have to contend with my sister, whose refreshed condition from an eve’s embrace should surely prevail.”


Quan gave Forte a dangerous look, before beginning to run away. But he was stopped by Forte’s voice calling out to him as the Devil Blood stepped out from the illusion, dispelling it.


“One last delay, if you scarce mind?”


“What? Hurry up, I’m in a rush?” Quan asked quickly, running in place as adrenaline jolted him awake for a little bit.


“I merely ask for your personage before you depart.” Forte asked, a tired smile on his face as his pen rested in his book.


“You’ll hear my name when the match is announced.” Quan looked confused at the request, looking towards the stairs ready to leave.


“But as a writer, I have perceived that one’s name is most well suited to being spake into existence by one’s own tongue.”


Quan stayed for a few more moments, before shaking his head. “Nah, I’ve dealt with enough fairies to know that’s a bad idea. You can ask someone else.” And without another word, Quan disappeared from the bar, leaving behind a slightly disappointed Forte.


At that point, Chifu began to stir awake, causing Forte to turn his attention towards the drunk. “Ah, fair maid. I see your slumber proved to be most fruitful.”


“Mmhmm~” Chifu responded sleepily, rubbing her eyes. “I’m surprised I didn’t wake up in my bed, but at least I woke in time for the matches, right?~”


“Of that, I grant you the finest of assurances.” Forte gave her a bow, before opening up another book and turning to her. “It is with grave misfortune, however, that I will be partaking in my own day’s rest to recover from last night’s revelries, and must decline the ability to view my sister’s match live. But I pray that you’ll give me your word you'll share your interpretation of my sister’s match, and that you’ll bestow upon me your name before I depart, so that my spirits will soar their way to the land of dreams and pleasant manifestations.”


“My name?~ It’s Chifu~” The local gossip replied simply, smiling at him. Forte eagerly wrote it down… only for his golden eye to dull, and for the first time, an expression of anger flashing across his face before he cooled it to a look of disappointment.


“So even you are nothing but a peddler of false truths, are you now?” Forte spoke flatly, closing his book with a snap. “I certainly hadn’t expected the likes of you to prove to be so deceptive.”




“What do you mean?~” Chifu asked, but got no reply as Forte spun around and walked away. The drunkard looked at the departing Devil Blood with a cocked head, before giving an amused smile once he left. “Well, that was an amusing diversion~ But I suppose I have my duties to attend to~ Saki, could you get the door?~”


“Just this once.” Saki said simply, walking to the nearby door. As Chifu approached, her visage slowly shifted to that of her goddess persona, safe in knowing Forte was heading straight back to his room to pass out. As she reached the door, the sound of bells rang and Saki opened the door to the God Eater’s booth in the Cross Colosseum.


Saki walked over to the table as the last bits of the God Eater’s tail disappeared through the door, reverting it back to it’s normal passage to the upper floors. As she did, she saw the various margarita glasses that had built up through the night, not picked up as the staff didn’t notice the trio disappearing. There was also the empty bowl for the chips, and a completely untouched glass of brandy, resting where Forte sat.


Saki picked up the undrank drink, looking annoyed. “What a waste of good brandy.” Shaking her head, she cleaned up the rest of the table and got back to work.


At about the same time, the curtains to the booth were revealed as the God Eater sat down, and Miss X began her announcement.


“Fans of fury and fire and flames and fashion and force and foes, are you all ready for a spectacurific set of fights today? Well, are you? I can’t hear you! Good, that’s more like it! Welcome back to day two of the Cross Tournament! Today we bring you two more matches full of fighters willing to bring it all to bare it all in order to earn the right to the God Eater’s wish today! Which of these vicious four will be moving on to the final rounds and fighting their hearts out for our amusement? Let’s find out!”


There was a loud cheer from the audience, various members of the audience holding out flags and banners to represent their support for each of the competitors.

“Our first match is between two speedy individuals with lots to prove and little to lose! Which I guess means they’re probably ramped up to max speed, so we should be too!”


“Quan managed the biggest upset of the entire tournament, managing to trick the Strongest Man in the Universe and steal his tag in record time! No one was expecting such an opening move! But now he’s against a tenacious opponent that’s less likely to have her tag stolen in such a way, so we’ll have to see if he can put up a fight against her!” 


“Piano, meanwhile, went through her own struggle, getting chased around and beaten up quite a bit in her match before she finally managed to overcome her opponent’s fearsome magic! But this next foe has speed that will send her head spinning! Let’s see if she has any more tricks hidden up her sleeve that will let her match the raw speed of this fae wonder!” 


“No matter what way it goes, I’m sure this battle will be blazing before us in the blink of an eye! So keep those eyeballs open reeeeaaaaalllllll wide, and we’ll see which of these two comes up on top!”


Piano was already waiting in the arena for her match, fully dressed in her usual outfit and her weapons hidden throughout her body once more. She looked well-rested and determined as she looked at her opponent’s entryway, waiting for the speedster to arrive. As time dragged on and he didn’t seem to show up, the audience began to grumble and complain, some even going so far as to boo and loudly yell at the God Eater as to where her fighter was.


With a sudden blur of movement, Quan entered the field. “Sorry guys, sorry! I just slept in a little!” His joke was enough to settle the crowd, several people laughing as those that still grumbled at least did so under their breath.


“Well, now that our two fastest fighters are here barely on time, how about we hurry along to their big match, shall we? Ready? Set? Begin!”


Both the red skinned woman and the scarf wearing boy rushed forward, their fists meeting in the middle as a bell chimed throughout the arena and the space around the two changed. The brightly lit arena shifted into a dank, dark sewer, slightly dirtied water going ankle deep for them in the half-pipe shaped pathways. Two side walkways higher up provided dry places, as did metal grated bridges spanning across them at various points. Metal pipes lined the ceiling as the two fighters could see, though the audience through Miss X’s eyes could see directly into the square shaped area, getting the best view possible of the fight.


“Looks like we’re going underground for this fight! Too bad we don’t have any skaters among the fighters, because I’m sure this map could let you rack up a high score like you wouldn’t believe! But I suppose to these two, the highest score will be that wish they’re fighting for!”


Quan and Piano leaped away from each other, the former shaking his fist from the impact. “You know, I watched your fight yesterday, but I didn’t realize just how hard you were pun-”


His talking was interrupted by two purple projectiles hurling his way. Normally, his quick reflexes could’ve easily dodged it, but his exhaustion from staying up all night dulled them slightly as one of the sharp heels managed to graze his cheek. 


As he looked surprised, his regeneration healing the small cut quickly, Piano was already flinging several throwing knives in his direction, a mix of steel and blood forged knives flying through the air towards the speedster. Now more prepared after the surprise attack, he quickly ran around the corner, causing the blades to spark against the wall behind where he was.


“Looks like this match opened up real quick, with Piano’s heel attack barely grazing him. He’s already on the run from Piano’s rain of steel, and now he’s going to get a good layout of our map for today’s match! Talk about thinking on your toes!”


Piano stood in place, her eyes closed as she followed his ki. She felt him run around for about twenty feet on that side, before repeating the same for the opposite side of her. As he ran the twenty feet on the side behind her, she felt she had a good grasp of the layout of the arena as she heard his splashing footsteps approaching behind her.


He closed the distance between them as he rounded the corner, going to punch the back of her head. She quickly spun around to kick at him, but he easily dodged the attack and lunged for her neck where her tag was.


But just as his hands got within an inch of her neck, her hands quickly clamped down on his arm. He looked surprised, only for him to get locked into a judo throw and slammed into the ground with her on top of him.


She knew he would go for her tag, just as he had with Armius yesterday. So she focused her ki senses to the area in front of her neck. The moment his arm crossed that area, her arms would automatically go in without her conscious input and grab him. She was sure after this, he wouldn’t try again, so she had to take advantage of this and wear down his durability.


“Uh oh! Looks like Piano’s caught our little speedster, unlike the Prince yesterday! And as we saw with Angelique, that’s the last place you want to be with this fierce martial artist! Here comes a flurry of blows!”


With him pinned beneath her, she focused her ki into her fists to strengthen the blows and began delivering hammer blows down on him. At first, he merely raised his arms to block the heavy blows raining down on him, each impact feeling like an actual sledgehammer coming down on him. But as he got used to it slightly, he began to use one of his arms to punch back, hitting her side even as it felt like punching a tractor tire from her hardening her muscles with ki.




But as he was keeping her focus on his upper half, he moved his stomach and hips as quickly as possible to try and wriggle free from her pin. After a few exchanges of blows, which she blocked with her other hand to keep him from going for her tag, he suddenly created a gap and quickly clambered out from underneath her, running to the corner once more. As he rounded the corner, he felt a sharp pain along his right thigh, the sound of a throwing knife hitting the wall echoing as he disappeared around the stone wall.


As Quan went to catch his breath, his regeneration working hard to recover from all the bruises, he looked at his leg. There was a good size cut on it, which he watched to see it close. But then he felt something burning along the wound as the wound refused to close. He looked confused, trying to figure out what was going on with his tired brain.


But he didn’t have any more time as he saw a flash out of the corner of his eyes as three more crimson daggers hurtled towards him. He hadn’t even heard her run over! He ducked under them, before running away more. 


“That stupid Sharp!” Quan complained. “Making me stay up all night, not letting me talk to Piano before the match, and messing with my head!”


“After quite a daring escape, our Quan has taken some injuries! While most of them are healing, it looks like that cut isn’t going to close anytime soon! Got to watch out for anything red with Piano, because that’s especially dangerous! It looks like it’s taking all Quan can do just to get away!”


‘With motivations as fickle as yours, the moment my sister proves more dominant and more challenging to overcome, you’ll quickly cede the match to avoid the trouble.’


Quan stopped as he remembered the brother’s words. An anger filled the pit of his stomach. He was proving that prissy jerk right this whole time! He was running away from Piano because she seemed overwhelming to him. Well, there was enough of that!


Pulling out his knife, he spun around and charged around the corner. At first, he didn’t see her in the passageway, but looking up quickly proved to save him as he dodged out of the way of more throwing knives as Piano descended down knee first. Quan quickly backed up, before charging forward at her. As he did, he saw her grip the hilt of her sword, her eyes flashing his way.


‘Ha, she’s finally pulling out that sword!’ Quan thought. He looked at the length of the sheath, quickly calculating his speed compared to hers and the length of the sword. ‘I should be able to get a good slash or two on her before she can get that thing out, and then I’ll be too close! I’ll dodge her blood and-’


As he got close to her and was about to swing his knife her way, he felt another sharp pain across his chest. A spray of his blood shot out, as Piano’s blade was held out in her right hand perpendicular to her body as she completed her slash. He looked at her sword and realized…


“It’s shorter!” He exclaimed out loud, his dulled reflexes nearly causing him to take another slash from her anti-regeneration sword as he stumbled back. Piano pressed the attack, returning her blade to its sheath between each slash as she kept up with him.


“My oh my!” Miss X cheered as loud as the audience as Piano’s mysterious blade finally emerged. “It looks like our pretty little Piano is a master of Iaijutsu! With stunning speed she sliced Quan’s skin, and that wound isn’t going to heal anytime soon! I guess we can see why Piano had to hold back with poor Angelique now! Good luck Quan!”


Piano pressed her attack a few more times, before Quan suddenly lunged forward between two of her attacks, nicking her arm. He quickly dodged to the side as a small jet of black blood spattered the wall behind him, the stone beginning to melt. As he gave a cocky laugh, however, he felt a dull thud on his side and he was sent flying away. Rolling to get back up, he saw her finish swinging her sheath in her left hand, as she now held both parts of the sword.


“Lucky hit!” Quan complained, before lunging forward once more. She blocked the stab with her sheath, swinging her sword at the same time and forcing him back.


“Same for you.” Piano said quietly, as the two got locked into an exchange of blows with each other, with Quan managing to tag her a couple of times. Once or twice, a jet of blood shot out from Piano as she was hit, forcing Quan to retreat. But occasionally, a slash would go unerupted, which Quan noticed.


“Guess it takes you time to do that spray thing. So if I keep slashing, you can’t keep doing it!” Piano leaped back before taking another hit, sheathing her blade as she did so. She got into a wide stance, preparing to slash him when he got close. “That same trick won’t work twice! I’ll get your tag this time!”


Quan charged forward at an even faster speed than before, reaching her just before her blade was drawn. Drawing on her ki, she sped up her slash to try and match it, only for him to dodge out of the way by stepping back.


“See, you miss-”


Before he could finish his taunt, he suddenly felt a burning pain along his shoulder, causing him to drop his knife. He looked to see a spray of blood splash on him… coming from her sheath.


“Uh oh! Looks like Quan wasn’t paying attention to what his opponent was doing while he had the upper hand! While he was focused on the blood not coming out of her, he didn’t notice her feeding blood into her sheath! And that extra space in her extra long sheath serves as a perfect holder for some extra blood that she could send at him for extra pain! Only an experienced warrior would even think of that! Just how dangerous is Piano really?”



Quan was forced to fully retreat at this point, needing to take time to recover from all of his injuries. As he disappeared around the corner, Piano did nothing to follow him, instead choosing to catch her own breath for a bit. While she was bleeding from quite a few places at this point, his wounds were much bigger, and the strain from not being able to regenerate from them was sure to take its toll. He would likely need to catch his breath and plan his next move, but he will eventually need to come to her. Time was not on his side. So she needed to prepare a welcome for him good enough to let her finish him off.


Quan, for his part, was on the opposite side of the arena from Piano, taking a deep breath as he clutched his chest. While the corrupting influence of Piano’s blood did a good job keeping him from regenerating quickly, his body still was healing at a faster rate than likely any opponent Piano’s faced thus far, the wounds closing imperceptibly slowly and the blood splashed on him only burning him on a surface level. But even with those advantages, he was losing blood fast. She could probably follow it, he was leaving so much behind.


“I’ve got to beat her soon. She’s not even doing that doping thing she did against that prissy girl.” Quan reasoned. He saw a few of her throwing knives on the ground nearby, and he quickly ran over to pick one up. “At least I got a weapon again. Now, all I have to do is catch her by surprise before she sees me get close and then I’ll win!”


“Sounds like Quan’s got a plan!” Miss X commented from above to her adoring fans, who were all cheering at the heavy bloodshed that was going on between the two speedy fighters. “It looks like we’re getting to the decisive end of the bout! These next few moments will decide the match, so don’t blink or you’ll miss it!”


Quan rushed around two passages, getting back to where he last saw Piano. She was nowhere to be seen standing in the area, but he saw her match with Angelique. Looking down in the dirty water, he got a glint of gold in the water. Smiling to himself, he quickly closed the distance between them and stabbed down.


But there was virtually no resistance as he struck through the coat and down into the stone ground below, where the crimson blade sunk in. His mouth hung agape, processing what happened as the bells on Piano’s coat rang from the impact.


But that wasn’t the only thing ringing around. Quan looked up just in time to see Piano slash through the last of the pipes in the ceiling, causing a sudden cascade of metal to rain down on Quan below. The way she had damaged the pipes, there was no way for him to retreat either side before he’d get caught. He’d have to dodge them where he was.


The speedster moved as fast as his body could, weaving between the pipes as they collided loudly with the stone floor and sent water in the air as they rolled in the half-pipe between walkways. He was beginning to laugh, giddy at how his speed saved him at this moment. But then, as he saw one pipe fall to his left, he saw a glint of gold.


In an instant, Piano leaped off the falling pipe she had been hiding behind towards Quan as he was slightly in the air to leap over a rolling pipe. With a quick draw and swing, she crossed where he was and carved the tip of her blade along his back. A spray of blood filled the air as Quan gave a cry of pain, dropping her throwing knife as he fell. His eyes rolled up in his head as the pain overwhelmed him and he passed out on top of the steel pipes, his speed allowing him to dodge all but her slash.


“And what an exciting finish for that match! With a leap from a cascade of falling pipes she made herself, she launched herself at Quan and slashed open his back! At this point, he has been rendered unable to fight, making Piano our decisive winner!”


The surroundings shifted as bells rang once more, allowing Piano to hear the roaring cheer of the crowd as she returned to the Cross Colosseum. Her various thrown weapons collapsed onto the real ground as they were returned to their true location in space. 


As that happened, she immediately went into medic mode, holding closed Quan’s wounds as she waited for the medical team to arrive to help him. She felt guilty that she went that far as she did, but she remembered the promise she made herself last night.


“To make up for the pain I caused Angelique, and to meet the expectations of my brother, the God Eater, and Vilivian, I will do what it takes to win, and make it up somehow with my wish. If not to the ones I hurt, then to Fate itself. That will work, right brother?”


But she had yet to consult her brother on her more consolidated goal for her further participation in the tournament. And as a stretcher was brought out to take Quan outside of the arena, Madame Chief looked down at Piano with amusement.


“My, doesn’t she seem more sure of herself?~” She commented to a Crossguard, who were all confident that Forte wasn’t among their number again. “I’m glad I invited her as I did~ She’s proving to be far more entertaining than even I had expected~”


As she watched on from above with amusement, she saw Piano receive Quan’s tag from one of the medics, and his two tails vanished from him in her eyes to shift to Piano’s backside. Invisible to all but Madame Chief’s select few, Piano’s four tails now swished nervously with her spade shaped tail, signifying her place as one of the two finalists to face off for one chance at a wish.


“Looks like this crop listens to my instructions to a t~ This should be an exciting tournament to the end~”

 

[Piano & Forte] Round 3: Black and Purple

Original Doc

Settling Ebony


“Nah, it’s fine. We were fighting, stuff like that happens, you know?”


Laying on the bed of the infirmary, Quan gave Piano a smile. Several bandages were wrapped around his torso, slightly stained with blood on the back. But at this point, they were starting to be mostly for show, as the corrupting taint of Piano’s blood had begun to fade and his regeneration picked up again once more. Within a few minutes, he would be fully healed and he’d be out of the infirmary anyways.


But even still, Piano seemed guilty about how the fight ended. While it was the most surefire way of ensuring her would go down, and having been careful to keep it shallow to avoid permanently damaging him, there shouldn’t really be anything for her to apologize for. Even still, she bowed her head, her tag swinging on her neck along with Quan’s, Armius’, and Angelique’s.


“Even still, I need to at least apologize. It probably hurt a lot.” Piano insisted, not looking at him as she started down at the ground in shame. “So even though you say you’re fine, at least let me apologize for my own sake.”


“Fine, fine, I forgive you and name you knight of the Crossroads or whatever else I need to do to let you get over this.” Quan said casually, waving his fingers on her shoulders in a mockery of knighting. “Does that make it up to you?”


“I-I suppose it would…” Piano confessed, her tail curling onto her wrist as she scratched her face.





“Good.” Quan relaxed on the bed, his hands behind his head. “To be honest, that pain wasn’t too bad. No worse than when I stole fire honey from Infernal Hornets. Those guys know how to sting real good. And besides, this place was getting a little too stuffy for me anyways. All you people with your prissy names. Now that I’ve lost, I can hit the road as soon as I want to. I don’t have to stick around if I don’t want to anymore. But it would’ve been fun trying to trick that God Eater lady into giving me her powers if I won. Maybe you can do it for me?”


“Uh… well, I don’t really know if that would-” Piano began, only for Quan to cut in.


“Nah, you couldn’t do it. She’ll probably run circles around you even if you tried. Better to stick with whatever you want. What is it that you want?” He began to lean forward with interest, only to wince in pain from his back muscles stretching over the wound.


“Well, I want-”


“Nah wait, don’t tell me. It’s bad luck to tell someone your wish before you get it.” Quan shook his head. “And since you beat me, I guess I want you to at least win so this back pain ain’t for nothing, you know?”


“I’ll-I’ll do my best…” Piano stammered, flushing from his expectations.


“Though I’m also glad I didn’t win. Imagine me, going against that monster of a woman!” He gave a laugh, which did nothing to cheer Piano up. “One wrong move and I’m a hole in the wall. Now that would be some serious back pain!”


“Uhh…. yes, I suppose she is a rather intimidating opponent…” Piano agreed, thinking back to the fight in the alley yesterday. “And I have to beat her tomorrow if I want to get that wish…”


“Well, good luck with that. Maybe I’ll stick around to watch it. I’m sure it’s going to be wild!” Quan laughed as if it was none of his business. Well technically, it wasn’t, but Piano’s stomach twisted at the ever looming figure of Vilivian on the horizon.



Her worries were extra strong because of her other purpose coming here: to collect particularly historic or valuable talents. And Vilivian’s unspoiled martial arts were unfortunately one of those talents she knew she had to seek out. Which means she’d have to draw out the fight for a while to observe it enough to “steal.” And even once she succeeded in stealing her talent, Piano would then have to take on a Vilivian that didn’t easily tire in comparison to her, that had magic at her disposal, and had a monstrous form to overwhelm Piano’s meager strength even when the Devil Blood was doping herself up. In a fair fight in that arena, there was little chance Piano had of winning, even if she tried to steal the tag.


In the arena…


In the arena…


In the arena?


“Yo, Piano? Are you doing alright there?” Quan sat up and waved his hand in front of her face. “You’re spacing out on me. It’s kind of freaky, and I sleep in haunted houses all the time.”


“I’m…. I’m sorry…” Piano vaguely apologized. “I need to go find my brother. Take care of yourself…”


“Okay, take it easy!” Quan called, relaxing back down on his bed. “Hey Doc, I think my back’s hurting something fierce! Maybe something sweet will help distract me from the pain!” The last thing Piano saw of Quan was his cocky smile as the doctor passed her to check on his patient.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Back at the Kit Inn, Forte was just beginning to wake up, grumbling slightly as the light of the soon setting sun hit his eyes, forcing him to squint. He looked at his bedside table for his glasses, seeing them lying next to the healing crystal he “borrowed” from Vilivian last night when he took that short little excursion from keeping Quan up.


He picked up the gem, admiring it in the light of the sun once again with his smirk. “Isn’t it rather marvelous, blood of mine?”


He glanced over, seeing his eyes mirrored back at him by his sister as she leaned against the wall. He noticed more slash wounds across her body, likely from her match earlier. But given her lack of worry at disappointing him, instead having a look of some shame but still having some resolve, he reasoned she had won her match. He gave her a proud grin.


“I suppose some manner of celebratory guerdon bestowing is in order as proper celebratory procedure for making it within a stone’s throw of having whatever appetency you are possessed of granted by the God Eater. And I believe I have the perfect knick-knack that should receive your grateful thankings.”


Forte held out the crystal to Piano, who took it in her hand with a curious look, looking down at her brother. The writer took his time responding, grabbing hold of his glasses and polishing them with a cloth to ensure they wouldn’t inhibit his vision before donning them and standing up.


“They are a sort of sanative crystal, infused with the magic of a witch and the woman who will prove to be your opponent.” Forte explained, causing Piano to jolt in surprise. She looked at the crystal more closely, as if she’ll be able to see the magic in it now. “You must simply crush the jewel in hand and allow the electrical current of its healing property course through you properly and any exsanguinating wounds upon you shall cease to be.”


Piano looked to her brother as he lifted his shirt to wrap his tail around his torso to hide it as he began to redress himself to get to “work.” “And will this recover any blood I’ve spilled? Can I use this to replenish my blood after spilling a bunch of it?”


Forte shook his head sadly, putting on his vest with a quick buttoning that was well practiced. “I am afeared that crystal does not possess such astounding properties. It is merely the sealing of wounds both internal and external that it enacts.”


“I see…” Piano commented lightly, before pocketing it. “Well, I’ll be sure to use it tonight when I’m done.”


“This eve?” Forte asked, surprised. “Should not wait for the opportune time on the morrow against your opponent if you wish to stand a greater chance of defeating her? She is quite the fearsome foe.”


“I don’t think so.” Piano shook her head. “Aren’t you the one that says I should be at my best before I put on one of those performances? I always listen to your advice.”


Forte looked at her for a moment, then gave a grin. “But of course. And I as ever shall trust your judgements when it comes to labor of a physical manner. In which case, we should begin the discussion as to the rewards for your endeavor.”


Piano looked back to her brother, a look of guilt on her face. He put on his coat, before finally donning his hat as well. “And I have a proposal for your consideration. It would seem that the God Eater keeps herself at quite the distance from the usual populace, and I am afeared that her security is wisened to my tactics. As such, I would pray request to utilize your wish to create greater access for ourselves to her presence.”


Piano rubbed her foot along the ground, her arms behind her back as she looked at her brother. “About that… I might already have a wish in mind that I think would work out better for the both of us. Would you trust me to make my wish instead?”

She flinched at the expression on his face, a look that told her he was dumbstruck by her boldness for a moment. Internally, Forte’s stomach was roiling from anger and shame, as another step towards getting all he wanted seems to have crumbled beneath him. His whole trip into the Crossroads, he was getting thwarted left and right, unable to do his own duties properly. If it was just once, it wouldn’t be so bad. But the fact that even Chifu, the drunk gossip gave him a false name. It was infuriating and humiliating.


And then for his sister to deny his request without any sort of hesitation was just another blow to his pride. While he always tried to maintain a give and take relationship with his sister, where they worked together to meet both of their needs. But even still, he was used to his sister always giving in to whatever he asked for. So the fact that she refused him and offered her own solution was a blow to his pride.


But only briefly. The confidence she showed to be able to directly ask something from him was something he could only commend her for. His confident smirk quickly returned as he gave her a deep bow. “In that case, blood of mine, I shall take heed of your wisdom and defer to your ingenious plottings. Therefore, to what end shall I assist you?”


Piano looked surprised at how quickly her brother recovered. She had expected him to be more reluctant given the frustration he had been facing. She hoped that if everything went well, she could help him regain his injured pride. “I don’t need too much from you. Just keep Vilivian busy for a bit while I start preparing for tomorrow’s match. Would that be alright with you?”


“It’ll be my pleasure to be of assistance to you, my meek sister. I shall ensure your social obligations are fulfilled by my locutions.”  Forte gave a bow, looking out the window. “I can scarce imagine she’ll be far now. You should depart before she catches hold of your scent.”


Piano gave her brother a hasty bow. “Thanks Forte. I promise I’ll win tomorrow.”



“Your victory in battle tomorrow shall be my prized reward for efforts rendered this eve. Until victory’s achievement on the morrow.” He tipped his hat to her, before his sister departed on her way out of the window, climbing onto the roof of the Kit Inn to make her way to her first destination.


“Now, let’s see how much my aid will prove to assist in this little bout.” Forte mused to himself, making his own way out of the Kit Inn. “Let’s see if the seeds of friendship I’ve sown these previous two days prove to bear fruit.”






















Rushing Violet


Vilivian walked with purpose down the streets of the Crossroads, returning back to the Kit Inn where she was likely to find the Blackblood girl. Her next opponent in the tournament, the final one she had to beat to win the wish.


She had seen the girl fight a couple of times now. Once in an alley with a bunch of males that the Blackblood showed far too much mercy on. She had also watched the girl fight her two matches ahead of her each day, defeating the magic user with the false arms and the quick fae that had tried to run circles around the otherwise swift girl. And both times, the spry girl seemed to overcome great odds.


And last night, the Blackblood’s brother had managed to secure one of the healing crystals she and Wendy had made. Which would make for a useful tool in the fight tomorrow. Although Vilivian was sure she was stronger physically, both before and after transforming, she knew not to underestimate her enemy.


She had learned that lesson the hard way all those years ago, against the man whose silver sword she now bore on her hip. In fact, that sword Piano had piqued her interest during the second match. It seemed to bear the same presence as the blood that flowed through her veins in Vilivian’s senses. Not only that, but the ease that the girl had swung the weapon showed a level of skill in it far beyond what her tender youth and naive manner in fighting would lead the Matriarch to expect.


So she wanted to talk to the younger warrior before their match the next day. Partially as a formality, as she had spent time with the other two opponents she faced, getting to know them before the match. Both of her opponents had proven to be far more interesting than she would’ve given them credit for prior to engaging with them. And Vilivian had already engaged with Forte, Piano’s twin, so she knew some things about how to deal with her.


But there was another purpose to meeting with Piano prior to the match. She had noticed last night that the younger girl seemed to look forward to her match with more confidence than she had possessed when they had first met in that alleyway. In the first match, she seemed to hold back, not using the sword at her back. And in the second match, the girl did not get her blood flowing nearly as fast as she did in the first. And the level of dedication to putting down her opponent in a worthy manner changed between the two matches.


So Vilivian wanted to confirm this newfound confidence by speaking with the girl directly. To make sure that she wasn’t going to hold back on Vilivian now, and to get an idea of why this girl even decided to participate in the first place. But she had to find her first.


At this distance, Vilivian could feel the black blood of one of the Devil Blooded sitting in the lobby of the Kit Inn. But given how slowly the blood flowed in the veins, more like a river of ink rather than the burning black that flowed through Piano’s, the likely person sitting there is…


“Good eve and great tidings be upon you, fair maiden~” Forte’s voice, a mix of delight in seeing her and a note of amusement rang clear across the lobby to Vilivian’s ears. It was hard to tell if he was genuinely mocking her or if his voice just had that effect, but either way, it was hard not to take offense to the tone. It was only due to her interactions with him the last couple days that she didn’t feel the urge to slam him through a wall.


He could be helpful when he wanted to be, and his way with words was certainly impressive. But the only thing she wanted to hear right now was: “Where is your sister, Wordsmith? I wish to speak with her.”


“You wish to speak with my paired partner in familial matters? Why alas, I am afeared that I have not the slightest of inclinations as to whence my sister has departed this eventide. And she isn’t one who cares to be noised about on. If you wish to engage in conversational matters, I should prove more than sufficient a partner.”


He gave a bow, though the smirk on his face never seemed to go away. He seemed to be enjoying this whole interaction, almost as if it was a game.


“Sorry, I would rather speak with the Blackblood girl. She is my opponent tomorrow after all.” Vilivian didn’t seem to budge, but Forte’s demeanor didn’t change.


“A most reasonable desire indeed.” Forte agreed with her, nodding his head readily. “And yet all the same, I must provide an obstruction to your attempts, as per my kin’s desires. She wishes to be left to her own devices, to prepare her mental faculties for tackling such a formidable opponent such as yourself. I pray beg that you acquiesce to such a request for the sake of my sister’s more timid tendencies.”


Vilivian blinked in surprise at the request, not used to the normally steadfast Forte that seemed to own any situation he’s in. While he did seem to exude all the same confidence that he had in previous engagements, it seemed to be with the knowledge that they were for the most part even in terms of favors being done. He no longer had quite the upper hand over her.


“Wordsmith…” Vilivian began, looking up. “I can already feel that your sister is not in this building. She’s probably long gone by this point to somewhere else in the Crossroads. If I have to guess, you’re here to slow me down.”


“A rather accusatory proclamation indeed.” Forte looked offended at her words. “Can’t a gentleman simply wish to accompany the one finalist that I have not spent the better part of my time on this mortal coil besides for but one eve?”


“Haven’t you taken up enough of my time the previous two nights?” Vilivian asked, cocking her head. “I’ve only had one conversation with your sister and she’s to be my opponent in less than twenty-four hours. Getting to talk to her for a little while should be fine. I feel we’ve talked more than enough.”


“Forsooth, our engagements have spanned quite the period these days thrice. And yet to a Matriarch such as yourself, such a brief period must seem almost transient in nature, would it not?” He gave her a sardonic grin as she stiffened, now mildly interested in him for the moment.


“And where did you hear of my people’s name?” Vilivian turned to face him fully now, resting a hand on her hip. Despite being nearly half a foot shorter than the gentleman snake, she still managed to exude a dangerous presence that made her seem to be the tallest person in the room.


“My my, that’s quite the exhibition of charismatic strength, sentinel of Graal. Though mayhaps you would be better served directing your ire towards the sotted woman who spends her eves besmirching her constitution in spirits serviced by the oni woman. There you might find a safe harbor for such fury towards treachery.” Forte seemed unaffected by Vilivian’s anger the whole while, even though his sister was not nearby to protect him from physical harm.


Vilivian gave a huge huff, crossing her arms. “I should’ve known that Trickster was involved in such a scheme.”


Forte’s smirk twitched for a moment, before it regained it’s smug confidence in quick form. “I can see we’ve both been befouled by that slovenly wench’s schemes. For one who seems well at ease within the depths of her tankard, she is possessed of wiles and insight beyond what her unsightly demeanor might otherwise offer. A most tedious danger indeed.”


“She is.” Vilivian agreed. “And how did she go about telling you about me?”


“It was not a particularly malicious manner, if that is what troubles you.” Forte assured her. “She merely began rambling upon some of the hidden aspects of all the contestants of the current contest, as expected of a drunkard. Any of your people’s secrets remain unspilled, if that was your concern. That’ll be something I’ll have to extract from you by my own hands~” He pulled out his notebook and pen, looking at her with a smirk.


Vilivian gave a sigh, knowing she’d have to try and convince him to let her go to pursue her real quarry. “I don’t have time to do this tonight. It would’ve been better to do this the last couple of days.”


“Forsooth, such foresight would’ve been advisable. Alas, I must instead strike at a later time than I would normally permit. Mayhaps you’ll grant me such mercy out of an abundance of confidence towards our kinship?” Forte’s words were laced with poisonous friendship, and Vilivian stiffened.


But not because his words affected her. But because she could feel her mind being probed by a magical intrusion. Her sense of her magic gave her some cognizance on such things, and her paternal heritage gave her resistance to such mind-altering magics as the one that was attempted on her. Looking closely, she could now almost see the fey chains that the writer had attempted to bind her in with his words laced with magic, the specter of the serpent he seemed to truly be looming behind him.


She thought back to how he always seemed to get his way whenever he spoke. Whether it was getting the dock workers to forgive her for the misunderstanding with the paints that Volley had used. How he managed to get the wine he used as a gift to get the healing crystal for Piano. While certainly he was a skilled master of his craft when it came to using words to get what he wants, the use of mind manipulating magics certainly would enhance his ability to get whatever he wanted. While her trust in the man had gone down, she could at least respect his capabilities and be wary of them from now on as she just glared at him.


Seeming to realize his magic had no effect on her, he changed gears in an instant, as if unperturbed by the resistance he was suddenly facing. He simply continued on, still holding his pen to paper as he looked at her intently behind his glasses. “Now then, I would scarce imagine an interview can begin thusly without first the subject rendering forth her name fore me. Therefore, I must ask you to state your name.”


Vilivian met his gaze and found a level of intensity in them beyond what she expected from a writer. His golden eye looked at her with an almost greedy glint in it, as if hearing her name was the only thing that mattered. Whether this was a desperate maneuver or the first step to another plot of his, something about his question made Vilivian feel uneasy.


“You already gave my name, Wordsmith…” Vilivian said hesitantly, keeping her eyes on him.


“That is truthfully spoken, my companion of the night.” Forte gave her a confident smirk. “And yet, I find that hearing one intone their own title with their own vocal cords possess a more formal air for beginning such matters.”


“I’m running out of patience for your games, male. Move aside, or I will push past you to find your sister.” At this point, she realized that Forte had moved himself to block the entrance, still leaning against the doorway with his notebook still out looking expectantly at her.


“I promise you, fair maiden, I present myself before you with forthright intentions. At this point, I am beyond such frivolous pastimes.” There was an edge in his voice, the playful teasing in his voice replaced by a hint of anger. “I’ve been met with several misfortunes since bestowing my presence upon these Crossroads, so I intend to at least make some progress with my interview of you this evenfall.”


Vilivian raised an eyebrow, looking him up and down as if inspecting him for his prowess even as she knew the answer. “Do you really intend to stand in my way? Even after seeing what I can do?”


“That I intend.” Forte confirmed,  turning his attention back to his notebook. “So as to my first inquiry-”



He got no further, as he suddenly felt a hand on his chest. Before he could react further, Vilivian shoved forward with all her might, sending the taller man flying out from the doors across the street. Two Crossguards seemed to materialize out of nowhere, using their arms to catch and slow Forte’s launch before he crashed into the buildings, though were only successful in mitigating the damage to the buildings, as Forte’s hat flew from his head and he spat out a glob of his own inky ichor from his mouth.


He collapsed to his knees as the two Crossguards released him, onlookers staring at him as he coughed in pain and looked up. He watched Vilivian look at him for a moment, before she walked into the night streets of the Crossroads, her way lit by the various neon signs that populated the buildings of the city. 


Once she was gone, he stood up gingerly, feeling a severe ache in his back that he knew would last him the next couple of days. But he felt he bought his sister as much time as was reasonable of him to achieve, so he was able to put on his confident facade once more.


‘I leave the rest of your duties squarely in your capable hands, Piano’ he thought to himself, putting on his hat once more and turning to the opposite direction that Vilivian disappeared off to. ‘Mayhaps I shall try my hand at some easier marks, to ensure I haven’t truly lost my touch here in these Crossroads…’


The thought didn’t seem to please him, as he too disappeared in the night, knowing his fury wouldn’t be satiated until he got at least two dozen names to put in his notebook. If he got at least one of the mayors of the town, that might be a worthy enough entry to satisfy his anger. Maybe the Faux High Inn’s owner would be in? His steps quickened, eager to put his frustrations behind him and return to a better mood.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -




The soft trickling of the hot springs water flowing down from the upper rocks to the lower created a soft ambiance throughout the rest of the room. In this slightly steaming room, Piano sat under one of these mini waterfalls, her legs crossed and her arms in a meditative pose as she focused her ki throughout her body, working on getting it to flow quickly through her in preparation for the next day. The water flowing from the top of her head and down her body soothed her body, while providing a decent mental distraction to make this a good mental exercise.


She had been there for an hour by now, so it was close to midnight by this point. Having spent most of the night preparing for her match, this ki exercise was the last thing she needed to do to give herself the best chance of beating Vilivian. Between her and Armius, they were the two opponents that would give her the most trouble due to their physical strength. Not that the other fighters weren’t likely to be troublesome. But Piano had felt comfortable that she was physically stronger or on par with the other five.


But Vilivian possessed a monstrous amount of strength beyond what all but Armius could wield. Not only that, she also could use magic, a talent Piano did not have at all and could never learn. So the Matriarch will always have that advantage over Piano. She also had the transformation into her demonic form that would also prove to be a major problem for Piano.


And lastly, Piano’s duties as a historian meant that Vilivian’s martial arts were something she would have to acquire. Which means she couldn’t just go for the win as fast as possible. She’s forced to drag it out, to steal the talent that Vilivian had, even if it means risking a loss against the Sentinel. This was definitely going to be a challenge. As was what was about to happen…


“There you are, Blackblood.” The voice of Vilivian sounded, just as Piano expected when she sensed the shorter woman’s ki. Vilivian appeared through the slight steam, not even a towel on her as she approached the still towel-clad Piano. “Your brother tried to keep me busy, but I got away from him. I’ve been looking for you all night, but I didn’t expect you to be up here.”


“H-how did you find me then?” Piano asked, putting an end to her little exercise and beginning to stand up.


“Well, that would be because a little fox told her~” A friendly voice called out. Looking over, the two contestants saw the ringleader of the tournament, the God Eater herself, striding in. With nothing but her tails to cover her and her hair in a ponytail, she smiled at the two girls. “I thought it would be interesting to have one good conversation with the two finalists and the host the night before the big fight~”


“Tch.” Vilivian clicked her tongue, looking at the God Eater with some annoyance. “I dislike using your help, especially after you gave the Wordsmith all of that information on me.”


“And yet, I helped reunite you two for this little talk~ You can at least say thank you to me~” Madame Chief teased, sinking herself into the hot water as two of her tails formed a pillow for her to recline her head on as she settled in. She gestured to the other two to join her, which Vilivian did after a moment and Piano did after some hesitation.


“I’ll deal with you in a bit, Trickster.” Vilivian said, trying to brush off the God Eater. Madame Chief simply laughed as Vilivian looked at Piano, who flushed from the attention. “I wanted to talk with you, Blackblood.”


“So I’ve heard…” Piano replied meekly, not making eye contact as she desperately wanted to just sink under the water and be forgotten.


“Yes. The last couple of days, I’ve been talking with my other opponents, learning why they wanted to fight in this tournament and what they would wish for. And I’ve certainly learned a lot about people from other places. And so I wanted to know what brought you here.”


Piano stayed quiet for a bit, her mismatched eyes looking at Vilivian. Eventually, in a small voice, she said, “When we first got here, I didn’t really have a reason to fight. My brother wanted to meet the God Eater-”

“Which was a really fun meeting, might I say~” Madame Chief interrupted, a coy smile on her face.


“H-he doesn’t quite agree…” Piano thought back to her brother’s anger yesterday. The God Eater simply shrugged, as if that wasn’t her problem. “But anyways, I mostly agreed to fight to let him interview people in the Crossroads. We hadn’t had a chance to come here yet, so it was a nice excuse.”


“So you’re only here because your brother wanted to come here?” Vilivian questioned, raising an eyebrow. “Do you truly have no will of your own to fight here?”


Madame Chief looked at Piano as well, who bit her lip in thought. “It’s not that I didn’t have a reason to come myself… It was just that my reasons for being here weren’t as strong as my brother’s…”


“Were?~” Madame Chief chimed in. “But that changed, didn’t it?~”


“Well…” Piano began, looking away. “When I fought Angelique, she seemed pretty upset by me beating her. Not just because she lost, but because of the fact that she lost to me. That I wasn’t good enough to lose to. And that hurt…”


“Without doubt.” Vilivian agreed. “Your value as a warrior was judged twice that day. Once by Angelique and once by me.”


“Right…” Piano said, flinching at the memory. “And my brother worked hard to make Quan tired for me, so I couldn’t hold back for his sake. And for Quan’s sake as well. After all, everyone coming here must be worth something for you to call them here, right?”




“But of course~” Madame Chief teased. “Angelique, Quan, Volley, Pembrooke, Armius, Rum~ Everyone of them had quite a few chances to win~ It’s interesting that it’s you two that made it this far~ But all of you are very interesting and strong in your own ways~ It’s been lots of fun watching you all fight to the best of your abilities~”


“Exactly…” Piano agreed, nodding. “All my life, I did well by not standing out. I liked staying out of people’s attention and doing what was needed in the shadows, letting my brother soak up all the attention. But from the moment I accepted the invitation, I couldn’t just hide to the side. It would be insulting to everyone else.”


Piano stood up, water dripping from her body as she gave Vilivian a determined look. Back out of the water, Vilivian noticed that the wounds Piano had gotten from her two fights the last two days had all vanished, scars and all. The Matriarch raised an eyebrow at Piano, standing up herself.


“And at this point, winning the tournament isn’t about the wish. Though I guess it never really was, cause I was already happy for the most part with my life. It was only after today that I even figured out what I wanted. And at this point, I’m already well within the spotlight. I might as well go all out for the win. So tomorrow, Vilivian, I-”

Piano hesitated for just a moment, before steeling herself again. “I.. I will beat you! Not for the wish, not for some other objective. I will beat you, fully and completely, for myself. I hope you’ll forgive me.” Her shy personality quickly returned, bowing in apology to the shorter girl.


Vilivian gave a slight scoffing sound, though the slight smile on her face told Madame Chief that the older woman was not offended. “I was coming here to convince you to go all out against me. A victory against an opponent that held back wouldn’t be as satisfying for a conclusion. Though I wonder if you can win without that healing crystal your brother managed to bargain from me.”


“O-oh, that?” Piano gave a nervous little laugh. “My brother always said that a performer should always look her best before the most magnificent shows. And I guess this would be such a show.”


“And here comes the Wordsmith’s words, crawling from the lips of another.” Vilivian complained with a grin, shaking her head as Madame Chief giggled nearby. “But are you saying that you can beat me without that little advantage?”


“I think so. If I couldn’t, then I wouldn’t have been invited to this tournament, would I?” Piano tilted her head in thought, getting another giggle out of Madame Chief. “And since we’re on the subject, you won’t be holding back, will you? You were against the other two you fought, so I don’t want to win because you were holding back for my sake.”


Vilivian crossed her arms, looking confident in herself. “I suppose I shouldn’t look down on you, Blackblood. While I still won’t use the sword against you for personal reasons, I promise not to hold anything else back against you. I’ll bring to bear all of the might of the Sentinel of Graal. Try not to break too quickly.”


“I’m not that fragile…” Piano complained quietly, looking away. “And I promise to use every bit of talent I’ve built up for myself to take you down.”


“And no help from your brother.” Vilivian added. “From what I’ve seen, your brother has done most of the work against your opponents the last couple of days. But I won’t fall for his charms and magics, nor do his words hold any influence over me once you were the one to be my opponent. You will have to defeat me with your own strength if you wish to win and join your blade as the second to have taken me down..”


“The only way I can earn my wish is beating you by myself. Otherwise, my wish is useless.” Piano matched Vilivian’s gaze once more, her purple and gold eyes shimmering with a strong determination as they met Vilivian’s emerald ones that matched that determination.


“And what might that wish be, exactly?” Vilivian asked, curious.


“I’m sorry, I”m afraid I can’t tell you that.” Piano apologized, wrapping her tail around her wrist. “I’ve been told it’s bad luck to share a wish before it comes true. So you’ll have to wait.”


“Aw~ Who’s the party pooper that told you that?~” The God Eater complained, pouting adorably from her still lowered position.


“From someone who seems to have a lot of knowledge on such matters.” Piano said vaguely, a sheepish smile on her face as she thought to Quan’s words from earlier.


While the goddess still sulked, Vilivian looked thoughtful. “Well, it’s not like I had a solid idea of what to wish for myself to share. Perhaps it will take form during our fight tomorrow.”


“That would be nice…” Piano nodded, holding out a hand to shake Vilivian’s. The Matriarch accepted after a moment, still unused to civilized customs. “In that case, may the best woman win tomorrow.”


“Woman? So you don’t view me as a monster, as does everyone else in this town?” Vilivian asked curiously, still gripping Piano’s hand.


“I mean… even if you are, that doesn’t really change anything. Either I win or you. Luckily, I think I have a talent or two for fighting monsters…”


“Very well. Trickster, no more words will be needed. You’ll get the entertainment you desire from the two of us.”


“This will surely be a treat~” Madame Chief hummed, her grin a devious smile at the thought of tomorrow’s match. “Do be sure to put a good show on for me, dear travelers~”

Black and Purple


“What a beautiful day it is today, my lovely fans, is it not? Just a perfect day for bloodshed and spectacle, and I have just that kind of content for you for this concert! The God Eater brought eight unique fighters from across the multiverse to our humble Crossroads to compete for one wish from our local resident goddess! Two remain after two intense days of battle, and now they face each other on this final day, both having hardened their hearts to be willing to take down the other and prove themselves worthy of having their wish granted more!”


Miss X’s proclamations brought about a host of cheers from the audience as she began the final day of the Cross Tournament with overwhelming exuberance. Her platform seemed to spin and dazzle even more than the last two days had even shown. Given this was the finale, it seemed Miss X didn’t want to hold anything back.


“Our first competitor is the shy martial artist whose skills have proven themselves over and over against the fiercest opponents in the multiverse, Piano! Her previous two opponents showed off impressive magical and physical abilities respectively, putting Piano up against a tough fight! But her opponent combines the best of both worlds, creating the ultimate culmination of danger to finish off this tournament! Let’s see if she has what it takes to overcome impossible odds as the obvious underdog in this match!”


“And across from her, the fearsome demon that has inspired terror in her opponents and the audience, Vilivian of Lilith! With brutal force she managed to trash her two powerful opponents, proving she was on top of them! But now her opponent isn’t going to try and match her blow for blow, but use cunning and skill to overcome her disadvantage! Can Vilivian adapt her strategies to these new tactics or will her reign as the powerhouse of the Cross Tournament come to a screeching halt?”




“These two women are masters of their bodies and minds, right down to the strange colored blood they both have! I’m sure the fight that’s coming up will stain the battlefield in all sorts of colors, I can hardly wait to see it! While I’m sure they’re not super eager to hurt each other, they both have one dream, one wish to earn the right to see become real, so they’re going to have to put aside what little friendliness they have with each other and put it all on the line for victory! Get ready folks! The show is about to begin!”


Both women had stood in the arena, neither one having been late and both showing signs of being ready to begin. Vilivian was dressed in a simple white blouse and black leather pants, though both were not long for this world with the way Vilivian has fought thus far. Her silver sword keepsake was already buried in the ground, stuck so deep as to render it impossible to remove by the hands of others. Piano, on the other hand, was still dressed in her slightly tattered, but still flashy and elegant raiments as she adjusted her stance back and forth. Her sword was prominently displayed on her back, her intentions to use it obvious to all as the two women stared at each other with barely any expression on their face.


“And it looks like these two are raring to go at it themselves!” Miss X proudly called, floating high above them at equal level to the God Eater’s balcony, the goddess watching down at the two below with a look that showed how entertained she already was with them. “So let’s get this countdown going! 3! 2!”


Below, Vilivian shifted her stance, holding her arms forward ready to fight. Across from her, Piano did something completely different from previous bouts, getting on all fours with all four limbs in a solid starting position, her body poised in the air as she prepared for an all out sprint. Vilivian’s mouth twisted into an almost demonic smirk at the expression on Piano’s face, the latter having a cold expression that seemed to almost be dissecting her opponent before they met. 




But it was the glint in the Devil Blood’s eye, one that seemed to be viewing Vilivian as prey to be hunted that really got her fired up. The scared, timid girl she fought alongside two days past was buried now, leaving only a calculated warrior that would do anything to complete her objective. And Vilivian could hardly wait to cause such a strong will to fail its mission.


“1! Let’s get this show going!” Miss X gave a cheer, fireworks shooting up above her and bursting.


The instant the explosions went off, Piano rushed forward with impressive speed, crossing the distance between her and her opponent before the Matriarch could even realize it happened. Rising up, she launched a straight punch that was met by a jab from Vilivian, the force of their opposing blows creating a ripple in the air as the chime of bells rang out around the arena. But instead of the field shifting significantly in biome, instead only a transparent wall shimmered around the edge of the battlefield. The God Eater seemed to have deemed a change of scenery unnecessary for this bout.


Piano instantly launched into her next attack, flipping into a front handspring as her right heel had been popped off as the punch landed. Catching the dart with her toes, she slammed it down on Vilivian’s shoulder, drawing purplish blood with a grunt of pain as the lithe girl leaped in the air.


Her other heel was already spinning in the air between them, Piano twisting into a spinning kick to launch it towards Vilivian. More prepared, the Matriarch knocked the purple projectile aside with a backhand, only to notice too late that Piano had continued her rotation and landed a hard haymaker into the red head’s jaw, sending her rolling onto the dirt.


“And Piano draws first blood, launching a devastating short range assault that lodged one of those deadly heels of hers into Vilivian’s shoulder before clocking her jaw! Where were starts like these the last couple of days?”


‘Burst!’ came a quick incantation of magic from Vilivian, a purple aura surrounding her arm as she swung in Piano’s direction, causing the earth to explode between them and send the girl running back to avoid shrapnel.


But four throwing knives quickly hurtled themselves between the blast, which Vilivian deflected by pulling out the heel from her shoulder and smashing them aside with the makeshift weapon. She then tossed Piano’s heel back at the younger woman, only for a red blur to dash underneath it and land a blow on Vilivian’s stomach. The Matriarch tried to back up, but a hand gripping her arm held her long enough for three more gut punches to land, each one causing Vilivian to bend over more, before the last one was used to flip Vilivian onto the ground with a hard impact.


Vilivian barely had any time to recover before she had to dodge out of the way as Piano brought her foot down in a crushing axe kick towards her head. Vilivian rolled a good distance away, doing a sweeping backhand to stop Piano’s assault as she had to leap back.


The Matriarch cracked her neck for a moment to adjust it after such a hard landing, before she was the one to approach. She kept her arms in as Piano got into a defensive stance at the charge, before lashing out with a punch with no wind-up. The slim martial artist barely dodged out of the way, her hair whipping up from the gust of the powerful blow so close. Vilivian soon had a hook shoot out towards Piano’s side, the martial artist deflecting it with an open palm as she now squarely faced her opponent once more.


A barrage of punches soon followed, with Piano deflecting each one with an open hand every time, sending the blows harmlessly to either side as she maintained her position. Every time Vilivian tried to trick her from another angle, Piano’s centralized stance made it so she could always respond before returning to the same position. It didn’t help that Piano’s longer reach meant she had more time to deflect the blows versus Vilivian’s shorter arms, keeping a set distance between them.


But Vilivian had an idea, looking down at the planted feet of the Devil Blooded. Dropping low to sweep her legs, she was surprised to see that Piano was already in the air and kicking down at her. She raised her arms to block, as Piano flipped back to regain distance.


Vilivian raised her arm again, directing the flow of magic once more as her arm radiated a purple energy. ‘Burst’ 


But even as she finished the incantation, Piano was already crossing the gap. As the ground behind her exploded, Piano already slammed her fist into Vilivian’s face and sent her sailing across the battlefield. As Vilivian rolled onto her feet, Piano had reached her again and kicked her in the chest, knocking her to the ground. Piano quickly leaped on top of the fallen Matriarch, using her hips to pin down her opponent’s stomach and hold her in place as Piano began to rain blows down.


Vilivian moved her head out of the way, covering it with her arms as the surprisingly powerful punches of Piano were something she couldn’t take too many of in this form. And yet, the flow of the Blackblood’s life essence was still keeping a slow flow through her veins. It didn’t have any of the fiery passion that she had used to defeat her first opponent.


Bucking her hips powerfully, she flung Piano off of her. As Piano stumbled onto her feet, Vilivian leaped up and closed in, beginning her own counterattack with a straight punch. Piano toughened her muscles as she raised her arms, getting sent back into the wall as she let out a gasp of pain. But she barely had time to react before another explosive fist slammed into the wall where her head was.


“What happened to your resolve, Blackblood?” Vilivian asked, slamming more blows towards the Devil Blood. “Have you already lost the nerve you showed me last night?”




Piano didn’t say anything at first, her eyes focused on Vilivian’s punches, seeming to pay attention to how she prepared each one. This seemed to help her block them as well as some other purpose. Her golden eye seemed to flash with glimmering light with each punch, whether it hit or missed.


Seeing an opening in the barrage, Piano leaped up and curled her body as she pressed against the wall. Pushing off, she soared over Vilivian’s head and landed behind the red head. Vilivian spun around in a backhand, only to see that Piano had contracted into a ball again on the ground, before both feet launched upwards into a vertical dropkick that rocketed Vilivian’s head backwards.


While she was still recovering, Piano spun her upper body along the ground, kicking her foot out with great rotational force to Vilivian’s side. A straight kick quickly followed, before a sweeping kick to knock the Matriarch down again. The comboed woman tried to lash out with a kick of her own, but Piano’s leaping kick dodged past it and retaliated in one motion as the added force of gravity made Vilivian grit her teeth in anger and pain.


But the Matriarch finally got a grip on Piano’s leg. With a tightened grip as Vilivian stood up, the red skinned woman was sent in a semi-circle straight towards the wall with the ringing of bells. But just before Piano’s torso reached the wall, her other leg wrapped around Vilivian’s waist and locked with her grabbed leg in a tight grip as well. Both of Piano’s arms hit the wall loosely, defusing some of her impact before using her muscles and ki to quickly push off above Vilivian again before her face slammed into the wall. With a twist of her hips, all of the force from Vilivian’s attack was used to twist the older woman until she was flipped upside down, before Piano slammed her feet down and sent Vilivian’s face into the dirt with a loud crack. Whether it was the ground or Vilivian’s skull was hard to tell as Piano flipped away from the impact with a slight flourish, her arms shaking from the amount of force they just absorbed.




“What an absolute rush of battle!” Miss X cheered above, as the formerly breathless audience that had simply sat stunned watching the battle now began to roar with excitement at the exchange of blows they just watched. “These two have been on each other almost every moment, with barely enough time to breathe! Let alone get any words in on the action! These two are finalists for a reason!”


Vilivian slowly stood up, purplish blood leaking from her broken nose. Putting a hand on the broken nose, she gave a sharp twist and a dull crack to set it back in place as she glared green eyes at Piano. “Your soft nature betrays you. Not only for holding back against the opponents that came before me. But for you holding back still against me.”


Vilivian rushed forward, dodging out of the way as Piano gave a sweeping kick by rolling past it. Spinning around, she swung her fist Piano’s way as the martial artist spun back to create distance. She quickly planted one foot and kicked out, forcing Piano to swing her leg to block, the Devil Blood gritting her teeth as the force of the meeting was overwhelming even with toughening her muscles. She was slower to recover than usual and had to bend back pretty far to avoid the follow-up attack, nearly falling over as the fist barely grazed the tip of her nose.


“Like now. Your arms are nearly numb from those last few blows and you think you can use your legs to hold me back until they recover. But then what? You’ve shown no drive to defeat me thus far. Recovering now or later won’t change the way this battle will go if this keeps up.”


Sure enough, Piano was being put on the back foot now, constantly being pressed back by Vilivian’s continuous assault, as if undaunted by the blows she suffered earlier. The blood from her shoulder and nose seemed to be mere inconveniences to the Matriarch, her gaze entirely focused on her retreating prey with each swing of her well trained fists and legs. While Piano had caught her by surprise at first, her centuries of experience now allowed her to adjust to the younger girl’s tricks, not allowing her to even get a solid foothold to utilize her impressive acrobatics.


“What’s this?” Miss X called from her platform, shading her eyes to get a better look. “Piano, the surprising underdog that had managed to pull ahead of her opponent, is now falling back! Is Vilivian really too monstrous for anybody to defeat?”


“You’re wrong…” Piano’s voice was quiet, but still was loud enough for Vilivian to hear as the red skinned girl leaned past the flying fist heading for her head. “I wasn’t holding back. I just couldn’t try before now…”


Piano’s eyes, the only shred of her determination that Vilivian could see up until now, seemed to shine even brighter with determination. No, not determination… hunger. The same hunger her brother displayed last night asking for her name. No, not that either. As she looked into the golden eye of the young woman before her, Vilivian realized that there seemed to be some form of satiation in it as Piano looked at Vilivian.


Vilivian lashed out with another punch to the jaw, but Piano dodge low and past it, planting her feet in a low stance as the shorter woman looked surprised. Not only was a dodge like that impossible with the punch she threw just now, but because she could sense the blood in Piano’s veins flowing into a fiery heat in her arms as she prepared her attack.


She raised her arms to defend, but Piano’s first punch snuck right past her guard and slammed into her jaw. As her head shot to one side, Piano stepped forward and planted her lead foot, before twisting her whole body for a second face shot. With each punch she stepped forward, rolling back and forth with each consecutive punch as she regained the upper hand.


“And our comeback queen returns with a devastating Dempsey Roll directly to Vilivian’s face! It’s a shame, because she’s rather pretty when she’s not in her demon form! But whatever leads to victory must be done!”




Vilivian finally dodged back and tried to punch back, but Piano moved to the side and grabbed her extended arm. With a few joint locks, she quickly twisted Vilivian’s arm and flipped her onto her back. Vilivian rolled onto her feet and raised her arms. ‘Ward!’ A shimmering blue barrier blocked the back kick Piano sent her way, the purple shoe slamming into the magic wall with some considerable force for the weaker woman.


As Piano pulled her foot back, Vilivian dropped the barrier and rushed forward to punch at her opponent. Piano, for her part, began to channel more of her life energy into her fist as she watched her opponent approach, her knowledge of Vilivian’s talent for hand-to-hand already allowing her to dissect her opponent’s approach. As Vilivian went to punch, Piano unleashed the same exact punch, but faster and with a longer reach, her ki-enhanced strike stopping Vilivian in place.


As her eyes went wide, she stumbled back as a swift kick, just as powerful as the punch she just received, slammed her into the wall. It felt like a weaker version of herself hitting her at this point. She raised her arms to block the next punch, but both limbs were sent upwards. Piano then got into a sideways stance, holding her fist an inch away from the staggered woman’s chest. Gathering her ki in her stomach, she let out a long exhale as she quickly surged the ki into her fist.


With a brief thrust forward, Piano’s fist slammed into Vilivian’s chest with more power than anything Piano had thrown before. Pain radiated from her chest and back as Vilivian was slammed into the wall with nowhere to go as Piano’s fist held her there. The Devil Blood then stepped back, allowing Vilivian to fall to her knees to catch her breath after having all the air knocked out of her, Piano stopping a few feet away.


“What an impressive arsenal of moves Piano’s brought out today! Kung-fu, boxing, Muay-Thai, Judo, Capoeira, and now the fearsome One-Inch Punch! Piano’s shown off a lot of skills these last few days, and it never seems like she runs out! Does our martial artist have more collective experience in those skills of her’s than even Vilivian has experienced?”


Vilivian stood up slowly, using a hand on the nearby wall to help steady herself as she coughed a few times. She then slammed her fist into the wall, a loud bell noise ringing out from the spatial barrier that protected the structure holding up the audience. “Alright Blackblood, looks like you weren’t holding back on me. Good. I was hoping to make you draw your sword before I adopted my other form, but it seems I’d lose before that happens. But you do know…”


As she spoke, Vilivian’s body began to twist and change, muscles beginning to grow in size as her body elongated upwards. Her clothes began to stretch and then tear with a horrible ripping sound, any modesty concerns set aside as her torso began to shrink in on itself, and a long, segmented tail began to emerge from her lower back. Her skin began to turn to a charcoal gray, hardening visibly even as it grew taut over the growing musculature as she rose over two meters in height. Her hair had disappeared, her skull elongating into a calf-like structure and a large beak beginning to form where her mouth was, a long tongue snaking out.


…THAT YOU WON’T BEAT ME WITH CHEAP TRICKS ANYMORE.


“And there it is!” Miss X cheered above, a thrill of horror music resonating from her platform as a stinger at the unveiling of Vilivian’s demonic form. “The form that trashed her previous two opponents! But Piano’s proven herself against the odds! Will our underdog be able to overcome this new threat?”


UNLIKELY. Vilivian sounded confident from her telepathic message, shifting her enormous weight on her elongated legs as she stretched claws the length of Piano’s forearm. NOT UNLESS SHE IS TRULY HIDING SOMETHING ELSE FROM ME.


Piano didn’t say anything, merely adopting another defensive stance before gesturing at Vilivian to come at her. But the Matriarch’s rising confidence meant that she not only accepted the challenge, but did so with overwhelming force as she rushed forward towards Piano.



SINK. At her command, the hard earth turned soft beneath Piano’s feet, sucking in her purple shoes as her mismatched eyes darted down for but a moment. Cursing internally at losing her footing, Piano had to adjust her defense as Vilivian reached her, raising her arms to block as a clawed hand swiped upwards toward the martial artist to cleave her into pieces. The shattering of metal showed that she was able to draw throwing knives to avoid being sliced into ribbons, but they did nothing to stop you lithe girl from being flung halfway across the arena from the sheer force of the monstrous Vilivian.


But even flying through the air, Piano’s senses were focused on her opponent, making sure she could have a safe landing as she flipped onto her feet. The moment she dispersed the impact through her leg muscles, she dodged to the side, avoiding being impaled by the segmented tail thrust her way. She reached for the intruding appendage, only to dodge backwards so that the two clawed arms that were about to pierce her torso instead slammed into the invisible wall blocking the exit of the arena with the peal of two bells. 


FOOLISH GIRL. DO YOU NOT THINK I’VE HAD ENEMIES ATTEMPT SUCH A MANEUVER BEFORE YOU? YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST, AND YOU WON’T BE THE LAST TO TRY IT.


As Vilivian reprimanded her, she used her tail and claw to block Piano’s methods of escape now that she was backed against the wall, while her free hand began to slash forward at the small girl. Letting out a long breath, Piano began to sway her body, her form appearing to almost be “pushed” out of the way of Vilivian’s strikes with each dodge. The sound of bells ringing grew louder with each swing, and behind Piano, subtle cracks began to form in the spatial barrier that normally barred exit.


Madame Chief, the goddess of the Crossroads responsible for creating the barrier, smiled with amusement as she felt her simple spell beginning to shatter under the might of Vilivian’s demonic strength. “My, just how amusing shall these two prove to be?~” she asked herself, as the spider web of cracks began to solidify into a more substantial tear.


Then, with a loud noise of a bell cracking, the barrier behind Piano shattered completely, leaving a sizable hole in its make. The instant it appeared, Piano spun around and began to sprint down the passageway out of the arena and back into the Crossroads itself.


WHY DO YOU FLEE, BLACKBLOOD? Vilivian’s voice roared in her mind, before the Matriarch chased after the quick-footed Devil Blood.


“Oh my!” Miss X gave a cry above. “It’s been a while since the competitors have broken loose of our Colosseum! While those in the physical audience will be upset that their tickets they worked hard to get are useless, have no fear! The show will go on! Follow me!”


With a shift in her will, Miss X’s platform began to float up above the Colosseum, her heart-shaped pupils scanning the surrounding streets for the two fighters as they zipped down the streets. Then, there was a cacophonous blast as wood soared into the air, and Miss X took that as her cue to head towards it, knowing her targets would be there.


Sure enough, as she floated high, she could see the young Piano getting up from the debris, having barely dodged out of the way as Vilivian had used her powerful magic to blast apart a nearby wall to try and slow the Devil Blood down.


Her plan worked, as Vilivian quickly reached Piano as she landed on her feet once more, forcing the Devil Blood to draw her sword to block the swiping claws, the clang of metal on bone ringing out across the street. Piano quickly swiped her sheath to her left, deflecting the tail sent to impale her before spinning out of the way of another swipe of claws and slashing out with her sword to Vilivian’s exposed side.






But the only thing she got was the sound of metal scraping on something hard as her blade failed to pierce through the tough hide of Vilivian. With how dark the Matriarch’s skin was, Piano couldn’t see if her blood’s corrupting influence was having an effect or not, and she couldn’t hold still to watch as a large backswing sent the young girl rolling below it. She made another slash at the large target that was Vilivian’s back, only for her blade to be rebuffed again by the hardness of the skin.


YOUR STRENGTH IS NO LONGER ENOUGH FOR YOU TO WIN. SURRENDER NOW, BLACKBLOOD. Vilivian’s words echoed hollowly in Piano’s mind, her crimson blade batting aside the clawed strikes of the Matriarch with closer and closer margins, as she began to feel the claws brush her skin. Close enough to touch, but not enough contact to cut. But eventually, Piano’s luck would run out.


And sensing the tail behind Vilivian beginning to prepare to strike as one claw strike forced a step out of Piano, she began to shift the flow of her blood to the most likely contact point, hoping a spray of blood might gain Piano some distance. For a moment, it seemed Piano’s plan was going to work, seeing the tail head towards the correct part of her body as she braced for the pain.


But then, the tail snaked to the other side of Piano’s body, piercing through the red skin of the young girl as she yelped in pain and the bells on her coat rang from the forced movement of being stabbed. Little blood spilled from the piercing, though a slight coating covered the tail as Vilivian tried to shake it off with a few flicks once she withdrew the tail before the corruption could truly set in. I CAN SENSE YOUR BLOOD’S FLOW FROM YOUR VEINS. SUCH TRICKS WILL NOT WORK ON ME. SURRENDER NOW, BLACKBLOOD.


Piano staggered back, a gout of black ichor pulsing from her wound as she could no longer keep its flow from the wounded area. Instead, she attempted to slow the flow of her blood to keep the bleeding to a minimum as she faced Vilivian with an unfaltering expression.


 SO YOU WILL NOT SURRENDER? VERY GOOD. LET US KEEP FIGHTING, BLACKBLOOD, AND PROVE WHICH OF US IS TRULY SUPERIOR. Vilivian’s hollow voice echoing in Piano’s head seemed excited, which matched the body language of the Matriarch as she crouched into a predatory stance. 


“It looks like the dynamic of our fight has shifted back to what we all expected it to be!” The cheerful X called from above, as if oblivious or excited by the danger Piano was in. “It seems that Piano is now the one being hunted by Vilivian! Oh, I got chills thinking about what’s going to happen next! I think you kittens better prepare for a wild ride!”


Piano was used to fighting monsters larger than herself. She had even fought some with a good amount of intelligence like Vilivian. But unlike past large creatures she had fought, her sword did not easily cut through its flesh, nor did the corrupting influence of her blood seem to bother Vilivian’s flesh at the point of contact or if it did, she was showing no signs of pain.


A monster whose body could fend off Piano’s unnamed blade. Too strong to overpower or reliably use martial arts on. Too tough for her blade. Too intelligent to outwit easily. And a fresh wound that meant she couldn’t use her ki and body control to enhance her blood flow and make her stronger. Too many factors against her.


But she had to prevail. As Piano widened her stance in preparation to fight, Vilivian lunged forward with both claws, bringing them both down onto Piano. Piano raised her blade and sheath, holding off the descending death before deflecting her arms to the side. Hooking her sheath against the Matriarch’s leg and her blade to her side, Piano used the deflection knocking Vilivian off balance and twisted to flip the large monster completely over to slam onto the ground.


Vilivian’s tail quickly lashed out to strike at Piano, the small girl barely blocking the whipping appendage with her sword and sheath, though she was launched a distance away so she couldn’t follow-up on the fallen Vilivian. But Piano seemed pleased by this, as she quickly rolled onto her feet as Vilivian struggled to hers and ran into a nearby building.

The small counter of the flower shop greeted Piano across the way, displaying a number of prices for flower collections themed around Miss X and the God Eater along with normal selections. Rows of flowers filled the sides and on displays running down the middle of the floor, filling the air with a bouquet of aromas that was tainted by the smell of Piano’s blood. The crimson girl glanced behind her, hearing and sensing Vilivian get up, causing her to run deeper into the store.


The hulking gray demon woman lumbered to the front of the glass windows, “looking” inside for the girl whose blood she could sense. Rather than just burst in, which she figured the girl was expecting, Vilivian raised her arm. SHATTER.


The entire front of the store exploded into glass shards, sending sharp projectiles and flower petals hurtling into the air. Piano quickly dived behind the counter, grabbing a glass vase and dumping it out as the wall in front of her was peppered with glass shards that exploded on impact with the wall.


Piano didn’t need to try and see through the still raining bits of glass and petals to know that Vilivian was charging towards her through the destroyed shop. She could feel the monstrous ki rushing towards her. She leaped up in the air just as a gray claw swiped through the double set of glass that had separated them, wiping the counter in one strike as the Devil Blood twisted in the air. 


Vilivian’s tail then snaked up to strike, causing Piano to stab her sword into the nearby wall and use her gymnastic talents to pull her body just barely out of the way, her body curled around the appendage as it pierced the plastered wall. With her other arm, Piano swung it around and flung the vase towards Vilivian’s face.


The Matriarch raised an arm to block the projectile only to realize too late that the glass container had been partially filled with Piano’s blood as she destroyed the front. The even more fragile than usual glass broke upon impact, sending black blood to cover the gray skin of Vilivian’s arm and parts of her chest, just barely dodging her head out of the way.

As she hissed in pain, her pain as the skin now being affected by such a large amount of the corrupting influence on it, the pain was then doubled as Piano flipped forward once, slamming her blade into the weakened flesh. The sharp sword managed to lodge itself about half an inch into the muscular forearm of the Matriarch, drawing violet blood for the first time in this form.


But Piano’s rush of excitement wouldn’t last long as Vilivian reared her arm back and swung it forward, sending Piano careening towards the wall. She just had time to toughen her muscles to dull the impact somewhat as she smashed through the wall and left a sizable hole in the back of the flower shop.


“What an intense indoor combat! Although Lily’s Forever Flowers has been decimated by the magic of Vilivian and the clash of might of both our finalists, her damages will be covered by the wonderful insurance policies we offer in the Crossroads! Which allows us to watch this marvel of a combat without fear for the small, locally operated businesses that we support here! Now give a cheer for our fighters, especially Piano for having drawn some blood against her fearsome opponent, though she’s clearly lost the greater amount so far!”


Piano gave a wracking cough as she recovered from the impact, though she quickly scrambled away before a pair of clawed, three-toed feet slammed into her back as the ground shook from the terrible impact. Piano dodged a few more chasing stomp, before trying to pull a springing vertical dropkick onto the large skull of Vilivian, who simply took the blow while barely moving from the full body weight of Piano.


Piano flipped off of the large demon, landing with her arms outstretched and fists closed as Vilivian rushed towards her. Pulling her left arm, the glint of light off a string showed as the large gray woman reached high to strike. At that moment, Vilivian realized her mistake as she finally noticed the sensation of Piano’s blood moving above her.


A storm drain above suddenly burst as black blood melted through the remaining fastenings holding that section up, causing it to spill the remaining corrupting blood down towards Vilivian’s back. WARD.


A shimmering blue barrier erupted from Vilivian’s raised arms, blocking the corrupting force as the blood began to taint the shield to black. As she was blocking high though, Piano drew a throwing knife and slashed her own forearm, sending another jet of blood directly onto Vilivian’s chest with a mental howl of pain. The slender tail of the demon woman lunged towards the Devil Blood, but she rolled out of the way and threw back three throwing knives that lodged themselves into the weakened chest area with a small spray of violet.


“Whoa! Where did that come from?” Miss X certainly seemed surprised. “It looks like Piano had planted a bag of her own blood here ahead of time to catch her opponent by surprise! Did she really plan this fight out this far in advance? Has Vilivian been playing into Piano’s hands this whole time, while we all thought she had the upper hand? What a devious trick from such a meek girl! Guess we’re all still learning to be worried about the quiet ones!”


The bag in question fluttered down, revealing it to be made of the same material as Piano’s clothes, having quickly sewn several of these bags and filled them with her blood throughout the previous night before healing with the crystal Forte got for her. She hid a few of these, having planned to use them to catch Vilivian by surprise and hopefully coat her in blood, or at least create openings to strike with her sword. But more blood-covered skin would mean more weak points, which would make Piano’s job easier.


THIS STILL ISN’T ENOUGH TO DEFEAT ME, BLACKBLOOD. Vilivian’s voice rang in her mind, as if intruding on this optimism that the martial artist possessed. YOU STILL HAVE TO GET YOUR BLADE PAST MY CLAWS AND TAILS. AND I’VE FOUGHT MORE SWORDSMAN THAN YOU KNOW TECHNIQUES OF. I WON’T BE SO EASILY VANQUISHED.



Piano flung another pair of throwing daggers, which were easily shattered by a swing of Vilivian’s claws. Even as injured as she was, the Matriarch still showed no sign of slowing. Piano could speed up her blood flow to maybe get a few blows in, but with the open wound she had, she couldn’t do that for very long. She’d have to create another opening.


Retreating backwards, Piano ran down a block with Vilivian hot on her heels, before diving into another building. Vilivian again stopped outside, though this time she took her time to examine the situation. She could feel Piano’s blood moving rather sluggishly in her veins, trying to conserve their energy for combat. She could also sense the droplets of blood Piano was leaving where she ran, like a trail of crumbs leading to her… and the large bag of blood hidden between the two floors of this building.


THAT WON’T WORK THIS TIME, BLACKBLOOD. That was the only warning Vilivian gave before gathering the energy and commanding presence needed to keep the next spell under control. DESTROY.


The entire building erupted in a magical explosion from the ground up. Piano gave a cry as the building blasted upwards by the force of the spell, before it all came crashing down in a huge pile of rubble as wood and stone collapsed on top of her, the neon sign in the front exploding from the force and riddling some of the weaker portions of Vilivian’s flesh in glass shards that she didn’t react to.


“There it is folks! The spell that destroyed half the arena in Vilivian’s first showing against Volley, once again used to great effect! Mr. Roberts is going to have a fit now that he has to repair his shop, but I’m sure he’s having a blast right now seeing all this destruction! I know I am! Let them hear your excitement, everyone!”


There was a roar from the Colosseum as Vilivian strode forward. She could sense where Piano lay, and was intent on finishing the fight quickly before she pulled any more tricks. But as she got to the large rock she could sense the young girl under, she felt the blood begin to quicken beneath her feet.


With great force, the rock was pushed away by Piano's prone form, which Vilivian caught with both hands, stopping it in its tracks. But before she could throw it back, a crimson blade oozing with Piano’s blood in Vilivian’s senses pierced through the rock in a swift stab, catching Vilivian’s chest as she gave a grunt of pain. The blade then twisted, slashing fully across the gray chest of the Matriarch as a gout of violet sprouted from the wound as the rock was carved through like butter. Weakened by the slash, the rock then shattered in Vilivian’s powerful grip, revealing visually to her the bloodied Piano.


Her clothes were even more tattered than before, her head was bleeding slightly from where she slammed her head into the ground and she was covered in bruises, but her face and skin were darkened. Her head and side wounds bled more quickly than before as Piano had quickened her blood flow to give herself a boost in strength to get this blow.


“But that hasn’t been enough to put down Piano before and it won’t start now as she managed to turn around and really draw some blood with that powerful strike!  Will this finally be the turning point in this fight?”


As Vilivian looked down at the blood spilling from her, almost impressed with how much this young, small girl was pushing her, Piano used her boosted strength and speed to quickly rush back and begin making her way up the hill on the next street.


It took a second for Vilivian to follow, sensing Piano’s blood slowing down to conserve her remaining blood supply. She likely had already lost a quarter of the blood needed before she passed out, she couldn’t afford to spill more just yet.


As Vilivian began to run up the hill on all fours to catch up, Piano had finished messing with the brakes of a wooden cart full of fruits, vegetables, and other produce and kicked it down the hill towards the Matriarch at high speeds. The powerful demon caught the cart as it reached her, slowing it to a stop, only to realize that there was another blood pack above her head and that Piano was quickly following after the cart to take advantage of the opportunity.


SHATTER. The cart began to explode from the magical force imbued into it, only for Piano’s lithe form to leap through the debris and deliver a cut to Vilivian’s arm, cutting through the already nicked portion from earlier and managing to cut through some muscle as she leaped past. She then grabbed the string, pulling it and releasing her next payload of black blood onto Vilivian.


The demon roared in pain in the minds of Piano and Miss X once more, before rushing after the former to slash at her with the nearly foot long claws on her arms. Piano’s sword was raised to block it, but the weapon was sent up in the air upon impact, as well as a portion of the nearby wall being gouged out and the pipe along the outside getting nearly wrenched out from the force as Piano flipped in the air.


But with a quick movement, Piano grabbed the broken pipe that jutted out and ripped the other half off its weakened bolts with a yank, swinging the makeshift club with the force of her rotation. While Vilivian’s skin was tough, the blunt force of the blow was enough to make her legs buckle for a second as Piano landed and began another swing with a strong stance. The Devil Blood had stolen a few talents of club fighters and baseball players, so she used their techniques to maximize the power of each swing.



But eventually, Vilivian managed to move an arm to solidly block the attack. But the moment impact was made, Piano let go of the pipe and leaped up, grabbing her sword just as it was reaching her and slashing, getting another good hit on Vilivian. Giving a howl of pain and anger, Vilivian lunged with her injured arm, only for Piano to fling her sword up and duck under the attack, speeding up her blood once more as she grabbed the pipe before it hit the ground.


What followed was a nearly non-stop, high speed combo of Piano as she kept juggling the pipe and sword in the air between attacks, switching between sword talents and club talents along with her enhanced strength and pouring as much of her ki into each blow as she could manage. With all of the power and the rapid fire nature of the assault, for the first time since she transformed Vilivian was being driven back, gouts of violet erupting from each bite of Piano’s blade. 


Just as she started getting used to the current pace of Piano’s blows, though, Vilivian was soon met with a third implement as the sheath for Piano’s sword came into play once more, slamming into the wounds the sword had left with pinpoint precision, causing another burst of pain that forced Vilivian back another step as Piano’s wound bled freely and swiftly once more. Each time Piano switched to a new weapon as it came down to her hand, she used a different fighting style for that weapon, ensuring that Vilivian couldn’t be too confident as to how she’ll fight with that tool. For a minute, Piano was fully on the offensive.


“Wowwy wow! Look at Piano swing all those weapons! If I didn’t have perfect vision so I could see all you lovelies in the audience, I would think she has three arms to swing them all! What blinding speed, just like she used to beat down Angelique! What an impressive feat of juggling, swordsmanship, and… pipesmanship?  It’s certainly a strange weapon to be using! But she used them both to beat Quan! And it looks like she’s finally putting it all together to finally take down the unstoppable monster that is Vilivian!”


But even as she spoke, Piano’s movements began to slow down, forcing her blood to do so as she was starting to see spots in her eyes from blood loss. As the assault finally died down, Vilivian thought she saw her opportunity and stabbed the tail forward, trying to pierce Piano while she recovered.


But Piano saw that coming too. Flipping up and leaving the pipe to be impaled through and split apart from the sheer force of the thrust, Piano grabbed her unnamed blade with both hands and swung it in the cleave she made to Vilivian’s arm earlier, finally cutting through it all the way with a yell as she sliced off the Matriarch’s deadly appendage.




“Dismemberment!” There was a roar of excitement from the Colosseum once more. “Piano has done the unthinkable and sliced off Vilivian’s arm with her own strength! Black and purple is really starting to fly in this match! It’s still impossible to tell who will win at this point, but it won’t stop being exciting until the end! Keep your eyes wide open like your ears at my concerts!”


Vilivian gave a growl of pain and anger as a flood of purple ichor splattered onto the ground next to her dismembered limb, painting the cobblestone streets of the Crossroads violet as she tried to staunch the bleeding. CLEVER, BLACKBLOOD. DOES THAT BLADE OF YOURS HAVE A NAME?


“No…” Piano finally spoke, looking at the purple blood on the red blade. “Truth be told, this sword probably shouldn’t exist… Nor should my participation in this tournament…”


AND YET IT’S SLICED THROUGH ME WITHOUT A SLIVER OF SILVER. COMMENDABLE. BUT I HAVEN’T LOST YET.


Before Piano could understand what Vilivian meant, the Matriarch began to run down the street. Piano was bewildered for a moment, before beginning to chase after the large demon.


“What’s this?” Miss X looked shocked from above, her heart pupils nearly popping out of her eyes in exaggeration. “Vilivian is running away from Piano? The nearly unstoppable demon is running away from the smaller opponent, after beating such powerhouses as Volley and Pembrooke’s ATX? I’m sure nobody had that on their sports bets! Just what will happen next?”


The answer swiftly came as Piano realized they were running towards another hiding spot of her blood packs. Vilivian leaped up towards the storm drain it was hidden in, burying her claws into the wall of the building before thrusting her tail up to pierce the bag. Black blood began to pour from the hole… directly into Vilivian’s waiting maw.


For a moment, nothing happened as she downed the ebony ichor. But then there was a mental growl of pain that slowly rose in volume to a roar as Vilivian crashed back down to the earth, clutching her chest in pain. If she had eyes, they would bulge from the corruption attempting to eat away at her insides, which were also being matched by her Matriarch powers attempting to use the blood to heal her. This seemed to go on for a few seconds, during which Piano worried about striking for fear of accidentally killing the older woman.


But eventually, it seemed that Vilivian’s nature won out, as flesh began to grow out from the stump of her arm, forming a new one in a matter of seconds. The injuries on her chest healed in a patchwork manner, the parts still coated in blood not healing while those just outside of the black patches slowly began to reform. The Matriarch began to breathe heavily from the exertion, before swinging her head around towards Piano.


“What a shocking twist! After two and a half matches of people avoiding Piano’s blood like the plague, we finally have someone that drank it up like Chifu drinks margaritas during happy hour! And it looks like it worked out in her favor, since she looks fully recovered! All that work Piano did to do that much damage, gone in a flash! Things are starting to look hopeless for the Devil Blood!”


Piano’s heart had certainly sunk at that. She hadn’t considered the possibility of Vilivian getting any benefits of drinking her blood, since that usually just killed people and even vampires tried to avoid drinking her blood. And she had already lost too much blood as it was and she didn’t have many blood packs left in the Crossroads to coat Vilivian again. She couldn’t pull off the same strategy twice. So she only had one move left.


She turned fully around before Vilivian could get into a charging position and began to run full sprint down the hill, clutching her side as she did so. Soon, she heard the horrific sounds of Vilivian chasing after her. But she also noticed that the demonic woman’s ki had diminished greatly in force. While she recovered externally, that stunt must’ve taken a lot out of her internally. She’s likely counting on using the last bits of her overwhelming physicality to crush the weakened Piano before the damage was too much.

But Vilivian wasn’t going to let Piano escape just because she was hurting. BURST. With an eruption of sound, the ground beneath Piano exploded, forcing the girl to roll into a nearby alley to avoid the blast. While the alley itself was a dead end, Piano was already clambering up the walls as best as she could, hissing in pain as she stretched injured muscles as Vilivian clawed at her from below.


But even before Piano had gotten to the roof and headed for the next one, Vilivian was firing off another spell. SINK. The roof Piano landed on next went from solid to a semi-liquid state, causing the martial artist to go through the roof to the floor below just as she heard a crashing sound beneath her. Looking around quickly as she sensed Vilivian’s ki lining up below her to strike, she dashed towards a window at full speed and jumped out of it, sending glass cascading below as the wooden floor behind her was torn asunder by a large claw.


Piano made a sharp ninety degree turn as she heard crashing sounds beneath her as Vilivian smashed through walls to get back under her, heading for the front and leaping through another window to get back to her full sprint. But even as she did…


SHATTER. The storefront behind her exploded into debris, bits of stone slamming into Piano who gave a gasp as she was sent tumbling towards the ground. She slammed into it at an awkward angle, not able to get her bearing before she crashed to toughen her muscles as she tried to roll to recover. Her shoulder ached with pain at nearly being dislocated, but she quickly scrambled to her feet and slammed it into a wall to set it back to normal as Vilivian was hot on her heels.


“And now the destruction is really kicking off as both girls desperately try to do what they want! Walls and floors are no longer obstacles for Vilivian, much to the escaping Piano’s dismay! Will she be able to reach where the next step of her plan is before her gray pursuer gets those sharp claws on her?”



But as they reached a straight path, Piano noticed that Vilivian came to a stop behind her. Not slowing down to look back, Piano dashed as fast as she could to gain distance, only to realize what was going on as Vilivian planted herself firmly at the end of the street. The Matriarch gathered magic inside of her and began opening her mouth as a pink glow began to emanate from her core.


“Uh oh! Looks like Vilivian is going to finish things off with the blast that halved Pembrooke’s ATX! The barrier protected the Crossroads last time, but there’s nothing in its way now! This is sure to be total destruction!”


The God Eater, overall amused with the match so far, gave a slight frown at that, not wishing for the town to be destroyed merely for her amusement. She held her power at the ready as she watched what happened next.


Piano, for her part, was trying to use Vilivian’s ki to gauge what she should do as the demon’s life force seemed to almost swell before the attack. Just when it reached the apex and was starting to drop, Piano put all of her ki into speeding up her movements, throwing herself fully to the side and into a building as a beam of deadly pink energy raced down the street. The whole street was overtaken by the blast, the ground being incinerated by the magic as it rushed down the way towards a tea shop at the end.


With a ringing of bells, the door to the tea shop slid open, catching the deadly attack into open space. Outside of town, another set of doors opened to release the blast harmlessly into the air, lighting up the sky with a glow of pink as a good portion of the Crossroads was spared.


But all of the shops along this street were now missing their fronts, as they had been disintegrated by the force of the blast. Piano had just barely evaded the attack, bits of glass in her arms from having landed in shards of glass to dodge. But she didn’t have time to worry about that as Vilivian was finishing catching her breath and seemed to have noticed Piano’s continued survival. Getting up and moving on all fours to take off as soon as possible, Piano made her way to the entrance of the Colosseum she had just left not too long before.

Just as she got there, Vilivian had managed to catch up and was swinging down at Piano with both claws with a mental roar. Piano drew her blade and raised it to block, but the weapon was knocked from her hands as she was sent flying back from the force of the swing. Piano clutched at her wounds, her whole body sore and aching as the Matriarch closed in.


YOU DID WELL, BLACKBLOOD. THIS IS THE HARDEST I’VE FOUGHT IN A LONG TIME. YOU HAVE MY RESPECT. BUT THIS IS THE END. Vilivian’s words sounded hollow as usual, but there was a level of respect in the tone as she began to move forward slowly. Then she began to break into a charge, lunging at Piano with her claws outstretched.


And that’s when she noticed the silver sword right next to Piano… and the black blood that had seeped into the cracks. With a shout of her own, Piano grabbed the hilt and pulled the silver blade free, dodging under the claws of Vilivian and slashing her from shoulder to hip, spraying purple blood down as they parted.


Vilivian crashed into the ground as the pain distracted her, bouncing once before landing with a heavy thud a distance away. Piano had been lucky to get knocked where she was, gathering what blood she had left to pour into the small gap between the sword and the ground to corrupt and weaken the earth to draw the blade. Silver, luckily, was resistant to the corrupting effect, ensuring the blade would still be sharp.


As Piano held the only weapon to defeat her before, Vilivian knew she could no longer face Piano in this form. She had used all of her magic on the streets before, and her strength was sapped from drinking the black blood earlier. Piano still had a strong enough flow in her veins to be able to push one last time, and with a silver blade in hand she could likely slice Vilivian to pieces with ease.





So with one last slam of her fist, Vilivian began to stand as her body began to shrink, her skin lightening as her organs began to fill out her torso once more. Her muscles shrank as she resumed her normal, though the wound she sustained in demonic form remained as purple blood continued to freely flow from the purple slash. Her red hair regrew and her green eyes reopened as Vilivian stood in human form once more, no shame in her lack of clothing as she stared down her opponent.


“You’ve far surpassed the expectations I had for anyone in this tournament, Blackblood, I must admit. But I have my pride as a Matriarch and the Sentinel of Graal, and as such, I cannot lose!”


Flipping her foot up, Piano’s crimson blade leaped up to land in her palm as she rushed forward. Piano looked surprised that Vilivian had landed near her sword, before searching her talents for the best sword talent to face a weapon wielding Vilivian. Her chosen talent normally held a shield as well, but she figured her sheath could prove to serve the same function.


“Oh my! It looks like this finale is baring it all!” Miss X cheered excitedly at her position above the arena once more. “No more demon form! No more planned ahead tricks! No more fists! No more words! Two women! Two swords! One winner! Let’s see which one comes out on top!”


Vilivian sent a wild swing at Piano, which the latter deflected with a swift movement. Even in that brief exchange, Piano knew she couldn’t match blow for blow with the Matriarch, as her strength was still overwhelming. But on the other end, it was clear her skill with a blade had rusted from disuse. Piano’s multitude of swordsmanship talents should allow her to pull ahead and win in no time.





But it was also clear that Vilivian was getting some of those old skills of her’s back after just a few blows as she got used to Piano’s blade. Within about twenty exchanged and parried blows, Vilivian’s swings became more focused and deadly, forcing Piano to utilize all of her talents to avoid being slashed in two by the cleaving strikes of the Matriarch. Vilivian had a wide smile on her face, seeming to enjoy herself despite the amount of violet blood flowing down her front as she fought.


Piano, meanwhile, was looking concerned, her skill only barely keeping her alive, but with each second, her own blood was leaking from her own wounds, and she wasn’t nearly as durable as Vilivian was. She was already feeling the exhaustion from so much blood loss to maintain her doped state long enough to injure the demonic Vilivian, and her eyesight was being darkened by spots in her eyes. She had to finish this fight quickly.


Gathering the last bits of energy she had, she sped up her blood flow once more, pumping more blood and oxygen into her limbs as she launched into a frenzied assault. Vilivian looked surprised, but redoubled her own strikes as black and purple blood began to streak off from glancing blows between the two.


Then Vilivian attempted a thrust when she thought Piano was open, only to find the sheath for the sword she was using waiting for the strike. As the sheath and sword met, Piano twisted the blade around and tried to throw Vilivian off-balance before stabbing down with the silver blade. This was however met by a shoulder check from Vilivian right to Piano’s wounded side, sending the girl sprawling back with a whimper of pain and a flash of darkness behind her eyes.


As Vilivian reclaimed the sword that should not have been made, she leaped up and attempted to impale Piano once more, who contorted her body to dodge around the blade as the ground beneath them cracked from the force of the blow. She wrapped her legs around Vilivian’s neck and twisted to slam her face first into the ground before flipping away just in time to avoid the furious swipes from the redhead in response.


Piano felt that, while the silvered blade was far more durable than normal blades, against the fierce blows of Vilivian and being wielded by Piano, the blade would not sustain many more direct blows. So as Vilivian charged forward, dragging the crimson blade through the earth before delivering a powerful swing that Piano swayed out of the way of, she knew she had to end it in the next blow.


Backhanding Vilivian to create distance, Piano crouched into a low stance with the point of the blade forward before lunging upwards. Vilivian, in turn, recovered and pointed Piano’s blade down and thrust, both women meeting partway with their blades disappearing into the other woman’s torso.


For a terrible moment, neither woman moved, the entire crowd going silent as they waited to see who won. After a few moments, drops of black began to appear on the ground as Piano’s wound bled first, the tip of her sword buried above the previous stab wound she sustained.


But then with a slight push from Piano, the tip of the silver sword emerged from Vilivian’s side, the longer blade running through its keeper before Piano’s blade could pierce its owner beyond the first inch. Giving a coughing laugh in pain, Vilivian gave Piano a pat on the shoulder before her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she collapsed on the ground, both blades leaving the respective women as a pool of purple began to grow from the fallen woman.


“AND WE HAVE A WINNER FOLKS!” Miss X cheered above the now roaring crowd as Piano bent down to grab the tag from Vilivian, before covering her with her tattered jacket for modesty’s sake. “THE WINNER OF THIS YEAR’S CROSS TOURNAMENT IS NONE OTHER THAN PIANO! GIVE HER A ROWDY CROSS CHEER!”





Piano stayed conscious long enough to listen to the crowd cheer in adoration of Piano’s stunning victory over Vilivian, meekly waving at the audience. She saw her brother sitting near the front of the crowd, his face pale from the fight he just witnessed but applauding all the same at her victory. She then looked up to meet the God Eater’s gaze, who nodded approvingly at the girl.


She then looked down at Vilivian just as paramedics arrived with blood packs and began to feed it to the unconscious Matriarch, whose wounds healed before they became fatal with that bit of assistance. Once assured of Vilivian’s safety and feeling the arms of the medic on her shoulders, Piano herself collapsed from exhaustion, not wanting to feel people’s attention for a while.



















Calming Covenant


It was a full two days before Piano woke up after winning the Cross Colosseum. When she did, her body was covered in bandages and wearing a red and black patient outfit as the tattered clothes she wore over the tournament laid on a nearby table. Her sword was also leaning against her bed, her numerous throwing knives also arrayed in neat rows on the table.


She had expected to wake up and see her brother there, but instead saw her opponent Vilivian sat there. Unlike Piano, she showed no signs of lasting injuries thanks to her Matriarch blood regenerating her flesh after some blood consumption. She wore a black shirt and red leather pants, along with Piano’s lilac coat that hung on her shoulders.


“You’re awake, Blackblood.” She said simply upon seeing Piano’s eyes open, sending the shy girl’s face flushing a darkened color. “It took you long enough. I don’t know how these tournaments of strength normally go, but I do not believe the winner is normally permitted to rest so long after her victory.”


“Uh… no, I suppose not.” Piano admitted. “But I don’t have that much healing unlike you. Are you ok?”


“I’m fine. I’m more than durable enough compared to the rest of you. And yet you proved to be the superior warrior. This is only the second time in my entire lifetime that an opponent defeated me fairly in single combat. And even with the same blade was I felled. You’re truly a remarkable fighter.”


“I… ah… I…” Piano seemed to be embarrassed by the praise, hiding her face under her blanket. “I didn’t do anything special. Just what I was supposed to do…”


“Well then I suppose you should finish this task of yours.” Vilivian said with some finality, holding her hand out to Piano. “You have a wish to obtain.”


“Right, of course.” Piano stood up, looking nervous due to her state of dress. Luckily, there was another change of clothes likely provided by her brother in the room, which she changed into. Dressed as she was before, Piano went to leave, Vilivian giving her a strange look as they walked together.


“I’m certainly not one to make much comment on ones clothing, as I simply don what Saki puts on my bed after each match. But do you not possess any additional garments for you to wear?”


“Oh, yes, my brother selects clothes that are considered stylish from each of the places we visit. But since I was asked to put on a performance fighting in this tournament, I thought I should still get my reward in the same…”


“I suppose that makes sense. But perhaps you should wear something else. I would think it would be interesting to see you outside of your combat attire.”


“Uh… well, I have a nice dress I can wear after this…” Piano flushed as they exited the Colosseum and made their way towards the Fox Den. The streets outside were still filled with the noise of construction, as the people of the Crossroads were busy fixing all the damage the two had caused in their fight. The entire street Vilivian obliterated was closed off as they had to recobble the streets.


“We certainly did a lot of damage…” Piano looked guilty, rubbing her arm as her tail wrapped around her wrist.


“That’s battle. There’s no shame in what we did.” Was all Vilivian replied, no emotion on her face as she looked at the destroyed store fronts.


“Right…” The two walked in silence the rest of the way, until they reached the entrance of the bar. Inside, there were people already chatting and drinking when the two women entered. 

All heads turned to them, before a cheer came up as they recognized the Cross Tourney winner stood embarrassed at all the attention. “Welcome to my bar, fellow winner.” Saki greeted from the counter, giving Piano a warm smile in congratulations. “The Madame will meet you upstairs in the VIP lounge. Your brother is also up there talking with Chifu, so let him know you’re ok.”


“Th-thank you.” Piano flushed at all the attention, her tail wrapping even tighter around her wrist. “I’ll be sure to do so…”


Piano quickly ran up the stairs, Vilivian following idly behind her as the red skinned woman vanished from the crowd’s sight as Saki laughed and shook her head at the bar. Reaching the VIP lounge, the Devil Blood soon found her twin sitting at a counter alone. He noticed his sister’s arrival and stood up quickly, giving her a gracious bow.


“My most wondrous sister indeed, an avatar of Nike herself, it is good to see that the shackles of exhaustion and pestilence no longer plague you and tether you to the bed in the Colosseum’s hospice.” Forte made his relief and care for his sister known to her, though Vilivian just seemed to absorb the barrage of words with the same uncaringness as she did to his flattery. “I take stock in the knowledge that you have come to collect the well-sought prize of the God Eater’s wish granting capabilities?”


“Yes brother.” Piano said with a slight bow of her own. “Thank you so much for your help. I know helping my needs has taken time away from your work.”


“Think naught of it.” Forte said, but she knew her brother was still infuriated at being thwarted multiple times over the last few days. And it would seem that he still wasn’t having any luck, given how he was tilting his head in silent frustration that only she could recognize. “I still have a fair few days of interviews to conduct.”


“I suppose so… Were you not talking to Chifu again?”


“On that, I have not the slightest inclinations as to her location.” he admitted with his usual smirk. “She made a sudden departure from our follow-up interview but a handful of minutes prior. Mayhaps the spirits she imbibed throughout our collaging had finally inflicted their dreaded curse upon her constitution?”


“That’s about when you woke up.” Vilivian commented in a low voice so only Piano could hear. “As I would expect of the Trickster.”


“What do you…” Piano began to ask, before they were interrupted.


“I heard someone was needing my attention?~” the sultry voice of the God Eater interrupted the sibling reunion, as a pair of doors opened to reveal the goddess. “Ah~ There is my new winner of Cross Tourney, here to collect her wish I take it?~”


“I suppose I should…” Piano said nervously, glancing at her brother as she did. He raised an eyebrow, but gave her a nod to encourage her.


“Very well~” The God Eater’s tails spread out, the eyes on the tail seeming to blink as they looked down at Piano. Behind the martial artist, eight fox tails seemed to appear behind her, making everyone look surprised at the sudden appearance. “And what is it that you wish from me?~”


Piano stayed silent for a minute or two, aware of the gaze of the three in the room as she gathered her courage to say her wish. She glanced at Vilivian, who just nodded to push her to speak, before looking to her brother once more. He gave her a smirk, jerking his head towards Madame Chief to signal Piano to talk. Piano took a deep breath, gathering the last bits of courage needed before she spoke.


“I wish… I wish…” Piano took another deep breath as the God Eater stood tall, not saying a word as she smiled wryly at the Devil Blood. “I wish… to have a means of returning to the Crossroads safely on my own. That is my wish.”

Piano’s wish drew surprised reactions from both her opponent and her brother. The former’s eyes widened for a second before tilting her head in thought. Forte, meanwhile, looked absolutely stunned at the request, his eyes flicking as he tried to understand the purpose of the wish.


“Is that all?~ Well, I was hoping for something spectacular~ But a wish is a wish~” The God Eater gave a wave of hands, the sounds of bells ringing out loud as her tails waved, the tails behind Piano moving in rhythm as a ninth tail began to grow to match the goddess’.


And then with a brief flash, the magic was over. The tails behind Piano were gone. And in their place, there was a small fox plushie in her hand, a small letter in its mouth.


“And there we are~” Madame Chief gave a soft sigh, sitting on a nearby table as she pointed at the letter. “All you have to do is take out the letter and open it and it will transport you here, just like it did at the start of the tournament~”


“I see… Thank you…” Piano gave a slight bow.


“I look forward to hearing of where you go when you use that to come back~” The God Eater rested her head on her fist, producing her opium pipe with the other hand as she watched Forte approach his sister.


“Dearest blood of mine, might I receive a proper introduction towards the reasoning behind the necessity of such a method of transportation?” Forte tilted his head, and even though he gave her a smile, she knew he was hurt by the implications. “Have I not transported you between worlds faithfully all this time?”


Piano looked somewhat ashamed, but still looked her brother in the eyes. “It’s nothing like that… I just know that you have a lot of people to ‘interview’ here, and I’ll be finishing up my tasks before you do. I don’t want you setting aside your work for my sake again. You always give up things for me.”

“So how then do you intend to traverse the planes of the multiverse? Will you be utilizing the unique quirks of this Crossroads in order to move on to other modes of existence?”


“Exactly. We can make this place a steady base for ourselves. You can get a place where you can work on your ‘writings’ while I travel to learn more. Wouldn’t that be fine?” She looked to the God Eater, who smiled.


“Well, there’s certainly a few places available~ I could even get you one close to the Fox’s Den so we can talk more~” The God Eater gave them a wink, manifesting a set of key with a jingle.


Forte gave it some consideration, pulling out his pen and spinning it in his hand. “... if that’s what you intend to do, then I shall not provoke any hostilities by seeking to end such an endeavor. This will be a rather intriguing period in our life spans.”


“That it will brother… that it will…” She began to back up, heading towards the stairs as Vilivian stepped back. “So since we’ve got this all settled, I’m going to go look for Pembrooke. I would imagine he’s still fixing that mech of his…


Vilivian nodded, following her down. “The Soldier is down at the beach along with the Smith repairing the golem he fought me with. I think the Fey child and the Specter are there as well.”


“That’s a lot of people… but I do want to see how such a machine is repaired…” As she spoke with Vilivian, her golden eye seemed to sparkle in anticipation for acquiring new talents.


Forte watched his sister leave, a mixture of anger and pride in his expression before he turned to the God Eater. “Well, with that whole affair to be engaged with over the next few days, my conversation with the truant spirited wench has been postponed. Mayhaps you might be willing to take her place?~”


“I’ll certainly try my best~” The God Eater said, clearly amused as the pair sat across from each other at a table.


---------- 


It was about two weeks later when Piano decided to take off to the next world she would go to. She and Forte had found a place to stay in the Crossroads, and she had gathered quite a few talents from the other contestants. During her stay, she agreed to accompany Vilivian back to her home dimension, with the hope that they might be able to explore the human realms together.


Piano had finally changed out of the flashy outfit, switching to a more oriental styled dress with flower designs, including a patch of flowers on her left shoulder, and high cuts on her legs to make it easier for kicking. Angelique had muttered under her breath about how “Of course she looks good in that too…” and Vilivian had wondered why such an outfit had to be so loose and exposing if it’s supposed to keep Piano warm.


As Vilivian and Piano were getting ready to leave, something about the day felt off for Piano. She convinced her traveling partner to go on ahead out the gate, and Piano would catch up within a few hours. Vilivian seemed confused, but agreed to go on ahead.


In the meantime, Piano climbed her way up the mountains of the Crossroads, looking down at the place she had fought for glory she did not wish for. As the mountain breeze caused her hair to sway slightly, she took a deep breath, both enjoying the air and preparing herself mentally for what she thought was to come.


An hour or so later, she had descended the mountain and was making her way out of the same gate she knew Vilivian had just left. But instead of an empty path beyond the gates where the Crossguards keep watch, a figure stood barring her way.



Standing there with a purple glowing broadsword impaled in the ground in front of him was a man with tanned skin and darkened hair, his eyes covered with a blindfold with golden eyes designed on the front of it. His clothes were a light green with more golden eyes across the front of it. His arms had three gold eye tattoos each, for a total of six eyes that almost looked like they blinked as he moved his arms to grip the hilt of the blade again.


“There you are, heretic.” The man spoke in a low, dangerous tone. “Did you think you and your brother could escape the Ruler of All’s justice by retreating to the den of a goddess whose powers are used to suit her own debauchery? If not for those insistent guards of hers, I would have pursued you within the streets of this twisting place and painted its streets black with your blood and sins.”


Piano had figured the Ruler’s angels would’ve chased the two of them all the way to the Crossroads. She was glad that the God Eater had protected the two of them as part of Piano competing, but she knew she couldn’t rely on the goddess’ protection forever. And she didn’t want Vilivian involved with this, since the blades of the Watchers could easily pierce the demon’s hide.


“The God Eater, she claims herself to be.” the angel continued to rant, his anger at having to wait clear. “My lord sundered an entire world and took down an entire pantheon of gods. Compared to that, one single fox should be nothing to us. But I prefer not to have any collateral damage when I perform my duties. In all of my days, I have never allowed another that didn’t deserve to receive justice to be harmed as I perform my functions.”


Piano gave no verbal response, instead drawing her sword and preparing to face him. In response, the man tilted his head, before pulling his blade out fully as purple fire began to pour from the edge.


“You think you defeat me with your paltry skills simply because you won some contest of might? Your arrogance is nearly as unsightly as your sins. I shall ensure that both stain my blade as you watch your life drain from your body.”

“... I have a friend that’s waiting for me down the path…” Piano proclaimed, somewhat timidly. “I didn’t want her to get involved with the likes of you… And I don’t want you going past me to harm my brother… You may be somewhat important back home… but for the sake of the history we both wish to write, I cannot allow you to do what you want.”


“That heresy you speak of is nothing but a means of extortion and an attempt to overthrow the Ruler of All. As such, you will die for such a sin.”


“No. As much as I hate to do it, it will be you who dies today. I’m more talented than you.”


And with that, she rushed forward, her blade drawn back as the crimson edge prepared to meet purple flames. The angel roared in fury as combat began, the Crossroads getting one more front row seat of the timid Piano’s fighting as purple and black clashed one more time.

 

[Piano's Epilogue] The Devil Blood and the Angel of Judgement

Original Doc

Standing atop one of the many mountain passes of Mt Mei and the surrounding mountains, Piano took a deep breath of mountain air, looking out to the landscapes that surround the Crossroads below her. While it would have taken most people several hours to climb such a distance up a mountain without climbing gear, Piano’s stolen talents gave her the ability to easily scale such a trek in only an hour. Which was good, as she didn’t want Vilivian to leave her too far behind on their journey to the demon Matriarch’s homeworld to continue searching for talents to steal. While this wouldn’t be the first time exploring a new world, it would be the first time she did so without using her brother’s magic. As such, her nerves were starting to get to her.


To help alleviate that, she had switched out of the showgirl attire she had usually donned in her adventures up until that point, made to make her stand out so she could disguise herself as a showgirl as needed and steal talents up close, as well as to showcase her impressive talents in stealth. But since that made her uncomfortable, she switched to robes more fitting for a martial artist. 


Her attire was now a dark blue gi with purple flower designs, with loose flaps that hung about knee length down her front and back, with both halves of the outfit tied together by purple string along her hips and golden ties up her front to cover the white undershirt beneath it. She wore white pants and blue flats, and her sleeves only went down to her mid-forearm and billowed out slightly, leaving plenty of room to expose her arms. Her hair was no longer in a ponytail, instead simply tied back with a purple ribbon, and she had a small bundle of flowers tied around her longer horn. She had a much larger bundle of the flowers on her left shoulder, a group of purple lilacs that covered her shoulder and gave off a light fragrance as purple leaves billowed off in the mountain wind, with new leaves regenerating due to the flower’s special nature.


Already she could feel her ki flowing through her body more easily, his spirit more at ease to allow the ki to flow through her more easily. It also reminded her of her days “training” with the other martial arts masters she stole her abilities from, which were certainly easier for her to manage socially. All of this instilled her with a confidence she hadn’t felt in years, paired with her newfound confidence gained during the Cross Tourney. It was enough to almost make her smile.


Almost. But then that feeling returns. The one that made her send Vilivian ahead while she climbed the mountain to clear her head. The feeling filled her with a familiar sense of dread, one she hadn’t experienced since she and her brother left their homeworld of Etch for the first time.


The feeling of one of the agents of the Ruler of All being nearby, and looking for them specifically.

It shouldn’t be all that surprising, really, that an agent would search the Crossroads for people like them. With as much world hopping her brother and her were doing, having a central location was an obvious move for them to do, as she had foolishly established by making it her wish.


But what concerned her was how quickly they had found her and her brother. She didn’t think either of them were worth the effort of sending an enforcer off world, when there was so much to manage on Etch as it was, with the illegal migration between Cubbies and criminal elements beginning to gain strength in Aspect. Compared to all of that, a pair of historians like Piano and Forte couldn’t really be a priority, could they?


She looked at the southern gate of the Crossroads, as if she could see the threat from here. While normally, her ability to sense ki extended out only a few meters to overwhelm her, up here in the mountains that range was greater due to the harmony she felt in the moment, aligning her emotions with her ki more easily. But even that extended range only doubled the range, to sense all but the faintest of ki around her.


Instead, she felt the intruder by the exuding hatred and purpose he seemed to project towards her and her brother, as if trying to call them out to the source. The God Eater could likely manage a greater presence than this person, but her purpose never led her to do this. Whoever this person was, they had all the arrogance that the servant of the Ruler of All should have. And it was likely he wouldn’t leave without a confrontation.


Piano took a long, deep breath of mountain air. As much as the idea of going down and confronting whatever monster that was waiting for her was scaring her, what scared her even more was the idea of this person running out of patience and charging in at her brother was even more terrifying. So with one last wistful look at the surroundings from up high, she began to scale down the mountain with the practiced ease of decades of training she had stolen from others.


In only an hour, she was at the base of the mountain and had crossed through the Crossroads themselves, now at the southern gate herself. The Crossguards that manned it, their eyes covered as always by blindfolds, gave her no looks or signs one way or another about what was about to happen. But they were clearly aware of the presence outside, weapons more at the ready than usual as they gave a signal, calling for the gates to be open.





The large red doors silently slid open, revealing a large dirt path that extended out not only for miles, but across worlds if Chifu was to be believed. The area was sparse, with virtually nowhere to hide, as the nearest tree was at least two hundred feet from the gate. There was a ditch along the left side of the road, from which Chifu knows how many carriages pulled off to the side for inspection over the years. Under normal circumstances, the path would represent the beginning of a journey, a new start to adventures waiting to come.


That would be true, if not for the figure currently standing in the center of the road about fifty feet from the gate, was a figure with a broadsword embedded in the ground in front of him, the weapon glowing with a purple light that looked sinister to Piano. He had tanned skin, stood about half a foot taller than her, and had darkened hair that went down to his neck in a style that looked elegant while ensuring it stayed out of his smooth, almost beautiful face.


Not that it would block his vision, as his eyes were covered in a purple blindfold, with golden eyes emblazoned upon it, acting almost as surrogates for the ones they covered. He had several other golden eye designs across his body as well. His light green undershirt, covered by a white overcoat, had three eyes on it while the jacket had six eyes in total across the front of it, with at least eight more along the back.. His arms each had three golden eyes along the inner forearm, for a total of six across both arms as well. He wore simple green pants and a pair of black boots, and the clinking of chains against each other as he moved told Piano he likely was wearing a thin layer of chainmail under his clothes, likely blessed to protect him from the curse of her blood on his vitals.


But what scared her most was the blade he now tightened his grip upon, purple flames flickering off of it. Piano recognized a blade blessed by the Ruler of All when she saw one. One cut from that thing would result in an immense amount of pain for the Devil Blood. Even a Matriarch like Vilivian would be cut to pieces by such a blade honed by holy magics as that. That was the reason Piano wanted to be sure that they weren’t seen together by this man, to avoid getting Vilivian hurt.


“There you are, heretic.” His voice was low and dangerous sounding, like a fire lowly crackling, waiting to erupt into a blazing inferno. “Did you and your brother really think you could escape the Ruler of All’s justice by retreating to the den of a goddess whose powers are used to suit her own debauchery? If not for those insistent guards of hers, I would have pursued you within this twisting place and painted its streets black with your blood and sins.”


Piano glanced back behind her, to the pair of Crossguards now standing at attention near the gates outside of the Crossroads. While they certainly looked ready to fight to defend the town, it did not seem likely they would raise their weapons to protect her. It did not seem that the goddess’ will sheltered her from this danger any longer, now that the tournament was over.

The angel continued to rant, his anger at having been forced to wait to fulfill his duties clear. “The God Eater, she claims herself to be. My lord sundered an entire world by himself and brought a pantheon of gods to its knees by his own strength. Compared to that, one single fox should be nothing to us. But I prefer not to have any collateral damage when I perform my duties against the wicked. In all of my days, I have never allowed another that didn’t deserve to receive justice to be harmed as I fulfilled my oaths. And today will not be any different.”


Piano didn’t respond verbally, but instead went for the sword hidden behind her back slowly, drawing it and holding it in front of her. The angel tilted his head at her, a cocky smirk on his face as he pulled his blade from the ground to aim it at her, purple flames now dancing across the blade. It was about a hand’s length longer than Vilivian’s Excalibur, and was easily double the size of Piano’s blade. In every respect, he held the visible advantage.


“You think you can defeat me with your paltry skills simply because you won some contest of might? Your arrogance is nearly as unsightly as your sins. I shall ensure both stain my blade as you watch your life drain from your body.”


“...I-I have a friend waiting for me down that path…” Piano proclaimed, sounding somewhat timid as she slowly steeled her nerves. “I didn’t want to get her involved with this… And I don’t want you going past me to harm my brother… You may be important back home… but for the sake of the history we both wish to write, I cannot allow you to do what you want.”


“The heresy you speak of is nothing but a means of extortion, an attempt to overthrow the Ruler of All by rewriting history to your liking. For such crimes, I will silence you here and now!”


“No.” Piano’s confidence was now manifested, her mismatched eyes narrowing towards him. “As much as I dislike doing tasks like this, I will ensure you die today. After all, I am more talented than you.”


Piano began to rush forward, moving forward with surprising speed. The blindfolded angel seemed unaffected, raising his blade. “I shall make you swallow your pride, along with your tainted blood!”


He cleaved downwards, the air screaming as purple flames arced down and the ground split from the blow. Piano easily dodged the blow, thrusting forward to try and pierce him. But with the distance she had to cover, he easily recovered enough to dodge around her, attempting to elbow her back. But a kick upwards met his blow with a shockwave impact, Piano was surprised at how powerful such a simple attack from him was as she barely knocked it upwards.


As the two got some distance between each other, they silently acknowledged that this fight would not be won so easily. They slowly circled each other, their cursed and blessed blades staying between the two of them. The two forces could almost be felt in the air between the blades, as if drawing the weapons together to determine which was superior. Piano knew that the amount of cursed blood she put into making the sword would allow it to survive a few direct blows from that blade. 


But there was still the worry of the sword shattering from enough of the curse being broken from the power of his blessing. Her cursed blood wasn’t that strong after all. Despite all that, not having something to block the blade wasn’t an option, so she had to make do with what she had. Cycling through her various sword styles in her mind, she settled for the Cloaked Blade style, one that was useful for sneak attacks and hit-and-run style fighting, avoiding direct clashes in favor of wearing him down and looking for openings.


And her best chance to do that was to figure out what sword style he used. His broadsword was larger, suggesting a few styles that she already knew to come to mind. But to test which ones, she began to dart in, making feinting attacks mixed with dodging to bait out strikes. Sometimes, he refused to take the bait, instead chasing her and attempting to grapple her with his left hand, which she slipped away from each time as her eyes went wide.


But a few times he did swing, and she began to pick up patterns with his striking style. He preferred using only one hand to swing, almost exclusively his right as he made quick, sweeping cuts that served to try and kill her as well as push her back to then go for thrusts. He never switched which hand the sword was in, but would occasionally use a two-handed strike, adding surprising speed and power to try and catch her off guard.


Those facts combined, Piano realized he must be using an Aleclucian style of fighting, famous for its defensive tactics mixed with ferocious strength to lure enemies in before cutting them down with a vindictive strike. It is a style that relies on outlasting an opponent’s patience, using as little energy as possible until it’s time to make the killing blow. So drawing out the fight would not fully be in Piano’s favor.


But she noticed that his stance was slightly different from the normal stance you would take. In the usual Aleclucian style, you would keep the arm not in use close to your body, to catch the opponent’s arms after a dodge or to quickly grab the hilt for a two-handed strike. Instead, he kept his arm much further out, which slowed down his response to openings. Against most opponents, such a delay would usually not matter, as his strikes were otherwise lightning fast. But to the nimble and observant Piano, those microseconds of delay were an opening she could exploit.


Switching her sword to her left hand, she switched her own stance to the Rising Lightning stance, one that was much more aggressive and pressed on the attack more. She circled around his right, forcing him to make wider turns to keep her in the threat area of his weapon. During one of those turns, while his foot was still raised, she rushed towards him as she reached into her sleeve with her free hand. The gold along his arm seemed to glimmer as he had a cocky smile on his face.


She tossed a pair of throwing knives in one smooth motion, forcing him to swing his blade to deflect the projectiles. Piano reached him in that exact moment, her blade thrusting forward to strike the center of his torso during the opening. But she felt something sweep towards her left hip, forcing her to toughen her muscles to catch the kick to her side. She grit her teeth, her thrust going off to the side as it merely grazed his right side as she was knocked to the side. The angel gave a hiss of pain, growling as Piano looked up.


Angels could normally regenerate, but the curse of her blood should be able to prevent even that. But what she saw surprised her, as purple fire shot out like a jet from the wound. She could see wisps of her black blood mixed in the flames, before the wound closed with a golden light. He scowled down at her, swinging his blade in anger.


“Foul women! How dare you strike my form! Does the depth of your sins know no bounds? Will you continue to pile onto your list of crimes?”


“But I didn’t do anything!” Piano shot back, throwing another knife his way. He swung his broadsword with great fury, an arc of blessed fire shooting out to melt the steel as Piano backflipped away from the attack.


“Oh, but your sins are truly many. Did you not think we knew about the knowledge that you and your brother acquired back on Etch and that it would draw our suspicions? Your brother gathered the names of a good number of the most loyal men to the Ruler. And the knowledge to make blades like the one you point at me is too dangerous to allow in the hands of a group as unpredictable as yours.”


Piano moved forward, ducking under another gout of arcing fire as she swung at him “We’re nothing but historians! We simply want to know the true history of the world.” She gave a feint, but a glint of gold on his left arm indicated he wasn’t falling for it as he punched towards her. “Is that such a crime?”




“It is!” His punch barely missed, a kick from Piano striking his side with a snapping kick that made him grunt. He struck his blade down, a pillar of fire creating a gap between them as Piano leapt back. “You make such sincere claims, but really it's just an excuse to gather strength of arms to fight and the discontented who would be willing to use them to overthrow the Ruler, just as he once overthrew the unjust system the gods before him once upheld! Don’t think we are unaware of what truly lies in your hearts.”


The two began to exchange blows, Piano’s aggressive style putting the angel at a disadvantage.While his power and speed was usually enough to overwhelm any opponent, her innate knowledge of his fighting style along with her superior speed meant that even with the flames trailing his swings, he was unable to get a solid swing at her. And while she wasn’t able to get a solid hit on him, she was at least avoiding his sword, avoiding putting pressure on her blade as she forced him to take a step back, followed by another.


“You don’t know anything about me… I haven’t done anything to hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it all my life… S-So just leave me alone!” She ducked under a slash, kicking the angel in the face. Drawing a blood forged throwing knife, she threw it up at him, trying to get some more damage on him. While he seemed able to burn away the curse, it did seem to take more energy out of him than he would like, which would make it easier for her to wear him down.


He tried to lean back to avoid the knife, but the blade managed to graze one of the golden eye designs on his coat. Piano cursed to herself, knowing that the blow would not cut flesh, instead merely clipping his clothing. But as the slight cut bisected the image, the angel gave a horrible scream, stumbling back as he sent fire in every direction, blood seeming to spurt from the “wound.”


“You filthy heretic! How dare you!” The man screamed, his face twisted in a snarl, flames erupting from the wounded shoulder. “I shall turn your bones to ash and scatter them across every Cubby so not a soul could ever bring you back!”


Piano looked concerned as more flames billowed out of the broadsword, before the angel started spinning the sword around in circles, creating a near impenetrable wall of fire as violet embers struck out towards her. His sword seemed to glow a white hot, although the light it soon gave off gave the impression of holy magic more than pure heat.


She ducked back, covering her face as she recognized the fighting style. It was an efreeti fighting style known as the Flaming Wheel Blade. It was one of the more aggressive fighting styles, using the constant movement of the sword along with ever erupting fires to continuously close in, thwarting off attacks while incinerating any enemy that stands in the way. To most people without any resistance to fire, such an onslaught would be impossible to overcome.

But Piano had already stolen a talent for this fighting style as well. As such, she was intimately familiar with its weaknesses as well. While the flames made it impossible for anyone to get close, they also blocked the vision of the user. It made them susceptible to sneak attacks. As long as she got behind him, she could wait for his swings to create an opening to strike at him.


Switching to a reverse grip to use a more assassin-based fighting style, she quickly slipped around his whirling flames and got behind him. She saw that eight more golden eyes adorned the back of his jacket, all of which looked wavy in the haze of the flames circling him. As she prepared her next attack, he gave a cocky smirk.


“Don’t think you can easily escape the gaze of justice!” He whirled around, sending searing holy flames her way. She was taken somewhat by surprise, only barely dodging out of the way. But the close call with holy flames might as well have been a direct hit as she screamed in pain from the passing burns she received. “Submit to justice now, and I’ll make your death a swift one heretic! I might even ensure the same for your heretical twin!”


Piano didn’t respond, her tail flicking behind her with nerves as she looked at him again. Like her, he didn’t seem to need to face in her direction to be able to “see” what she was doing. But given the flow of his ki, she didn’t think he had the same training as her. He didn’t utilize his ki for any attacks besides what most people managed by accident while using brute force. So there had to be another method that he was “seeing” her.


She looked through the whirling flames moving slowly towards her, at the wicked face that grinned down at her with the promise of flaming death. And then at the bisected eye design on his left shoulder. At the impossible pain that had come from the attack. At how he could “see” when she was drawing her throwing knives from her sleeves as the tattoos on his arms glittered. At his unusual fighting stance that otherwise hindered his ability to strike. And the answer came to her.


Just as he closed in with a twisting blow that slammed towards her position with a wave of fire to accompany it, she focused her ki in her legs, sprinting off to the side to fully avoid the blistering heat as about six feet of the road was gouged open with a horrid black scar. Planting her ninjato-styled blade into the ground, she drew a number of throwing knives. Most of them were made of pure steel, but every fourth one was a throwing knife that had been forged with her blood.


Looking to test her theory, she began throwing sets of four throwing knives at the angel as he turned to approach her, her defensive stance ready to meet her attack. She had one blood-forged knife in each volley. 

“Useless!” The torrents of flames raced out to meet the weapons, melting them in intense heat until they were puddles of molten steel on the ground. But Piano noticed that he took even greater care to have the path of the whirling blades meet the blood knives, ensuring they were knocked aside if they didn’t melt in time. Especially if it was aimed at one of his eyes, the desperation he showed to try and keep the blades from touching him was obvious, the angel clearly not used to feeling pain.


He then changed his stance slightly, bracing one foot back as he increased the speed of his swings, creating an almost perfect cocoon of fire that covered his upper chest and shoulders. With a powerful push off, he rushed forward and blazed through the path between them, completely destroying the last volley of knives heading towards him. But just as he nearly reached her, she also took off with her own burst of speed.


What the angel didn’t realize was that all of the thrown knives had focused all of his defenses upwards, including the Blazing Bull technique he was currently using. As such, his legs and lower body were free of flames, giving her enough room to run beneath the holy fire. As her hand slid along the blunt back of her blade, she could hear him cursing above.


With a graceful swing of her sword that sliced through the holy flames with more ease than she expected, the remaining two eyes on his left side were sliced in two, although the chain mail beneath ensured his torso wasn’t also split in twain. Before he could recover, she spun behind him and gave another long slash, a spray of red dancing along her blue and red form as four of the eyes on his back were likewise blinded by her cursed blade. She then got into a low stance, ready to try and pierce his heart from behind.


But the angry roars of pain from him caused her to hesitate, giving him a chance to swing a fist back at her. She managed to block it, but the blow knocked her blade from her hand, sending it skittering into the nearby ditch.


“I’ll crush you like the bug you are!” The angel rushed forward, swinging his sword wildly at Piano. Settling the flow of ki within her, she used only the slightest of movements to dodge the blade, before delivering a flowing palm strike directly to his stomach. As he doubled over in pain and rage, she twisted around him and grabbed hold of his arm, twisting it far enough to force him to drop his blade. With a spinning back kick, she sent the blade flying off in the distance, negating its threat for now.





She felt his ki whirling behind her and barely raised her arm and toughened the muscles in them in time to block the kick, though she was still knocked off her feet to fly back a couple feet. Landing gently, she rushed forward to meet him again before he could recover, her open palm strikes flowing like water as she deflected his massive haymakers while the petals from her shoulder fluttered around them.


He seemed just as well trained at hand-to-hand combat as he was with a sword. His style was highly derivative of boxing, though with the occasional elbow and knee mixed in to try and confuse her, which he only managed once before she adjusted to the deviation. Like with his sword style, he had a more open-armed stance to his style, letting the eyes on his arms see as much as possible before going in for the attack.


And it took a while for him to go for the attack. He fought like a true power-boxer, using jabs and hooks to lure Piano into position before going for the hard straights and uppercuts using his impressive strength. Once or twice he nearly got her, the Devil Blood barely able to tilt her head to turn the devastating attacks into glancing blows, even as she stumbled back from the rushing air that slammed into her at the same time. He would also throw in gouts of holy flames into his attacks, either using them to try and enhance the power of his punch, or creating pillars of flames to force her to dodge, which he would quickly follow up with a powerful attack at surprising speed.


But even with all of these advantages on his side, Piano could see right through him. He had surprising speed for the amount of power he put out, but even his blistering attack rate couldn’t keep up with the more lithe fighter. Piano easily danced between most of his attacks, delivering open palm strikes to his chest, arms, and chin. The angel was sturdy, but he was not accustomed to having an opponent that outskilled him, and his frustrations showed.


To Piano, there was a noticeable gap between him starting an attack and him following through on it. The loss of most of his vision on the left side of the body was clearly having an effect, as he had to make more of an effort to see where she was, creating openings for him to be struck by the swift crimson fighter. His armor prevented her from using punches that would do more damage, and though her palms hurt with each strike, the way he started to swing his arms more wildly indicated that all of the regeneration he was having to do was starting to take its toll on his energy. He was forced to try and end the fight early, so now he was expending more effort to try and hit her.





But the increase in power in his swings soon turned against him as well, as Piano switched to a style of fighting resembling judo, using the gap in their strength to her advantage by using his momentum to send him tumbling to the earth with a heavy slam. He grit his teeth and stood up, shaking his head. But he soon received a kick to the head, his nose snapping for a moment before it healed, his teeth grit as he slid back.


“I studied you long before I came to track you down!” He roared, swinging his arm up as a pillar of fire rose. Piano easily stepped out of range of the attack, tilting her head to the side to avoid the straight right before sweeping his legs out from under him. “I thought I could kill you with little effort before breaking past the guards to slay that snake of a brother you have! So why are you still standing?”


“I told you before: I’m more talented than you are.” Piano replied simply.


To her, it was the truth. While his fighting styles were certainly deadly and it was clear he was well-trained as one would expect of an elite soldier of a conqueror who single-handedly subjugated gods, he didn’t have many opportunities to fight anyone with real skill. The delays in his attacks, both physical and magical, were the results of using his strengths to oppress those beneath him, as opposed to actually fighting. He had never been pushed to his limits, nor had he ever been in a situation where he needed to develop his fighting style beyond the basics.


So it was no surprise that against someone who had the skills of several masters of their crafts as her arsenal of weapons, such sluggish attacks would prove ineffective. He didn’t have the true power or experience that the likes of Vilivian had, nor had he been pushed to the brink of survival to allow his magic to come readily to his fingers as Angelique had been. Compared to both of them, he was a much more manageable opponent for Piano to flex her skills on.


“You have no idea what you’re talking about, little girl!” He gave out a burst of holy flames in all directions, forcing Piano to back up. “All these eyes over my body are each gifts from the Ruler of All, as proof of my diligent obedience to his glorious ways! And you cut them down like they are nothing! Do you know the amount of shame you bring upon me with your sacrilegious blades?”


A red blade suddenly flew through the air, slicing one of the eyes on his arms in half as he roared in pain from what was otherwise a shallow cut. Piano just tilted her head, looking at him as purple flames erupted from the wound.. “B-but that’s it… All of your strength, all of your abilities, all your power… they are all gifts from the Ruler of All. You don’t work for your place. That’s w-why you can’t win.”


“I serve the Ruler of All! The greatest being in all of existence! Even his attention alone is the highest praise one can receive! Someone like you, who crawls in the shadows to avoid it, would never understand!”

 

With the furious cry of a beast, he raised both of his arms, creating two pillars of flames to block Piano’s path to escape before rushing forward with a haymaker straight for her center of mass. And with the speed of the punch, she wouldn’t be able to throw him like she did before.


But his anger also gave her an opening. As his fist swung down, he managed a direct impact onto her stomach, his grin malicious as he cheered. “Got you now, heretic!”


“No. I have you…” Piano whispered back as he tried to pull back his fist. But he soon realized that she had not only toughened her abs before the hit to soften the blow, but she had also been positioned in such a way that allowed her to “catch” his fist and trap them in her muscles. As he attempted to pull his fist back, she put one hand on his arm, gripping tightly to keep him from moving as she placed her open palm on his chest.


She took a deep breath, feeling the flow of oxygen moving through her body as she focused internally. Her ki likewise began to flow within her, moving from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. Bracing her feet on the ground as she prepared her attack, she opened her eyes to see him panicking as he clearly understood that something was about to happen, his mind too flustered to use flames to help him escape.


With a twist of her hips and a slight movement of her whole body, her ki surged through her palm into his chest, a pair of cracking sounds ringing out as she struck him with a Heavy Palm strike. It was very similar to the One-Inch Punch she used on Vilivian, though with the obvious difference of using an open palm versus a closed fist. The One-Inch Punch was usually more effective due to it being a focused, direct strike to one area over the wide area of the Heavy Palm. But that dispersion of energy goes both ways, as the blessed armor would hurt her with a focused strike, while the palm strike relied on the “weight” of the blow to do damage while keeping the blessing damage to her to a minimum.


But that same armor proved to be rather effective. She was hoping to cause a fatal strike by breaking at least six or more ribs, but she felt his ki flow around two of them, showing which ones broke as he staggered back in pain. He glared at her, watching as she shook her hand to try and shake some of the pain and numbness out of the appendage.




“You think you’re so clever, so talented. Don’t you, heretic?” The angel's voice was low, angry, and dangerous. His breathing was more labored, the effort of the battle starting to show. A purple glow emanated from his throat, showing his holy flames at work ensuring not an ounce of her cursed energy remained in him. While visibly he looked mostly healthy, his ki and form indicated that he was starting to wane.


In contrast, Piano’s form looked more visibly damaged. Her arms were burned, there were several bruises hidden underneath her clothes. She had used about half of her hidden throwing knives, including a third of her blood forged blades that were melted in holy flames as red had been incinerated in violet. She glanced over to where her sword lay, wishing she had it so she could put an end to the fight.


Despite all of that, Piano’s breathing was still steady and calm, her mind and body in perfect harmony as her ki flowed through her limbs in preparation for her next movements. Her stance was sturdy, low to the ground in a defensive manner as she assessed her opponent, trying to figure out the best way to approach him. After all, a cornered animal is a dangerous thing to approach, and since this was likely the first time he had ever been pushed to this point outside of training, his desperation was quickly showing itself in the flow of his ki as it wildly surged through his body.


“I have slain hundreds of warriors, all traitors to the Ruler of All.” he continued, flames dancing along his arms now. “I have killed men whose names will be remembered, who have committed crimes more vile than yours. So why is it that you are the one that has brought me to the darkest of depth such as this? You are nothing. You are not special. You are a mere thief, using your stolen trinkets. Against one who has worked hard such as me, you should not win!”


He drew his arms back, the cackling of flames mixing with an almost angelic song as the holy blaze shot forward in a sphere of destruction. Piano ducked beneath it, trying to press close while he was swinging wildly. But even maddened and half blind with rage, he still possessed impeccable aim, sending a bolt to intercept her path and forcing her back once more.


Forced to mid-range once more, she threw a pair of knives, but only succeeded in baiting out a fireball from one of his hands, melting them as his other raised a pillar of flames to send her scrambling to the side to dodge. Pushed to his brink, he was now forced to expand how he used his flames to try and take her down. This last ditch maneuver was enough to put her on the back foot, her mind scrambling for a way to close the gap.




With her throwing knives useless, she decided to try and approach instead, hoping to overwhelm him with speed in order to take out a few more eyes. She dodged another fireball and rushed forward, watching him prepare to intercept her with another bolt of holy energy at her feet. Just as he sent it flying, she leaped in the air, planning to fly over it to reach him.


“Think again!” As he shouted in victory, she watched the ball hit the ground beneath her and explode into a pillar of fire. Her eyes widened and she barely twisted to the side, but half of her body was engulfed in holy flames. She screamed in pain, rolling onto the ground between them as she tried to put out the blessed flames as her cursed blood roiled inside of her in protest. Purple petals floating off of her shoulder now burned with violet flames, creating an ember shower that rained down before eventually the flames died down there and the ever growing flowers could regrow to their normal forms again.


Just as she got the last of the flames out, her body smoking as she shivered in pain, she sensed his ki above her at the last moment before he kicked her in the stomach. She didn’t have time to fully toughen her muscles, feeling the impact as she gasped in pain and lifted about two feet into the air. Guessing his next attack, she toughened her arms and covered her face as he slammed a flaming fist into her guard. She yelled at the holy energy smiting her devilish form, sending her rocketing about ten feet back as she rolled upon contact with the ground. She laid in a heap at her resting point, trying to regain her internal harmony as her body screamed in pain. 


She had never been hit by so much holy power before, and the sensation was almost overwhelming to her, as if experiencing a total rejection of her existence by the force of apparent light. Her arms felt like they had nearly been burned off, even as she looked down at them to see that they were still whole despite the smoke that emanated from the impact zone. Her bones likewise felt brittle after contact with the holy power, as if the next strike would break them and allow his flames to sear her torso if forced to block them again.


“Where’s all that confidence now? A little fire on your body and you’re down for the count?” The angel called, marching towards her while he let violet flames drip off of him. “You were having so much fun stealing away my gifts, so I think it’s only right if I get even as punishment for your crimes.”


Piano’s eyes grew wide, not looking at him as she could sense his menacing ki approaching. She can’t close in on her own in her current condition, and her throwing knives were useless. She could try and ambush the angel as he went to attack her, but if she failed, she would be incinerated in a holy smiting in what would surely be one of the most painful deaths a member of her kind could be killed. She would need some way to overcome him if she wanted to turn it around.


But that’s when she remembered the item she asked Nephro to make for her. Reaching down to her waist, she unwound her secret weapon and wrapped it around her arm as she stood up, careful not to let him see. Hiding her hand behind her back as the angel of judgment looked at her, she flung her right hand forward in a similar motion to throwing a knife as she was sure his loss of eyes reduced the likelihood that he saw exactly what was going on.


Sure enough, he swung his arm up to create a pillar of flames, intent on burning the “knives” coming his way. But he was in for a surprise as a small chain continued out the other side of the conflagration, slashing at his inner thigh as he gave a grunt of pain. With a twist of her arm, she sent it wrapping around his leg, pulling him off his feet and dragging him towards her.


The chain was a thin length of silver metal in tiny, imperceptible links that made it seem like one whole length of material. The end wrapped around Piano’s arm had a blunted weight the size of a golf ball to act as a balance, while the end wrapped around the angel’s leg had a pointed tip with a small weight behind it to add mass and force to the blow. It was designed to be used for quick whipping slashes, as well as its current use of ensnaring enemies and dragging them close.


By the time he recovered enough to lift his arm and head to see what was going on, she was already on top of him, slamming a palm into his nose as it broke from the attack. At this close, he saw that she had a blood forged dagger in her hand. Before he could raise any flames in defesnse, she slashed twice at the eyes on his right arm, before stabbing into the eye on his right shoulder.


As he screamed in pain, she leaped off of him, coiling the chain under her foot. As she landed, she stepped down hard on the chain while she pulled on it with her other hand, creating a swinging motion that lifted the angel up in the air with intent to slam him hard on the earth and expose his back to eliminate them so she could perform sneak attacks to finish him off.


But she suddenly felt a slight jerking motion as he stopped in the air above her. She looked up as she saw a set of three flaming purple wings as he hovered above her. Which confirmed for her his ranking as an angel.

 

It was obvious from his skills and the amount of holy energy he gave off that he wasn’t a high ranking angel, which are only sent after the most egregious of enemies of the Ruler of All. And while she would’ve felt that a low ranking angel fit for smaller transgressors would be sufficient for how much of a threat she was, clearly an all-powerful entity had other ideas, as low ranking angels didn’t possess wings.


So clearly he was a mid ranked angel, one fit for the execution of powerful officials who betrayed the ruler or great warriors that needed an angelic warrior to bring them down. His boasts from earlier were clearly not for intimidation. He had likely killed countless men whose names her brother would’ve loved to have. And he was appointed as the personal executor of her and her twin.


His wings, however, could not let him climb higher. Only stop his fall and allow him to control his descent. But it was enough for him as he pulled his leg up with tremendous force, the chain coiling up before yanking her along with it. Just as she reached him, his fist came hurtling down towards her stomach as she kicked her leg into his side. The two flew apart from each other, the chain unwinding from his leg as Piano slammed into the ground hard, barely able to cushion her impact while he descended much quicker than he would’ve liked, stumbling on the landing.


“I’ve been forced to give this everything I’ve got today. More than any other enemy I’ve ever faced before, you’ve pushed me. This is an absolute disgrace to me. I’ve lost half of my eyes to such a lowly threat such as yourself. I will make you suffer for every eye you’ve stripped from me. That I promise.”


He created a barrage of flaming pillars to try and trap her while he went for his blade, but he saw that she was already in his way. Her skin was now darker, as the flow of her blood increased in speed to dope herself up. She slammed her palm into his chest, a ringing of metal echoing out as he gasped in pain. She kept up her assault, ignoring her own pain as she used her toughened muscles and ki to make use of every ounce of enhanced power to batter the blessed armor that had been vexing her for so long.


With each blow and step back he took, more of the rings of the armor began to bend and unlink from each other, the armor beginning to break under the assault. In a desperate attempt to stop the hammering upon his ribs, he flung his hand towards her to try and torch her with a jet of violet flames to the chest. Her enhanced speed, however, ensured that she easily ducked the strike, looking directly into one of the two remaining eyes on the front of his coat as she reached into her sleeve.


“Don’t you dare!” he screamed, terror clear in his voice as a red knife was drawn from her sleeve. The ever calm Devil Blood said nothing as she slashed out the two remaining eyes on his coat, before grabbing and twisting his left arm, forcing him to double over to avoid the arm breaking. She then stabbed through the arm twice, piercing the two remaining eyes on that arm before flinging the dagger to fully blind his arm eyes as he yelled at her. “No no no no no no no NO NO NO NO NO!”


He kicked out at her, catching her in the stomach and sending her spinning back away from him. As she regained her footing, she felt him behind her with her ki as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her in a bear hug with his superior strength. His body then began to heat up, as he used his holy flames to become a living furnace to burn her alive in.


“Your people, while in rebellion of the Ruler of All, could once resist even the fires of hell as they plunged themselves in the inferno in order to strike a decisive blow towards our rightful ruler. It was only fitting then, that he stripped them of their strength with flames, and cursed their blood for their acts of treason. And it is only more fitting that you be burned alive, just as a witch is burned at the stake for her sins.”


Piano hardly seemed bothered, using her own ability to control her body temperature to lower hers, keeping her insides from overheating as she struggled for a moment. Once she was in position, she kicked her leg up all the way over her head, slamming her shoe into the front of his face. He swore as his nose broke again, letting her go and backing up as he clutched the slowly regenerating part of his face.


Only for the hand to get pulled away as her silvered chain wrapped around it, pulling him in as she reared her free hand back for another palm strike. With a roar as she poured every ounce of ki and strength she could into the blow, she smashed the heel of her palm into his chest, a shattering sound ringing out as his armor fully gave out along with three of his ribs. Light shone in all directions, Piano wincing as the holy energy hurt her even in that form.


Spitting up red blood mixed with violet flames, he shook off the chain and swung fire towards her. But he only ended up scorching the air, as Piano had already looped around him. As his golden eyes spotted her, that soon became the last thing they saw as four throwing knives embedded themselves into the holy gifts, the curse within them snuffing out the Ruler’s blessing once and for all. 


The angel gave a lamentable howl, his coat, vest, and armor sliding off his form to reveal his bare, muscular form, tattoos similar to the ones on his arms apparent on his torso where the golden eyes were on his coat. All of them had a black slash through them now, indicating that the curse had blotted them out. The blindfold wearing fighter then spun around, fury clear on his face. 


“At this point, I’m not going to kill you because I was ordered to.” He stomped forward, flames bursting out from under his feet with each stomp. “And I won’t kill you because you are a danger to society. I will kill you because I want you to suffer as you’ve made me suffer.”


“Likewise. I need to stop you, because you’ll hurt those I care about. I can’t let you win today.” Piano got into a low stance, holding her hand forward as the chain twirled behind her using her other hand.


There were a few moments where the two looked at each other, a light breeze carrying away petals from Piano and purple embers from the angel of judgment. The nearby Crossguards, who had grown in numbers as the fight raged on and attracted quite a lot of attention. The blindfolded guards looked on with bated breath, waiting to see what would happen. A X-Camera was floating above the gate, likely recording the fight for the God Eater to enjoy front row seats to the battle.


With a burst of flames, the two rushed forward as a collective gasp rose up. The two clashed elbows, before Piano ducked as a flaming fist swiped across at her. She leaped up as it passed, kicking him in the side of the head. He kept himself stable despite the damage, grabbing her leg and trying to slam her down. She pushed her arms out, stopping her fall with only a slight quiver to her arms. She twisted herself around, kicking him a number of times on each side until he let go.


As she flipped back onto her feet, she had to raise her arms to catch his fists as he punched down at her with both hands, using his greater strength to try and oppress her. She struggled to keep him back as their hands locked for a moment as he leaned in, the eyes on his blindfold glittering with malicious intent.


Piano’s head suddenly lunged forward, biting down on her hand. The angel looked confused, only to laugh at her.


“Getting desperate now, aren’t you?” The angel mocked, forcing her down on her knees. “You didn’t even bite my hand with that one!”


Piano smirked at him, before opening her mouth as her black blood trickled out for a moment. The angel attempted to pull back, but Piano’s grip tightened as her blood spurted out with high speed and pressure. His face got coated in cursed blood, but most especially his blindfold as the purple fabric turned black.


“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!” The angel stumbled backwards, grabbing his face as violet flames fanned out, sputtering more than before as his energy was running on empty. He pulled his blindfold off, finally revealing his true eyes.




They were a pair of golden orbs, with purple flames instead of pupils. They burned with an intense hatred for Piano as his fists were alight with holy flames. “Your crimes are far too great to be judged by normal means. I shall ensure your soul reaches the Ruler of All, that he might punish you accordingly. Your brother will likewise be sent for direct punishment. So lie down and accept your fate!”


Piano backed up as he began a furious combination of punches, her palms meeting them as the air seemed to explode from the force of each exchange. In this moment more than ever in this fight, he was still the stronger of the two, so continuing the trade in strength would result in her losing. So she  tried to use her chain to drive him off. But even as he was getting cut by the chain, he seemed to ignore it as he grabbed hold of the length of silver, trying to pull her forward. She leaped off the ground, jumping over the punch as she did a spin kick in the air, sending him reeling as the chain wrapped around his neck.


She pulled taut on the length, strangling the angel as he struggled to pull the thin metal from his throat. He tried to spin around, hoping to untangle himself that way. But the chain was too tight around his throat for that to work. So instead, he swept his arm to create a low blast of flames, forcing Piano to jump in the air. As she was airborne, his wings sprouted out once more and he launched himself towards her, closing the distance so the pressure around his neck loosened as he began an aerial assault on her.


Piano defended herself as best as she could, but she didn’t have much leverage for power fighting in the air, only managing a few kicks compared to the hail of punches that pummeled her. The two were quickly parted by a punch to her gut that sent her careening into the ground, causing the chain to finally slip free from his neck.


Engulfing his fist in flames, he descended down after her, his fist now a flaming meteor aimed for Piano’s skull. But with a quick motion she pushed herself out of the way, coiling her body in on itself as his fist hit dirt. She then thrust both feet upwards, slamming into his jaw and sending him airborne once more. As he tried to recover in the air, he opened his eyes to see Piano right above him with her foot high in the air. He raised his arms in time as she ax kicked him, sending him back to the ground with a painful grunt.


“Where did all that confidence of yours go, heretic?” The angel asked as the dust around him cleared, swiping his hand to incinerate the throwing knives thrown his way. “You’re starting to look exhausted. Preparing yourself for the gallows you deserve?”




Piano’s breathing was getting heavy from the strain of speeding up her blood flow, her body shaking in pain as every muscle screamed for her to stop. But unbeknownst to the angel, she had finally lured the fight to the exact place she wanted to be. She just had to draw him in without him noticing where they were.


“I still have enough of my talents to beat you. I refuse to lose here.”


“You still wish to spout your nonsense, heretic?” The angel sneered, his flaming pupils blazing with righteous fury. “Very well. I shall burn your folly into the dirt behind you!”


With a swift combination of punches, he sent a flurry of fireballs towards her. She swung her chain a few times, detonating a few of them some distance away before being forced to weave between them. She could feel his ki getting close even as the violet barrage blocked her vision, so she wasn’t surprised when his fist suddenly lashed out at her through the flames. She leaned back to go into a back handspring to avoid the attack, but the angel managed to grab hold of her chain.


With a yank he tore the weapon from where it was wrapped around her arm, sending her spiraling in the air as she tried to correct herself. He chased after her, a wild smile on his face as he took aim at her chest for another jet of flames. But just as he thrust forward to fire, his foot suddenly slipped from a change in elevation, causing his attack to fly off-course as he looked down in surprise.


He was so focused on trying to kill Piano, he hadn’t noticed that he had been rushing towards the ditch on the side of the road. His eyes went wide, looking back up at the Devil Blood as she landed. Her foot slammed down on the hilt of her ninjato, flipping it in the air behind her before she snatched it out of the haze that surrounded her due to all the flames, her confidence clear on her face as she now had the weapon advantage over him. He glanced over at where his weapon was, but realized that she would close the distance before he reached it.


But even that thought was enough to fill him with anger, as he realized that the gesture was an omission at to what ways she was superior to him. “You think you’re better than me? A glorious servant of the Ruler of All?! THINK AGAIN, WORM, AS YOU BURN IN HELL!”


Putting all of his flames into his right fist, he sent a withering blast of fire surging forward, his flaming pupils burning just as intensely as he laughed maniacally at his imagined victory. “RULER OF ALL, I SERVE YOU ALWAYS!”



But his victory cry was cut short as he saw his attack was being split in half. Looking surprised, he could see Piano’s red-tinged blade slicing through the purple conflagration. Growling angrily, he poured the last of his energy into the attack, trying to overpower her. His body glowed with the excess holy energy he was using, cracks on his arms shining blinding light through as the ground under his feet cracked from the power he gave off.


But Piano’s blade seemed to slice through the flames with continued ease, the air behind the weapon streaming from how cleanly she swung the weapon. Within moments, she had crossed the distance, her eyes meeting his as time seemed to freeze for just a moment. The look of hatred in his face was mixed with a level of fear, while Piano looked as calm as she usually did when fighting, her mindset focused on winning the fight and maintaining internal harmony to get ki in perfect flow throughout her body.


Then she passed by him, stopping a little ways away as his flames died down with him still in his attack pose. Their backs faced one another as neither moved, the wind blowing Piano’s hair and the petals from her shoulder in graceful waves as nobody moved, nobody even breathed as they waited for what would happen next. Her darkened skin slowly lightened back up to its usual light crimson as her blood returned to its normal flow, no longer needing to strain herself anymore.


And then Piano moved first, flicking what little blood remained on her blade onto the ground before slowly sheathing it, taking a long slow breath as the weapon slowly slid into the extended sheath. Just as the sound of her hilt hit the wooden entrance of the weapon carrier, a spurt of blood shot out from the angel as his head slowly rolled off his shoulders, falling into the ditch as the curse of her blood kept him from regenerating from this wound. Piano had done it.


She killed an angel all on her own.


But as the Crossguard began to cheer and Miss X’s voice started congratulating the martial artist on her victory, Piano felt a disturbance in the fading ki of the angel. A sudden surge in power and energy.


Her eyes going wide, Piano dashed forward as light began to emanate from the still standing body of the angel behind her, violet flames erupting from the stump of his neck. With a loud explosion, the angel self-destructed, blasting apart about ten feet of the path leading into the Crossroads, purple flames scorching earth to a pitch black as Piano barely escaped the blast radius. She rolled along the ground, her bruised body screaming in pain from all the impacts.



As she came to a stop, the last burst of the angel had subsided with only a few bits of flaming debris still falling as she lifted up her head to see the charred center where the angel once stood. His flaming blade was also destroyed, any holy power left in it long faded as the Ruler of All’s blessing was revoked from the loss. Piano breathed a sigh of relief, closing her eyes to offer up a prayer of thanks for having pulled through.


The Crossguard quickly ran over to check on her, helping her to her feet. Piano was still shaking, the adrenaline slowly fading as all of the aches and pains could really be felt. They tried to take her back into town to get looked at, but she waved them away.


“No, I couldn’t possibly… I’m not a competitor anymore… I couldn’t ask for more of Madame Chief’s hospitality… Besides, Vilivian’s probably waiting for me…”


She slowly walked away with wobbly steps, stumbling for a moment as she nearly fell over. But it worked out for her, as she was able to start picking up all her weapons again. She would need a forge when she got to Vilivian’s world, as she was almost out of throwing knives from having them all melted. She gave a sigh, wondering how she would explain what happened to Vilivian.


Luckily, it would be several hours before she had to do that, the night having long fallen as Piano walked the path away from the Crossroads. Just as she felt like her feet would give out on her, she saw a small campfire. Even though she knew Vilivian wouldn’t need a fire for warmth or to cook her food, she knew it had to be the Matriarch telling Piano where to meet her. 


As the Devil Blooded girl stumbled over to the open stump for her to sit on as Vilivian watched her expression carefully. “I take it your battle with the Brightblood was a considerable one, Blackblood?”


Piano looked surprised for a moment, before tiredly nodding. “Y-Yes… He was after my brother and I, so I-I had to take care of him…”


“It’s easy to imagine the Wordsmith getting in trouble with an individual like that. Is there a reason you sent me ahead to deal with him alone, when we could have crushed him together? He did not seem that formidable of an opponent from my brief glance at him as I passed him on the road.”


“B-B-Because it wasn’t your problem… I didn’t want you to get hurt b-because of me…” Piano looked down at the fire, her tail wrapped around her wrist in comfort, even as the burns on her arm hurt from the pressure.


“Did you think I was too weak to face such an opponent?” Vilivian raised an eyebrow at Piano, drawing a knee to her chest as she held it close. She cocked her head towards the younger girl, examining her reaction closely. “Did beating me truly give you such an inflated view of your skills compared to mine?”


“N-N-N-No! N-n-nothing like that!” Piano panicked, waving her hands. “I just meant that since I figured he’d be an angel with a blessed weapon, which is already as effective on someone like me. I could only imagine what it would do to a Matriarch like you…”


“So it was for my protection?” Vilivian just looked confused. “But then, wouldn’t it have been easier for the pair of us to work together? Between both of our strengths, we would’ve crushed without you being injured.”


“T-That’s not the point…” Piano sighed, trying to find the right words. She wished for a moment her brother was here, before realizing that moments like these were why she had to be apart from her brother from a bit, to grow in this regard. If she couldn’t talk to Vilivian, someone she had gotten to know over the last couple of weeks, how could she talk to anyone besides her brother?


“W-What I mean is, that angel was after my brother and I for crimes he thought we committed back home… Just because my brother and I are interested in learning more about the world… about the worlds, I should say, them what the Ruler of All wishes for us to know… He’s afraid that if people know more than he thinks they should, they’ll overthrow him…”


“And do you wish to overthrow this ruler? He attacked you first, so it wouldn’t be dishonorable to strike back at him in revenge.”


Piano waved her hands, trying to de-escalate the conversation. “I’m not interested in something like that… My place in history is not to be the one to slay the Ruler of All…”


Vilivian leaned back, looking thoughtful at Piano’s words. “So your problem is the opposite of the one I accused you of earlier? You don’t believe it's your place to achieve the greatness you are capable of, Blackblood?”


“I…” Piano looked down, her hands clasped together to help calm herself. “I’m so used to just staying out of the spotlight, that the idea of being a part of something like the work I’m doing is already pretty out there. The fact that I’m traveling across worlds learning new things is something I could’ve never dreamed of years ago… And now I’ve killed an angel, one of the top enforcers of the Ruler’s will… I just don’t know if I can go back to being who I was before… and that scares me more than anything…”

“...Then maybe you can use this opportunity to disappear.” Vilivian suggested, causing Piano to glance up. “He seems all powerful when you are forced to be under his gaze at all times. But the fact that his angel couldn’t come for you until after you left the Crossroads means that his strength does not carry the same weight over you as it once did. Maybe this is a chance to remake your life using your own strength, rather than relying on the whims of the Trickster. Nor on the machinations of that Wordsmith who’s blood you share.”


Piano looked almost shocked at the idea, along with being a bit frightened. “I-I suppose that’s true… But if one angel can find me, then so can another… and I doubt the next one will be as ill-prepared as this one…”


“Then grow stronger. I have faced some powerful warriors in my centuries of guarding Graal. And I can see from my fight with you that you still have much room to grow, Blackblood. Such an opponent should be beneath you. And perhaps your journey across my realm will show you a path worth following.”


“...Thanks for the encouragement, Vilivian… Now, let’s get some rest… We have a long journey tomorrow…”


Piano began to prepare her sleeping area as Vilivian simply laid down on the dirt with seemingly no care. As Piano laid down in a small sleeping bag, her eyes stared up at the stars, she thought about what today’s battle meant, and what she would have to do in the coming days. She could feel her ki flowing out of control from all of her worry and concern, realizing she wasn’t going to sleep tonight.


She had much to think about, without any assurance that she’ll find an answer that can assuage her fears. But at least for now, she could rely on the fact that she had a strong companion to help keep her safe. Hopefully she would be able to find an answer for herself in that time.

 

[Forte's Epilogue] ChifuxForte Date Night

Original Doc

            “You’re in a really good mood today, Mom!”

         Miss X was up in the God Eater’s penthouse suite at the top of the Fox’s Den. The goddess was currently in her Chifu “disguise,” sitting in front of a large mirror and working through her hair with a brush as she hummed happily. Miss X could practically feel the invisible tails swaying happily behind her mother.

         “You think so?~” the goddess asked, practically wiggling in her cushioned seat as she faced her daughter to beam at her. “Well, I guess that isn’t much of a surprise~ After all, I’m going on a date tonight~”

         “You are?!” Miss X jumped up off the counter of the makeup table as she looked at her mom with excitement. “Am I finally getting a dad or another mom?”

         Chifu looked asconced at the implication of Miss X’s statement, before better thinking on it and mentally being forced to concede her daughter has a point. “A dad, if I’m lucky~ Forte’s taking me out to dinner~”

         Miss X’s excitement waned slightly, looking at her mom with some confusion. “Forte? You don’t mean Piano’s brother, do you?”

         “The same one~” Chifu replied, grabbing her rouge and beginning to apply it to her face to add a bit of blush to her cheeks. Soon she had her usual blush on her face, with not nearly the amount of alcohol in her that normally resulted in it.

         “But isn’t he the one that’s been going around on dates with a bunch of other people to interview him for his book? I think he spent some time with every mayor of the town, as well as several other women. He even spent an entire night at the Faux High Inn!”

         “And?~ There’s nothing wrong with him getting a feel for the local people before going for the biggest prize herself~” Chifu set down her makeup and looked at her top, adjusting the chest to make sure it didn’t slip. She then reconsidered it and brought it lower, so it’d be more likely to have an “accident” during the dinner.

         “And he’s been asking everyone weird questions during it, things I don’t think are appropriate to ask! And he always asks for their names afterwards and- “

         Chifu reached a hand forward to put a finger “over” her daughter’s mouth. “Shhhh, it’s ok~ I know what I’m doing~ I’ve talked with him before in the bar~ He’s very handsome and I like the way he talks~ And I know what he really wants~”

         “You do?” Miss X looked surprised, ignoring the finger over her mouth. “How do you know?”

         “Well~” Chifu drew out with a smirk, standing up to get a look at her full body in a mirror. “Forte certainly likes to act cool and in control and totally mysterious – which is hot, by the way~ But when he doesn’t get what he really wants, he gets adorably angry~”

         Miss X’s face lit up, smiling as she caught on to Chifu’s plot. “And you got him mad at you?”

         “Very mad~ And he seems like the type of guy that doesn’t give up when he doesn’t get what he wants right away~ So if I play my cards right, I should be able to get what I want without giving up all the goods~”

         “That’s very sneaky of you mom~ Well, go out there and get me a dad then!”

         “Will do~” Chifu made her way over to the elevator door with a sultry sway to her step, the bells in her heels ringing with each step. Bidding her daughter farewell with a wave that was eagerly responded to, the doors closed over the goddess’ form with another ringing of bells to tell that she was descending down to the bar.

         Miss X waved for a few seconds even after her mom couldn’t see her anymore before giving a satisfied sigh, happy that she might be getting a dad soon, even if it was Forte. But then she thought about some of her mother’s words near the end and a frown came over her face. “Give up the goods? What did she mean by that?”

------------------

         Forte waited outside of the Fox’s Den alone, wearing a rather striking white suit with a red vest instead of his usual darker attire. He decided a decent contrast in colors, while still sharing some color overlap would make for a more striking statement. If it just so happened that those colors matched the God Eater’s true colors, then as far as Forte was concerned, that was just a fortunate coincidence~

         As Chifu stepped out of the Den in her usual attire, Forte held out his arm for her to take. “Quite a most pleasant eve to rendezvous indeed~ It is most fortuitous that you would commend such a precious time as this to accompany me on a brief sojourn of your most beloved burgess~”

         “I’ve been looking forward to this date all week!~” Chifu cheered, latching on to his arm with clear eagerness as she pressed her body against his side as she got as close as possible. “Are we going to go to the hot springs together~ I’m sure we’ll really get to know each other there~”

 

         “If that will permit you to divulge more of your own sequestered secrets for greater usage in my own crafting of worlds using ink and imagination, then I shall easily acquiesce to such a shift in my meticulous planning of this present eve~” Forte’s eye twinkled mischievously as Chifu gave him a pout, pulling his arm against her more.

         “Fine, we’ll skip the hot springs this time. But next time, you better take me~” Chifu gave a fox-like grin as they began to walk down the streets, the goddess in disguise humming happily. “So, if we’re not going to the hot springs, where are we going tonight?~”

         Forte gave a smirk, leading her towards the western portion of the Crossroads. “We shall dine at the Vermillion Grill. I have found their cuisines to be rather delectable after partaking in their choicest selections on several occasions. Your influence that allows you to cultivate an entire section of civilization ripe with the talents of the multiverse is peerless~”

         Chifu giggled, helping him weave through the streets of her city as she knew it like the back of her hand. She looked up at him, her two-colored eyes meeting his as the golden light in her left eye seemed to glitter with excitement. “So does that mean you like being here?~ Maybe enough to move in permanently?~”

         “I’ve taken such fantastical ideas into consideration.” Forte admitted, causing Chifu to cheer with excitement for a moment. But a signal from his hand caused her to quiet as he went on, “After all, this location’s more central nature within the fabric of the multiverse makes for a rather convenient starting off point for conducting journeys into various other realms to look for interesting locales to utilize in my tale to be told.”

         The goddess looked slightly dejected, pulling away from him slightly as she merely held his hand at this point. “Oh… I see.”

         “Please, pay my practical mindset towards such a marvel of a magical feat not as a diminishing of the wonder of this place. But as one bestowed with the fortuitous fate of endeavoring to consult with the most remarkable of individuals across the multiverse as part of my occupational duties, it's easy to get lost in the mire of such excellence.”

          “And you consider me one of those excellent people?~ Well, you certainly know how to raise a girl’s spirits~” Chifu teased, clinging onto him once more as she was happy again.

         “As is the proper thing to do as a man~” Forte shot back, bumping into her. He knew that if he wanted to get her name, he needed to keep her thinking she had a chance of getting him. The more they flirted, the higher his chance of getting her name was. He had already failed twice with his usual methods, so he was going to have to try more aggressive methods to get what he wanted.

 

         The Vermillion Grill soon pulled into sight, set at the edge of the high wall that led down to the coastline below. The two-story building was made of dark brick, with several brasiers arranged outside to light up the exterior with flickering lights, not unlike the neon that flooded the Business District of the Crossroads. There was a large sign of a red phoenix-like bird displayed above the entryway, that in the darkening night light with the flicker flames below, projected a large shadow on the wall above that seemed to “flap” its wings on occasion.

         “It’s been so long since I’ve eaten here~ I wonder if Hino Tori still knows how to make my favorite steak just the way I like it~” Chifu mused, looking up at Forte with a glimmer of excitement in her eyes.

         “I would scarce find surprise if the man hasn’t made efforts to perfect that particular craft every passing day since last you’ve graced his hallowed halls of work, in hopes of pleasing you with a far greater cuisine upon next you chose to dine on his feasts~” Forte seemed amused himself, looking into the building as if he could see the man.

         “I hope so~ It would make this date even more perfect than it already is~”

         Forte led her into the building, where a brown-haired woman with similarly colored wings like that of a hawk sprouting from her back gave the two a bow in welcome. She did not speak, but instead gave a gentle cough, holding out her hand expectantly as her other hand went to the red ribbon that circled her throat. Forte produced a small letter from his breast pocket, handing it to the woman as she smiled professionally at the couple. Her eyes flicking through it, she nodded as she accepted the reservation letter.

Grabbing a pair of menus, she took to the air, flying gently above in her light vermillion dress, the ends floating down to her ankles as she waited for the pair to follow her, before she easily wove above the tables to the rear of the building. Exiting out to the ocean facing balcony, the waitress led them to a well decorated table with an amazingly spectacular view of the sea. Setting the menus down at the table, she floated aside for the couple to take their place at the table.

Walking over to one side, Forte drew out the chair and gestured to Chifu, who giggled as she gracefully sat down in front of him. Pushing her seat in for her, Forte took his hat off and hung it on the back of his own chair as he sat down across from her. He then turned to the waitress, giving her a nod.

“If you would be so kind as to procure the Chateau Rouveau De Chante I requested the other eve, I would greatly appreciate it~”

 

The hawk woman held a hand to her throat, releasing a musical trill in response before flying upwards, heading to an area on the second floor only accessible to the flight that is common among the employees of the Vermillion Grill. Chifu looked up at where the girl had departed, a soft smile on her lips.

“It’s nice to see that Aria is still doing well, even if she hasn’t managed to speak yet~”

“Would not such a malady be but a trifle for one the likes of yourself to solve?” Forte asked, tilting his head before letting it rest on his chin as he leaned forward to study her with a snake-like grin.

  “It would be no problem at all~ But she doesn’t want me to fix it for her~” Chifu rested her chin on her own steepled hands, rocking her head back and forth with a smile on her face. “The slash she took to her neck only damaged her vocal cords~ With enough practice, she can learn to speak again, and she’d rather do everything herself~ Reminds me of a certain writer I know~”

“And to what end are you insinuating with such phrasing?~” Forte grinned, playing dumb to let her talk longer in order to meet the conditions to attempt to steal her name once more.

“That it was rather kind of you not to try and bully your sister in using her wish to get what you wanted~ It’s much more interesting to watch you try and get everything on your own~”

Aria flew back over, carrying a bottle in one hand using a napkin to shield the heat of her hand from the chilled bottle, two wine glasses in her other hand. Setting the glasses down first, she withdrew her wine key and opened the top of the bottle, the satisfying sound of a cork popping off preceding the smell of wine washing over them. Floating over Chifu’s right side, she poured a glass for the disguised goddess, before repeating the motion for Forte’s glass as well. Nodding to the two of them as they nodded their thanks to her, she returned up to the wine storage to keep the bottle chilled for them.

Forte and Chifu grabbed their glasses, raising them in a toast before the latter took a healthy sip of her glass. Forte merely feigned a sip, watching his date partner with an amused smile. Alcohol should also lower her inhibitions, which should allow him to steer the conversation to his advantage and get her name.

Chifu, of course, wasn’t worried about that. She drank harder stuff than even this wine, and she knew he didn’t have the money to get her drunk enough for that. But she certainly wasn’t going to stop him. Free wine is free wine~

After finishing his “sip” of wine, he set his glass down to address her words from before. “And to what end do you think I am endeavoring towards by remaining in the Crossroads, beyond what I’ve stated plainly?”

“Well, you’ve certainly been talking to some rather interesting people~ It must be kind of nice not having to watch over your sister, now that she is off journeying with Vilivian in her world~” Chifu sets the glass down, glancing at the menu for a moment as if trying to decide what she wanted.

“You’ve certainly accumulated a fine collection of individuals to this stretch of space you’ve carved for yourself~ How could I not take this opportunity afforded by my blood’s wishes in order to fully devote my attention to so many interesting figures and locales to investigate with the acuity it deserves to be put under scrutiny for~” Forte kept his attention on the goddess, who hummed to herself in thought as her legs kicked lightly under the table.

“I suppose that’s true~ Though it’s not like I asked anyone to stay here in particular~ I merely gave them an interesting place to stay and let them come and go as they please~ I think letting people have that kind of freedom is important for letting the most interesting people thrive~” Chifu grinned, cocking her head as she looked pleased with herself.

“And freedom in abundance you provide~” Forte praised her easily, his silver tongue hidden behind a pleasant smile. “Not a man is here that would wish to be elsewhere~ It must take an impressive force of will to maintain this level of peace without threats of agony~”

“Oh, it’s nothing special like that~ I’m just an innocent little fox~” Chifu teased, sticking her tongue out playfully. “You’re really making a big deal over nothing~ Your ability to travel all over is what’s really impressive~ You could’ve come here all on your own even without my invitation, right?~”

“I suppose you’ve made such a traversal spell rather simple to accomplish~ Merely a few words and a wish towards this region of the multiverse and this wonder of the cosmos presents itself~ The sole reason I did not permit myself an earlier sojourn was due to the necessity to explore various realms from a perspective that requires not journeying forth from the direction of the Crossroads~ All eyes that can see these things watch this place for people of note, so I did not wish to draw the gaze of too many strange and austere individuals~”

“I suppose that’s true~” Chifu leaned forward, reaching forward to stroke Forte’s arm. “I usually keep those kinds of people out because they only try to start trouble~ And not the fun kind, like you cause~”

“Are you calling me a problematic individual?~” The writer merely raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk on his face as he leaned back in his chair, glancing to the side to see if their waiter was approaching.


“You help keep things interesting around here~ So you won’t hear me complaining~” Chifu teased, winking at him. “Normally I have to wait for the next Cross Tournament to be entertained, but with you around, I at least have something else to keep my attention for the time being~”

“So I’m being tracked now, am I?” Forte sounded like he was offended, but his smirk only made Chifu laugh more. “Should I take greater care to absolve myself of pursuers in any future endeavors I undertake while circumjacent to your vision?”

“Please don’t~ I like watching what you do~” Chifu gave him a pout, her cheeks puffing out before she took another swig of wine.

“I’ll keep your objections to how I conduct my business in consideration on future ventures~” Forte gave a smirk at her expression, as the waiter finally approached.

The waiter was an olive skinned man with a tuft of black feathers on his chest that worked as a makeshift cravat with his outfit. His black wings fanned out behind him, giving him an elegant look along with his styled black hair and his cool red eyes as he reached the table, looking at the pair of them.

“Good evening, Mr. Forte. Good evening, Ms. Chifu. It is good to see the two of you dining with us once more.”

“It’s good to be back here again, Garu~ It’s been far too long since I came here~ Which is really such a shame~” Chifu giggled, leaning forward to squeeze the waiter’s arm.

Garu gave a professional smile, not letting the goddess in disguise fluster him as he turned to Forte, his wings flapping once to stretch them out as he spoke. “And I see you have joined us for a second evening as well. I hope your dinner with Lady Kanari went as you expected?”

“Your establishment has more than proven its remarkable quality and care in terms of the preparation of cuisines to engorge oneself upon while enjoying the fine company of the Scarlet Hawk~ Her rather exotic taste in appetite was a rather intriguing venture to set upon, delving into culinary expeditions I had yet to tread in my world crossing sojourn. And I’ll be delighted to engage with some of those same foodstuffs once more this eve.”

“Very well sir. What will the two of you be having this evening?” Garu looked between the two attentively, no writing pad in his hand as he turned to Forte as the Devil Blood began to speak.

“For an appetizer, we shall partake in the Olive Tapenade Crostini, along with a pair of salads. Her’s shall possess fresh fruits, while mine will have salmon roe. For our entrees, she shall have a Phoenix Grilled Filet Mignon, topped with mushrooms and your finest sauces. As for myself, I shall indulge in the Vermillion Flambe Steak Diane, with the same adornments as my partner’s.”

“Yes sir.” Garu bowed, lifting up with a few flaps of his wings. “We shall have your meal prepared as quickly as possible.” He then took off towards the window of the kitchen as Chifu giggled.

“Well aren’t you well-researched?~” Chifu teased as she looked towards her dinner partner with a raised eyebrow. “Who gave away all my favorite foods from here?~ Did Kanari tell you too much after getting drunk off of wine?~”

“You wound me with such harsh accusations.” Forte put a hand to his chest, looking offended. “Though I will admit that while colluguing with the leader of the western portion of the Crossroads, she might have mentioned a fair few wine and dining enterprises with the Madame Chief and her usual dining expertise~”

“That traitor~ I’ll have to get back at her tomorrow~Maybe I should take her out for some drinks~ She was always such a lightweight, I’m sure she’ll do something she’ll regret with my encouragement~”

“As one would expect from a trickster goddess such as yourself~” Forte gave a chuckle, reaching into his jacket. “Mind if I partake in a cigar while we wait for our appetizers to arrive?”

“Only if you give my pipe a light~” Chifu pulled her own pipe out, tamping out her previous smoke before adding a new cut of her favorite plant of choice. Forte pulled out his own cigar, using a gold-plated lighter to light his tobacco. He then stood up, walking around the table as Chifu presented her pipe to him as he lit it for her. “Thank you~”

“Your appreciation is but one payment I will accept for such a trifle of an assistance to provide for you~” Forte stayed on his feet for a moment, looking out at the bay as he gave a puff of smoke.

“Only one payment?~ And what other payments are you hoping to get?~” Chifu lifted up her eyebrows, crossing her arms as she leaned back with a flirty smile.

“The kind of benefits that are natural to arise when prolonged time in your company is allowed~” Forte gave her a smirk as he sat down, glancing over at Aria as she returned to fill their drinks and set ashtrays for the both of them. “Hopefully you won’t be remiss to entertain my appetencies by indulging in an interview or two with myself?”

Chifu gave a slight pout, before her sly smile returned. “Really?~ You get me all to yourself, and all you want to do is talk with me?~ That’s so boring~ Why don’t we be more entertaining?~”

“Oh? And pray tell what you imply by that?” Forte raised an eyebrow as Aria went to Chifu’s right, pouring wine into the proffered glass by the slowly inebriated goddess.

“Well, you want me to share stories about myself, right?~ So why don’t we trade?~ You tell me a story about yourself, then I’ll tell you something about me~”

Another waitress, a blonde woman with long hair that covered her eyes and silvery wings, flew over with their appetizer and salads. The appetizer was toasted bread with a green paste topped with tomatoes, nuts, and goat cheese. Chifu’s salad had a mix of fruit with light olive oil, while Forte’s had a light mix of salmon to accentuate the leaves. Both the appetizer and salads were of smaller portions, to ensure they wouldn’t get full before the main entrees.

As the wait staff flew away to attend to other guests, the couple began to taste their food. Chifu made a noise of appreciation at the Olive Tapenade, another hand under her chin to keep any of the olive paste from falling on her clothes. Forte enjoyed one of the little snacks himself, having tasted them the other night with one of the leaders of the interdimensional town.

“Lady Kinara certainly has a remarkably refined palette that she seeks to encourage those around her to indulge in also.” Forte commented, before following it up with a bite of his salad. “I imagine her talents as a leader are likewise exoitic but effective.”

“She certainly knows her way around the docks~” Chifu said with a wink. “I’m sure you learned all about it the other night~”

Forte gave Chifu a long look as the trickster smiled at him, wiggling her hips as she danced happily at her teasing, seeming to get a reaction out of him. “And pray tell what you mean by that?”

“Well, she led you back to her estate that evening, didn’t she?~ I just want to know what you two did once you went inside~”

“You mean you didn’t attempt to intrude further into my private affairs? I could not fathom an end to your meddling when it comes to matters that entertain so greatly as my occupational objectives.”

“I have my limits~ I’m not going to invade the privacy of one of my trusted leaders just because she’s hunting for my new favorite toy as well~”

Forte gave a chuckle, raising his eyebrow. “I was not presently under the impression that anyone had laid claim to ownership over me. By what right do you have over my personhood?”

“Divine right, obviously~” Chifu winked at him, leaning forward so her chest rested on the table past her salad. “I won’t hate on Kinara for going for you too~ It just means she has good taste~”

“Are you quite sure of your amiability towards whatever conjured relation I am possessed of with the Scarlet Hawk? Because I can certainly sense some enmity from you over the supposed rendezvous. Might that be envy I detect in your tone?~”

“No, of course not~” Chifu batted her eyelashes at him, even as her invisible tails flicked angrily behind her. “I’m just saying that her feathers were probably really soft, weren’t they?~ Though not as soft as my tails are, of course~ I take extra care to keep them nice and fluffy~ Maybe you should come feel them~”

“Your offer is most generous indeed~ But allow me to head off any jealous intentions emanating from you. My time within the Vermillion Palace was merely to indulge in some of the lady’s private spirits and to discuss a few more personal aspects she wasn’t comfortable sharing in a public venue. I had no carnal relations with Kinara Akai the previous eve.”

“Oh?~ Is that so?~ Well, that’s your loss I suppose~” Chifu began to wiggle more in her seat, clearly happy as the two finished their salads and the rest of the appetizers. 

Two servers came over to take away their plates, creating room on the table for their next plates as the couple went back to smoking. As Forte tapped some ash into the tray, he leaned forward to address Chifu once more.

“Now that I’ve upheld my portion of this arrangement, I do believe it is time for you to divulge certain information onto me.”

“Hmm?~” Chifu raised an eyebrow, not knowing what he meant.

“I informed you as to what I did with Lady Kinara. Therefore, I have the right in inquire into your life prior to your ascension to your current goddess state~”

“Ah~ Fair fair~” Chifu nodded, pouting a bit. “I suppose I did say that~ Though I was hoping to ask a real question from you for that~”

“That was your own fault in being too inquisitive at my personal affairs in the Crossroads~ Now, please begin sharing your own prior experiences if you would~”

“Are you not going to pull out your notebook for this?~” She gestured to his empty hand, causing the author to raise an eyebrow. “You’re about to get some juicy details from me~ I would think you’d want to write down every word I say~”

“There will be little need to render your words into ink. My mind can function as a trap for intelligence that is of greater interest of mine. I shall be remiss if I miss even a single syllable attempting to transcribe your narration. I shall suffice with my auditory skills alone~”

“If you say so~ Especially since there isn’t that much to tell~” Chifu took a moment to smoke her pipe, as if to gather her thoughts. “I was just a little fox that spent her days romping around the woods I grew up in and playing tricks on all my fellow animals~ Then one day, a god showed up as he usually did~ So I made fun of him a little and he got all mad at me!~ Can you believe that?~”

“Truly a most unwise move of that entity indeed~” Forte agreed, nodding his head. “You would think such an entity would be wary of such hubris.”

“He was never much of a smart god, if I’m honest~ He like showing off, with all his fancy light and cool powers, giving random animals intelligence as he wished~ So I made fun of him for doing it again, and he said that if I thought I could do better, then I should prove myself~ So he puts a series of challenges in front of me, and I beat every one of them~ Then, one thing led to another, and I got the chance to eat him~ And that’s all there is to say about that~”

At that moment, Garu and another waiter came over with their entrees, setting the plates in front of them. Both of their steaks looked somewhat similar, though Forte’s was of a thinner cut and had a small glaze of alcohol and a single red feather on top of his. As Garu set the plate down and backed up, there was a cry from a bird that emanated from the inside of the restaurant.

Forte’s plate set alight in golden flames, cooking the meat as Chifu gave an excited clap at the spectacle. By the time the flames died down, the delicious smell of the food began to waft up as the first server left the table to serve others.

“Enjoy the rest of your meal, sir and madam.” Garu invited, watching as the two cut into their meat to ensure they were satisfied with the quality. Once they both gave an appreciative noise at the taste of the meat, the black feathered man began to float back, departing to prepare the rest of the night.

The two sat in silence for a bit, enjoying their food to the point where conversation was nearly forgotten, both of their smoking implements burning out. The smoke still rising from them was swept away by the sea breeze, causing the pair to look out at the setting sun as orange light danced off the perfect ocean water. The sight made the perfect backdrop for the date, a fact that helped make Chifu’s cheeks flush with color. She grinned happily, sneaking a glance at Forte as he seemed likewise content with the view.

“And now it’s time for you to share more of your own history, Forte~” Chifu teased, pointing her fork at him.

Forte looked back at her, somewhat surprised. “Forsooth? To what end does that serve? My story shall not be one attributed to any one character of any of my novellas I intend to derive from the world of ink and paper. Why then should such a matter be discussed?”

“Because I’m interested in learning more about you~ After all, your sister won my tournament, which makes you by extension interesting yourself~ Plus, it’s fun to listen to you, so hearing you talk more would be nice~”

Forte frowned for a moment, thinking about how long they had been talking. Realizing that he needed a little more from her, and that if he didn’t entertain her more, she might leave without giving him what he needed. Giving a sigh, Forte opened his eyes to the eagerly waiting Chifu.

“Very well. To what matter shall we explore to satiate your need for intelligence on a meager writer such as myself?”

“I just want to know about where you grew up~ You always keep your past a mystery, which makes you so interesting to talk with~ I want to learn all your little secrets, no matter what it takes~”

“Is that all? A mere contrivance of information to impart? Very well.”

Forte made a dramatic motion of cracking his knuckles as he prepared to give his story. Chifu leaned in intently, ready to listen to every word he said with rapturous attention.

“My blood and I hail from the most idyllic setting of Paragon, a bastion of technology and prosperity. A locale that is often blessed by the Ruler of All, the people of the Cubby are oft enhanced with technological marvels that grant those fortunate enough to afford such surgical masteries to graft them on. It is also the sole beneficiary of the direct passage to the Ruler of All’s palace, meaning that only those whose lineages proved themselves worthy to the young conqueror during his campaign of ascension are permitted to remain in his good graces. Such was the nest in which I resided.”

Chifu just nodded along, smiling almost vacantly as she just stared at Forte talking clearly entertained.

“Piano and my own parents passed away due to an unknown disease when we were young, leaving us to our own devices in the metropolis of Vaingloria. While the social support systems of Paragon are second to none, we still had to perform some novel duty in order for the other pseudo-aristocracy of our peers wouldn’t conjure some method to remove us for indolence. So my sister began to study the various martial arts she now understands so thoroughly in order to take a rank among the Gear Guard. I, meanwhile, pursued the more creative arts, honing my skills with ink and paper to take on the role of a writer. I ventured among the more clandestine members of society in order to realize the more villainous elements of my magnum opus. From there, I decided to explore the multiverse, in order to obtain a wide array of personalities to employ when it came time to turn script into novel. And thus have I sojourned to your humble cut of multiversal cloth that is the Crossroads.”

Chifu gave him a wide, knowing grin as he finished his little tale, clapping a little as she did. “You certainly are a wonderful storyteller, Forte~ Maybe I should have you read me bedtime stories to help me go to sleep at night~ You have such a wonderful voice to listen to~”

“Your words are most kind, Madame Chief~” Forte gave a slight bow, taking another “sip” of wine as Chifu finished her own glass across from him.

“Indeed~ You weave such thrilling stories as well~ If I didn’t already know that you were lying about all of that, I might have believed every word you said~”

“I beg your pardon?” Forte looked confused, keeping a calm smirk on his face. “By what measures are you utilizing to render such accusations of falsehood against me?”

“Oh, I heard your sister talking to Vilivian about where she actually grew up~ Dissonance, was it?~” Chifu had a glimmer of mischief in her eyes as she called him out, though Forte didn’t look too upset at that.

“Is that so? I suppose my sister saw no need to hide our origins from such a tremendous opponent. It’s not as if the Matriarch would ever utilize that information for nefarious purposes…”

“And you think I would?~” Chifu batted her eyelashes at him, trying to look innocent despite the wide smirk across her face that indicated that she was up to some sort of trick.

“I would not be faulted for suspecting some sort of trickery from the God Eater~” Forte glanced over as the waiters came by to grab their plates as they finished their meals. “I would be much afeared that you might further ensnare members of those Piano and I collogue with into this flight of fancy you organize.”

“I wouldn’t think of doing that~” Chifu protested, puffing out her cheeks once more. “I would just like to see the place you grew up in~”

“If you were more open as to your intentions, mayhaps I would entertain such a notion. As it were, I do believe it is my own chance to venture for more intelligence from you~” 

“Fine fine~ What do you want from me this time?~” Chifu looked at him with some intent, having also been measuring how much time they had been talking. She almost knew what question was coming next. As smart as Forte was, when he was going after his main objective, he was predictable to the trickster goddess.

Sure enough, the expected words left his lips after he addressed the waiter to indicate he would be the one covering the check. “I’ll simply request what I have once before: I wish to learn of your title of personage. Your true one this time, if you would~”

Forte’s expression, while at a first glance still confident and friendly with his smirk, took on a harder edge as he watched her closely. Chifu seemed to give his request deep thought, putting a finger on her chin as she looked up to the darkening sky.

“Hmmm~ Weeeelllllllll, I suppose I have kept you hanging long enough on that one~ Ok, I think I can do that~”

“Most excellent~” Forte took hold of the check that Garu handed him, looking at the cost before pulling out the right number of coins to cover the charge. With his other hand, he surreptitiously drew his pen, setting it against the back of the check as he looked back to his date partner with a most wicked grin. “So, to what name should I put you down as?~”

“My name… my real name… is Vix Volpe~”

Forte’s pen moved with a fast movement, his ability to steal names attempting to activate and finally achieve his goal that he had in mind since arriving in the Crossroads.

So when he didn’t feel the magic pull her name from the ether, his anger quickly rose up as he glared at her. She simply looked at him with polite confusion, though the small smirk growing on her face showed she could see him getting upset.

“You have delivered yet another falsehood upon me. Do you truly enjoy playing me the fool in such a manner?”

“Well, I have a reputation to maintain after all~ I can’t let people think that I’m too easy~ But chin up~” She reached across the table and pushed his chin up, her mismatched eyes meeting his. “Maybe your strategy was flawed from the start~ After all, this wine wasn’t enough to get me drunk~ There’s no way I’d slip up like this~”

“That is a fair assessment.” Forte admitted, putting away his pen. “Then I take it a return to your favorite haunt shall suffice for a start to this change in strategem?”

“If you mean the Fox’s Den, then you would be right~” Chifu stood up quickly, almost pulling Forte back up on his feet as he grabbed hold of his hat. Giving a wave to Garu and Aria as they bowed in farewell to them, Chifu latched herself to Forte’s arm as he began to lead her back to all the alcohol that was waiting for her back home.

And if she kept playing her cards right, maybe she can make sure Forte takes a few drinks himself. She was excited to see what new sides of him she could draw out before their date was over.