Chapter 37: Duel of the Fates
Domino’s POV
The thick glass walls prevented any sounds from
outside my prison reaching me, but I could see Thunderchild and Fury facing
each other, their swords drawn and ready for battle. It was happening, it was
really happening, right in front of my eyes, I couldn’t believe it, for a
moment I totally forgot about my situation as I watched the my husband, both
good and evil versions of the same man, prepare to fight.
Then my feet felt damp and I looked down, I could hear the water trickling down from above, and panic began to rise in me.
“You bastard…” I cursed as I raised Draconus on high and charged him, Fury laughed and parried the attack, hitting me over the head as I was pushed past him, and I turned and flew at him again, our swords clashed and sparks flew from the blades.
How do I fight him? I thought to myself, how do I fight someone who has all of my powers, who knows all of my fighting techniques?!
How do you fight yourself?!
Surrelus missed my chest by a mere fraction of an inch and I jumped backwards, summoning a fireball which Fury brushed aside. I looked over to Domino who was splashing around in about a foot of water, it wouldn’t take long for the section she was in to fill up and then…
NO! I was not going to lose her again!!
Ducking for some unknown reason I just missed decapitation as Surrelus whistled through the air where my head had been.
I swung my sword around and sliced at Fury, the blow almost connected but glanced off his metal shoulder protector, hissing under my breath I tried to swing back and decapitate him but Surrelus was there, blowing my block.
The water had risen to the point where it was lapping into my boots, so I took them off and threw them to one side, in front of me Fury and Thunderchild were fighting desperately, I knew that Thunderchild would try to defeat Fury and save me but judging by Fury’s power, and the fact that the two were so evenly matched, I didn’t hold out much hope for salvation.
So that left it down to me to escape, and right now my chances of escape didn’t look very good, the glass, if that was what it was incredibly strong and not even magic worked on it, I tried casting Blizzaga on the water coming through the hole in the neck of the hourglass but nothing happened, the spell didn’t even come.
I tried banging on the glass but it was too strong, so I tried kicking it as well but only succeeded in slipping over and falling on my tail, splashing myself and soaking my trousers as I landed in the water, standing back up again quickly and trying to get the water off me, I hate water…being a fire type I’m not too keen about it, and Fury must have known that to have imprisoned me in such a device.
Our blades met time and again, Surrelus clashing against Draconus, the red and light blue trails marking where our blades had been, I so desperately wanted to glance at Domino, to see if she was alright, to see if she had managed to escape but every time I went to look Fury was there, striking at me wildly.
“It’s no use! You can’t save her now!” he snarled, spinning Surrelus and slashing at me, missing my ribcage by a fraction of an inch as I twisted sideways.
“Sooner or later one of us,” I ducked as Surrelus cut overhead, the blade singing as it passed, then I jumped back to full height and stabbed at Fury who used our ability to slow time to jump backwards in a blur of movement. “…is going to slip up.” I continued.
He charged at me again and I slowed time and dodged sideways, but he dodged sideways too and before I could stop it Surrelus traced a line across my chest, not the full force of a blow but enough to draw blood.
“Oh don’t worry Thunderchild…it won’t be me!” laughed Fury as he jumped away before I could counterattack.
He laughed again and leaned on Surrelus.
“Tell me Thunderchild, how does it feel to finally lose?” he taunted me, grinning insanely and chuckling under his breath.
I tightened my grip on Draconus and glared at him.
“I don’t know…I don’t intend to lose!”
I charged and he dodged, but I had expected that and swirling around I prepared to attack him again, but he was ready for that and our two swords clashed again, sparks dancing over the blades.
The water was just above my knees now and slowly, steadily inching upwards, now not only my fear of water but my claustrophobia began to seep in, sending fiery lines of panic across my mind, the icy claws of fear gripped my heart and I began to kick at the glass again, splashing water all over the place and soaking what dry areas of my clothing I had left. At one point I accidentally stepped under the waterfall from the top bulb and fell underwater as the water got into my eyes.
Underwater all I could hear was the splashing of the water, sounding like a muted jet engine, not a roaring onrush but enough to signify my doom. A small stream of bubbles escaped from my mouth and a burning feeling quickly erupted in my lungs, I briefly considered just letting all my air go and not delaying the inevitable, drowning there and then, but then I felt hope, hope that Fury might yet be vanquished, and I stood up, gasping as my head came above water closely followed my the rest of my body. The water was now up to my groin.
It was no good, Fury was as good a swordsman as me, and unless he slipped up badly then there was nothing I could do to end this battle quickly. We would continue to fight until we were too tired to fully concentrate and then one of us would die…but it wouldn’t be before Domino had drowned.
With a renewed energy I blocked Surrelus and riposted back, turning Furys attack into an attack of my own, this caught him off guard and Draconus cut a slice of flesh from his arm. The pain made Fury roar in anger and smash furiously at me.
“You bastard! I’ll make you pay for that!”
I felt a strange sensation of peace come over me as I somersaulted backwards into the air, and stayed there. Something was happening to me, something localised in my upper back, Fury could see it too, and I could see the apprehension in his eyes.
Something caught my eye in the battle in front of me, Thunderchild had somersaulted back from Fury and now was hovering in the air, hovering in space it seemed as Gaia provided the backdrop for this desperate struggle. I expected nothing less from a place as strange as Memoria.
Suddenly a pair of light blue tinted white wings emerged from Thunderchilds back and he swept back down towards Fury with Draconus in his hand.
I felt something strange on my stomach, I looked down and saw water lapping at my belly, yelping I jumped, trying to get the water further away, but without the room to fully unfold my wings there was no way I could get anywhere.
“Help me Thunderchild…please!” I yelled, even though I knew he wouldn’t hear me.
My aerial attack caught Fury entirely by surprise and we collided with each other as he jumped out of the way of Draconus, feathers flew everywhere as we tumbled to the ground, my hands around his neck and his around mine, both squeezing as our swords tumbled to the ground. I kneed him in the stomach and broke his grip, backhanding him across the face I rolled to one side and jumped to my feet before kicking out at him.
He caught my foot and pushed it back at me, I fell backwards, trying uselessly to flap my wings to provide some sort of cushion for my fall. As I hit the ground and slid backwards Fury stood up and threw a fireball at me. Gasping, with my eyes wide open in surprise I quickly rolled to one side to avoid a fiery death, the fireball harmlessly scorching the dirt behind me.
Another fireball came my way but I blocked it before it could reach me, another came but I repelled it back at him, using techniques taught to me by Reiganna a year ago.
I saw him glance at Surrelus, perhaps thinking of summoning it back to him and I risked a quick look at where Draconus lay, dangerously near the edge of the abyss.
A blow landed on the side of my head, knocking me sideways and making my vision blur. Tasting blood in my mouth, I turned back to Fury who was now darting for Surrelus, and so I ran for Draconus but Fury reached Surrelus first and turned back towards me. Holding his sword high up in the air he charged towards me with an attack I couldn’t defend against unarmed.
I ran faster and then slid the last couple of metres to Draconus, grapping the sword in my hand I turned just in time to block Surrelus. Howling with rage Fury cast a lightning spell on me which hit the spot where I had just been lying, but I was already gone, up on my feet and running at Fury, slicing at him with Draconus.
The water lapped against my breasts now and I could see it would only be a matter of minutes before I drowned. Strangely I felt somehow at peace, almost as though death was not something to be scared of anymore, that it was going to happen anyway so I didn’t need to be afraid. I didn’t want to die…but it now looked like I was going to.
With the emergence of his wings I thought Thunderchild would have been able to use more of his powers but so far he had used none, I wondered if he was holding back for some reason.
“Don’t hold back TC,” I urged him “Hit that bastard with all you’ve got.”
Something inside me clicked and I pushed forward, knocking Surrelus to one side and stabbing at Furys left arm, I managed to slightly penetrate his skin, Draconus came away with blood on its tip.
Fury snarled and smashed the hilt of Surrelus against my head, making my vision blur again and sending me staggering. As I recovered I found myself facing Dominos prison, I could see the water was almost up to her neck, I knew that she was weak against water, that once the liquid closed over her head it would be a short time until she drowned. She looked at me and mouthed words I could not hear, she shook her head and smacked the glass with her hands but there was no way she could escape with her physical skills alone, and if magical powers could be used inside that hourglass yet then she would have freed herself.
Suddenly she yelled and pointed at something over my right shoulder, I ducked and turned, narrowly missing decapitation. I hit back with three fireballs in quick succession, Fury blocked the first two but the third hit him in the chest, sending him flying backwards, I moved forwards quickly, not giving him the chance to recover, the sparks flew from my hands as lightning struck him, making him yell and drop Surrelus.
“Now you’re mine.” I growled as I threw another lightning spell at him.
The water closed over my mouth but I jumped up into the small space left, the water falling next to me, splashing my face, making me turn away from the battle to clear my eyes. Suddenly the water was over my mouth again and I had to thrash my arms wildly to keep my head above the water. I couldn’t see the battle, couldn’t know if Thunderchild was going to come to my rescue or not, but right now it didn’t matter, right now I was about to die, probably forever, such things were unknown in Memoria but it was a safe bet considering I had died in the real world.
My head hit the roof of the bulb I was trapped in, and the water rose over my mouth again, and as my head sank beneath the water I held my breath, knowing that my final moments were at hand as I slowly sank to the bottom of the bulb.
Fury was hit again and again by my spells, I hit him so rapidly that he didn’t have a chance to organise any sort of defence, he fell backwards and I stood over him, Draconus in my hand.
“Defeat…for you Fury…it’s all over.”
“That is where you are wrong Thunderchild…it’s not just all over for me…”
My mind heard a warning tone in his voice and alarm bells began to ring.
“It’s all over for you and her too.” He continued, pointing behind me, I turned and saw Domino sinking to the bottom of the bulb, the water reaching the top, even as I looked I saw the pain on her face as her hands clutched at her chest, she doubled over and thrashed with her legs as a small trickle of bubbles leaked from her nose. She tried covering her nose and mouth with her hands but it wasn’t enough, the small stream of bubbles grew larger until it was a raging torrent of her precious oxygen escaping, she shook her head from side to side and then the bubbles stopped and her eyes closed as she became still.
“NOOO!!!” I yelled, turning back to Fury who was laughing, I growled and held Draconus firmly and stabbed downwards. The blade plunged deep into his chest and he fell backwards as the blood poured out. Then I turned and ran towards the hourglass, I collided with it and full speed, and summoning all my strength I managed to break the glass, it seemed that it was more vulnerable to external attack than internal, obviously Fury had bargained on keeping me distracted. And it had worked.
The rush of escaping water knocked me backwards and something landed on me, as I cleared my eyes of water I saw it was Domino, limp and still. I picked her up and placed her away from the water, I then cut away her top with a dagger I kept with me for material uses rather than fighting, and began to perform CPR.
“It’s a helpless cause…” croaked a weak male voice, I glanced over my shoulder at Fury who had propped himself up on his elbows and was watching me in his final moments.
“Aren’t you dead yet?” I hissed at him as I returned to Domino.
“Not as dead as she is…” he laughed weakly.
“Shut up you bastard.”
“You may have won Thunderchild…but your victory will taste as bitter as defeat.” He said, and then I heard a gasping sigh as he died.
Fury may have gone but I had lost Domino too, he had taken her from me, in his last act of evil. I focused all my power on her, closing my eyes as I massaged her chest.
“Dammit Dom…don’t leave me, not now!”
I felt weak-headed but continued, putting it down to the come down after battle, then I felt strange, and tried to open my eyes but I was unable, all I could see was the dark and all I could hear was a slow beating heart.
Who are you? I heard a voice ask, as clear as if the speaker was standing next to me.
I am Thunderchild I replied
Impossible…unless you are dead too. Sighed the voice, and suddenly I realised who it was.
Suddenly I could open my eyes and see my surroundings. I was standing in a field of gently waving corn, in the middle of the field and at the top of a small hill was a giant tree, a beautiful tree with waved gently in the breeze, the golden red of autumn leaves mixing with the emerald green, I raised my eyebrows.
“Wow…”
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” asked someone, I
turned and saw Domino looking at the tree, she had her wings out and her
“It is.” I agreed with her, it seemed a
little odd to see her in
“Why are you here?” she suddenly asked, turning towards me.
“I don’t know,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders “I was performing CPR on you and then…”
Domino raised an eyebrow and looked at me strangely.
“You look…odd…what’s with the hair…and…the tail?”
I reached up and pulled down part of my hair, it was still its usual brown and I looked over my shoulder, no sign of a tail.
“I don’t see what you’re talking about.” I replied
She frowned but said no more, instead she began walking towards the tree, suddenly I felt a bad feeling, almost as though that tree would bring instant death, it felt so wrong…so alien that something as beautiful as that could actually harm someone.
“Dom…Dom…don’t do this.”
She stopped and turned back to me.
“Do what?”
“Don’t go to that tree.”
“But I…I want to touch it…I need to touch it!”
“No Domino!”
As she began to walk forwards again I ran at her, my steps seeming to take forever, but heartbeat thudding in my ears, as she reached the outskirts of the tree I tackled her in the back and we both fell heavily to the ground.
“Dammit TC, why do you have to ruin everything!?” she yelled from underneath me.
“…because I love you!”
She stopped and looked at me.
“Who are you?” she asked again, seeming confused.
“Your guardian angel.” The words came out of nowhere, I felt myself saying them and wondered how they had come into existence, I certainly didn’t think of saying it.
It seemed to satisfy her as she put her hand behind my head and brought me down for a deep and longing kiss.
“Come on Domino,” I said when we finally parted “Let’s go home.”
She nodded and sat up, and with one last longing look at the tree she turned her back on it and followed me back to the pillar of light which lit up one corner of the field.
“I would have liked to have touched that tree…it was so inticing, so warm and loving.”
“I know Domino…but if you would have touched it, you wouldn’t be coming back with me now.”
She stopped and looked at me.
“You mean?”
I nodded and she went quiet as we walked into the pillar of light, a light so bright and intense that it blinded me, turning the world black. I shut my eyes and rubbed them with my hands and when I opened them again I was sitting on my back looking up at a dark blue ceiling.
“Huh?”
I sat up quickly, too quickly as the world went blurry and my head felt as though someone had dropped an anvil on it. I looked around, this wasn’t Memoria, it was dark and trails of smoke hung low on the floor. Not far away from me was a medium height wall which enclosed something which glowed with a very very dull red, I could see its reflection on the ceiling. There was a feeling of sleeping power in the air.
A shape detached itself from the shadows and walked towards me, I shuffled backwards, trying to draw Draconus but it was too late, the shape was upon me.
Suddenly the lights came on as the power returned, I could see where I was now, and it was in the main weapons room of the Invincible, but what caught my eye was the woman which stood in front of me with her crystal staff glowing gently, her long brown hair falling down over her shoulders as she bent down to help me up, her gentle lips turning up in a smile and her hazel eyes twinkling as she spoke:
“Hello again Yissan, it’s been a while.”
My mouth went dry and slowly fell open as I was helped to my feet.
“Jara…”