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Chapter 28: Prisma Fiamma

Betareader: Ant0nius

The struggle was real, but Carmesi had no intention of giving up.

Her opponent wasn’t spared by her own attacks, but it would be a terrible lie to even think he wasn’t putting her in a bad spot. Who would have thought that the Dark Crest would have been so troublesome? Maybe a few of her friends, maybe even those from her group- but Carmie wasn’t one that allowed some hurdle to force her to a pause. No, never. She held her worth forefront, ready to challenge the threat before her and experiencing not just a few problems with that.

The first thing the Fire Crest picked up from the first minutes of that fight was that the Wolf Prime had an incredible control of shadows. Something that initially felt unimportant due to how ‘useless’ shadows normally were… but then she realized those could actually be manipulated, to the point of changing their properties. A shadow that looked like fire? It would produce heat and burn others. A shadow that stormed like a furious river? A threat to her own flames. The dark snow? As frustrating as a common one.

So, she was facing a very problematic power compared to her… and the user was way worse to handle in a one-on-one. Maybe she was looking too deep into it, but it was clear the grunting Wolf was a professional swordsman… just like Theo. His strikes were less precise, relying heavily on speed and brute force alone. Proof that Howl had trained through experience rather than with someone tutoring him like the Grand Knight had through his own training sessions. Theo would commend that strength had its reasonable importance in fights, but not enough when there wasn’t a degree of understanding how this could be of little use if there wasn’t some knowledge applied with the experience built around it.

In a way, this was a relief since he was easier to predict in his moves, but nonetheless difficult to counter due to his non-negligible physical superiority towards her own skills. Very infuriating, but nothing new for Carmesi as she carefully kept from making any mistakes. Going too fast and too much with her power would just cause her more problems than not. She had to bring the guy in alive, and grilling him up would just land her in trouble with the others. And Howl wasn’t… holding back from making it frustrating for her. He was talking, constantly, with his taunts and some jabs at her ‘faulty moves’ that further chipped away at her patience.

“You should be more careful, or you will quickly slip into defeat.”

“Your posture is off, your stance is unbalanced. Of course I would be fighting some rabid animal.”

“Fire, it can be so strong and yet so fickle- I guess I was looking too deep on how powerful others like me could be.”

Carmesi was gritting her teeth, counting up to a hundred to keep her mind from collapsing before the demands of her bubbling anger and… it was working. For a while. It was odd, but she was actually putting enough of an effort to handle the pressure, just so that her own attacks were exploiting the brief distractions that Howl threw at her, using the openings created by his chatty mouth. She didn’t speak, she refused as she could feel her throat burning with the need to return insult with insult, scorn with scorn, ferocity with pure wrath. Yet the Fox Prime didn’t let go. She was so close to beating him, slowly yes, but still fast enough to not draw herself too deep into it. But as her confidence soared after scoring another kick to the left side of his chest, striking his ribs, her positive mood faltered as she saw a large blob of darkness bubbling at her feet. She hadn’t noticed it, having jumped right into it and allowing it to rush upward. It didn’t stick to her body, not completely, with the large construct ensnaring her in a large bubble of dark.

Restrictions were quickly forgotten as she felt her mobility restrained, her body burned in a coat of fire that repelled some of that darkness trying to swallow her whole. The flames put up a strong resistance, but being unable to completely expel the oppressive ability as the shadows eventually swallowed and absorbed her own energy, sapping onto her body and… leaving her body sleepy. Her mind started to lose focus, her eyelids felt heavy, her breathing growing calmer and her determination dimming before the relentless drain that slowly but steadily burned her out. Her flames didn’t manifest, her control no longer available in these conditions and… Carmesi closed her eyes.

_ I have felt something like… this. But where and… why does it hurt more? _

_ Many years ago… _

A younger Carmesi was alone in a very dark room.

The room had barely any light within it, her ‘cell’ failing to provide at least some illumination to give her insight of the place. She had ‘failed’ again as some instructors had said. Her powers were too unstable- no, she was the one too unstable. So, to make it clear to her how this could have ended her life if she didn’t change, the Fox Prime had been assigned this kind of place. Again. And again. Small, no windows, there was no bed but a horizontal wooden slab that had some splinters curved upward. A wrong move and she would have to pick a few of those off from her skin. It was unpleasant, it was upsetting- but they were right. How was she supposed to be the greatest if she couldn’t even be in charge of her own powers?

She was meant to be the strongest, even stronger than Minos, but she couldn’t. She was just… someone that couldn’t hold her worth and show it. She felt useless- no, Carmesi could tell she was useless. With no powers, she was no better than a common grunt, ready to be hurdled at the first meat-grinder and be lost to history. Her greatness was heavily reliant on her might, but that might wasn’t something she could manipulate. That fire she had within, the one that she could feel groaning deep in her soul, wasn’t willing to listen to her. It didn’t want to bend or break, but burn and raze. To be bringer of destruction, creator of despair and fiery disaster upon creation itself. It heard her, but it didn’t beckon her. It didn’t recognize her as the one leading it, only a foolish child trying but having no courage to show off beyond some moments of arrogance. Eventually the tears started to run out. It wasn’t like Carmesi minded crying, not when she was alone. No cameras, just this horrible place to spend her time in for the next few days.

Her eyes closed, expecting to wake up back in the cell once she was done with her slumber. Yet the cold and creaky wood was soon missing, the freezing temperature replaced by physical warmth and her head resting on a… lap? It took her a moment to fully wake up, but as soon as she did that, Carmesi found herself unable to speak or look around. Her gaze locked to the side as a palm softly caressed her hair. A hum shattered the silence, a lullaby she had heard before and… it made her feel weak in her legs. It made her feel like a child, again, and renewed the tears as she couldn’t remember where she first heard it.

The Fire Crest knew this wasn’t a new phenomenon. She had been given this hope before… and the pain had blocked those memories. The loneliness had ruined her childhood, and the ambitions had shaped her in a single path favored by the empire that had taken care of her ‘since birth’. The room was bigger, the Prime taking care of her lacking the marks that would normally define a Narakhan, with his caress being familiar and rendering her unable to move away. She craved this kind of affection, for this missing care.

“You have grown up so much… little flame,” A tired and old voice muttered, and she could feel a smile aimed at her. “But you are still a child. A child that needs to learn that life can be cruel, but never to those that would say no to troubles. That they could face them with a brave smile on their faces, uncaring of the consequences towards you, because you burn a bright flame...”

Familiar, so familiar… and yet she was back in that room. A dream, a memory of the past? No, something deeper in her subconscious and yet manifested by a true reality: Carmesi hated being alone, even if in the company of those of the Empire. She missed something, something that was the most threatened with that punishment. In the cold, in the darkness, in despair- no more! She slammed her closed fists on the wood, cracking and shattering it. Anger swelled, control broke and true fury manifested. No more a pawn, no more a childish fool, no longer willing to deal with her own power’s upstartish nature. She was above that, she was the Fire Crest and she wasn’t willing to give up that right to no one!

She demanded fire, and fire beckoned her for once as its mistress!

The room collapsed, the world faltered as true hell manifested at her command. She was in charge then and… she needed to be in charge now. So much had changed from that past, so much had gone better and Carmesi couldn’t afford giving up. Not now that they were this close to victory. The painful defeats were forsaken as her birthright shook her off from her brief bout of weakness. No longer an unsure individual, one that couldn’t take charge of the situation when needed, especially in combat.

If Howl wasn’t strong enough for her, then it wouldn’t be her fault if he couldn’t hold well against her true flames.

Her eyes opened back in the present, with her soul providing a resolution beyond doubt and questioning. Her gaze manifested the purest form of wrath as her flames, from red and orange, turned a bright gold. And she felt those break into shadow itself. The spherical construct collapsed, with her flames returning to her and providing her with something to fight with. Gold pieces appeared upon her arms and legs, forming gauntlets, armbraces, armored boots, a chestplate and finally a small helmet that looked like a crown. A glorious warrior and one that was ready to show off her might to her stunned opponent.

“Interesting,” Howl muttered, pushing back the surprise at that sight, but even more when he could perceive the power manifested by the fellow Crest. “Still, it would take a while to-”

He didn’t finish that sentence, not when two lances of dense gold fire soared towards him. Four thick barriers of shadows formed, two of those collapsing before his own eyes. Howl’s jaw dropped even more as the rest of his shields failed to hold her assault off, with the Fox Prime rushing through with incredible speed. The dull-faced Carmesi was keen to reveal just a hint of what she planned to do, her eyes mixing her normal green with orange, a fiery inferno demanding retribution for the kind of humiliation she was subjected to.

Kate and Pulsar shared a baffled look, yet the truth behind such a glance was tied to a similar feeling they both held. A ‘remembrance’ of sorts that told them that this… this was the culmination of their powers. Meanwhile the Dark Crest was quickly overwhelmed by the overall oppressive nature of Carmesi’s newfound power, her hits getting stronger to the point of those eventually weakening him and leaving him unfocused.

Then, she struck him. Not on the cheek, not on the nose or even on his eyes. His chin was swiftly punched, and the Wolf Prime felt his thoughts falter, his concentration outright disrupted and his body losing a footing as he fell on the ground while Carmesi stared at her fist with an intrigued look, almost amused by what she just accomplished.

“So, this is what Theo meant about precise hits...” The Fire Crest hummed in quiet delight. “I believe I will test this more~.”

Howl shivered, knowing that he had lost and that… Carmesi was sure to remember this as a reason for more fighting. He was in trouble, that much he could say and…

_ Why did he feel like this wasn’t bad? The feeling of being beaten up by such a gorgeous female warrior? _

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Geecku is not exactly the simplest animal of this curiously big world.

The Life Crest valued her worth to be well beyond what other preys could have. She was the prime predator, a primal hunter that exceeded in mind and might those that normally thought themselves of being the greatest predators in nature. There was no one that could match her in that prowess and… yet she wasn’t exactly sure she was perfect in all possible means of superiority. The natives living around had long taught her many things such as speaking to render communication easier rather than with gestures, how to cook and season meat and prepare food in a more succulent and delicious way. Yes, Geecku wasn’t arrogant in her own skills, knowing that some of her most fond memories were from interactions with humans. And right now, as she spoke with Theo, learned about what was going on and why so many people wanted to find and ‘capture’ her, she couldn’t help but understand that the situation was indeed grim.

She was far from the smartest individual around, but she could understand that there was a big bad person that was trying to have her, and those that were technically her siblings, dead. Which was bad and quite the good reason to be interested to learn more about it. And the more she learned, the more she felt compelled to help as much as she could. Or… what her powers could do about this instance. Earth was going to be the ground of this fight, so it shouldn’t be difficult to get things set to make sure any fight by the forests were dealt with without any friendly faces getting hurt or killed. After all, these people- they all sounded really nice. Like her buddy. For some reasons, even though her buddy wasn’t her mate, it didn’t mean he was a simple friend. Buddy was buddy in Geecku’s eyes and she could tell that the pedestal she had created for Theo was fairly proper considering how caring he was towards her.

Sure, many had done that too, but they were only doing it because Geecku was really ‘caring’ back at them. In this case, there was something ‘warmer’ in the way he behaved around her. Less touchy, more understanding. It felt less intense, but extremely refreshing compared to the usual situations she would find herself in. Maybe it was a bit of a nitpick in her case, but Geecku didn’t mind this different form of intimacy. Buddies were like friends, but better.

Even better than best friends. After all, it wasn’t like her buddy was being too harsh for her being too silly in wrongly guessing some circumstances. Theo would just explain it to her without being too condescending about it. And yes, he was a bit of that too around her, but not to the point it was unwarranted. The Life Crest just knew from experience that many saw her behave close to a child and… it was part of her ‘charm’ as some of her past mates would say. It made her more innocent-sounding, almost naive at times, but overall she was an experienced individual.

And she was absolutely engrossed by how quickly she bonded with the unusual human. He didn’t look any different than the others, physically-wise… but there was something in his soul that made him different. His kindness for a start, but also his magic. It felt odd to even think, but Geecku always felt like she was missing something out there in the world. And the truth was that she missed having someone to say that they were ‘like her’.

Not in appearance, she knew that the world was beautiful because it was different and life enjoyed having so many unusual faces to see and treat as part of her creation, but… she wanted someone that understood her. And that’s why getting her buddy felt like a bit of a wish coming true. One that was, sadly, almost pulled away from her as their walk to find the others ended in quite the unpleasant way.

They were close to finding where the others were when… Geecku felt it. Something was wrong. Something foul, sinister and- Dread coursed deep in her core.

“We have to go!” She half-screamed, yanking the human and almost throwing him on the bushes nearby as arrows slammed on the ground they were once standing on.

The way these people felt, so quick and quite malicious, made Geecku growl in upset. This was the group that was trying to hurt her and the others? If before she had doubts about those things being really that bad, now those were outright erased by the truth. This foulness, this corrupting entity… it exceeded the opposite of life, Death, in terms of horror. Mustering her battle-axe just as her buddy prepared his sword, Geecku knew that this was the first of many troubles she would be forced to deal with.

_ And if Buddy was going to stay with her through them all, her siblings too, then she had no reason to complain but fight for something that she long thought of as an untouchable right for nature. A free life. _

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AN

Where one fight ends, another begins...