You asked for it :P
And Rune is right. This is the end, folks, and I'm closing it with a little present. Enjoy. n_n
***
Breathing heavily, Kite stood before the now defeated, stony form of what had been Skeith. Its body, but a mockery of what it had been before, floated motionless in the air before him. Had he killed it for good? It seemed too soon, but...
What had happened?
He had but moments to regain his footing before the ground shook, and the landscape changed around him, fading to darkness before it opened to a vast expanse of sky..
"?!"
Kite looked around in confusion, raising his daggers protectively against this new, unknown threat? Was his fight not over? Even with the solid ground beneath his feet, Kite felt a definite sense of unease. Like everything before, this... was not normal.
"....."
Stillness... Save for the mist that drifted gently across that inifinite plain of darkened sky, the area was silent and still, and yet as forboding as it had ever been... And then, like a flash of dim lightning, everything changed, darkening to blackness for a moment before Kite's eyes adjusted, revealing the infinite plain of desolate stone and stormy skies.
And yet, like a statue as ageless as the earth itself, the remains of Skeith floated before him..
Definitely a feeling of unease.
'Isn't it over?' Kite thought, looking around, clinging to some hope that this field will just disappear, that he could return to some normal place and log out.. 'Didn't I defeat him?'
The Twin User hardly had time to finish that thought before a rumbling filled the silence, Kite turning around in time to see Skeith's remains begin to... melt? Indeed, the floating 'stone' was quickly lowering to the ground, losing its shape and consistancy as clouds of black mist obscured it from his vision.
Staring, wide eyed, Kite couldn't believe what he was seeing. The stony remains had quickly become a silvery.. almost chrome puddle on the rocky ground, a few wisps of black mist floating about it as it settled and spread.
Something new.. dangerous? Very likely. Kite narrowed his eyes slightly, tightening the grip on his daggers, quite unsure of what to think as a small bubble grew on the surface of the pool, swelled...
.. and popped with a sound that should not have carried so far as the landscape began to shake and rumble around the Twin User, Kite looking around in surprise and nearly losing his footing beneath him.
'I can't panic!' he told himself, shutting his eyes tightly and trying to keep his balance, 'I'm all by myself.. I can't rely on anyone else, I have to save Orca, right? I... ... I can't be afraid!'
Forcing his eyes open, Kite looked around once more, eyes locking on the now bubbling puddle. Even as he watched, it began to boil at a furious rate, the ground shaking at an alarming intensity. As if it couldn't get any worse, at that very moment, explosions shattered the air and ground around him, one after the other as twisted spires of blue erupted from the ground in sequence, bits of the rocky ground spraying into the air with violence.
The Twin User stared in disbelief as the antler-like spikes decimated the landscape around him, their path of destruction leaving little but gravel in their wake... and heading in his direction. Green eyes flitted to the still boiling silver pool, the shaking ground, and the paths of spikes.
'It's too much!' he thought, feeling panic taking over, the urge to rip off the headset almost overwhelming, to run away from this, to get away from everything that's going on. 'This isn't a game! This isn't--'
An explosion and bright flash of light right in front of him froze that train of thought, great chunks of stone flying into the air as lightning struck the ground continuously in the midst of it. Forced to cover his eyes from the blinding light, the Twin User couldn't see what happened.. not until the rumbling died down and silence once more spread throughout the rocky plain, now marred with jagged wounds in the very stone.
There was no way he was letting his guard down now, not after that. Kite looked around almost frantically, trying to see what had happened.. The crater, still and quiet.. the rocky plain behind him devoid of anything.. He checked both a few more times, unwilling to be sure... that it could possibly be over. Finally, he dropped his ready stance, taking one last look around...
... precisely as a small piece of debris fell on to his head, bouncing off and to the ground below him.
"....."
He didn't want to look up. He really didn't.. if only for what he feared he would find.
What he did find.
Green eyes, wide with fear, stared up at the sky, Kite's expression a mask of horror as he took in what floated above him.. what took up the expanse of sky. High above the desolate plain, something found only in nightmares.
Its body, composed of those bluish, gnarled spires surrounding a filmy, gelled sac, a pulsing ball of light that lit the monster from within. A beating heart.... The beast had a face that was a mask of death, like a mutated skull with two pairs of glowing green eyes. Spires extended from its head and back, like a sick mockery of wings. The drifting mist could do nothing to obscure the horrific form of this new threat that hovered above him.
... even if it hid something else.
"......" The white-clad form of Helba floated there silently, watching.. observing as she always did, waiting.. waiting for what?
Possibly for the distortions that sprung to life as the monstrosity began to open its gaping maw, a sphere of energy fading into existance within, accompanied by a furious whine, building in intensity with the blinding light.. light so bright it inverted itself, an explosion of light with a dark core, spreading through the desolate landscape with a deafening explosion. The Twin Blade was thrown into the air, landing many yards away from where he once stood, large pieces of stone rubble following from the great blast, bouncing across the ground noisily. Even Helba struggled to fight against the foce of the blast, golden energy crackling around her as she managed to deflect the attack, leaving her, seemingly, unharmed.
And then, once more, silence... Silence broken only by the soft whistling wind as it drifted across the plain, a few spots of dust passing over Kite where he lay sprawled on the ground, dark spots still flashing before his eyes, ears still ringing from the sound. With a great deal of effort, the Twin User managed to pull his thoughts together enough to get himself out of there, the honcomb-like pattern of the twilight bracelet surrounding him for a moment before he was whisked away.
Soundlessly, Helba landed on the rocky ground, her expression grave as she looked out across the plain.. and then turned to regard the great beast that still floated there, partially obscured by the mist and dust that remained in the air around it.
".... Kubiya." she said quietly, almost to herself, before she vanished in a descending pillar of golden rings and motes of sparkling blue lights, leaving the monstrosity alone, its low cry echoing across the infinite, rocky plain.
***
Bokyum. ~o~