49 Waking Up the Ghost in the Cloak (2/2)
Reed stood up and clapped his hands softly, subduing the chaotic Anima in the area down tightly with his will. A little trick that he cheaply copied off of Ulbo from before.
”I'm pretty sure it's attracted to me, so I'll catch its attention and drag it away from the city. The storm should subside enough for the transponder to work in this area once it leaves, right? I just need to keep it distracted long enough for help to arrive.”
I can probably hurt it with my newfound power, probably.... At the very least, I'm sure I can piss the damn thing off enough that it'll chase me instead. ....This is by far the dumbest idea I've ever had, period.
The group went quiet when Reed spoke up and explained his little plan . A variety of expressions formed on their faces; some looked genuinely astonished for the wrong reason , some appeared wholly indifferent, and others looked entirely unconvinced, even frustrated with his so-called plan.
The first one to speak up was Astor, who appeared to be annoyed more than anything. He massaged his head and said, ”Listen, I know you want to make up for what you did, but killing yourself isn't the best way to atone for your mistake. We all know you're more than gifted than us with Anima, but even you can't hope to stand a chance against that monstrosity.”
Horatio backed up Astor and calmly said, ”You're not thinking rationally, Reed. Don't let your emotions get the best of you, even in the face of adversity. We need to focus our efforts on creating a realistic plan that'll give us the highest chance of survival. A suicide mission isn't it.”
Reed slowly shook his head and said, ”I'm not trying to be a hero, trust me. I'm not going to fight that thing to death if that's what you think I want to do. I understand the risks . I'm going to bait it away, and play it defensively until the big boys arrive to clean up my mess.” He started channeling Anima around himself in preparation. Time was running out.
Astor was about to say something back in response, but Lu'um interjected before he could let out a single word. She looked at everyone and said, ”He can do it, despite what you might think of his abilities. It'll give us a chance to call for help, not only for us but also for the rest of us that aren't here. You understand what I mean, yes?”
Unfortunately, not everyone had made it to the outpost yet; some trainees were still out there in the city, all alone in the midst of the storm. God forbid they were in the creature's direct path, or in close vicinity. The fate one would suffer under the effects of the Lesser Nightmare's miasma was a terrible thing that left one wishing for the mercy of a swift death.
Ophelia never made it... She's still out there, somewhere in the city right now...
Reed couldn't stand the idea of becoming guilty for an innocent's death. It was one thing for him to suffer for the consequences of his actions, but another person suffer in his stead was unacceptable to him.
He hated the idea of owing people anything and getting others involved with his mistakes down to the core of his soul. Nevertheless, he always seemed to be in the debt of others in some form, much to his dismay.
More than anything, he always sought to be clear of any kind of debt that might tie him down. It was an irrational desire that stemmed from somewhere that he couldn't identify.
”Once you lure it away far enough, we'll use the transponder to locate the remaining people that haven't arrived yet, since this is a special emergency,” said Lu'um. She walked over to Reed and whispered in his ear, ”I'll stay here and keep them all safe, so don't worry about us. Aim for the heart on the other side , if you can.”
He knew better than question her advice and said, ”Yeah, sure. I'll do that if I don't get myself killed. Wish me luck... ” Reed nodded at Astor and his friends and said, ”I'll leave the rest to you guys. Sorry for making you guys help me clean up my mess,” and reluctantly threw himself off the skyscraper.
I'll make it up to them when this is over... If the old goat doesn't kill me first, that is. He couldn't imagine what Axtorius was going to do to him. It was definitely concerning, to say the least...
A single band of light charged into the storm straight towards the center of madness as the people in the outpost observed silently. The further the speck of light flew away from them, the smaller it got until it was completely obscured by the heavy storm.
Seconds passed until the turned into minutes. Tense silence reigned until a horrifying roar reached their ears. It'd begun.
A bright, piercing beam of radiance cut through the dark storm and raced into the sky, burning a hole through the sky. Soon after, an awful, booming cry of pain resounded across the city, shattering windows and smaller buildings around it.
The massive shadow writhed in anger and lightning crackled, as if in response to its fury. The storm intensified and the creature called upon heaven above for help. Enormous tendrils of toxic, unearthly energy crawled through the cracks in the sky and shot down towards a particular section of the city, destroying many buildings in the process.
In response, another radiant beam of light, stronger the previous one, shot out of the storm and pierced through the creature again, cutting through the cloud layer above.
Slowly, but surely, the creature inched further and further away from the outpost as the battle raged on between Reed and the creature. Occasionally, the ground would tremble and the sky would churn furiously as dark energy poured down like rain, but it never reached the observers in the outpost.
The further they got away from the fight, the harder it was for them to observe its progression. Eventually, the worst of the storm had receded into the background. Though off in the distance, one could still feel the tremors caused by the ongoing fight. Even from afar, the chaotic waves of Anima still reached them, albeit less intensely.
Astor stared at the fight in the distance and said, ”He's kept his part of the deal, so now it's our turn. Turn on the transponder, Astrid. We've got work to do before the fleet arrives.”
Astrid and Horatio immediately sprung into action. They started organizing teams out of the trainees and began issuing the necessary orders to their new subordinates. They knew that they working on borrowed time; no one knew how long Reed could keep the monster occupied.
Lu'um gazed at the storm with an indifferent expression, despite how she really felt. She tightly clutched onto a brilliant, colorful feather that glowed weakly — something she'd stolen from Reed — and let out a deep sigh.
The feather continued to lose its radiance until it completely dimmed and then turned into ash as it slipped through her fingers.
I really wish it'd hadn't come to this. To think that I'd be the one to wake up that no-good she-devil. This is likely the work of karma, as much as I'd like to deny it.
She hated it but knew that it was for the best given the current circumstances. Waking her would at least guarantee that he wouldn't die.
Trading an evil for another evil isn't really winning, though. Lu'um sighed again.
She really hated the Lady of Fate down the marrow of her bones and considered her a scheming whore. One day, she'd drag that annoying bitch and pay her back for everything...