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[OOM] Day Fifty: Too Grizzly To Bear
“You have something that belongs to me,” Foreteller Aced says. “Did Gula send you to steal my Union’s secrets?”
“With respect, Lord Aced,” Chirithy says, and Eden catches just a hint of steel to his tone. “I do not think the Master would approve of your unwillingness to share your resources with the other Unions.”
“Then I’m lucky he doesn’t know.”
“Are you sure he doesn’t?” Chirithy asks.
Foreteller Aced’s mouth, the only visible part of his face, tightens into a thin line. With a slow, deliberate movement, he slides one foot forward, settling it over a crack in the walkway’s concrete.
“Keybearers of Leopardos,” he booms, lifting his keyblade. “I’ll give you the same test I give to all of my keybearers: If you can make me move my foot off this crack, I will let you pass, as keybearers equal to my own sol -- …”
Eden catches the crackle of lightning as Alvis flings himself forward in a sharp, super-fast blur, keyblade materialising in his hand to crash down towards Aced. Aced raises his keyblade, and the two clash in an explosion of flame and lightning.
“Adelle, Luso, let’s join Alvis,” Eden says, summoning his keyblade. “Freyra, can you start summoning a spell to try to catch him off guard? Something big.”
“I -- sure, I guess. I’ll try!” Freyra says.
“Great!” Eden chirps. “Let’s go get pushy with a bear.”
---
They’re bad at this.
On the crowded walkway, with three of them moving faster than any of their eyes can easily follow, they spend almost as much time avoiding colliding with each other as they do trying to hit Aced.
Not that hitting Aced gets them anywhere. He blocks half their blows with his keyblade, and the other half with magical barriers. During a rare, fleeting moment of passable teamwork, with Eden, Luso, Adelle, and Alvis all bearing down on him from different side, he huffs out a breath and sends them flying with a thought.
Eden feels the ice crack as he lands on it, his heels digging in. He grimaces, looking down. The Heartless beneath the surface are wriggling much more aggressively now.
On the walkway, he sees Freyra fire off her charged up magical attack, only for Aced to bat it aside with one hand.
“Are you done?” Aced asks, as Alvis, Adelle, and Luso clamber back onto the walkway.
Eden follows, clambering up behind Aced, raising his keyblade and charging energy into it. As Aced swivels to look at him, he charges in, bringing his keyblade down against Aced’s, and summoning to his mind the image of that first technique he learned at Milliways, with Sombra and Anakin’s help.
A barrage of criss-crossing beams of light billows out from him, curving around Aced, hammering against the walkway and the ice.
“... That many beams, and you didn’t manage to hit me with even one,” Aced says, shaking his head. “Gula needs to train you better.”
“It’s not you I’m aiming at.”
On either side of them, the ice shatters with a thunderous crack, and a hundred or more very frustrated, very angry Heartless fly into the air, their tentacles waving wildly.
“Heartless?!” Aced exclaims. With a hard shove, he pushes Eden back, sending the boy sprawling onto his back, and swings his keyblade in a wide arc, releasing a wave of yellow and black energy from it. It only takes a second for the Heartless to be dragged in and crushed, releasing glowing hearts for the Chirithys to catch.
Aced whirls on Eden, teeth bared. “What do you think you’re doing? You could have killed -- …”
“Moved your foot.”
Aced looks down, as Eden waves his keyblade at the crack in the concrete, now uncovered by the Foreteller’s foot, momentarily forgotten about during the panic of a Heartless attack.
With a growl, Aced slams his foot back down on it. “The test was of your power, not your capacity for low trickery. You endangered everyone -- …”
“I moved your foot,” Eden repeats, voice dropping low, hopping to his feet.
“Yeah, Aced,” a light, cheery voice says. “Don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud.”
The light at the edge of the walkway shifts just so, coalescing into pink robes, red hair, and a fox mask. Foreteller Ava -- shorter and smaller than anyone else there, and looking barely older than Eden -- sits on the railing, swinging her feet.
“Ava,” Aced says, dismissing his keyblade. “Were you watching the whole time?”
“That’s a secret!” Ava says, brightly, sliding off the railing. “But you did promise to let them go if they moved your foot.”
“The Heartless moved my foot.”
Ava doesn’t say anything, but Aced sighs irritably, rubbing one hand across the back of his head.
“Fine,” he says, sullenly. “I have to return to my Union and organise a sweep of these waterways, to make sure there aren’t any more Heartless hiding here.”
“Great! I’ll lead these Leopardos kids back to their Union, then,” Ava says. “I’m sure they’ll be glad to share the data with Vulpes, right?”
“Back off,” Alvis says, folding his arms. “It’s ours.”
Eden reaches to his belt, pulling his Text from it. “It’s for everyone. Vulpes can have as much of it as it wants. Same for Unicornis and Anguis.”
“Then I guess I can escort you back,” Ava beams. “I even won’t tell Gula about what happened. Can’t promise Aced won’t, though.”
Eden grins broadly, putting his Text back onto his belt, and settling his hands behind his head. “That’s cool. I’m sure he won’t even notice.”
“With respect, Lord Aced,” Chirithy says, and Eden catches just a hint of steel to his tone. “I do not think the Master would approve of your unwillingness to share your resources with the other Unions.”
“Then I’m lucky he doesn’t know.”
“Are you sure he doesn’t?” Chirithy asks.
Foreteller Aced’s mouth, the only visible part of his face, tightens into a thin line. With a slow, deliberate movement, he slides one foot forward, settling it over a crack in the walkway’s concrete.
“Keybearers of Leopardos,” he booms, lifting his keyblade. “I’ll give you the same test I give to all of my keybearers: If you can make me move my foot off this crack, I will let you pass, as keybearers equal to my own sol -- …”
Eden catches the crackle of lightning as Alvis flings himself forward in a sharp, super-fast blur, keyblade materialising in his hand to crash down towards Aced. Aced raises his keyblade, and the two clash in an explosion of flame and lightning.
“Adelle, Luso, let’s join Alvis,” Eden says, summoning his keyblade. “Freyra, can you start summoning a spell to try to catch him off guard? Something big.”
“I -- sure, I guess. I’ll try!” Freyra says.
“Great!” Eden chirps. “Let’s go get pushy with a bear.”
They’re bad at this.
On the crowded walkway, with three of them moving faster than any of their eyes can easily follow, they spend almost as much time avoiding colliding with each other as they do trying to hit Aced.
Not that hitting Aced gets them anywhere. He blocks half their blows with his keyblade, and the other half with magical barriers. During a rare, fleeting moment of passable teamwork, with Eden, Luso, Adelle, and Alvis all bearing down on him from different side, he huffs out a breath and sends them flying with a thought.
Eden feels the ice crack as he lands on it, his heels digging in. He grimaces, looking down. The Heartless beneath the surface are wriggling much more aggressively now.
On the walkway, he sees Freyra fire off her charged up magical attack, only for Aced to bat it aside with one hand.
“Are you done?” Aced asks, as Alvis, Adelle, and Luso clamber back onto the walkway.
Eden follows, clambering up behind Aced, raising his keyblade and charging energy into it. As Aced swivels to look at him, he charges in, bringing his keyblade down against Aced’s, and summoning to his mind the image of that first technique he learned at Milliways, with Sombra and Anakin’s help.
A barrage of criss-crossing beams of light billows out from him, curving around Aced, hammering against the walkway and the ice.
“... That many beams, and you didn’t manage to hit me with even one,” Aced says, shaking his head. “Gula needs to train you better.”
“It’s not you I’m aiming at.”
On either side of them, the ice shatters with a thunderous crack, and a hundred or more very frustrated, very angry Heartless fly into the air, their tentacles waving wildly.
“Heartless?!” Aced exclaims. With a hard shove, he pushes Eden back, sending the boy sprawling onto his back, and swings his keyblade in a wide arc, releasing a wave of yellow and black energy from it. It only takes a second for the Heartless to be dragged in and crushed, releasing glowing hearts for the Chirithys to catch.
Aced whirls on Eden, teeth bared. “What do you think you’re doing? You could have killed -- …”
“Moved your foot.”
Aced looks down, as Eden waves his keyblade at the crack in the concrete, now uncovered by the Foreteller’s foot, momentarily forgotten about during the panic of a Heartless attack.
With a growl, Aced slams his foot back down on it. “The test was of your power, not your capacity for low trickery. You endangered everyone -- …”
“I moved your foot,” Eden repeats, voice dropping low, hopping to his feet.
“Yeah, Aced,” a light, cheery voice says. “Don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud.”
The light at the edge of the walkway shifts just so, coalescing into pink robes, red hair, and a fox mask. Foreteller Ava -- shorter and smaller than anyone else there, and looking barely older than Eden -- sits on the railing, swinging her feet.
“Ava,” Aced says, dismissing his keyblade. “Were you watching the whole time?”
“That’s a secret!” Ava says, brightly, sliding off the railing. “But you did promise to let them go if they moved your foot.”
“The Heartless moved my foot.”
Ava doesn’t say anything, but Aced sighs irritably, rubbing one hand across the back of his head.
“Fine,” he says, sullenly. “I have to return to my Union and organise a sweep of these waterways, to make sure there aren’t any more Heartless hiding here.”
“Great! I’ll lead these Leopardos kids back to their Union, then,” Ava says. “I’m sure they’ll be glad to share the data with Vulpes, right?”
“Back off,” Alvis says, folding his arms. “It’s ours.”
Eden reaches to his belt, pulling his Text from it. “It’s for everyone. Vulpes can have as much of it as it wants. Same for Unicornis and Anguis.”
“Then I guess I can escort you back,” Ava beams. “I even won’t tell Gula about what happened. Can’t promise Aced won’t, though.”
Eden grins broadly, putting his Text back onto his belt, and settling his hands behind his head. “That’s cool. I’m sure he won’t even notice.”