12 Miles Below-Chapter 46Book 7. : Chunibyo delusions
All Feathers had a baseline driving purpose: to stand out among their peers, to be more, to be unique. It was rooted so deep even the lack of individuality was seen as what To’Wrathh would closely describe to ‘Creepy’ and ‘Uncanny’
Among her chat group, including Mother herself, they stared at To’Navris’s grand introduction with silence.
“My, my. What a interesting way to announce oneself.” To’Sefit muttered.
“It is certainly a… unique entrance.” To’Wrathh grudgingly agreed over the comms channel.
“That’s just straight up awesome.” The rock said, paused, then looked around at the audience. “What? You were all thinking it, don’t lie. Sure, that Feather’s definitely got a few hundred screws loose, but damn was it cool. I know you all wished you’d have thought of it first.”
The rock was unfortunately correct. Deep down inside, To’Wrathh was already going through the log to see if she could come up with something more suitably dramatic. It felt almost like an automatic reaction. She had to one-up this somehow. They all did. She hadn't even noticed herself thinking about this until the rock had pointed it out.
She still continued the thought anyhow.
Perhaps adding paint and sigils to her wings, making them holographic so that the light would glitter off of them? Maybe weave in multiple designs so that depending on her pose, and angle relative to her opponent, there would be a different pattern that would reflect off. Yes, that was a good direction. She needed to step up her game, the crazy Feather was making all of them look boring in comparison.
“He’s given up a critical advantage of surprise in doing so.” To’Avalis said, then froze and deepend his voice again to match that of To’Aacar’s. “I would hope arrogance like this has even a modicum of skill to back it up. Would be profoundly embarrassing if he turned out to be a buffoon.”
“And if he does have the power to back it up?” To’Sefit asked. “He is third generation after all, he’s certainly had enough time to polish up his skills and presentation.”
“Then I would respect this entrance and give it high marks. Grudgingly.” To’Avalis said.
“You’re all being so coy.” The rock scoffed. “Even the big lug himself is finding this fun, and he’s been halfway burned down to the core. So I know you rat bastards all find this the coolest thing since you figured out killing a Deathless while delivering a one-liner was a possible combination.”
In the real world, the human next to To’Wrathh saw this in a completely different light. He turned to To’Wrathh, then pointed a hand down at the giant organ that was fully settled on the ground. They could both tell given it wasn’t bobbing as if floating on water anylonger. The wave of white machines were streaming around it, covering the base, seeking their master.
“Uh, who’s this?”
The Feather's head tilted at an unnatural angle, violet eyes flickering rapidly, one iris growing bigger while the second grew smaller. As if he was contemplating Keith’s observation. "Oh holy mother swathed in violet robes, where are my manners? I seem to have forgotten my introduction. Ahem, I am To'Naviris, The One Named Above Vestiges, In Righteous Immortal SANCTIFICATION! Third generation of our hallowed mother's blessed children.” He gave a deep bow, waving his hands as he did. “And you..." He turned to Keith, the wave of machines lifting him higher, hands once again spread to his side. "You must be the INFAMOUS Winterscar my dear sister here has been hunting. How delightful to finally witness you in person! I must say, your combat against my wayward sibling was most... illuminating."
Keith turned his head slightly to give To’Wrathh his attention. “Wrath, on a scale of 1 to what the hell, how insane is he?”
To’Wrathh considered the question. “As far as I am aware, he has remained here for four hundred and twenty three years with minimal contact.”
“Okay, I’ll put down ‘batshit’ on the scale. As much as I think I can handle you both at the same time, I think you aren’t on board with having to fight one single Deathless two on one? Right? Thought you Feathers had a lot of pride or something.”
To’Naviris laughed, “I am named ABOVE vestiges such as you for a reason. No human, it will not be the two of us against little tiny you. A far more fair fight would be the two of you against me. And even then, I fear it will simply… not be enough.”
The machines under him moved him back and forth, making him look as if pacing around, all the while he chewed at his nails. “But I digress! Here I stand before you both, having rudely interrupted what was clearly building towards a crescendo! Please, do continue your little dance. Though I warn you..." His voice dropped to a creepy whisper that somehow carried across the clearing, as the pillar of machines under twirled him around. He twisted on himself, then popped his head back up through his long robes at the other end, "I've always found myself partial to... TRAGEDY." That last word was said with him exploding both hands straight up, head looking right to the ceiling far above.
“He’s going to attack us the moment we start fighting again, isn’t he.” Keith deadpanned.
“I believe that is likely accurate.”
"ATTACK you?" To'Naviris gasped, pressing one hand against his chest as if mortally wounded by the accusation. The pillar of machines under him even had the audacity to make him look as if he were stumbling backwards, "My dear lost lambs, you wound me so! I am but a humble shepherd, here to witness your touching performance. Though... if perchance one of you should stumble during your little dance..." His voice dropped, looking over his newly repaired nails as if it were the only thing that mattered now. "Well, what kind of host would I be, if I did not guide you towards your proper ending?"
“Do Feathers allow truces until we beat a target down?” Keith asked. “He did mention a more fair fight would be the two of us against him. I don’t mind working together for a bit.”
“Generally we do not allow truces.” To’Wrathh said, realizing this was the perfect opportunity to give her justification to fighting To’Naviris together. And it seemed like the enemy Feather was after that same goal, given the leering smile that bloomed on his face. “However… I have spent quite some time searching for you human, I would be most displeased if it were stolen by another Feather.”
The smile turned into a full on broad grin. "Oh my DEAREST sister, I believe you’re correct: Too much time spent searching and not enough time killing. Why I couldn't help but notice your... methodical approach. Such restraint! Such PATIENCE! Perhaps a speedy lesson is in order from your senior? After all…” His voice dropped to that unnerving pitch again, head tilting at that unnatural angle, "Even the most stubborn of sheep require a firm hand to guide them to salvation. Allow your elder brother to show you how it's done."
“I would prefer you not.” To’Wrathh said, blades turning slowly to point at the Feather.
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“Same.” Keith said, armguard and blade lifted up in the Feather’s direction.
To’Naviris may as well have heard nothing. He snapped a finger and the pipe organ was once more lifted up. Ten of the small machine crabs skittered over one another, being lifted upwards by the submerged bench resurfacing. The small tower of mechanical crabs all worked together to begin playing the organ once more. The rest of the crabs began chanting in what To’Wrathh recognized as Latin, before To’Naviris immediately turned to them all and waved his hands frantically “No! No-nononono, ominous latin chanting comes in phase two you IDIOTS!” He reached down and scooped up one of the mechanical crabs, shaking it like a stuffed teddy bear. “DO I LOOK LIKE I’M IN PHASE TWO YET?! You are RUINING my presentation, GET IT TOGETHER.”
The crab was thrown back into the wave of white under as the organ music and chanting stopped straight away. The Feather nodded, some kind of silent discussion happening between him and his minions. Then the organ music resumed, and To’Naviris turned himself back to his audience.
“Ahem. Apologies, it has been centuries and we are all a tad bit out of practice.” The Feather then held a hand out, three fingers lifted, while the index was held tight by the thumb. As if he were about to flick a pest. Occult began to swirl out of him as the hand slowly rose to aim at Keith. “Now, where was I? Ah! Right. Brutality.”
Keith reacted without a shred of hesitation. Occult pulsed around him and sixteen mirror echoes lashed out of his body, speeding directly for the Feather. The organ music swelled, and sixteen spears of black metal struck out from the wave of white machines right as the sixteen occult images zipped over, each puncturing the images as they passed by, the tips shining bright occult blue.
To’Naviris hadn’t even so much as changed his position, fingers still slowly flowing up until they aimed directly at Keith.
"How PRECIOUS!" To'Naviris cooed, holding his pose still. "Look upon the human my children! But you see my itty-bitty little delectable morsel, I too was blessed with gifts quite similar to yours. You carry but a small fragmented candle, while I hold the far more pure version of light."
“I’m warning you. Walk away. That was just the intro salvo.” Keith said, his occult handguard raised up to intercept whatever the enemy was planning.
To’Naviris tilted his head a fraction, eyes undulating before breaking apart, both looking around him like a chameleon’s would. One eye focused on To’Wrathh’s position, and the other focused on Keith. Quietly, almost to himself, he whispered. “I think… not.”
He flicked his hand.
Occult pulsed around the Feather at the same time, spreading out with crackling lighting, licking down his robes. The human leaped out of the way, instinct already on full blast.
But not before a wall of occult slammed directly into four dome fractal shields popping up over his armor, absorbing the impact of a massive pale glowing hand following the same movements made by the Feather. The index finger flicked into Keith, sending him flying backwards into the forest.
"WITNESS TRUE DIVINITY! Sixteen candles are nothing compared to THE SUN ITSELF."
To’Wrathh didn’t hesitate, wings extended out in one massive downwards flap, allowing her to scale up the air, blades ready. A massive occult palm slapped her out of the air as To’Naviris waved her off like a fly. She found herself spinning backwards, systems flaring out to reangle herself back into a hover.
"You see sister?!" To'Naviris called out with glee, spreading his arms wide as the massive occult palm dissolved. "True POWER isn't in your delicate blade work or precious planning - it's in being able to SMITE anyone, at ANY distance, for ANY reason! Now THAT is what Mother intended when she blessed us all!"
To’Wrathh reangled in midair, then zipped downwards, as her scanners showed Keith equally zipping to the other side, propelled by occult lashes. He had his rifle out, aimed directly down at the Feather, hand on the trigger, ready.
Occult pulsed out of the enemy Feather and once more he slapped To’Wrathh out of the air. She tried to spring off the ground, leaping back into her domain before once more being backhanded into the dirt.
To’Naviris took a deep breath of air. “Oh yeah, that’s the stuff.” He half moaned as he slapped her out of the air again and again. “Now it's time for the second part of the lesson: The crushing.”
The hand reached out and dug To’Wrathh out of her landing zone, dirt and all clawed alongside as if the occult hand was one giant excavator arm. She felt compressive force begin to hold her down from all angles as the Feather tightened his hand, the occult superimposed hand following the same motion.
The hand lifted and dragged her back, where she saw the wave of white begin to split apart. Something was under that wave, violet eyes locking onto her struggling form.
Bullet shots came out as a stream of blue streaks flew from Keith’s gun, aimed directly at the Feather himself. A small section of mechanical crabs splashed upwards from To’Naviris’s position, like a surf wave, aiming to intercept the bullet fire.
Instead, the bullets punctured straight through, digging directly into To’Naviris’s shield.
The occult hand vanished around To’Wrathh, and she took the moment to scramble out, speeding back into the forest before flying upwards.
To’Naviris paused, holding his hand, testing the fingers. Then tilted his head at that unnatural angle again, eyes both focusing on Keith. "How peculiar. The last group of Deathless certainly didn’t have bullets that could puncture my minions. You are far more equipped than expected. It seems I must adapt my strategy in light of this revelation.” The wave turned him around, just in time to see Keith’s occult images speed straight for him, occult grapples slingshotting them at full speed, while a few trailed additional grapples behind.
Once more a wave of spikes tipped with occult edges exploded out of the white wave under the Feather, each puncturing through the ghost images of Keith, but not before they doubled, more images emerging from the fractal copied within each.
To’Naviris didn’t seem troubled at all, instead, more than sixteen metal spikes started spiking upwards from within the wave, making the entire field look more like a chaotic turmoil as Keith’s ghosts continued their harassment.
And then the explosions happened. When the occult ghosts had sped directly at To’Naviris, they’d been trialing a grapple behind them - linked to Keith’s explosives. “Adapt to this asshole.” Keith hissed out, watching the chaos.
Using the occult mirrors as a distraction, those small grenades managed to fly right into the wave, exploding outwards with heavy force. Hundreds of the small skittering machine crabs were tossed out of position, many ripped apart by the concussive forces. To’Naviris shrieked, “MY CHILDREN!”
An occult hand reached for Keith, slamming down into the ground the human had stood over, leaving an imprint of the hand sunken into the dirt. Keith was already far out of range, occult grapples once more speeding him backwards into the trees beyond.
The wave under the Feather undulated, moving him forward as he chased behind the human. The occult hands strained to grab hold, and seemed unable to cross past a point beyond the Feather.
To’Wrathh received a signal from Keith over her comms. “That occult spell has a maximum range unlike my ghosts. I think it’s a derivation of the mirror fractal I have, or maybe the origin one? Not sure, not a fan. Seems limited to just one image, except it’s huge and has more resistance.”
“I am unable to dodge it in the air.” To’Wrathh sent. “If I can get within range of him, I would cut him down quickly. Unfortunately, his kit seems designed to grab hold of targets and restrain them. I believe he was dragging me closer to the wave in order to impale me while I was captive.”
“We need to deal with his wave of machines, the occult we can probably find a workaround, but the wave is like fighting on his home turf.” Keith muttered. “Explosives were good, but I don’t have enough on me. What’s the root of those occult metal spikes? Is he summoning them with the occult itself, or something else?”
To’Wrathh switched her visual spectrum, and executed mental pings into the swarm ahead. She got sight of them just before they slammed down a firewall to prevent her locating more of them.
“They are a secondary larger machine designated Spear-Fishers.” She could see them with more detail, four legs, moving under the swarm above, with a retractable twenty meter spike. At the tip were multiple occult edges. “They use the swarm as visual cover while they get in position. I detected three other variations deeper in the swarm, however they sealed off information before I could get further details.”
“Can the swarm here detect things underground?”
“That is likely, however I could construct something to prevent scanning. Do you have an idea?”
“I got a rough plan. How’s about we do what you wanted to do earlier and relocate? He seems like he can’t move as fast as you can fly, especially not carrying that pipe organ behind him. Gives us time to prepare the terrain for him.”
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To’Wrathh looked over the swarm of white crawling through the forest, struggling to drag the organ behind the Feather, still playing it the entire time. Keith was keeping out of range easily enough, and To’Naviris was dead set on chasing after the human, and yet refused to so much as take one step himself. His wave was the one moving him at all times.
“Are you considering buried explosives?” She asked.
“Please, do I look like a barbarian to you?” He answered back. “Buried power cell explosives.”
