Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

"You really think she's going to listen to us?" Adelaide scoffed, tightening her hold on the witch and ensuring she couldn't suddenly escape the conversation. "And Isen is right. If he says we're not leaving, then I guess we're not leaving. I didn't come this far, kill countless people, and attack my own family just to leave because of some vision. Besides, it might not even happen now that you told us." She shrugged.

"Yes, yes, the worst," Adelaide waved the faux insult away with a roll of her eyes and loosened her hold slightly to allow Samara at least some movement as she talked. "Wait, what is that supposed to mean?" The way that the witch was looking at her made Adelaide slightly uneasy. Was she talking about her being able to use better magic? What, just because she had accidentally transformed her familiar into a large wildcat?

"Yeah, I know you used it for good." What would things be like now that she had lost the ability? "Samara.." The wheels inside her head began to turn as the mage wondered, releasing the witch and stepping back to lock eyes with her. "How did your mother die?"
 
Just as she had got used to, and allowed herself to enjoy, Adelaide's close company, the mage had moved away, leaving Samara to stand unsteadily on her own. The question Adelaide had asked was a heavy one, but it was one that Samara had suspected one of them would ask eventually. It drew a heavy sigh past her lips, her eyes averting to glance downward, not making contact with neither Adelaide nor Isen.

"The general."

She had told Adelaide to kill the one name Van Dyne. She hadn't meant Lorelei, she meant the DSTF's general. Isen only knew of one, it was the man who had attacked them, the man who had stolen Adelaide so many days ago before the two of them were properly on the same page.

"He is a vile man...a user. An abuser. Someone so sick with greed that he would tear apart entire families to get what he wanted...in our case, he wanted my mother's gift. He became obsessed with the future, and with her. I watched...I couldn't do anything. He treated her like trash, he broke her, Adelaide...all because he wanted her on his side, because he wanted to see what nobody should have ever seen. He pulled her away from the rest of her family, from her friends, from me...he made her love her. She was a widow, she was so alone, trying to raise a daughter on her own and he came in like some gallant white knight, offering her everything she needed in exchange for what he wanted to take."

And then, he had done the same to Adelaide as well? Isen had never wanted to end a life as badly as he did in that moment, not even his hatred for Ignas could have provided such contempt.

"She couldn't tell him her visions. It didn't work that way, she would have lost her ability and the future wouldn't have come true. When he found that out...he..." Tears began to return to her eyes and she lifted her hand to try and wipe them away, to hide her sadness. "...and then it became mine. I was just a little girl. This was a world before Dissonants were public, before the DSTF, I had no idea what I was doing, I couldn't make a simple flame nevermind use any magic. And then, her gift became mine and I knew she was gone..."
 
The pieces had started clicking together before Samara had even answered, and Adelaide found herself frowning and resisting the urge to hug the witch again. She wasn't an overly affectionate person, but the pain Samara was displaying did tug at her heart a bit. As she went on to explain the history between the general and her mother, Adelaide's eyes widened as she took in every detail, clutching at it internally as though it might save her very life one day.

A user.

An abuser.

He broke her. He made her love him.

Maybe that's what the old man had done to her grandmother, too! That would explain why Lorelei had turned on her family so suddenly, or had it really been so sudden? Had it been brewing for years to come before her parents had been slaughtered, or would she never find out the truth of it all?

"He killed her." Adelaide's tone was strangely calm considering the topic of conversation, her expression neutral as she nodded her head in understanding. "You were forced to learn about your own powers without anyone to guide you." She hadn't been as young as Samara when her parents had been killed, but she had been thrown into a world on her own, without anyone to guide her into further learning and controlling her powers.

"He'll die." Even without the addition of him potentially being the reason her grandmother had turned on her own family, he would die for the anguish he had caused Samara and so many others in his quest for power. "I went into this knowing I might die, so a vision saying I'll do it isn't going to stop me." She shrugged. "I'm with Isen. We're not leaving. We'll figure it out."
 
"It's not going to be that simple. She will protect him with her dying breath. To kill him would be to kill Lorelei as well." Samara shook her head. "It's why I never went after them myself. That, and I was scared...scared that I was still just a little girl, and that everything I had done wouldn't matter."

Isen was glad to hear that Adelaide was on the same page as he was. Even though Samara had angered him earlier, he wasn't going to abandon her, not now. She had just as much of a personal stake in stopping the DSTF as Adelaide did and they needed to find a way to make this work, future be damned.

"We're in charge of what happens next, not some vision into a potential future. We control it and we change it, starting now." Isen walked towards the witch now, standing in front of her, a determined look across his features. His conviction was clear, he wasn't going to back down. Isen had grown, considerably, since the first time Adelaide had met him and it was never more apparent than it was now. "We need to know exactly what you saw so that we can stop this. I'm sorry that you lost your gift but we have a chance, right now, to use it one final time to make sure that nobody else has to suffer."

"...right. You better make it count."

Isen looked over towards Adelaide and, with a nod of his head, confirmed it. "We will."

"...I don't exactly know what they did...I only see bits and pieces, fragments really, but...none of us make it out of that summit on Christmas Eve. They have...so many of those drones, Isen, there had to have been hundreds of them...all over the city. It was a massacre."

Had it really been that far along in development? The speaker had called them prototypes but evidently they were farther along than he let on. That, or the scare they gave them forced them into overtime on production.

"...and you...you were at the center of it all." Samara was addressing Adelaide now, not Isen. "You have...so much darkness inside of you. Regret, pain, anger...maybe you lost control of yourself again or they did something to cause it but you weren't yourself, you were...it was like you were possessed by those feelings. Like there was somebody else inside of your body but they had all of your power. He tried to stop you, but you..." She shook her head. She didn't need to share any more details, the picture was clear enough already.

Isen went silent. Ignas had been quiet the entire time as well. That uncomfortable quiet felt suffocating.

"Isen..."

"No. Don't even think about it."

"It's the only way."

"It's not."

"Stop being such a damn fool! You know it, you just can't see past your infatuation to admit it to yourself. There is no way that you can bring her with you to that summit knowing the ruin she's about to cause. You gave her a catalyst. You entertained her idea of revenge and now you're the one too stubborn to see the truth. You should have done what I told you to do in the first place, you should have killed her. You shouldn't have ever found yourself in this position to begin with! When have I ever been wrong before?"

"..." That seemed to sting Isen. Ignas had made him kill Meribell, after all. He wasn't going to make the same mistake.

"She is going to doom us all and you're going to allow it to happen."
 
"So we separate them." Her heart beat a little faster at the thought of killing Lorelei. Even if her grandmother was batshit crazy, even if this was all her doing and it turned out the general hadn't used and abused her into this madness.. Could she truly kill her own family? Even if she couldn't, Isen had made it plenty clear that he and Ignas would die it for her, so it wasn't like there wasn't the option to kill both of the Van Dyne's if that was necessary.

She nodded in response to Isen and waited, albeit a bit impatiently, for Samara to continue and explain what she'd seen in her vision. Every girl wanted to know how they were going to die, right? Right. She wasn't sure if she was surprised or not at the mention of the drones, just their brief encounter with them had shown how dangerous they were, and she was saying they had hundreds of them? Christmas hadn't come around yet, did they already have all of the drones ready to go, or were they finishing up the preparations to have them all functioning? Did they have time?

"Me?" Honestly, why was everything about her now? Adelaide gave the witch a stunned look as she described the scene, her expression deteriorating slowly as she shrank back and crossed her arms over her chest. She truly was the downfall of them all?

"I what? I somehow managed to kill him despite the fact he's got that damn demon in him?" She scoffed, but there was a slight tremor to her voice that only increased when Ignas began to speak as though she couldn't hear him. That damn demon was going to drive her mad!

"Ignas, shut the fuck up." She wasted no time in uttering the spell to silence the demon, crouching down to pick up her familiar as Ember rubbed against her leg and mewled softly. "Don't worry, I'll undo the spell as soon as we're done here, but I'm not going to sit here and listen to the bastard talk about how I need to die. We know they have the drones, so we need to figure out a way to work against that." She shrugged.

"That only fucks up our magic, but it doesn't stop normal weapons, for starters, and if we can figure out a way to shut down the drones, then we'll have the advantage. Maybe the EMP spell? We'd have to find a way to replicate it in mass, but it's a thought."
 
Isen was relieved to hear Ignas' voice vanish from his head, if only temporarily. They needed him on board with whatever plan they made but he wasn't being productive or helpful in the slightest by spewing nonsense about how Adelaide deserved to die for a sin she hadn't even committed yet.

"Even if you do zap them with that thing, Onigoshi couldn't cut through. Touching it seemed to fry Ignas and mess him up, I don't think there would be much my sword could do against their bodies even if they were disabled."

"Well...the DSTF knew you two were coming, they've probably made preparations. Those drones were designed to hunt Dissonants, right? But those assholes are way too smart, they wouldn't make the mistake of pretending that you wouldn't come for them, you're already wanted after all."

The drones had been designed or programmed to counter them? It was possible; they made the use of magic near impossible and the energy inside couldn't be easily drawn by Adelaide's syphoning. Isen's weapon barely dented them and the dark magic inside of Ignas seemed completely inert. Unless...

"The Ora." Isen commented, suddenly, an idea bounding into his head.

"The Ora?"

"The Ora." He nodded. "If those drones were designed specifically to counter our powers, I doubt they have anything inside of them for stopping Takami and his catalyst. Until today, he was working with them and if they've already got enough of those things made to swarm the city, they wouldn't have time to make any changes. Besides, they probably think if he failed then he's dead, not that he would be working with us."

"Wait, so you think his catalyst might work on the drones? I mean, it's possible, but it's an awfully long shot to place your bet on. If you're wrong, and that future I've seen comes true..."

"Then we don't let the drones swarm the city. We know where they're making them, we saw it first hand. We've still got a couple of days, if we can make it down there before the drones are active..."

"...then you could blast them with the EMP and have the Ora weed out as many of them as possible. On short notice, they wouldn't be able to manufacturer nearly enough to match what I saw in my vision. This could work..."
 
"Wait, are you saying that they're specifically programmed to counter us? I thought the point was to block out magic period so that the Dissonants had to rely on sheer strength or stealth because their magic didn't work..." This changed things if they'd tweaked the programming to specifically deter the two of them. "So what, like they coded them to ignore Takami's powers so that he could still function around them and fight for them?" That actually might make sense, if they coded them to only deter certain types of magic so that the actual DSTF agents could still use theirs...

"That's insane." Adelaide rubbed her face with an aggravated growl, taking a deep breath when Ember rubbed against her cheek and purred in an attempt to reassure her mistress.

"I'm glad you made the demon shut up. It's sad that he doesn't have a normal body I can bite." Adelaide snorted softly and shook her head, stroking the cat's head and looking thoughtful. It was a huge chance to take, both that Takami would even work with them to begin with, let alone that the EMP would be powerful enough to weaken everything, there were just so many things to consider!

"None of this is going to matter unless you win your little duel with him, Isen. You need to do that so he'll even work with us, then we have a million other things to do. I need to make us trinkets to hide how we look, then we need to get you some new clothes, and then we need to strengthen the EMP spell or at least put it in multiple objects. There's just.. For fuck's sake!" She bent down to place Ember on the floor and then threw her hands up with an exasperated noise.

"I guess I'll get to work as soon as you boys have your pissing contest and get it over with."
 
"If what Isen is saying is true, it's more likely that they tuned it against specific types of magic. The dark magic in his sword is not the same as the magic in your ring or in Takami's blade, they all come from the same root source but they have different variances. You can feel it. Have you ever tried to draw power from Onigoshi? Compare that feeling to what it's like when you use your ring. They're similar but not exactly the same, right?"

"I will get him on our side." Isen reassured her with a nod of his head. Adelaide may have felt the entire situation was stupid but to him, it made perfect sense given who Takami was and how he had been brought up. He needed to earn his respect before the Ora would honor their temporary alliance, he just hoped that he would be able to keep up with such a trained warrior. "But you will need to release him."

"Not yet. Not until we're ready. Ooh, this is exciting. I have a duel to prepare!" Samara grinned, seeming to have cheered up a little bit now, or at the very least, she was putting on a brave face and trying to distract herself from everything that had happened. She began rummaging around again, searching for something while Isen came back to Adelaide's side as she put Ember down onto the floor once again.

"This is going to work. It has to." He told her, meeting his eyes on to hers. Ember moved against his leg, curling against it. He glanced down, momentarily, but otherwise kept his focus on Adelaide instead. "We're going to make this work. I'm not going to let them get to you."
 
"They're different, yeah." Adelaide nodded. "One talks and makes me want to bang my head into a wall, the other just gives me power." Why was she trying to joke at a time like this? Even Isen's reassurance to recruit Takami didn't put her entirely at ease, but Samara's smile returning did a bit. The witch seemed far too excited to be preparing for a duel, and Adelaide watched her move around looking for things. What a strange woman, but if it cheered her up then who were any of them to complain?

"Well, don't leave him up there all day if you value the cleanliness of your floors." There was a hint of amusement in her voice as she glanced toward the front room where the other man was bound and then turned her attention back to Isen. The fact that Ember seemed to be warming up to him did not go unnoticed, but she said nothing and instead nodded to acknowledge his promise.

"No getting yourself killed again protecting me. I'm the only one that's supposed to kill you, not some asshole from the DSTF. You die on me now, I'll find a way to bring you back just to yell at you. Understand me?"
 
Adelaide's warning made him laugh. At least she was taking this well, considering. Both she and Samara seemed to be trying to hide what they truly felt but he couldn't blame either of them for how they coped with their awful news. It also confirmed what Isen had thought; she still thought, at the end of all of this, that she was to help him end his life.

"Don't worry about me." He responded, his head shaking. "I've got to get ready for the duel. Will you be there to watch?" It sounded like he wanted her to be there, in his corner, when the time came. Even with what he knew about their future, about the terrible vision she was involved in, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that by her side was where he wanted to stay, both now and afterwards.

"And maybe bring Ignas back. I might need him."

Samara stumbled out of a back room carrying two antique swords in her arms. She dropped them down on to the table with a clang, admired her work then spun on her heel to go back inside and continue preparations, humming along to an unheard song inside her head. She was throwing herself into this the way she had thrown herself into learning magic, compartmentalizing her pain. He felt sorry for her, truly, and even found himself regretting having threatened her earlier.
 
"Why wouldn't I?" She gave him a confused look. "I assume it's going to be here, and even if it's not, of course I'll be there. What am I going to do, sit here twiddling my thumbs while I worry about you?" Oh, great, now he wanted her to bring the annoying demon sword. Well, that was fair considering that if he lost in a way that ended like the last time Takami had struck him, they were definitely going to need Ignas.

She hadn't expected it to frighten her so much, but the more she thought about the sight of him lifeless, bleeding out in the snow, the worse that she felt. How was she going to bring herself to kill him when this was all over, when the sight of someone else having done it was so terrible? None of that mattered if they didn't fix what Samara had seen, and all of that was going to start with this duel.

"Fine, give me the demon," She sighed in resignation. "You look... And she's already out of the room again." Samara seemed very into planning for this duel, but Adelaide didn't have it in her to discourage the witch in any way. She had just lost the one thing that made her unique, and she'd done it in a sacrificial way to aid the two of them, the least they could do was play along with her antics.
 
"You don't need to worry about me." He told her, shaking his head. He didn't want her to be concerned when she had so much more on her plate already to contend with. He would be fine, either way, as long as Ignas was still around. At worst, he would be out for a minute or two at most but what Isen didn't realize was what sort of effect his previous death had on Adelaide. He didn't realize that she was scared or else, he would have done more to reassure her.

He let her take Onigoshi, allowing it's heavy blade to weigh down on her hands. He couldn't wear it while fighting, anyways, and she would need to bring Ignas back from his imposed silence whenever she was comfortable with hearing his voice again. Meanwhile, Samara was in and out of the back room until she seemed satisfied with her preparation. "Well, I don't want to wait another second. Let's take this outside!"

"You need to free him first."

"Right. Whoops." Samara laughed, bounding out into the front of the shop. Isen gave Adelaide an exasperated look but followed her out to find the witch standing in front of Takami, still bound by his shackles. She waved her fingers and the magic terminated, dropping him from his bindings. "Well...at least that still works..." She mused to herself, with a sigh. "It's time for the two of you to see who has the bigger ego. No catalysts allowed, but considering your condition, I think it's fair that you may keep yours at your hip. You know, so you don't have a heart attack in the middle of the fight." She commented, releasing the magic that was holding Takami's catalyst in the air as well. He snatched it, the blade responding to his touch.

For a moment, Isen wondered if Takami was going to ignore their deal and try to attack them then and there now that his weapon was back in his hands. Takami had a moment of pause before remaining true to his word and sheathing his sword at his hip. "What shall we use for the battle?"

"You let me take care of that. Now, out, both of you. We are not doing this inside my shop."
 
"Yeah, yeah." He really was clueless if he saw no reason for her to worry about him, but this time it was actually beneficial. It wasn't a distraction from the current situation, this allowed him to move on to the duel without having to worry about reassuring her. He'd been doing enough of that lately, and it was clearly changing him enough for it to be noticeable to those around him and not just her.

"I forgot how heavy the bastard is." Adelaide took the sheathed sword carefully, at that moment suddenly glad for the restorative magic Samara had worked on her injured hand. The absolute last thing she wanted to be doing was toting around a heavy, obnoxious bastard with an injured hand, and she definitely needed both hands for it.

"I think the shop's been messed up enough today." Adelaide had taken only a moment to put her coat on before picking Ignas back up, Ember at her heels as she stepped outside of the shop with the two men and the witch.

"No one needs to die," Not that she particularly cared if the other man died because Isen was protecting himself, but he would be beneficial to their plan, so his death would definitely mess up their chances if it came to that. Still, she found her heart racing with worry that he would best Isen again. Even without his magic, without drawing and using his sword, this man had come from a line of warriors, and Isen had been relying on Ignas for.. Years, now. Still, he couldn't possibly lose, could he?
 
In the alleyway outside of her shop, Samara had raised two illusions. Much like the brick wall that warded the front entrance to her store, these served as distractions. From the outside, it would appear the way a mirage would, simply showing the other side of an inconspicuous alley. As long as they remained within the boundaries she had created, nobody would be any wiser to the duel that would be going on inside. Because this was the battleground for said fight, there wasn't a ton of empty space to work with. It was a straight shot surrounded by brick and concrete, they would have to face each other head on. There would be no tricks, no running, a simple one-on-one clash of skill versus skill.

From within her store came the two antiquated blades she had retrieved, surrounding by the trademark weaving of her magic. They were carried through the air, handles outwards rather than points to assure no accidents would occur, drifting until they sat themselves down neatly at the center of the concrete. Isen had already relocated himself outside with Takami, both men situated on opposing sides of the alley.

"Stay within the perimeter. No magic, no catalysts. You boys behave, you understand? And this is a duel, not a bloodbath, you're fighting to disarm one another not maim. Understand, Ora?"

Takami nodded his head but he looked forward with focus. Even though he had been chained for a while and nearly flattened by a car, he was eager to fight. Isen needed to match that energy and that determination but just how much of what skill he had was because of his weapon and not his own ability? He would find out soon.

"May the better warrior win?" Isen asked. Takami grunted in response.

"Show me what you're worth, demon." No pleasantries? He shouldn't have expected anything less. Still, ever the honorable soldier, Takami granted Isen a bow of respect before picking up his weapon. Isen repeated the action, doing the same, gripping it in his right hand. Though he didn't really feel anything, he could still tell this was different, it was off. He barely had time to adjust.

"Nervous yet?" Samara asked, leaning into Adelaide's side slightly. "Don't worry, I'll cover your eyes if lover boy gets beaten up a little too badly. I'll spare your heart the pain." She cooed, grinning. At least she was, temporarily, back to herself.

"Ready?" She then asked, addressing both would-be combatants. Receiving a nod of confirmation from both, she raised her hand before lowering it, a small fire work-like expulsion of magic emitting from her palm to signify the beginning of their duel.
 
"Illusion magic? Good choice." Adelaide nodded in approval once she was aware of what Samara had done to set up the area. It was a closed off enough area that it left either man room to escape or draw out the fight, but it also kept it away from the public eye and ear as long as the illusion held up. Samara's instructions about it being a duel and not a bloodbath did help ease her anxiety some, but the way that Takami was reacting to Isen wasn't doing it any favors.

"He's not my lover boy!" Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she huffed, running her fingers over Onigoshi, reciting the spell that would undo her silencing of the demon inside. As much as she didn't feel like listening to him, having an open line of communication with him was important in a duel that could very well leave Isen injured like he had been before.

"Don't make me regret letting you speak again, Ignas."
 
"I can't believe you honestly let him go through with this farce." Ignas replied the moment he was free to speak again. "You do know what he's doing, right? The deal he's made? Surely he has told you by now?"

"Not now, Ignas." Isen mumbled under his breath, unheard by Adelaide but heard clearly by Ignas. He didn't need this distraction, not now.

Takami must have sensed Isen's focus being pulled elsewhere. With the instinct of a true warrior, something Isen couldn't match, the last surviving Ora leapt forward, immediately engaging his foe and sending the distracted Isen onto the defensive. The old swords they were given buckled under the pressure from the initial lock up but remained solid enough for Isen to push back against his attacker. Normally, Isen would have had the advantage in terms of sheer strength and speed but because Takami had to be connected to his catalyst, they were on an even playing field. He needed to fight smart, not hard, or he wouldn't be able to keep up.

Takami backed Isen against one of the walls, pinning him there for a moment. Their eyes met and Isen saw confliction in the pair that met his gaze. Takami looked like he wanted to kill Isen then and there but he didn't strike when he had the chance. He was holding back.

"A warrior doesn't hold back." Isen told him, shaking his head. If he was going to do this, he wanted to do it properly. He wasn't earning the respect of anybody if he couldn't beat them at their best. "If you want what I have, take it."

"Now, he's taunting him. The fool." Ignas relayed to Adelaide, like he was doing commentary for the fight. Samara seemed engrossed by the action, cheering them on while peering over at Adelaide, taking interest in how she seemed to worry for Isen as if he meant the world to her despite repeatedly insisting that they were nothing more than friends or partners.

The taunting seemed to have worked but it was a part of Isen's plan to get out of the situation he was in. By goading Takami into making attacking again, he had opened an opportunity for him to slip out underneath just as the warrior brought the sword against the brick wall. It had been aimed straight between Isen's eyes but he ducked away, putting space between them for a moment. He wanted to reassess the situation but Takami left him no time to do so. He was back on Isen in an instant, swinging, forcing him once more to react defensively to deflect the blows. He was fast, skilled. His technique was flowing, like every move led into the next. It was impressive but it was this rhythm that made it easier for Isen to hold on. Once he realized what was happening, he tried to match it, struggling to keep pace but doing so with enough proficiency that he was managing to keep most of the attacks errant for now.
 
"What deal are you talking about? What does that--Shit." She found herself distracted by the duel quickly enough. She was far too distracted by the initial clash of blades to worry about whatever Ignas was talking about, holding her breath as she watched the weapons bend but hold steady despite their age. When Isen ended up pinned against the wall she sucked in another breath, only then realizing she hadn't been breathing for a moment, her lungs burning as she focused on breathing steadily and keeping herself calm during the duel. The last thing she wanted to do was distract Isen during such an intense fight and get him hurt.

"No, he's... What? No, no, that's what he wanted." She chuckled and relaxed slightly, noting how much tension was currently in her body in as she tightened her hands around Ignas and watched closely. She could see Samara looking at her now and then but refused to acknowledge it, afraid to take her eyes off of Isen for too long and miss something important.

"Come on, Isen, just get the sword away from him." She'd been holding her breath again when she hissed the words, Ember grumbling in her head about the entire situation as she climbed up and perched herself on Adelaide's shoulder. Front row seat for the familiar. "You can do it, beat the bastard!"
 
"Furball, calm your mistress down. She's squeezing too tightly." Ignas complained as Adelaide tightened her grip from stress.

Isen could hear the outside noise but it wasn't really registering as anything more than that, just noise. He had bitten off way more than he could chew when he decided to accept a one-on-one duel with someone far more experienced. If his muscles had been capable of aching, he surely would have stopped cold in his tracks by now. Defending and looking for an opening was an exhausting feet against such an opponent, it seemed like there was an endless flurry of strikes and slashes coming in his direction. Occasionally, one would deflect incorrectly off the side of his sword and it would graze him, cutting his arm or his shoulder, though no pain was felt to coincide with the blood that followed the opening of the wound.

And then, he heard something else. It wasn't the sound of Ignas grumbling or Adelaide being concerned. He could hear something cracking, shattering, bit by bit. Was it his sword or Takami's? These antiquated relics that Samara brought, while old and ripe with past experience, definitely weren't used to being used in a fight anymore, especially not one enhanced by the power of dark magic. He just had to figure out which blade was beginning to break; if it was his, he was in major trouble. If it was Takami's, then he just needed to hold out a little longer without losing his grip and the Ora's own momentum would do the work for him.

Takami was too entranced by the battle to notice what Isen had picked up on. A smirk drew across his face when he realized that it was the Ora's sword that was beginning to falter.

"Wait, he's figured it out."

Continuing to deflect as best as he could, he was waiting for a specific opening now, an opportunity to smash Takami's blade with every bit of strength he could muster to exacerbate the cracks forming in it's brittle iron. Isen locked blades with Takami and pushed his shoulder against the warrior, shoving him back against the wall. With some separation made, it was just enough for Isen to get a bit of a running start. Imagining his sword was Onigoshi, that Ignas was there with him in this fight, he swung it the way he would have his katana and brought it down, flush against the center of Takami's sword. He felt his opponent brace for the hit but his blade could no longer handle the strain and it shattered apart at the center, cleaving in to two pieces, shards of iron clanking against the cold concrete.

Takami looked at his broken sword then back to Isen. His eyes shut, anticipating a killing blow, his natural instinct to stand and face death rather than to run. Isen, instead, hooking the point of his blade beneath the hand guard and tore it from Takami's fingers, letting it join the pieces of it's body, discarded.

Samara seemed to have a satisfied smirk across her face as she turned to Adelaide. "See. I said I'd take care of it." Firing off another small fire work to signal the end of the duel, she stepped forward between the two of them, separating Isen and Takami from one another to declare a victor.
 
"Can't handle a little discomfort, demon?" Ember taunted Ignas as she rubbed against Adelaide's neck with a purr, but the mage was too busy watching the fight to loosen her grip even the slightest. Who cared if the demon wanted to complain about it? It's not like she was going to hurt him, it was just a catalyst he was inside, and even if he could feel it, it wasn't going to hurt him. Even if it could hurt him, would she truly care?

"Something is going to break." Ember's ears were picking up what Adelaide's could not, which had her leaning forward just slightly to watch it closer. The only things that could be ready to break would be the old, worn swords, but which one was it? If Isen lost, would Takami simply strike him down there and try to take Ignas again? She prepared herself for that possibility, intent on keeping her hold on the demon firm and her magic ready to deploy should he turn against them again. If it came down to it, well, Takami was just going to find himself added to the list of casualties from war. This was war, after all.

"I swear, in another life you could be a commentator, Ignas." Adelaide found that she wasn't even annoyed by it now that she'd seen Isen smirk, seen the way he changed how he moved and how his confidence seemed to have returned fully. Whatever was breaking wasn't his, and it was clear by his actions that he knew he was going to win, it was just a matter of when.

"Yes!" The word came out a bit louder than the mage had meant it to, her cheeks turning slightly pink as she caught Samara giving her a smirk on her way to announce the winner. At least Takami hadn't gone after Isen simply because he still had his own blade on him, and that was enough for her to loosen her hold on Onigoshi but not release it entirely.

"Yes, yes you did Samara, you did good." The witch seemed so proud of herself for it and watching her set off the firework and smile was enough for the expression to become contagious. Adelaide found herself grinning before long, waiting patiently for Isen to come back over before she held out the sword.

"You did great."
 
From Adelaide's reaction, it seemed as though she hadn't picked up on what Samara had done. The witch thought about making it more clear for a moment, just to get her praise, but as she looked at the pink that blushed the mage's cheeks as she showed excitement for Isen's victory, she decided to keep it quiet. After all, Isen had still won the fight, all she had done was just make sure that the sword in poor condition landed on the side opposite him when she brought the weapons out from her shop. If Adelaide hadn't figured it out now, neither of them needed to know her little secret.

Isen walked back towards Adelaide but he didn't exactly seem happy about the victory all the same. He saw her holding Onigoshi and was reminded now of his side of the deal he had made, of what it would mean when all of this was over. He hesitated but took the blade back from her, swapping it out for the sword he had used in the duel, returning it to it's place at his hip.

Takami had begun to accept what had happened to him. He didn't seem happy either, but he was coming around. He was the first to approach Isen rather than it being the other way around. "Hiyori." He spoke up, drawing Isen's attention back to the combatant. "I accept your deal. I will fight beside you as an equal in your coming battle but do not forget what it is that you promised me." Takami gave a quaint bow then walked towards Samara's shop. "I will await your request."

"That's one problem solved." Isen mused, underneath his breath. The more they kept talking about the 'deal', the harder it was going to be to hide it from Adelaide. She was going to get curious and confront him about it, eventually. Isen sighed as Samara wrapped her arms around him, giving him a hug. He recoiled slightly, his head turning back to Adelaide with a helpless expression across his face, his hands nowhere near touching the witch to return the embrace.

It wasn't a simple hug, though. This was something a little more intimate. It wasn't a passing gesture of excitement or congratulations, Samara seemed to sob a little as her head hit his shoulder.

"What's wrong with her now?"

"You're giving up a part of yourself as well." She whispered, to him and only him, her head shaking slightly. "Trading a life eternal for that of a mortal is no small sacrifice. I cannot see what your future will be anymore, Isen, but as long as it's with her, I think you're in good hands. You need to tell her what it is you're planning to do."

"How do you even know about that?"

Samara laughed, her lips curling into a smirk as she, one last time, had a chance to say her favorite cop out explanation. "I know things, it's what I do. Just make sure that she survives this, you understand? She is so much more than I could ever be, you have to protect her."

"...I will. Where is this coming from?" He asked but she let go of him, turning around to address Adelaide again, forcing a smile as her fingers traced her wet eyes once more.

"I was just so excited. The thrill of the fight, the dramatic conclusion! Ah!" Isen groaned as the witch began her theatrics, like always, deflecting the focus away from what she had just done and said. "Come along, you two. We have a plan to make! This city isn't going to save itself."
 
Again with the mention of what Isen had promised in their deal. What had he offered Takami that no one would tell her about? She almost pressed for an answer right then, but decided that it could wait for another time when they weren't basking in the victory. That, and she was immediately distracted by the way that Samara was now hugging Isen, something she had not expected to see even in the circumstances of the situation. Was she crying again?

"You really do love your drama, don't you?" Adelaide shook her head at the witch but smiled, glad that the anticipation of waiting was over with and they'd come to a conclusion on what was going to happen. They had a few days until the summit, a few days that she had a feeling were going to be full of training over and over with her magic until she'd gotten down everything she could manage.

"I feel like we're in some real life version of an action book." At least if that had been the case then she could blame one specific person for orchestrating everything that had happened, but she was left blaming an entire organization for what had happened to all of them, to all of their families. Everyone there had suffered tremendously at the hands of the DSTF, and revenge was finally within their grasp... If they just planned it out carefully enough.
 
Over the next three days, the trio, and all of their accompanying guests, began to formulate a plan. The basic idea was simple enough but no less dangerous. If the summit was to be Christmas Eve, the night prior to the 24th would be their moment to strike. Samara had worked hard with Adelaide to tinker the EMP device so that it would have the strength and range required for their mission. Adelaide and Isen were to bring Takami, and his catalyst, with them, down into the facility they had visited before, to wipe out as many of those drones as they could before they were activated; before they could siege the city in the morning.

This meant a trek back into enemy territory but the timing was strategic. By waiting until the night before, if this would be successful, there would be little time for the DSTF to produce more drones in time for their big reveal. Samara was certain this would change the future that she saw but it was all conjecture for now until they actually put their theory into practice. They weren't even certain Takami could destroy the drones but they had no other options and he was on board with trying. The two of them had begun training, pushing each other, something Isen had found quite helpful in developing his fighting technique further while also keeping Takami's mind off the fact that, in order to honor his family, he had to betray yet another group of people he had agreed to fight for.

Isen kept his secret from Adelaide still. They spent the nights together in Samara's guest room, under watchful eye from Priscilla, of course, to make sure they didn't "get in to any trouble", as Samara would say. The amount of time they were spending around the bird familiar seemed to be bonding Ember and Ignas over a shared hatred for the creature with Ignas constantly reminding Isen about how he wanted to pluck the feathers out of the bird one by one. Isen, of course, refused to cooperate.

The time for preparation was diminishing and they were only a day out from beginning the first phase of their operation. Samara decided this would be the perfect time to whisk and unsuspecting Isen away and out into Cresthaven for what she called "essential training". He desperately tried to get Adelaide to intervene, but she had plans of her own and he and Ignas were stuck being pulled along, his identity concealed by one of Samara's illusion spells.

"Why are we here?" He asked, less than enthused. They were in a mall, it was crowded and so very, very loud. "This doesn't feel like training..."

"You do know what day is coming up, don't you?"

"The day we stop the DSTF?"

Samara sighed. "After that." When Isen didn't respond, she answered it for him. "It's almost Christmas and you still haven't picked anything out for her yet!"

"What are you talking about?"

She looked at him like he was the dumbest man in the entire building because, quite possibly, he was.

"You're telling me you weren't planning on getting her a present?"

"...was I supposed to?"

"YES."

"Oh...is this really necessary?"

"Nothing has ever been more necessary in your life, Isen."

"That seems a little excessive..."

"It absolutely is not. But have no fear! I'm going to help you find the perfect gift. You'll sweep her off her feet just in time for the two of you to ride into the sunset, arm in arm, for your happy ending after all of this comes to an end!" She was practically swooning again. Isen noticed the way people were staring and suddenly felt very out of place.

"Stop it, you're drawing attention to us. We're supposed to be keeping a low profile."

"Oh, live a little. How are you so grumpy all the time with how much she adores you? And to think, you weren't going to get her anything! Come on, we've got some shopping to do."

She latched on to his arm and pulled him down the hall. He resisted, though only slightly, letting her whisk him away with a groan that coincided with laughter from Ignas within his head. "Samara..."
 
The next three days were interesting to say the least and tiring to say the most. All the time and energy she was putting into mastering spells was exhausting and having Priscilla watching over them while they slept was a bit of an annoyance. Samara was thoroughly convinced that her and Isen were going to get up to something, that they were an item or were going to be one in the near future. They were just partners, just friends, nothing more! So why did it bother her so much that Christmas was coming up and she hadn't gotten him a present? The man probably didn't even understand the point of Christmas, he probably didn't even care about presents, but the thought was so intrusive it interfered with her working on spells and even seemed to annoy Ember.

Speaking of the cat, she had caught her eyeballing Priscilla one too many times for comfort, and the feline seemed to be spending more time near Onigoshi. She had overheard bits and pieces of Ember and Ignas speaking, which was a drastic change from them talking about hating each other, but they seemed to have bonded over a hatred for Priscilla now? The comment about plucking feathers and roasting the bird had made her worried enough she'd shut Ember out of the room for part of the night, which had not gone over well and resulted in some scratches on the other side of the door.

"Yeah, I need to speak to Isabella." She needed to find out what rumors were floating around the city anyway, but when Samara had dragged Isen off for some sort of training, the timing had been perfect. "Hey, it's Adelaide. Yeah, can you come back to Samara's? I--Yeah I need to know what the current talk of the town is.. But I also need a favor." Asking a vampire for helping Christmas shopping for a demon. Could the day get anymore ironic?

By the time the vampire arrived Adelaide was getting anxious, a fact that Ember noticed and openly mocked. She had been spending far too much time with Ignas apparently, what had happened to the sweet kitten from just a few days ago?

"So what favor did you need that you couldn't say over the phone?"

"I, uh, I need help getting Isen a Christmas present."

The vampire's face ran through a myriad of expressions in rapid succession, ending with an amused one and a laugh that had Adelaide's cheeks turning red. Everyone seemed to find amusement at the expense of the two of them, and this was no different.

"Okay, then we can go to the mall. I can fill you in along the way, and we'll see what we can do. What's he like?"

"...I have no idea."

"Well, that's a bit of a problem, but we'll figure it out. Maybe some nice lingerie for you to--"

"NO!"

"Okay, okay, no lingerie. Let's get going, and we can figure it out as we go.."
 
Samara had begun pulling Isen through every gaudy and expensive gift shop the shopping mall had to offer, asking him questions about what he liked or what he thought Adelaide would like. Isen had no idea what he was doing and shut down most of the options she had presented, citing various excuses and reasons while Ignas egged him on. Eventually, the witch had begun to get frustrated with how uncooperative he was being, especially since she had told him that expense was no option here and that she would handle the actual purchase of the gift he selected. She was happy enough to make the choice for him but that didn't feel right to her. He was the one on the hook, not her, she was just the helping hand.

"How about something for her to wear? She could use the make over, that girl." Samara mused, her eyes lighting up as she glanced towards a store off to the right. It appeared to be a store for women and women only. Isen could see mannequins with provocative forms of dress, posters advertising sales on underwear and other sorts of things. "Though I guess, that would be a gift that would be more for you than her, wouldn't it?" Samara giggled. Isen tugged on her arm and pulled her away from the entrance to the shop. He had considered it, if only for a second out of passing, before innocently tossing the idea aside.

"I don't know what you're trying to do but I'm getting really tired of it. Pick something for me, I don't care. Just get this torture over with."

"Don't try to pretend like I can't read your thoughts, Isen."

"I hate this." He proclaimed in frustration.

"Then pick a gift that she'll love and then, we can go home. This is only taking as long as it is because you aren't cooperating!"

"How am I supposed to know what she'd love? I've never done this before. This was your idea."

"Only because you were too boneheaded to come up with it yourself. Are you really going to break her heart?"

Isen paused and Ignas snickered in his head, only further growing his frustration.

"...fine. Let's look again."

"That's the spirit! Right this way!" She exclaimed, clinging on to his arm again and tugging him back across the hallway.

"What about something related to food? She loves food." He mumbled, under his breath. Samara shook her head, turning down the idea.

"Nooo. You can get her food any time. This has to be something special, Isen. Special just like her!"

Special...like her? He didn't think they would find anything in any of these shops that would be as special as her. Maybe they were looking in the wrong place.

"Then we should go some place else. This place is for regular humans and she's not a regular human."

"Aw, so you do think she's special."

"That's not..." He was going to kill her. She didn't need to worry about the DSTF doing it, he would beat them to it. "...anyways, for someone like her, I don't think something mundane would do. Can you think of anywhere else we could go?"

"What's important to her?"

"...revenge."

"Besides that. Honestly, you are absolutely terrible at this."

"Her family?"

"...I think I have an idea. Come on, let's go outside. We can't do it here."

Isen was intrigued but began to follow her towards the exit.

"Isen, that store we just passed was a pet store was it not? Do you think we could stop there for a moment?"

"I guess. Why? Are you planning on getting a hamster?"

"No, I just thought it might have some poison suitable for killing annoying birds....and, I wanted you to pick something up...for me."
 
"Don't try to pretend like I can't read your thoughts, Isen."

"Oh my god, he's here? they were supposed to be training!" They'd been browsing around the mall for a while when Adelaide heard the familiar voice of that damned demon, and she looked around in a slight panic. Did she even want to know why Samara had drug him to a mall? Did she care? No, she just needed to make sure that they didn't run into each other, because she did not want to have to explain why she was there in the first place. It was bad enough that she was still struggling to think of a proper gift for him, she couldn't afford that distraction if the illusion she had didn't hold up and he spotted her.

"Quick, quick, in there!" She didn't even bother to look which store she'd pushed Isabella into, too frantic to escape the possibility of running into Isen and Samara that she simply went.

"Did you change your mind about the lingerie, then?"

"Huh?"

It wasn't until Adelaide actually looked around them that she realized she'd pushed the vampire straight into a very adult themed store, and her face went bright red as she sputtered and flailed slightly. Isabella had managed to keep both her voice and expression serious long enough to convince the mage she wasn't playing around, but the vampire burst into laughter once she saw just how flustered Adelaide was.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. The two of you are hopeless."

The two of them? Why did everyone seem to know something her and Isen didn't?

"Let's get the hell out of here." Once she was sure Ignas' voice was long gone from the area, she drug Isabella back out with a weary sigh and peered down the aisle. "Oh, there's one." She'd been looking for a jewelry shop ever since the idea had come to them during their trip, and she made a beeline for it with the vampire jogging to keep up. So long as all of her training with magic had held up and she could use the spell to bewitch the workers, she would make it work.

"You think you can pull it off?"

"It can't be that hard. I just need to charm my way into getting a ring and then some earrings with the stones I need, and I can do the rest back at Samara's. Hopefully I can do it without needing her help, or it's going to be a huge pain in the ass." Over the last several days she had learned more about Isen and Meribell during their late-night talks when she needed to wind down before sleeping, and she'd been able to find out the months that they were both born in. Isen didn't seem like a jewelry person by nature, and anything like a pendant or a necklace seemed impractical considering their impending raid.

They had almost reached the jewelry store at the corner of a side hall in the mall when her phone began to ring and she jumped, having forgotten about the damned thing up until then. Her expression was one of pure exasperation as she pulled it out and answered it, holding it to her ear and rolling her eyes at Isabella.

"Took you long enough."

"Couldn't exactly sneak around calling you after that little stunt you pulled. Or two stunts, I should say. Shall I assume you two killed Takami?"

"Wouldn't you like to know. What do you want?"

"To warn you. There's a lot of drones, and I mean a lot. Whatever you're planning is going to get destroyed the moment you end up surrounded by them. So I wanted to tell you and stop you from--"

"Oh, I already know about all the drones. You think I don't have eyes and ears places it's important? I have you, after all, why wouldn't I have others?" There was a long pause and what sounded like a quiet laugh before he spoke again.

"That's true. We need to meet."

Well, that was interesting.

"I can do this evening. In public."

"Send me an address. I'll be there."

Well, that took care of that, which just meant she needed to deal with Isen's gift. The jewelry store seemed far more intimidating now than it had just a moment ago, and she took a deep breath before entering with Isabella.
 
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