Let's Start Anew (Altamira)

The whole house was quiet. Everything seemed to be as it should have... but yet it wasn't. As the Quincy lay in his bed, he tossed and turned. Voices hovered over him. Speeches about what is right and what needs to occur filled his ears. Finally, a bombshell. The voices that were speaking brought up two names that, even over the almost static that distorted the voice, Monroe knew.

"Cadenza... and Zachary Leos..."

The Quincy was all too familiar with those names. He sat up and looked around. The room was empty. Despite being almost totally bear in general voiding his bed, the dark clad man still felt a presence. His breath came out as a crispy, white mist. He couldn't explain this, the house shouldn't have been cold. A sudden flash in the distance drew the dark clad man to the window and caused him to stare at it blankly.

"What... was that?" he asked. The dark clad man looked at his glove as it began to glow a little bit. "Something... is disrupting my power... a strong force is somewhere in the area... and my photon energy doesn't like it. I'd better ask Cadenza and Zachary if they know what's going on... as much as I don't like that idea..."

Monroe looked at his door. No one seemed to be awake, and the electric clock sitting on his desk told him why. It was nearly four in the morning, and yet... the Quincy couldn't shake a bad feeling. He used his powers to begin looking for their spiritual pressures. The spiritual pressures of Zachary and Cadenza.

Although Monroe's vision didn't sense Cadenza, he could feel Zachary. The ice mage was nearby. Without any thought, the dark clad man left his room and grabbed his gear. He had to investigate this right now, and a key source would be the ice mage. It was his best bet.

o=)---------- In a nearby town ----------(=o

Zachary looked around nervously. He was breathing hard. Aside from being tired, he was beaten and bleeding. Something, or someone, was attacking him. Yet... oddly enough, there wasn't any trace of a person. Something was attacking him and cloaking itself so well he couldn't even see any form or figure of what was striking. Also, what was striking hit so precisely, by the time he could counter attack, he hit nothing.

What's going on? I know I'm fighting something, but I can't see it... or hear it... What... what in the world is this fast? he asked himself hesitantly as a mass of strikes hit. Some of them only placed cuts into his armor, but others cut at his shins, thighs, the unprotected part of his collar bone and a few quick slashes that narrowly didn't kill him. As the Replicator stumbled back and fell to one knee, he continued to scan the area. "Where are you! Coward!"

Suddenly, a sharp pain struck up from Zachary's abdomen as he felt a freezing cold blade pierce clean through his armor. Clean through his flesh, muscle and blood. Clean out his back. And at that point, blood began to flow from his mouth as he wrapped one hand around whatever had been stabbed into him. "What... what are you?"

"You need not worry," a voice seemed to echo around him as he felt the blade turn and he cried in pain. "You're pain will cease soon."

Without any prior thought, Zachary held his right hand out as his left hand still held whatever he had been stabbed with, and created a short sword. Quickly, he slashed at the invisible presence and narrowly missed as the bloody weapon was yanked from his abdomen. Aside from the blood coating the weapon, the ice innate couldn't see whatever or whoever had attacked.

As blood seeped from all of his wounds, the area around him slowly went dark... Zachary's sword hit the ground. His head hung forwards. His eyes went dark as he remained on the ground, simply kneeling. What a crappie way to die, he thought as he passed out from the pain.

"Wake up."

The darkness still filled the area when Zach opened his eyes some time later, but it wasn't the darkness of unconsciousness, but the faint, grayish darkness of the evening shadows.

A healing light was circling him, in little rings, restoring his blood, sealing up the wounds. The ice in the alley had melted in the area, all except for the little circle underneath the young man himself, which was still as cold as ever. A silhouette loomed over him, the figure's arms crossed as they looked down upon him.

"...Get up, Zach. You should be able to move again. She's gone."

The musical, but curt voice was familiar... and it didn't explain itself further until he'd gotten up, leaning for support against a brick wall. Then suddenly a hand was flicking his ear, and he held back a cry, his ear throbbing red in pain.

"What the hell was that for!?"

"Be more careful!" Cadenza stepped forward, out of the dark, yelling at him. "You shouldn't be wandering around aimlessly without telling anyone where you are! Couldn't you sense her?"

"Sense... who? Where is she? What even happened!?"

"You were attacked, Zach. Attacked by Ivana--better known as the Spirit of Ice. I'd... been worrying this might happen. Your magic is starting to throw her off balance, so she showed up to... eliminate the problem."

"B-but where is she now!? She was going to kill me!"

"Was going to. But she wasn't expecting to run into another Spirit--or anyone who could see her at all. I chased her off."

Zach just stared at her, wide-eyed, hands running over where his wounds used to be and finding that they were all gone, healed up completely. Cadenza herself had some light rings around her arm... had she been wounded, too? Was she hiding it by folding her arms while her magic healed it...?

The ice mage was just about to ask when they heard footsteps approaching, gadgets and weapons rattling around on someone's belt.

The sound of a figure landing on the ground followed the footsteps as Monroe leapt down from where he perched himself. "I see... so those are the voices I've been hearing lately... something odd had been stirring, but now I know what it is," the Quincy stated as he crossed his arms, looking at the two.

Zachary had wasted no time to remove the tattered shirt he was wearing and look at his armor. Large cuts and indents, along with one very large hole in the bottom. Whoever had done this was a very skilled person. Of that, the ice innate was certain. "So... I'm throwing off the balance of magic here? How... I'm not even from the world."

"That might be the problem, Zachary," Monroe said as he took a few steps forwards.

"What are you doing here, Vossler?!" Cadenza asked angrily.

"I heard... two voices. One that was talking about something I couldn't fully understand, and another that I could kinda make out. A woman saying that some boy needed to die... at the end of her thought, she said Zach's name, so I rushed here as fast as possible."

"Why, to finish him off?" the shadow mage asked defensively of the wounded ice innate.

"No..." Zachary stated as he looked at Monroe. "He's here because... he wants to help?" Zachary asked, sounding very unsure.

"Well... kinda. I saw a flash of light in the distance after I was woken up... and then I left to find you guys. By the time I arrived, Cadenza was here fighting blue mist. So that mist was a spirit of some form... then why couldn't I see it? Aside from that, I can barely see or hear those things..."

"We're not normal spirits, you moron. Think something like a deity, and you'll be closer."

"So... they cloak themselves with high magical energy. Even so... that's problematic. However..." the Quincy said, exchanging glances with the two. "I've got an idea. However, we have to put aside our differences and work together. There might be a way to get Zach out of this predicament."

Zachary pushed himself up as he took off his armor and dropped it to the ground. "And why should we trust you? After all, not too long ago you and I were trying to kill each other."

"I think we should... start anew. After all, we no longer have a reason to fight. If we're gonna share a world and a job, why not do it properly. IT's what..."

"Z would want," Zachary finished Monroe's thought as he looked at Cadenza.

"What's your idea, Vossler?" Cadenza asked, cynical of the ability he could actually provide to help.

"I'm not sure yet. I'll need to know some things about the Spirits in order to better prepare a counter measure. After all, being a Quincy grants me special abilities to deal with spirits. Even divine ones are still little more than the souls of the dead. If I can develop an idea of what we're against, I can calculate a way to stop it."

The Replicator didn't seem too sure of what Monroe said, but still, he simply shrugged and looked at Cadenza. "What do you think? I'll agree with whatever you decide."

"I don't need Vossler's help to keep safe... but... you might, Zach. I'm not always going to be around to save your arse, and..."

To them, it might have just looked as if she'd crossed her arms a little more, maybe gripped one arm a little tighter. But there was still a piece of Ice's lance she was keeping from flowing through her system, the tip that had broken off in her arm, throbbing with pain, making her blood feel like it was going to freeze... if Ivana had done that much to her, left her with that kind of wound, Zach hadn't a chance--especially not if he couldn't see her.

"...What's good for you is good for Ari. I'll... help long enough to find a way for you to see Ice. After then, we'll see. I make no promises."

Monroe stared blankly at her as he kicked Zachary in the back. The ice innate winced as he started reaching his hands back, trying to feel his wound. "Get up. You don't have time to be sitting down."

"Dammit!" Zachary muttered as he stood up and looked at Monroe. "I don't have times to play games with you Monroe. What I need is something to help me... and quickly."

"I'm trying to get that, but, you see, without 'denza being willing to divulge information about the spirits that we're up against, I can't help you."

"What... do you mean?" the Replicator asked as he quirked up an eyebrow. He didn't really understand what it was the Quincy meant by that, so he decided to ask. "Cadenza... what's he talking about?"

"The first part is simple," Monroe interrupted as he turned away from the Zachary and Cadenza and looked at the buildings and the remains of ice on the ground. "I need to know what they're made of. What they're using to shield them. Guarded secret or not, everything, even the highest defenses, can be dispelled by a certain amount of some counter force. Namely, if they're cloaking themselves with a defensive kind of material, I should be able to dispel it using something in the Quincy's arsenal. After all, we are spirit hunters," the archer said, stressing the term spirit.

"Ah... I guess that makes sense... but then why does it matter? Why not just try something until something works."

"That old Zorlo philosophy works in some cases, but if we take too long to bring this woman down, you'll probably be dead. We need to remove the spell cloaking her from the view of normal persons. So, Cadenza, care to share. What is it specifically that protects the spirits from being detected by normal mortals." That was the last secret he needed. Once he had that, the dark clad man was sure that he could concoct something to shatter that defensives.

There was a marble table, that went on for miles, and seemed to fill the enormous room. Seated at the head, you couldn't see the opposite end, it lost like an island over the horizon, clouded by distance and light. Around this immense table, there were numerous chairs, and behind each, a window onto a different scene. At the very head, behind the grand oaken chair there, were two windows of stained glass, separated by a golden frame. In one, there was the material world, playing out the lives of humans on Earth--and in the other, its sister realm, the Spirit of Life's own personal realm. She ruled over both. And she had called this meeting to discuss something that had happened in one.

All Spirits were in attendance here, in this "Council Realm", but one. The one chair that had been empty for quite some time now, as far as humans' figuring of time went. Behind it, a window full of shadow, a bleak violet hall, and silence.

Gaia, the Spirit of Life, took her staff up into her hand. This was a sign that the meeting had started. While normally wearing the appearance of an ageless, youthful, elfish woman, today she was wizened, matronly, and gray-haired, with deep understanding in her green eyes. She wore the firefly pendant she always wore, the symbol she was most recognized by--she said she loved the creature because even though the insect's life was so short, it tried to fill that short life with brightness, and beauty. So she took pity on the firefly, and was endeared to it, as she was to all living things that valued their time with her, Life. The Spirit looked around those gathered, without saying a word, just waiting for those who had issue today to speak as she knew they would.

And sure enough, Ice and Light, or as she knew them, Ivana and Reymundo, just two of many Ices and Lights she had known over the eons, rose from their chairs, gesturing urgently for her attention.

"Life--please, we need to discuss Shadow once again--she is causing trouble!" Light cried out.

"Isn't she always causing trouble?" another of the Spirits piped up, earning a glare from Ice.

"Yes, but this time is different--there is something else," the woman explained, gesturing so that her lance just caught the right glint of light to show off the sharpness of its blade. Whoever had interrupted stifled a gulp.

"She has interfered with the elimination of an outsider who has been disrupting my magic," Ice went on, her piercing blue eyes blazing with indignation, "the boy has been throwing about his ice magic carelessly, creating snow in the desert, and slowly chilling Rubato bit by bit. If this continues, I will constantly have to be pulled away from where I am needed, the icecaps and northern nations, in order to deal with the trouble he creates. Shadow ignores this all, and defends the boy for her own selfish, human reasons, even engaging in fighting against a fellow Spirit without due reason. It's unheard of."

Feeling that she'd presented her case well enough to persuade anyone, Ice sat down, silently seething with frustration still leftover from the very situation earlier that day. Light stood, nodding in agreement along with each of her points, waiting for his turn to chime in.

"She sounds like a real live wire, if you get what I mean," Zeppo, the Spirit of Lightning cut in, snickering as always, "This is a real shocking situation, I must say."

He was answered with a flat-handed smack to the back of the head as Light took over, "May I remind everyone as well that Shadow is already in conflict with us for refusing to simply pass on and assume her duties like a responsible Spirit. I would like to request permission to enter the material world, along with Ice, to deal with both her and this boy Ice spoke of, and settle these issues before they become worse. Is there anyone who can truly object, with good reason?"

There might have been several other Spirits in the room, but all eyes turned towards Life, still seated in her great chair, her eyes closed in thought. She said nothing, neither in approval nor rejection, but merely frowned...

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My ear is stinging, Cadenza thought, remembering something she'd been told, don't they say that means someone's talking about you somewhere? Left ear's supposed to be bad, I think...

"Fine..." she began aloud, shrugging the feeling off for now, "I wasn't planning on going into all of this until Alessandra was a little older, and maybe needed to know but... here's a rundown: the Spirits are, in essence, human souls intertwined with magic. They have no organs, aside from a heart that isn't quite the same sort of thing as ours, and is mainly just a 'heart' in name... and they can't be 'killed'. In normal cases, they're not allowed to affect any living person directly, unless they are a magic-user of this world and of their element, and even then their direct contact is supposed to be minimal. But when they do take on a tangible form to enter the material world for some task or another... they'll cloak themselves in that magic they are made of to hide from the eyes of any living person.

"There are... maybe two ways you can change that. Either weaken their soul, and make it so that magic has to solidify more and become visible to protect them better, or... weaken their magic, so that they can't maintain their cloak and maintain their form in the material world at the same time. Their magic is nothing different from what I use... it's just more closely bound to their soul, because it's what keeps their spirit intact without life."

Cadenza looked at both the men when she'd finished, figuring Zach probably hadn't understood a word, but maybe at least Vossler had caught on.

"So..." Zachary spoke up as he looked at Cadenza, "what you're saying is that Spirits in this world have magic bound to their soul, and that they have a special power in the material world that grants them the power to hide it. From that, you can only force them to take a material form by somehow weakening their magical powers in some form to make them appear in this world. That's pretty much what I got out of your Zorlo length speech."

Monroe looked at Zachary and smiled a little bit. "If nothing else, he did learn to listen to what Zorlo told him. But aside from that, I understand what you're saying. Also, in the time you were giving your speech, I've concocted a way to deal with this... "situation" so that we don't attract much attention and nothing stupid can happen. Namely, no other ******* spirits can get in the way."

Cadenza blinked a few times, a bit shocked, probably from both reactions. "Okay, Mr. genius, what's your great idea then?"

"Very happy you asked," Monroe said in a distinctly Ace Ventura voice as he sucked in a deep breath, which threatened a long speech to come. "Simply, this," the Quincy said as he smiled at her. Cadenza and Zachary watched him with unenthusiastic eyes at the bad acting that the dark clad man had just pulled off.

"Despite having made you two thing I was gonna give a Z speech, I'll try to explain this in as few words as possible," the archer said as he pulled one of the slender handles from his blade belt. "This is called a Seele Schneider, in German, its the soul cutter. Essentially, its an edged Quincy arrow that acts like a sword kinda. It has one other effect that normally isn't much use to me."

Monroe laughed as he realized what he had to explain. "Pretty much, this weapon is designed to soften the bonds of energy, magical or otherwise, and absorb it. However, I can't manipulate light energy into photon energy, so that power is pretty much useless. However, this second effect could come in handy here."

"So what? You think Ice will just stand still as you slash her with your sword?"

"No, that wasn't what I had in mind at all. That method would take way too much time and way too much effort on my part. However, the Quincy do have a technique that's passed down. Its not a big secret, but it is a very powerful move they save for powerful spirits like these. Essentially, I have a trap I can set up to ensnare her and then, using this little baby, burn away her magical protection."

"Continue," Cadenza said, again, not really enthusiastic about the Quincy's idea thus far. Zach, on the other hand, listened intently.

"By forming a pentagram with these, I can seal even extremely powerful beings within the binding they create. From that, I can detonate the five of these used to form the binding with amazing power. Strong enough, I'm sure, to easily burn away the shield that you're talking about. All it takes is five of these and a drop of this," Monroe said as he spun the handle around and returned it to his belt. Next, the Quincy removed a small, silver tube from his jacket.

"And that is?"

"The ignition. A single drop from this silver tube of concentrated, liquid photon energy is what sets off the chain of energy release from the handle of my weapon and causes the massive blast. You see, I can charge these tubes with photon energy and it becomes a volatile liquid that, by manipulating it, I can cause to explode. Aside from that, the tip of the Seele Schneider's handle stores photon energy as well, allowing it to generate a blade, even if I'm out of energy, for at least a little while. Essentially, the only thing I need is time to set this attack up, and she'll be easy enough to defeat."

"I'm impressed, Vossler, you actually thought this pretty well through. Just one problem: after she's visible, how do you intend to stop her?"

"That I leave to Zachary," the Quincy said as he pointed at the ice innate.

"ME!" he commented, shocked at that statement. "You saw how she beat me. My weapons were shattered before I could even effectively defend with them. Whatever she used pierced my armor like tissue paper. How can I hope to defeat that?" Zachary asked as he looked dizzy.

"I don't know. I'm sure you've got something you've been working on while you're at the forge. After all, Vargas doesn't have you do that many jobs. Just think about it and I'm sure you'll get an idea. After all, you take Z's, 'If you work hard enough on something, you'll make it real,' jargon."

The Replicator sighed as he looked at the ground. "If I have no choice... then I guess I've been gathering materials for a good reason. I'll start experimenting on something I've been thinking about anyway. Although..." Zachary paused as he looked at Cadenza, "I was wondering if you knew any good materials to make a bow out of. I can't think of anything useful that won't break with what I'm trying to do."

"Good, its settled than. Three days from now, Zach, we'll create a blizzard around your cave to lure Ice in, and from their, we'll spring our trap."

"Wait... MY cave? You're outta your mind, Monroe. I'll be homeless!" Zachary moaned, looking glum suddenly.

"Well, its our only chance. Its the place with the most magical energy, and we can't waste time on you carving out another cave with your magic. Its either there or you'll be dead before you know it."

The ice mage sighed in defeat. "Fine..."

"Zach..."

Both men glanced at the gypsy, a little surprised by the more sympathetic tone to her voice.

"...If you survive this, don't worry about not having a house. I'll see to it that Arietta gets you a set of keys. All I'll need to do is clear out whatever I've got left in my room first--so it can be yours."

Cadenza didn't give Zach time to thank her, or even react at all beyond a shocked expression, before she went on, falling back comfortably into her usual attitude, "Now then, that just leaves one problem with the plan. The three days. What makes us think Ice will even wait that long before she launches her next attack? She could be on her way now, for all we know. Zach's gotta stay somewhere he'll be protected until we're ready..."

She clenched her arm as she spoke, trying to hide the chill running through her body. The lance tip had been stopped from flowing around by exerting a little pressure on its shadows, but... that couldn't last for long. Keep it stuck in one area for too long, in one vein or one artery, and it would cause a blockage... and cause trouble. She had to let it move through so blood could circulate, but... if it got to her heart, or her brain...

That icy b*tch did a number on me--Zach can't just rely on me to protect him for these three days, and Vossler can't really see her... but how do I tell them all that? I'm the best they've got for now.

Monroe smiled as he thought about what the gypsy had just said. "You'd be right... except I'm sure that the ice queen has some limits on her ability to cause damage. I doubt that she'd do anything during the daytime. Also, at night, like this, she's bound to try to lure him out. Although, I have thought of one place she couldn't get to, no matter how much magic she has."

Cadenza and Monroe were quiet for a moment as what Cadenza had told him slowly, but surely, set in. "If we hide him in the Dome during the night, he can go about his business in the day freely, since attacking someone at high noon would be foolish, no matter who you are. My senses are sharper during the day, so I can, if worse comes to worse, keep an eye on Zachary."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Waaaaaaaaaaait. Come again?" he asked, looking at Cadenza. "Repeat what you just said. You were joking, right?"

Monroe's eye twitched for a second as he punched the ice mage in the back of the head. "Don't have outbursts unless they're important!" the Quincy stated as he crossed his arms. "Now then... anything important to say, nor things that aren't bordering on retarded that have to do with the matter at hand."

Zachary raised his hand, but the Quincy ignored him it seemed. "Anyone at all?" the dark clad man asked.

"I've got a thought... if she's not gonna attack me during the day, then if she's out here right now... aren't we the ones being stupid, standing out in the open?"

Monroe narrowed his eyes and thought about it for a moment before he laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yes... yes we are. Anyway... we should get back to our respective homes... except Zachary. I guess we can either keep him at your house, 'denza, or we can keep him in the Dome. Both places are safe. Alex would vouch for your houses safety, and I know the Dome is a haven from things like Ice. It all goes about how we do it now."

With that, Monroe, Zachary and Cadenza looked at one another. "So, 'denza, any comments?"

"Just that... Zach should stay in the Dome. I don't want the house getting wrecked up if Ice does show up to fight again before we're ready. With him at the Dome, there's no chance of a tussle at all."

The woman didn't dare admit that she didn't know if she could stop Ice well enough again... the Spirit had nearly kept up step for step with her, frozen her in place a few times, chilling her to the bone, and produced a whole armory's worth of ice weapons within moments whenever she needed one. That lance, her greatest weapon, was still leaving its mark. She'd had to fight harder than she had since... maybe since that one spar she'd had with Zorlo so long ago, to face Ice now. A Spirit was no pushover. Could Zach really handle her...?

She agreed to lead Zach to the closest Dome door before going home herself. She knew she wouldn't sleep with worries of the lance, and just the everyday threat of Death lingering around if she did, but at least they'd be another day closer to this plan working.

o=)----------- Two Days Later: At Omar's Forge -----------(=o

The Replicator looked at the flames as the multiple different metals began to melt down. Zachary was intent on forming the most powerful alloy he could imagine. He'd gathered scraps and pieces of rare and powerful metals from the leftovers of finished products that Omar had finished, and requests that the ice mage had made to his Master. The puddles of different colored metals slowly began to slide closer together. Soon, they'd be a single pool of metallic alloy, and from there, he could proceed.

There was one other thing that the young warrior was waiting for: Arietta was going to pay him a quick visit. Zachary had, for the best he could, tried to find a material to make a good bow out of, but had yet to find anything. "Everything I try... the bow is still too frail to handle what I need it to do," he muttered as the green, and blue, and black, and white, and all manner of colors in the forge slowly began to meld and form an odd, shining gold color.

The Replicator guessed that the hard work he'd put on this alloy was finally paying off. The weapon he'd make of it would be done soon. This would be his proud moment. A weapon as strong as Cadenza gunblade... if not better. It was what he would need to defeat Ice.

"Oi, lad, what're ye workin' on?" Omar asked as he looked in the forge.

"Just smelting together the metals you gave me... I'm trying to make a powerful alloy to create a grand weapon out of. A weapon that will grant me the power to bring down even a god."

The blacksmith laughed at his apprentice and looked at the boy. "Well, when ye get done, head on home. Yer day is done," he said, smiling at Zachary.

The ice mage nodded and smiled at his Master. "Yes, Master. As soon as I finish this and see Ari. 'cordin' to what 'denza told me, she was bringing me something to help me with my other project."

The elder man laughed and walked back to his work. "Be careful, aye? I like haven' me an apprentice." The ice mage nodded as he poured the alloy out of the furnace into a cast. This would take a little while.

o=)------------ Monroe's House -----------(=o

The Quincy sat in the underground lair of his house and flipped the pages of books he had about Quincy arts. He'd mastered them all, but he couldn't find what he was looking for. He recalled it clearly, but without exact knowledge, he couldn't recreate what he needed properly. He'd mastered all of the skills and learned all of the techniques he could find. Still, this one, now eluded him.

The dark clad man rubbed the area between his eyes and nose and closed the book he had been reading. He'd have to make dinner soon for everyone upstairs. Still, he wanted to finish this project before that happened. The Quincy shifted the book he had been reading and looked down. A book with a bookmark sat next on the pile.

Monroe quirked an eyebrow as he opened the book up and flipped to the page with the bookmark. Sure enough, someone else had marked where it was... but who, he wondered. No one else came down here but him. Tracey knew that it was down here, and surely Alex and Elea had their suspicions, but he knew they wouldn't come down here, even if they did. The dark man just shrugged and started taking notes. He now had what he and Zach needed. Now there was just one day left.

In those two days, Cadenza had gotten an urgent phone call from home. Luminari had fallen ill, Algretta explained, and had been asking for their little sister to come and visit her all throughout her two days of suffering. She'd found it odd, that of all people, Nari would ask to see her--they hadn't gotten along for years, yes she had comforted the woman when Vivace had died, but she never said so much as a word to her since then, and she'd never shown her any special attachment. She could probably remember a few times where Luminari had even seemed to hate her, if she thought back far enough.

But she had told her other sisters to look after the light mage when Vivace died, and she'd promised herself she'd do the same. So she arrived at the Madrigal house, with an armful of blankets and medicines and herbs for her sister, and said goodbye to Arietta as the other woman was on her way out to see Zach. She looked around the first level of the house when she got in, and neither Algretta nor their dad were anywhere around. Upstairs, she just heard the sniffling and coughing of her sister, and a few plaintive calls of her name.

"Cadenzaaa... is that you downstairs...? Come up..."

Sick or not, Luminari's voice sounded so much more full of life than it usually did. Cadenza shifted the wad of blankets in her arms, and slowly started up the staircase, listening for any other strange sounds. All she heard was more sniffling and sneezing.

She nudged open the pine-wood door to her sister's room when she got there, and held up a cup of soup that she'd brought her as she stepped in. "Chicken with wild rice and herbs, like Sonya used to give us," she said, watching the older gypsy's face closely. There was a flicker of something... recognition, or... something else?

"Bring it over here, por favor, Cadenza..." Luminari said weakly, pulling the covers closer over herself.

"All right," the woman edged closer to the bed, setting the soup and herbs down onto the nightstand. She draped a few blankets over her sister, and rose her hand to brush a hair out of her face--

--just in time to stop the blast of light that was fired at her with a disc of her Void spell. The light reflected off, and shot back towards the bed, burning the sheets. Another blast followed, and another, all narrowly stopped by discs of spinning blackness.

Luminari was sitting up now, her eyes blazing with a gray light.

"...I had a feeling. It's you, Rey--Little Mr. Sunshine--the douchebag, as you're known to many. Will you get the hell out of my sister and face me like a man?"

Just a grunt and another blast answered her, as the Spirit grumbled low in her sister's throat, "My name is Light, you irritating little pest!" Light magic ricocheted off a disc, tore a hole through the wall of the room. Sand and wind instantly, in the way that the desert always does, blew in through it. Nari was standing now, energy shining in both slender hands.

"You won't hurt your sister, will you, Shadow? So what will you do?"

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At Omar's forge in Sereia, Arietta was just arriving on Avello's back, a bundle for Zachary in her hands. She entered the squat, stone building that the man had built brick by brick himself, felt the oppressive heat of the fire and the pungent, tangy smell of melted metal in the air. She laid her bundle of her dad's carbon material down on a workbench, and wandered a little.

Sleeping amidst all the clutter and tools, she found Zach by the forge, resting deeply but a little fitfully. She shook him as gently as she could, whispering, "Wake up, honey, wake up..."

"Who, what, where, when, why?" Zachary asked in astonishment as he looked around. It took a few seconds before he could see clearly and saw that Arietta has shown up. He brushed off the soot from his face and smiled at her. "Hello, dear," he told her, smiling as he stood up, a bit shakily.

Arietta helped to stabilize him as she looked at him. "Are you okay, dear? You seem a bit... weak," she said with a bit of worry about her voice.

The ice mage nodded as the spinning in his head stopped and he shook himself back into focus. "I'm fine," he told her, rubbing his arms. "I just finished work on something important, and now that you're here, I can start work on the next bit. Thanks," he told Arietta as he leaned forwards and kissed her on the cheek and moved back towards the package.

"Is this it?" he asked as he picked up the package.

The wind mage nodded. "Yes. The last bit my father could scrounge up. When I told him what you needed it for, he seemed only happy to give it to you. After all... I don't know what I'd do if you died..." she said, almost a bit afraid.

"With this... I'm one step closer," Zachary stated as he headed under the workbench he called his own and removed a small box of his own. He opened it and removed a long, yellow strand of some form of string and held it tightly. "Now then, you should come with me to see this," he told her with a smile as the two headed into the back yard. Here, Zachary could finish the bow he had been working on.

o=)------------ Monroe -------------(=o

The Quincy stood on the roof of his house. He could feel it. Two great powers had shown themselves. One had held itself back by some means, but the other was on the move. "Dammit..." Monroe muttered he started on his move. He vanished from where he had been and started running to Omar's forge. No time to lose.

The distance was a small haul, but using his Hirenkyaku, the distance was covered in mere seconds. The dark clad man leapt into the back, where he sensed Zachary, and skid to a stop. "Zach, we need to get going. Ice is on the move."

The Replicator nodded as he smiled at Monroe. "Just one minor thing first, Quincy," he said, holding his hands out.

"What? Do you want a double high five or something?"

"No you idiot. Place your hands on mine. I've got something I've been thinking about."

"We don't have time for this, jackass. If we don't get moving, we'll be sitting ducks when she arrives."

"I'm sure you've done your preparations. I'm just finishing mine."

"Fine, what do you need me to do?" Monroe asked as he placed his palms against Zachary's.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Just scatter your energy into the air. I'll take care of the rest," the ice mage said as green energy began to float into the air and was quickly followed by a powerful, blue flash. "This will be great. We'll definitely win with this."

"I'm impressed!" the archer said as the light faded and he looked at Zach. "Now then, let's go."

The amateur sorcerer nodded as the two began on their way.

o=)--------------- Zach's Cavern -------------(=o

The two were now in Zach's cavern. Monroe masked his presence expertly as he waited. He had pretty much established the trap. Now the only thing that was needed was for Zachary to do his part. The Replicator stood quietly towards the back of the cavern, upon a seat of ice, and looked at the entrance to his cavern.

A powerful, arctic wind blew in and the Quincy could see the blue mist that carried it. She was here. It was time to put the plan into action.

"So... you're here. Not masking yourself as well as before," he said as he rose from his seat and cracked his neck.

"Don't worry, mortal, you'll be dead soon enough. After all, little man, you're not about to kill a god. You can't even see me."

"That's true," the ice mage stated as he held his hands out and his short swords formed. The ice mage crossed the blades and smiled. "Still, I'm gonna give you everything I've got."

"That lame trick again," the creature stated as it stepped forwards and stopped in the center of the cavern. "This won't take long."

"You've got some ego," Monroe said as he appeared behind Ice, pointing a Seele Schneider at her. "Now then, show yourself!" he said, spinning his blade over and stabbing it into the ground. Suddenly, the other four blades reacted and a powerful force bound the spirit in the center of the cavern.

"Now then, time for you to stop hiding and show yourself," Monroe said as he removed a silver tube from within his jacket.

"These weapons... you can't be... the Quincy were all supposed to be dead!"

"Well, you see, I'm not a normal Quincy, but my powers are effective all the same," the Technological Quincy said as he began to tip his Silver Tube over. "A single drop of the liquid in here, and you won't be able to hide anymore."

"Hasta Aqui, Ice," the dark clad man said as the drop struck the tip of the Seele Schneider's handle and a powerful spark erupted from the handle of the tube effected by the drop and caused a massive blast to erupt from the center. A powerful blast struck the ceiling and blasted through, expanding within the boarders of the pentagram that had been formed. The light faded, and the two looked to see what stood in the center.

Light chased the gypsy through the house--he'd expected a chase. Every time he cornered Cadenza in the past, she had run from him--and she had even more reason to now, that he was controlling her sister, and she couldn't harm a hair on his head without hurting her.

When she'd skidded into a room, shouting, "You know, looking like a woman kind of suits you, Rey!" that'd only made him chase her more fervently. He trailed her blurring figure, following the magic rather than his eyes, into a dark room, where the woman was no where to be sensed or seen in the blackness. She seemed to be everywhere, and yet no where at all... shadow magic filled the room.

Light illuminated the room with a little flicker of magic on Luminari's finger. He guided her through, edging slowly forward in the darkness. It was hard to move. Her body constantly brushed against something that slowed her down, but he couldn't see what... he needed more light. But that wasn't a problem. The flicker on the end of the light mage's finger grew to a glowing orb, like a small sun, and he continued on.

"Shadow... you already act as if you have a death wish, angering the Spirits like you do, so why not just die already?" he called out, in Luminari's voice. His words seemed to just be reflected back at him, echoed faintly throughout the dark room.

Something smacked at Luminari's cheek. He grumbled low in her throat, expanded the orb once again to see the cause--and that's when the light brushed against a disc--one of hundreds of spinning, flipping discs of blackness that filled the entire room like soap bubbles, reflecting back light, obscuring the way--and the orb's magic ricocheted around the room harmlessly and blasted through a floorboard.

The entire room had been filled with discs of Cadenza's Void spell. And Light couldn't hope to pick out her among this entire room full of oppressive shadow energy. He was beginning to get frustrated.

"Enough hiding!" he barked. A beam of light cut through the discs, swatting them aside, piercing through others and dispelling the darkness as Luminari's eyes gleamed the steely gray of Light's.

From where she was hiding in the shadows, Cadenza could recognize that beam--knew what it had come from. It was the only light magic that could break a spell of hers... it was Light's rapier, the weapon he formed from his spirit just like Ice's lance or the cutlass she owned had been for the old Spirit of Shadow. It wasn't at full strength, when he was still confined within Luminari's body, but she couldn't hide for long now that he'd drawn it.

Across the room, Light remembered a little hint Ice had given him about a lance's tip that was still in Cadenza's bloodstream, and started to focus on searching for a little trace of ice magic amidst all the shadow...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

She shielded her eyes with her arms, covered in shining silver-colored gauntlets, and began to summon up stronger armor, and a gleaming sword. Yes, she had been surprised--but this was not the first time someone had managed to make her show herself in the material world. Ivana had come prepared for a fight.

Colds winds began to whip around her, frost collecting on her body to strengthen her armor to adamant-like hardness. Ice as clear as crystal formed the sharp blade of her sword, and the visor that went over her eyes, under her steel-blue locks. When the light died away, a tall, perfectly poised figure stool in the center, her eyes locked on Zachary.

She drew her sword and charged.

Mana swirled around Zachary's feet. As the light of Sprenger faded, he could see her all too clearly. She was a lovely woman, however, the bloodlust apparent in her armor and weapon made even him a bit more defensive. His muscles shivered and shuttered as he stared at her and the sword she held. His vision fluctuated as his head began to spin. That weapon and armor... they were absolutely packed with magical energies.

The amateur mage raised his right hand and looked at it. Slowly, he rested his hand over his face and leaned forwards. Everything seemed to be spinning still, but slowly, it was going away. Suddenly, the ice mage felt sick to his stomach, and acids and water seeped from his mouth onto the ground. Almost as soon as they had flown out, they were frozen as solid as the ice below his feet. Still, the Replicator couldn't help as he fell to one knee, still holding his face.

This is... unrealistic. I didn't... I didn't think that... she would be this powerful. Just... just being in her presence is making me physically ill. Or... is this...? the red haired boy asked as the woman neared. She seemed a bit disgusted by the weakness he had shown as she raised her sword.

"And I vas hoping for more of a fight. Goes to show that mortals lack any kind of ability to stand up to us," she said as the ice spirit turned the blade of his sword towards her target and swung it down.

Zachary looked up suddenly and rolled out of the way as he skidded to a stop. Slowly, the ice mage stood up and looked at her, a very different look in his eyes than before. The Replicator looked from the armored beauty to his hand. The ice mage closed his hand and looked at the woman as his muscles tensed again. A smile graced Zachary's lips as he lowered his arms and Fenrir covered his arms.

Mana now flowed through his veins faster than ever, and the amount of Mana was stronger. Despite having used his powers extensively today to work on his projects, the red haired warrior had known that this would happen. His body's Mana capacity had just expanded to deal with the influxes in his powers. He had already guessed that would happen, but for now, it didn't matter.

"Oh, good, you're not just going to lie down and die like the dog you are," she said as she turned towards him and moved again. "Now then, die."

Ivana's sword flashed quickly as Zachary stepped back and created two of his replica short swords and held them to defend against her attack. Her blade sliced his weapons apart like they were nothing and cut through his chest plate with great ease. The sorcerer stepped back as blood dripped from the cut and looked at his hands. "Just had to make sure," he whispered as he held his hands out to his sides.

"Make sure? Of what, you fool?!" the ice spirit asked, getting mildly enraged.

"I knew my replicas wouldn't stand a chance against you. Ever since I fought Monroe and gained my new powers, they've been fluctuating. They weren't complete, it seemed. My Mana felt that way too. Until just now, I've never felt quite like I could fight at my best. Story of my life," Zachary said as a bright blue flash erupted from his right hand and a orange flash exploded from his left hand.

In the ice mage's hands, he held a light blue, miniature scimitar with a snowflake in the center of the hand guard and a red, orange, black and yellow weapon exactly the same, save for the flame engraved in the center of this weapon's guard. "Azul and Rosso," the Replicator spoke. "Rosso, forged from Ebony Steel and the flames of Master's forge, combined together by Metalloid Ice to create one of the twin blades. Azul is forged of Ivory Steel and with the power of some of the strongest ice I could find in a glacier in my room. Together, these two swords are far stronger than anything I've ever created."

"What... when did you gain that power?" Ivana asked as she held her sword ready. The blade of it still shined as her crystal-like armor glistened in the moonlight that shined down upon the three.

"I discovered this power by accident... but I've been working on it since then. Aside from these two blades, I've got three other things I've been working on, and all finished today. It may take more Mana to create these things, but they're more than enough to take you down. And since my Mana capacity increased, I shouldn't have any problems," the amateur sorcerer said as he crossed the swords in front of his chest.

"I'm not sure how, but after tracing these blades, I could create them exactly as I Traced them, along with the others I've created, it seems. I'm not sure how or why I have this power, but I'll use it to protect myself and those I love. Unlike you, I've got a reason to exist. After all, the dead have no business dealing with the living!" Zachary stated as he rushed forwards. His two blades flashed as the collided with the powerful ice blade that the blue haired woman wielded.

A series of slashes from both sides had gained no ground for either, but still, they had to make a move. A powerful slash from Azul striking against Ice's sword pushed the two away from each other and looking at one another. "I'm happy... if I didn't have this, I'd have to say goodbye to the only family I've ever had. Too bad for you, but 'denza and I have things to live for. We won't let you idiots defeat us!"

"Don't be a fool! Shadow is one of us, she's just being too foolish and stubborn to accept her responsibility!"

The crystalline sword clanged against Zach's weapons with the cold, brunt force of her strength, matching them maneuver for maneuver. Ivana melted her own blade and reformed it at will, letting it shatter away and then refreezing it as stronger than ever each time, through Zach's hand, or through both his swords when he crossed them defensively, bonding them together like scissors. When they grappled, she was stronger, fiercer, and she ripped the two blades away from his wounded hands, to the floor, before he could free them from her ice.

"Humans are selfish, foolish fools!" she declared with the unyielding tone of one who believes all their statements are pure fact, "I refuse to let one of them run around disrupting my magic!"

-------------------------------------------------------

The rapier just drew closer, and closer, tearing through the discs of shadow, spilling light back into the room. Cadenza could see her sister's body was trembling with all this strain, with all this energy... it was too much for her to contain... too much to handle. She had to do something before it wounded her seriously--or before Light found her again, and made her fight.

That time came sooner than she expected though--before she knew it, Luminari was standing over her, gray eyes fixed on where the lance tip was making her arm throb with pain--he'd sensed it, she realized, knew about it somehow! She cursed her luck, and mainly him, as Light nudged her chin up with his rapier's glowing blade, and circled her throat with it.

"Your trick didn't protect you long."

He got no reply, the gypsy was just murmuring something in Old Rubatoian, something that the body he possessed seemed to be reacting to. He could feel Luminari's ears strain to listen, even as he tried exerting his grip on her tighter.

"Esta é a canção do Madrigal;" the chant began, and already, Light began to feel strange. He stabbed forth with his sword, but the gypsy faded away into the shadows, and reappeared again behind him, struggling to restrain her sister's arms as she spoke into her ear.

"Uma canção cantada por muitos, cantado agora por uma."

The deep green of Luminari's eyes began to show through the gray, more lively than they ever had been before. Light began to pour on the magic, trying to fight against Cadenza's grasp, but it only helped to overwhelm the physical body he was in and purge him from it all the more.

Cadenza's voice became louder in Luminari's ears, in Light's mind, and sounded more resolute as she went on, "Eu sou a cadência; o ritmo;
Esse que mantem a canção unida.
Eu chamo agora à luz; o tempo;
A pessoa que dá a energia à canção."

Luminari began to writhe in her sister's grasp, shutting her eyes despite Light's strongest commands, letting out pained cries as gypsy magic and light magic fought within her, nearly pulling her apart.

The strongest surge came with the last words, that filled the room with energy from Cadenza and her sister and blasted away the Void discs like so many china dishes being thrown: "Descanse agora sua mágica, e caia silencioso, até que sua voz esteja necessário outra vez!"

A moment followed where the world felt like it had been flipped upside down, and reality seemed to tremor, as the two souls were severed from one another; first, Luminari and Light cried out, their voices as one, and then, gradually, they split into two, more distinct voices, as a blindingly light, glowing figure rose up from the older gypsy's limp, heavily-breathing body. The glow of magic that had surrounded Luminari faded, leaving her powerless, as did the rapier disappeared from her hand. In the midst of all this, Light stood and steadied himself on his feet, revealed in his true form and shining so radiantly that Cadenza couldn't even look from where she'd been knocked away by the surge onto the floor.

OoC: Translation of the very rough Portuguese/little bit of Italian up there:

"This is the song of the Madrigal;
A song sung by many, now sung by one.
I am the cadence; the rhythm;
The one that holds the song together.
I call now to the light; the tempo;
The one who gives energy to the song.
Rest now your magic, and fall silent,
Until your voice is needed again."

Zachary stood up as his wounded hands slowly healed up. His arms, when his armor was breached, were the fastest part of his body to heal. THe armor had repaired itself in the instant he had been wounded. "Humans are selfish, foolish fools! I refuse to let one of them run around disrupting my magic!"

"Then you're the fool," the ice mage said as he created a second set of Azul and Rosso. They were his easiest tool to recreate, and for now, they would serve his purpose. "First off, you dumb *****, my magic has nothing to do with this world. I don't know what your quarrel is with me, but my magic and yours have nothing in common but element. So before you go and spout inane **** about me disrupting your magic, you should think about how you gained your position, lady!"

The amateur sorcerer had learned from Cadenza and Monroe how these beings gained their powers. It was through gaining more power than they should, reasonably, need. "You're the one who usurped the mantle of the former Spirit of Ice! If you hadn't, it wouldn't be your magic! You'd just be another gypsy with ice magic, no different from the others!"

"You arrogant child! Do not speak of what you do not know, human!" Ivana said as she rushed forwards and swung her sword. The Replicator steadied himself and blocked her slash, their weapons scraping against each other as they locked swords.

"If I didn't know, then why are you so mad?! You know I'm right! I'm not real danger to you! I'm no real danger to anything in this world! The reason you want me dead is that I could be more powerful than you, and you're afraid of that. That's why you're going through all this trouble to try to strike me down!"

Zachary's last words seemed to have struck a nerve as a powerful pushed threw him against a wall, throwing his swords to the side, as a powerful blade soon impaled itself in his abdomen. "You've got a wild tongue! Now you die," she said as ice started to form on Zachary.

"Finally, you're close enough to not be able to dodge," the ice mage muttered as he spit blood in her face and punched the Spirit of Ice in the face, throwing her back. Zachary rested his hands on her sword and pulled it from his body, tossing it away afterwards and healing his wound with his left hand as he created Azul with his right. "I'm not gonna lose to the likes of you, so get off your high horse and admit you're fighting an equal, and not someone below you. Otherwise, I might just defeat you before you know it!"

"Bite your tongue! You know nothing of this vorld, boy, or me--I have to admit nothing!"

Ivana wiped her face, and her gleaming, gritted teeth shone as magic circled around her hands, forming the shape of another weapon. Zach tried to get in slashes and attacks during this moment, but the ice seemed to form a kind of barrier that he couldn't penetrate, as in Ivana's hands, a lance began to take shape.

"The last Ice vas veakened during a varming age and died! I was called to this position out of necessity, not by my own actions, and I take it very seriously!" The lance began to harden, tougher than any sword she'd used before, and the ice that formed the barrier shot out, catching Zachary in the blast, pinning him to the wall by a frozen column. "You, however, run around, making your little foolish snowstorms in the desert where they do not belong, and I must clean up your messes! I've had enough!"

The completed lance sparkled brilliantly in the light, as it knocked away Azul again, and then cut a swathe across Zach's throat.

---------------------------------------------------------

No longer bound by the constraints of a physical body, Light was every bit as powerful and as fast as the gypsy on her best day. He was upon her with his rapier in an instant, panting heavily, fueled by frustration and rage. When she managed to slip away further, down, out the the hole in the room, he plowed through the remaining Void discs like they were nothing, batting them away with his reformed rapier, groaning when one smacked him in the face like an irritating little fly.

Cadenza continued to lead him further and further away, out of Santa Mariela, towards the deserts. Light just followed after, in his single-minded determination, blasting with light when he got a good aim, slicing through the waves of shadow magic that trailed after the gypsy with his shining sword.

When they came to a stretch of sand that laid in the full-on sunlight, he saw his chance to corner her--he melded into the light, just as she did with shadow, and reappeared right before her, thrusting at her neck with his blade. Instead of meeting flesh, though, it was stopped with a clang, and the light seemed to dim and darken around them.

She'd blocked him with her cutlass--the Conquistatore da Luz--the sword that held his Luisa's soul. Anger seethed in him more than ever.

"You turn her against me...? I thought even you would have enough respect for the love between two people not to do that, you shadow-dwelling scum!"

He pressed against the cutlass more, bearing down on the woman, his hands trembling with his bottled rage and conflict--how much could he really push on this sword without breaking it? It housed the thing most precious to him... the main reason he was even fighting this human to begin with... if he destroyed it... was Luisa gone for good too?

Cadenza felt his grip was weakening more and more as these questions flew through his mind. She took this chance to push back, push home her advantage as she swept his feet out from under him, and pointed the sword at his neck.

"You've never shown me any kind of human feeling until now," she said firmly. Violet energy began to collect at the tip of her blade, forming an arrow, "why should I show any respect for the little you show now at the cost of my own life?"

Light opened his mouth to answer, but it was too late--his words were engulfed by a bone-chilling wail--the wail of a voice he knew and loved--as an arrow-shaped blast of energy shot out of the cutlass, and struck him in the chest, driving him deep into the sand.

When the dust cleared, Cadenza was gone again, nowhere to be seen. But still, there was that icy lance tip, if he could just sense it...

"Vell, zis vasn't as much fun as I zought it would be. Still, I can't blame zis boy for trying. Now then, vanish," she said, turning to face him. She drew her lance back and smiled. It would end in the next attack. "After all, you are no much for ze power I am to use now."

Zachary's body trembled as he remained bound to the wall. Rage engulfed him. He anger flared up more violently than any other time he could recall. Mana seeped from his body, his bones becoming covered in Metalloid Ice and cracking the bounds that held him to the wall. His eyes began to glow blue as he stared at her. Something was starting to awaken.

"Now die!" the woman yelled as she thrust her lance at the ice mage. Suddenly, however, the wall behind him shattered and the bounds that had held him exploded into shards of ice. Still, the lance moved forwards, completely undeterred by what had just happened. The look of victory on the face of the woman remained as the lance stopped moving. She'd finished it there. Or so it seemed.

Rubble and rock fell where the former cave wall had fallen. All except in one area. Zachary stood in the center of the former wall that his rage had just caused to collapse. His Mana had exploded angrily at what this woman had said, but now, nothing but mist from the extreme cold radiated off the boy. In his right hand, he held the stopped tip of Ice's lance.

Zachary looked up slowly as mist fluttered off his neck, the wound slowly closing up. Pain slowly vanished as his body seemed to restore itself. A calmness had returned to him... It was just as Zorlo had once described to him. Any pent up emotion can become a weapon... but if you can't keep your emotions in check, they'll destroy you. That's what you told me, Z... I guess I'd like to say thanks, since it just saved my life.

Ice jerked at her lance, trying to free it from Zachary's grip as she cast her angry and furious glance on the amateur sorcerer. "Blah, blah, your needs! You don't understand anything!" The Replicator looked up at the woman, his eyes still glowing blue as his vision began to fluctuate again. This had something to do with what had happened to his bones a moment before, creating an internal armor system of his bones that was now fading.

The glow vanished and the ice mage's bones were again undefended by the suddenly created natural armor that had seemed to form. Zachary stood up fully, still holding the tip of Ice's lance, despite her attempts to take it back, and looked her in the eye. "This won't make sense to you, since I think your heart is frozen over as your body is, but I've brought myself here for the person I love. I understand that the desert has to exist to keep a balanced ecosystem. I understand better than most since I can change that! Still, there isn't anything wrong with a little snow now and then... especially since its for someone important to me. Someone that I want to show the glory of the winters I'll never see again!"

"So, lady, if you're gonna go around and point pointy objects at me, you should show yourself and fight me fairly. If you don't, next time I'll kill you. I don't care what side effects it has! You're the danger, since you don't understand anything about this job that you were lucky enough to fall into your lap. If you understood love at all, you'd understand that logic and science and even domain mean nothing! Now then," the Replicator said as he pushed the tip of her lance away. "Get out of here... I'm sick of looking at you."

Zachary turned away and started looking at the wall he had just destroyed. Monroe, who had stood off to the side from the beginning, smiled. Zachary had just made a very gracious offer to this woman, but odds are, he knew that it wouldn't do anything more than enrage her. And surely enough, it seemed to.

Ivana thrust her lance suddenly at Zachary. "Zach, look out!" Monroe called over as he saw her motions. This seemed to be bad. Zachary turned and created Azul and Rosso to defend against it, holding the flats of the blades out towards the oncoming attack. STill, with a single blow, the tip of the lance shattered both blades and continued forwards, impaling Zachary clean through his back on the right pectoral. Blood dripped from the sorcerer's mouth as the woman pushed the lance again, causing a little more blood to drip out.

"God damn *****..." Zachary muttered as he held his left hand up, just over where the top of the lance's guard was, and formed a sleek, gray-blue bow formed in his hand. In his right hand, a copy Wisp's modified main gauche formed. Quickly, the sword in his right hand narrowed into a glowing blue arrow that Zachary mounted on his bow. Using the sight that he had built into between where the bow is and where the arrow is mounted, Zachary fired off the arrow, aiming right for the center of Ice's head. This meant war!

Rey stood, focusing on the cutlass trailing away from him; the cutlass he didn't sense in a magical way, but... more in his heart, or what passed for his heart now as a Spirit. His dear Luisa was locked within that sword... he could still remember the last day he had seen her.

"Don't go", he'd pleaded, holding her in his arms that one last time, resting his head on her shoulder and taking in the scent of her hair, something he'd always taken for granted until it was gone.

"If this woman isn't taken care of now, there's no telling what might happen, Rey... she's already... got more command of shadow magic than me, I believe... I can feel, when I'm around her, in Rubato... the magic's in her control there..."

He knew she was right, and yet still, he begged her and begged her not to go. She just reminded him, maybe a shade regretfully, that it was her duty to keep the balance, to watch over the shadows... her plan had been to slowly absorb back the gypsy's magic, and if she put up a fight, she'd resort to absorbing her soul as well, possibly even in a weapon like Luisa herself rested within now...

"If something goes wrong... I'll come for you, Luisa," he'd promised her. "...I love you." She'd given him a kiss, and one last beautiful smile, her violet eyes looking into his, and then she left to take care of the woman called Cadenza.

"I'll hold you to that promise, my love,"--those, her last words.

He'd never imagined that months later, he'd be hunting down that same woman, faced with a cutlass that held his lover's soul within. When he'd heard her voice again, in that wail that came before the blast... it was the most alive he'd felt in months. A shiver of something had run through him... like the way Love's magic was said to do. His heart ached, and his raged burned...

Cadenza Madrigal was going to die. She had to. Not just to become the Spirit of Shadow--no, he'd rather not even allow that. She had to die, she had to lose her magic, because he needed his Luisa back... his love for over a dozen lifetimes.

------------------------------------------------------------

A violet-black whirlwind tore through the desert, headed for the caves of ice where another fight was taking place. From out of this tornado of magic, discs of shadow magic would be shot out every now and then for some reason known only to the sprinting figure, the circles of blackness flipping and rotating lazily and reflecting back the dying rays of the sun.

Light wouldn't be able to pick her out if she scattered traces of shadow magic all over the desert, Cadenza thought. Or at least, that was the reasoning that went into her winding path and many diversions left for Reymundo. She was well on her way towards the ice caves to camouflage the other thing she knew Light was tracing--the lance tip. Finding that tiny bit of ice magic amidst all the ice powers that would be in use there in those caves full of battle would be like finding a single specific grain of sand in the desert. She should be safe...

Zach, too, would benefit from her being there--she wondered now how he was faring against Ivana. Chances were, he was seconds from death, and getting closer every moment. Flashes of Arietta grieving over him stole into her mind every now and then as she ran, and sank into the shadows, cutting down distances of miles into mere minutes of travel time. She was just arriving at the cave when she heard Ivana's shouts of "foolish" this and "fool" that, and the sounds of shattering ice.

I'm convinced that's the only bloody word in her whole vocabulary.

Ice was sending out chains, wrapping them around and wrenching Zach's bow from his hands, declaring him a fool for thinking he could wound her with a shot to the head. She was just finishing crushing his weapon when from the darkness at the cave entrance, figures of shadow began to emerge, all dancing to a melody neither Ivana nor Zach could hear. They surrounded the woman, striking her down, restraining her by the arms and legs when Cadenza stepped out of the Spirit's very own shadow, and struck her across the chest with her cutlass, creating a crack in her breastplate.

"Zach, you're wasting your time with headshots," she called out to him, not wasting time with so much as a greeting. He was alive, and that's all she had needed to see beforehand. "She'll crush anything you come at her with using that lance of hers--it's made from part of her very own soul, it won't be bested so easily! You've got to go for her heart--that's her weak point!"

Those words had just left her lips when her face went blank, for no reason apparent to Zach's eyes. A shudder ran through her, and she exhaled, a cold breath that left no puff of fog like a warm, living body would... Monroe's eyes widened when he, who could see, noticed the figure all etched in bright, gleaming light reaching into her chest, through her back, clutching her beating heart.

"The heart's the weak point, is it, Shadow...?" Reymundo's voice came into her ears, deliberate, mocking, full of hate. He pulled a little, yanking at her heart, letting her suffer and gasp and struggle like a fish out of water for a few moments. Her world was swimming, flickering between the blackness of unconsciousness and the scene of the ice cave.

She uttered a curse in Old Rubatoian in a raspy breath, and slumped forward like a rag doll, her gaze falling on Zach's horrified face, and Ivana's satisfied grin even while the shadow minions still held her.

"Shadows... disperse," Light commanded, sneering the words by her ear.

And with that single word from him, all her shadow magic began to pour out slowly, staining the cave violet-black...