CHAPTER 330

Sonya felt more than saw First Wind flash away, trying to get some distance. She closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat as it pounded in his chest. It was almost better than any background music she could think of. She swayed her head to it as he shot out of the building she’d thrown him into, grinning ear-to-ear. At that moment, in that place, she’d never felt more in control. She could feel her sister’s presence. She was closer than she’d ever been before, like they had been rejoined after being separated. Yet at the same time she was more distinct than ever. 

She slowly turned her head, and her eyes flashed with barely restrained might. A flicker of light stretched across the air next to her, and her sister stepped out, her appearance an inversion of her own declared form. “He’s really going for some distance, Sister,” Sonya hummed.

Her sister frowned and tilted her head up as if to look down on him. “A coward who has always relied on talent and violence to get his way, he has never known proper fear, Sister.” She held out her hand, and Sonya tossed Volition to her. 

Her sister checked the gun once while Sonya twirled Verdict between her fingers. “You know,” Sonya chuckled thoughtfully, “he might not even realize he’s afraid!” She paused and tilted her head, turning with a bright-eyed expression to her sister. “Oh, that’s a wonderful name!”

She got a deadpan look from her reflection. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”

Sonya held her hand to her mouth with a gasp. “Oh! You’re right! I’m so sorry!” She groaned and stamped her foot on the ground. “I really want to use it now, though!”

That person that had become such an integral part of who she was let out a deep sigh and shook her head, chuckling a little. “Fine, do what you want,” she said with a shrug and looked up towards the hole in the wall that First Wind had shot out through. “I’ve settled in, and I think I can synchronize with your ability usage. I feel like I am still in your head even in this body. What a strange dysphoria; I don’t hate it.” She grinned. “Shall we begin our hunt, Sonya?”

Sonya glanced at the hole in the wall and sneered even as she let a warmth fill her chest. A name chosen by the person who at one point hadn’t even believed she deserved to exist. A name chosen to reflect their shared heritage. One with a phonetic nod to Ereshkigal, the sister of Ishtar, goddess of the underworld. Her own sister’s new name. “With pleasure, Erina.”

They shot off in opposite directions.

–

First Wind rocketed through the air, smashing through the sound barrier and pushing himself up one mach of speed at a time. He dove around buildings he had left floating in the air, his heart thundering in his ears. He’d never felt anything like it before, anything like that presence that had crashed into him when she’d said those three words. It was impossible, incomprehensible. Every instinct told him that he had borne witness to real talent in that instant, and it chafed him down to his very soul. He just couldn’t understand how three words had changed anything. He hadn’t felt her use mana to change the way she had, nor had he felt her muscles alter in any way. It was like some kind of incantation.

He heard the building far behind him rupture in stereo, and then his eyes narrowed. Two shapes in the air? People? One of them wasn’t breathing. One of her Legionnaires, he thought with irritation and changed his trajectory, aiming for the dark clouds beneath him. She’s getting closer. I need to think of something! I-

Luminous pink eyes twinkled in front of him.

“Hi!” she said brightly. “Where ya goin?”

Her shin connected with his raised arms before he had a chance to even process that she’d arrived. The moment she touched him, his wind felt sluggish and solid again. He grunted with the force of the impact - his damaged arm and the false arm made from wind bent beneath the sheer power behind her kick. He shot into the sky, his mind spinning. It doesn’t make any sense! I can feel that her power hasn’t grown stronger; she isn’t using more mana. It just feels-

He felt that unbreathing form appear above him and turned with a snarl, conjuring up blades of wind to smash through it, only to look once more into her eyes. Instead of a devious grin, he saw only cold malice behind that smile as the false Ishtar raised her gun and pointed it at him. “Struggle,” she hissed and pulled the trigger. He forced his body to move laterally with a blast of wind as a jet-black explosion ripped through the air where the bullet exploded. Some of it brushed against his skin, and he felt his arm begin to heal. He looked down at it in shock before a secondary sensation hit him: his strength had faded just a little bit. M-my ability! What the-?

The false Ishtar turned slowly and met his gaze. “Run.”

That wasn’t Sonya. It couldn’t be. It was like some sort of twisted, dark reflection of her. He blasted away again and glanced over his shoulder as the fake raised the gun and started firing again. His instincts begged him to let the shots hit him so his body could heal, even as his rational mind knew that taking a hit would weaken him further. It was the opposite of how those glowing flowers made him feel. He pushed his instincts down even as he knew that was counter to using his abilities. The dichotomy in his brain made his head hurt. He spun again, diving beneath one of the buildings in the air, and grabbed hold of it with his will, hurling it in her direction. “FUCK OFF!” he bellowed.

The three upper floors of an office building launched towards her, and he shot upwards, concentrating on the wind, feeling it. He sensed an air displacement appear nearby. She’s going to-

The feeling of displacement vanished and reappeared closer to him. His blood ran cold. An illusion? She made a fucking illusion of air displacement? He snarled, the confusion turning into fury. She’s fucking with me! he thought as he turned to grab the air and pull on it, his muscles straining. I need a weapon! He ground his teeth as she just appeared again, the portal hidden by whatever ability she was using to create illusions. Her glowing knife shot towards him in a jab. He pulled harder, sweat forming on his brow, and with a gasp, blocked it.

Her eyes widened with surprise and then sparkled with delight. “You really are impressive,” she snickered as her knife ground against a curved blade of compressed air.

–

Verdict sparked against First Wind’s new weapon, and she couldn’t help but feel her heart soar with excitement. She wanted him dead. She wanted him to experience suffering for everything he’d done in this timeline and the last, but she wanted him to give it everything he had. It wouldn’t be satisfying for her unless she broke his faith in his so-called talent. So, every time he pushed himself to a greater height, every time he figured out a new trick to survive her ceaseless onslaught, it was like another nail in his coffin.

Keep growing, Herald! she thought. Keep fighting! Give it everything you’ve got! Because I’ll keep crushing you over and over, just like Otis! Just like the others! Fall, First Wind!

She swept low and disguised a portal for her sister. He swung down at her, and she giggled at him. “Are you sure?” she taunted as Erina appeared, Volition pointed down at the back of his head. Her swing went for his leg, and instead of blocking either of them, he changed his posture with a burst of wind, turning into a pinwheel and shooting off horizontally to the side. He didn’t run away this time, though, and instead swept his blade at both of them. She altered the trajectory of her own swing and brought it up as her sister planted a hand on her shoulder and went into a handstand, avoiding the attack while Sonya took the brunt of it.

Erina opened fire. and he fell instead of accelerating, using gravity to pull himself out of the way of the blasts of black light. Sonya threw out her hand, and she grabbed hold of any plants in the buildings floating around them. Her fist clenched, and she changed them with the dualistic form of her ability, vines of metal shooting at him from all directions. Living and artificial, she thought as he raced away, diving and weaving between the spear-like tendrils. Erina burst into movement, going to pursue as Sonya conjured up spears of blackened hard light. They radiated with a silvery-white glow. She raised Verdict along with them, and the handle extended into a spear. I wonder if this… she started to think, as the spear-form trembled in her hand, is this what they mean by being smote?

The spear glowed, and she threw it.

BOOM!

He clearly felt it coming. Buildings flew into its path only to be pulverized in its wake. He turned and roared, the black storm rising up from beneath him in a column of solid wind. The air itself shook with his fury, and the spear collided with it. Her sister was already moving around the wall of wind and power, firing shots into it as his bellowing reached a level of sound that became physical. Sonya raised her arm as her body shifted back a bit in the air, and she laughed.

Whoo! He’s mad! 

When the column of black clouds vanished, she saw that the storm beneath her had thinned a little. First Wind, on the other hand, floated in the air with both arms restored even as two ragged stumps dripped where his knees had been. He looked diminished, the wind barely keeping him in the air after the shots from Volition sapped his strength to restore his body. She tilted her chin up as he hung there in the air, unmoving. “Given up already?” she called down to him. “I’m far from done with you, First Wind.”

She shot a glance towards Erina when he didn’t respond right away.

“I’m jealous,” he said quietly, his soft voice reaching her ears despite the howling winds.

Her eyes narrowed.

He snorted out a laugh. “I’m actually jealous, wow.” He clapped his hand to his head and threw it back in a rough, furious laugh. “I fucking hate you so much! All of it was you, wasn’t it? Indonesia?” He shook his head, and his arms went slack again. “How long have you been planning this?” he asked.

She pursed her lips. What is he up to? I don’t feel any changes in the air currents. He’s not winding anything up. “Since the flash, Luca.”

He blinked and looked at her in confusion. “Why?” he asked.

“You wouldn’t believe it even if I told you,” she said humorlessly. “Let’s just say I knew from the start what you were destined to become and have been hunting people just like you for the past two years.”

He narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth at her. “Are you saying I’m just another tick off a list, sheila?”

She gave him a piteous look, her good humor vanishing. “That’s right.” She glanced at Erina, who floated around, positioning herself behind him. He didn’t even react to her movement, holding Sonya’s gaze with a look of mixed insult and appreciation. It ended up looking like disgust to her.

He scoffed and reached up to run his hand over his face. “Damn,” he hissed and shook his head. “I’m so fucking jealous. I want that, what you have. It didn’t increase your power, did it?” he pressed. “It streamlined it somehow, made it more yours or something, reflecting you. It wasn’t your ability that changed, not really. You did.”

Her eyes narrowed into deadly slits, and she held out her hand, Verdict reappearing in it. Too smart for his own good. She extended its handle into a spear again. “I think we’ve spoken enough, First Wind. It’s time for you to die.” Verdict began trembling in her grip as she empowered it, filling it with might and raising it over her head. He was too weak to escape now. Erina raised her weapon to fire if he tried to move.

“I want it,” he growled. “If you can do it, why can’t I?”

She gritted her teeth and put more power into Verdict as she willed metal vines to lash out towards him. He didn’t even try to stop her as she pulled his arms and secured his waist. She refused to miss. The bleak black glow coming off of her vines sapped even more of his strength, his face turning pale as his legs grew back under its twisted influence. He never broke his lock with her stare as she heaved forward and threw her weapon.

That’s when she felt it. It happened so suddenly it hit her like a slap across the face. A ripple in the air, a twisting of the world, the karma of the very planet redirecting a little bit of itself as the child stepped across the border into adulthood. Her eyes widened. The threshold! She gritted her teeth and created a storm of spears of blacklight, pelting him from all directions as Erina opened fire. They slowed instead of accelerating, Erina’s bullets hitting the air like it was some kind of soup.

“I…”

The air trembled, and the spears disintegrated as each of them was crushed into powder beneath an air pressure that made her own body creak. She created more as Verdict struggled to reach its target. She held out her hands and squeezed, pressing her palms towards one another and willing her vines to tear him apart. All she felt was resistance as visions of storms began to flicker through her mind. She saw a worldwide hurricane, felt it, experienced it.

“Am…”

That's impossible. It took me- She shut down the thought as Set’s words returned to her. It was both the most challenging step on the path and also the simplest. All it required was a statement, understanding, and one’s own enlightenment. If there was anyone who had the talent to blast right through the threshold and into Declaration, it was Luca DeMarco. It was First Wind. She gritted her teeth and rallied herself as her scowl turned to a smile of wonder. The world really was an incredible place. Fine, I’ll smash your declaration too, First Wind! she thought as the air itself became her enemy and his voice shook the Earth.

“THE STORM!”