Sigyn's Resolve

They found the Aqueos gingerly waiting by the exits, avoiding what daylight was still available.

All of them swiftly turning to stare at the new arrivals.

"Theo, will they attack us?" A concerned Sigyn asked, squeezing his hands a little bit tighter, unsure if they would attack now that Selene wasn't around to stop them.

"If they do, it'll be the last thing they ever do," said Theoric before stopping and turning to Sigyn to reconfirm what she truly wanted.

"Sigyn, do you still want to fight with me? Be by my side in battle? If so then be brave Sigyn, be confident in your abilities, learn your limits, what you can and can't do, and always remember you can call me when things get tricky, all of you remember," he said glancing at Nina and Lydia who gave him a firm nod.

"Mn, I've never been happier than now, being with you, traveling with you, this has been the most fun I've ever had, even with the not-so-good things, it's been great, I can do this! You can count on me!" She said with conviction with the others echoing her sentiments.

"Alright ladies, then let's go, oh and make sure Grani doesn't grow too big that he draws everyone's eyes, and speaking of, allow me to reinforce your shields," he said empowering and upgrading each of their all-encompassing orange skin shields. Giving each of them a suit of orange armor that would better protect and hide them from those who wish them harm.

He would have also told her not to use too much of her power to be noticed but that was unrealistic if she was going to fight, so he didn't say anything about it. He just had to make sure he was there when she needed him if anything she couldn't handle happened.

"There you go my little warriors," he chuckled at how cute they seemed all geared up staring up at him.

"Theeeooo," Sigyn complained aware he was making fun of them. The other two simply thanked him as they proceeded past the wary Aqueos who were intelligent enough not to mess with their mistress's friends.

"Oh my," "I, I can't believe it," Exclaimed Sigyn and Nina who clutched her bow a little tighter upon seeing the ruined city before them.

"To think the great city of Athens, the place I was born, the place I loved and prayed for that took everything away from me, becoming an endless nightmare, would face such a day... I don't know whether I should be happy or... happy," Said Nina stoically.

Theoric couldn't help but grin at that as Sigyn reprimanded her,- "I know what happened here wasn't good for you, but don't forget the many innocents that lived here as well, just like when you lived here."

Nina and everyone went quiet as they continued.

Theoric thought of Selene as they listened to the sounds of battle off in the distance. He thought he saw something flying over there before his attention darted to the Acropolis where he saw what looked like a two-headed monster being blasted away by a yellow beam that sent it plummeting over the side quite the distance, landing not all that far from them.

"Was that a cousin of yours Grani?" Asked Theoric.

Not waiting for a response he went over to check it out.

There they found a wounded two-headed, long-necked, green-scaled monster with a broken wing, struggling in the rubble to roll back to its 4 hooves.

"It's hurt," said Sigyn who was stopped by Theoric from getting any closer,- "Theo?"

"That's likely another lab-bred monster that was specifically made for this war, who knows how many it's already killed, and you're what? Going to go over there and heal it?" He exasperatedly asked.

"If it is, isn't it like Grani's brother? Let me go heal it so he can have a friend," she stated.

Grani on the other hand didn't want anyone else joining, he already got very little time with his mistress, another would only shorten it further.

"Unless it talks I wouldn't count on it, besides Grani doesn't even want it," Theoric said noticing his glaring eyes.

Not liking the blame being shifted to him, Grani denied it,- "I believe in the mistress,"

Theoric narrowed his eyes at the little guy,- "Is that so," he said turning around, putting up a wall to block a fire breath attack.

"Look, I don't have time for this, but you can use this opportunity to practice, I'll leave the decision on what to do within your guy's capable hands. I have to go to Athena's temple and see what's going on, remember to call me if anything happens,"

He paused, giving each girl a kiss, lingering on the one with Sigyn, putting his forehead on hers,- "Stay safe, you can do this," he said pecking her forehead as he took off into the air.

Even though he didn't want to leave her, he did thinking it was a good chance for her to learn to be on her own in tough situations. He did check the surrounding area making sure there was nobody who looked too hard to handle, spotting Selene fighting in the distance which he debated about going over to help or not, but ultimately didn't because she just left without really explaining a whole lot, so maybe this is what she wanted. Plus he needed to get to the temple and see what was going on, he had to do his part to help Athena for her daughter's sake if nothing else.

It might have been risky leaving if an Olympian came, but if it wasn't one thing then it was another, he couldn't always be afraid of leaving her alone. Something they both had to learn to cope with again after being so close together recently, having never really separated since they left Asgard.

"You too!" Sigyn yelled to his fading back.

Turning to the ladies she took charge,- "Like Theo said, we can do this, are you with me?" She asked.

"Always my lady," Nina said.

"Of course, we're sisters now," said Lydia reaffirming their bond.

Hearing a loud thump, they turned to see the creature attacking the wall Theoric left to give them enough time to prepare.

Encouraged, Sigyn stepped forward as did Grani who she stopped,- "Grani, you stay back and guard my sisters, make sure you don't grow too big though, and stick out unless you have to, I'll take care of this. Nina, Lydia you can back me if I need it, otherwise, please allow me to fight, I need to do this, to prove to Theo and myself that I can do it."

"You can count on us, we'll keep an eye out for anyone or anything else that may venture nearby and let you know," Nina said.

"You can do it Sigyn, we believe in you," said Lydia. Giving their final words of encouragement and peace of mind before finding a safe place to watch over everything.

Just in time as the wall cracked with the next strike, an angry green beast standing on its hind legs, stomping on the wall repeatedly with its two front hooves before finally turning around and giving a hard back-kick.

Flinching at the cracking, Sigyn breathed in deeply as she closed her eyes for a moment, opening them with renewed vigor as she called upon her powers.

A soothing green aura surrounding her as she reached into her seed bag, scattering them around the area. Already growing in the air as they hit the ground, sparking a wild growth of plant life all over as the wall came down with the next hoof kick, shattering on impact.

Feeling something wrapping around its legs, Tricephalous pulled away in a hurry, trotting forward ways, then turning around to find a mini garden forest in the place it once was.

Eyes narrowing on the woman in the center it charged forth snorting fire, ready to turn it all into cinders.

Mindful of its fire breathing capability, Sigyn manipulated the plant growth in such a way as to limit the chances of them catching on fire, by making them thicker and wetter as she willed them to intake more water from their surroundings.

Sending a wall of roots out to catch the incoming beast while calling out,- "If you can speak, say something and we can work things out, speak now or forever hold your peace!" she yelled, giving one final shot at getting Grani a friend.

A wall of fire answered her, as it let loose on the roots, burning away enough of them to continue through uncontested.

Furrowing her brows, Sigyn grabbed hold of a vine, lifting her over the beast as it passed under, avoiding most of the flame with the orange armor shield protecting her from the rest.

"Come on Sigyn, you can do this, you've already done it once by accident, now just do it on purpose," she told herself, spreading her powers out, increasing the growth around them,

Trees and brush, including many vegetable and fruit plants, tripled in size.

Nina grabbing a nearby apple, taking a bite, amazed along with Lydia at her power.

Feeling uncomfortable with the changes, Tricephalous began burning all that it could, unsuccessfully thanks to their untouched root systems underneath, allowing Sigyn to bring them back as much as she wished.

Running out of steam, Tricephalous roared in frustration as Sigyn went on the offensive, willing everything around it to grow faster than ever.

Roots shooting out from all around, catching and grappling it to the ground as it struggled to get away to no avail.

And just as she was prepared to take its life, she caught sight of its desperate fear-filled eyes, she couldn't do it.

Lowering herself down from the tree she was sitting on with shoulders slumped, Nina and Lydia approached.

"Good job, you did spectacularly," Lydia congratulated her.

Nina, a bit more in tune with feelings than Lydia noticed something was wrong,- "You did it, my lady, are you not happy?" she asked.

Sigyn sighed,- "I told you to stop doing that, just call me by my name, and well, I couldn't do it."

Confused Lydia pointed out,- "But you did?"

"Do you mean killing it?" Asked Nina.

"I could finish for you if you want," said Lydia, seeing her nod.

"No that would defeat the purpose, I'm supposed to be able to do it, but I just couldn't when I looked at its eyes," said Sigyn sadly.

"Well... You could release it, and when it tries to kill you again, maybe then you can do it after seeing there's no redeeming it," advised Nina.

Sigyn furrowed her brows in thought,- "I guess we could try that,"

Just as she was beginning to release it, a laser shot zipped by overhead.

Even though they were in a mostly abandoned area with most of the Deviant army occupied elsewhere and the ones in base mostly wiped out by the Aqueos.

Scouting patrols were now making their way back with a group sent their direction to see what was going on. After discovering a tiny group of 3, they immediately started firing thinking to quickly take care of them and then head back to base.

Ducking down, they turned to see a small group of Deviants firing at them. Grani taking a shot as he rushed in front of Sigyn, growing a bit to provide cover.

"Grani!" Exclaimed Sigyn as she started to heal him, though the shots did little to no damage.

"I'm fine mistress, this is nothing."

"My lady, Sigyn, what do you wish to do?" Asked Nina not sure if she should fire back since Sigyn was interested in proving herself.

She didn't get a chance to answer though when the green monster behind them snapped out of its remaining restraints sending a plume of fire at them.

Lydia reactively screamed in response, mostly due to fear than anything, but it helped all the same as she used her power to blast away the fire, and the creature right along with it as it wailed in agony.

Using a bit of healing on herself and Nina for their ears, Sigyn thanked Lydia,- "Nice one Lydia."

Lydia apologized,- "I'm sorry that must have hurt, I attacked on instinct and didn't adjust the noise appropriately to protect you."

Sigyn looked down,- "No it's my fault, if I just finished like I was supposed to, Nina was right, it attacked again as soon as it got free."

Nina comforted her,- "It's okay, but we really should be doing something about our situation, what would you like us to do?" Asked Nina, reminding them of what was going on as the Deviants advanced firing more shots into Grani who stood there unmoving while being a bit disappointed that it couldn't also take care of the other threat behind them. Telling himself to thank Lydia at some point for protecting his mistress, though they would have been fine regardless. He wasn't about to count on anything that man left to protect them, just on principle. Even if he knew deep down Theoric was not all that bad and was great for his mistress, he would never admit it.

"Right, How you doing Grani, can you hold on?" Asked Sigyn.

"For as long as you need me to mistress."

Looking back at the dazed green monster that was still wobbly from Lydia's attack, Sigyn eyes burned with a new light. It didn't sit well with her knowing her friends could have gotten hurt by her carlessness.

"I'll take the monster, you guys take care of the others, but save me one," said a newly motivated Sigyn.

Feeling her Asgardian blood pumping, she sent numerous roots and plant life at it, not concerned whether it was ready or not as she quickly wrapped it up once again.

It didn't stand a chance against her fury as she willed the plants to pierce whatever gaps they could find, absorbing the green monster into the tangled mess, wrapping and fusing it all into a tree by the time it was all over, the monster was just another part of its base, buried by roots and melded into the trunk.

This would have shocked the other two if they weren't busy with the incoming Deviants. Grani attacked first getting the go-ahead from his mistress while not forgetting to capture one.

Nina ran behind him firing her bow with deadly accuracy as she put an arrow right through an eye socket.

Lydia wanted to sing, but thought better of it realizing how much that would stick out on a battlefield, at least with the scream people could just assume someone had died a very loud miserable death. Deciding to stay back and keep an eye out instead made her feel kind of useless, thinking about how she should get Theoric or someone to teach her another set of fighting skills.

Paying more attention to the weapons the enemy was firing got her curious as she ventured forward to get her hands on one thinking of it as a good alternative, for now.

After the fights ended relatively quickly with only a few foes to speak of, they all got back together with Nina and Lydia admiring Sigyn's work.

"Wow, remind me never to get on your bad side," said Nina a bit apprehensively when an image popped up of her miss deeds.

"You guys are my sisters, I would never hurt you," said Sigyn, "And how are you liking that weapon, Lydia?" She asked seeing her holding a gun blaster in her hands.

Lydia looked down admiring her new weapon,- "It's good, I can see why the city looks the way it does if they all have weapons like these, and no Grani to block them," she said turning to look at the big green guy who was holding a prisoner, standing a little prouder thanks to her compliment.

Sigyn strolled over inspecting him and his prisoner,- "That's right, you did good Grani, tell me if you need any healing."

"Thank you, mistress, I'm fine," said Grani cheerfully,- "I captured one as you wished," he enthusiastically said hoping for more praise which she happily gave him.

"Good job, set him down, and let's ask him some things," said Sigyn.

As soon as his feet hit the ground his struggle to escape began all over again, trying to break free from Grani's grasp.

Squeezing him a bit with his claws digging in, the Deviant groaned in pain as Grani put him on his knees while shrinking down a bit to better hold him.

"You'll get nothing out of me human filth," he spat at them, getting another painful squeeze in response.

"That's enough Grani," she said before turning her attention back to the captured,- "Why have you done this? What reason could you possibly have? What are your people's goals?" Asked Sigyn curiously, wondering why anyone would do these awful things. Trying to find some redeeming quality in him to change her mind.

He chuckled,- "Oh how your pitiful race has forgotten your place in the world, but we'll soon fix that, you'll be our slaves again, serving your betters, you filthy little maggots!" he shouted.

Receiving yet another squeeze, the male Deviant only growled at them from then on, snapping at her with his teeth when she got too close.

Taking a deep breath, Sigyn sighed knowing what she had to do next,- "You'll be my first man, well a man that can speak."

Words that would normally excite anyone brought a feeling of dread into the Deviant as he looked up into her cold eyes.

"Goodbye," She said devoid of emotions, allowing her power to take over, sending a shiver through the others as a root shot up, impaling him straight through the chin, all the way through the skull.

The moment passing, she walked a distance away, feeling like she was going to hurl. It was nothing like killing a creature, or maybe it was because she was up close and personal this time, looking him straight in the eyes when she did it that was too much for her. She didn't know, all she knew was that it was very unpleasant, and something she already regretted to some degree.

Nina ran over, pleased to see she was still ultimately Sigyn, though she gave a scary performance before carrying out the deed.

"Are you okay?" Asked Nina.

"I didn't like that, I didn't like that one bit, why do people have to do such cruel things?" Asked a teary-eyed Sigyn, falling into her arms.

Nina patted her back as Lydia came over to support along with Grani who shrunk down back to his mini size.

"I don't know, I honestly don't know," said Nina softly.

"Was it like this for you?" Asked Sigyn through sniffles.

Nina didn't know how to respond, her situation was much different, even Lydia had a much different upbringing, they couldn't really relate in the same way.

"Don't worry, this is a good thing, you're feeling like this because you're a good person, you should be glad you feel so strongly about it, it would be worrying if you didn't feel anything," said Nina trying her best to come up with something nice to say.

"I wish Theo was here," said Sigyn.

"Sigyn? what's wrong, did something happen? Are you in danger?" Asked a worried Theoric after receiving her message that she sent through the ring accidentally.

"Theo? I'm sorry, it's just, it's just, I did it, I killed a man, and it didn't feel good at all, I wish you were here," she sniffled tears falling from her eyes.

"It's okay, you'll be fine, I know this is hard for you right now, and I apologize for not being there for you, especially for your first, that kinda slipped my mind, but this is what it takes if you wish to go to battle with me. I promise to make it up to you later.

It may help to think of it as part of nature, you have a nature-type power, just think of it as prey vs predator or something, and don't forget what they would do to you or anyone else if they could. You were in the right, you did good, that's what matters. By doing what you did, you saved lives that would have been lost by that guy's hands. Don't be sad about taking out someone like that.

Now I have to go, I'm fighting a rather difficult opponent and I need full concentration. Please only contact me if you're in trouble, oh and just in case, if you end up spotting a 4 armed Deviant, just run away."

"Mn, I love you," she said wiping her eyes feeling a bit better after listening to him even if she didn't catch all of what he was trying to say.

"I love you too."

Nina and Lydia waited patiently listening to her side, still having the habit of talking aloud.

"So how's Theo?" Asked Lydia.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you guys can't hear it, but you have rings now so I'll have to ask him about that in the future, about us all talking together, anyways he's fine, having fun fighting someone I guess, says if we spot a grey 4 armed or something, run away."

"Um, okay, so what now?" asked Nina.

Seeing every looking at her for leadership, Sigyn's pride swelled as she revaluated her goals, her gaze drifting towards the sounds of fighting in the distance.

"Well, I don't like it, but once again I'm by myself while he's off fighting, so I still need to prove myself, let's go see what's happening over there." Sigyn said leading them unknowingly towards Selene. None of them actively thinking about her since she left the first time, having only normal interactions with her and a bit of friction here and there about certain things with no chance to really bond over anything.