Wishing Well

*******************

Johnny Caldwell

I jump to the right as the back of my mind roars in alarm. A tendril of water seemingly materializes beside me, crashing into the ground and melting the ground several inches downward in a wide circle.

Some of the water splashes onto me as I roll away, and I'm forced to rip off parts of my clothes for fear of being burnt by the acid. I quickly look up to see what Saconet is doing, and I notice Birdie was also attacked by a tendril of water from the bear. The only thing she uses to defend against its onslaught is a wall of light formed by Ether. It works, but I can hear sizzling sounds come from both the wall and the ground beneath it.

A glance at the bear also tells me that it is a bit smaller after detaching water from it to attack us. Not much, but it at least holds credence to a theory of mine. Powers are, well, immensely powerful, but they all have restrictions. Mine is pretty obvious and severe. Blindness after use. Wyatt's is a severe weakness, although I believe, because he got it so early, it slowly is removing some of the drawbacks. He started only being able to use one use of his future Power before nearing his limit, and now he's at two. Silas' is unclear, but I figure the cost of use is a limit in itself. Birdie's requires her to stand still alongside a torrent of Ether to supply. The restriction she creates is quite significant and hard to break, however.

I squint my eye as I watch Saconet walk gracefully toward Silas, the demon somehow having a human-like charm to her movements. The habits, rituals, and cultures of demons are odd. Some seem to have virtually no morals and zero limits like Hura, whereas these demons here have some kind of honor. I've caught several glances of the stronger Volkar giving an enemy a weapon when they are unarmed or handicapping themselves for a fight.

It's weird, and I can only imagine the source is this Angel in front of me. The powerful are usually the ones who set the standards, and I can't imagine it's any different with demons. No, it's probably even worse.

My considerations and thoughts are redirected as the bear sends several more tendrils of its acidic water toward me. I jump, duck, dodge, and weave around each of these streams, but some of the liquid still manages to land on me. More and more of my leather coat, cloth shirt, and cloths pants are cut away to prevent myself from being acid burned, but a few splotches get on my arm.

The stinging pain seems to dig deep into my flesh as a sizzle touches my ears and a gnarly smell invades my nose. I push the discomfort aside as I see Birdie get the primary assault from the bear, slowly losing substance. Sprinting along a circular pattern around Birdie and the bear, I Rapid Fire and release as many bullets into the construct of Ether as I can.

I also try to use Deadeye's Gaze to use its paralyzing effect on the bear, but it seems to have no effect. The bear has no mind to scare, after all. My bullets do seem to help, however, ripping out chunks of water with every shot, but that's not always a good thing. It also means that more and more of the ground is being covered with acidic water.

Chief Birdie does her best to restrain and destroy the bear, but it's taking us a while to whittle it down entirely. In the meantime, Silas is running for his life and doing everything in his power to keep himself alive as Saconet comes for him. The female demon moves like a wraith, catching up to him at every opportunity, but the hoarder of gold seems to somehow get out of her grasp with his words and gold.

"Hey, hey, hey! We don't need to fight, right? Can't you just leave us alone? I know I attacked you first, but c'mon!"

Saconet merely giggles as she pauses for a moment in her chase. She then reveals a twisted sense of chivalry and honor.

"Why, that's never how you should treat a lady! Where is your chivalry!? If a lady wants to dance, you should oblige; if a lady wants to learn, you should teach. And if a lady wants you dead, you should stand still and die!"

The white robe on the demon explodes with air as Saconet practically teleports in front of Silas with her insane speed. It's so abrupt in movement that it feels like I'm seeing Darkstep in her element. The second I notice her move, however, I turn away from Birdie to help Silas. The undead seems as though he's about to die to the demon's ministrations.

I fire a dozen fast bullets at Saconet, and a tendril from the bear jumps into the way of my bullets, slowing the projectiles to a crawl by the time they break through. Fuck. If I can't shoot her from here, then I need to at least get close enough for Golden Eye or actually hit her.

My feet burst with power as Ether forms Softstep and Swift. I run with all my swiftness to get close to Silas as he fights up close with the demon to no avail. She swipes at him with a robed arm, and from the air within the sleeve of the robe comes a scream of pressurized air, one that makes my footstep land rockily due to the pain in my chest.

I only stumble for a second, however, as I stabilize my chest with Ether, pushing out the foreign and replacing it with my own. Silas doesn't seem to be able to do so as he clutches at his chest and backs up with obvious pain in his eyes. The lack of distance seems to make the heart attack, I don't know… way stronger.

She swings at him with the other arm so that he can't dodge or fight back with a heart attack, and I see claws emerge from her nails, slicing a quartet of lines across the undead's throat. Then, she twists and kicks him right in the chest, the torso of Silas denting inward so much that it sticks out the back from the Angel's power.

At this point, I finally get close enough to see her clearly without any chance of the bear interrupting me. I've gone around it, and it's focused on Birdie. The coast is clear to use my Absolution if needed, and I raise Downpour toward the demon as she leans down and picks Silas up by the neck.

But even near another death, Silas seems to have a powerful will that holds him together. A destroyed torso and slit throat doesn't stop him from reaching into his pocket and pulling out a coin. I try to distract Saconet, realizing what he's about to do. I put every skill I have toward shooting into Downpour as I fire non-stop at Saconet. Trueshot. Fanfire. Rapid Fire. Curving. Armor Piercing.

All my skills are Quilt into a series of bullets that are my strongest weapon, but in the face of an Angel, a single 6th Sigil's most powerful move is not enough. The torrent of bullets is stopped by a similarly powerful torrent of air. Motherfucker. Not again. I try to force even more Ether into Downpour, but the Colt starts showing signs of overheating and damage. Instead, I keep the current distraction up and focus my eyes on her, preparing to use Golden Eye.

Saconet seems to share some Sigils and abilities with Hura, but they are vastly different. His emphasis is on lighting and storms. Hers appears to be on water, acid, and internal damage.

Saconet keeps one arm toward me, constantly bursting out wind that reduces my bullets to small pellets instead of lethal projectiles. And as she does so, she looks at Silas and speaks to him softly. I can't hear the words over the sound of gunfire, but I do see that Silas' whole body tenses up.

He is then lifted into the air as the fog from Saconet's face streams out and goes straight for Silas' face, invading his mouth, eye sockets, and nose. While he is being attacked by some unknown force of Ether, I am in the process of turning back time with my eye. Blindness is a terrible price to pay, especially after I just got my sight back yesterday, but if one of us dies, the rest will fall quickly.

But before I can rewind Saconet and me, Silas lifts a bloody arm holding a single coin resting on his thumb. Through the fog entering his mouth and doing whatever it is that it does, he speaks.

"I—- wish—- for— you— to— die!"

The coin is flicked off of his hand and instantly ignites like the fuse of a stick of dynamite. All the gold covering Silas does the same as Saconet's body moves in surprise. She doesn't let go of the man, however, and continues her attack with the fog. For a split second, it looks like all Silas's Absolution skill does is look like a shiny pillar of gold, but out of nowhere, the light disappears as if it was never there. Then, like a bullet, no, it's way faster than a bullet. Like the speed of light, something that none can ever hope to beat, the coin he flicked into the air shoots through the air and goes straight through the body of Saconet.

The demon drops Silas as a yowl of pain comes from her. Blood streams out of a large hole put into her chest through her robe. Silas' wishes are pretty interesting. No matter the wish, somehow, the coin he flicks has to be the one to perform the wish, so they are a bit restricted in usage. And in the vein of restrictive usage, I get an idea that streams through my mind for the first time ever. These eyes of mine… they can be used for more than protection. Attacking is always possible as well.

My Golden Eye shifts to Silas' falling form as he goes limp. Whatever she did to him is severe enough to paralyze the man, and I force my Absolution into action. I feel that familiar feeling enter my whole body, the odd sensation of simultaneously being in two places at once. Two times at once. And I watch in amazement, as usual, as Silas and I revert to how we both were just a second or two ago before once more entering darkness.

However, as usual, the rest of the world remains the same. The howl of pain from Saconet still rings in my ears; the only difference is that now Silas no longer has that fog around his mouth and speaks as sarcastically as usual. He seems to have recovered quite quickly from the rewind; I suppose he was expecting it.

"Nice moves you got there, witch. You might have all the time in the world, but there are men with just a little bit more. And the right place at the right time makes all the difference, y'know?"

I hear a clink of a coin as my assumption becomes true. Golden Eye rewinds even the effect of Ether. Silas can use his Wishing Well more. And I can hear the flick of the coin as he repeats his previous move, the sound of the metal so clear and resounding. As he does so, however, Saconet recovers and roars at him with a banshee's cry.

"Why won't you join me!?"

"I wish your Power would break."

Following Silas' wish, I hear a deafening sonic boom before a loud splash of water, then a half second later, the sound of Birdie using her Power, Dome, reaches me as well, or the lack thereof, as everything within it, including Saconet, goes silent. Unable to see anything, I can only listen and regain my sense of seeing without sight from before. It's incredibly hard to do so and requires intense focus, but it will take me a few minutes to get back into the groove of it, even with Deadeye's Gaze helping the lack of vision a bit by enhancing my hearing.

What I am able to make sense of is Silas' sigh of relief and Birdie panting as she holds the dome up. Every second, her Power is live, it just siphons loads of Ether from her as it contains those within perfectly with its see-through light. Too bad I'm blind and can't see Saconet's struggle.

'You got the bitch in your bubble?"

"Yeah, Silas. I can't hold it for long, though. Hey! You psycho! Get out here and help! All you need to do is kill it! That's what you like to do, right? Iva!?"

Both Silas and I are confused by Birdie's yell, and a second passes of silence after she calls out Iva the Vicious. Silas talks in a low voice to Birdie as I stumble over blindly to them, slowly gaining my bearings without sight.

"Are you okay, Birdie? Did that bear melt your brain? Iva isn't here. She's still over in the Depths, isn't she? Why would she be out here?"

I hear Birdie shake her head as the woman's jacket rubs against her long hair. The woman stands by her words.

"No, she was heading to the Heights as of two days ago and passed Apathy yesterday, and I could have sworn I sensed her nearby. Watching. Fuck. I really can't hold this much longer. Iva! Help! How would Isaac react if he knew you let a Chief die and let a Hierarch live!"

As she yells, I get close to the two of them and can vaguely get a sense of Birdie holding an arm up toward the noiseless bubble that holds Saconet within. The inside of it is a complete mystery to me, however, due to the lack of sound.

I try to stabilize my breathing in case we have to fight again as my hands tremble. Angels are terrifying. A single wrong step and you're dead by Ether that either makes no sense or is far too powerful for you to counter. A trio of Absolutions skills, one being a Power, alongside dozens of other strong skills, is what it took to even momentarily restrain a demon of the Angelic realm. The start of it, no less. A meager 7th Sigil is what is in front of us.

Someone like the Unyielding Wall could likely handle this himself, possibly even do the reverse of one versus three, but he's a rarity. I can't imagine the true strength of the Prime or the Binary Lords. They must be Gods on earth or at least the closest things to them, as the true Gods appear less and less over time for some unknown reason.

I put my broken arm against my other to stop my tremble. Fear cannot be tolerated. Not right now. Otto, Blake, Dakota, and even Wyatt are all out of commission right now and possibly dead. If this was the better case from Silas' coin, I can't imagine the other side.

As I stand here and try to recover, Birdie keeps yelling, again and again, to the world around us, almost begging for Iva, who might not even be here to save us.

"Dammit, Iva! Come fucking help us, you whore! Don't you want to end up higher on that ladder of yours when you finally kick the bucket!? C'mon! I'm running out of steam! Please!"

The second Birdie says please, I hear a single boot hit the ground beside us and turn to face it. I don't hear the person who landed, but based on the pressure I feel just facing them, I can generally figure out who it is.

Iva. The Vicious. The Terrible. The Horrible. One of the worst humans to ever live. Or die, I suppose as well. She speaks and lets us all know of her arrival, her voice calm and bored.

"All you had to say was please, my dear little dove. I was having so much fun watching that boy fight, but then you all interested me as well."

I hear an unclipping of buttons, and they sound like the ones on the cuffs of a dress shirt. Is Iva dressed like a merchant?

"Anyhow. I guess I should aid you all a little bit. Though, I will want payment. This little widow isn't worth my time."

Beside me, I hear Silas whisper to himself silently at this development.

"Fuck. Should've saved my wish."

A squeal of laughter comes from Ivas as she takes steps toward the protective dome.

"Oh, you most definitely should have."

Then, I hear her pick something up from the ground and throw it at the dome, shattering it instantly as a wave of Ether flows through me. This Ether puts an irrational fear into my heart and forces my hands to tremble, shake, and sweat so much that I drop Downpour, and I hear Silas and Birdie do the same with their weapons.

I recognize the effect of the Ether on me from her historical accounts, but the destruction of the dome sends waves through my mind as I try to recover. It truly is her.

Iva, the Barbaric Warmonger. At least, that's what she was before she died. Who knows how far she's gone now.