"I really want to know, Illya. Assuming you do somehow win against the rest of Quake, do you think all will survive this encounter? You do know we're here to ruin Sky as much as possible, right? His friends are cannon fodder, this city is cannon fodder for a stronger cause. If you're in the way, you'll barely be a pebble on the rocky road we walk upon. Why fight when you know it's that hopeless?" Zeka asked again.
"Holy shit, stalling again? I'm getting really sick of your fucking voice," I ended the annoying monologue and started to walk toward him, when all of a sudden, the gate burst open, lodging itself into buildings near the entrance. These were the first to be cleared... but what blew it open with that force?
"Sorry, my ride is here, gotta go!" Zeka said with an annoying smile.
If I ran at him, wouldn't Quake catch me? I can't let him leave though, can I?
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After simply blinking, I was in the Black Lake again.
This sinister place held nothing but confusing memories and awful pain for me. When I looked forward, I saw Illya and Sky.
"Why are we here?" I asked. While speaking, I noticed a sprout of blue strands coming up beside Sky.
"Here to have a quick conversation... about the two of you specifically," Illya mentioned.
"Is it something bad? A secret trick we don't know about?" I asked her, but she shook her head.
"No, you're not very smart sometimes... are you both forgetting about your time on the Scorched Isle? Dani, you can control gravity, don't forget that. Sky, you as well. You can still use those abilities you thought were long gone. When you were told to use everything... that means everything," Illya told us.
"But, that doesn't matter if I'm taken over by that thing again... I'll lose myself and then attack my friends," I told Illya.
It was my one worry about everything going on. If I lost to that thing again, I would kill everybody... I didn't want to use it.
"In the nicest, most forgiving way possible, if you don't use that ability and take that chance, you won't have any friends left. Use everything," Illya told me.
"Why are we wasting so much time here? Won't Quake kill us by now?" I asked her, but Sky shook his head this time around.
"Time doesn't move normally here. We could spend an eternity in here without a second moving in The Real World. That's why so much time passed in The First Trial, but not in the Real World," He explained.
"Okay... then I know what must be done. We'll end up okay, we have to," I muttered, slapping my face twice and focusing myself once more.
"One more thing... in the case that Dani and I die, Sky, you will possess our abilities. If that happens... you use it to evacuate this city and decimate Quake. Right after you're done, you go straight to Eirikr and you put up the strongest fight you can manage," Illya told him.
"Don't talk like that. Nobody is going to die here, not as long as I can help it. We will be okay. I'm not letting anybody die anymore," Sky told Illya. He looked... angry...
"You can't stop death. Not against people like Quake. I don't want to sound pessimistic... but you're leagues above everybody! You'll be lucky if everybody stays alive at this point. This is a chance we're taking," Illya said. She was very grim about everything...
"You don't know my friends... they fought you, and keep in mind, almost won," Sky said to her. He was walking closer to Illya with an aggressive stance.
"Almost, is the keyword. And Quake is stronger than I was. How will they 'almost' beat them?" Illya asked again. Sky was getting physical with his contact now, raising his hands to his chest while arguing with her.
"Before you, they battled people with swords, then, they went right to fighting a Deity who could summon ice, shrink things, and heal infinitely with something they didn't understand. It's not about the level of strength, it's the insurmountable odds they've already climbed over. My friends could take you out with no time to spare right now, which means Quake doesn't stand as much of a chance as they originally thought. I won't hear any more of that talk. Dani, Carl, Mandi, Lia, they WILL survive, they'll defeat Quake, and we'll laugh at you when it's all done. We follow the plan, we kill who we need to. Anybody I need to kill to keep everybody safe," Sky said. The blue strands beside him vanished and he followed right behind, sending Illya and I back to the real world.
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As soon as I returned, I raised my left hand, and used the ability to change gravity to launch Zeka back at Illya and me.
While he was in midair, confused as ever, Illya jumped past me and cut him in half, watching his bloody body slide against the floor.
It slowly repaired itself, and he took another look at the two of us. He couldn't make it past us, his only option was to run further into the city.
"So be it..." He said. He turned around and ran toward the buildings, but I did the same thing, using my ability to send him back at us.
Illya summoned spires of ice out of the ground to puncture him, keeping him trapped in the air with his blade floating around him, protecting him from more spires that would come at him.
"Are you sure you want to use that so much? I see your lifespan dwindling," Zeka told Illya. She nodded, wiping the blood from her nose.
Sky never bled like that... perhaps it was different for her.
"Dani, you got my back, right?" Illya asked me. Of course, I nodded, and held my rapier up, reinforcing my muscles with golden strands.
"Alright Zeka, let's finish this," I said to him.
The sharp canine tooth sprouted from my mouth, and my Eye of Providence activated.