93 The Tower

The fight between Shizu and Skuld resumed with a resounding clash as the viking froze time once more, leaving the fortune teller unable to react as the man walked right up to her face. Time then resumed, and she could only barely duck away from the glowing axe that almost took off her head again. In response, she quickly pulled herself away from him, throwing cards at him before repositioning herself at the top of the mast. She was going to play keepaway, and nothing was going to stop her from stalling.

"Get down there, coward!"

"How about no?!" she shouted back. "You'll just freeze time and try to kill me again!"

Mentally checking on her reserves while giving the card she wanted to use a short glance, she could tell in herself that she only needed a minute or so at most until she had enough power to invoke its effect. Just one full minute of running away before she could finally get back to the ship and relax eating Riku's delicious food.

"Then I shall make you come down there!"

Shizu held her breath as the temperatures around her dropped far below zero once again. Gritting her teeth, she expected time to freeze again, but instead, a tower of ice began growing from the deck with Skuld standing on top of it. His axe was glowing a dull blue as it remained pointed to the sky, directing his power to grow until he reached her.

Of course, she didn't bother waiting for him to attack as she quickly jumped down, using [The Magician] to cushion her fall before throwing a few more cards at the man. They didn't hit their mark, but that wasn't their purpose as she felt her power rapidly approaching the minimum she needed to use the card she wanted.

"Is that really all you can do, Champion of Tyche?!" the viking taunted. "Nothing else?! Are you not going to give me a fight worthy of Valhalla?"

Shizu almost froze midstep as she felt something within her click. In her hand, the one card she was keeping began to call to her as she finally reached the amount of power needed to start the cast.

"Finally!"

Turning on a dime, the fortune teller ignored the icicles forming above her as she threw the card up in the air and flexed her power.

"[Fate's Edict!]"

Once more, the card's visage appeared above her. Brandishing the image of a massive upside down tower, it's very power radiated from the beneath them as she willed Tyche's power to her will.

"[The Tower: Inverse Position]!"

The card disappeared into the ether. Then, a massive rumbling came from underneath the ship itself as her power willed a massive tower to spawn right underneath the enemy Champion. Running from the carnage, Shizu jumped away from the destroyed ship, making herself land on the nearest sheet of ice as she watched a literal tower shoot the wooden ship up into the stratosphere. The viking couldn't even so much as shout at her now. Or if he was, then she wouldn't be able to hear him with how high up he must be with the tower pushing him up.

"I did it..."

Shizu let out an exhausted breath as she felt all the energy in her body leave her. Using [The Tower] was surprisingly exhausting, and not wanting to push her luck with drawing more of her patron god's power, she was left even more exhausted than when she first used [Diviner.]

Her legs failing her, the fortune teller fell on the ice with a soft thud, the cards in her hand fluttering to the wind as she finally let herself rest. The ice was gone, and the threat of their ship sinking was taken care of. All that was left for her now was to get back there.

"Nyx will... probably scold me..."

Letting out a hollow chuckle, Shizu closed her eyes, exhaustion finally taking her as she slipped into another deep sleep. But not before spotting a familiar pair of feet as she felt her body being lifted up and carried back to the ship.

***

{RIKU POV}

Riku raised his brow in curiosity as he spotted Shizu's unmoving body lying face first onto the sheet of ice. He had made his way to her to give her assistance, but it would seem that such a thing was no longer needed based on the leftover splinters of wood he saw lying around the place. Well, that, and the massive tower that seemingly came out of nowhere jutting out into space. It was already slowly disappearing into motes of green light, but it was still standing proud, a testament to Shizu's power when push came to shove.

And thus there he was, standing above his companion's body as she lay passed out on the ice. She was still breathing, thankfully, which meant that whatever she did to summon this tower took a lot out of her. Also, she sported a dull green glow on her chest, in the same way that he too now had a dark eerie glow emanating from his chest. And yes, he checked inside his shirt earlier only to spot what looked like a crack right above his heart.

Well, what's done was done. He knew what he was doing when Nyx warned him to stop. He just had to live with the consequences.

"You did good, Shizu," he praised her as he knelt down in front of her. "Let's get you to safety."

Gingerly, he wrapped his arms underneath her and gently lifted her up. Slowly, he then made his way back to the ship where Nyx was already waiting for them. His goddess was understandably annoyed at him right now, but he supposed that Shizu probably doing the same thing he just did didn't help her mood at all. It was clear that what they did was dangerous, but what else were they supposed to do?

No, they made the right choice breaking their limits. They needed everything they could get against the other Champions, and if they were the only ones that new how to do it, then all the better for their odds.