The Simulacrum

The sudden and inexplicable vanishing of the big glowing dome thingamabob caused quite a stir, especially among the Abyssals duking it out in the air. The chaos of the aerial skirmishes died down almost immediately as the two sides scrambled to regroup and rearrange their ranks. Or so I figured, based on the magic missiles and explosions in the sky being replaced by bright flashes and different kinds of explosions shaking the ground under my feet instead.

If we followed the Matron's advice, I supposed we would've cleaned out the mess outside the dome, and then encircled the town center and pushed in as soon as the barriers came down, which would've likely led to a more organised battle, but there was no point wracking my head over what-ifs. Especially since even with us successfully breaking through on the double, it ended up an uncomfortably close call.

Case in point:

"Lady Shamash! Please, stay awake!"

Snowy landed near the edge of the train platform, her bloodied hands holding onto the limp body of the Shamash matriarch. She had all of her bits attached (as far as I could tell), but her elegant dress was in tatters, and the flagstones under her were steadily being painted red. My sister tried her best to prop her up, but she looked rather out of it. No wonder; even if she wasn't injured, getting caught mid-fall like that probably resulted in enough G-forces to make even the average astronaut wince.

I rushed (or rather jogged, but same difference) over, and while she looked half-conscious, Fidèle's expression tensed up when she noticed my approach. I mean, as much as it could, while teetering on the brink of unconsciousness.

Did he not recognise me in my Lion Knight armour? Had she never seen it? I couldn't remember, but I figured it was quicker to just change than to try to explain myself, so I poked my Leoformer and donned my Polemos outfit. As soon as I did and descended to one knee next to them, her eyes opened wide, and the corners of her lips tugged upwards into a weak smile.

"Lord… Polemos. I did not expect to see you here."

"We tried to get back here as soon as we could, but…" I started, but she interrupted me.

"I see. It seems I won't have to leave so many regrets behind as I feared. It's good to—"

This time, it was my turn to cut her off with a forceful, "With all due respect," as I put a finger in front of her mouth. "Hush." No melancholic death scenes on my watch.

She blinked in surprise, but I was already focusing elsewhere.

"Good job, sis. Keep her from moving until the medic gets here."

"M-Medic?" Snowy repeated after me, and I was just about to point at the bright yellow dots flying high over our heads when Judy's voice sounded in my ears.

"{Chief? Can you hear me?}"

"Great timing," I noted with a hand automatically moving to my ear. "Please tell Angie to get over here ASAP. We need some medical attention right now."

"{Roger. What about the rest of the team?}"

"Don't look at me. Have Josh lead them around. He's been doing a good enough job until now."

"{Understood. Beluga, out.}"

I echoed, "Beluga?" in surprise, but I quickly figured out that it was probably her newest designation in whatever code-naming scheme she dreamt up on our way here. Ignoring that for the moment, I turned to Fidèle again and told her, "We're going to patch you up in a second. In the meantime, can you explain what exactly happened here?"

She inhaled deeply, which made her grimace, but then her expression eased up, and she began to speak in a quiet, detached voice.

"The forces of the False Emperor and House Nergal arrived right after sunset. Nobody expected such a brazen, suicidal attack, nor for them to be so ferocious in their assault. We were unprepared. I activated the Rampart we constructed around the castle, but I was too late, and the Lord of Inanna had already made it inside the perimeter by then." She let out a soft cough, and it looked like she could barely keep her eyes open. "We sent an emergency call to House Gula and House Enlil, but I knew it would take too long for the Lords to arrive. I did my best to stall the Herald, but…"

She glanced down at her own tattered body and let out a weak chuckle.

"It seems I've shown you an embarrassing display. I hope you'll remember me not in this pitiable state once I'm no longer—"

I stopped her with a terse, "Hush, again." No poignant last words on my watch, either. Anyhow, Angie should've gotten the message by now, so where was she?

"Sorry! I got held up!" Oh, speak of the devil. She descended in a dive and abruptly broke her fall the last minute by spreading all her wings, then she softly touched down on the ground. It would've looked majestic if only her eyes hadn't opened wide as saucers a moment later, and she stumbled on her hurry. "Oh no! Mrs Shamash!"

Mrs? Was Fidèle married? I never bothered to check, and it wasn't even all that important considering the circumstances, but it still gave me a moment of pause. Meanwhile, Angie came to an almost skidding halt next to us and also kneeled, followed by a short, almost jazzy hum.

My ashen Abyssal sister impatiently asked, "How is she?" but the Celestial girl's brows only furrowed, and it took her a couple of seconds to formulate an answer.

"It's not good. There's something dangerous in her body. It's like a poison. Even if I heal her now, it will keep damaging her from the inside out."

Snowy's expression grew dire, and she looked at me for help. I would've loved to provide it right away, if not for a new voice joining our fray.

"It's Noir's power," stated a familiar raspy voice, and when I glanced over, I saw the Matron approaching us with a couple of bodyguards in tow. She stopped a few steps to our left and levelled a complicated gaze at the injured woman in my sister's arms. "It's been a while, old friend. I didn't expect to meet you like this."

Despite her condition, Fidèle managed to forcefully bend her lips into a smile, and she answered with, "I don't recall us ever being friends, Tsarah," which… wait, was that the Matron's name? Why was I learning all of these things only at this time? Anyhow, she continued with, "… however, I suppose it's poetic that we get to meet again like this, one last ti—"

"For the third time, hush!" I interjected, followed by an un-stiflable groan and a stern, "Lady Fidèle, I say this with the duest of all respects: stop that, or I'll be forced to flick your forehead, seniority be damned!" The injured matriarch looked at me with eyes wide open, so startled she momentarily forgot to keep up the whole wounded-gazelle act, but I ignored her reaction and turned to the old Matron. "Please elaborate."

The old woman looked at me funny, but then patiently explained, "Noir's powers are capable of igniting the mana of others. After being exposed to the Udug Blood Amalgam, he further refined this ability so that it can corrode wards and even one's astral body over time, and becoming the Herald of the Emperor only further—"

I cut her short with a curt, "Okay, thanks," which she obviously didn't appreciate, but I didn't ask for a whole essay. Long story short, it was like a magical poison, and if it was magic, it meant I could deal with it. "Give me a second."

I reached out and waved my hand over the injured matriarch's stomach, though it was mostly for show. While I was doing that, I also poked her body with my phantom limbs, making sure not to poke too deep and end up getting sucked into the lower layer of the Simulacrum, with the rainbow-yarn-ball representations of souls and everything.

I soon found something abnormal. It was like a spider-web made of the nasty, inky substance that served as the medium for most of Crowy's spell, and after tearing it to tiny little pieces with my phantom limbs, Fidèle's bearing visibly relaxed. I took that as a sign of success, so I snapped my hand shut into a fist (mostly for theatrics) and said, "That should take care of it. Angie?"

"O-On it!" She started humming again with one hand on the matriarch's forehead and another on her stomach, and after a few seconds, her face lit up, and she beamed at me. "Wow! You did it!" followed by a slightly more reserved, "I expected nothing less of you, Polemos."

That last bit was clearly from Deus, but since Angie was our healing specialist, they immediately switched back, and she started quietly singing, enveloping both of their bodies in a thin sheet of the pale glow of magic.

I was just about to get up, but then my communicator came to life again.

"{Narwhal, this is Beluga. Can you hear me, over?}"

"Of course I can, and… Why 'narwhal'?"

My words made everyone present give me odd looks, so I belatedly put my fingers to my ear.

Meanwhile, Judy told me, "Because narwhals are swimming in the ocean, causing a commotion, because they are so awesome."

"… I don't get it."

There was a long pause in the communications, followed by, "{Chief. Once this is all over, we'll have to sit down and get you familiarized with classic internet culture.}"

"I don't think this is the time for that."

Judy let out a hum and then told me, "{Fair. Listen, Gray Whale and Northern Bottlenose—}"

"Dormouse, please drop the codenames. Just this once," I pleaded, and after a soft huff, she grudgingly obliged.

"{Lord Moindre Masu Ninhursag and Penelope are organizing the Fauns at the station. Elly is helping Joshua scout the vicinity of the castle from the air. They have encountered minor resistance, but nothing serious. He's asking you to meet up in front of the castle's main gates as soon as possible.}"

"Got it." I turned to Angie. "How is she?"

"She's… in a bad shape, but she'll live. I think." She let out another jaunty tune, then added, "I don't think she can fight for a while."

"I'm ashamed that I cannot support you in this time of need, so I'll…" Fidèle's words trailed off when she noticed the look I was giving her, and she wisely added, "… I'll just remain silent for now."

Nodding, I gestured to Angie again.

"How long will it take to patch her up? Josh wants us to rally at the gates."

"I don't know. This is gonna take a while, and if I leave it half-way finished, it could cause more harm than—"

It was at this point that the Matron walked over and knelt down by Snowy's side, gingerly taking the Shamash matriarch's shoulders and propping her up in my sister's stead.

"Just go. I'll take care of her."

"Will you?" Fidèle asked with a sideways look, prompting the other woman to snort through her nose, a decidedly unladylike gesture.

"We're both too old to hold grudges over ancient rivalries. Also…" Her whole body lit up, and she unfurled three pairs of translucent silver wings behind his back. "I may have retired, but that doesn't mean I can't sing a healing aria or two." She then turned to face Snowy, her expression a mixture of worry and determination hidden under multiple layers of stoic façade, and jerked her head towards the three remaining towers of the castle in the distance. "Go. This is a matter of House Inanna, so it is your duty to see it through."

"Y-Yes…"

Despite her best efforts, my sister didn't quite manage to make that sound convincing, so I also gave her a pat on the shoulder and got up. Angie followed my example (including the shoulder pat), and then as soon as we were all on our feet, we were joined by my other sister, dashing over from the far end of the platform like she was planning to drop-kick us.

"Snowy! Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

It took her a moment to realise the problem, and then my Abyssal sister hurriedly explained, "D-Don't worry! It's not my blood! It's… um…"

"Don't make a fuss, Kiddo." I lightly poked Penny's head, for good measure, and then tapped my ear. "Dormouse? Are you listening?"

"{Just a moment.}" It really was just a second or two, and then she said, "{I'm listening,}" with an expectant voice.

"We're going to rendezvous with Josh and Elly. You stay back and keep acting as mission control."

"{That was the plan.}" I thought that was the end of it, but then she also added, "{I'm going to stay with Eolienne and Lord Ninhursag until we secure the area, and then we'll meet up with you in the castle.}"

"Fine. Be careful."

"{You took the words out of my mouth. Beluga, out.}"

Subtly rolling my eyes at her insistent code-naming, I turned to the girls waiting for me.

"Let's head to the castle, and—"

"Let's fly!" Angie proposed right away, but I shot it down.

"No. Things are too chaotic up there, and Penny can't even fly anyway." Neither could I, but that was beside the point. "It's hard to tell friend from foe in this mess, so we'll ignore everyone and punch right through until we find Josh and Elly. Any questions?" There was none, so I concluded the impromptu briefing with a curt, "Good. Move out."

We did, and it was just as I expected. Between the soldiers and Fauns stationed here by the various Noble Houses, Crowy's guys drawing from Nergal and Ninurta forces, and now the Ninhursag and Inanna Fauns also joining the fray, identifying people was a nightmare. They seemed to have less of a problem with it, probably because they were more used to recognising heraldries and house-colours, but we were less so, and had no time to ask Snowy after every new encounter, so we just ignored the fighting on the streets and barrelled right through.

"Halt, in the name of—!"

"Sorry, not interested!" I yelled back as I knocked the Abyssal officer aside, spearheading our charge with the girls behind me in a wedge formation.

"Brother! That wasn't very nice!"

I glanced over my shoulder and asked, "Do you want to punch the next guy who gets in the way then?"

"Yes!"

What can I say? My knightly sister was rather complicated in some ways, but very simple in others.

"We're almost there!" Angie exclaimed from the back, as if I couldn't see the gates at the end of the road.

Then the gates exploded at the end of the road. Huh. Go figure.

"Look out!"

Even at this distance, we were getting showered in shrapnel from the fragments of the gate, with sharp bits and pieces of black rock mixed in. On closer look, the explosion was caused by a giant, spiky pillar of obsidian erupting from the ground, but I didn't have time to observe it for long, because the hail of falling rubble was getting annoying, so I quickly switched back to my Lion Knight outfit and picked up the pace. Penny was easily keeping up with me (obviously), while Angie and Snowy took to the air, both to gain speed and to avoid the bulk of the low-flying shrapnel.

I could hear a loud, "They're here!" from the other side of the walls, and when I made my way past the obsidian pillar, I found Josh and Elly engaged in battle with a familiar face.

"Careful, Leo! That's Belette Nergal! He's dangerous!" my friend yelled over, hunkered down with shield raised to brace for impact. Did… Did he think I wouldn't know?

Or maybe that was just for the Nergal patriarch, as it made him focus on me right away. He was fully transformed, though that was probably stating the obvious, and he was lugging around a stone hammer similar to the one he used during his last battle with Fidèle. When he saw me, his eyes opened wide, and he bellowed, "What? What are you doing here?!"

His outrage only lasted for a second, and then he followed it up with an equally loud but less aggressive, "Listen to me, Lord Archon Polemos Peacemaker Dunning Chimer—"

Without much consideration, I roared, "Still not interested!" as I retrieved Cal from my storage.

"{Oh? Finally, a battle!}" he exclaimed with some glee, but I was already focusing on something else.

I pumped the blade with mana, and after a long beat for consolidation, I leapt into the air and released it all in a single, silvery surge of force. It was, by my ballpark estimate, about a quarter of my maximum output, but it was enough. The sword beam (more of a sword wave, really) hit the bullish patriarch head-on.

He raised his weapon in a hurry to guard against it, but it was fine. The goal was to keep him from moving for a moment while I closed the distance. Still blinded by the flash of my attack, he was late to defend himself from my gauntleted punch. My left fist, loosely wrapped with my phantom limbs, passed through his natural Barrier effectively unobstructed and landed on his right cheek with a meaty thud, and…

"One hit KO!" Elly exclaimed in the back, followed by Penny moaning, "Brother! You said it was my turn next!"

Ignoring the fact that I was slightly annoyed by the distinct lack of seriousness and tension in the moment, I also wasn't expecting the guy to get laid out by a single punch, and had to stop and take a second look when he crumpled and fell over like a sack of bricks. Only for a short moment though, and right after I was sure he was out cold, I gestured for the gang to follow after me.

"Stop gawking, guys! We have an asshole to catch and a class rep to rescue, remember?"

Josh belatedly backed me up by waving his sword overhead and yelling, "You heard him! Form up and let's go!"

"Yes, let's go!" Elly joined in while simultaneously sidling up to me, but then she stopped and asked, "Go… where, exactly?"

I looked at Josh, only to find that he was looking at me. In fact, all of them were looking at me, as if I were the only one who could answer such a profound question.

"To the Mana Well Chamber. Obviously."

"Exactly!" Josh declared and pointed his weapon at the entrance of the castle. "Penelope and I will take point! Deus, Lili, cover us at range! Elly, you bring up the rear! Leo! … Erm…"

It took some effort not to roll my eyes, but I managed and told him, "I'll follow your lead and intervene when necessary."

"Yeah. Please do that."

Thus concluded, our group kicked down the entrance of the main building (literally, since Penny had some pent-up energy), and we immediately encountered some resistance in the foyer. By the looks of it, the soldiers and Fauns Crowy and Belette brought along spared no effort to fortify the area, probably to buy as much time for Crowy to do his thing with Ammy and the Mana Well as possible.

Of course, barricades and wards or not, they stood very little chance against our little gang. I mean, practically all the 'main characters' were here, while they were just run-of-the-mill placeholder types. It was hard not to feel at least a little sorry for them, but I didn't really have time for that either, so as soon as the rest engaged in battle, I called out to my Abyssal sister.

"Snowy?"

"Y-Yes?" she responded with a startle, and I gestured for her to stop floating around and listen to me.

"Which way can we get to the Mana Well the fastest?" At this point, my sixth sense warned me, so I reflexively swatted a stray magic missile out of the air with Cal. "All of these castles are practically the same. You should know how to get there."

She nodded and pointed a large double-door at the far end of the entrance hall, though for some reason she didn't take her eyes off me.

"That way… That should lead to the—"

She was interrupted by my arm lashing out to deflect another magical projectile.

"The stairs going down?"

My guess was confirmed by another nod, and she was just about to open her mouth when a third attack came my way, and…

"Bloody hell! Which prick is taking potshots at me?!"

My bellow after slapping the third magic pellet away caused everyone on the other side to twitch, which apparently gave Penny an opening to dash up some marble railings and then roundhouse-kick a big, burly Abyssal. Presumably the one who kept shooting at me.

"Did you see that, Brother?" she yelled over, only to duck when someone else came at her and she brandished her zweihander again.

"Everyone is really excited to have you with us again," Snowy noted with a soft smile, in sharp contrast with the icicle-spears forming behind her, and as soon as she finished saying it, she let loose a salvo that exploded into a translucent sheet of ice covering much of the balcony overlooking the foyer on the left.

At the same time, Elly let loose a burst of dragon breath, the crimson blast exploding the mirrored balcony on the right, all the while Josh was pushing some Fauns around, and Deus was raining flame-swords on the stragglers from the ceiling.

"Maybe they are a bit too enthusiastic…" I muttered, then raised my sword over my head and exclaimed, "Guys! Ignore the small fries! The Mana Well is that way!"

I used Cal to point at the doors indicated by Snowy, and everyone collectively followed my lead, knocking over some hapless opponents and trying to be the first to get there. I ended up lagging behind, and by the time I caught up, Josh already kicked them open (I guess it was his turn), and we all rushed towards the wide stairs, ignoring the disrupted and disoriented enemies behind us. Strictly speaking, it wasn't a tactically sound thing to do, but again, we had priorities.

So far, things were proceeding relatively smoothly, and I couldn't help but wonder when something unexpected was going to happen to change things up a bit. Though again, maybe I shouldn't have, because the Simulacrum had a way to play into my expectations just as often as it subverted them. Case in point…

"Look out!" Josh yelped and braced himself, followed by a loud thud and something round bouncing off his shield.

We had no time to check what it was, though it wasn't hard to figure it out in retrospect. At the bottom of the stairs was a small hall, with a pair of large, broken and bent metal doors set into the plain grey stone walls. From the other side seeped a stark blue light, but it was barely visible, overpowered by the violently churning purple aura between us and the doorway.

There, in the middle of the hall, was a grotesque display of a large, mangled body partially encased in a viscous tar-like material, like a giant insect trapped in pitch-black amber. That was already eerie, but on its headless shoulders stood a man wreathed in sinister purple flames, his fingers still bent like claws of a bird of prey and covered in a mixture of the same material that encased the rest of the creature under him, as well as copious amounts of blood.

Oh, and he was glaring at me in particular. With eye sockets shining like a pair of small flashlights. I'm not going to lie, that was creepy as hell, but this wasn't my first rodeo (plus I had appearances to keep up), so I lightly cleared my throat and greeted him as cheerfully as possible.

"Hello, Crowy!" The word made him flinch, and his gaze grew even more hateful, as impossible as it seemed at first, but I kept up the momentum and added, "Long time no see. Are you up for a rematch? Best of three?"