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Vika helped Neros to his feet and took advantage of his faltering magic to soar through the sky. The mage was extremely light, making her job just that much easier. Mika was alive, as far as Vika knew, but that fact did not matter anymore. Vika had gotten her revenge, and she had gotten the truth.

"Loki killed her."

Loki, the demigod descended from darkness to destroy this land. It would not be an easy task, but Vika was determined.

Even if it meant her death.

She and Neros fluttered on down to the ground below, an isolated section of forest within the mountains. He was weary; he would be useless for her plans. She would need to find someone else to assist her. For now, though, she descended upon the ground, barely disturbing the dust as she settled. She lay the weary Neros against a tree, stepping back from him to address his tired form.

"Thank you...you were a great help to me. I hope this won't be the last time we work together."

She turned away and took flight once again, quickly returning to the scene of the previous battle. The area was mostly deserted now, with all of the warriors having relocated elsewhere for one final battle. A familiar figure met her eyes, though... oh, yes, that magenta hair was unmistakable. Vika quickly dropped onto the ground, dashing behind a tree. The berserker was...dear Ashera, what the hell was she doing? Was she playing with that corpse's hair? Oh, hell, she was. Vika kept an eye on her as she migrated from the hair to his belongings, pulling out a blue tome and a few purple vials and stowing them within her person. Well, no harm in that; the dead don't need material belongings where they're going, after all. Vika let the girl finish her surveying of the corpse, then crept out to address her.

"...You." She stepped towards the berserker. "I remember you from Halloween."

The girl hopped to her feet in shock and turned towards the raven. "Huh...wha? Who're you? Whaddya want?"

Vika smirked. "Haven't changed a bit, have you? Still berserking without abandon... and you don't remember me."

"Yah? What about it?" Adele straightened her posture, watching the raven. "Yeh come, lookin' for a fight or somethin'? And yeah, I remember yeh. You fought with that weird magic lady forever ago!"

"Hehe... and so did you." Vika giggled, circling her. "I have come for a fight. Not with you, though... Adele was your name, wasn't it?"

The berserker growled. "Yeah. Whaddya want? You're testin' my patience, y'know..."

"I want your help." She paused in place, and an eerie grin spread across the raven's face. "Vika, by the way, in case your memory fails you. I remember your fighting style. You have a lot of raw power. I...don't. Speed is my area of expertise. How about we team up, fight together, like we used to?" Vika remembered the girl. She couldn't resist a fight.

Adele pondered for a second, then her face lit up with pure ecstasy. "Kekeke, I'd love to! C'mon, they went this way!" Vika was almost caught by surprise as Adele seized her wrist and dragged her on after her. My, this girl was strong.

...Perfect.

They dashed on through the remains of war, leaping over corpses and fallen weapons and ruins as they approached the base of the mountains. Vika's eyes darted around the surroundings, looking for anything of use.

...And then she was quickly sent tumbling to the ground as Adele tripped.

The berserker stood up immediately, cursing. "Wha? What the hell was that? You!" She focused upon a laguz laying against a tree. Grey wings, bloody and dirty white robes. "Whaddya think yer doin', trippin' me? I'll teach you!"

The laguz didn't respond, and Vika thought it was best for his sake if she intervened. "Calm down, Adele. He didn't mean to trip you."

Adele huffed in place.

"Give me one of those Elixirs you picked up," she commanded.

"B-but they're mine! I found 'em!"

Vika turned towards the berserker. "I said, give me one of those Elixirs." It wasn't an option.

Adele froze. "Um...right! Right, here y'go!" She quickly produced one and shoved it into Vika's hand.

Vika, in turn, took it over to the heron and opened his mouth, sliding the entire contents down his throat. To her memory, Elixirs were three-use, so the entirety should do here. She threw the empty vial aside and stroked his throat. Her response was a few coughs from the reviving heron, and she stepped back, letting the Elixir kick in.

His eyes fluttered open and his head raised, first taking a look at the girls in front of him before he pulled himself to his feet. "Er...t-thank you?"

Vika nodded. "My pleasure. What brings a Heron with..." - her eyes darted to his tomes and his staffs - "...unusual talents to this area?"

He glared at her. "Usually it is best to announce one's intentions first."

She giggled. "Usually. But seeing as I just kind of saved you from being out for the next few days, at least, let's skip formalities?"

"...Right." He watched her. "I have a suit to settle with one named Loki, as I overheard from some of the others."

Her face lit up. "...Really, now? What a coincidence~" Her voice ended in a bit of a singsong. "See, Loki killed my girlfriend."

He nodded. "I see. Well, then, I don't suppose you know where--"

"My name's Vika. Yours?"

"--Er, Loch."

"And yes. I do. Well, actually, our hotheaded friend over here--" she gestured to Adele, whose attention had been attracted by a nearby squirrel "--knows better. And Herons can sense darkness, right? There's a lot of that swimming around."

"Now that you mention it..." He glanced around. "...It's almost stifling."

"See? Why don't you come with us? I'm sure they could use your help!"

He nodded once again before walking over to Adele. "Er, I'm sorry, Miss, I did not mean to trip you..."

"Huh?" Adele had already forgotten.

"Er, right. Shall we go to Loki?"

Adele didn't have to be asked twice. She seized both their wrists and dashed off again.

It didn't take much longer until they were faced with the cavern that this Loki was in. Loch confirmed it by proceeding to vomit over the side of the bridge. They stood in a large, foreboding, open area, the entrance to the cavern ahead. And many people were outside of the cavern, having their injuries treated to. The sounds of carnage within echoed through the air.

"Miss," Loch addressed Adele, "I could not help but notice that tome on you...Fimbulvetr. May I have it? You cannot use it, judging from your axes..."

"Huh...this thing? You gonna give me anythin' for it?"

"I'll pay you for it after the battle. Twice what it's worth. Promise."

"Huh...okay!" She gladly handed the tome over, and Loch pocketed it.

"Now," Loch said, turning to Vika, "I will stay out here and tend to the weary. I believe you and the girl here have business inside?"

"Oh, yes," Vika replied, a glimmer of malice in her eyes. "Thank you, Loch. I look forward to meeting you again." And this time, it was Vika's turn to grab Adele's wrist and drag her along as the two dashed into the cavern.


Annis...that raven...where was she? He ran through the people, looking for her. Fortunately, huge black wings make it difficult to hide, and he settled down beside her. "I apologize for leaving you earlier, Annis." He withdrew his Mend staff. "How may I be of assistance?"


Ugh, the cavern was dark. People were clashing with the dark god, and he was easily fending them off. A stroke in their favor was the fact that no one had noticed the raven and berserker enter. A finger went to Vika's mouth, signaling for Adele to stay quiet, and they crept closer to the center of the action.

"...I have an idea, Adele. I want you to throw me. It'll be fast, and the best way to get into the action."

"Huh...are yeh sure?"

She giggled. "I'm sure. Look, I'm not exactly heavy, and I know you're powerful. You grab my feet, spin me around like you do your axes, and throw me towards him. I'll take care of the rest. At that point, he'll be distracted, and you can move in. Got it?" She leapt into the air.

"Yeah!" Adele grabbed onto Vika's feet. Vika let her wings go limp as Adele started twirling her around. Faster and faster and FASTER!

"Fastball..." The words just came to Adele's mouth. "...Special!" And then she let Vika go right at Loki, Vika's wings kicking in to enhance her speed.

Vika fluttered faster and faster, her form melting into the true raven form. She had so much speed, and...

WHAM!

Her form writhed around, dodging obstacles, and collided at high speed with Loki's as he had just collapsed against the statue. She didn't even hesitate - she was now clawing at him with razor-sharp talons and her beak.

And Adele didn't waste a second either. She had pulled out her Deathcalibur, and had rushed at his monsters to deliver a vicious upper slash. It was time to fight.

Fa charged up some more light energy and prepared some more light balls to shoot at the two new demon spawns he created. "Take this!" she said as she shot two light balls which would break into many more light balls upon impact.

If beaks could grin, Tibarn would have looked like a maniac. At last, at LONG last, he had something big enough to fight! His screech shook the cavern as he caught the hot air off a flame spell and rose, and then he dove at Jörmungandr, raking his talons across the Great Serpent's face and narrowly avoiding the snap of the reptile's jaws. He whipped around as it prepared to strike at the back of the assembled forces and dragged a long gash down its underbelly, then deftly slipped away, feeling its fangs nearly catch his tailfeathers as he fought to escape the snake's striking range again.

"Uhm...Octavio...what the hell are those things?" John asked calmly as he reached for two more arrows and had them aimed at the snake.

"Distractions!" Octavio answered loudly. He blast a quick spell in the gigantic wolf's face to try to distract it...

He needed to get past it. Loki was weak! That's why he sent these things out. "Kill them!" He shouted. He'd seen something fly past them to attack Loki... a Raven?

He made an attempt to follow the raven and get closer to Loki.. out of the way of those two terrible things...

Nino looked up at the monsters... She was so glad Rei was ok... But there were important things to deal with.

She cast a few quick elfires at Fenrir...

Shinon walked through the cavern quite some time, he heard the clash of steel and cries of pain. He finally got to the battle and approached Ed and asked, "What's the situation?" Shinon took out his bow and nocked an arrow.

Adele had taken the Deathcalibur in one hand, twirling it around like a baton.

"Kekeke..."

A hand slid down to one of the blades as she took advantage of the added reach to nick through the skin of the puppy. She leapt back as it struck at her, and resumed her dual-handed hold on the staff as she thrust it at it again. And then she spun around with reckless berserker abandon, nicking at any ally and enemy that might wander nearby.