Land and Sky

[memory]

Around Lia Virai, a slight white aura emerged. Streaks of light shot out like shooting raindrops, undoubtedly the ubiquitous "White Rain" technique that earned her organization its name. More striking, however, was the similar glow shooting through the eyes of her three fighting companions, granting them supernatural knowledge and coordination.

Genevieve went first, leaping into the sky and angling her spear downward as if to throw it. Cloudy mist coalesced around her feet and in a ring above her head, mimicking a halo as it gleamed in the afternoon sun.

That's a good move, the Earth Grandmaster thought to herself. I don't really have any good attacks that originate from the sky, so she'll have time to react. But she has the same handicap, and at that distance, my reaction speed is fast enough.

The next moment, Mina burst forward, swinging her sword wildly at her foe, refusing to relent. Considering the size of her weapon, the speed at which the Gria was attacking was very impressive. Even more impressive was the fact that she was keeping airborne throughout it all, performing acrobatic feats most people limited to two legs couldn't handle.

As Mina began to attack, Virai fed information about her position directly to Genevieve, providing her with cues for exactly when and where to attack. Lances of solidified mist rocketed down at impressive speeds, nearly striking the Earth Grandmaster every time through the slightest of gaps between Mina's sword and her arms. Yet, despite all this effort, their target was keeping up well.

Ngh... these Mnemosyne agents aren't bad. Trying to handle more than this would be a mistake without activating my abilities. But I can disrupt their rhythm if I stave them off for long enough. I wonder what the summoner will try next? And... where did the one who poisoned me disappear to?

[memory]

As Mina slashed horizontally toward the Earth Grandmaster, the latter woman suddenly took the offensive. Her first attack was a quick knee to the flat of the passing blade, a move which disrupted Mina's rhythm and the trajectory of the blade. At the same time, the beleaguered Grandmaster leaned back and dipped her right hand into the ground, conjuring a wave of vines that shot up around the Gria swordswoman and then past her to strike upwards at Genevieve.

While Mina was able to pull herself out of the vines, her sword was not so lucky- snagged on hardening thorns, she was forced to abandon it in order to escape. Genevieve was even less fortunate: she had pulled to the side in order to avoid the vine attack, putting her just within range of a vicious spray of organic needles from several directions. Percival summoned another blast of wind-bearing sparrows in her direction, but the Earth Grandmaster had prepared for that, too. As they shot toward the sky, a series of stone walls spiraled upward to inhibit their progress and smash their small bodies to bits.

Not one to be underestimated, Mina immediately counterattacked. Percival watched as she spread her wings and slammed bravely into their target, smashing her with fists and feet alike. But this, too, was futile; mud and plant matter splattered everywhere with every strike, covering her more and more with each attack. By the time she was done, Mina looked totally trashed, covered by the remains of what seemed to have been an earthen clone.

For a couple seconds, Mina and Percival almost thought they had won. But it was not so. As Mina advanced to retrieve her weapon, the Earth Grandmaster herself coalesced out of the slag covering the Gria's body. Genevieve was really the only one who could have sniped her off with any measure of ease, and considering she'd just crashed into the ground from very high up, the chances of that happening were slim.

As Mina looked around desperately for some way to counter what was coming, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her neck. It only lasted before a few seconds, however, before her body went numb and she fell to the ground, unconscious. The Earth Grandmaster extricated her body from the host as fast as she could, but it was too late- Cicero's toxin had already penetrated her own system.

Seizing the opportunity, Percival took a break from attending to Genevieve and unleashed a pair of serpent-like dragons which raced toward their mark and slashed at her with their teeth and claws. With her body growing numb, the woman had a bit of trouble, but by the time Percival recovered Mina with a mole summon, both had been strangled by vines.

[memory]

Perhaps a bit nervously, Virai began to circle slowly around toward where Percival was defending the two girls. Their main attackers were eliminated, which had quickly turned a five-on-one advantage into a three-on-one disadvantage.

Having easily slowed Cicero's neurotoxin to the point of inefficacy, the Earth Grandmaster noticed for the first time that Virai was on the move. That woman is the one coordinating their movements and timing... if I take her out, they'll fall apart.

Without hesitation, she raced forward, moving to intercept the gap between Virai and the rest of the Mnemosyne agents. Unfortunately for her, a sudden shower of acidic liquid poured out of nowhere, completely coating her as she continued to dash. The corrosion's speed was incredible- already, even her bones had begun to dissolve away. Realizing her situation, the Earth Grandmaster reached into her body, removing a writhing mass of dirt and plant matter that appeared to glow green inside. As her body failed, she weakly threw the mass toward where she was running. The clod rolled for a while before it stopped, a few yards shy of where Virai stood.

Cicero appeared suddenly, removing his stealth technique. He stood in front of Virai, as if to defend her from the pulsing remnants of the Earth Grandmaster's body.

"Watch out," he warned, "I doubt she's really gone."

"Why's that?" Percival called from afar. He was standing now, letting a summoned beast take over the first-aid process for Mina and Genevieve. "That acid bath looked pretty fatal to me."

Before Cicero could respond, a massive explosion of dirt obscured the line of sight between the two Mnemosyne groupings. Thick, thorny vines littered with sickly-purple flowers shot out at Percival, spraying poison similar in composition to what Cicero had just fired. The summoner couldn't possibly have conjured a defense fast enough- the plants shot through his leg and shoulder, pumping out their corrosive fluid as he crumpled to the ground. As he passed out, his healing summon vanished, leaving the two women open to knots of long grass which bound them to the ground. On the other side, the Earth Grandmaster's body reconstituted itself from the earth, pulling in the throbbing core with strong, green tendrils.

"I didn't think you'd make me, but I did end up having to use my Astra briefly. For that, you deserve praise," she said breathlessly. "But I won't let any of you Mnemosyne agents live now that you've pushed me this far."

[memory]

Desperately, Virai tore off her left sleeve, revealing a line of arcane runes running down her arm. The sound of air rushing inward was the last thing the Earth Grandmaster heard before the five Mnemosyne agents relocated, this time over forty feet away. Virai looked surprised that she'd only gotten that far, but her shock turned to exhaustion as blood dripped down her left arm. She knelt between the three unconscious, maimed bodies of her comrades and where Cicero stood, his mask split diagonally from the right eyebrow to the left ear.

Why is his left eye closed? the Earth Grandmaster thought to herself. She cautiously turned toward the Mnemosyne agents and slowly advanced, propelling herself across the land with tentacles of braided vines littered with deadly flowers and thorns dripping with poison.

Behind his mask, Cicero began to speak. "Virai. I'm going to use the seal. Can you still link our vision?"

Maybe... once, for a few seconds.

"That's enough. Let's do it."

As the Earth Grandmaster advanced, she noticed the remnants of Cicero's mask dissolve and fall to the ground in pieces. It was certainly curious- someone who relied on stealth didn't seem likely to remove his mask under any circumstance. In her intrigued state, she was very nearly caught by his last resort; the moment his hand fell away, the glyph engraved across his face burst with lurid green light, instantaneously imprinting a copy on the plants where its intended target had just stood. The plants immediately decayed into a black mess, revealing just how deadly the technique was. But the Earth Grandmaster was too quick.

Before either of the two remaining Mnemosyne agents could react, her real body was between them. A wave of her right arm sent numerous vines piercing through Cicero, flinging him away. The other arm blasted away the earth upon which the other four lay, sending each flying over the land and, coincidentally, off of a seaside cliff.

And with that, it seemed Mnemosyne was finished.

[memory]

As the Earth Grandmaster restored the environment to its ordinary state, she sighed heavily. The plants composing her body receded into flesh, transforming her back into her normal, human figure. She looked almost wistful, as if the battle had been... easy?

"You Genesis people just don't understand. Taking me by force from the start? What's the point? Only five of you against a Grandmaster... your handling of this situation was abysmal. Did your superiors consider me less of a threat? Or did they not understand that I have spoken with Cerberus beforehand?"

She paused.

"Cerberus was very clear. They detected you five from the start, analyzed your abilities, and notified me immediately. Luminette, Gria swordswoman. Genevieve, cloud manipulator and spear wielder. Percival, summoner. Cicero, poison and stealth. Virai, spatial coordination. Once I knew what you specialized in, I immediately knew how you would combine your abilities, and I knew how to counter you each individually. The only difficulty was countering the combination. Certainly, you were very adept, but there was no surprise, no fluidity, and no finesse."

Again, a pause. She looked at Cicero's unconscious figure with mild pity.

"This time, you may all keep your lives. I'm doing this because you're smarter than this, and possibly stronger. You have tricks that Cerberus doesn't know about... right? Now you know enough about me to create a real strategy. Recover, come back, and convince me why Genesis is correct. Until then... goodbye."

Abruptly, she vanished into the earth, leaving behind only a slight circular depression in the grassy ground.