Xilanada - The Four Fold Dissonance/Part 6

Out into the streets of Nexus walked the Destroyer of Grayfalls.

She came in finery. She wore what must have been a luxurious golden dress, made up of drapes and swathes of fabric. Seized by the power of her Charms, it had become an impossible magnificent thing, an Oricalcum flag that twisted in the wind like a long train. It flowed like the sand dunes of the South about her and, though it looked nothing like the Impenetrable Sunmail Final Starry Night had once worn, there was no question that the dress had become it anew.

Upon her face was a gilded mask in the shape of a butterfly. Her lengthy hair, the same gold as the dress, curled and bubbled down her back like a river. In her hands gleamed a Moonsilver Daiklave.

And she burned with the light of the Sun.

Stepping from the tavern, the woman's halo of red and purple sunlight streaked out and up into the sky, turning night into day here. Warriors a mile down the street turned and squinted from the blazing light. Emblazoned upon her forehead shone the brilliant caste mark of a Twilight Solar, a perfect circle with a line drawn horizontally, separating the top and the bottom into halves, the top half of the circle filled in with light.

Suspended above her, stretching thirty feet into the air, burned the smoldering image of a tremendous book, closed and weighty and worn from use.

"Anathema!" screamed the nearest and the call traveled down the streets in all directions as soldiers and revolutionaries stepped back, their own conflict forgotten.

"Look, the Book of Death!" pointed one of Tecek's lieutenants. "That's the sign of the Destroyer! The sign of Final Starry Night!"

That was all it took.

In seconds, the ranks broke as men and women fled in fear for their lives. Weapons were left scattered in the street, among the broken wreckage of a hundred shops and the corpses of those both revolutionary and mercenary. And through the desolation, the Destroyer walked once more.

From her vantage point on the roof of a building, a black cat looked upon the glowing form of a Solar motivated by purpose. Solitary Coil smiled as she shed the cat's covering and became a woman once more. And it was as that woman that she felt the weight of her Solar Mate's beauty strike her, forcing a gasp from her throat.

Solitary Coil had never looked upon a woman with the eyes of love, but her soul cried out in welcome to the one who burned so gloriously down there on the street.

Through the streets, unopposed, the Destroyer walked, her Anima leaving everything in her path looking weathered and faded from sun exposure. The Moonsilver Daiklave's surface took in and reflected the light, like the glow of the dawn overtaking the moon in the early morning. The mask shrouded her face, concealing her expression, but despite the unfamiliar features Solitary Coil thought she recognized the tension and readiness that had always characterized her husband when there was killing to be done.

Solitary Coil tracked her as she walked, keeping low and behind cover as she paced her Solar Mate. She was quite careful to avoid notice, but thought it only a slight danger. Final Starry Night was focused on some objective and would have eyes only for it. It had always been a weakness of his, something she had been able to balance for him. She was his eyes and ears when he couldn't see or hear.

She was the first to notice the armed band of a half dozen advancing down the street toward her love. Solitary's Coil breath caught as she saw it for what it was, her serpentine eyes resolving the icons and images upon their armor. A Wyld Hunt. A genuine Wyld Hunt!

What was the Wyld Hunt doing here, in Nexus?

The elite unit was the Realm's response to the Anathema, an elite search-and-destroy response team to make sure that their old masters never regained their former strength and position. She knew they often brought small armies, though their might had been much diminished in recent years. These looked to be comprised entirely of what had to be Dragon-Blooded, given the jade armor and weapons they bore. At their head strode a Sidereal Exalt, one of the Fivefold Fellowship of Destiny, not even bothering to hide himself.

Her Solar Mate was about to be confronted by six highly trained Exalted soldiers led by someone who could change probability and tamper with fate.

But what were they doing here? A Wyld Hunt was an unusual thing in this day and Age, especially with the Realm in disarray. They were uncommon on the Blessed Isle and quite rare in the Threshold. Many of the nations here refused them and Nexus had no standing arrangement with them that she knew of. The odds of one lying around in Nexus on its own were...improbable to say the least. Solitary Coil frowned at that. How likely was it? It was very unlikely. And that could only mean one thing.

"Fateful Ambiguity," she hissed through her clenched teeth. Would he never give up?

The Wyld Hunt drew up around Final Starry Night. Six men and women in articulated jade plate flanked her, some with Grimcleavers, some with Daiklaves, and one with a Goremaul. Stepping in among them walked the Sidereal. He wore a dully gleaming suit of Starmetal that fit him like skin. A Starmetal Daiklave spitefully hissed through the air as he casually swung it. His eyes were a burnished red, filled with specks of stars. The Chosen of Battles, Fateful Ambiguity himself.

Solitary Coil snarled at seeing their enemy. So he had survived the Bone Lion. Well, she hadn't really expected it to kill him but he should have known better than to press another fight. Hadn't he learned that he wasn't a match for them? Of course, this time he'd brought help...

Final Starry Night, the woman in the golden dress, watched them as they encircled her. The Daiklave hung down at her side, blade pointing out diagonally from her. She waited, ready. Unafraid. Like the Solar Lord she was.

Solitary Coil thought about joining her hus...wife in the fight, but decided to hold back for now. She was quite adept at attacking from surprise. Though she'd have no chance of surprising the Sidereal, the Dragon-Blooded were not so lucky. So she spent her time working her own Essence into her muscles, lengthening them, strengthening them to strike with all the force she could muster.

It would be a risky fight. Final Starry Night was mighty indeed and skilled with the sword but he had only his Charms now. No sign of the terrible Ka’sayune In Violet Tatters sword that had been her mate’s signature weapon. No sign either of the Resplendent Robes of Office that had been his First Age self’s most prized possession. Truly, Night was a master compared to these children but they came equipped and he did not, save for that one sword...that he should not be wielding anyway.

"Anathema, you stand to face destruction at our hands." The Sidereal's Daiklave seemed to whine as it lifted up to a defense posture. "The Council of Entities has assured us that there will be no interference in this matter. Would you surrender yourself now, in hopes that your soul might still be saved from the demon in you?"

"You know perfectly well, Chosen, that my Exaltation is not of Hell but of Heaven," the blonde woman in gold replied. Her voice was perfectly steady. "But this is a conversation we've had before...isn't that right, Fateful Ambiguity?"

The Sidereal looked genuinely surprised, a rare thing for a Sidereal and a rare pleasure for one who set herself against him as Coil did. He eyed her mate more carefully. "You were said to be dead, Final Starry Night," he observed.

"Final Starry Night is dead," the woman answered. "He died at Grayfalls. But you and he went back further than that. Did he not warn you the next time you crossed him, he would take your head?"

"He did," Fateful Ambiguity said, still wary of something. "I wonder that you remember it."

"Citizens of Nexus, hear me!" Night interrupted. The woman's voice suddenly boomed with unimaginable volume, spilling out into the air to spread out across the entirety of the District itself. Surrounded by the Wyld Hunt, it was hard to believe she was in danger of death, from the way she spoke.

"Long have you labored in the shadow of this city's economy! Long has that economy been rooted in practices destructive to you and your fellows! Today, men and women have died to show you the suffering this lifestyle brings upon all of humanity! Today...a man named Onyx Tooth, a man who dreamed only of peace, died...to open your eyes!"

Solitary Coil's breath caught as the raw power of Essence thundered in her mind and heart. The power of the Lunar had ever been that of change and conflict. But the power of the Solar had ever been that of excellence...and charisma. Even with the weighty protection of Luna's Exaltation and the savagery of her upbringing, Solitary Coil was...moved.

And concerned. Night had spent so much of his strength already, for her to feel him from so far away. Spending further Essence on this voice trick could only diminish what pitiful reserves he must have left.

"Silence her!" screamed the Sidereal and his voice miraculously cut through Final Starry Night's speech. It lacked the volume to overcome her, but it was enough to drive the Dragon-Blooded to action.

Fire, water, wind, stone and wood collided as the Dragon-Blooded summoned up their own reserves of Essence. Fire danced across their weapons and smoke blossomed from their feet. And around each one flickered the faint red of the Lesser Sign of the Maiden of Battles, the sign of the Sidereal's own power.

The Goremaul struck in first, seemingly irresistible as the great weapon swung down in a fatal arch. Up came the Moonsilver Daiklave and the peal of Magical Material upon Magical Material boomed through the street as the Solar's weapon turned the Goremaul aside. Solitary Coil noted with alarm that the impact had driven her love back a foot, despite her defense.

The swords and the axes followed and at last Final Starry Night began to fight with the excellence she remembered. Her body moved with the fluid grace of choreography, dancing away from one weapon after another, her Moonsilver sword flexing in response to her every thought to turn aside those her feet couldn’t avoid. She made it look like this was all planned, all rehearsed, all perfectly expected.

So her mate had spent all his...her strength on Charms for battle then. This promised to be a glorious fight then, so long as the Sidereal was managed. And Solitary Coil would know when the time was right. The Sidereal would hold back for a time yet.

For minutes, the battle dragged on. Night fought with unsurpassed skill, avoiding elemental Charm after another. Many times, the Dragon-Blooded made it through Night's defenses for, though her style was perfect, they were six and skilled as well. The decisive blows that she dealt only staggered them.

Each time they pierced her defenses, though, their weapon was turned aside. Each time, a shower of golden sparks fell as the weapon shrieked off her dress, as if she was clad in a suit of articulated plate herself. Where her hands were not quick enough, the impossibly long trains of the dress snared and took the brunt of any blow, ringing like a peal of thunder from each blow.

With each blow, Night's Anima grew larger. Ever were the Solar made strong through adversity. Fighting her as they did, they were only making Night more powerful.

At last, Solitary Coil saw the opening she had been waiting for. She saw the Dragon-Blood begin to tire, even as her Mate wearied. And there, there the Sidereal moved at last, darting in to drive the Starmetal Daiklave under her defenses and into her heart. With so many weapons to drive away, her love would be unable to stop this last one.

Fateful Ambiguity's signature move, to strike by surprise. But this time, there was more than just the Sidereal. But this time, she was here too.

Like a beam of moonlight, as soft and as graceful as that moonlight, Solitary Coil flowed down through the sky and among the Dragon-Blood. She gritted her teeth as the shadowy luminescence of her own Anima shone. She was a No-Moon Sorcerer, a researcher and archeologist of the First Age, not a terrifying Lunar warrior. Her magics were meant for mastery and revelation, for the demon and the ruin, not for vying against Exalts who lived for killing other Exalts.

But she was good enough for this purpose, especially striking down surprised Dragon-Blooded who had already expended much of their strength trying to kill a Solar.

Even as her feet touched the ground, her fingers flexed into gleaming razor-sharp talons, edged with Charms meant just for that jade armor. Wickedly fast, snicker-snack, they tore the throat out of one of the Terrestrial and gouged out the face of a second. A third turned, feeling their flank giving, only to scream in agony as Solitary Coil spat venom into his face. His head reeled back, exposing his throat. Solitary Coil wasted no time and lunged in, her fangs tearing into the vulnerable skin and through.

As she came up, deliriously warm blood running from her mouth, she laughed in abandon as Final Starry Night's Daiklave whipped around. Blazing sunlight bloomed from the sword and when it collided with the Sidereal's Starmetal Daiklave, the Sidereal was thrown back a dozen paces. His sword screamed, as if in pain. Disturbing.

The Goremaul swung in again on Final Starry Night's side. She didn't deflect this time, only spun inside the weapon's reach. And then the golden sunshine flexed about Night.

Streaks of crackling green bled through her husband’s Anima. The green and gold spun about each other, condensing to spiral up the Daiklave until the weapon seemed a column of golden fire edged in emerald. The flame burned hotter, even as it seemed to pull all the light right around it into itself, darkening even her Anima.

Then, the weapon howled as it flashed like lightning and cleaved the muscle-bound goremaul-wielding Dragon-Blood in half, shearing through his Jade articulated plate as if it were paper. The fountain of eviscerated gore that trailed behind the blade boiled away into a red mist from the searing heat of the sword. The severed halves of the Dragon-Blooded’s body flew apart from the force of the blow and the Exalt’s face looked like he still didn’t know what had just happened to him.

The Prince had been good but no match for Night's Unfettered Tide of Mortality, his unique and ultimate sword technique.

Solitary Coil's body was on fire from the sheer glory of her wife's lethality. At the moment, the knowledge that they were both women didn't even enter her mind. Only the burning desire to taste bright flame and be one with it filled her.

"Damn you, Solar," Fateful Ambiguity said, his voice far more calm than his words would suggest. "Your time has come and gone. The Ages turn. The Children of the Sun are no more. Please. Whether it's this battle or the next, we will pull you down again. We have to, to save the world from what you will do to it."

"Yes, the world has improved so much since we were killed," Final Starry Night growled. It was so strange to hear a woman's voice, a woman's inflection, but the passion still tasted the same. "This is the result, Sidereal. Star Child, weaver of Destiny, this is the best you could do? This pathetic world where millions are chained and millions more hide away from the pain, however they can? No."

"You say we had our time and it's gone," Night thundered. "Well, you've had almost as long and it's worse. Since the Usurpation, Creation has been ravaged by the Great Contagion, by Faerie, by its own petty powers. Can you sincerely tell me that the Bureau of Fate felt the only solution was to weaken the world so much that no one had the strength to cause trouble any more? Madness."

"And the Dragon-Blooded...truly scions of greatness and our saviors. Only they lack the might to save anyone, even themselves." The sunlit Solar sneered beneath her mask. "The Faerie scream at our gates. The Yozi's shake their prison. Even the dead will not lie quiet anymore. No, I cannot allow this to continue." Final Starry Night raised her sword.

"Fine words," smirked the Chosen of Battles. "You've said ones like them before. But you're a fool if you believe the Solar can rule again. You were put down for being monsters and breeding runs true. As you were, you will be again. Final Starry Night already proved that at Grayfalls. What slaughter will you prove this time?"

The verbal blow seemed to cut home and her mate staggered. Still, her Daiklave stayed up. Solitary Coil tried to ignore her urge to wrest it from her Mate's grasp. The Moonsilver weapon was not meant for the likes of even a great Twilight. But she could not deny Night a sword against such a foe.

"I answer to the Sun. Can you say you answer to someone greater? It took all of you and all of our servants to stop us last time. This time, I alone can best your greatest efforts. Leave, Fateful Ambiguity. Leave or I will cut you down with the Sun's might."

"Then I must withdraw for now," said the Chosen of Battles and he bowed low. "But rest assured we will come for you again with appropriate forces, knowing now your strength this time."

"If you measure force by the number of troops you have, then you have no conception of what real power is." Final Starry Night's voice was no less powerful for its higher pitch.

The Sidereal only saluted her with his Daiklave and pulled back, the two surviving Dragon-Blooded flanking him on either side. Still the flames swirled about their weapons, the violet hazy glow of the Sidereal's power manifest over each of them. They were Exalted warriors, in their prime, and they knew they were not strong enough to stand against Solitary Coil and her love.

"Nexus!" called the Twilight again, and again her voice seemed to fill the street and pour out of it, overflowing across the District, spilling out into the city like the yearly floods. "Even the Wyld Hunt cannot deter justice! Even the corrupt Council of Entities cannot forever avoid punishment for their crimes! Witness now the fate of those who take their stand against righteousness!"

Solitary Coil took a step back as Final Starry Night's Anima surged. The blinding light radiating from her personage seemed to draw together, to condense and swath her like a glaring cloak. As the light thickened further, obscuring details about her features, it began to coalesce into burning bars of Runes that flamed into the sky.

One by one, they rose above her to slowly rotate about. Gradually, the linkages of the massive spell-construct became plain and Solitary Coil tried, as she had every time, to grasp their relationship. She was well-educated in the ancient Exalted magics. Terrestrial Circle Sorcery, the pinnacle of this Age's magic, was elementary. Celestial Circle was plain, if ponderous at times.

But Solar Circle, the greatest, was beyond her. And always would be. No Lunar had the strength of Exaltation to use it, even if they did understand it. But her Solar Mate could.

At last, the Sorcery spun into a ball and rocketed straight up into the night sky.

And Final Starry Night, the Destroyer of Grayfalls, collapsed.