Alitia: Crown of Ash

XI: Sealed

S.M. somehow managed to tear her eyes away from the glowing segment of her torso. She jumped towards River, using her earthen powers to lash out at the Alight Five member. The jagged stones cut into the skin of her foe, and River groaned in pain at the excessive contact. 

Minerva managed to get in a slash to River's side, cutting open their arm when they went to guard their torso. River screamed in agony, looking down at the wound with an expression that could only be surprised as shocked. They looked up to Minerva, searching for a trace of mercy in her eyes, but they found nothing in response. 

River let out another yell, and the ash falling from the sky began to grow heavier. The first new flake hit S.M., and while it was huge, it didn't seem to bother her at all. She stared at the place where it made contact with her skin, surprised at how it wasn't bothering her in the slightest. She looked around to see if the other fighters were being hurt, and it seemed clear that they were. 

What made her so special then?

The ash was becoming so heavy that it could barely be seen through, and S.M. tried to look around and tell what was going on. The light that had blossomed on her torso made it easier for her to see what was around her, but there was still a bit of a struggle. She groaned in frustration, but she heard another yell from River soon afterwards. 

Back on the ground, Carys was struggling to keep up the shield of ice under the increased weight of the ash. She groaned, sweat beading on her forehead. Sylvia pressed a hand to her arm, and while Carys flinched at the contact at first, she calmed down when she realized that Sylvia was giving her magical energy to fuel the shield. Carys gave Sylvia nod of thanks before focusing her attention to sustaining the barrier once again. 

Meanwhile, River appeared before S.M., a look of sadness on their face. "I didn't want to have to do this," they admitted softly. "The king... Do you have any idea what he'll do if we mess this up...? It's a matter of life and death..."

S.M. frowned, watching as traces of ash blew around them both. Her hands clenched into fists. "That doesn't give you the right to attack so many innocent people. I'm not going to be giving into his will no matter what happens, so you're just going to have to deal with that," S.M. snarled with a firm shake of her head. 

"You sure are insistent on not giving in," River sighed, a frown on their face. "I don't want to do this, but... You aren't giving me a choice here."

"I was never going to give you a choice. There are no options here when he's going to kill me should I be taken in. I'd much rather stay alive, you know?" S.M. scoffed, rolling her eyes. 

River looked away from her before holding out one hand, sending out a blast of darkened magic in the direction of her target. It was large and thick enough that S.M. wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time, so she attempted to throw up a small shield to divert at least some of the strength of the attack. Minerva was nowhere to be seen, so she would have to pull herself out of this situation. 

However, S.M. found that she didn't need to do such a thing at the last minute. 

The glow from her torso had defined itself into an orange color that stuck out firmly against the ashen attack. The light forged a shield that surrounded S.M. quickly, and when River reached out to touch a fraction of the light that split off from the rest of the bubble, they hissed in pain. They looked down at their hand to see that their skin had been cut horribly by the contact. 

S.M. looked back and forth between River and the glow on her skin. The orange was starting to form something akin to a pattern, and in a way, it looked like a constellation. However, S.M. had never bothered to spend time recognizing constellations, so she ignored the pattern and looked up to River.