2022-09-30: Traitors to Country

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<Pose Tracker> Antenora has posed.


"I'm going to test your memory..."

The inside of the Tower is largely empty of soldiers, its strange architecture spiraling up, up, up into the sky in apparent silence. That's the god news. The bad news is...

There are barriers all over, and a holographic display showing a certain pattern. The Wolves will have to solve this puzzle in order to get past the barriers. It may take some trial and effort, but Antenora's voice continues, "Memorize the correct pattern. It's a spell to block the path. Can the intruders make it past?"

Up, and up, and up--the tower awaits. As the party moves past the puzzle, they find more of its like along the way. Multiple floors of walking, all ready to sap strength and energy.

There, at the seventh floor--an enemy. The prismatic form of a monster in human form, given form by Antenora's magic. This is another test, a way to bleed through the party's resources, all to soften them up until they reach the top.

Another puzzle. "If you move the wrong switch, you have to do it again. Go ahead. ...There's only one truth among the lies. Can you say with confidence that the path you have chosen is the right one?"

The eleventh floor passes, eventually. And the twelfth. And then...

But eventually, the top is where they reach, a room with computer monitors all over, with displays and panels... And there, at the center of the chamber here at the top of the tower, is a woman with red hair. The Wolves--at least some of them--are likely to recognize Antenora, in her white and gold raiments, the sorceress and spymaster of Cocytus--of Odessa.

"So you made it after all. ...But I won't retreat. Because Vinsfeld is watching."

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"Gh."

Leon grunts with annoyance as he walks along. Up the tower, past the puzzles and barriers that Antenora creates for them. They are a source of frustration; they are an obstacle in his path. Josephine told him who waits within, and Leon made a decision a long time ago: the world would not be Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus's. So he walks, on and on, until he gets to the stop.

His expression is calm, but someone who knows him well can see the anger behind it. Anger at being toyed with; anger at the knowledge that Colonel Keil is aligned with this woman; anger at being reminded of the broken destiny he inherited.

"So you wish to impress Vinsfeld?" he asks. "Is that all this is to you? He would rip the world's soul out to claim its heart. I've no intention of giving him either."

His hand slides to his side. To where Argent Divider, folded up as a shotgun, waits.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

What a miserable experience.

Xantia was promised fighting, dangit! At least, that's what she was told to expect. Sure got to do precious little of that, in favor of... puzzles. Interspersed with the occasional fight just to make you think the puzzles were over. By the time the switch puzzle happens, Xantia felt pretty ready to see how far breaking the switches instead would get them. Just a bit of venting, she wasn't actually going to that.

Despite her complaints, she's not actually bad at puzzles based on pattern recognition. She just lacks the patience for things she can't see the point of. Failure to pay attention was breaking her up more than a lack of ability.

Needless to say, she has something entirely different to remark upon first upon reaching the top of the tower, quite the opposite of Leon in showing her frustration openly.

"What. Was the point. Of any of that?!"

With a deep sigh, Xantia's posture sags, exhausted mentally far more than physically. She quickly recovers, taking a combat stance. She has no personal quarrel with Antenora, not really. No way she could have, with someone she's never met. But she knows the woman's alignment and position in the ranks of Odessa, not to mention the plans for the Thames, courtesy of Josie. And, most importantly, she has to support her friends. It's always convenient when the best way to do that is a little more direct venting of her frustrations.

"Well, after all that, I hope you'll put up a good fight to make up for it! Vinsfeld can watch all he likes, he'll get a little preview of what he's got coming!"

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Oh wow my memory," Fei says. "This is uh. This is going to be rough."

He pauses for a moment before adding, "Uh but... I guess... I'm not sure the point of defenses like this..." Sure it might keep FEI FONG WONG out if he hadn't brought friends but brain teasers aren't going to weaken the force behind his punches.

Some kind of rainbow monster is another matter but eventualy it too goes down.

"I try not to be too confident in paths." Fei grumbles to the unseen Antenora.

But eventually the team makes it.

"Why are you guys making us kill all of you? We don't want to." Fei complains. He pauses. Then reconsiders. "Well, I mean, most of us don't want to, probably." His shoulders push up. "Look he isn't, uh, gonna...want to see this. So if you care about him, uh."

His eyes slant to Leon, then back to Antenora.

He pats Xantia's shoulder, remembering the item that was entrusted to him but this is not really the time to hand it off. He's frankly of the same mind. WHY PUZZLES.

"I mean that order you gave is pretty awful but it doesn't have to go bad. Again. So whataya say?"

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    She would regret it forever, Lily had said, if she didn't go after them and face down Antenora.

    Yes. As she ascends the numerous floors of Antenora's tower, Josie finds herself increasingly in agreement with that assessment. She'd thought to make a clean break of it, but--

    'Messy' is always more her style.
        Behind her, the door holds. Before her, the way has already been cleared by the Black Wolves.

    "...No going back now," she murmurs to herself, mere footsteps from the doorway leading into the central chamber of the tower. Feels like it wasn't all that long ago that she was standing in there herself, receiving orders to...

    She turns her gaze towards the entrance as the others address Antenora within and shakes her head.
    No more time left.

    "'Cause of devotion, Junior," Josie says, finally darkening the doorway. "'Cause they're willing to die for what all they're believing in. Heh... don't I know that feeling well." Her black shotgun is slung against her shoulder as she steps forward, and perhaps, given her recent history, perhaps even her erstwhile companions may be given to wonder for a moment whose side she's actually on. Could it be that she's betrayed them twice over, and now has joined Antenora's side once again--?

    "Hey, Antenora."

    She swings the shotgun off her shoulder and directs it towards the Odessa spymaster. A lopsided smile finds its way onto her face. "Consider this my resignation, yeah?"

<Pose Tracker> Antenora has posed.

Antenora's eyes are ablaze with passion. It is, perhaps, the most alive anyone here has ever seen her. And even so, her voice is cold.

'So, you wish to impress Vinsfeld?' "Heh..." She brings up a hand, makes a gesture. "I'm sure you don't." She doesn't answer, as such. "Vinsfeld is watching me stand here on the battlefield. To meet his expectations, I will have to fight you."

'What was the point of all that!?' "To weaken and tire you, of course. Do you think I intend to make this easy?"

Fei's kindness gets a shake of her head. "Fool. I have things I believe in, too. That I'm willing to die for. Just like you."

"...So I say 'no'. But I don't care about the Diablo Tower," Antenora declares. "...That's not what I'm here to protect. That day... That day, when everything started! I'm protecting the feelings in my heart!"

She actually smiles, here. She looks to Josephine, and nods. "I thought so," she says. "Heh. Then... Come!"

She wields her threads masterfully; a pull here, a tug there, and flames erupt forward for Josie first, a gout of fire to engulf her shotgun and all. Pressure slams down on Fei next from above, barely visible but certainly tangible. And Light erupts forward for Leon and Xantia both.

"...Besides," Antenora says, as she darts back, her high ponyail wavering with the motion as she steps sharply back to let her spells buy her some room. "After all, I remember... That fire."

"I remember when we fought that day," she says, looking to Josie. "You set the house ablaze, and tried to ambush me. Because you couldn't bear what we might do with your precious discovery. We fought..."

"But I've suspected for a long while, and now I know. Since the matter of the Thames. You made a mistake, Josephine, agreeing to the mission--it was a trap to begin with."

"...But no, it wasn't 'us' who fought, back then. I fought a dead woman. Isn't that right.. Katriona Lovelace?"

GS: Antenora has attacked Josephine Lovelace with Flameout!
GS: Antenora has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Overpressure!
GS: Antenora has attacked Leon Albus with Ekstase!
GS: Antenora has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Antenora has attacked Xantia with Dasein!
GS: Antenora has completed her action.
GS: Josephine Lovelace's Jam Ward prevents an effect!
GS: CRITICAL! Josephine Lovelace suffers a terrible blow from Antenora's Flameout for 248 hit points!
GS: Fei Fong Wong partially guards Antenora's Overpressure for 88 hit points!
GS: Cripple applied to Fei Fong Wong!
GS: Hyper applied to Antenora!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font, Guard bonus, and Sufferer activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Xantia takes a glancing hit from Antenora's Dasein for 73 hit points!
GS: Hyper applied to Antenora!
GS: FP up! Power Burst activated!
GS: Leon Albus suffers a terrible blow from Antenora's Ekstase for 149 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Leon glances at Xantia -- and then at Fei. He doesn't have to speak to echo their sentiments. Will one of them finally listen to Fei's offer? He wonders, for a moment. But, alas, he doubts it. Something about this woman's bearing...

He looks over his shoulder, back at Josephine. He blinks at her -- and then his head tilts for a moment, before he understands. A resignation, indeed. "So you've decided to stand with us," he says. "I wasn't sure, I admit."

Someone has to be distrustful, Leon supposes. Might as well be him. He looks to Antenora, and tilts his head to the side. "You've tired me, but you have also annoyed me. Reflect upon that, if you like. In hell."

Light hurtles at Leon. So he rushes it -- slamming into the spell, and breaking through the other side. Light and smoke wisps across him, as he turns about, and swings up Argent Divider. The weapon's barrels unfold; the blade telescopes out. He leaps, and comes crashing down for Antenora. He makes a brutal slash as he lands.

And then his eyes widen -- and narrow, as he looks at...

...who, exactly?

"Katriona?"

GS: Leon Albus has attacked Antenora with Riot Crash!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
GS: Antenora takes a glancing hit from Leon Albus's Riot Crash for 56 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Neither was I or none, Lion," Josie says, shrugging both shoulders lazily. "But here we are, yeah? Thank your girl for it later."

    Antenora doesn't hesitate, after that. But she is among Odessa's finest.

    Flame rolls towards her, and though light erupts into a barrier before her, it is an inexpert ward against the might of a proper sorceress. Josie is consumed.

    Just like back then.

    Dropping to one knee, Josie takes one hard breath as if attempting to steady herself. Her ARM, fallen from her grasp, rests on the floor by herself. "Sure... ain't pulling your punches," she says. Her left hand grips the top of her kneecap tightly.

    Antenora remembers a particular fire herself.

    "That... fire?"

    It's almost a joke, really -- it doesn't click for her at first, despite that fire always, always being there in her mind. Now and forever.

    They'd fought, Antenora says. Josie had set the house ablaze.

    Even as Antenora explains how she'd made a mistake -- how the Thames mission had always been a trap for her -- Josie is silent.

    Right until the moment that Antenora explains what she means. It hadn't been her she had fought, but rather, a dead woman.

    Katriona Lovelace.

    Her hand closes around her shotgun, that prize she'd wrested from Linaweyul's black heart, and slowly, Josie rises to her feet. A dark, bitter chuckle begins to bubble up from the depths of her throat. Fei might remember it well.

    "Half right," she says, dark eyes wide and bright. "Lovelace, no, not if'n you're bein' proper about it. Got disowned, yeah?"

    Her index finger loops over the trigger.

    "But... Katriona, yeah. So it was you all along! Well. Ain't this a pretty mess." She grins, and it's the sort of grin that might look more at home on a skull. Every inch of her speaks of strain and tension, of a rope that is about to snap.

    And snap... it does.

    BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1BpQL6Vwa0

    The howl that looses from her lips as she wheels that black shotgun up at Antenora is unquestioningly a primal one. The crack of the shot that follows is almost quiet in comparison.

DC: Katriona switches forms to The Peregrine!
GS: Katriona has attacked Antenora with Screwdriver!
GS: Katriona has completed her action.
GS: Antenora suffers a terrible blow from Katriona's Screwdriver for 125 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Antenora gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Ah, well, I mean--I don't...think I do have things I'm willing to die for?" Fei says awkwardly. "I mean, sure, sometimes--but I don't think it's, you know, something to be proud of. Being willing to die for something you believe in--I don't think that's anything to be proud of, ma'am." His eyes narrow faintly, though in concern rather than rage. "Dying for a cause isn't something we should rush twoards. It's just sometimes there's no better option. But I'm sure there's one here."

Antenora reveals her hand in Josephine's past. Fei's eyes widen, mouth dropping open in horror.

Then his hands curl into fists. Air pressures down on him. His lips wibble hilariously as it bears down on him but he doesn't collapse to a knee that easily.

He steps forward, laboriously, then another, then another.

"How could you..." Fei says. "How could you do this to her?!"

He bursts forward out of the pressure cage he was within--

--punching an explosive punch--literally explosive, fire is erupting out of the strike--for the center of Antenora's chest.

"I'm gonna break you," Fei says softly, a hint of tears in his eyes. "For what you just did."

Id has no notes.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Antenora with Kakei!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: Antenora suffers a terrible blow from Fei Fong Wong's Kakei for 163 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Antenora gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia easily finds her smile again, when Fei pats her shoulder. He doesn't need to say anything, she knows they're on the same page here. ...She's just a bit more eager to solve problems with her fists, is all.

That's when Josephine makes her unexpected appearance. Anyone could be excused for thinking this is a double-cross, and Josie being here instead of Lily could mean that something unfortunate happened to the latter. But Xantia... well. By now it should be obvious what her reaction will be.

"Josie!" Said with all the cheer appropriate for welcoming an unexpected visit from a good friend. "I'm glad you decided to stay and fight!" No doubt whatsoever as to whose side the fighting will be happening on. She sees this as simply the logical result of Josie following up on the exact thing she suggested. Being more honest with herself.

The answer brought to Fei's question, though... that prompts a frown from her, confronted with a mindset that she could never understand. "Devotion's good and all, but there's no sense in dying for anything. It's never gonna help whatever you're devoted to if you're not around for it anymore."

The threads sent her way - that's a style she's not familiar with. She can only respond with the instinctual urge to dodge things coming her way. Which helps to avoid the threads themselves. Not so much with the bursts of light erupting from them, which her dodging effort fell a little short for. The blast knocks her clear, though she lands in a crouch.

She fails to follow up on this immediately, when she finds herself confused by the words that were spoken in the heat of combat.

"...Wait, what?"

...That's all she's got, unable to piece together Antenora's insinuations right away. But she can still feel their weight, and likewise looks to Josephine for an explanation.

She doesn't quite get a direct one. But that reaction. It was you all along. That's all she needs for it to click. Without a word, she simply leaps forward, mimicking Fei almost exactly in movement and intensity. Right down to the punch ending in explosive fire.

"...Don't think I really care anymore about your motivations," she speaks grimly, without even a hint of any emotion aside from barely restrained anger.

GS: Xantia has attacked Antenora with Exploding Fist!
GS: Xantia has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
GS: Antenora takes a glancing hit from Xantia's Exploding Fist for 76 hit points!
GS: Hyper applied to Xantia!
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!
<Pose Tracker> Antenora has posed.

"Oh, of course she'd stand with you. She's hated me all along. But will that be enough?"

Leon replies, and Antenora smiles. "Certainly, Your Majesty." The slash slams into her cloth-magic barriers, but only at her side, knocking her backward but not finding purchase in her flesh. This time.

Josie--no, Katriona replies to her. She almost seems to have forgotten. Almost. But half right... "Half right. I'll have to accept that."

The howl gets a widened smile out of Antenora, a cruel expression unusual on the ordinarily mild woman. And that bullet slams into her chest, impacting magical armor that stops it short. "It won't be that easy," she answers Katriona, and then she looks to Fei, stepping forward as he bursts out of the pressure cage. She waches him, and narrows her eyes--

But not with fear. No, there is no fear in this woman, despite the fact that Fei could surely break her, f all her power.

"Josephine came to us, Fei. Do you still feel so righteous?"

Fei says it's not so good to die for a cause. Xantia says similar. Devotion is good. "You understand nothing," she says of death and of them. "Just fight me."

Xantia no longer cares about her motivations, she says. And Antenora's smile widens sickle-sharp. "Yes. YES! Come at me with all your hate!"

She whirls among punches, taking Fei's fire straight in the chest and being knocked backwards, only grazed by Xantia's. And when she rises again, there is blood in her mouth despite her armor. It doesn't stop her smiling.

"TAKE THIS!"

Antenora waves her hand, dowsing with her pendulum, and a powerful blast of sheer light force crashes out towards the entire group, shattering monitors and panels where it hits the walls. But not the main monitor. No, not that one.

She then brings her hands together, and makes a complex form wth her hands, casting another spell--as a curving shield rises into being before her, fading into invisibility as it restores some of her wounds.

"Because Vinsfeld is watching...!"

GS: Antenora has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Shockwave!
GS: Antenora has attacked Xantia with Shockwave!
GS: Antenora has attacked Leon Albus with Shockwave!
GS: Antenora has attacked Katriona with Shockwave!
GS: Antenora has attacked Antenora with Defilade!
GS: Antenora has completed her action.
GS: Antenora heals Antenora! She gains 175 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield applied to Antenora!
GS: Mighty applied to Antenora!
GS: Fei Fong Wong takes a solid hit from Antenora's Shockwave for 221 hit points!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!
GS: Fei Fong Wong enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Xantia partially guards Antenora's Shockwave for 147 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Katriona suffers a terrible blow from Antenora's Shockwave for 230 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Katriona gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Leon Albus solidly guards Antenora's Shockwave for 99 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leon Albus gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

The scream from Katriona answers it. And, really, so does Antenora's explanation -- and the knowledge that Josie had always been trying to avenge a sister. It seems she was trying to avenge a different sister. He stares at her for a moment longer, before he shakes his head, and then he looks at Antenora. He looks in time to see Fei fly in for her, and his jaw sets.

He looks back at Antenora. "I think," he says, "that it will be."

He swings up an arm, as the shockwave smashes into him. He braces himself against it; it blasts around him, even as monitors break and the crystal floor is rattled. Leon lets out a shaky breath, before he throws his free hand out. Three triangular-shaped pieces of metal drop from his belt, fly out every which way, and begin forming barriers of shimmering pale blue-green light. Ready to rush and intercept; ready to defend his friends.

"You've made a mistake of making this personal," he says. "A dire mistake, if there ever was one. If Vinsfeld is watching, let him be unsatisfied!"

GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Leon Albus has attacked Leon Albus with Scutum Eternal!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Leon Albus has attacked Katriona with Scutum Eternal!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Leon Albus has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Scutum Eternal!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Leon Albus has attacked Xantia with Scutum Eternal!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
GS: Leon Albus heals Leon Albus! He gains 300 temporary hit points!
GS: Regen and Shield applied to Leon Albus!
GS: Leon Albus heals Katriona! She gains 300 temporary hit points!
GS: Regen and Shield applied to Katriona!
GS: Leon Albus heals Xantia! She gains 300 temporary hit points!
GS: Regen and Shield applied to Xantia!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Righteous?!" Fei says. "Me?! I can never be righteous! But you brought Jo--" He hesitates--not sure what name to use--but ultimately just ploughs on ahead. "--You brought her back into the cycle of revenge. That wasn't part of any cause. That does nothing to help you. You just did that to mock her, exult in your bloody influence on her life."

Yeah, he remembers that chuckle. And Song of the Ancients works for Fei too.

Light slams into him. Manipulating light is one of the harder elements for Fei so he can't manage to get an etheric defense up in time. He goes crashing back and bounces across the floor, leaving a blooddy smear across the floor.

He gets up too quickly, covered in his own gore, just flipping back up to his feet before he runs towards Antenora again. Yui would probably be chiding him for not being more technical in his movements. There's no risk of an Id manifestation when Fei is all too willing to use his own hands.

He doesn't want to but he wants to.

"Try me." Fei says, guiding dark ether into his feet as he throws a high chick for the side of Antenora's face--

--then twists his foot and aims to smack her across the other side of her face too.

He turns to Xantia and gives her a singular nod.

GS: Leon Albus heals Fei Fong Wong! He gains 300 temporary hit points!
GS: Regen and Shield applied to Fei Fong Wong!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Antenora with Infinite Darkness Ether Channel!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Fei Fong Wong's stances have changed to Avenger!
GS: Fei Fong Wong gains 60 THP from Regen!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: Antenora partially guards Fei Fong Wong's Infinite Darkness Ether Channel for 152 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Antenora gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Accusing Xantia of not understanding anything... well, she's not going to argue that one. She feels like she's not understanding everything fully on a regular basis. At least, not the way that most people understand things. Perhaps that's also what allows her to focus on the fact that it was Josephine who came to Odessa in a different way than most might.

"Seems to me like she made the right decision. After all... she only did that for one reason. And now, she's found who she's been looking for all this time."

She's pieced it all together by now. It may look like she's taking it calmly, but the calmness of her words clashes with the anger in her eyes. She didn't need to see that outburst on Josie's part to have an idea of how all this would cause someone to feel. Perhaps it's a little like discovering a benefactor you felt great gratitude towards was responsible for robbing you of all that you were by messing with your memory. Take that feeling, and multiply it.

Yet still in that same calm tone, she questions aloud the use of that word. "Hate...?"

She has little time for much else. Antenora sends forth a massive wave of light - but unlike Fei, Xantia is more versed in that element. Versed enough to raise a barrier of the same element around herself as she crosses her arms in front of her, choosing to weather the storm by bracing herself against it. It does not hold, in the end, but it does prevent the worst of it, allowing Xantia to remain upright as the tail end of the searing light blast washes over her.

Afterwards, she briefly does drop to her knees, when support barriers from Leon arrive, offering protection and healing. Ample time for Xantia to rise again, and take a deep breath. "...You said it yourself. I understand nothing. That includes 'hate'. If that's what you want, then sorry, look elsewhere." It's not like she'll have to look very far. Even so, Xantia's simmering anger doesn't fade, not even a little bit.

"That doesn't mean I won't put an end to you."

With that, Xantia vanishes. Not really - she just moves fast enough that it may appear that way. Xantia's initial kick comes from a direction completely different than where she was just standing a moment ago, afterimages trailing in the wake of her sudden charge. Seeking to follow up, Xantia's fists fly towards the face and midsection both, alight in flames, as is the rest of her body. One might say she's burning with anger. Leave it to her to take even that literally.

GS: Xantia has attacked Antenora with Elemental Fury!
GS: Xantia's stances have changed to Avenger!
GS: Xantia gains 10 FP from her Daredevil!
GS: Xantia gains 60 THP from Regen!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
GS: Antenora partially evades Xantia's Elemental Fury for 94 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Antenora gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Mighty applied to Xantia!
<Pose Tracker> Katriona has posed.

    Perhaps, all in one moment, Josephine's -- no, Katriona's -- motivations finally make sense. All this time, she had played the role of her sister, hoping to again draw the one who had killed her closer to make another attempt. After a fashion, this had failed.

    After a fashion, this had very much succeeded.

    "Oh, no," Katriona tells her, chest heaving as if to catch a breath after that primal scream. "It won't be easy. I won't go easy. I'm going to do it slowly-like, right...?" She's smiling.

    There is no world in which a smile like that is comforting.

    She advances all of a single step, leveling that shotgun at Antenora still. Her eyes are wide, as if she doesn't want to miss a minute of this.

    Antenora is faster.

    Crying out as she's unceremoniously flung bodily at a row of panels, Katriona hits them with a sickening crack to slump to the floor. "God... dammit," she hisses, struggling now to force her body upright, to get back into this fight that matters more than anything else.

    Leon, of all people, has her back. It's those funnels he'd been using time and time again--

    And their cover gives her the time she needs to put her house in order. No, healing magic has never been her remit as a poor student of Symbology, but she's always been well-acquainted with the works of apothecaries. In a pinch...

    It suits her just fine.

    "You bitch," Katriona tells Antenora once she's back on her feet. "All this time-- you were laughing, weren't you?! All this time you were right in front of me! ...I'll kill you, and I'll do it while he's watching!"

    She advances, shielded perhaps by that barrier Leon had set before her. And as she advances, she pulls the trigger again and again, stopping only after that all-too-soon moment when Agares the Bitter reports that it is empty and has no more shells to give.

GS: Katriona has activated a Force Action!
GS: You have activated the Force Action Fury Shot!
GS: Katriona spends 1 Combo on Interrupt!
GS: Katriona has attacked Antenora with Suffering Bastard!
GS: Katriona has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Katriona gains 60 THP from Regen!
GS: Katriona has completed her action.
GS: Antenora's Mute Ward prevents an effect!
GS: Antenora solidly guards Katriona's Suffering Bastard for 73 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Antenora gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Interrupt applied to Antenora!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures and Sufferer activated!
GS: Antenora has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!
<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

And in the back of the room - one thundering gunshot, and the faint smell of gunpowder.

Billy Lee Black appears at the door, one of his Colt gunsmokes leveled and smoking, bullet well on its way to Antenora.

"I hate torch puzzles," he declares, and starts marching forward toward the core of the melee, dropping the first gun to his side and leveling the second, peering down the sights. But it's not the sights he aims with.

"I have arrived," he says, unnecessarily, in Leon's direction.

GS: Billy Lee Black has attacked Antenora with Aim With Your Eye!
GS: Billy Lee Black has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Antenora solidly guards Billy Lee Black's Aim With Your Eye for 68 hit points!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures and Sufferer activated!
GS: Antenora has adjusted their boss level for 5 opponents!
<Pose Tracker> Antenora has posed.

Leon tells her she's made it personal. "Hahaha... HA HA HA HA HA!" She looks at the rushing barriers, the pale-blue light, as he mentions her mistake, and Antenora shakes her head. "It was always personal. The feelings in my heart... They were always personal! I don't care about the damned tower! THIS is what I care about!"

"Oh?" Antenora answers Fei. He wants an answer? his dark power slams into her, hits her by the face and forces her to jerk to the side painfully, which prompts another laugh from her. It's a little strained, but then, isn't everything right now?

But maybe she will. Before that, Xantia speaks up, and Antenora shakes her head. "No, no. Her sister came to us, all those years ago. She wanted to change the world. But when it came down to it, she wasn't ready; she killed one of our agents, and tried to kill me. You think this was some random murder? No, all our hands are just as bloody."

Then she looks to Xant, as she rises again. She understands nothing, including hate. Well...

Antenora avoids the shot to her face, but takes one in the side, which sizzles and burns at her cloth armor. "That's fine," she says. "So long as you fight."

Then she looks triumphantly at Katriona. Even as she fires and fires, Antenora swirls her threads and creates a shield before herself, relying on her magic to defend. "Yes," she says. "I suspected it was you. But I couldn't know for sure. After all, the fire destroyed the evidence. But even so, when you agreed to do away with the Thames... it's then that I knew."

"Do you think she'd have done the same for you?"

Then Billy aims with his eye, and shoots Antenora in the chest. Her armor blocks the bullet from boring through her, but she coughs up blood at its hard impact anyway. "Gh--"

"...Heheh."

Again her pendulum swings, and something in the air cracks. The whole tower seems to shift for an instant as her magic takes effect, a sudden zephyr swirling about her as she unleashes more of her full power. "Antenora, of Cocytus... yes. That is why I am here."

Then she throws out her hand, and spectral chains crash about the others, taking with them some of the defenses that the Raid Funnels have offered. But for Katriona and Billy, she has a different approach, and white light shines forth once again, concerting ground to so much blankness in its wake."But you want to understand...? Do a little better, and maybe I'll tell you what I mean."

GS: Antenora spends 1 Combo on Link!
GS: Antenora has attacked Antenora with Brinkmate!
GS: Antenora has launched an attack Link!
GS: Antenora's stances have changed to Avenger!
GS: Interrupt expired!
GS: Antenora accepts Antenora's Brinkmate for 0 hit points!
GS: Hyper applied to Antenora!
GS: Mighty applied to Antenora!
GS: Antenora has attacked Leon Albus with Deadlock!
GS: Antenora has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Deadlock!
GS: Antenora has attacked Xantia with Deadlock!
GS: Antenora has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Antenora's stances have changed from Avenger to !
GS: Antenora has attacked Billy Lee Black with Desolation!
GS: Antenora has attacked Katriona with Desolation!
GS: Antenora has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Antenora has completed her action.
GS: Katriona takes a solid hit from Antenora's Desolation for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Katriona gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Regen and Shield removed!
GS: Entangle and Mute applied to Katriona!
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!
GS: Katriona enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: CRITICAL! Xantia takes a solid hit from Antenora's Deadlock for 235 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Hyper, Mighty, Regen, and Shield removed!
GS: CRITICAL! Leon Albus solidly guards Antenora's Deadlock for 97 hit points!
GS: Dispel! Regen and Shield removed!
GS: Billy Lee Black takes a glancing hit from Antenora's Desolation for 0 hit points!
GS: Entangle and Mute applied to Billy Lee Black!
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"I'm no stranger to hate," Leon says to Antenora. He glances at Katriona; neither, he thinks, is she.

His eyes shift back to her, as the Wolves rush in. His barrier is everywhere at once, trying to guard them as best it is able.

"So you care about a fight? To be seen by your Lord Vinsfeld? What could you possibly get out of this?"

He steps forward, shields swirling. Many are caught by the spectral chains that Antenora summons; they shudder, held in place. Lightning crackles around them, as the barriers are squeezed. Leon stands in the midst of chained funnels, of spectral chains, and looks at Antenora. Do better, she says. His silver eyes narrow.

"It is easy, to say we're all rotten -- because it's a way of deflecting our own crimes," he says. "To say everyone has blood on their hands... it's just a way to ignore the blood on yours."

He snaps Argent Divider back into position, and then lifts it. He fires the shotgun once, sending a round hurtling towards Antenora. "Make your excuses, if you like. I've finished with making mine."

GS: Leon Albus has attacked Antenora with RR-2 Suggestion!
GS: Leon Albus enters a Counter stance!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus's stances have changed from Counter to  and Counter!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
GS: Fei Fong Wong partially guards Antenora's Deadlock for 120 hit points!
GS: Dispel! Regen and Shield removed!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

A shield crackles around Fei that came from some weird triangles Leon let loose. Every time Fei fights with him, he thinks, he has some new tricks up his disposal. N

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

A shield crackles around Fei that came from some weird triangles Leon let loose. Every time Fei fights with him, he thinks, he has some new tricks up his disposal. Not that he's going to complain. His breathing comes more easily, his body aches less--

And then Antenora blasts into the shield. It disrupts the majority of it, though some shimmering remains providing Fei SOME protection.

Fei considers Antenora.

She doesn't care about the damn tower. The purpose of this is the fight. Why? What does she get out of it?

Is she some kind of fight hog?

Fei considers Antenora. The flashpan of fury is fading.

And then he straightens up. "Nah," He says.

He starts walking towards the computer monitors, examining them. Might as well focus on the objective.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Antenora with Nope Nada No Thank You Negative!
GS: Fei Fong Wong's stances have changed from Avenger to !
GS: Cripple expired!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: Antenora suffers a terrible blow from Leon Albus's RR-2 Suggestion for 95 hit points!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
GS: Antenora solidly guards Fei Fong Wong's Nope Nada No Thank You Negative for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Antenora gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Katriona has posed.

    Katriona's gaze meets Leon's. Yes. She's no stranger to hate, particularly in this moment.

    "Tch--" Katriona hisses, when Antenora speaks of the blood that her sister had spilled. "You think mine are any cleaner? There ain't no one in this room with clean hands!! So stuff the guilt -- as far as I'm wagerin', all of us are the same!" She bares her teeth, fixing Antenora with a gaze that could cut glass.

    Antenora hadn't been sure, in the end -- two women of similar age to one another had been found in a burning building, and one of them had been dead.
    Hell, even the locals hadn't been sure. Taking her sister's name had been easy from day one.

    "--Do you think I care about that?! So what if she'd not do the same for me? I'm her big sister!"

    And there are some things that older siblings are supposed to do for their younger. Even all the way to the end of the world.

    Katriona knows all about devotion, after all.

    Billy enters the room after and though Katriona shoots him a glance -- surprised but gratified to see him present, in this most dire of moments -- there isn't the space to say anything to him.

    Particularly not when Antenora, echoing a gambit long-favored by Katriona, flares a too-bright light in their joint direction. "Ugh--"

    A shield can't ward off light, or the disconcerting effects that follow up the chain along with it. Blinking the afterimage away, Katriona staggers back a step and then does something that perhaps might take the others who know her well by surprise:

    Katriona drops her shotgun.

    The fact that she replaces it soon after with a small, Aveh-forces sidearm drawn from under her jacket may be much less of a surprise, though. She spins it experimentally in one hand, as if to assess its weight. "Been a while," she says, to the Iron Cobra 325. "But you'll suit."

    She breaks from her former position, moving to try to flank Antenora from a distance before taking that shot.

GS: Katriona has attacked Antenora with Grasshopper!
GS: Katriona has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Katriona has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

The correction Xantia receives throws her for a loop. She was sure she had this complicated situation figured out, but as it turns out, it's yet more complicated than that. As always, her reactions are honest to a fault, and her dumbfounded expression says it all.

"...Huh? Wait. But then..." Now second-guessing her every thought, it takes her longer than most to get the story figured out. It's the name-swapping. How is she supposed to think of Josie as someone else, and someone else as Josie, just like that? You can't just alter reality like that!

Antenora doesn't wait for Xantia to finishing processing all this, of course. She's caught completely unprepared to deal with sudden magical chains crashing down all around her, ripping apart her barrier with all too much ease. Xantia lets out a little yelp and quickly backs away, quite different from her grimly determined self just a moment ago.

This doesn't mean that she's done, of course. The flames surrounding her flow to her hands, coalescing into the shape of a spear made entirely out of fire. Despite its ethereal nature, the way she spins it and plants it on the floor next to her makes it appear no less solid than a metal weapon.

"Alright! I got it! So it was Josie's sister who attacked you first." She's still calling the wrong person Josie, who knows whether that's a conscious choice or not. Either way, close enough. Also, not the point. Speaking of which, she lifts her fiery spear, and points its tip in Antenora's direction.

"So what? That doesn't make a difference!" Leon says it better than she could. And besides which... "Odessa has to be stopped. Because it's wrong. Everything that forces anyone else to do things they don't want to, is wrong. Just another misuse of power. I won't let it happen!"

She charges, once again. This time, she focuses less on speed, more on power, using that spear to alternately jab and slash, which isn't so different in the way it does damage when the spear is made of pure elemental force. The way she handles it, it's as if fighting with a spear is her regular fighting style, when she's barely ever been seen fighting this way.

The only common thread is her level of aggression, keeping the pressure on - until right in the middle, she changes gears entirely. The spear soundlessly snaps in two, changes shape in Xantia's hands almost instantly, and she smoothly switches to a two-handed sword style, now wielding twin elemental blades. She may not understand much, but she understands fighting, of many different sorts.

...It's actually Fei who causes her assault to lose steam, as he just sort of... goes to do something else, what? Did he forget to fight in the middle of a battle? You can't do that! If for no other reason...

"Fei! Pretty sure she won't stop fighting just because you did!"

GS: Xantia spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Xantia has attacked Antenora with Ethereal Weapon Construct!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia's stances have changed from Avenger to !
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Gamble: Lowest! Antenora takes a solid hit from Katriona's Grasshopper for 104 hit points!
GS: Jam applied to Antenora!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures and Sufferer activated!
GS: Antenora enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Antenora suffers a terrible blow from Xantia's Ethereal Weapon Construct for 299 hit points!
GS: Hyper applied to Xantia!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

Billy has no idea what he missed. It's probably fine.

That bullet strikes true, but as expected, a bullet on a chief leader of a group like Odessa isn't going to do much on its own. Even if it did in fact get her to spit blood. He sees the pendulum swaying now, and the hair on the back of his neck stands on end. He surges hard to one side, trying to evade the prison of magic, but he just can't quite clear it. He thinks about conjuring his own magic in counter, but decides to hold off on it, for just a moment.

Instead he snaps up with one arm, and as it rises, a peculiar ARM falls into it from a spring-loaded sleeve holster. "Try harder? I'll give you that! This madness has to end!"

A blaze of Ether heat explodes from the Ether gun, and then he raises the other arm and its own Ether gun falls into place, firing a wave of cutting ice to cleave into Antenora and lock her spirit in place.

GS: Billy Lee Black has attacked Antenora with Hell Blast!
GS: Billy Lee Black has completed his action.
GS: Antenora solidly guards Billy Lee Black's Hell Blast for 58 hit points!
GS: Hex applied to Antenora!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures and Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Antenora has posed.

"What indeed?" Antenora asks Leon. "You ask the right question. Maybe you really are the ones I've been looking for all this time." Leon's round slams into her again; her armor is starting to fray, for all the enchantments she's been able to give it. "No argument," she says. "We've all sinned, myself included."

Fei... says no. Fei just starts walking for the monitors. Her eyes narrow. "You think it's that simple?" she asks, and extends her hand. A rippling waves of sonic energy crashes out toward him, likely to destroy the monitor he's seeing. but not the cameras. No, those displays are still working just fine.

Katrioa calls her a bitch and she smiles. She doesn't recognize this particular gun, but that's fine. (Someone would.) "So, you're her big sister... Fair enough. Then strike me down. I killed her. Do what you came to do."

Another shot hits--this one gets through her armor. It only strikes Antenora in the shoulder, but it bleeds freely. "Go ahead. Stop us for your 'justice'. Do what you need to do. Make sure what you'll 'let' happen." She regards Katriona again, and then is focused on Xantia, because Xantia hits her so hard with that suden spear that she hits, and hits, and hits. It snaps in two, and those blades crash through Antenora's armor, hitting her hard enough in the end to send her sprawling backward. "Gh--"

Now she's obviously battered and bruised... but still up.

"Once... upon a time..."

She brings her threads up again, and begins to weave them through the air, complex motions too fast for the eye to see. And then... Then, the light comes.

It is brilliant, all-absorbing, stark. Light washes across the room, and engulfs every person within, a sizzling touch that feels intangible but wears at the body all the same. It is a brutal, peerless spell. And it is the power Antenora of Cocytus brings to bear in this battle.

"...There... was a girl." A stiff smile. "...And, like so many others, she lost her family."

<Pose Tracker> Antenora has posed.

"What indeed?" Antenora asks Leon. "You ask the right question. Maybe you really are the ones I've been looking for all this time." Leon's round slams into her again; her armor is starting to fray, for all the enchantments she's been able to give it. "No argument," she says. "We've all sinned, myself included."

Fei... says no. Fei just starts walking for the monitors. Her eyes narrow. "You think it's that simple?" she asks, and extends her hand. A rippling waves of sonic energy crashes out toward him, likely to destroy the monitor he's seeing. but not the cameras. No, those displays are still working just fine.

Katrioa calls her a bitch and she smiles. She doesn't recognize this particular gun, but that's fine. (Someone would.) "So, you're her big sister... Fair enough. Then strike me down. I killed her. Do what you came to do."

Another shot hits--this one gets through her armor. It only strikes Antenora in the shoulder, but it bleeds freely. "Go ahead. Stop us for your 'justice'. Do what you need to do. Make sure what you'll 'let' happen." She regards Katriona again, and then is focused on Xantia, because Xantia hits her so hard with that suden spear that she hits, and hits, and hits. It snaps in two, and those blades crash through Antenora's armor, hitting her hard enough in the end to send her sprawling backward. "Gh--"

Now she's obviously battered and bruised... but still up.

"Once... upon a time..."

She brings her threads up again, and begins to weave them through the air, complex motions too fast for the eye to see. And then... Then, the light comes.

It is brilliant, all-absorbing, stark. Light washes across the room, and engulfs every person within, a sizzling touch that feels intangible but wears at the body all the same. It is a brutal, peerless spell. And it is the power Antenora of Cocytus brings to bear in this battle.

"...There... was a girl." A stiff smile. "...And, like so many others, she lost her family."

She smiles at Billy again, as that cutting ice slams into her, and holds her in place despite her attack. "yes. The madness.. must end. It will."

GS: Antenora spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Antenora has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Hypersonic!
GS: Antenora has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Antenora has activated a Force Action!
GS: Antenora has activated a Force Action!
GS: Antenora has activated a Force Action!
GS: Antenora enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Antenora has attacked Katriona with Ephemeron!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Antenora has attacked Leon Albus with Ephemeron!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Antenora has attacked Xantia with Ephemeron!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Antenora has attacked Billy Lee Black with Ephemeron!
GS: Antenora has gained 1 Combo!
GS: CRITICAL! Leon Albus critically guards Antenora's Ephemeron for 79 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Fei Fong Wong suffers a terrible blow from Antenora's Hypersonic for 302 hit points!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Xantia suffers a terrible blow from Antenora's Ephemeron for 283 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Hyper removed!
GS: Break and Weaken applied to Xantia!
GS: CRITICAL! Katriona solidly guards Antenora's Ephemeron for 124 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Katriona gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Break and Weaken applied to Katriona!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Leon lowers his gun, after a moment. He frowns, for a moment, as he listens to Antenora's remarks. Inviting them to do what they came to do; inviting them to strike her down. Not only Katriona, but all of them. His silver eyes begin to narrow with thought.

The threads move; light explodes outward, slamming outward, and smashing him backward. He holds an arm up, guarding his face for a moment. Then, he lowers it; smoke rises up from him. "...You want to die," he says. "By us. You want someone to kill you." He lifts his chin, and then he flicks out Argent Divider II. The blade's barrels fold up; the blade emerges, telescoping outward. This time, a silvery light explodes across it, before forming a blade.

"Why? What could your death accomplish?"

He swings the blade down. An arc of silvery light explodes across the ground -- and hurtles off towards Antenora, with explosive promise.

GS: Leon Albus has activated a Force Action!
GS: Leon Albus spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Leon Albus has attacked Antenora with Code.34 DURANDAL!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus's stances have changed from Counter to  and Counter!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"I know," Fei tells Xantia. His heart is pounding. "But this feels..." He trails off.

He isn't sure how to put it into words. 'It feels like she's manipulating me'? Like a puppet on a string...

He reaches a terminal and it...explodes!5R
Worse is the wave of sonic energy that hits Fei himself. Antenora's techniques are unusual. Strange, even from Fei's typical experience. He cries out and his ears start bleeding as he collapses to the ground, convulsing for a few precious seconds.

Perfect Body, Fei thinks, it's your body, it's not the wave's. Breathe in. Breathe out.

It still is going to take him a moment even with monk class levels but eventually he bites the inside of his lip and sits up.

It's getting more evident now.

Fei stands up, using a control station as leverage.

"No," He says softly. "It's not that easy. A lie was told long ago, that blood must be paid in blood, that this is all there is..."

"But I'm not going to just roll over and give you what you want." Fei says. "Not after what you did to her."

Even if he wanted to, is he even in a condition to fight right now.

"If you lost family you should've known not to pay that forward." Fei says. "...I should know that too."

GS: CRITICAL! Antenora suffers a terrible blow from Leon Albus's Code.34 DURANDAL for 200 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Antenora gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures and Sufferer activated!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Antenora with Not Feeling It!
GS: Fei Fong Wong's stances have changed from Avenger to !
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Antenora suffers a terrible blow from Fei Fong Wong's Not Feeling It for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Antenora gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Billy Lee Black suffers a terrible blow from Antenora's Ephemeron for 287 hit points!
GS: Break and Weaken applied to Billy Lee Black!
<Pose Tracker> Katriona has posed.

    "Inviting the inevitable, now?"

    There's something wrong with this. Most people don't invite death unless they've nothing to lose by it.
    Or perhaps, if they have everything to gain.

    Or, maybe, if they've just had enough. But the problem with all of these questions is her reasons don't matter in the slightest to Katriona. Katriona, who is out for blood.

    "Don't have to ask me twice!"

    But Antenora won't die easily.

    Katriona is but a student of the most elementary level in Symbology -- this was the secret Lily had learned years and years ago from seeing the tattoos drawn down her back. A far cry from the accomplished Symbologist her sister -- the apple of her father's eye and his star pupil, once upon a time -- had been.

    But though she would be a wayward daughter in the eyes of her deceased sire, neither is she completely at a loss in the art. Though Antenora is a master and Katriona but a pupil, comparatively--

    She had still picked up her meager skill from someone who would rival Antenora in strength. She forms her barrier of light before her once again and though streams of that consuming brilliance cut through what protection she can afford... it does hold. It holds back enough.

    Brilliance steams off her clothing and flesh where the light had touched. Momentarily, Katriona reels where she stands.
    Yet, she does not stumble or even fall.

    "...So that's your deal," she says. "So that's why? Heh..."

    Her head falls forward. At first, her shoulders shake with the effort of holding it in. But eventually it slips its way from her -- that terrible, unhinged laughter.

    "Two peas in a pod, ain't we!"

    She, perhaps aware of what Fei is doing, glances the once his direction. "Sorry, Junior. But I'm gonna kill her!"
    She's going to do it, if it's the last thing she does. Maybe then her wound will...

    When she takes that richocheting shot that zings across the room from monitor to broken monitor, it may only natural that the trick may seem familiar, by now.

GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Katriona has attacked Antenora with Adios Motherfucker!
GS: Sneak! You have gained 1 Combo! Only you see this message.
GS: Katriona has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Recover! Break and Entangle removed from Katriona!
GS: Mute expired!
GS: Katriona has completed her action.
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Katriona's attack becomes clear!
GS: CRITICAL! ROU|LET|TE: Low! Gamble: Very High! Antenora suffers a terrible blow from Katriona's Tequila Sunrise for
152 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Antenora gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures and Sufferer activated!
GS: Katriona enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"I mean that's ok I'm more speaking from a personal perspective here about what's best for my mental health--" Fei says in tiny font while Katriona does something really fucking cool.

<Pose Tracker> Katriona has posed.

    The thing is, that single ricocheting bullet is only a distraction.

    Katriona, in rapid succession, fires that sidearm again and again at various points in the room, sizing up and siezing upon the physics involved in a single glance. A storm of ricocheting bullets converges upon Antenora, flying at her from unexpected angles.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

In spite of her words, Xantia can't help but feel on some level bad about this. Not so much about her or anybody else's actions here today. It just feels like some kind of setup. Unbeknownst to her, Fei thinks much the same as she does. As much as she claimed ignorance before, it's clear enough to her that for whatever reason, Antenora wanted this. As much as she claimed not to care about the reasons, it still bugs her. She's still trying to figure it out even as she's laying into Antenora with elemental weaponry. When she succeeds in a knockdown, she feels like she has the beginnings of a conclusion. Leon finishes it for her.

"...Why?" she echoes, unable to comprehend a wish for death on a fundamental level. She looks conflicted, on the verge of backing down. But their opponent isn't about to let that happen. Given the opening, a massive outpouring of pure Light descends on the battlefield, obscuring everything from view. When the light clears, Xantia is a short distance removed from where she was standing before, knelt down as she catches her breath. The remnants of her own light aura are briefly visible before winking out. She tried her best to guard against it, but she was quite simply... overpowered. Her brand of magic isn't defensively strong enough to withstand an onslaught like that.

Still, though she may be hurting, she's not out yet. She balls her hands into fists, slowly rising back up, needing a moment to steady herself. "...'Justice'." She repeats the word with the same audible quotation marks when Antanora said it. "Another concept I don't understand. Bad things keep happening to good people. Where is it, then, their justice? You can't make it right anymore after the bad thing already happened. You can't make it go away with another bad thing. That's just adding more bad things, and that's it."

It's simplifying things, like Xantia does best. She, at least, feels that things don't need to be any more complicated than that. Even so, she charges. Charges, and... ...puts a hand on Antenora's shoulder?

"...I'm sorry for your loss. And, I'm sorry you couldn't find a better way."

GS: Xantia has attacked Antenora with A Friendly Gesture...?!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia's stances have changed from Avenger to !
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Xantia's attack becomes clear!
GS: Antenora partially guards Xantia's Scarlet Eclipse for 167 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Antenora gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Xantia drains Antenora! Xantia gains 84 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Oh oops, Xantia was not just being supportive there. Through her touch, she was actually draining Antenora's magic in an attempt to render her defenseless, before stepping back. Sincere though she was, nothing of what she said changes what has to happen here. She's not going to try to convince anyone otherwise.

<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

Billy...slips his guns away. That was a weird reply, he thinks, and he's thrown enough by it that her conjured threads can release their fury on him, searing at his own Ether protections with flashes of light. He cries out, pained, staggering a few steps.

Leon has spoken. "...so that's it. The personal jabs and the pointless villainy..." He might...he might just be talking about the torch puzzle he got stuck in for half an hour, there. ...He looks down at his Colts, already back in hand. Practiced motions.

Killing someone who deserves it. Someone who wants to be killed.

    I reckon those Wels were grateful for what you did for them, his father said.

He falls to one knee, instead, tucking the guns away and clasping hands in prayer.

"God Almighty," he breathes, "in the name of your servant Granas, in this moment of trial..."

Whatever he says after that is for himself and his Lord, but a soothing pulse of light rushes away from him, engulfing the Wolves in their entirety.

GS: Billy Lee Black has attacked Xantia with Sacred Veil!
GS: Billy Lee Black has attacked Katriona with Sacred Veil!
GS: Billy Lee Black has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Sacred Veil!
GS: Billy Lee Black has attacked Leon Albus with Sacred Veil!
GS: Billy Lee Black has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Billy Lee Black has completed his action.
GS: Billy Lee Black heals Katriona! She gains 115 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield and Surge applied to Katriona!
GS: Billy Lee Black heals Xantia! She gains 115 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield and Surge applied to Xantia!
GS: Billy Lee Black heals Leon Albus! He gains 115 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield and Surge applied to Leon Albus!
GS: Billy Lee Black heals Fei Fong Wong! He gains 115 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield and Surge applied to Fei Fong Wong!
<Pose Tracker> Antenora has posed.

OST: ENGAGE THE ENEMY - XENOBLADE CHRONICLES - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi0M9SIaLb4

"Ha... hahahaha... you... you understand. You get it, at last."

"This pain... this pain finally has shape."

She gets in front of that silvery light, and makes what looks a sincere effort to block it, throwing out another barrier that nevertheless shatters under the sheer force, and throws her off her balance. That hurt, to look at it, and she breathes in a sharp breath as she drags herself back up. But Fei... Fei is still--

"..."

"How nice," she says, "That you can forgive, Demon of Elru."

"But me..."

"I need--I need him to see--how I look, right now. I need Vinsfeld to see!"

"God, finally..."

"...That's just it. Nothing brings it back. Nothing changes the 'bad thing' happening. Nothing makes it better. Nothing redeems this worthless world."

Xantia puts a hand on her shoulder--and Antenora calls out in pain, as her magic is forcibly drawn, forcing her backward as she tears free on instinct.

"...Heheheh. Still, if you want to know 'why'..."

"No. I do not want to 'impress Vinsfeld'," she finally answers. "What could it accomplish...? It could accomplish my vengeance!"

"Both my mother and father were killed by that man. They were killed, because they were connected to the Slayheim royal family. That man, who led the Slayheim Liberation front... He killed my parents. But my powers... weren't enough to destroy him."
"...but this, this is my revenge. The greatest revenge I could ever take on the man who took everything from me."

Antenora coughs, again, and blood splatters her hand as she does. She looks to Billy, as he simply doesn't attack her either. "Heh... a priest to the end. Maybe your mentor was wrong about you... after all..."

Regardless of what else happens... She isn't long for this world. Especialy not as Katriona's bullet slams into her chest, going completely through her armor. The trick is familiar. No one could ever suspect, except them, that she doesn't mean to dodge it. So one sinks in. Then another, and another, and another, past her guard.

"I did..." A broken laugh, "I did everything I could. To get that man to love me. All the sins I committed--Al the pain I suffered! All of it! It was to steal his heart. ....And I did it. I did."

"Vinsfeld came seeking my heart and my body... and I have come to occupy a great place in his blackened heart." Blood drips from her teeth as she smiles again, through the pain. No--with the pain.

"What will happen to his heart now? How will his heart break, to know I've been destroyed? Ah--I can imagine it... I can see his face. His face, when he learns you've killed me." Apparently, that feeling is rapturous, despite the pain. ...If she even feels it any longer.

Sickle-sharp, her smile widens as she sinks to the ground, on one knee. "..Hahahahaha."

"By stealing his precious 'Antenora'...His 'me'... I finally--Finally, I have... my revenge..."

She stares up into Katriona's eyes, as if she could stare into her soul.

 "At last."

<Pose Tracker> Katriona has posed.

    So that's it.

    So that's it. So that's the story. So that's why everything--

    Even if Katriona had been run through it wouldn't have served to draw that expression on her face, the one that cuts through even that rictus grin and those widened eyes. Josie, for the first time since she has learned the truth about her sister -- about what Antenora had done -- hestitates. Closing her eyes tightly, she draws a ragged breath. So that was her game. All of this... for a single purpose.

    A single death.

    "...Guess we ain't that different."

    Devotion comes in many forms. Devotion can drive a person to great heights... or absolute madness. Her hand holding the ARM trembles.

    Katriona is nothing but devoted. Even if it's what Antenora wants.
    Perhaps, what she's always gambled on.

    "...I don't care. What you did and why... even if it's what you want and all..." Another breath. "You stole my little sister from me."

    The shot, when it comes, comes abruptly.

    "Burn in hell, Antenora," Katriona says, and with that, she tosses the sidearm aside as she turns to face the others.

    "...I'm done here," she says to them, her gaze flat.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"You think this world is worthless?" Leon says, with a scowl.

He stares down at Antenora, for a moment, and steps closer to her. She has been injured, terribly; once, he would have felt guilt at doing this. He doesn't, now. He did what he had to -- or maybe he has found that excuse comes easily to him. He lifts his chin, as he looks at her.

He looks at Katriona, for a moment. Then, he considers Vinsfeld -- the world that he wanted, where he would rule it. A world made by fear; a world united by might. A world, supposedly, for heroes and soldiers who protected it. Once, Leon would have agreed with those ideals. He struggled with that, once.

But he sees the price of those ideals now -- and he looks within himself.

"You stole yourself away from him. And you used us to do it, to cause him pain. But how many others did you hurt, to do it? How many other lives did you destroy, as he destroyed yours?" the captain of the Black Wolves asks.

"Your revenge should be like ashes in your mouth," he says. "All you've done, by letting us kill you, is make more like yourself. Think about that in hell, witch."

He looks at Katriona -- and he doesn't flinch when she puts a bullet in her brain.

"Good shot," he compliments."

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"I.. I don't know if I'd call it forgiveness. It's just... inside of me, I can't."

Id rumbles underneath the surface like an angry mountain.

But that rumbling subsides when Josie--Katriona gets what she wants. This didn't have to be his decision. In a sense, it's all well that ends well. But it still doesn't feel great. He wishes he could just not care like Katriona.

If she can. Fei looks at Katriona's gaze and sees that look in her eyes.

She was so close to healing. So close. And she had to pull her back in.

"We've still got a room if you want it," Fei says. "You don't need to stick around but if you want a few days... I don't think anybody'd complain."

He'd be ok with her staying too, frankly, but...Is that even what she wants? Probably not. Best to offer a little and let her take more if she wants.

<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

Billy stands back up. He watches Antenora.

"...He made of me a man who knows that killing monsters and men uses the same bullets," he says. Seeing that Antenora is at her end, he simply...begins reloading his Colt gunsmokes. "But that also means you pull the trigger with the same discipline."

He flips the revolvers closed. Holsters them.

Watches her die.

"...I just felt I wasn't qualified to judge if you should die."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

That was unexpected, to put it mildly. Revenge... Xantia understands revenge. Though her words just now, she made it clear that she fails to see how it accomplishes anything, but she can see how one could come to feel a need for it.

But... all this time, she'd thought the case of revenge was a mutual one between Antenora and Josie. ...Katriona. Turns out, they were alike in a different way, in regards to revenge. And the way Antenora went about that was... to become the most important person in Vinsfeld's life, and then die?

This is a little too much for Xantia to wrap her head around. Just why, any of that? She just remains silently standing off to the side, dumbfounded. She doesn't find her voice again before a shot rings out, startling her back into the here and now. She averts her eyes, remaining silent a moment longer.

Then, she calmly walks over to the others, looking unsure of herself. What can she say at a time like this? ...aside from 'good shot', that is.

"Well... guess that's over."

Ugh, no, that's so lame, she has to say more than that. Come on, Xantia! You have to be the one to smile and be optimistic when no one else can! So thinking, the smile comes easier than she thought. Especially when Fei gives her something to hook into.
"Yeah, what Fei said! There's no more reason you have to keep doing everything by yourself now, right? Everything'll be better now that we all understand each other!"

She really does believe that. Everything is simpler in Xantia's world.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei's eyes sparkle at Billy when he expresses something that feels just so right. What a true chap.

<Pose Tracker> Katriona has posed.

    Killing monsters and men uses the same bullets.

    Good shot.

    Just like that, the deed is done. The primary focus of her life for so many years now is complete.

    ...The wound remains. Ah, but perhaps it was too much to hope for. But so it goes, she can't help but think, gazing up at once of those cameras for the moment. Is he watching, even now?

    Then let him.

    And Fei interrupts all these thoughts by telling her, quite plainly, that there's still a room for her, if wants it. If just for a few days.

    She gazes at him for a moment, then looks over at Leon. "Sure he's OK with that? Ain't really your call, Junior-- Sparky," Katriona says, adding Xantia into the mix.

    "...But I think I could contrive to pass out for a day or three, sure. If you're offering."