Ch. 10 - Awakening Pt 3

It would probably never set well with me. Humans, and pokégirls even more so, were social creatures. That didn't separated us from the animals of now, and pre-war time that we liked to think ourselves better than. But that's hardly the point. Our social structure strikes me as almost indefinitely more complex. It's difficult, if not impossible to grasp our whole system of status if looking at the entirety. My point, if I have and require one, would better be summed up through example.

I've read about the pre-war dog and cat, to set up the image. Growlie and Catgirl might be more familiar at this point, but they're a world apart from the pre-war animals they loosely mimic. Dogs used to be very loyal, I've read. Growlies are as well, of course. Dogs formed packs, when not around humans. A very loose structure, with an 'Alpha' leader. Apart from the alpha, however, the structure was non-existent. That said, a female could mate, have pups, then turn around and be mated with one of said pups later. Pairings didn't exist in a structured form. Your partner is mated by another dog? Great! Better chance of pregnancy. There wasn't the social obligation, in most cases.

Your partner killed and consumed her last mate? Not that big of a deal. It sounds strange in perspective, but perhaps I'm getting too personal, now. Example given, the Growlie and Catgirl are a world apart from their prior images. Most pokégirls are, I'd presume. All? Probably not. But I was human. Was it possible for me to truly accept such a distinctly foreign viewpoint?

Resting on my back, I stared blankly up at the overcast, fractured sky. The jagged black nothing that cut brutally down its center, before splitting into a hundred fractures, was like a great web of darkness high above. Or perhaps a better metaphor would be fractured glass? It rained lightly from time to time, but it wasn't cold in the least. My clothes were tattered and shredded, but somewhat intact. At least enough to keep their contiguous consistency.

Sighing, I felt the lightly furred form shift against me, slightly. Looking down again, I watched her just lightly resting against my side and chest. Her ears stood upright, relaxed, as did her tail as it limply extended across the wet stone. She never had liked bad weather. How many times had I comforted her before? Hundreds? Thousands? It felt utterly natural, and I held her gently with one arm.

"I still think this is better, even if things are worse here now. Aren't you glad you came back?" she asked, as if conscious of my attention on her.

Frowning, I considered it for a second, feeling the warmth of her body seeping into me gently. "You were right to begin with. I never should have left," I agreed, pulling her closer. The rain and stone were chilly, and she felt very warm.

"While I saw pain coming, I didn't imagine this. And your intentions for returning were pure," she defended, smiling softly. She glanced upwards towards me then, eyes softening.

Frowning, I shook my head. "You mean Kari, right?" I asked weakly.

Her eyes drooped slightly, giving a strange look to her in this light. Although I'd look similar, I guess. Her right eye was a pretty blue color, while her left was a bold golden shade instead. I just noticed it, oddly enough. I couldn't help but smile gently. "You said that with disdain," she pointed out sadly, looking up at me.

Her frown shifted to a raised eyebrow as she caught my smile. "What's that from?" she asked, obviously curious.

"We shared our eyes, it seems," I explained, lightly chuckling.

Jessica giggled and nodded. "I saw that earlier when you were looking in the mirror," she enlightened, causing me to blush.

"Gee, thanks. I was also naked, you know," I added, pointedly.

She laughed fully that time. "We took baths together when we were younger," she reasoned.

"We were five!" I reminded, squeezing my eyes shut while blushing.

Jess snickered merrily and nodded. "I suppose now wouldn't be the best time to tell you that I could see you screwing Kari's brains out, huh?" she asked, causing my brain to sink into my stomach.

Curling up, I hid my face and just let myself blush uncontrollably. Jess broke into more laughter, sitting up as I curled away from her. "Calm down. I'm dead, so who am I going to tell?" she reasoned. 

That did it. The blush was gone within seconds, replaced by a crushing despair. "You don't need to remind me," I groaned tiredly.

"Hey! It's not so bad. I get to stay with you all the time, now," she reasoned, frowning at me.

Sighing, I nodded, then thought about it. "That reminds me, what changed? Last time we were here, it was like a dream," I asked, realizing I was fully aware.

"Well I've always been here, even if you haven't, but you're right. After that psycho bitch tore free and rampaged towards the surface, it's been a lot easier to, I don't know, think?" she concluded, looking thoughtful as if by example.

Well that just gave me more questions. "Who is she?" I asked, that question having been most prominent, I suppose. At least from my curiosity's standpoint.

"No idea. She doesn't feel familiar, at all. I kept her restrained, but something happened to you on the surface and she got free," Jess answered, seemingly as confused as I was.

Sighing, I idly wondered how something like her got inside me in the first place. Clear of the dream haze, I knew fully why Jessica was here. The thing Dad did was successful, then. At least partially. He stuck my Sister's soul inside of mine. "You've been protecting me, haven't you?" I suddenly asked. That poison. Given my constitution and how large a dose I got, there was no way in hell I could have survived long enough for even the ambulance to get there, I just realized.

She smiled softly and nodded. "From the poison, and any irritating people scanning you for things," she admitted. Wait, what?

"Scanning?" I asked, confused.

Jess sighed and nodded. "Karumi tried it, and the ghost girl prior. Oh, and the rodent in Cuthbert's office," she informed, rolling her eyes.

"So his A-Bra hadn't been asleep!" I growled, feelings of being used suddenly magnifying. So even Cuthbert was using me. I guess at some level, I already knew it. Jessica frowned but nodded.

"Yeah, I think he didn't entirely trust you at that point," she added, sighing weakly.

After a few moments, I finally shook my head and gave up. "It doesn't really matter now, does it?" I reasoned, looking towards Jess again.

She tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?" she asked.

I lowered my eyes. "I'm not planning on going back."

* * * * *

Kari whimpered weakly as she tried to climb up the tree for the third time. She finally managed to grab one of the lower branches and head up towards where Patrick was. He looked like he was barely hanging onto the branch, and she frowned as she spotted the blood dripping down the side of the limb's base. "Patrick, are you okay?!" she asked rapidly, boosting herself up to his level and giving his shoulder a gentle nudge.

He winced, but opened his eyes and glanced at Kari before nodding curtly. "I'll live for now. Damn, that hurt, though," he groaned, lifting himself up off the branch and lowering down to the one Kari was standing on. He had a series of small nicks along his face, and a gash that was producing the trickle of blood on his stomach.

"What happened?" Kari asked, looking down at his torn shirt.

He shook his head sadly. "The fourth floor still had windows. It didn't for long after the blast hit, and unluckily for me, the shards decided to come inside to play instead of out," he replied, starting to work his way down the tree.

Kari nodded and slipped down after him, mindful of her balance. "How'd you end up in the tree, anyway? It's like, ninety yards from the side of the building," she asked, suddenly wondering.

Patrick chuckled, letting go of the bag he had slung over his shoulder, and dropped the ten feet to the ground. "Hell if I know. I jumped out the window, and it was if the wind picked me up and hauled me over here," he responded, shrugging.

"Or telekinesis," she pointed out, gesturing to the left.

Patrick adjusted his attention in that direction, and both widened their eyes as they saw Karumi frowning down at a crouching Keith. He was doubled up and clutching at his stomach, shaking back and forth rapidly. "That bitch hurt him!" Kari growled, clenching her fist.

"Kari, go grab the radio from the bag I dropped at the base of the tree and get a hold of Cuthbert. We need backup fast," Patrick ordered, pulling the large rifle off his back. After he checked the clip casing, he sighed, pulling both handguns out of his belt holster and setting them on the ground in front of him. He then crouched down and took careful aim towards Karumi.

"Kit, what's wrong? Weird energy is coming off you. Are you okay?" Karumi suddenly asked, causing Patrick to frown further. If she wasn't responsible for his situation, what was?

Kari ran up with the radio and began whispering into it weakly, "Help! Karumi's over here and something's wrong with Keith. We need help!"

"We have our own problems over here! We're just now pushing this asshole back," Cuthbert replied, deciding apparently not to put on the noise suppressor.

Patrick's eyes widened as he glared at the radio, then rapidly looked back up at Karumi. She turned her head with an eyebrow raised, and sighed weakly. "Your friends just keep crawling out of the woodwork, Kit. Not that they're really your friends. Don't stress yourself, I'll remove them," she muttered, raising her left hand up towards them casually.

"Oh shit!" Patrick exclaimed, starting to pull up his rifle and get to a standing position rapidly. Kari whimpered, and started throwing up her shields around the both of them, just as Karumi grinned and pulled energy into the palm of her hand, forming a ball of darkness. Kari screamed as Karumi lashed out.

Several seconds passed and Kari opened a hesitant eye, wincing. Her eyes widened further as an entire arm, holding a rapidly diminishing energy ball in it, landed five feet in front of her. Patrick blinked in confusion at the arm, then looked back up at Karumi.

The Dark Queen stood there, a look of genuine surprise on her face as she frowned at the arm, then looked down at the three foot wide blade of ice sliding along her shoulder still. Or what was left of her shoulder. The pain hit instantly and Karumi screamed out, leaping backwards away from the blade. Blood gushed from the wound liberally, as she tore her frozen skin off by leaping away. Clutching at the stump of her left arm, she gritted her teeth as she tried to rapidly seal off the wound. "You little fucker!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, glaring towards Keith.

Kari's eyes widened as she looked back towards Keith as well, just as he slowly stood back up. Weaves of energy were flowing off him like ribbons, before bending around and weaving back through his limbs, which jerked and slowly came under control, sporadically shaking like a demonic marionette. A colossal blade of ice erupted from the ground next to him, but violently dislodged itself as he slowly stood. Runes glowed along the outer surface of the blade, etching a blue so dark, it was almost black. The blade of ice was almost eight feet long, and easily three feet wide, coming to a brutally sharp point. The other end rounded off into an easy circular shape though, which gave it an elongated tear shape. It hung in the air, about half a foot from his arm, which he kept raised. Slowly lowering his arm a little, I watched as the blade followed the same angle of descent before resting on the ground again.

Trickles of blood came from Keith's eyes as he looked up towards Karumi, a blank expression on his face. His eyes were totally devoid of emotion as I watched them start glowing, their usual abstract pigments shifting to a bright silver color as they went. He raised his other arm up, and a similar ice spike took form in the air on that arm as well. Runes wrote themselves on the side of it as it finished forming. The second they were done, both started to glow. The right shattered apart, making it as a whole, much thinner and more actual blade-like, with serrated edges on both sides and a flare tip. The left teardrop expanded instead, drawing in more ice and becoming like a massive shield. Chunks from the right blade drifted around in the air, twitching as if ready to spring forth and stab the Dark Queen.

Karumi's eyes widened as she actually stepped backwards away from Keith. "What the hell?! Since when can you do evocation?!" she demanded, staring carefully at both blades.

Keith's answer came in the form of a continued blank stare, as he stepped forwards slightly. Ice gathered around the base of his tail, and powdered snow spun into existence, forming a whirling, if not partially solid second and third tails. Kari frowned and shook her head weakly. "What's he doing? I've never seen him use this before," she asked, looking down at Patrick.

Patrick frowned as well, staring at Keith's face. "Something's very wrong. He doesn't look right, and the way he's walking," he muttered, trailing off.

Kari raised an eyebrow and looked back towards Keith as he walked. Something was definitely off about his movement, but she couldn't quite place it. The two snow tails finished forming, and suddenly his face snapped into being slightly wider eyed. His eyes adjusted after a few seconds, but he looked around, a small smile forming on his face.

"Well, that was a bitch, but I didn't exactly expect to be almost paralyzed," he muttered. His voice was split into two distinct tones, both speaking at the same time. One sounded distinctly like his old voice, but the other was much higher, and very obviously feminine. Patrick's eyes widened rapidly as he stood up, still clutching the rifle.

Karumi frowned as she backed away a little more, watching Keith carefully. "Keith, what's going on?" she asked, unsure now, and watching Keith's face as he turned to look at her.

"Keith?" he asked, tilting his head gently to the right, ears twitching.

Karumi's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?" she asked suddenly, causing Kari to swallow hard.

"Who are you?" Keith asked in return, smirking suddenly as he walked towards her again. Kari frowned and watched his posture sway as he walked.

"He's walking as if he has to use two planes to move his legs instead of one," Patrick pointed out, nodding his head towards Keith.

Kari blinked and tilted her head. "His hips. They're moving unnecessarily with his gait. He's walking like a female would have to," Patrick added a few seconds later. Kari frowned but nodded slowly after a few seconds.

"I'm Karumi. I'm not your enemy!" Karumi exclaimed, hopping backwards again, staying out of the range of the wicked right blade, which swayed menacingly. They both had made it back into the lot by now, and Kari ran after, trying to keep them in sight.

Patrick sighed after a few seconds before putting the handguns back in his belt holsters, grabbing the radio, and heading rapidly after her, slinging the rifle over his shoulder as he went. They both stopped at the edge of the first crater that Karumi originally ended up almost in. Kari ran immediately over to her prior location, kneeling before Danni.

Patrick arrived half a second later, joining her in crouching. He reached forward and felt along Danni's neck. "Her pulse is strong. Aside from the bruise on her cheek, she'll be fine," he reported after a few seconds.

Kari nodded, and gestured over to Kiya with her head. Patrick frowned, crawling around Danni and over to the unconscious Ria. Repeating a similar test on her, he sighed. "Her pulse is a little weak, but better than I anticipated," he declared before feeling gently along some of the rapidly drying blood.

Kari sighed before looking back down at Danni and trying to clean up her split cheek. "A lot of these wounds don't seem to have a source. Weird. Her legs are bad, though," he added to her diagnosis, carefully feeling along her obviously fractured legs.

"Keith managed to cast a healing spell on her before Karumi got here," Kari muttered, not looking up.

"Another thing I need to thank him for, I guess," he returned, frowning, before looking back up at Keith and Karumi.

Keith had stopped walking forward then, simply watching Karumi. Karumi finally let go of her left shoulder, only a few dribbles of blood coming down it now. "I should thank you for the spell you put into his chest while healing him," Keith muttered, twin voices sounding amused, "It opened the way for me to get out, finally."

"I'm not your enemy," Karumi stated again, frowning.

Keith shook his head slowly. "I didn't expect this body to be such a pile of crap, though. I'll have to rely on my magic for now," he commented, seemingly paying no attention to her at all.

"Karumi! Did you break free yet?" was suddenly shouted from the North.

Kari turned and looked up from Kiya just in time to see Zageith run out of alley on that side. Mishka burst ahead of him, straight blade on guard. Fidah followed rapidly behind, lashing flame blasts backwards while barely keeping up with her Master. "Zageith!" Karumi exclaimed, glancing in his direction. Nobody present kept up with it. Kari's eyes widened as she saw the twenty foot long spike of ice shatter through Karumi's chest the second she turned her head towards Zageith.

There was a startled, wet, coughing sound from the Dark Queen before Keith whipped his right arm sideways. Spikes shattered out the tip of the elongated spear, and ripped out Karumi's skin in at least a dozen places. He then flicked his arm backwards. The ice mimicked his movement, and flung Karumi's broken body sideways and into the building to the right of Zageith. All in the span of a second and a half.

Zageith's eyes widened drastically, left eye not opening as fully with the deep scar across it. "There you are, Zageith. Cut the crap and tell me what's going on," Keith spoke icily, no emotion present at all.

Zageith swallowed hard and Patrick lowered his rifle towards him slowly. "K-Kessandris?" Zageith asked uneasily.

* * * * *

It was strange, being here, yet aware. Jessica sat five feet from me, on the dilapidated remains of some structure's wall. Having explored a little, I discovered the remains of a town all around us. I couldn't identify it as a whole, but quite a few of the buildings looked familiar. The old general store on mainstreet. The original theatre before it had burned down. The new school building I'd have returned to in a few days, had things been different. This is not to speak of structure. The buildings aren't in any comparable pattern to their real life counterparts, and are considerably decayed. Considering a few no longer exist though, causes me to ponder the significance of it all. That and a craggy, yet diminutive series of mountains had disrupted the entire affair.

Jessica giggled at me, sitting with the frozen destruction beneath her. Some of the ruins had been discovered defying gravity in a few spots, yet the perpetual rainfall passed through the air, unaffected. The vegetation moved in the wind as well, causing a strangely animated scene of bleached out colors and overcast sky. "Having fun exploring?" she asked, smiling towards me.

I considered the question carefully. "While I am very curious, as usual, I'm not sure if fun is really applicable. Aren't we both dead?" I asked in return, wandering over to where she was. It was strange. It felt like I'd been exploring and pondering for hours. But neither hunger, nor fatigue were felt.

Jess shook her head slowly. "I'm dead, and now we're both locked inside your body, as our souls have been considerably joined together. If I had to say, we're somewhere in-between," she deduced, looking up at the sky.

"Well I suppose we might as well enjoy ourselves, then, all things considered," I finally agreed. She smiled gently and nodded, continuing to star upwards.

"You're right. It's so calm up there, now. Before you got here, it was extremely chaotic. The clouds were dark, with thunder and lightning dancing across the sky," she pondered aloud. 

Chuckling, I walked over and flopped against the base of the wall she sat upon. The rain and wetness of everything was rapidly becoming normal for me. "Whatever she's doing with my body, she must be rather relaxed about it," I deduced, realizing suddenly how totally opposite I'd been the last week or so. Now I was just sitting here, not really thinking about anything. It's been a long time since I've had the luxury of doing this, I suppose.

"She was calm in here, too. But don't let it fool you. She's a monster," Jessica muttered, and I could almost hear her swallow weakly.

Frowning, I looked back up at her, and discovered her looking down at me instead. "Why do you say that?" I asked, unsure.

Sis sighed, looking equally unsure for a few moments. The drips coming from her blue bangs came down rhythmically, and I noted her hair looked darker when wet, almost a navy blue now. It was still done up like it was at the party, in short pigtails with the majority still flowing down her back, but I tried not to think about it. "She's a pokégirl like I am, but there's something way different with how she thinks. And the power. She's strong for pokégirl standards, yeah, but there's something else there that makes her even more dangerous. I don't know how to explain it," she spoke softly after a few seconds, thankfully disrupting my saddening thoughts.

I sighed weakly and shook my head. "I have no idea how something like that got inside me."

Jess nodded in agreement as she looked up again. I frowned as the rain started to get thicker. Not heavier, but more solid. And colder. Within less than a minute, it was sleet instead of rain, and things were cooling off all around us. "What's going on out there?" she asked, sounding concerned suddenly.

"Don't you have a way of looking out through my eyes?" I asked her, standing up again and shielding my eyes from the sleet as I looked up.

Jessica frowned, but nodded after a few seconds. "It didn't work the last time I tried it, but I suppose it's worth another shot, no?" she agreed. I nodded, and then winced as I felt what seemed to be ribbons of fire dancing through my right side. Gasping, I held my side, then widened my eyes as I saw a huge gash appear there. No blood came out, and it looked like raw meat, partially shredded against my ribs. I saw bone through the wound, and what looked like part of my lung! "Keith?!" Jessica suddenly whined, hopping off her wall and running over to me.

The pain rapidly dissipated and was replaced by a frigid cold numbness. Swallowing the metallic taste in my mouth, I shook off the dizziness brought on from the pain earlier. "What happened?" I managed to get out between swallows, feeling nauseous and sitting down on the rocks.

"Something happened to your body up there. You're directly connected to it," Jessica answered, feeling along my wound. I couldn't actually feel her touching it, and I felt myself getting even sicker as I watched her move the meat around. "Nothing directly vital, although it promises a lot of blood loss," she added, releasing my side after a few seconds.

Shaking my head rapidly to clear it, I swallowed again, suddenly finding myself shaking. "What the hell happened, then? If she's that powerful, what damaged me?" I asked, suddenly concerned.

Sis frowned, realizing the implication as well. "All the more reason to try to peek again," she concurred, raising her hand up level with her face as she closed her eyes softly. She seemed to focus intensely, so I refrained from asking what she was doing.

After a few seconds, a ripple appeared around her in the air, and the scenery actually started to shift rapidly.

* * * * *

Dodging backwards rapidly, Keith leapt out of the way of a second blast of darkness. Another explosion rang through the air just as he leapt, and a blast of flames hit Karumi as she drifted in the air. The explosion released three feet in front of her, however, and she drifted backwards away from it.

Keith landed in front of Patrick and Kari, just as Patrick was loading a different shell into his rifle. Two more dark blasts streaked down, and collided violently into the gigantic shield that Keith brought up on his left arm. A scream of rage sounded from the air, as the Dark Queen lifted even further skyward. Her left arm drifted next to her, and her right hung by sinews but was animated through sickening purple and green lines of energy running through her flesh. A huge hole passed entirely through her chest, showing shattered ribs to either side of it, while her ragged lungs drifted partially out her back. Blood sprayed out various holes in her body occasionally, only to be caught by some sort of field that seemed to surround her. It drifted in the air for a few seconds before being pulled back to her and absorbed into her skin. Her teeth gritted, she let loose another string of profanities, left eye drifting away from what was left of her cheek. The same ribbons of blood and dark energy kept the eye attached to her skull, and held her right leg onto her body as her upper intestines drifted freely around chunks of meat through the air.

"Sniper huh? Got elemental shells?" Keith asked, shifting his head slightly to the left to look back at Patrick.

Patrick swallowed and nodded weakly, as he opened his case of shells again.  "Use Sonic. It should punch through her shielding, and she's weak to it," Keith followed up, before looking in the other direction at Kari. "Mage? Healing?" he asked.

"Y-Yeah," she muttered, yelping and ducking down as the blasts hit.

Keith nodded and raised his right arm up, ignoring the massive blade going upwards as well. "Then heal my side. Glyph shield activate."

His ice shield broke apart into three elongated slivers, a cloud of snow and energy connecting them all. They formed a rough triangle in front of the three as Patrick reloaded and Kari started healing his side. Karumi had attacked rapidly and Keith didn't leap out of the way in time earlier, causing a brutal gash along his side. It was frozen over, preventing blood loss, but slowly thawed as Kari repaired the skin.

Patrick stood up after loading a sonic shell, and watched Karumi carefully. What was left of her shifted to the side in order to avoid several shards of ice from Keith. "You could have mentioned she was a Necromancer, Zageith," Keith growled after several seconds. His dual voices sounded irritated more than anything.

"Sorry! I didn't expect to find you. She's the one responsible for sticking you in the kid," he shouted back.

Mishka looked very confused, seemingly unsure of who to point her blade at. "Change of plans, Mishka. Kill Karumi. Er, more," he added, seeing her hesitate. She nodded curtly, twirled her blade gently, and leapt for the back of Karumi. Fidah pushed her back gently into Zageith, summoning more flames as a lone angel followed them down the alley.

Kari finished healing Keith a few seconds later, and Patrick watched Mishka double cut in midair, only managing to nick Karumi's arm. Patrick frowned as he led her head at fifty yards. Very close range for sniping, but something was off.

"She's not teleporting," he muttered after a few seconds.

Keith shook his head. "She's conserving energy, for one. If she runs out, her Shade Puppet fails, and she dies. Teleporting would also be tricky when she's in so many pieces," he explained.

"So if we tire her out, she'll die?" Kari asked shakily.

Keith sighed but nodded. "That's the slow way, but yes. I'd prefer to just put some solid object through her brain," he returned, testing his right arm gently.

"Just be careful with Keith's body. He's my master and I don't want him hurt," Kari muttered, releasing his side.

Keith turned and glared irritably at her. "I didn't ask to get stuck in your boyfriend's body," he growled, creating a strangely paradoxical effect with the twin voices.

Kari's eyes softened. "Aren't you Kess Ó Braonain, though? Mrs. Ó Braonain?" she asked quietly.

Keith's eyes went from narrowed, to surprised. "I have no idea what you're talking about. My name is Kessandris, but I'm not married, nor could I be," he replied after a few seconds.

"You were married to Jason Ó Braonain, though! Kind of. Keith is your son," Kari protested weakly.

Keith winced suddenly as if someone stabbed him in the head. "S-Shut up! I'm a pokégirl. I can't have a human child," he replied, wincing again and clutching his head with his right hand.

"Kari, not now," Patrick muttered, looking through his rifle's scope finally.

The conflict was drown out instantly as his rifle went off. Karumi had just turned to slash at Mishka during her third leap, when the shell hit her in the side of the head. There was a loud bang as the shell exploded, causing a distortion in the air from the energy release.

Karumi screamed as the back of her skull fractured, and the right side shattered. A blast of bone and blood sprayed off the side of her face, and she reeled in the air before falling, in a slow spiral. Keith suddenly took off, clearing the distance in two bounds before leaping during the second. Mishka flipped and followed her down in the air, blade rippling with dark energy now.

Kari and Patrick lost sight of the movements briefly. The left ice shield came together again, just in time to smash directly into Karumi as she fell. Mishka hit a split second later, stabbing entirely through Karumi's neck, and driving the tip of her sword into the shield. Keith opened the palm of his left hand as he arced towards the ground, and another rune lit up on the shield's surface. Mishka's eyes widened as she ripped her sword out, trailing blood from the tip of it, and leapt backwards off the shield. The surface of it exploded a mere second after she leapt, sending dozens of frozen spikes off the shield, each one radiating a freezing aura.

Keith landed from the leap and shifted his left arm around. Mishka carefully eyed the front of the shield, but relaxed slightly. The spikes detached from the front of the shield en mass, creating a small pile of ice on the ground. Karumi's frozen form landed amidst the pieces, in three large chunks.

"Well that was annoying," Keith muttered. 

Zageith shook his head weakly. "Well you haven't lost your touch, Kess. Although usually you finish it in one attack," he pointed out.

"And usually you tell me if they're a caster or not," he shot back. Kari frowned as she and Patrick walked up.

Zageith sighed and nodded. "About that. Karumi was the Necromancer who did the spell. I was trying to find your real body," he explained.

"Excuse me?!" Kari asked, widening her eyes.

Patrick glared and leveled a pistol at Zageith's head. "You're under arrest for murder, Zageith," he suddenly declared.

"Oh, just murder?" he asked, smirking suddenly.

Keith raised an eyebrow in Patrick's direction. "Who are these people? They're not with us?" he asked after a few seconds.

"Friends of the boy. They're working with the police I barely managed to get through," he replied, entirely truthful this time.

Keith blinked, then nodded. "I'll eliminate them, then. Get transportation to get us back to headquarters after this. I want my body back," he ordered. Patrick's eyes joined Kari's in widening as they both started to back away from Keith.

* * * * *

My fist clenched more, and I felt Jessica's hand wrap around it as she leaned into my side. "If she's really Mom, why is she believing the asshole that killed her?" I asked, wishing idly that I could talk to my possessor.

Jessica shook her head rapidly. "She's acting weird," she agreed.

"How does she even know him? Who is he? Why is she so strong?" I asked, getting frustrated.

Jess giggled gently. "If you're not going back, does it matter?" she reasoned.

Sighing, I watched, a prisoner of my own body, as my viewpoint turned to look at Kari and Patrick. They were still alive, and I suppose I was glad. Patrick would take good care of Kari, and she'd still get what she wanted. I didn't care what happened to Kittra. She had out and out lied to me for her own benefit.

Then I heard myself issue the order, and start towards them. My eyes widened drastically, and I felt Jessica tense against me. "She's going to kill them!" she exclaimed in surprise.

No. This wasn't right at all. Kari didn't deserve that, and Patrick was totally innocent! This was my fault if anyone's. They can't die for something I did. "Crap! Keith, listen to us!" Patrick exclaimed while backing away.

"I'm not Keith," I heard Kess reply in an amused fashion, my voice barely there anymore. She was getting adjusted to my body.

Kari looked scared as she backed up, and I swallowed hard. She looked right at me from my perspective. "The bitch first, to get rid of the strongest," I heard myself say. No!

My third eye suddenly opened up out of nowhere, flooding back to my senses. Jess gasped as my arms whipped up, just as my real right arm whipped forwards. I pulled the image of myself into my mind's eye, and grabbed my own right arm as it moved forwards. Pulling back with all my might, I felt the arm hit the mental equivalent of a brick wall.

Kari screamed, but the blade of ice stopped an inch in front of her face. Growling, I pulled it back with all my might, and pushed myself forward into my mental image, to get more leverage. "Get out of my head, bastard!" I heard myself growl.

"No! I won't let you kill them," I snarled back, and was surprised when I heard my body say it as well. Suddenly, my perspective shifted into my own body, and I felt that presence beside me instead of controlling me.

"How did you get so strong?" Kess asked suddenly, struggling against me. I pushed my own arm back using my left. The massive ice shield blocked the ice blade, driving the point into the ground.

I snarled, "This is my body. My head. Not yours."

Jessica, who's presence I could still feel in the back of my head, caught my intent, and grabbed hold of Kessandris. With our combined effort, we pulled her back into the depths of my soul.

* * * * *

Everything briefly went black. After several seconds, I coughed and managed to inhale. After several more moments, I shuddered and opened my eyes. The ground greeted me, my arms out and supporting my weight. Staring at the dirt, I realized how dark the ambient light was. Close to night?

My body didn't want to work, but I forced it to anyway. She must have been repairing my body while possessing it, as I discovered I could move again. Kind of. Groaning, I managed to lift my upper body away from the ground and sat up. "Keith?" Kari asked hesitantly, sounding about ten feet to my left. Wincing at my suddenly realized headache, I glanced in her direction blearily. She leaned down gently, and was watching me.

"She's not sure you're you," I heard whispered gently in the back of my skull. I frowned, but nodded to Kari.

"Are you okay, Kari?" I asked, rasping, then coughing suddenly as I realized how much crap was in my throat.

Patrick smiled and lowered the weapon from my head, as Kari's eyes softened and she suddenly pounced on me, squeezing me tightly. "You're back!" she exclaimed happily, causing me to rethink some of the doubts I had in my mind. Karumi didn't like to lie, though. Was she really lying that last time? I wasn't sure who to believe, but Kari certainly seemed happy. My smile wouldn't come, though. Overall, I was just tired.

"Well, fuck," Zageith suddenly muttered as Patrick turned his other pistol and trained it on his skull. He was backing away slowly, Mishka standing between him and us now, glaring daggers at Patrick. 

"Not so fast," suddenly came from the right, as Fidah stumbled from the alley, large gash in her shoulder. The badly burned angel followed, as well as Lythis with another energy arrow drawn. The arrow was a lot smaller and flickering, but she looked pissed regardless.

Cuthbert limped slowly after Lythis, leg bleeding lightly. Lisa emerged from the other side of the partially destroyed building, with a Boobleaf and Lupina following her closely. Zageith swallowed hard, and raised both of his arms into the air as he discovered he was utterly surrounded. I stared hard at him, trying to feel that hatred that I had earlier. It was no use. I was simply too tired. My body was pushed way beyond its usual limits, and I couldn't move it anymore. Kari's body was warming me up rapidly again, and I felt myself slump against her tiredly, simply not caring anymore. With that foremost thought in mind, I let myself drift away.

Chapter 10 - End