Lucinda's ears switched between flipping up and down while her eyes flicked from left to right. Even if the moons still made the place bright, the smoke still covered the entire church. Fortunately, it wasn't thick enough to completely obscure her vision. Despite that, she remained in her place, not daring to even turn around.

She still had no idea what Nyx was fully capable of. Her illusions could be more than visuals—if she managed to make the clones of herself speak, then that meant it was also auditorial. The soft footsteps or mutters Lucinda was hearing may not even be real. And who was to stay that Nyx didn't have any other tricks hidden under her sleeves. She could have been holding back, and she might be stronger than she looked or presented herself as.

Lucinda hated to admit it, but the thought made her nervous. Her grip on the blades were so tight they might shatter, and she could hear her heart thumping in her chest. Despite the chill of the night, she could still feel sweat clinging on her forehead.

Ten minutes. 

Calm down. Slow inhale, slow exhale. Her being nervous wouldn't do anything helpful. Worst case scenario, she would lose focus for even a split second and lose control of her wielding. She needed to—

She turned around and slashed one of her blades. In front of her, Nyx disappeared into a puff of smoke, then reappeared to her right again. Just as Lucinda was about to face it and strike, Nyx snapped her fingers. There were two, now four, now eight of them, all trapping her in a circle.

They all took slow steps forward, but the one in the front was the first to charge. Lucinda dodged her fist and drew an arc with her knife. Like before, she turned to smoke. Before any of the others could make a move, Lucinda dashed to the nearest clone and repeated the same thing. The copy disappeared, and another reappeared behind it.

Lucinda tossed one of the blades. Unsurprisingly, Nyx turned to smoke as well, and it sounded like the knife hit one of the wooden seats.

"Is this your strategy?"

A scream left Lucinda's lips as she felt Nyx grab the loose strands of her hair. For a split second, she saw her face holding a sneer. In the next, her vision blurred, and a dull ache throbbed in her head as Nyx bashed her head against the seat once, twice, thrice. A quick pang of pain in her stomach followed, and soon her right sight burned as she landed on the wooden floor.

Even if her head was still spinning, Lucinda sat up. She couldn't tell if it was a concussion making her see things or if Nyx really did create four more illusions of herself.

Lucinda snapped her fingers and flicked her and flicked her hands towards her chest. Nyx turned around, but she was able to dodge the blade before it could stab her in the face. Despite that, the tip was able to slice her cheek, drawing out her own blood. Lucinda caught it with her free hand, and she spun it between her fingers before holding it properly again.

She shrugged at Nyx. "Who knows."

She charged forward and aimed her blade at Nyx—face, neck, chest, shoulder, face, neck, chest, shoulder. Nyx managed to dodge them all with ease, and Lucinda almost got hit with another punch in the stomach. The edge of the knife was able to create another cut in her cheek, and she lodged the blade on Nyx's left shoulder. Nyx yelled in pain, and Lucinda raised her second blade and aimed it at her chest.

Nyx's other hand grabbed hers. Before Lucinda could tug it away, Nyx drew her arm back and punched her lower lip. The impact made Lucinda stagger back, and darkness filled her vision as her head spun. When she regained her focus, Nyx wasn't there anymore.

She caught her breaths as she looked around. The air was cold, as if ice was prickling her lungs with every breath she took. She wasn't sure if she could take deep breaths; it felt like something was blocking her air sacs.

Her entire chest burned, and she doubted it was because of the blows she received. She wasn't used to the poison being this strong, and it was starting to hold her back. She needed to get it all out before the repercussions would get to her.

She scanned her surroundings. The smoke was getting thicker and thicker, and staring at one place for even a short period was starting to hurt her eyes. Her ears flattened as the mutters turned to louder whispers. Earlier, she could just ignore them. But now, they sounded like someone really was whispering inside her mind, and not even covering her ears made them go away.

It was difficult, but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Focus. She just needed to focus and clear her head.

Nyx didn't bring any weapons. She didn't bring any backup. So far, the only thing she had been doing was treat Lucinda like a punching bag.

Was Nyx really not planning to kill her?

She clenched her hands into fists, but her eyes remained close. She had landed several hits on Nyx. Her blood should still be on her somehow. It was thin, but Nyx was close. She should still be able to detect it.

When she opened her eyes, the smoke around her unfurled. In its place were more copies of Nyx. Most stood on the aisle, blocking both of her paths. Others stood on some of the seats. When she lifted her head, there was more of the Fury above, looking down on her from the beams.

"I'm over here."

"No, over here."

"Is this your strategy?"

"How would the public react if they find out what you are?"

"Over here."

"Over here."

"Over here."

"Over here."

"Over here."

She needed to ignore them. Even if the voices were annoying her, she needed to focus on where her blood would be. Unless Nyx could somehow trick that as well, that was her best bet of finding—her ears perked up as her eyes widened, and she turned her head to the right.

Her grip on the knives tightened as she dashed there. The illusions turned to smoke when she ran past them, and she slashed any other clones that could get in her way. Finally, when she reached Nyx, Lucinda repeated the same pattern she did earlier. Aim for the face, aim for the neck, aim for the shoulders, toss both of the blades—Nyx dodged all but the second blade she tossed, and she fell on one of the seats.

Lucinda dug her fingers on her arms, deeper than she usually did, and summoned more blood than she had ever used. The two blades that appeared in her hands were larger than the ones she wielded. She raised one of them in the air and aimed for Nyx's stomach. Nyx rolled away, but it still managed to pierce her side. It wasn't deep, and Lucinda removed the knife immediately and aimed for her chest.

Nyx raised one of her arms, making the blade puncture that instead. She grabbed the hem of Lucinda's shirt, and she punched her face again, this time on the cheek. Spit fell from Lucinda's lips, and she bit her tongue when Nyx punched her jaw upwards.

Her head spun, and focus slipped from her grasp. The next thing she felt was her body burning as she rolled on the floor. One of her blades slid from her hands, while the other managed to cut her arm before landing just inches away from her fingers.

She pushed herself up, but her shaking arms barely managed to hold a second before she fell again. Something coiled itself around her lungs, making it difficult to both breathe and cough. There was a splash of red on her palms. Was it from the fight, or was she coughing out blood? Something warm trickled down her nose. Was it bleeding, too?

Her mind was spinning. Every part of her body ached, and she didn't know if she still had the energy or strength to wield her ability. Even her self healing wasn't working. Her fingers shivered as they reached for her kn—Lucinda would have screamed when Nyx stepped on her fingers, but her throat burned too much to even whisper.

"Do you really think stabbing me's going to do anything when I've been through worse?" Nyx asked as she dug her heel deeper. "Poor little butterfly. You already knew you weren't meant for fighting, and you still tried it knowing you'll fail and die."

Lucinda opened her mouth, but only more coughs left her. She wanted to throw up, but at the same time she felt like she had no energy to do so.

"Don't worry." Nyx knelt down to her height, grabbing a fistful of her hair again. Some of her locks fell from the messy bun, and her bangs blocked her sight. "I'm not done with you yet. I have a friend from the Underworld who's into women with white hair. He'll be very excited to play with you."

She coughed again. In fact, it seemed like that was the only thing she could do. With how dry it sounded and how much her chest ached, she was sure she was coughing up blood if she wasn't already.

Nyx hummed. "Don't tell me you're going to die on me in a simple game. Or are you so weak that blows like that can kill... can kill..."

She paused, her brows furrowing down. Like Lucinda, she was coughing as well. Only hers was louder and stronger, and she retched between them. One hand reached for her neck, while another held her stomach. When she stepped forward, she fell to her knees, and her face would have hit the floor if it weren't for her arms supporting her.

"Wh- what..." Nyx gasped. "What on earth..."

It was difficult, but a smile managed to form on Lucinda's face. "You- you don't play your own game that much, do yo?"

Her still shivering fingers reached for her knife, and her legs nearly made her stumble as she stood up. In front of her, Nyx sat up. Her eyes, which had been nothing but cold and composed ever since they met, were wide as they shook. The whites of her eyes had turned red at the edges, and it looked like she was tearing up.

"What... What did you do to me?"

"Something has been bothering me since the day we first met," Lucinda continued. "You could have killed me. You have the perfect ability to create a perfect murder and kill one of the SCD's assassins while you're within their vicinity, and it would have been the perfect slap in the face for us. But like you said, you changed your mind."

She stepped forward and flicked her hand up. Any of her blood in the church, be it from the floor, from the seats, or from her own face, flew back to her hand. They circled her palms, before eventually entering her body once again.

"I should have realized it sooner. You only had one rule in your game. And that rule is that no one on your side is allowed to kill me."

Nyx chuckled, which was interrupted by a bloody cough. "I'm- I'm amazed it took you this- this long. I had assumed you would be quicker."

Lucinda lifted her head and looked down at the woman in front of her. Despite the fact that the night was bright, her shadow completely obscured the Fury in front of her. Nyx's head still remained facing the floor, and any attempt to raise it was futile.

"I've played lots of games, Nyx," she replied. "I had to memorize a lot of rules. I've been playing so long that I've mastered the rules of different games and played it better than any of you can. It's hard to keep track of every rule."

She snapped her fingers again. The blade in her hands turned into blood, and it all returned to her body again. Should she—no, she shook her head. There was no need to summon even a small weapon. What was happening was enough.

"But I wasn't playing your game tonight—you were playing mine."

Nyx opened her mouth. Like before, her only response was another bloody cough. Her nose was starting to bleed as well, and it sounded like she was going to throw up soon. Her fingers clawed her throat, almost like she was trying to grab something from the inside that was making it itch.

"That- that piece of shit..." she managed to say. "Son of a... Al..."

"What's the matter?" Lucinda tilted her head to the side. "Lost your confidence?"

Nyx gasped. In a second, she fell, her eyes wide while hands still holding her throat.

Nyx, one of the Underworld Furies, was dead.

Lucinda held onto the seats as she walked. When there was no more for her to hold, she took slow steps, even if her leg was limping. Once she was out of the church, she lifted her head, scanning the area and looking for where Poseidon and Lucia could be.

She picked her phone up from her pocket, relief flooding her veins to see it working despite the screen receiving several cracks, and dialed Poseidon. Not even a second later, she already answered. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't send someone to burn the church right here and now."

"Relax, Sidon," she somehow managed to say with a chuckle. "I won."

"Do you think I'm a fool?"

"Actually, yes. I do."

There was silence on the other side before Poseidon sighed in relief. "Lucinda. Than the Guardian. We'll be on our way, don't worry."

"I don't think I'm going anywhere, anyway."

If Poseidon had any final words, Lucinda didn't bother listening to them. She ended the phone call and reached for the nearest thing she could grab, which was unfortunately the wall. Now that the fight was done and the adrenaline was dying, her head was spinning even more. Her head was hurting, and... and it was... she shook her head. No, she needed to get home first. Get home, get...

Things felt like a blur first. And when she regained her senses once again, Lucia was patting her back while she was throwing up behind the church.

Word count: 2408
Total: 29199

If you think I didn't loop Kocho Shinobu's theme during this fight scene then do you even know me at all.