His face was grotesque in the kindest of ways, if "kind" could ever describe such a horror. His hair, matted brown and greasy, clung to his forehead with sweat or oil. His pupils weren't even facing them; they rolled wildly, showing more white than iris, as though sight itself had abandoned him. And yet somehow, Serica and Aria could feel his gaze pressing on them. His breath hit them like a wave of rot, sour with alcohol and stomach acid. Words spilt out of his mouth in a slurred, broken torrent, syllables twisted into nonsense that scraped across their ears.

Serica's hand instinctively reached back, pressing against Aria's stomach to push her a step behind. Her voice was steady, but her stomach coiled tight.

"Aria… listen. I know you're scared, but I think we'll have to fight this guy, this monster, whatever he is. He's fast, and he's not normal."

She didn't say that she was terrified, too.

Aria didn't answer. She couldn't. She was frozen, her body refusing to obey. She was an Alberline, just like Serica. Once, she had wielded power beyond human comprehension. But since her kiss with Kentaro, since her Sublimation had been sealed away, that strength had felt like a dream. A dream she no longer believed in. The thought of reaching for it again paralysed her more than the man's presence. Her lips trembled, her eyes glazed, her legs weak as she shuffled another step back.

Serica glanced over her shoulder. Aria's face was pale, her forehead damp with cold sweat, her wide eyes pleading for this nightmare to end. "No good. She won't be able to fight." Serica's jaw tightened. That left her alone.

The man's body lurched like a marionette whose strings had been cut, then pulled taut again. He cocked his arm back, fingers clawing the air, ready to strike.

The movement finally caused Aria to snap out of her trance.

"Serica!" Aria screamed, snapping herself out of silence.

Serica inhaled deeply as the man closed in, closing her eyes just for a second.

"Glaceria."

The name left her lips like a vow.

The air warped. A faint blue glow shimmered, and frost swirled in the alley. Snowflakes shimmered into existence, spiralling around Serica's hand. The glow intensified until it blazed white, the outline of a blade taking form in her palm. The wind kicked up violently, whipping her hair across her face, tearing at her clothes, sending the deranged man stumbling back onto the pavement with a guttural moan.

Aria gasped, shielding her eyes from the gale. Her heart hammered against her ribs. No way… She had seen this before, during the rescue, when Serica and Yura had fought side by side. She had tried to pretend it was impossible, that she couldn't, that her powers were gone since they were sealed. But watching Serica's blade of light solidify, she realised she had been lying to herself, making excuses not to use her powers, that she caused her so much grief.

"D-does that mean… I can use mine?" she whispered, her gaze locked on Serica's back.

The wind died, leaving only the glow of the weapon, a gleaming longsword of translucent ice, veins of light running through it like frozen lightning.

Serica smirked as the weight settled into her hand. Relief surged through her chest. "It's good to have you back, Glaceria," she whispered, like greeting an old friend.

The man staggered upright, his massive gut jiggling with the effort, his breath a wheezing growl. "Hhhhnn, shaajf!" His voice cracked and bent, words bleeding into nonsense. Drool strung from his lips. His eyes rolled white again, and rage distorted his already twisted face.

Serica's grin faded. She raised her sword into a guard, blade vertical down the centerline of her body.

For a moment, the alley was silent, except for Aria's shallow breaths.

Then the man twitched.

ZOOM.

Serica launched forward, kicking off the pavement hard enough to crack stone. Her body blurred, closing the distance in a heartbeat. She slashed downward, the blade singing through the air with a gust that ripped the chef's jacket clean off his shoulders. For a heartbeat, Serica glimpsed something glowing faintly at the crown of his head, a dull, sickly light that made her stomach twist.

"HYAAAH!" she cried, sword slamming down.

Clang.

The blade stopped dead. His arm, just his bare arm, had intercepted it.

Serica's eyes widened. She hadn't swung to kill, but she hadn't pulled enough either. She should have had a split bone. Instead, his flesh had absorbed it.

"Serica!" Aria cried out.

The man's slobbering grin widened. He seized the blade itself, veins bulging in his arm, and wrenched it sideways. Serica went flying, her feet tearing grooves into the concrete before she dug her heels in and skidded to a stop near Aria. Her chest heaved, her lungs burning already from the force.

"Did you hear that, Aria?" she asked, panting.

Aria blinked in confusion, then realised. The sound. When Serica's blade met his arm. A snap. A break.

"I… I heard it. His bone cracked, didn't it?!"

"Yeah." Serica's eyes hardened. "And he didn't even flinch."

The man's roar shattered the brief reprieve. He charged, steps slamming like thunder despite his bloated frame. His fists blurred in a frenzy of strikes.

"Ghhhnn!" Serica groaned, blocking desperately, her sword ringing with each impact. Each hit came with the wet, sickening crunch of bones breaking. But the man didn't stop. Didn't even slow. He was grinning through it, saliva dripping, his eyes rolling with manic joy.

"This guy… doesn't feel pain," Serica muttered, teeth gritted.

She shoved him back with a slash, but he leapt away unnaturally fast, forcing her swing wide. The sudden absence of weight pulled her off balance, her chest exposed.

"NGHSSAFAH!" the man howled, snapping a kick into her abdomen.

"Ghhhk!" Serica's breath exploded out of her as her body flew backwards, smashing through crates and into the alley wall with a bone-shaking crash. Dust and brick fragments filled the air.

"Serica!" Aria shrieked.

But Serica wasn't moving.

And the man was turning toward her.

Aria's legs trembled so badly she nearly collapsed. Her teeth chattered. The man's grotesque grin twisted toward her now, every ounce of malice focused on her small, powerless frame.

"It's just me…" she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The man stepped closer. One step. Two. Shadows swallowed him, then spit him out again, towering closer.

"No! Please stay away!" she screamed, stumbling back until her shoulders pressed into the cold brick wall.

No response. Just the slurred, hungry groan of something less than human.

Her tears blurred her vision. Kentaro… please… save us…

"Aria!"

Her head snapped up.

A flash of light burst past her cheek, carving the air with a shriek. It slammed into the man's chest, slicing it open in a geyser of blood. He reeled back with a roar that shook the alley.

"AHHRRRWUHHH!"

Aria turned, eyes wide. Serica stood there, blood on her lips, her chest heaving with ragged breaths. Her sword still glowed, though it trembled in her exhausted grip.

She stumbled forward, every step shaky, until she reached Aria. She dropped to one knee, panting. "Aria… listen. I don't know what's wrong with him, but he's not normal. He's too strong. I need you… to run. Now."

Aria shook her head violently, tears spilling. "No! I can't! You're hurt! You can't fight him alone!"

Serica forced herself upright, leaning on her sword like a crutch. She gave Aria a fragile smile. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Then she charged.

Aria's heart broke. Every clang of metal, every grunt, every cry of pain cut into her deeper than any blade. She watched Serica move more slowly, her swings heavier, her stamina bleeding away with each strike. Blood sprayed from the man'swounds, but he only grew more frenzied, more unstoppable.

"Why… why am I so useless?" Aria whispered, tears streaming. Memories flooded back, her capture at Spire, Kentaro risking his life for her, Serica bleeding to protect her even now. She clenched her fists until her nails dug into her palms.

"I need to try. If Serica can fight… then so can I!"

She closed her eyes, reaching inward, she thought about her weapon, her sublimation, it was the same technique she used before to summon her sublimation, but nothing answered. No power. No light. Nothing but despair.

"Why won't it work?! Why now, of all times?!" she screamed, her voice breaking.

Serica cried out again, staggering under the man's relentless blows. He was drenched in blood, his skin split open in dozens of places, yet he only grew faster. His blows cracked the walls, splintered stone, shattered air. Serica was barely standing.

Aria's chest convulsed. Her lip bled where she bit down, fury and helplessness mixing until her body shook.

"Come on… come on… COME ON!"

Her mind went blank. Then one thought remained. One plea.

"Protect…" she whispered, closing her eyes.

Her heart thudded once, heavy as a drum.

"I want to protect Serica… Yura… Kentaro… Tenka. I want to pay them back with my life!"

She screamed, and the air screamed with her.

Light exploded around her body, particles rising like fireflies, coalescing into shape. At first a silhouette, then sharper, clearer, strings, a body, a neck. A guitar. Familiar. Right.

Aria's tears dried on her cheeks as she gripped the instrument now glowing across her chest, slung around her neck as if it had always belonged there.

"Thank you," she whispered, voice trembling but fierce.

Her hand slid across the strings.

"Now.. Echo Drive."

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