A Sunless Dream

Two sets of onyx eyes dug deep into the soul of Nephis as the intense battle between Jet and Orion raged on. Although this battle could decide their lives, to Sunny none of that mattered. He wanted to know what Nephis was hiding.

Nephis, although appearing unharmed, had severe amounts of sweat and dried blood pouring off her body indicating the mass amounts of fatigue she had undergone throughout her fight with Orion.

Although Sunny pitied her situation, knowing all too well the pain that she had undergone due to her flaw he couldn't help but stare at Nephis with a glint of suspicion in his eyes. His mouth was curled into a slight frown as he took a moment to analyse Nephis previous behaviours.

"Hey Neph, it makes no sense fighting recklessly just so he doesn't hit you once. That isn't even feasible." Sunny paused for a second before kneeling to Nephis height and taking her hand in his own "Just tell me what's going on, we can't allow him to have information we don't."

Sunny's tone was as soft and gentle as he could manage under the immense stress he was in, however, Nephis continued to stare at the battlefield almost making a conscious effort not to meet his eyes.

"Neph, look at me." Sunny moved in front of her and lightly grabbed her chin to allow their eyes to meet one another "You'll have to tell me eventually. Keeping secrets is what led me to being...in the situation I am now."

Nephis shook her head indignantly "It's nothing you have to worry about, Sunny I'm fine just take a moment to rest before it's your turn to fight again." From the look in her eyes as well as the tone in her voice, Sunny could tell she was lying as easy as Kai could. However, he wasn't going to force the issue until the fight was over.

That was if Orion didn't say it first.

Returning to the battlefield, Jet spun with her scythe in hand quickly creating a small tornado before sending a slash at Orion. Ducking low, an invisible blade of air passed over his head as he rushed towards Jet to begin his onslaught.

Appearing before her, Orion sent a punch at her chest however, Jet dug her scythe into the ground behind her and pulled on it to propel her backwards. Before Orion could build up any momentum, Jet used her transformation ability to turn into mist allowing her to fly above him.

She immediately dismissed her transformation ability, using her scythe as a makeshift propeller Jet shot downwards like a rocket towards Orion. Jumping backwards, Orion felt the ground beneath him shake upon impact.

"You're interesting, Soul Reaper!"

Orion's chilling laugh radiated through the field as he summoned his sword blitzing towards Jet. Before she could react, Orion slashed at her chest cutting a thin line into her armour as she dodged back before he could go any further.

Before distance could be created, Orion appeared above her ready to thrust his sword into her stomach. However, he quickly turned around midair using his sword to deflect the scythe that was being pulled down on his body like a guillotine.

With a mad grin, Orion formed wings of shadow and grabbed the scythe before throwing it and it's wielder upwards. Unable to properly manoeuvre midair, Jet was left vulnerable to a kick from Orion sending her flying into the ground in blinding speeds.

"I think I just felt myself break the sound barrier" she grunted, throwing off piles of debris off her body before charging at her opponent. Swinging her scythe at him, Orion leaned left to dodge the blow and raised a knee to block a kick from Jet.

'He isn't going on the offensive' she thought to herself before continuing her onslaught. Throwing her scythe behind him, the blade aimed itself directly at Orion before being pulled back suddenly at blinding speeds.

In a split second, Orion was in front of her. Punching her into the ground, Jet only had enough time to cross her arms for a block and the groan of her bones was almost audible under the impact.

Spinning around, Orion sent an elbow to her jaw forcing her to cough up blood as he remained mounted on her. Attempting to raise her hands to block the oncoming blows, Orion pried her hands away from her face before slamming his palm on her chest twice.

The force of the blow caused blood to spray from her mouth as she activated her transformation ability to escape his grasp. 'Just one more thing' Orion thought to himself as he rushed after Jet.

Quickly dismissing her transformation ability, Jet was sent sliding across the soil as she parried an attack from Orion's blade. The force of impact sent vibrations dancing across her spine as she continued to endure the onslaught only barely.

Leaning left, she dodged an attack which intended to remove her arm, however, the last things she saw was a small grin on Orion's face as he whispered, "You should've blocked." Bending his arm like a whip, the blade quickly changed directions moving upwards towards her arm.

Jet activated her transformation ability in response, hoping to allow the sword to pass straight through her mist. It was a race to see who would be faster in the split-second moment, Jet or Orion.

A spray of blood painted the battlefield as Jet's hand flew off her body. Orion grabbed the missing piece of her body and began laughing at Jet once more, the pain of her sudden injury forced her to dismiss her transformation entirely as Sunny rushed over to her to heal her hand.

Unnoticed to anyone present, Orion had already taken his pound of flesh and consumed it. Staring at his palms for a moment, Orion felt himself change slightly. His arms appeared almost transparent, and a sly grin appeared on his face.

"So, this is your awakened ability, soul reaper." His voice dripped with curiosity, like a child who had just gotten a new toy. A smile settled on his face as he kicked Sunny away from Jet, sending him flying across the battlefield as he summoned a scythe of his own.

Orion's sudden attack had inhibited Sunny from regenerating an entirely new hand for Jet and instead she had to settle for only the bleeding being stopped. However, in the face of the dire odds Jet allowed a mad grin to settle on her face as she ruffled her hair.

Blood held her hair in place as she held her scythe in one hand. Blitzing towards Orion in speeds she had never used before, she swung her scythe as it flew past his head in a blur.

Orion widened his eyes slightly. 'She almost hit me' he thought to himself as he focused on the battle once more. In a split second, he was forced to lean out of the way of another attack as a scythe passed mere millimetres in front of his face.

Jet was before him once more like a woman possessed as she kicked him in the chest, Orion blocked the blow however was sent skidding backwards as he stared at Jet with an incredulous expression.

"Is this what Revel spoke about, humans getting stronger when the odds are stacked against them" he mused mildly as he was forced to block a crushing kick from Jet. Each attack she threw sent shockwaves reverberating throughout the entire battlefield as the now crumbled mountains gave way for valley's under the earth-shaking force she was emitting.

Lashing out another kick at Orion once more, the kick collided with his guard as Orion shifted his body to grab it. However, a scythe appeared above his head ready to impale him forcing him to abandon all plans of a counterattack.

"You aren't the only one who can use a Scythe" he grunted in frustration as he slammed the flat end of his scythe in Jet's side. The blow sent her flying as he appeared above her once more, summoning his wings, he used them to propel himself downwards upon his opponent.

Landing directly on her stomach with both legs outstretched, he felt Jet's spine crack under the force of his blow. A slight frown appeared on his face "You were fun, maybe even stronger than Changing Star."

He wasn't supposed to be using this much effort on these people, they were supposed to be pass times as he lived out the rest of his days with Revel. So why were they causing him frustration? Making his way towards Jet to finish her off, he was cut off by a kick by Morgan.

Bending low to dodge the blow, he allowed her opening to go unpunished as he remained deep in thought.

"You people, none of you possess the flames of resolve that are needed to kill me. Yet, you continue to fight with fever that implies that you do. I am sure I'm not mistaken, the look in your eyes...it isn't expressive of a reason to kill me. It's mere desire!"

A loud laugh echoed throughout the empty field as Orion placed a hand over his eyes to continue, his sudden rant had stopped everyone in their tracks giving Sunny the opportunity to heal the immensely injured Jet.

"All of you, rather than looking for a genuine reason to kill me, you simply say it's because you want to! That is where my frustration lies, I see it now. It would be disrespectful for me not to crush those pitiful desires one by one."

Orion's usually indifferent eyes emitted a glint of killer intent as his presence nearly forced Morgan to her knees.

"Come, all of you. I'll enjoy ripping apart your pitiful resolve and force you to watch me kill everyone you love. After all, once I do so, I'd love to see the expression you make!"

With that, he disappeared. A fist flew at Morgan's face as she tilted her head slightly to dodge the blow. The attack would have shattered her skull if it landed and although it missed a gash was still left in her cheek.

The true battle had begun.