The smoke from the explosion of the draconian began to clear revealing Talon, battered and bloodied floating mere feet above the ground. Blood ran down the left side of her face. Her left arm dangled uselessly at her side. The left side of her white hooded-jacket charred and ripped apart.
Her dark pink eyes looked down to the remains of the draconian who had exploded beside her, his scorched clothing floating down to the ground below.
"Living people… She's using living people as puppets?" She thought to herself, her face and demeanor surprisingly relaxed for someone who was blown up moments ago.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of laughter… a disturbingly cheerful one. Sera, who was floating several meters in the air, just above the half destroyed ship, hands stretched out, framing Talon like a director visualizing a perfect shot.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Yes! Yes, that's it! That's the shot. Oh, such raw emotion, such an adorable face! Now, if we could just fix that attitude of yours... Why Talon, I could make you the biggest star across a thousand galaxies!"
Talon didn't move, but her cold eyes shot over and locked onto her.
"Oh, don't look so disinterested." Sera's smile widened with a tone of mock sincerity.
"I'd even bring along your handsome boyfriend… What's his name again? Maito, right? Him and your other charming crewmates could join you too! Well… except for Elara and that little orange… thing."
Jinx growled through her muzzle with the eyes of a predator being teased by its prey.
"So what do you say, Talon? A life of luxury, fame, fortune, adoration? All you have to do is stop this pointless resistance and join me… join us. Join the Grand Order."
"They're alive…" Talon muttered calmly, barely loud enough to be heard.
"Why yes, yes, they are! Why settle for corpses when the living are so much more fun to control? They're pliable, expressive, and oh, so unpredictable. And when they scream?" She said as she clapped her hands together, her voice dropping into a chilling whisper, her wings fluttering slightly behind her.
"It's like music to my little Vesperian ears."
Talon said nothing. She just stared at her, as if she was contemplating something.
"So, Talon, this is my final offer. Come willingly, or I'll make sure your precious crew join my cast. What's it going to be?" Sera said, holding her hand out as if she was welcoming her.
Talon stared at her outstretched hand silently for a long moment. Then she raised her good hand slowly.
Sera's cocky smirk vanished slightly, thinking a possible attack was coming.
"Decided to fight back? Go ahead! Give me your best shot—"
But it wasn't an attack. Though… It was something the crewmembers watching were fairly familiar with.
Elara chuckled softly.
"You go girl." Rorik said, smiling and nodding his head in full approval.
Even Jinx's muffled voice sounded suspiciously like a cheer.
Talon was holding up a middle finger. One so good, Kaito would've been proud if he were there to see.
Sera blinked, her head tilting to the side slightly.
"What… exactly is that supposed to mean?" She asked hesitantly.
"It's something I saw an idiot do once." Talon said calmly, a small smirk on her face now.
"And it means I'm going to kick your ass, theater geek."
Sera snorted before it grew into a full blown laughter. She wiped a tear from her eye as she clutched her stomach.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Oh Talon! You'd fit right in with those corny speeches! And that silly little gesture you did with your hand?" She raised her own middle finger, twisting it comically before bursting into another round of snickers.
"Hahahehehe, and how exactly do you plan to fight me when half your body's hanging on by a thread, hmmmmm?"
Talon looked to the left side of her body, trying to roll her left shoulder, but all she felt was a numbed static sensation throughout the entirety of her left body. Nothing moved.
"I really let my guard down and didn't reinforce my body with essence because of her stunt." She thought to herself, before turning her attention back to Sera above.
"Well, maybe it'll be a fair fight now."
Sera's smile disappeared in an instant, contorting into a look of pure anger.
"Oh, you arrogant little..." She mouthed as she threw out her left hand.
"I've had enough of your smug attitude! You're not worth the effort of molding into a star anymore!"
For once, Sera's face and entire demeanor became serious.
"I'll just kill you."
With one quick sharp wave of her left hand, she commanded about dozens of Draconians to take flight. Dozens of her lackeys sprinted on the ground, eyes empty and glowing as they all raced towards Talon.
Time seemed to slow as Talon's eyes scanned over the sea of bodies.
"I won't have time to get them outside of the perimeter before Kaeline activates her ability."
She tensed, preparing to make a move, when the faint flicker of essence behind her stopped her in her tracks.
A cluster of Draconians loomed just a few meters behind, shimmering with the same glow as the Draconian that blew up earlier. One of them, a draconian woman with tears stains running down her cheeks, managed to mutter something despite Sera's ability controlling her every move.
"Tell my… husband… I lov—"
BOOOOOOM!!
Their bodies exploded in an instant. The shockwave left several trees nearby partially destroyed, branches and leaves falling to the ground.
"Yes! Yes! More fireworks, please!" Sera screeched from below.
But she wasn't the only one with tricks left.
Before the smoke had a chance to clear, dozens of nearby giant trees, along with the destroyed ones, began to glow with a pink hue. One by one, branches from them snapped free, splintering into jagged spears that hovered in the air. With a sharp pivot, they all turned to Sera before shooting forward with insane speed.
"Oh?" Sera purred, eyes widening with excitement.
She casually flicked her left hand and a wall of living bodies rushed forward, forming a trembling shield around her. But before the branches impaled the wall, they halted on a dime before falling harmlessly to the ground.
With no second wasted, a fresh wave of Draconians soared straight for the thick clouds of smoke where Talon should be.
BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
Another blast rocked the battlefield.
Yet Talon flew herself out of the blast just in time, soaring high in the air as more Draconian pursuers swarmed behind her.
"What't the matter Talon!?" Sera cooed out, her arms spread wide in mock disappointment.
"All this frantic running… Where's that attitude you had earlier?"
Hundreds of small fireballs screeched across the sky like miniature meteors towards Talon. She wove through the air, each ball of flames missing her body by inches. In the midst of the chaos, she spotted an opening.
In an instant, she shot forward, arms braced tight to her side as she blitzed through the sea of bodies, the wind roaring in her ears.
Right before she could reach Sera, a small body flew between them. A young draconian boy, barely in his teens, trembled, tears streaking his scaled cheeks. His hands were raised as if he was reaching out to be saved.
"P-Please… please help us…"
Talon's heart seized immediately at the sight, her entire momentum grinding to a halt. He was just a kid. Even if his body was under Sera's control, that fear in his eyes felt hauntingly real… hauntingly familiar.
"CUT!" Sera yelled out in annoyance as she waved her right hand.
Thin strings sliced across the battlefield, cleaving through the air. Talon flew backwards just as they carved right through the young draconian boy in front of her, slicing him into numerous pieces.
"That's just great! Our star actor completely forgot his lines! I spent weeks rehearsing those scenes, and yet here we are… a complete mess. And you, little miss attitude." Sera continued in a mocking tone.
"What are you going to do now? With your half-destroyed body, are you just going to stand there and let the show go on without you? Wait a sec… Don't tell me you're camera shy!? AHAHAHAAHAHAHA!"
Without a word, Talon's eyes shifted towards the captured crewmates.
"It's about damn time… Kaeline." She whispered.
Sera's expression turned from amusement to confusion.
"Huuuhhhh? What's that now?" She asked smugly, glancing over at the captured crew members.
But once she did, what she saw made her blue blood run cold. Her eyes focused in on one of the crewmates in particular, supposedly Elysia, but… it wasn't Elysia at all. Instead, it was Kaeline.
"What the… how is she even–"
In that instant, the realization hit her. She thought back to the initial surprise attack from Kaeline.
"When everything went black… My strings were being tugged… That was more than to just split us up, that was a distraction! But still, that doesn't explain how she was able to release her from my strings without detonating the essence bomb around her neck."
During her sudden realization, the Kaeline clone began to weave hand signs.
"Shadow Teleportation Jutsu."
"Later biiitchhh!" Rorik screamed out.
In the next instant, all the captured crew members—Elara, Finn, Rorik, and Jinx—vanished into their shadows, like they fell into a portal to another world.
The Kaeline clone then shifted her attention back to Talon.
"Let's do this, Talon." She said, as her body melted into her own shadow and disappeared from sight.
Sera's confusion only elevated, but before she could gather her thoughts, something else caught her attention. Talon's essence began to glow around her… yet it wasn't her usual pink. Instead it was a swirling mix of countless shades of pinks that radiated with an almost godly glow.
Raising her hand and all three floating lands shook violently as spiderweb cracks snaked across their surfaces before slowly breaking apart into countless fragments, floating in chaotic patterns.
As debris floated in what seemed to be all directions, Sera was suddenly pressed down by a strange unseen force, pushing to the ground on her hands and knees, unable to fly or stand. Around her, the draconians and her lackeys were pressed by the same oppressive force.
Her CPI scanner began to flicker erratically in the corner of her eye. The numbers danced wildly until a single staggering value settled in.
Talon: 11,200,000 CPI
"Eleven… million..? What… What is this elf!?" She thought to herself in a panic.
"These aren't only telekinesis powers she's using anymore either… It feels like the planet's gravity is multiplying. Wait… gravity… No… no no no no no no no! This can't be right! There's no way someone like her can possess a true cosmic affinity!?" She hectically pieced everything together… but it was too late.
In the very next instance, the ground beneath her shattered completely. The entire floating landmass crumbled to countless rubble of all shapes and sizes, swirling in the air around Talon as if she was a host star of a solar system.
Pressed down on a large rock, Sera managed to get a glimpse of above her and what she saw was an absolutely terrifying sight.
Over a hundred Kaeline clones stood or crouched on numerous different pieces of rubble. Each one holding the same hand sign and uttering the same words at once.
"Binding of Erebos Jutsu."