Moments of Truth
Atina stood covered in blood, her hair matted to her face, many of her scales cracked. She was breathing heavily. She staggered forward, a battle staff in her hand, her face expressionless, and her intent rolling off of her in droves.
The mirrored versions of her smiled—neither of them had a single wound. Mirror-Viper smirked. "Do you really want to continue?"
Mirror-Human's black chaos nails shimmered; she licked her lips and shrugged. "Leave now. Remain an assassin. Go back to the Clan and just exist."
"That's what you want, right?"
"She doesn't know what she wants."
"Perhaps we should just kill her and put her out of her misery."
Mirror-Human cocked her head and looked at Atina. "Are you miserable?"
Atina stood before them, her blood dripping to the floor, her body swaying, and her mind going numb. She never answered, and then the two before her froze. At first, she thought they were still mocking her, but then she felt a familiar presence to her right.
Ardyn's voice blasted through the cave, and Atina froze in the middle of bowing. "Why show me respect when you cannot find respect for yourself?!" Her voice roared and seemed to rock the mirrored surfaces of the cave. Ardyn sighed. "Elsa has said this is who you are. I know this is who you are. You need to know this is who you are."
Ardyn looked over Atina's wounds. Soft magic moved from her and slid over Atina's form; her body quickly healed. "Do you not want to rise? Do you want to stay as you are?"
Atina couldn't answer. Ardyn nodded. "You need to decide."
Ardyn rose, and her body moved too fast for Atina to see, but she felt her. Ardyn was now in front of her, and then the two mirror beings woke up. Chaos nails rushed toward Ardyn's neck, and a two-handed sword moved toward Ardyn's back.
Atina moved faster than light, her staff making cracking sounds through the air as she blocked the attacks and pushed both of the mirrored people back. Mirror-Human's chaos nails were shattered, and Mirror-Viper had blood trickling down her face. Atina stood with her back to Ardyn, breathing calmly, her body tense and ready for confrontation.
Ardyn spoke without turning. "Perhaps you need to find love for yourself. I trust you with my life, but if you do not grow, how can you stay by my side?"
"I think she is crying."
Atina blinked several times, her mind seeming to slip out of a dense fog. Had she just been dreaming? It didn't matter. What she saw, what she heard, was the truth. She had vowed within herself to stay by Ardyn's side and to always be able to protect her. Something within Atina shifted, and she rose to her full height.
Her hair blew in the still air. Black nails sparking with chaotic energy grew from her fingertips; her tail became barbed and sparked chaotic energy into the air above her head, and a dark weapon of chaos formed in her hand. Her weapon seemed to be unsure of its own form, and with every blink of the eye, it changed: scythe, battle-ax, rapier, two-handed sword, daggers, battle staff.
Atina cracked her neck twice and raised her gaze to the two mirror people before her. "No more tears, no more doubts. Show me what you think you can teach me."
As Atina was finally moving forward, Ardyn and Varric battled Seraphis. Varric looked to her and spoke into her soul. 'Back so soon, love?'
'I only needed to nudge her.'
Ardyn's vine battle staff spun, and sharp, seed-like projectiles shot forth. Seraphis dodged most of them and hissed as two scraped against his scales. Varric moved forward, and his tail swept an arc of darkness toward Seraphis that caused the cobra beastkin to take two involuntary steps back. Belatedly, he sent void magic forward to meet the darkness and was knocked back for his effort.
Varric watched Seraphis slide back—his feet digging into the ground—as he spoke. 'Is she ready? We can back up our departure.'
'I think she is. They will leave with us as Minor Emperor and Empress tomorrow—before the end of things, they will move up to the Lower status.'
Varric nodded, and then an eyebrow raised as Seraphis steadied himself and the flow of his magic subtly changed. 'It seems Seraphis has stepped into Minor Emperor. Let's push him a bit more so that it embeds itself into his very soul.'
Ardyn was ahead of him as chaos flowed forth from her. Varric added his darkness to her chaos, and Seraphis's eyes went wide.
A Minor Emperor of Sidus Serpens was about to awake.