Ch 1.49: Choice

Elaina started running as soon as Prisma’s rapier had broken. She wasn’t sure what was worse for Prisma, that she was manaless or weaponless, but the fact that Elaina was both of those things on top of it surely wasn’t going to help matters, so she had to fix that. Prisma was purely on the back foot now, still technically armed with the shortened, broken off portion of her sword, but the man in front of her was pressing in, increased speed and strength barely being kept at bay by Prisma’s footwork and skill.

In that she was superior, at least. Even Elaina could tell that Prisma must’ve had intense training with short blades to be able to still hold her own against the being in front of her, a being with overwhelming agility and power.

And that was their last saving grace. The Red Order member fighting with Prisma was as fast as Elaina was, as strong as her too probably, but that’s all he was. He wasn’t nearly the level of Myriala, and Prisma had already proven she could beat Elaina and Carline both, so against this person she at least had a chance.

Prisma spun around her opponent’s arm, grabbing it with her free and pushing it aside as she twirled around him and jammed her broken sword into the man’s neck.

Elaina almost screamed in joy, almost thought Prisma had won before she saw the girl dart back away, still defensive in her stance as the man howled out and charged after her, barely a trickle of blood flowing from his neck. His aspect, shit! She didn’t know what it was, but of course he would have one, and it was keeping him from being grievously wounded.

Elaina finally reached her target though. Not Prisma, not the Red Order Commander, but Waine. He was still now, no visible signs of breathing, but Elaina didn’t have time to worry about that. She grabbed his sword from the ground, the sword he’d managed to somehow keep hold of despite being run through and tossed about earlier. Thanks for that, at least. She’d made a promise to him, one she intended to keep. She charged forward, coming up from behind Prisma, their foe’s eyes squinting in anger as she did.

“Prisma, I’ve got your back!” Prisma circled her opponent, on the other side of him in nearly an instant, pincering him between the two girls.

He leapt away from Prisma, launching himself towards Elaina and leaving the more skilled swordswoman behind. Shit! Elaina thought as she skidded to a halt, raising her blade up in a haphazard attempt at a guard, trying to deflect the incoming dagger. He spun around though,  extending his free hand and grabbing Elaina’s rapier with it, pushing it aside as he continued his spin, wrist-blade plunging right towards Elaina’s neck.

He stopped. Elaina stood there for just a moment before jumping back and yanking her blade out of the man’s hand, azure blood dripping from both flesh and steel alike. She saw it out the corner of her eye, Waine, still lying on the ground, hand outstretched, holding back the blow that would have ended Elaina. Fuck, that’s twice.

This was no time for score calculating though. Elaina stabbed towards the Red Order member, but he swatted her attack away with his wrist-dagger before winding up to strike again. He stopped once more though, this time before even making the attack at all. Waine’s not strong enough to freeze him entirely, but he can stop his attacks at least. That was more than enough though, especially with Prisma now coming up behind him too. Elaina had thought it would be more than enough at least, right up until she was kicked in the stomach, sent flying through the air as nausea overtook her.

She crashed into the wet ground. Waine was only blocking attacks made with the stiletto, apparently. Groaning, Elaina pushed herself up, hands frantically gripping for her blade, but she couldn’t find it. Lost it when I was falling. In the dark night, mud everywhere, she’d be lucky to find it even without a time crunch. That didn’t matter though; she still had to fight.

Elaina moved forwards anyway, towards the Red Order member who was once again engaged with Prisma. She glanced over to Waine, seeing him face down in the mud. No more help from him. Gods, he’d seen her though. No skirt, no bottoms at all, in this flimsy, transparent, unbuttoned shirt, as he saved her life no less. Could there be anything more embarrassing than that?

Maybe it was [Pain Response], maybe [Fear Response], probably both really, but she was uncontrollably turned on by the whole situation. It was horribly inappropriate, but she still could barely drive away the urge to touch herself. No, later.

She activated [Personal Restraint] and reached into her mana well. It had just been completely drained only a minute prior, but there was something there now. Does it regenerate faster now that I’m level two in addition to being larger? Thoughts for another time. She was still at that maximum power she’d been at earlier, but with only a thin sliver of mana there was still only so much she could do. Time for old faithful.

A shackle appeared on each of the man’s hands, connected behind his back by a chain leading to a stake in the ground. He went to lunge at Prisma as they materialized, yanking them forward, pulling at the stake. Elaina wouldn’t be able to hold it long.

But Prisma was already in action, stabbing into the man’s chest with her broken off rapier. It barely dug in despite her opponent’s immobility, but she pulled it back out, flipping the weapon around and holding it underhanded, trading technique for pure force as she plunged it into the man’s chest again and again. “Fucking! Die!” she shouted out, punctuating each stab as the man cried out wordlessly in unison.

Blue blood trickled out at first, but the blade eventually went deeper and deeper, more blood pouring out as Prisma stabbed over and over. She looked so sad. Even in the downpour Elaina could tell she was crying, not because of any visible tears, just from the look of anguish and pain on her face. Eventually the man fell, silent, and Elaina’s aspect fell off as Prisma made one more blow into the man’s throat, leaving the blade stuck inside.

She was shaking as she got up, staring at her hands, the man’s blood running down them and onto her white shirt sleeves in the rain. “Elaina… What the fuck is happening? What did I do?”

Elaina walked over, herself pained from seeing the look on Prisma’s face. She’d killed her fair share of these herself, but she understood what Prisma was saying nonetheless. The ones she’d killed with the bear traps earlier, the ones Prisma had mowed down with fire and blade, they were human shaped, but they weren’t really more than monsters. The commander Prisma had just killed had spoken though, and even if the only things he spoke were threats and orders to kill, it must’ve been different. Were the others really any different though? They were all Red Order, after all. Elaina tried not to think about whether that meant they were all monsters or whether that meant they were all people.

“We did what we needed to,” Elaina eventually said, reaching her hand out to Prisma. She looked down at the System, still thankfully hanging from her small shoulder bag as she pulled the girl up. They were alone, so it was safe to bring it out now. “Prisma, there’s someone else out in the forest.”

“Elaina… You can’t go in there.”

“I have to…” It was her burden, her choice to have waited this long to tell anyone about the System, about Myriala. And she was here, Elaina was sure of it. Dream earlier aside, the man they’d killed had mentioned taking Elaina to his ‘“lady,” and there was no one else that could be. She started reaching into her bag. “Prisma, we can do this together, there’s—”

“Waine.” The one word from Prisma froze Elaina as she was pulling the System out. “We need to get him help.” Her face was still pained, eyes wide and bloodshot as she looked over to the boy.

Elaina looked back towards the castle, towards the fighting still going on by the school’s north entrance. It was dying down, most of the creatures having been slain either their or by Elaina’s trio of students, but there were a handful left. They’d need to move carefully around it to get Waine back to the castle. It wouldn’t be a problem, but it would take too much time.

“Prisma, I need you right now… Can I trust you?”

She hated asking, didn’t even know why she was. She could trust her, right? Prisma looked back, confusion mixing with the pain on her face. “Elaina, I don’t know what you’re saying… I have to help Waine. He’s—” She shook her head, pursing her lips. “Don’t make me choose between you two, not again…”

Elaina let go of the System, feeling the orb drop back into her bag as she felt her heart drop into her stomach. Right. I trusted her before, and I know how she chose then. “Fine. I’m leaving, Prisma.” The words were heavy, almost impossible to spit out. She went back to grab her skirt, examining it before throwing it back to the ground. Damn clasp’s melted off. She didn’t care about that right now anyway.

Something grabbed the strap of her shoulder bag, halting Elaina as she tried to walk off. “Please don’t go,” Prisma said, voice quavering. “I choose you, okay! Help me find Waine’s sword, and I’ll come with you!”

Elaina was elated at the words, at the thought of everything that she’d just been offered. Prisma by her side, with a class if the System thought they were party compatible? They’d be unstoppable; even Myriala wouldn’t stand a chance against the two of them. Waine wouldn’t last, she knew, still might not make it even if they got him back to the castle, but at least he’d be out of the way from now on, right?

Wait. What did she just think? The lump in Elaina’s stomach grew as she mulled over the terrible thought. He’d saved her life twice over, and here she was rejoicing over the thought of him dying? Gods, I’m a fucking monster, aren’t I? Even he didn’t deserve that.

She pulled her bag loose and turned back, seeing Prisma’s usually beautiful face contorted into a sobbing mess. I’m doing this to her. “Prisma, take Waine back.” A sentence even harder to manage than the words before.

“No!” Prisma lurched forward, grabbing Elaina’s arms. “I can’t just— I’ll come with you! We’ll come back for him later, and—”

“Stop,” Elaina said, jerking back. No matter how much she wanted it, no matter how much she needed it, she couldn’t accept Prisma’s help if it meant leaving Waine to die, not after she’d just had that horrible thought. “You’re right; he needs help. I know he’s… important to you. I’m not going to make you choose between us.” He would do that, but I won’t. “I can take care of myself.”

She bolted, sprinting off towards the forest as she tried to ignore the pang in her heart that had returned, the same pang from earlier in the day, somehow even worse than before for some reason. Gods, I’m doing the right thing, so why does it hurt so much? Prisma shouted her name, pleaded for her to stop, but Elaina just kept running, Prisma’s voice going faint, and then eventually silent, as Elaina disappeared into the trees.