Master . . . I think he is experiencing your movements as you are his. Please be aware of this . . . Kageko trailed off; Eld was asking a question that she should have answered, but she didn't. Rather, she was focusing on his immediate well being. She wanted to make sure he was aware of the situation, were he to try to prepare something like the previous attack again.

"Human beings . . ." Toushikyo drew in a deep breath; his reply was carried on the back of a sigh, "You fight and kill without truly knowing the guiding force behind all things. Men and women sacrificed for ambition. Massacres over blind ideals. Children sacrificed in the name of God."

As he spoke, he started forward as well. Toushikyo was slow at first, but only until he gathered his blade again. The mist covering him made his wound all the lighter. There was still a slight hint of pain (though a lack of feeling to care or acknowledge at all), but it was even easier to discount, now. He plucked the weapon from the ground, turned his attention solely upon Eld, and started for him just the same, faster now, paced perfectly with Eld--at first. He then sped up with every step.

"And now you, who erase the Unreal without ever knowing why." Toushikyo spoke in the midst of his approach, though it didn't seem to wind him at all. As he drew closer to Eld, Toushikyo lifted his blade with both hands. "I see, now. Why he deemed you people unworthy of the existence you were handed."

And with that, Toushikyo took a swing at Eld. It was two handed and intended to be overbearingly strong--and fast, for that matter. It would have been a passionate attack following a sober and somber realization, were he capable of such a thing anymore.

I figured as much. I think it's the mist that's letting him do it. He suspected Kageko knew something, as much as he was loathe to believe that she would hide something from him. But this was neither the time nor the place to interrogate her.

Eld met the two handed slash with a block with all his weight behind it; the impact of their weapons meeting jarred his very bones.

Hearing Toushikyo's words, all too familiar images flooded Eld's vision. A monster clad in black armor, presiding over a street filled with frightened men, women, and children, bound and helpless. A man with a smoking gun, eyes twinged with a violent ideal that overtook all reason. And priest, superimposed over the images of a journal, the betrayal of man whom seemed for all world a saint and yet who tried to commit the greatest sin Eld could possibly conceive of. He hated all of them, loathed them with a passion that frightened himself, as it reminded him of the darkness that humanity was capable of...that he was capable of.

He faltered in his resolve. He could not in good conscience argue that the world wouldn't be better off without any of those men, that the crimes they committed weren't unforgivable. He was forced back a step; he gave ground. The Memories, for all that they opposed Eld, weren't entirely bad people. In fact, compared to the humans he'd fought, a few were downright decent.

Step after step he gave ground, and before he knew it he found himself a mere step from the edge--one more push and Toushikyo would have him tumble over the side. He wasn't sure he could slow such a long fall to non-lethal levels, either.

But it only took one glance over the edge to change things. A tiny dot of azure against the snow, leading other dots away. Eld chased the doubts from his mind, and steeled himself.

"You're right," he said softly. "Humanity can be pretty bad...I've probably seen some of the worst it had to offer. But...you can't judge us by that lone. You have to see the good, too."

He took a step, and pushed.



"Recognizing their mistakes, and trying to make up for them...not with empty words, but a real desire to change. To become a better person."

He took a step, and pushed.



"Supporting each other, even when they're having trouble just supporting themselves."

He took a step, and pushed.



"Aiding those who need it most, even when they work themselves sick in the process."

He took a step, and pushed.



"We aren't blind; we can see each other clearly, and accept it--the good and the bad, because we know which one has more weight."

He took a step, and pushed.



"And, very rarely, we're capable of selfless acts so great, they change the course of the lives of everyone around."

He took a step, and pushed with all his might. He'd break the deadlock, and they'd be back at the center...but now, on equal ground.

Eld raised his weapon to the ready, and looked unwaveringly at Toushikyo. It was no longer with the grim resignation he felt from before; a fierce resolve filled his eyes. He would have seen it once before, and though the memory had since slipped from Eld's mind it would be fresh for Toushikyo. A desolate piece of land, an opponent waiting...stoic, stalwart, determined, with as little emotion as possible.

And Eld arrived, a contrast, overflowing with emotion, a resolve that made it clear that nothing would stand in his way.

"So go ahead; hate and despise everything bad about humanity. Because I love everything good about it; and I'll protect it."

Toushikyo kept up with a slow procession of strikes; he struck Eld once, who blocked and was shoved back. He did it again, and pushed Eld back once more. And again. And again. He pushed Eld back with a series of strong strikes until he was at the ledge. Then something change. Eld began to push forward. He threw strikes of his own, faster but just as strong; he put Toushikyo on the defensive, and each time they clashed--each time Toushikyo took a step back--Eld spoke, until at last they were mutually within the center of the arena.

"Hate? Despise?" Toushikyo asked as he relaxed.

He thought on the feelings briefly. How he'd love to. A week ago, he would have; his speech would have been riddled with seething rage and loathing. But it wasn't, now. It couldn't be. And ultimately, Eld said something that struck a nerve. He did not feel compelled to say it, he just simply did without questioning it or attempting to stop it at all.

"You mistake me, Tsukimono," Toushikyo replied, "I judge your species on rationale alone; I haven't a heart that can feel like yours. I haven't a heart that knows bias. But . . ."

As Toushikyo trailed off, there was a vicious shake about them. The arena on which they stood suddenly felt uneven. Deleveled. It shook as if it were about to collapse in on itself, but Toushikyo remained perfectly still, arms by his side and eyes locked upon Eldridge Tsukimono. The tower was not falling, but the way it rumbled gifted it the threat of collapse. If the idea crossed his mind, it was unlikely that Toushikyo had the will to care.

"Would the same not be said of Memories?" Toushikyo questioned, "Capable of good and evil? Capable of love? Of selfessness? Sacrifice, family, and hate? A commune decades strong, where we scarcely, if ever, fight another? Where we never kill another? Where we exist to help our neighbor?"

The shaking continued. Cracks formed upon the edges of the arena, bearing the threat of blades' fall, but it was yet to commit.

"What makes your life so much more valuable than ours?" Toushikyo continued; he held his arms out "What makes your reality so much more important, that we who cannot be real must be denied the joys of life that you human beings hold so dear?"

Toushikyo dropped his arms to his sides once more. He shut his eyes and shook his head.

"But now, it doesn't matter. To either of us. In the perfect world, it would for both; but this is an imperfect world. This is a cold and hateful world," Toushikyo lifted his blade, took it in both hands, and slid his right foot back. "My only hope . . . is that the one of us left alive will grasp the value of Memory and Man."

As Toushikyo spoke, the tower itself seemed on the verge of collapse; Eld was forced to hold his ground lest he lose his footing. This wasn't a momentary tremor, either...it continued through his speech. A glance around told him he needed to finish this soon: if the cracks caused the blades to fall off the tower, they'd devastate Hillcrest.

"You say you have no bias; then how come you decide we should die for your gain? I believe you have as much right to live as any of us; I've seen the good a Memory can do. You are capable of love, sacrifice, redemption, honor...all the goods and evils that humans are. You say you aren't real, but...what is really the difference between us?"

He shook his head; he doubted he'd get a satisfactory answer, and he didn't have time to debate. "In any case, I fight for one reason only: to protect that which I hold dear. If anyone threatens them, human or Memory..."

The ground was too unstable for him to move accurately on...so he didn't use it. He leaped at Toushikyo, closing the gap between them with a powerful overhand strike, simultaneously gathring Qi...not for an attack, though, but for a contingency plan, in case Toushikyo's defeat caused the tower to collapse anyway.

"...I will strike them down!"

M-Master! Below!

In the middle of his leap, Eld would be knocked back in a flash. It would come as a blunt blow from underneath; it would strike him in the gut and lurch him back several feet, until he was upon his back and distant. Once he was distant, however, he'd be able to see the cause of the blow. A sheet of ice before Toushikyo had lifted all at once, blunt and tall, to shield Toushikyo before Eld could reach him. Slowly, this time, it descended into the surface of the ice.

"Perhaps, if I had a heart like your own, I would oppose the plan with every fiber of my being," Toushikyo stated as matter of factly as possible, as the sheet of ice completely cleared from before him, "And then, perhaps I would only strike you down in revenge. Or maybe I'd support the plan; maybe I'd hate humanity and wish it to cease entirely."

The shaking of the platform began to slow. The cracks ceased to greaten and the degradation of Toushikyo's arena would quiet in just a moment.

"I've no intention to follow the plan until I've a heart like yours; but, to know this," Toushikyo then lunged forward, blade to his side and ready to cut across Eld when he reached him, "You must first die."

Kageko's warning came in the nick of time; he halted his charge before his jump, and rather than getting completely blown back by the sudden blow, he was merely knocked off balance a little, forcing him to retreat to regain his footing. Fortunately, this was made easier by the fact that the tower seemed to be stabilizing again.

It was a sheet of ice that had lifted from the ground; for some reason, he found it vaguely familiar, as though he'd seen something similar before...but he couldn't for the life of him think of what.

And he didn't have long to consider it; Toushikyo soon charged him again. "Sorry..." he replied, rolling under the horizontal strike and slashing at Toushikyo's waist as he came up just beside him. "I have promises to keep; I can't die yet."

Though he'd momentarily lost concentration when he'd been hit by the ice attack, he quickly refocused, part of his concentration going to gathering Qi...though Toushikyo would be hard pressed to tell, as rather than draw it to his person it kept just away from the tower...and subsequently the mist.

Toushikyo swung hard, but Eld rolled under it and away, by Toushikyo's side. The Memory followed up by continuing the motion: turning toward Eld as he neared completion of his roll and continuing his swing in that direction. Inevitably, their blades met, but Toushikyo carried his swing like a parry, and would rather easily knock Eld's weapon up, somewhere towards the air. Having just come to a rolling stop before attacking, Eld was unlikely to be on his best footing, and his attack would be fairly easy to knock away. Without even a second thought, Toushikyo would follow through with a forward step and another swing for Eld, particularly strong if Eld was thrown off guard by the parry, and the accompaniment of Toushikyo's parry:

The arena began to shake again. If Eld was at all off balance when Toushikyo parried his strike, he'd be thrown off even more by this, and if he wasn't careful, susceptible to being cut down on the spot . . .

With his blade thrown into the air and being slightly off-step from Toushikyo's parry, clashing attacks wasn't really an option. Rather than parry the counterattack he leaped into the air with the momentum of his blade, backflipping over the attack, and lashing out with Kageko as he was upside down in mid-air, hopefully catching Toushikyo off guard as he'd seemed to have put a lot of force into the attack.

Whether or not the attack was successful, he'd land a couple of feet back, ready for the next wave of attacks--he had little doubt Toushikyo wouldn't be letting up now. Of course, if the ground was shaking still when he landed he'd at a bit of a disadvantage.

Outside the tower, air began to circulate--he intended his Qi to be a failsafe against the tower collapsing, but if worse came to worse he might need to use it sooner than that.

Toushikyo stepped back and to the side, to face his profile to Eld, just a fraction of a second before Eld swung his scythe at Toushikyo's face. Eld barely missed him by a centimeter, and landed many a foot away--but unfortunately for him, the arena was still shaking. This time, however, it didn't seem to be damaging the while integrity of the structure, only causing a massive rumble that would have threatened to knock anyone off their feet other than Toushikyo himself. Eld would again be at the disadvantage, and immediately after landing, at that.

And indeed, Toushikyo did not let up, but not in the manner that Eld might have expected. His promptness of attacking was quick and almost just as Eld landed, but the method differed tremendously:

B-below!

This time, Eld was not facing against a blunt sheet of ice rising from the arena floor. This time, the sheet was jagged and edged; it would spear up with haste, and with a terrifying edge to it, attempt to spear through Eld from right below his feet.

The ground under his feet was rocking as he landed; he stumbled back, an accidental movement that quickly turned into an intentional one following Kageko's warning. He, too, could sense it--though no doubt not as clearly as she could. He caught himself as best as he could as a wide, jagged blade of ice rose up in front of him.

He didn't have time to question his instincts, or where they came from. But he knew what he had to do in a situation like this, where his opponent could attack from beneath his feet if he wished: get airborne, and stay in the air as much as possible.

His weapon jabbed forward into the ice as it rose in front of him--and, lurching from the sudden movement, he jumped with it, using the momentum to increase the height of his jump and pulling the blade out from it as he passed it. Unfortunately the ice attack didn't extend out of the ground high enough for him to get truly massive height out of it, but it would have to do.

Toushikyo was getting more aggressive with his power use, and Eld could no longer afford to leave his own in reserve if he wanted to keep up. From all around the tower small eddies of wind would converge on his position, buffeting him to keep himself airborne longer.

It would possibly have a secondary effect as well--if Toushikyo's senses were like Eld's, they'd be overwhelmed if he continued to try and read his movements through the mist, as it would be swirling about his person rapidly and randomly.

It was all a rush, a split second action that had Eld airborne, and depending upon pre-gathered Qi to keep himself afloat. The wind carried the mist quickly. It spread it all about him, and Toushikyo, still standing in place below, seemed to shut his eyes and take in a breath.

Then, suddenly, Kageko realized that she'd made a huge mistake. Insisting that Eld jump was the worst idea she could've possibly come to. In her dark world, she parted her lips to shout for him, to tell him to ground himself as quickly as possible, but she never got the chance.

Before she knew it, she was in pain. She was lurching to the side and hitting ground with unnecessary force. Before Eld knew it, he might be, too--except touching the arena floor would be little more than an act of mercy, one not quite allotted to him. It all began when a rush of wind passed his face, and in all the chaos and confusion of a flurry of wind and mist, there was an expulsion of power. Energy. Compressed air. Mist carried on wind and drawn and empowered by natural and unnatural forces both--so suddenly, by Eld's face, and all too instant for his senses to pick it up before it was too late. It would take the appearance of a shockwave, hazy azure mist spreading out in a sudden and unprecedented wave, with concussive force by default, and only strengthened by the inclusion of Eld's own power.

In the air, there was no friction, no active forces keeping Eld airborne, and a blow to the head would no doubt calm the winds and propel him to the arena floor with excessive quickness--or, rather than the arena floor, another expulsion of densely collected mist, one to propel him back into the air all over again . . .

The blow to the head came unexpectedly; he was watching below, waiting for Toushikyo to attempt to launch more ice at him--he underestimated just how hard the misty air could move under his power.

Eld was sent reeling towards the ground, his concentration momentarily lost. If it was simply wind he was wielding it would have disappeared entirely, but what it really was was Qi, which took longer to trickle back into Purgatory once gathered.

Not that it helped him at the moment; just before he hit the ground another blast caught him, sending him skyward and knocking the air out his lungs. He instinctively covered his head with hands--he was disoriented, but if he could prevent further brain-rattling blows perhaps he could figure out a way out of this...

There was another, one specifically for his stomach as he sped high into the air. It'd function to knock the air out of him yet again, though this time to knock him back. He wouldn't rocket for the ground, but sharply to the left. He'd fly back first, directly into another shockwave of power. It'd hit him in the lower back and set him on a diagonal course for the arena, where he'd be hit full force in the shoulder, lurched ahead, and struck in the other shoulder.

They came as snaps, loud noises that would pop the victim's ears and make the unfortunate soul feel as if he was being snapped in ricochet at terribly high speeds, with little more fight to present than a rag doll.

Beyond the ringing in his ears, he'd hear Kageko, close as she was, letting out a cry each time Eld was struck. The blows would ultimately hurt Eld; they'd knock the wind out of him and batter and bruise his body, but that was nothing compared to what Kageko was experiencing. She received almost the full force of the blows, and in reality, they were genuinely crushing. The first broke her jaw. The second shattered ribs. The third took out the rest of the bottom row. The fourth could make her legs stop working. The fifth could break her shoulder. The sixth the other shoulder.

The combination itself was endless. Toushikyo could keep it up until Kageko was temporarily out of commission and Eld was left to the full force of the attacks--and then, inevitably killed, or perhaps beaten to the point that he could fight to keep the scythe no longer.

He'd no genuine intentions of stopping. No sense of mercy to account for. Such a feeling was far from the limited repertoire his heart allowed him.

In the back of his mind, Eld knew something was wrong. Kageko should have been experiencing what he did, but the way she screaming made it sound much worse, even taking into account that she didn't have nearly as much tolerance for pain as he did. But that was something he could not afford to give conscious thought for now--indeed, once his mind was working again, he could reach for a way out.

Three, four, five times he was tossed around like a ragdoll; but no more blows came to his head, and even as gasped through the pain he reached for the traces of his power that still remained in the air.

There. He could feel the next one, the sixth one, sensing the disturbance of the air through his Qi rather than Kageko's senses, made possible by the fact that the Qi brought by his eddies were still scattered into the air.

Just as Toushikyo was clearly capable of learning from Eld, going as far as to imitate some of Eld's own abilities with his powers, so was the reverse true. When the sixth shockwave went off, Eld unleashed a blast of Qi at it--and the two blasts canceled out, just as they had earlier.

And so he'd continue to do to any further that tried to assault him--all the while dropping in a controlled if heavy fall back to the ground, so he could once more have some stable footing.

In the dark world, Kageko lay upon the surface darkness, one hand stretched out, the only hand she could get to work anymore. She didn't know anymore the difference between blood and tears upon her face. It felt as if the skin was torn about her ear and the side of her face, and if Eld were to gain the ability to look at her, he'd find her familiar from only the right side. The left side, however, was marred and gashed beyond recognition. She couldn't open her left eye anymore. She couldn't move that side of her jaw. Her cheekbone felt flat.

With arm outstretched, she tried to pull herself forward. The most she could do was let out the smallest of whines. She was barely able to whisper a man's name and ask him why, and it all came out as scarcely controlled whimpers. But still, Kageko tried. Her legs refused to work and so did her right arm, but she pulled with her left with every ounce of willpower she could muster.

But she soon let out a low grunt and began to cry--to sink into pained sobs, with willpower virtually stripped away from her--as Eld would receive a sudden and unexpected boot into his gut. The expulsions continued rapidly until a pattern was present, long after Eld barely had any of Kageko's senses left, and in the midst of it, when Eld was most distracted, Toushikyo thew himself into the air, to meet Eld when he was most preoccupied, and sink his foot into the young man's stomach with all intent to throw him down into the icy floor below.

It was a strong one, one capable of grounding Eld instantly--and for Kageko, inflicting a pain that would carry the same feeling of her lower digestive system liquefying itself.