Cool air blows as Arsenio and Isabelle look through the empty graves for the soul piece.
Behind them, the actual Timebreaker, the Spirit of Gaialliard the Stoneheart.
Kenzo notices him forming, just as he's about to attack the two.
"Isabelle! Arsenio! Move out of the way!"
Isabelle and Arsenio are able to jump away, but Isabelle still gets hit by the attack as she moves, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Izzy!"
Isabelle slowly regained her balance as she held on to an adjacent grave. Dawlly used it's thread to help.
"Are you okay?" Dawlly asks. "It's not bad, is it?"
"He didn't hurt me... it's j-just a flesh wound..." Isabelle answers, sternly looking at the spirit in front of her. She then whistles, calling her companion Claude.
"I-If...I'm going to fight...we're fighting fair.."
She climbs atop her own mount with scissors in hand.
"Surely we could c-come to an agreement that way.."
The knight obliges, waiting for Isabelle to ready herself.
She dusts herself off, and the champion charges. Isabelle shoots threads in his direction, trying to slow him down for an advantage.
The Timebreaker, however, easily dodges the trap, cutting them with his large blade. The spirit is not only agile, but strong as well.
"I see you're not that afraid of me."
"O-Of course not."
Isabelle quickly starts aiming the scissors again, hoping to slash the armor if only a little.
The little bit of the rusted armor she was able to get through created a large gash that covered the entire arm.
"That will be the only time. Cherish it."
Isabelle tells Claude to stay still as she prepares her next move.
"D-do I move left...or right?"
She has to think before Gaialliard strikes again. She tries to gauge the distance to him, then notices the weapon in his left hand. Isabelle runs to the right. Gaialliard goes to the left, missing her.
"Damned child..."
Isabelle just smiles tauntingly as she goes around him.
"You cannot dodge me forever."
"I'll get that soul piece... if I have to."
"You'll be dead before you can find it."
Gaialliard attacks again, slicing the side of Isabelle's arm, as well as the sleeve of her dress. Isabelle uses the distraction to slip inside the knight's guard.
She strikes again, and this time, succeeds in slashing the rusted chestplate.
"Isabelle..." Kenzo whispers.
"She's running rings around this guy.." Arsenio says.
Dawlly notices Isabelle going for the armor, and, using thread, temporarily blinds Gaialliard so she can deal more damage. Isabelle tries aiming for the helmet.
She lightly scratches it, but not before she loses balance and is about to fall. Isabelle, sliding off of Claude's back, uses thread to try and catch herself and hold on. The knight takes this chance to turn this around, and attacks, causing her to dodge out of the way. Isabelle falls to the ground, and pain hits her.
"You're alright Isabelle, just get back up!"
Claude grabbed Isabelle and continues running as she recovers from the fall. She climbs up the decaid's neck and pulls out her scissors once more. The fight continues.
Arsenio and Kenzo have been trying to help her since the fight began. Kenzo, using his chains, tries slowing the stallion down when he feels it's too close to Isabelle, grabbing ahold of the animal's legs. Arsenio aims for the knight's weak points, so that Isabelle can hit openings when it's necessary. Dawlly, though not as powerful as he is, is still able to put up a good fight and make the stallion stop while keeping the Timebreaker busy and dodging the attacks.
"Do you think you're going to defeat me?"
"Claude is more agile t-than that horse...of course I'm going to win..."
The Timebreaker swings his sword and points it at Isabelle.
"This will be the last move you make. One last attack, winner takes all."
Isabelle nods and readies her scissors. "Okay..."
The two animals slowly move, before they begin increasing speed.
With one last attack, the two pass each other and...
...Spirit of Gaialliard falls to the ground.
Isabelle's scissors cut an even larger gash into the rusted chestplate, before the horse flies off into the graveyard. The Timebreaker begins scattering away as Arsenio and Isabelle come to help her.
"Isabelle, that was awesome!" Arsenio exclaims. "Didn't even know you could fight like that!"
"You shouldn't be happy for me, but for Claude. H-He's the one who helped me during the last attack.."
"Huh? But how?"
"Well, before I attacked, Claude used a strange ability to slow d-down time, and I used that to attack before the k-knight could..."
She pets Claude. "I really owe it all to him."
"Well, if you say so.." Kenzo says. "Good job Claude, I guess.."
"Prodigies..." Verna calls again. "The soul piece..."
"Oh yeah, go ahead Isabelle."
"Oh...o-okay then..."
Isabelle takes the piece, where it slips into her clock.
"That's two..." Arsenio counts. "And you said there was five of them, right?"
"That's right."
"Then we should get Nate and hurry back to the cabin."
"I'll go get him." Kenzo says, before flying off.
Isabelle sits down on a gravestone and tries to catch her breath. When she sees Claude sitting next to her, licking at his wounds, she jumps down to check on him.
"Oh no, Claude! A-Are you okay?"
The decaid just continues to lick his injuries.
"I'm sorry... I didn't want you to get hurt.."
She pets him again.
''Alright, I'm back." Kenzo says, with Nathaniel still asleep on his back. "... He's kinda heavy though.."
"...Well, you go ahead and take him, we'll follow behind."
Kenzo gives them a thumbs up, and floats above them to the cabin.
Isabelle mounts Claude once again, and they begin a slow and steady pace back to the cabin.
***
When they return, Kenzo and Nathaniel are having conversation on the floor while they eat.
"... Welcome back, you two." Kenzo says.
"Hey..."
"Would you two like something to eat?"
"Yeah, we'll have what you guys are having.."
Isabelle nods, sitting on the floor.
Kenzo sets two bowls in front of them, before filling them with soup.
"D-Did Ezra make this?" Isabelle asks.
"Mhm. Just before falling asleep."
"I thought so..."
They continue eating, before Nathaniel stands up and leaves to the alchemic half of the house.
After finishing, they all follow.
Catherine was still in a deep sleep, but there was something... different about her.
Kenzo, Nathaniel, Arsenio and Isabelle enter the alchemic laboratory, where they find Eran working on papers in the desk in the corner.
"Eran?" Kenzo says. "Is Catherine okay?"
"Yes... increasingly so. It started with a slight twitch of her fingers. After I caught this amazing discovery, I see one of her eyes...if only a little...set itself a bit wider.."
Nathaniel and the others watch as Eran looks at the data once again.
Eran begins tapping his fingers on the desk. "...Her Tempural Energy has spiked tenfold..."
Isabelle looks worried. "T-that's good though, isn't it?"
"...It's dangerous. Should could become...feral so to speak...a being too powerful to control..."
Arsenio looks up at Catherine. "This...could be bad.."
Eran lets out a heavy sigh, and puts his face in his hands. "...She's been quite stable.. up until today.."
"Well, is there anything else?" Arsenio says.
"Well..."
Eran looks at Nathaniel and the others.
"What are we supposed to do about it? If it keeps progressing at this rate, she might have trouble controlling her..."
"That is why I am going to attempt to... remove her from the orb before they are able to fully fuse together. The venom should have been drained from her body by now...so it should be easy..."
"...Then let us proceed."
"...As you wish."
Eran slowly pulls Catherine out, before dropping her too suddenly.
"Eran? What's wrong?"
"...It is...nothing... nothing at all."
"Why such the sudden drop?"
"Her...Tempural Energy just...startled me a bit. I am fine.."
He sets Catherine aside, allowing them to observe her more closely. "Try not to wake her..."
The Prodigies stand over her, and notice multiple things that weren't there before.
"...Are those...horns?" Kenzo asks with concern.
"Eran d-did say they were becoming one... maybe that was both spiritually a-and physically..."
Isabelle takes one of Catherine's hands.
"Hopefully they're doing o-okay in there.."
"It is better if we just wait, but you can give her some company until she wakes.."
"I will...you boys g-go ahead..."
Nathaniel, Arsenio and Kenzo all decide to leave for the rest of the night, while Isabelle sits in the alchemy lab with Catherine.
Eran turns before he leaves as well. "I will return to check on her every other hour."
Isabelle nods quietly, then looks at Catherine with a hopeful, yet solemn look.
***
Later into the night, Eran comes in to make his final check up, only to find Isabelle laying on the observing table instead and Catherine nowhere to be found.
Eran runs to Isabelle and shakes her awake.
"H-Hmm?"
"Catherine. Where is she?"
"C-Catherine? I thought she was..."
Isabelle finally sees the issue.
"Catherine! She must've w-woken up while I was sleeping!"
Dawlly rushes in, trying to calm her nerves.
"It's okay Izzy, it's not your fault..."
"What could she possibly be doing up? It was as quiet as a mouse when I came in two hours ago.."
He turns to Isabelle as she gets off the table.
"Please, Isabelle. Do you remember anything before you fell asleep?"
"Uhm..."
They hear a crash from the cabin. Isabelle immediately runs to that part of the house, calling for Catherine as she does.
"A-Arsenio! Kenzo! Is everything okay?!"
As she enters the room, she sees no Catherine, and everyone half awake.
"H-Huh?"
Kenzo slowly picks up the pieces of a flowerpot.
"...Ah, I'm sorry...I bumped into the table and knocked it over..." He scratches the back of his head.
"That's not the problem! Catherine's gone missing!"
"Gone...missing?" Nathaniel says as he stands up. "You mean, she disappeared?"
"I thought she came in to attack you!"
Nathaniel shakes his head. "We only woke up after Kenzo turned over the flowers."
"She could be anywhere. Catherine's abilities far exceed her more human counterpart. Look anywhere for portal-like objects, but do not enter them." Eran commanded.
The Prodigies nod and begin to search.
Isabelle runs back into the lab, looking for any hint of Catherine's presence.
"Catherine?" She says as she looks around the room.
No answer.
Isabelle sits back down on the table.
Suddenly, she hears the faint sound of a something entering something of mystic properties...
"C-Catherine? Is that you?"
She looks around the room again, trying not to show her fear.
Finally, she spots something in the corner of the room.
"Is that you?!"
Isabelle starts shaking as she gets up.
"Come out!"
No answer.
Isabelle runs to the corner of the room.
"C-Come out!"
Nothing.
Isabelle takes a deep breath.
She moves to the next corner, and looks around, not finding anything, but hearing the sound come closer. Isabelle steps closer to the corner, hiding her body behind a half wall.
Isabelle sees cyan light glimmering in every corner of her eye. She huddled closer to the wall in the hopes that whatever this was would leave her alone...but it didn't.
Something pulls her closer to the wall, so much so that she...falls through...
She screams and tries to get away.
"Help! H-Help!"
Someone only puts a hand over Isabelle's mouth. "I won't hurt you if you answer this question."
Isabelle nods frantically.
"Nathaniel...where is he?"
She starts pointing out of the entrance they just went in, then starts trying to escape the hand's grasp, but it pulls back even stronger.
"Don't struggle. You're going to take me to-"
Isabelle quickly grabs her scissors and stabs the assailant's arm, then runs away before she could turn around and see their face. Running straight into Arsenio's arms as he walks in, she tries to explain everything in shaky, fast paced breaths.
"Where'd you come from? You weren't in the room when I came in.."
"S-Someone pulled me into o-one of those... t-things!"
"Okay okay, let's calm down, Belle. Did you see what they looked like?"
"No, I used my scissors to e-escape and ran b-before I c-could see anything!"
Metal clatters to the ground as the assailant also removes themselves from the portal. A cloak covered their face, but sharp nails ended their hands as they wipe their wound away.
"You didn't have to use the scissors..."
Arsenio activates his Gift, taking a few shots at the person in front of them, but with a single finger, a portal appears, and a few seconds later, another pointed straight at them.
Arsenio pushes Isabelle away from the blasts as the second half of his ability activates for the first time.
Holographic shields block the attack from damage.
"... Alright, cool."
The figure runs from the scene, presumably looking for Nathaniel.
"Hey!" Arsenio yells. "...Where the hell are they going now?"
"N-Nathaniel! He's in trouble!"
She runs off to help Nathaniel, but by the time she makes it to the cabin, a struggle had already begun between the two.
Nathaniel was easily overwhelmed, even when he puts on his full armor to block attacks.
When they have him pinned, they do something unpredictable.
They poke Nathaniel's nose playfully. "Boop."
Removing the cloak's hood, the attacker is none other than...
"Catherine?!"
"Hah! I gotcha, didn't I?" she laughed.
Eran stands up, confused. "You were not controlled by the dragon? How?"
"Oh, me and Piravit are friends! I let her stay a long time ago and we've been working together ever since!"
"Catherine, n-never do that a-again! You could've gotten s-seriously hurt!"
"Alright, alright...you guys should really lighten up... I mean, I'm back, but better! "
"Yeah but you look so... different.." Kenzo says pointing at her.
"Do I really?"
She takes off the rest of her cloak, revealing armor and furs of various animals. Behind her, a draconic tail swayed from side to side and the small horns were now curled up, and over her head. Instead of her usual brown eyes, they were now as cyan as the energy she was using.
"Also, nice white streaks, Nate. Did you find out about hair dye or were you really that stressed out?"
"Huh?" Arsenio exclaims. "... Holy crap."
Isabelle takes Nathaniel to a mirror, and in his usually chestnut hair was a large white streak.
"It seems Nathaniel is finally becoming a Timekeeper.."
"Right, Verna also had white hair, didn't she?"
"Every Timekeeper does." Eran sighs. "You should give your Prodigy clock to someone else."
"...I already have."
"Really? To who?"
"That's right, Tal."
"Then it maybe time to go find them before you go on your next hunt for the soul pieces."
"I'll go get her..." Catherine says, taking a Time Warp to the time of 2022.
***
"Tal!"
Talia screams as she wakes up. "C-Catherine!"
"...What?"
"Your... everything! What happened?!"
"Well, I don't really remember. I just remembered waking up, and I was a human-dragon hybrid with powers over space."
Talia sits up, looking to see if her friend's new appearance was just a figment of her imagination.
"Holy crap! Your eyes are blue! And you've got long hair and...horns?!"
"Tal, be quiet, there's other people on the other side of these walls.."
"Oh, yeah.." Talia said, hopping up. "...What is it?"
"...I need you to come with me."
"Where?"
"Nathaniel's starting to show signs of Timekeeper and he needs a... replacement. You've got his watch, so..."
"...What does that mean?"
"Talia, we're basically recruiting you to become a Prodigy. We need as much help as we can get."
"I-I can't be a Prodigy!" Talia cried. "Who's gonna keep talking to your brother while I'm gone?!"
"M-my brother?"
Catherine's blood had run cold, and she fiercely gripped Talia's shoulders.
"How much did you tell him?!"
"N-Nothing! I've been... lying to him."
"You've been lying to my brother?!"
"I know, but I had to! You weren't there when he asked! I had to make some sort of excuse!"
"...Listen Tal....Put on the clock, and let's go. Right now."
Talia swiftly throws on Nathaniel's Prodigy watch as Catherine opens the warp once again.
***
"I've got her, what's next?"
Nathaniel was sit in a chair, seemingly gasping for air.
"Hey, what the hell happened?!" Catherine asked in concern.
"Nathaniel is...having a rough time adjusting to the sudden surge in energy. Most of the Timekeepers can handle it, but I guess when you've overexerted all of your Tempural Energy...all at once...it has some drawbacks..." Eran explains.
Talia swiftly runs towards him, checking to see if he was okay...
"Nathaniel! Are you okay?!"
"Y-Yes..." he muttered. "I have just... never felt this spike in energy before..."
More of his hair became a ghostly white.
"We have to let him rest... he hasn't been sleeping lately. If that last fight was difficult for him, the change won't be easy on him either..." Kenzo declared.
"Yes... letting him sleep until the process is finished will be... the best decision.."
"I am...fine.." Nathaniel muttered as he stood. "I-"
He winces again.
"It is a...sickening feeling.."
Isabelle forced him to take a seat. "...If you're sick, you don't have to get up..."
Isabelle drapes a blanket over his chest snuggly.
"We need someone to look a-after him..."
"Well, since Talia doesn't have her Gift yet, she can do it." Catherine suggested, before turning to her friend. "But that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want either."
Talia nods.
"Good. Now that we've established that... I'm headed to bed.."
Catherine enters the Phasing Dimension for the night.
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Catherine lands in the dimension with silence.
"...Catherine?"
"Hey...Chrono..."
Chrono closes his book. "What happened to you?"
Catherine shrugs. "Just woke up like this. Feeling a lot stronger than before. And I'm... hungry... really hungry..."
"How long has it been since you've eaten?"
"...I dunno..."
Chrono immediately stands up, with the Time Beast floating not far behind him.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHokXFVTHk
"I'm going to get you something. Anything works, yes?"
Catherine nods.
He leaves, and a few minutes, he comes back with a full plate of food to share. It's delicious, and she's scarfed down her half before he could even blink. She smiles with content.
"Thanks..."
She grabs her blanket. "... I'm heading to sleep...I have to meet up with Nathaniel, make sure he's okay and all that."
Chrono opens his book again. "Have a good night."
"Yeah. You too..."
To be continued in Prodigy: Casters of Time: Chapter 11
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