Yards away from where the cliff met the valley, Erika pulled on a pair of thick gloves and ran at the cliff wall, bouncing off the wall with one foot and gripping the narrow grip, following it over the edge and into a little inlet, which slid open to reveal her grinning brother.
"Ready to go finish off that vamp?" he inquired, to which she nodded, "Maybe we'll find the witch who did this to you, wouldn't that be a sweet bonus?"
She nodded again before finding the cloak the ghost dropped in her pocket space, and offering it to her brother, who took it to a table scattered with instruments of different types, including a microscope, which studied the fabric of, "Well, that's odd, I thought as much from the texture, but the bolt pattern is similar to the one of a famous seamstress in the Camelot Highlands, she's legendary for having knitted pure mythril for a dragon slaying clan."
She sent him a mute thought, nodded her head to aim it at the only one who could interpret them, and he thought for merely a moment, "That's true, she belonged to that clan as their armorer, but even her armory didn't have what was required to keep them alive: Divine protection. They believed they were up against a small nest of dragons; as she said, they were orange speckled eggs, but they didn't think to seek the green swirl pattern at the bottom, and so they believed they were a breed known as the Topaz Armorers, so named because they molted full armor in Autumn, they also left fangs behind, but they weren't the type to breath fire, and left their body armor up in the cliffs, in the sunset they through off a dazzling orange light.
"They're what the warriors thought they were dealing with on that late summer evening, as they shattered the dragon eggs, but they were halting a full generation of Orange Razorbacks, a dragon that takes abandoned nests and adopts any remaining dragon eggs if they have to...create vacancies, commanding the young dragons until death. The shells, scales, and habitat are similar, but instead of molting full armor, they drop their scales and fangs individually, she said she noticed stray scales and fangs, but their client specified breed and they were certain beforehand that they were about to smash Topaz Armor eggs the parents of which were up above, molting, giving them a full day to complete the mission."
She nodded at him and he agreed, "They were crushed from above and burned, from them we can be certain of this: Even the mighty fall to the simplest foe, no matter how aptly prepared, if you don't know all you can, you fail...yes, that's right, we investigate our foes for that one purpose...fortunately we don't need any help fighting, investigating, hunting, or our numbers would be much to small....instead we hunt in streets, arrange contacts for any assistance, or reserve rooms to stage a battlefield."
Erika silently agreed and sat down while her brother began work on tracking down the vampire who had escaped them last night, he nodded at the small lump of covers that acted as her bed, grateful that, at least, she didn't have to sit in a chair all the time.
She woke up later that day to find him slamming the desk that his research materials lay upon, hissing lowly, until she interrupted him with her inquiring mind, "Ah, Erika, good, you're up!" he ran up to her and handed her a silver sword, "It's out of the blue, but you're going after a certain vampire, no knives, this time, too many enemies for that, you'll need to drive this through his chest--yes, Arthur! Now, you'll disguise yourself as a knight, and slay him in the streets before he reaches the Avalon Caverns, there rests the crown of an ancient king, said to grant the wearer great prowess in battle...he will have subjects following him with varying abilities, after killing him, you will want to find and eliminate the others...this shouldn't be very difficult once Arthur is dead."
She nodded and accepted the sword, then went to her locker to collect her gear, taking everything within and stuffing it into a bag that she absorbed into her space pocket, then turned to leave again, with a wave to her preoccupied brother, who raised his eyes to meet hers before nodding and waving.
She hiked up a mountain path and down to the hills that held Venice, a city with many canals as most cities had trains and roads, she didn't know how her brother narrowed down the location of the Avalon Caves, but she was glad for it, the sooner she slew Arthur, the sooner the world could be that much safer.
She went to her hotel room, and found knight's armor there, just as her brother promised, and pulled the sturdy material over her clothes, donned her helmet and stepped into the boots, then set out again.
She pretended to patrol the stone bridge leading to the city, watching the hills below, where she expected Arthur would be heading. Her blade was mostly out of it's sheath, the coat she wore hid the exposed edge, she only waited for him to pass, and she'd sheath the blade so it cut his skin, the silver would be enough to cripple his powers so she could finish him off.
Suddenly she caught a glimpse of him in the corner of her eye, and turned to her left, sheathing her blade and just as swiftly withdrew it again, and impaled the vampire, pulling his head back so she could see the fangs, just as much so he didn't try to feed off her and restore his strength, as much as she wanted to confirm that the blonde was indeed Arthur.
"Ha...knew I should have put on more dye," Arthur laughed dryly, bloody spit hitting her armor as he lifted himself off the weapon, "my hair...just can't stay dyed for long...much like...me."
Erika stepped back as he fell, and turned to the hills below, marching down until she saw the cave, where Arthur's men would surely be waiting for him.
She defeated several zombies and skeletal warriors along the path to the depths of the cave, sword drawn and ready even before she saw the silhouette of a man bathed in gold light. Erika charged him before her eyes adjusted to the light and plunged her blade into his chest, head braced against his shoulder before she looked up at him, glaring until her face fell and she stumbled back.
"You...mute little brat!" her brother screeched through clenched teeth, "You thoughtless little brat! Couldn't you have knocked first?!"
She watched in horror as he fell to the ground, raining blood with every cough. She knelt before him and grasped the hilt, but her clutched her wrist, growling as he rose and threw her into the wall that he'd been facing.
"What were you going to do, huh? Yank it out of my chest? Think that'll work?" he spat, clenching his fist before a laugh interrupted him.
"Ah, well played, James, well played." the two watched in astonishment as Arthur stepped into the room, knights behind him, "Outdone by your own sister! I knew the day would come when you finally slip up, but this badly?! Oh...but she is strong...I lost a lot of blood, so you can only imagine my thirst."
"You!" James roared, striking Erika across the temple.
"No, no, you misunderstand, foolish little Jimmy, your sister wounded me, alright," Arthur informed calmly, "with a mythril sword, my little minion saw your little minion in the armory, and handed him a 'silver' blade. Hah, poor fool's like your sister, can't tell mythril from silver...you, on the hand, if only you'd handled affairs yourself, the outcome may have been different."
James' glare turned into a bloodthirsty grin as he stepped towards Arthur, radiant light in his right hand, "Fine, vamp, we'll end it here!"
"No," Arthur stepped back and declined, "we both know that won't kill you, so I must decline, until I can ascertain your demise, I may not depart from this world, and I dare not face you without Lance, wizard."
"Ha...ha, ha, ha, ah...you have a say in the matter?" James inquired, acting surprised, "We'll see about that!"
Arthur grinned at the wizard and closed his eyes, leaping over the mage as he cast his spell, striking the phantom that suddenly appeared between Arthur and James, and delivered a heavy strike to his skull with the pommel of his sword, rolling forward in anticipation of a retaliatory strike from the upset spell caster, "Yes, I do believe I have some say in the matter!"
James stepped out from between the ghost and vampire, and smiled at his sister, "Help me cleanse the world of these foul beings!"
Erika hesitantly sat up from the surface she'd fallen on, and stared at the three fighters before turning to a sword in a corner, and turned back to them again.
"Yes, aid me in crushing these worms!" James entreated.
Erika gritted her teeth as she watched them, and her brother frowned bitterly. She nodded and approached the weapon slowly, now mistrustful of her brother and uncertain of her own fate.
She grasped the golden handle and tugged at it, the thing barely budged. Erika turned and found her brother gesturing for her to hurry, and she tried again, wondering if she shouldn't turn on James, wondering how she felt about him, if he had been lying the entire time, everything about him seemed uncharacteristic.
Erika continued to pull and tug until, with a bright glow--which was followed by three cries of discomfort--poured out from the sword's previous resting place, a marble pedestal with gold letters etched into it. She started to read when her brother ordered her to his side, and turned to find him pulling the mythril blade from his chest.
"Let's finish this! We'll kill the vampire, and then banish the ghost." James watched her closely as she watched Arthur, she glanced to the sword before looking up to the vampire, and he smiled at her.
"You wouldn't fight with your brother, would you? All this time this was his plan-"
"Enough!" James roared.
"-to steal the Crown of Avalon!" Arthur yelled above James' shouts and demands to be silent, chasing the vampire's steps in hopes of catching him, "and use it to obtain great power, he never told you, he even struck you...tell me, how did he end up with that uncomfortable impalement?" Arthur narrowed his gaze, "You thought he wouldn't be here...who were you expecting?"
"Stay out of this, Arthur." James warned.
"This is a desperate plea." Arthur continued, "young lady, I wish only to inform you that I have no foul designs for that crown, I beg you to consider that maybe I'm not in the wrong here."
Erika closed her eyes, thinking hard about her choice, unable to speak her thoughts on the matter, she remembered what her brother had said after she stabbed him, it was as though he became a monster, she needed James to be right, just as always, but he was never harsh with her before now, she didn't want to think she'd been wrong until now, but she didn't know anything else, having grown up an orphan, watched over by her brother, trained and loyal to her brother, it distressed her to tears, a sharp, dead feeling settled somewhere between her heart and her stomach as she wept.
Suddenly the physical twin of her emotions pulled her from her thoughts, and she found Arthur behind someone's shoulder, watching her sadly. She glanced down to make sure that she was, indeed, bleeding out and not just imagining it. She looked up, pleading her brother for some explanation.
"Fatal mistake, thinking in my presence." James hissed. She nodded before falling on her back, her armor stained red with rivulets of blood, eyes falling close as a sudden fatigue swept over her.
"Now who's the monster?!" Arthur yelled, his voice muffled by the barrier James set up.
"You don't know what you're talking about, vampire." Erika felt her fingers curl away from her palm, heard the sword slide onto the floor, a brief scrape before her brother removed it from the floor, and the clash of the sword against a shield.
Suddenly the ground shook and the battle ceased, her fingers found cracks growing along the floor, water poured out from them, the walls fell in and filled the otherwise silent room with gushing water. She heard heavy splashes as the ceiling fell, something landed on her and slid off her. Erika slowly opened her eyes before closing them again, her last vision a starry sky.
Her eyes fluttered open as the sound of coughing reached her ears, and she found a soaked, blonde vampire grinning at her, a ghost next to him, "Well, this was a pleasant near death experience for us both." Arthur scoffed, "Let's not do this again, deal?"
Erika glared at him, lips pulled back in a heavy scowl.
"Now, now, don't blame me for this," Arthur backed up on the pile of gold behind him and coughed thickly, "after all, this water is blessed by the Lake Goddess, it's deadly to me, a being cursed by the darkness to dwell apart from the light, even now my body is burning, I do believe I'll melt if don't feed soon. Ah, ha, ha, that look on your face--priceless!"
Erika felt her armor, the cut the sword made in it sliced her finger.
"Don't worry, just dip your finger in the water and you'll heal up, it's why you didn't bleed out to begin with." Arthur stood up slowly and sighed, "Good thing you deactivated the goddess's seal before you lost too much blood, but still, be careful not to faint and drown--hey! What did I just tell you?!" Arthur screamed at her, "I can't risk my life to save you...and yet, if you don't act fast, I'm dead in the water anyways...I need you to find the sword, your brother dropped it near the entrance, it glowed brightly and he screamed like a girl--no offense, I was just surprised he had such a vocal range."
Erika watched him silently, bitter towards whatever silenced her, otherwise she would have learned why she should help Arthur, and yet, she felt as though she wouldn't ask him anything, merely stare before floating on her back, off to retrieve the sword for her enemy.
"Careful not to cut yourself," a raspy voice warned, "that blade will hurt for hours after. 'That explains the burning sensation where James stabbed me', you may think to yourself."
"She does seem mute, huh?" Arthur remarked, "We can ask her if she can write later."
Erika felt around the floor and found the blade, followed it down to the hilt before holding it upright and swimming backwards to the two companions. She remembered when her brother learned to swim, he passed the lesson onto her so she could do the field work, the more she thought of it, the more she seemed like a puppet all this time.
She held the blade up and awaited further instruction, "Do you see a faint blue glow in the water, or is that my memory and imagination running wild? If you see it, cast the blade into the water."
She nodded and rose, tossed the blade as Arthur advised and waited, the glow grew stronger until a hand clothed in white emerged with the blade held just above the surface, the blade seemed to glow brighter, and as she studied it from afar, she found that the hilt was now bejeweled. The hand lowered and raised quickly again, tossing the blade above the ceiling.
Erika jumped as the blade came back down with a sharp whistle as it sailed down into the pedestal, the impact tossed coins, rings, and necklaces from the surface, leaving the marble square completely exposed, though the sides soon fell off to reveal an ebony block.
"Now, now, Aquas, no need to be shy," Arthur soothed, "this one is like us."
The forearm reached forward until a phantom winged woman dressed in white emerged from the water, and turned to behold the trio, scrutinizing Erika and sighing as she turned to Arthur, "From her distance I would say, Arthur, that it was by this one's hand the blade went under...tell me I'm mistaken."
"No mistake, Your Grace." Arthur bowed, a smirk stuck to his face, "She is the Inheritor."
"The...no, no," Aquas shook her ghostly blue hair in denial, "you, Arthur, are the only one worthy-"
"Yet she drew the blade, and cast it under." Arthur laughed.
"You are the Heir of Avalon, though." Aquas pointed out.
"A King isn't determined by his blade," Arthur snorted, "but judged by it, my old steel deemed me worthy before to where the Crown of Avalon, and so I shall, as soon as we get it back from that mage."
Alarm crossed Erika's face an the goddess approached her, "Don't worry, Inheritor, he will not abuse the Crown, for the blade followed him, his thoughts in every moment where he wielded the blade he has been judged, and deemed worthy to wear the Crown, he is fundamentally incapable of abusing that sacred power, too afraid to transgress his code, bring harm upon the people, or take the first step onto the dark path of conquering the world, too afraid of the monster he'd become."
"One moment, milord, milady," the ghost breathed, "she struggled to draw Excalibur the first time, how shall she draw it once more any quicker, quick enough to save Arthur from the sacred water on his cursed flesh?"
"Because," Arthur chuckled, "she has seen death, has felt harsh betrayal, grown more in ten minutes than I did in my ten year tenor as King of the Lost City, her resolve cannot waver when she knows her brother's true form, she knows what's right, what's wrong, her heart is merely going to obtain the badge of passing this...test of will, our encouraging words will only strengthen her!"
Erika startled as the ground gave way beneath her, the goddess was also surprised when she fell into the water, "As you can see, the lake's seal is broken, Arthur is on the canoe that took him from here centuries ago, so he will be fine, so long as you use the sword's power to share health before the ebony block sinks to the depths."
Erika turned to the shining blade and swam over to it, using it to support her as she pulled herself onto the marble frame, trying to read bits of the words under her feet as she tugged at the sword.
Suddenly several shallow splashes echoed from the tunnel, she turned to find a small group waving at Arthur, he waved back, smirking with a nod before turning to Erika, "Hurry up a bit, if you could? The ground is crumbling, after all, and I'd rather not dissolve...ha, ha, but I have faith in you, my friend! Hey, Robin, no shooting the girl! She's the Inheritor!"
Erika smiled as she heard Arthur call off the archer, she felt like she found a safe island in the tempest she barely survived.
Suddenly the words underfoot began glowing, and she heard a woman's voice in her head, "When the Inheritor draws Excalibur, the Avalon Key will appear in the Lost City of Camelot."
As soon as the voice fell quiet, the blade was released from the pedestal and she fell onto the pile of riches amassed behind her, "Good job, now heal pretty boy Arthur!" a voice from across the lake commanded.
Erika was bewildered, she would ask how she could speak, but as things were, she would be on her own. She turned to Aquas for guidance, and the Lady of the Lake nodded, "Excalibur is a servant of your own will, you know what it's capable of."590Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHipboyFooU
Erika turned to Arthur and the gems on the hilt began to shimmer, their light struck Arthur and the vampire cried out in shock, falling onto his knees, "Such power...you truly are one who can wield Excalibur, an Inheritor, as I was, so long ago." Arthur slid into the pile of coins and felt around the depths for a moment, "Time to toss this coin out, it'll only sink the canoe." Erika started to sheath Excalibur so she could assist, but the blade cleaved it in two.
"Ha, ha, forgot to mention, old Ex can't be held by any scabbard...it's a lesson in itself that power can weigh heavy on one's arm!" Arthur snickered, "Part of the reason I so politely gave you the honor of wielding such a relic of power!"
Erika sighed and approached the boat, but Arthur held up his hand.
"Look, friend, this canoe my have crossed this lake with me and two or three women before, but hasn't aged well, I'm rather uncertain if it'll carry me across, so if you could give the boat a little extra manpower, then between the oars and you, we may make it across in one piece."
Erika nodded and wondered how she would hold the sword in one hand and push the canoe, but she was sure she'd figure it out, after all, her brother trained her well.
A/Ns: Plot twists! A-and stuff. More twists to come, be sure. And yeah, I know her name's not Aquas, but she had WAY TOO MANY NAMES, and I wasn't about to pick favorites, so after the wiki didn't help, I just went my own way!
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