Sunny was cursing his luck. After the hunchback opened the door, Elsa explained that she contracted the thief. He learned her name was "Felt". When the giant questioned her about Sunny and Satella, she simply looked at them inquisitively with an innocent smile on her face.
"Oh..I want to buy the insignia as well. I-I may not be rich, but this girl has got coins in excess."
"—!!"
Sunny motioned at Satella, who he had shamelessly thrown under the bus. She was hiding behind him with a lowered head. She yelped in surprise and attempted to deny it but Sunny gave her a glare, she needed to get with the program.
The giant man assessed the situation, and came to the same conclusion Sunny had. The kid looked dirt poor, and the girl looked filthy rich. And the mysterious woman that contracted Felt looked intimidating. He clutched his club and motioned for them to enter; Elsa looked at Sunny and Satella, as if to say, 'you first'.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, he bravely stepped past the man and into the barn; Satella followed close behind. The inside was set up like a tavern and a warehouse. There were a few tables and chairs scattered about in an unorganized fashion. Boxes lined the walls and miscellaneous items crowded the shelves. Directly ahead was a tall bar—about shoulder height to him—and some stools. The messy interior did not match the pristine exterior, but Sunny was too preoccupied with scanning the room to care.
On one stool sat a girl, Felt. She turned her head as he entered.
"Huh..who are—? Wait, yer that alley boy??"
"I have a name, you kn—"
"—And you! WHY'RE YOU HERE!!"
Felt had immediately recognized Satella and jumped into a fighting stance. Of course she would, Sunny muttered curses as he realized his oversight.
"ROM!! THAT'S THE GIRL I STOLE FROM."
The giant, Rom, readied his stance, but he was directed at Satella. Elsa stood silently in the doorway.
*SLAM*
All eyes fixed on Elsa.
"Ah~ how unfortunate, it seems this really was the worst outcome. I'm glad—honestly, his contracts are so meticulous in nature…"
'His?'
"Will you please show me your guts?"
Everyone froze. Elsa pulled out two Kukuri knives.
"SHE'S AN ASSASSIN."
Sunny could hardly finish his sentence before all hell broke loose.
Rom raised his club and swung at Elsa. His club would decimate any normal human in an instant, but she swiftly stepped back, narrowly avoiding the strike. His large club, combined with his giant physique, gave him quite the advantage within the confines of these walls. He could cover half the room in one motion. He unleashed a flurry of blows aimed to kill.
Despite his overwhelming advantage, Elsa avoided every strike with measured precision. She was flawlessly terrifying; despite not having struck once, she was toying with him.
"This is my first deathmatch with a giant."
"Keep talking, girl. ―I'll smash you to pieces and feed you to giant rats!"
While Rom and Elsa played around. Sunny had retreated to the farthest corner of the room with Satella in tow. Felt was a little closer to the action, near the bar. Picking up a wooden shield he spotted earlier, he grabbed it by its rim.
"Satella, can you fight." This was not a question.
"Yes."
She was shaking, everyone was, even he was. He couldn't tell if it was adrenaline or fear; probably both. Big Man Rom was clearly the strongest in the room—except Elsa—and he could not match her. Sunny had judged that Satella was some kind of ice witch or something; what's important is that he saw her hold ice over her head like she was ready to shoot a ranged attack.
He didn't know much else about Felt except for the fact that she's fast and probably has a speed Aspect. That doesn't help much, though; a child will not be able to match a skilled assassin even if she's got a speed buff, and running for help would take far too long.
"psst girl!—find things to throw—we need to support that guy!"
She looked bewildered for a moment, probably because such a sudden and vicious fight was unexpected. But hearing his declaration to help her foster father set her heart ablaze.
"Right!"
"When there's an opening, follow my lead—also where's that cat?"
"Puck? He's…retired for the evening."
'Puck? Retired?'
"Wake his ass up then!"
"Language! B-but yes I will."
She closed her eyes and pressed her hands together in concentration. Sunny realized she couldn't attack and wake Puck at the same time, which he lamented; he now had to protect her while she summoned her ally lest she be killed with her eyes closed.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The moment came when Rom's club struck the ground; it had broken into the floor and got caught on debris, he had likely hit the same spot repeatedly. If Elsa planned this, she was even scarier than he thought.
'Is she a Saint? Why am I fighting a fucking SAINT in my First Nightmare!?'
Sunny didn't have time to second-guess his assessment, as he was already overhand slinging the shield like a frisbee aimed right above Rom's club. His instinct proved to be correct, as Elsa stepped up the club with ease and began her strike.
*WHACK* The shield cracked against the side of her head. This was merely a minor inconvenience to the assassin, but it proved enough of a distraction. Felt followed with two knives; one aimed at her head and the other at her liver.
Elsa deflected the headshot and moved to parry the second, but was stopped when Rom grabbed her left arm. The knife sank deep into her side, and Rom threw her back through the door with full force. She crashed through the wall and tumbled a dozen feet into the street.
Sunny was very happy that his plan had worked.
'She was injured by an ordinary knife?—'
*Thud*
"—Huh?"
He looked down and saw the club had fallen to the ground.
'Why'd he let go?' A sound like a bucket of water being poured on the ground was heard.
His eyes trailed upwards—
Blood. Blood was flowing out of Rom's freshly amputated arm. At the elbow, it was a clean cut. Streams of hot blood spilled out of the man, after all, being large means more blood.
Then he heard a sickening gurgling sound, followed by another thud as Rom collapsed to his knees holding his neck with his remaining hand.
A bloodcurdling shriek escaped Felts' mouth as she rushed to her father, clinging onto him desperately as his life faded. Begging and pleading turned into apologizing and crying. Big Man Rom died in his daughter's arms.
Satella had been shocked out of her concentration when she heard Felt's scream. Opening her eyes wide to see the giant man falling to his knees with blood spurting everywhere, she yelps and almost buckles. She remains standing though, and raises her arms while summoning floating ice spikes. Tear flowed from her face as she sympathized with Felts' pain.
Sunny looks at Felt with pity. He didn't know Rom—not in the slightest—but he knew that no child should be made to endure this trauma. He also noted Satella's reaction to his death.
"Go! Get Felt!"
While he was sad for Felt, the situation didn't allow her time to mourn. The moonlight cascading through the broken door illuminated both her and Rom's corpse. If the assassin was still alive, which he knew she was, they needed to go now!
Sunny picked up two stray knives he found and ran for the exit.
A shadow passed across the girls, their eyes widened.
*Clang*
*Thunk*
*Ker-plunk*
Satella barely reacted in time, summoning a small ice shield inches away from her throat. The blade that was about to sink into her neck had deflected into her right collarbone instead.
Felt was struck directly in the middle of her forehead. She died instantly. Satella had attempted to shield her as well, but she had protected Felts' neck and not her head.
"—NO!"
Satella wailed and fell back to one knee; the temperature dropped significantly.
"Aww~ I wish I could've spilled the girls' guts. I'm sure they would've been a lovely red!"
"I wonder, will your guts satisfy me? Or will your intestines look rotten and nasty you half-devil!?"
"Shut up, psycho."
"My~ aren't you feisty."
Sunny threw a stool at her. Following the stool was a spike of ice. And then another, and another, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, fifty, over one hundred spikes of ice pummeled Elsa for ten seconds straight.
Elsa cut the stool in half with one transcendent swing and Satella's ice in another. The sadistic assassin cut, blocked, and parried a majority of the ice spikes. But there is only so much you can do with two arms, several spikes dug into non-vital areas.
Sunny had used that brief exchange to scrounge for items. He snagged two rough iron knives before dashing behind the bar. He had an idea.
Tearing the bar apart, Sunny eventually pulled out a large box of alcohol. He quickly sniffed it to check, and it burned his nose. Perfect.
He noticed Satella starting to falter. Getting a knife in the collarbone will do that. He starts throwing bottles of alcohol at Elsa, getting cut and smashed up in the destruction.
"MORE!!"
Sunny calls out to Satella. He desperately needed her to last until he emptied the box; anything less would not suffice.
She nodded and leaned into the attack even more, doubling her efforts.
This proved to be enough to overwhelm the seemingly transcendent assassin. Her body flew back with the tide of ice, and Satellas' body collapsed in a heap while coughing blood. Sunny took this opportunity to hastily throw her over his shoulder and escape the broken-down barn.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
He didn't really know why he picked her up. Surely he would have better chances on his own. Carrying the girl was a massive burden for the skinny teenager, but he managed. In a fit of adrenaline, Sunny had dashed about three hundred feet in 15 seconds, which was rather impressive all things considered.
Eventually, Sunny needed to stop or else he'd collapse from exhaustion. Pulling into an alleyway, he lowers the girl onto her feet and leans her against the wall.
Panting for a few moments, he reaches for his knives
"Thank—you—ghk"
"Hmm?"
"saving—*wheeze*—me..."
Pulling back he takes another look at the girl; she is paler than a ghost. Her once meticulous silver hair was now plastered in a thick layer of blood, sweat, and grime. Her eyes are bloodshot, and her breathing is shallow but sharp. She seemed to be attempting to reach into a pouch on her waist, but her coordination was in shambles.
'Shit is the knife poisoned?'
If it is, the poor girl is already dead. He can't heal her, and she probably can't heal herself in this state. If she could even heal poison in the first place.
'Should I leave her?' 'Wait, no. Maybe she has something in that pouch that can help.'
He reached into her pack and pulled out a small dried fruit, a bokko fruit—not that Sunny knew what it was. She groaned and nodded in confirmation, seemingly trusting him to help her. Sunny again considered taking the fruit and bolting. But seeing her trust made him curse himself. He felt as though she wouldn't even be mad at him if he left; 'she'd probably wish me luck.'
He didn't have time to pull the knife out; all he could do was hope the berry could stabilize her. He fed the girl the fruit, ensuring she chewed and swallowed lest she choke and vomit.
Gaining her bearings back, Satella pulled away from the wall and—!
"~Ah~ there you are."
Casting an imposing shadow into the moonlit alley, Elsa stood tall. Getting past the initial shock, he pulled out his knives and pointed them at the assassin. He immediately noticed something was wrong.
'Her body...where are her wounds?—Don't tell me; she can heal herself?'
"I'll admit! The half-devil's ice surpassed my expectations, but you—" She turned to him. "~I want to see your guts the most~"
Both of them readied themselves. The air filled with dread.
Elsa exploded into motion, effectively flash-stepping from Sunny's pov, her form appeared in front of the silver-haired girl. In one meticiously brutal slash;
—Elsa had gutted Satella in front of him—
For a single moment, Sunny's eyes went distant—and then grimaced. Sunny could feel it; Death was approaching. His perception had slowed. His mind raced. He wanted to grieve for Satella, but he felt unable to. That was because her death had broken a wall within his mind; an irreversible change.
He felt clarity.
One revelation rang in his mind.
The essence of combat is murder.
To survive, Sunny must kill Elsa.
*Thud*
Satellas' body collapsed to the floor in a heap. A shriek escaped her lips as she fell. From the ground, she could see Elsa standing over her, facing Sunless. Pain and fear consumed her. Fear for herself and fear for the boy.
"A shame~ her guts were normal…
But yours, I can tell—your insides will be very interesting—"
"..."
"To face death, with such defiance; ~oh, I think I might love that look in your eyes!"
She twitched, and Sunny jumped back in a > shape. He figured this intestine-obsessed lunatic would strike at his gut first, and he was right. The blade cut his shirt but missed his body. While in midair, Sunny gripped both daggers, spread his arms, and—
Sprayed a mouthful of alcohol directly in her face. She did not flinch in the slightest, which was good because he needed her close. Still in the air, he brought down his knives—
*CLANG*
*POP*
Sunny struck the blades together as hard as he could. A small explosion engulfed the faces of both figures. Flames rolled down Elsa's body in a hurry. She stumbled back with a shocked expression for a few moments
Sunny couldn't believe it. Not that he thought he killed her. He was just surprised his plan had worked.
*bluegh*
A sickening sound was heard. Sunny recognized it; it was the same sound Satella's guts made. 'Wait, guts?'
—BLINDING HEAT— shot through his nervous system.
HOT HOT PAIN HEAT BLOOD PAIN GUTS HOT HOT HOT HOT
He stumbled, and his world flipped to the side as he hit the ground.
Despite the blinding pain, he maintained his previous state of clarity. He realized that Elsa has somehow managed to cut him open.
He didn't see any final moments. No dramatic memories. Only one face flashed in his mind.
'I miss Rain"
His eyes met Satella's. There was barely any life left in them; she was still holding on to life just like him, by a severed thread. He noticed an abyssal sadness in her eyes, and her lips strained into a weak smile.
'In death, she tried to comfort him—how kind'
Compelled to return the gesture, Sunny summoned the last of his strength;
"I will, definitely―"
―Save you.
At that moment, Sunless lost his life.