-Kaelen-
Tali may not have had much luck with Lady Mirror, so he thought they could start by swapping opponents for a bit, as Kaelen had also not had that much luck with Lady Shape. Kaelen summoned a falchion and set it ablaze, dashing at Lady Mirror, taking a swing, only to be immediately parried by her, holding a similar falchion, also on fire. The second the blades collided he knew this was going to be annoying.
"So that mirror thing is literal?"
Seems like it.
-Tali-
She wasn't surprised when Kaelen went ahead, she decided to focus on herself a bit more, as she turned to Lady Shape. Lady Shape was deforming, stretching out toward Tali. -Fucking clowns. She Fabricated a gun immediately and started shooting at Lady Shape. Wherever she shot, Lady Shape's body would bend and snap out of shape dodging the bullets before going back to how it was.
-Kaelen-
"How had Tali managed to hurt Lady Mirror?"
He knew Tali wasn't lying when she said she had for two reasons, one, he just generally decided to give her his full trust considering everything he had done to her, and two, he could see the small cut on Lady Mirror's arm. She could be damaged. He swapped out the falchion for ten steel wires, set on fire. He had used exactly these to defeat Lord Nerve, so trusted in them to help him get the job done. The trust didn't last much longer, as every calculated change of momentum, change in direction, and the hundreds of minute movements made every second by Kaelen's fingers were copied exactly by Lady Mirror, deflecting string after string.
"Seriously? What the hell is this woman capable of?"
-Tali-
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hit Lady Shape. And from what she could see, Kaelen wasn't having any more success than she was. Until she saw it. One of Kaelen's wires had managed to nick Lady Shape. Kaelen had hurt Lady Shape without intending to... Just like Tali had managed to hurt Lady Mirror without intending to... Was it that? Intention? Could they not hurt either of their opponents while intending to? If she were to aim for Lady Shape and so happen to hit Lady Mirror, would she manage to land an actual blow? That's what Kaelen had managed for her opponent after all. That had to be it! Only, managing to fatally wound someone unintentionally, whilst also facing off someone trying to kill you wouldn't exactly be easy, so-
Tali: Kaelen!
-Kaelen-
Tali was calling to him, but he was too busy to pay attention. He had to find a way to- No. He wanted to pay her back for everything he had done, so he'd find a way to pay attention whilst still dealing with Lady Mirror. If anything, he suspected she had figured out how this all worked and was about to tell him. So he turned to look at her.
"You sure this is a good idea?"
Absolutely.
Tali: I KNOW HOW TO HURT THEM!
Knew it. Tali had come in clutch.
Kaelen: HOW?!
Tali: We just have to hurt them unintentionally!
For a split second, Kaelen stopped moving the wires.
Kaelen: What?
Tali: Just- Just lengthen your wires as far as you can without being able to reach Ela!
Kaelen: W-what?! But what about you?!
Tali: JUST DO IT!
He didn't hesitate any further. The wires grew and grew, to at least five meters. He would trust her with everything, growing in speed with his wires. But no matter what he did or how fast he grew, Lady Mirror would just copy him.
"There has to be a limit to the speed she can go."
So he just kept on climbing up and up. Tali could deal with the consequences.
-Tali-
She Fabricated a shield the second Kaelen had extended his wires, and knew it was the most sensible decision when Kaelen's speed kept on increasing. It didn't take long for his speed to have been multiplied by at least five. But her plan was working. Lady Shape was being cut at ridiculous speeds, unable to dodge the unintentional attacks. Now she just had to find a way to hurt Lady Mirror unintentionally.
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But she doubted she could get any attacks in while Kaelen was doing what he was doing. The speed was good for her of course, as Lady Shape was almost dead at this point due to the sheer amount of cuts. But Tali couldn't help with Lady Mirror because of this, and knowing Kaelen, he wouldn't stop until Lady Mirror was dead. So he'd never stop, and her shield could only last so long. So when Lady Shape's throat got slit, she knew she'd have to find a way to stop Kaelen from going any further.
Tali: KAELEN! STOP IT!
-Kaelen-
Stop? But he was so close! He could see it! Lady Mirror was slower than him! He was sure of it. All he had to do was keep on going faster, maybe lengthen the wires a bit more. He just had to-
Tali: KAELEN! PLEASE!
Fine. He'd trust her fully. He dismissed the wires, his body groaning in pain due to the over-taxing he had forced upon it whilst using the wires. Lady Mirror looked no different. He had failed.
-Tali-
She saw Lady Mirror turn to look towards her, seeing the body of Lady Shape.
Tali: That's right. I figured it out.
-Only. She saw the edges of a horrifying smile, peaking out from Lady Mirror's mask. Whatever she had done, it had been according to Lady Mirror's plan. She had messed up, but she wasn't exactly sure on why until Lady Mirror began to run. She didn't have long, if this was according to Lady Mirror's plan then she'd have to kill her before she could begin the next step.
She'd have to get this right, she wouldn't have more than this one chance to stop her. So she aimed a newly Fabricated gun at Kaelen, and shot when Lady Mirror was in front of him.
-Kaelen-
He hadn't been paying much attention to Tali, so when he saw Tali pointing a gun at him whilst Lady Mirror was beginning to run away, he had assumed she had decided to rejoin the Circus Lights. The fact she hadn't missed and had hit him straight in the chest hadn't help.
[Health Points: 350/350 (-30) -> 330/350]
[Stamina Points: 79/725 (-70) -> 9/725]
He was... So tired...
"Kaelen! Don't you dare fall asleep!"
Tali: K-Kaelen?!
[Stamina Points: 9/725 (-5) -> 4/725]
-Tali-
She rushed straight to him to check his pulse and breathing. She had hit him. And now he looked to be dying.
Tali, scared: K-Kaelen! H-heal! W-why aren't you healing?! Heal yourself! KAELEN! P-please!
He was too tired. He had used those wires too much for too long and was now too tired to use his Sigil. She was going to be the cause of his death. Oh Lumex- She was going to be the cause of his death!
Tali, scared: K-Kaelen! I-I- I'm-! -I didn't mean to!
She was horrified. She didn't want to kill him. She really really didn't. Right now, finding a way to prevent his death was her top priority. Lady Mirror could do what she wanted- Then she heard the sicken squelch of something cutting meat. She turned to see what Lady Mirror had done-
Tali: ... N-no... No.... No. No. No no nononononono. NO!
Lady Mirror was standing over Ela, a sword embedded deep into her neck. Tali put Kaelen down and ran over to the scene. This can't be happening! None of this should've been happening! This isn't- This can't be possible! Not Ela- Not Kaelen- Not both of them! Not now! Tali dropped to her knees.
She had to focus. Ela was fine. She had to be. Right now she needed to get Lady Mirror away. Lady Mirror was hurting Ela, who wasn't- Wasn't moving. According to what she knew, that didn't work with her Sigil. Lady Mirror's Sigil was turned off, and so- Tali stood up, Fabricating a spear and slamming it into Lady Mirror's torso. No more reflecting. The spear slid right into her body.
Tali, furious: What have you done?
Lady Mirror: *giggling* -too... Too late... -Already gone. Already won. 24 plus mine makes 25. -T-th-the Chain... It's far too late... The first chain will break. If it isn't already broken... My mission... My mission is over... There's no undoing this!
Tali, furious: What the hell does any of that mean?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER!
Lady Mirror: Your sister- Your sister? ... Unimportant *cough*. The time is at hand. The first is gone. -O-only.... Only two now... He. He will be released. And then- Then the Circus will be forever... I wish- I wish I could've seen it.
Lady Mirror's body goes limp. Dead. She was dead. And not a word of what she said made any sense. She didn't even answer her main question. Tali went over to Ela. The sword was still in her neck, Tali took it out. Blood didn't leak out from the wound... Because Ela was already covered in blood. Blood that had pooled all around her... Elara Vaelric was dead. Kaelen Calder was dying. And Tali- Talyndra Vaelric was completely at fault...
Tali: ... F-fuck... No... Please... D-don't- Don't leave me alone...
