“I mean, uh… is that… your name? Stranger?” Eeozi says with a grimace, from atop the brute Zujii whose fist we’re still holding. Cocking an eyebrow, Zujii tries to look up at Eeozi, but her current position won’t allow for it. After sputtering incoherently for a few more moments, Eeozi points at something behind us and shouts, “Th—throw ‘em! Throw ‘em into that wall!!”
With a shrug, Zujii starts to comply. But we’re not going to be taken out so easily. We leap to the side and— Zujii grabs our leg. Crap, we underestimated their reach. Before we’re able to wriggle from the brute’s grasp, we are hauled up into the air and then hurled like a ragdoll, spinning through the air until we crash into the wall of a building that must have been at least 200 meters away. The wall and part of the ceiling crumbles down around us, the dust stinging our eyes registering more than the heavy material currently crushing our body. Good thing this combined form has a durability perk, or we’d be concussed, if not actually dead.
Pushing heavy debris away, we almost manage to get to our feet before something leaps onto our chest and knocks us back down. “Why do you look like Biat!?” the goblin says, shouting for the first word or two before switching to a stage whisper.
“Oh, do we look similar…?” we say cleverly, giving our best nonchalant shrug.
Eeozi glares. “Yes, you do!! Virtually the same besides the weird swirlin’ black an’ white skin thing, an’ your eye color, an’ the no mouth thing…”
“Sounds pretty different to me.”
Scowling, Eeozi pounds her fists against our chest. “You better damn well not be Biat, with this smug shithead act! But if you’re not… why do you look like her!?”
“Kind of look like her?” Eeozi raises a hand, claws bared. “Fine, fine, sorry. So, um…” Okay we clearly need to try a different tact… but we’re a little fuzzy on what exactly is happening here. Apparently part of our dream self looks a certain way, and has met Eeozi? There’s a lot there to think about, with the castle and the people in it… Why does Biat never tell her friends about this stuff, it seems fascinating. Oh, we haven’t said anything in a while and Eeozi looks ready to strangle us. Gotta give her something, and we don’t have a lie ready, so… “We sort of are Biat. Partially.”
Visibly baffled, Eeozi lowers her claws and says, “How… what?? That doesn’t… How are you outta the castle? An’ what happened ta your mouth an’ stuff??”
In for a penny in for a… wait what is a penny, again? “Biat is combined with another person right now, which is a thing she can do because she’s a spirit from another world.”
“Bitch, you’re not special, bein’ from another world,” Eeozi says, a hand going to her hip. “But I can’t ‘combine’ with people. Aside from euphemistically. How the fuck are you here!?”
She’s from…? That’s new to us. But, okay, gotta answer that second question, and that Zujii person is starting to trudge over here, so gotta make it fast. “Biat lives here on campus, but like, goes to the castle in her dreams, basically?”
Eyes narrowing dangerously, Eeozi says, “How’s she live on campus? Imxach didn’t put her here, or he would’a known Sha— Umeso is here.”
Oh, right, Biat lied about Imxach making her or something? Um… Crap, how does Biat come up with stuff so easily? Zujii is getting closer… “Okay, okay, Biat wasn’t made by Imxach! She accidentally took over an Idrestan body and has been living on campus!”
“So she— you— lied ta me!?” Eeozi shrieks, smashing her fist into the rubble next to our head. The pure rage on her face quickly shifts, however, as her lip wobbles and tears form in her eyes. “Elle… she knew too, didn’t she?? She’s also been lyin’ ta me!?” We grimace. This does not improve Eeozi’s mood. “She still doesn’t trust me!! I never wanted ta— Godsdammit, Elle!!” Clenching her fists, Eeozi looks to the sky and releases a high-pitched howl of anguish.
“Eeozi, are you alright? What’s wrong?” says a soft, deep voice from nearby. Zujii has arrived.
“Nothin’!!!” Eeozi shrieks, right before doing a backflip off our chest and up onto Zujii’s shoulders. The kickback from her doing so leaves us winded. Pointing a finger at us, venom dripping from every syllable, Eeozi says, “Pound. Her. Into. Paste!”
Less than a second later a massive fist comes hurling toward us. We launch ourself to the side, but Zujii seems to have anticipated that — her other fist smashes into our shoulder, launching us into a still-standing portion of the wall. As it crumbles down around us, we try to scramble away, but the dust has us at a disadvantage, and Zujii seems to be capable of surprising agility. We manage to bat away one fist, but the other catches us again, sending us flying through the rest of the wall and away from the crumbling building, where our skidding body makes a groove in the dirt.
We have got to get some distance on that brute so we can stop reacting and start attacking. Instead of jumping up to our full height, we spring into a crouching position, and just as the barrelling train that is Zujii gets close, we leap to the side like a frog. Zujii’s rough fingers just barely graze our feet, unable to actually grab hold. As the brute contends with their own momentum, we leap even farther away, our hands signing rapidly. One of Zujii’s main advantages is their reach, so the first thing we do is extend ours, too. This particular bit of magic will allow us to throw a punch and have it strike a few meters in front of our fist, which we show off by promptly smashing said fist into Zujii’s face. Though the brute doesn’t seem to appreciate that, they seem content to just grimace in response; Eeozi, however, has things to say.
“How dare you hit them!?”
We splay our hands. “They attacked first! How else are we supposed to—”
“You’re supposed ta just stand there an’ die!!” Eeozi shrieks, while at the same time Zujii charges. Quite in sync, these two.
Dodging out of the way — which is much easier now that we’ve got distance on our attacker — we start signing again, and a moment later, vines sprout up around Zujii’s feet. Since they were in the middle of turning around after a skidding stop, they end up crashing to the ground, Eeozi rolling off their shoulders with a grunt. Taking the concept of ‘kicking them when they’re down’ as good advice, we charge forward, but meet an unexpected hurdle when we notice a fireball hurtling toward our face. The flames lick our ear as we just barely manage to dodge it in time.
“Stop dodging!!” Eeozi shouts as she hurtles three more fireballs at us in rapid succession. We manage to dodge two of them, but take the third right in the shoulder, which knocks us back to the ground.
Fortunately, unlike the Headmistress, Eeozi’s attacks aren’t relentless, which gives us time to get back to our feet. Looking over at our enemies, we’re surprised to see that neither is even glancing at us right now. Eeozi is clawing at the vines around Zujii’s feet, while the two mutter back and forth to each other.
“—cannot believe! What are these stupid plants? You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine, Eeozi, you don’t need to worry.”
“Stupid plants, just shred already!!” Feeling a touch of pity, we wave our hand and the vines disappear. Eeozi’s head snaps up to glare at us. Zujii gets to their feet, and Eeozi quickly regains her spot on her partner’s shoulders. “Don’t think this makes us friends!!” the goblin yells.
We’re starting to feel like these two are not as dire a threat as the previous school attacker had been. Maybe we don’t need to fight? “Look, Eeozi, we’re sorry about the lying thing. We didn’t know you so well, then, and I’m sure Ellemenie—”
“SHUT HER UP!!!” Eeozi screams, prompting Zujii to rush forward yet again. We dodge to the side, and just as we start to think that this whole charging routine is growing predictable, we’re forced to dodge back the way we came to avoid a trio of fireballs. This does, unfortunately, put us right back into Zujii’s path. Their giant body slams into our much smaller one, and a few seconds later our body is slammed from the other side by a stone wall, which immediately crumbles around us. Large fists start pummeling into our everything, and it hurts, but the more worrying thing is the way Eeozi’s hands are moving. Flinging our arms out, we grab one of Zujii’s fists and use the other hand to punch at Eeozi… who would be out of range if it weren’t for our previously applied extending magic. Making a pathetic sound that’s strangely reminiscent of a kicked puppy, Eeozi is knocked off Zujii and out of our line of sight.
Immediately the fists stop, and Zujii swivels around, exposing their back to us. “Eeozi!! Are you alright!?”
Though the care these two seem to have for one another is touching, and the attack that landed us in this position was clever, it’s becoming clear that these two are more of a liability than an asset for one another in a combat scenario. It might feel a little dirty, but we need to take the opportunity we’re presented with if we want any chance of ending this fight. Signing quickly, we electrify our hands, then punch into Zujii’s back. The punch itself is already enough to launch them forward, but the electricity coursing through their body ensures that they tumble to the ground.
Leaping to our feet, we scoot around the fallen brute, who does not seem to be immediately capable of moving. We don’t see Eeozi, but given she’d fallen behind Zujii, we have a feeling she’s… underneath, right now. Ouch.
“Hey, so, could we maybe talk now instead of—” Our words are halted by a fist smashing into our face, with more force and ferocity than we would expect from its relatively small size. It knocks us off our feet, and when we crash to the ground, the back of our head smashes into the side of a brick.
~~~
After a moment of unconsciousness, I finally wake up. That goblin girl and her friend are on their feet now, while sitting unconscious next to me is… my own body. Well, Biat’s body, for now, but… Oh shit, wait, we were merged!! We were fighting! And winning, right?? What happened?? Floating up into the air, I survey the scene. That’s right, we got hit in the face — probably the goblin girl — and then we got hit again? I float over to currently-not-my-body’s head, and hate what I find. There’s a brick with a bit of blood right next to the body. Ugh. That had better not cause any permanent damage.
Floating near Biat’s ear, I shout into it. But there’s no reaction. Oh, right, I’ve gotta be touching, right? I float over to her chest and touch down, then scream, “Wake up!!!” Still nothing. Damn, that usually works. Sighing in frustration, I float back up into the air and start paying attention to what our enemies are saying, since there seems to be little else to do.
“—ant me to finish her off?” the big one says.
The goblin crosses her arms and glances at Biat. “No. I hate her, but I don’t want her dead, an’ Imxach didn’t specifically say ta kill her, so…”
“So that part of the mission is done then? Just soul collecting now?” The goblin nods. Soul collecting? What are they talking about? …Wait, that big pig monster thing. It sucked up a bunch of souls, including me!! Do they mean— “Well, I might as well get to it, then.”
A horribly familiar sound, like someone taking a big breath but then never stopping, makes my little spirit body shiver. No, not that, please!! Zipping away as fast as my little body will go, I get some distance between me and that monster, but not enough. Despite my efforts to move away, I am slowly pulled back, and nothing I do seems to stop it. No, no, I can’t, not again!! I can’t return to that dark, cramped hell, with the screaming and the crying, the sweltering heat, the despair… Please Biat, wake up! Save me!!!
Biat does not wake up. But fortunately, miraculously, someone saves me. Charging out from whatever building they’d been hiding behind, Umeso races forward, then leaps, arms outstretched. They’re not great at leaping, though, and so for a moment I think they’re going to miss me. But fortunately their hands manage to clasp my small body, then scoop me to their chest. Hitting the ground with a thud, I hear them whimper.
“The fuck…? Umeso? What’re you doing?” Eeozi says, her voice muffled by the body and hands that currently surround me.
“Saving a friend, like I could not manage to do last time,” Umeso says, shakily getting to their feet.
The goblin looks them over, clearly confused. Though it probably appears as though Umeso is holding something, since they are, it also wouldn’t look like there’s anything there. But Umeso’s arms mean the world to me right now, since I can still feel my body getting pulled toward that monster’s inhaling mouth. These arms are the only things keeping me safe.
Shaking her head, the goblin says, “Whatever. Glad you didn’t run, at least, it would’a been annoying ta try ta find you.”
The body around me tenses up. “Find me?”
“Right. The third part’a our mission — takin’ you back ta the castle.” Umeso takes a shaky step backward. “Ah, don’t start tryin’ ta run now! I’ll just have ta stop you, an’ neither of us wants that.”
Umeso shifts back and forth, their arms trembling around me. “Run for it!!” I shout. It’s the only choice that might result in escape, which means it’s the only actual choice!
My word on the matter is fortunately enough to sway Umeso, who turns and bolts. Unfortunately, they’re not very fast, especially compared to the goblin that almost immediately leaps onto their back, knocking them to the ground. Their arms stay wrapped around me, but the weight of both their body and the goblin’s pressing down on my round mass is stifling.
“Stay down, you idiot!” the goblin says, stomping their foot against Umeso’s back. “I dunno what happened ta you, but clearly you’re a weakling now. So stay down or I’ll—”
“You’ll do nothing, ‘Zi. Now get off my friend,” says a voice that is music to my ears. The weight of the goblin lifts, and Umeso turns to look at our savior. Biat is back on her feet, clearly merged with someone else, and ready to rumble.
