Greyashe chapter 356


 

 

 

Greyashe chapter 356 is entitled 'Instants.'

 

Previous chapter 355: Countless hands.

Next chapter 357: Instants II.

Summary page

 

-Short summary-

 

The time for Greyashe is limited as Baker has arrived to decimate the town. Will two unexpected reunions be enough to stop him...?

 

-Long summary-

 

Baker stops for a moment to marvel at the expelled air whenever he breathes in the cold climate. In his current form he had gotten used to several of the conventions that come with being human over several millennia, but there always seems to be one more thing that he hadn't experienced or seen. Ironic then that he would want to destroy these creatures wholesale, but as the humans themselves say "Orders are orders". Besides if they were in the seat of power like he is now, they wouldn't hesitate to destroy him....right? It is this thought that sustains him and guides his movements as he makes his way into town slowly but with a marked sense of purpose.

 

Nearby Candle who had come to town under instructions from Kani finds herself suddenly drowning in a deepening sense of dread. There's no way Kani would know about Baker coming here right? Yet she had expressively told her to make her way here hadn't she? Candle had been following Reid's orders to stay with Kani --though she would have even if the swordsman hadn't asked her to. She likes feeling wanted, and only realized after she left Butcher and Baker's company that they hadn't really needed her as much as she had needed them. She could reminisce about how lonely she felt after assuming human form --perhaps that feeling had manifested with her change of shape since she never felt that way before hand -- but now isn't the time. She knows this sense of foreboding can only mean one thing, and despite her own desire to confront it head on, she knows that is as futile as standing frozen and allowing bottled up emotions to parallelize her movements and thoughts. So then what should she do?

 

Candle turns and runs. Runs to find someone with the strength to do what she can't. Butcher had given himself powers beyond comprehension with the recall, but there is an existence even he --and hopefully Baker have to be wary of. If she can find this existence and fight alongside it then perhaps they'd stand a chance...!

 

Baker walks down the strangely abandoned streets idly. The people who live here are like Falkner with his power to "perceive" outcomes and the minds of those other than themselves. Since he is not one of them he imagines that his appearance in town must be like a bright beacon in the darkness. That would explain why the city is abandoned despite it being the middle of the day. Ironically, the sentient is amused with this behavior rather than curious or angry. They also must be able to tell how powerful he is too so why bother hiding? If he simply wanted to blast these buildings away it would be a mere pittance to him. Yet....yet he can't bring himself to do that. He curses his own "humanity" for his inability to act. Had he been among the enemy for too long? He just cannot bring himself to destroy them without the act of a "struggle"! If even one of them were to come out and challenge him it would be the lynchpin he needs to begin the calamity! Though he wouldn't be surprised if they had perceived this too. Then the entire plan hinges on him being attacked by someone who doesn't know about his inability. It has been said that the thing about hatred is that it festers over time, and now Baker wishes he had minded this more.

 

He stops and with slow precision turns around to see them.

 

Two girls that he recognizes almost immediately. One is Candle, a fellow sentient and the other....yes he'd never forget that face even if enough time had passed for the world to end. He grins despite himself and asks how she has been doing over all of these years? She looks well at least, and considering how many had been sacrificed to Butcher's wrath just so she could hide comfortably is of note too. He asks "Ambriel" if she has enjoyed her life?

 

Roysé bites back her reply and instead activating her only wing blasts the sentient with a ray of light. This would be a battle of instants. The more time spent on unnecessary actions --and in this case conversations the more likely it would become that they would die and Greyashe would be destroyed. More likely than not, Butcher intends on wiping the city off the map due to the farseers having the ability to look into the magicians and their inability to be affected by the recall. In a sense this place could be considered a "safe haven" to those who oppose him. The sentient would never allow such a place to exist so it makes sense he'd send his strongest soldier to ensure the end of it's continued existence. She may not be able to incite the people of the town to fight on her side --which is fine since she wouldn't force them even if she could, so her only choice is to throw herself into the fray. Candle had found her straightaway and after explaining the situation begged her to help her fight Baker. The little sentient had touched her heart with her profound apology and desire to protect her friends and those they hold dear.  She had been wrong before, but wants to make up for it now by fighting against her former comrades. It's a fissure she's stuck between that Roysé wouldn't wish on anyone. Either fight against the former comrades who represent everything she knows, or stand by and allow the new friends she has the ones who really care about her to be destroyed. 

 

The angel isn't sure she can win due to her own weakened powers due to being on the surface so long, and the fact that she hasn't been in combat since that tragic night, but if she takes advantage of the instants given to her then perhaps she'd stand a chance. Roysé wants to turn back to Candle and ask for back up but that will waste valuable instants. As if she understands this through a link of sympathetic magic, Candle is beside Roysé and melts snow with her "heat" causing steam to rise in the air. Barely acknowledging her effort with a nod the angel charges forward her whole body glowing with a white aura. The angels fight by taking their inner "energy" and expelling it like a barrier upon their enemies. It is what Dio had attempted back then on the two sentients when they were young. Simply expending their inner energy would have crushed them completely.  Roysé knows her own kinetic force has been lowered due to lack of training and to be honest experience in the matter since it's not really becoming up above for angelic women to learn the art of combat, and in general the angels never really had any opponents to fight against rendering the arts of angelic energy expansion as the interest of history buffs and old men --but from the little she had figured out on her own she can at least hold Baker back if she acts on the element of surprise.

 

She sends another wave of energy at Baker who should be disoriented by the sudden steam, and upon making contact with him uses a sweep of her outspread wing to force him into the ground. To her surprise however, a hand grabs at her and nearly makes contact but her reflexes are good enough for her to leap back without sustaining any damage. Baker sweeps the steam aside with a motion of his hand and stands with his arm on his side seemingly unhurt. The girls do not even look at each other as they surround him and prepare for round two of their attack. Candle kicks him in the shin and sends her "heat" into his leg causing Baker to falter slightly. Roysé expands the circumference of her inner energy quickly before he can recover and moves the sentient forcibly into the side of a building and prepares to squish him. Baker's hands are in his pockets and it appears that he isn't going to offer any kind of resistance at first, but he surprises both of them by stepping forward and through the energy. Roysé is surprised by his actions and recoils back for merely an instant.

 

An instant too many.

 

Baker rushes at her and in a swift moment grabs her throat slamming her down onto the ground. Candle turns back and with a shout prepares to rescue her friend, but Baker anticipates this and as soon as she is close to him sends a burst of concentrated agape out using the fine flakes of snow on the ground as a conduit and blasts the sentient girl. She's able to quickly defend by crossing her arms over her face but still falls back a few feet and is brought to her knees. To think he had learned this kind of technique....! Now even getting close to him is impossible! What can she possibly do to save the angel now? To save Greyashe?

 

Baker calmly regards Roysé's face and comments that she still looks exactly the way she did back then. Perhaps it had been because they were in close vicinity to the flames of magic back then but he and Butcher had aged since then. It took the recall for them to reclaim the looks they have now, and for them to become as powerful as this. To her everything had come so effortlessly, so maybe she won't understand but now it doesn't matter anyway. She would serve as the "lynchpin" to the end of this town and the beginning of Butcher's reign of terror.

 

Roysé spits something aside and gives Baker a defiant look --just like she had way back then. She comments that he is right, that she hasn't changed. Even now she has those she believes in. If he could understand that then he'd understand exactly why he will fall here and the people of Greyashe will continue to live uninterrupted.

 

Baker's eyes widen and he releases Roysé, but is too little too late as air pressure slices his arm and neck and sends him flying backward into a snowbank where he lies in a crumpled heap. Sitting up slowly he sees a young man with a serene smile and his hand in a fist as he walks forward menacingly. He stops mere inches away from Baker and despite his warm smile asks with a snarl what he thinks he's doing to his honey?