Intense Struggle! (Round 7 - The Database)

0 Days To Go

“Good morning, dear.” The voice of Sister Clara crackled through the speakers. “Today is your last day of training. Do your best and remember I believe in you.”

Enyo rose with a mix of anticipation and dread. It had seemed like such a long time. An impossibly long time. But that's the irritating thing about time. No matter how long it seems it will pass eventually. Tomorrow it would be time to kill the Monitor, and about a week ago Ghost had confirmed that Sister Clara would be her teammate. Her heart raced just thinking about it.

So she got up and ran laps of the mansion to keep herself from fixating. Proxy jumped out at her by the library, she barely missed a beat as she dodged the lunge, swept their legs with her own and then enfulfed their legs in a puddle of sticky black ooze to stop them from chasing after her.

For breakfast she made a big greasy fry up and shared it with Fox. Afterwards she made sure to swing by the gallery and visit some of her favourite portraits. She hadn't done so in a while and she'd feel really weird leaving without saying goodbye, even though she knew it was kind of silly.

Everything was pretty normal. In Weapons Practice recently she'd been favouring a scythe primarily for how cool it was to fight with a scythe. Today she went back to basics and refreshed herself on various types of swords.

Lunch was chicken sandwiches (split once again with Fox) and then made the trip out to Magic Manor for the last time. Proxy carried Lanmò's coffin on their back, and Fox tagged along behind the group. Even amongst the four of them together Enyo was quiet. Everyone knew what today was. It felt as though there was very little left to say.

Magic Practice began fairly routine. Lanmò spat out a bunch of zombies, who then stalked Enyo through the mansion, getting picked off one at a time. Precision lightning bolts, necrotic explosions, holy blasts. Enyo ran through all her go-to spells and then some of the more unusual ones. Things took a turn as she was heading back outside and Proxy attacked her once again.

Proxy had evidently been waiting on a first floor balcony and as she stepped outside he leapt, swinging their blade in a downward arc. Enyo hurriedly conjured a pair of blades, one fire, one ice and crossed them before her, catching Proxy's attack before it could land. As Proxy themselves landed they both held in place, pushing against each other in a battle of strength.

It was not an ideal situation to be in for Enyo. Actual physical strength was one of her weak areas. She'd suggested physical training to Ghost but they were pretty sure that a body made of magic didn't build muscle in the same way as a human body. Fortunately for Enyo her magic was not a pair of swords but something broader. She could just about manage to maintain their forms and say release a force blast to force Proxy back, or freeze the ground beneath them to make them lose their footing, or something.

But in the moment of thought before she reacted she found herself overwhelmed by necrotic energy, corrupting her and withering away her strength. A glance to the side, to Lanmò's coffin, propped up against a nearby wall glowing brightly red through the cracks.

“Not you too.” She gasped for air, her magic feeling further away, her physical strength seeming to ebb. She doubted that either of the pair would actually kill her, but damn not a great look for her last day.

Then, as she was struggling just to stay awake she felt as though she could... it was difficult to put into words. It was like she was stood in the path of a rushing river and complaining about being wet, and there was like a simple motion she could make, almost a twist of her mind, where she stepped out of the river onto the bank. She made that metaphorical motion and all the necrotic energy that had been so close to overwhelming her was just cascading around her, not actually touching her in any way that mattered.

With a thought she commandeered the vines that were overgrowing the manor and wrapped them tightly around Proxy instead, holding them tight against the wall. Then she took a step back, out of Proxy's reach, and walked over to Lanmò. “Cut that out you.” she said, and to their credit they did.

“Incredible work my precious girl.” Ghost congratulated her, and she grinned happily all the way home.

Today's, the final, Specialized Training was supposed to be more Database Training. Over the last few weeks she'd gotten better and better at navigating that space, using what tools she could find there and working with whomever was assigned to her for that day to with regularity reach The Monitor and then get immobilized and killed. It had started off really exciting. The opportunity to spend time with a simulated Clara, or D'Neya and yes sometimes she enjoyed the company of the others. But with each failure it was more and more disheartening.

When she got back to the main house the many voices of Ghost came over the speakers. “We're going to switch to Immobilization Resistance.”

“That's fine.” Enyo said. “I guess in the end both of them come down to the same thing.”

It was out of habit more than necessity that Immobilization Resistance Training took place in the Training Room. Enyo took her familiar seat on the long wooden bench, getting as comfortable as she could before she could be frozen in place for two hours. “Okay I'm ready. Immo-” And then she was frozen.

Time passed slowly in this fashion, and unfortunately it allowed her mind to creep back to the impending realness of her situation and the unresolved anxiety she had towards it. The actual reality of it, fighting The Monitor, meeting Sister Clara for real, that was scary, but also exciting at the same time. It's what she'd been building up to for so long. Forever really or at least for as much of ever as she'd ever known. The thought of what she would do afterwards crept into her head and it was almost laughable. Yeah, what will I do after I defeat a nearly all-powerful machine who could squish me like a bug? There's the real concern.

Time crawled onwards with no progress, until eventually, the door opened and in walked Proxy. Their blade was already drawn, that purpose to their step that they only really got when they were in evaluation mode.

'Fuck.'

'Fuck fuck fuck.'

'I need to move right the fuck now.'

Enyo could not voice her alarm. She couldn't move even an inch and Proxy was marching inexorably towards her. They stopped in front of her, looked her dead in the eyes (not true exactly, the closest they ever came to have eyes was when she used to draw a face on their faceplate, but she hadn't done that in a long time), they drew back their sword and -

Suddenly, in that moment of panic, she felt it again. The same feeling she'd had in Magic Practice. The feeling of being able to step sideways. She tried to make the metaphorical motion again, but it was harder, as if her body didn't want to move that way. She had to do this. She no longer had any choice but success.

Enyo reached out a hand and caught the blade mid-thrust. Though less 'catch the blade' exactly and more 'get impaled through the hand'. It really hurt. It really fucking hurt. It was only the immobilization that was stopping her from screaming. Obviously this wouldn't have been her number one choice on how to defuse this situation but even with the knowledge of how to resist that immobility, she hadn't been able to move much, and doing as much as she had had left her spent.

Ghost gave her another five minutes to see if she'd rally and throw off the immobilization completely, during which time Proxy stood there, blade still embedded in her hand with seemingly no inclination to pull away. Eventually, after what felt like forever Enyo could move again.

“Fucking ouch.” she said. “You're all lucky my mouth was immobilized or there would have been one last lump sum in the swear jar, and it would have been substantial.”

“Congratulations my most precious daughter.”

“I could have done better.” Enyo muttered. “Proxy could you get me the first aid kit?” They walked over to a nearby cupboard and opened it up. “And I don't think I'm strong enough to move more than just a limb during immobilization. What I did wasn't much but let me tell you I am spent.”

“You will have enough strength when the time comes.” Ghost replied.

“The Mana Repositories I know.” Enyo said, and then she smiled, finally accepting the reality of what she'd just done.

After Proxy cleaned and bandaged her hand they called training early for the day and went downstairs to have dinner. Proxy made her favourite (ham and pineapple pizza – a meal inititally served to her as something Jolene might have eaten). She ate in contented silence, with Fox nuzzling up next to her legs and Proxy and Lanmò nearby. It was always going to be weird to her that she had her meals with so many people who didn't eat. Though maybe it wasn't always going to be weird like that. Things would be changing soon...

After dinner it was Emotional Openness (optional), but after the day that she'd had, and the day she was worried about having tomorrow, she was too tense to share.

“I don't know if it falls under the remit of Emotional Openness but I have been wondering why it's 634 days? I mean. I know that I fight The Monitor tomorrow and that's why but... how do you know that? What is it about tomorrow that means it has to be then and that we can't put it back another week or so. Just give me a little longer to get a better handle on breaking immobilization?”

“It's complicated. You'll understand tomorrow.” Ghost said.

“You're always like this.” Enyo complained. “There are always mysterious reasons for everything that I'm not allowed to know anything about.” She sighed. “Whatever, if I'll know tomorrow then I guess I'll know tomorrow.” She got up and turned to leave with an air of resignation. “I'm going to my room. Goodnight and thank you all for everything.”

That night Enyo read Golden Blossom of Seven. This was like the eleventh book in the Of Seven series. She was pretty sure by this point Ghost had had to switch the dimension from which they were sourcing these books in order to keep up with her demand, else had started writing them themselves. She didn't make it all the way through though. It was a really big book, too much to make it through in a single sitting even if she might not have a tomorrow.

She crossed off the final day on her calendar and went to sleep.

Username:
Name: Enyo
Gender: Female
Race: Nymph

Nymphs are not naturally occurring creatures. They are created via magic rituals and composed entirely of mana itself. In certain magical circles in the city of Atrim it is commonly believed that all nymphs are created with to love whomever they meet with a fleeting but intense passion. It is certainly true that sometimes nymphs can be created like this, but sometimes they can just be people.

Colour: #952495
Weapon: Enyo has formal training with a whole range of weaponry.
Abilities: Enyo has been studying magic her whole lifetime (634 days). She's not yet encountered a kind of magic she can't replicate. A particular favourite of hers is to channel a type of elemental energy into forming a solid weapon. She has the still developing ability to, through some sort of thaumaturgical displacement, simply become temporarily immune to magic. It is very energy intensive.

Additionally she has a lot of foreknowledge about Grand Battles, the contestants within and including data about The Monitor and The Database. Some of this data may be inaccurate or out of date due to The Ghost's limited access to the subjects in question.

Description:

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Spoiler

Enyo is humanoid with pale pink skin. She has two hook shaped horns and shoulder length pink-white hair. She has bright magenta eyes and elfin pointed ears. She's of average height for an adult human. She floats slightly off the ground.

Enyo is, in a casual setting, somewhat scattered and prone to flights of fancy, when it comes down to it she's willing to put every ounce of her effort into whatever it is she puts her mind to. She already has a very strong affection for Sister Clara, and a number of other battlers (mostly girls), and a particular distaste towards all Grandmasters, particularly The Monitor.

Background: Enyo was a real nymph conjured and trained in the realm of the reclusive Grandmaster The Ghost. Her memories now occupy the body of Aph, alongside a fake set of memories of the battle to this point authored by The Ghost via their robot Proxy.

Enyo remembers being raised by Ghost, trained and taught everything she needs to know to stand a chance against The Monitor. In the battle she remembers a struggle against The Monitor's agent; Bae. A merciless shapeshifter who killed her friends one by one, until she and Clara were able to defeat it. She remembers meeting Proxy and having her memories altered, but does not understand the full extent to which those memories have been altered.

Enyo awoke sitting in an uncomfortable metal folding chair, in front of an enormous black wax cylinder. It was a familiar feeling. Just as she'd practiced time and time again. Proxy wasn't here, which was sort of weird. As Enyo she hadn't expected them to be here. They were never here in Database Practice, but as the nymph, well they had been right here just moments ago.

She stood up, her feet strangely unsteady on the metal ground beneath her. A slip of paper fell to the ground and she instinctively reached down and grabbed it. It read, in Proxy's tidy handwriting: 'Sister Clara. Clone Memory Repository.'

Enyo smiled. This was really happening. Without any further hesitation she hurried to the door and down the corridor beyond.