Through the Crystal Expanse [Chapter I]

[Miracle]

Miracle breathed a sigh of relief as Solomon was able to get out of the way and press on as he always did. With everything that was going on around them the High Priestess couldn't afford to just be dead weight carried by the cyborg.

"I appreciate your help but.... release me at once!"

Miracle's feet touched the ground and she made her way to the front of the crowd, raising her staff that has been on her person all this time into the air as a bright light began to shine from the tip of it. She may not be able to protect them from the supernova but she could at least protect them from all the other threats that awaited them through the Crystal Expanse. The refugees and her allies were now protected through her spell as she soon caught wind of the approaching flood created by all the melted ice in the Expanse.

As Moses raised the staff to part the red sea Miracle too raised her staff to part the flood. The two halves of the flood went by the fleeing group as she continued forward in the lead. The flood would pass them and be evaporated by the heat of the supernova as soon as it got close to it. However while she was focused in her task of parting the flood so it would not claim them all she could do nothing about the surviving ice monsters that were still coming after them. They set their sights for the High Priestess looking to take everyone down with them by attacking her as now they were unable to touch the others no thanks to her.

[Silver Eyes]

It couldn't be noticed over all the commotion, but Amoura was beginning to stir. The process was taking time considering how much energy she had to muster earlier to get everyone here. With her senses returning, she noticed how cold it was and opened her eyes to see the source.

Something wasn't right: her eyes weren't silver but solid black. From her irises, the ebony bled out, darkening the sclera; and a sinister grin spread across her lips. Ice creatures were attacking the group and she wasted no time in joining in the fun.

A black streak, sporadic in its movements, zipped through the air away from Solomon, over the water that had been parted, and headed for the creatures that had Miracle fixed on their sights. It made contact and repeatedly tore through their bodies, shattering them into numerous pieces until they were just piles of useless ice. With the act completed, she followed closely by Miracle.

"You should be more careful," her speech had slowed and deepened from its usual pattern.

[Rin Kagamine]

“ Will you two please stop arguing? " Rin yelled out towards the sharks/men as the sound of gigantic beasts fell, creating more tiny bits of ice to slap Rin’s face. The tiny Vocaloid shot a kind look at Miracle, the High Priestess as she spoke more. “I’m sorry, milady, if you think you are a burden on me." Her grip slackened as Miracle's feet reached the ice. At that moment, the Vocaloid rushed away from the refugees.

Rin dash in the directions of the cold beasts, determined to kill only a few. The twins worked their impressive strength on the ridiculously huge behemoths while the little Vocaloid caught up. “Do you mind if a little girl like me, rough them up a bit too?” Kagamine flashed a smile as her legs revved faster and harder on the ice, creating a wave of miniscule ice shards behind her. The first creature averted its attention away from the crazy twins and stomped a hoof at Rin who seemed to be ignoring the threat. Instantly, the creature charged towards the tiny Vocaloid, having too much pride on its strength and size, not even noticing that the girl running towards him was made out of pure and almost indestructible metal. Rin’s eyes and electronic mind had already planned out the whole kill but awaited the perfect time when the icy beast reached her. The creature’s feet crunched the ice at perfect beat, going in Rin’s favor. As the beast had almost closed the space between them, Kagamine halted her whole body, standing as still as possible as her mouth barely opened. Everything in her mind began to image the whole scene slowly, almost time-consuming as the waves from her voice began to magnify. Rin screamed at the top of her fake lungs, sound waves escalating and growing at each note made. The waves began to become more and more noticeable making huge O’s that had wrapped around the beast, deafening it completely. The creature dropped down from the stance, blood gushing out its eyes and ears from the magnitude of her voice. This is my chance! Rin abruptly closed her mouth and catapulted herself into the air, flying a few feet above the icy beast. Instantly, the Vocaloid forced her whole body down with her right leg going first into the beast’s skull right into the brain. She kicked her leg free out of the skull, a few pieces of bones and a huge amount of blood flying everywhere. “Perfect kill,” Rin leaped off the deceased animal and crashed her other foot deeply into the stomach of another one, sending it flying at least fifty feet away from the refugees. Kagamine found no enjoyment in this gory fight, so she allowed herself to drop onto the ice with her feet absorbing the impact. “I’ll leave this bloody shit to you two, ‘aight?” The blond ran back at Solomon’s side; her mouth wide open to use her weapon again. “AH!!” An extremely high-pitched sound escaped her mouth and creating a gigantic O tunnel, killing and wounding any beasts trying to jump in or interrupt. The sound was extremely too high for the tiny Vocaloid to handle, but it had to be done. She had to be able to assist. If only Miku was here!

[Solomon]

The weight of Amoura on his back was lifted when she regained consciousness but her movements were too fast for Solomon to noticed the changes in appearance and the situation was growing gradually more intense with each waking moment. Now he would be able to draw his blade the moment he needed to but no weapon would be strong enough to stop the flood that was now heading in their direction. No weapon that he possessed perhaps but Miracle was more than equipped to save them from the wrath of the flood.

Solomon now felt the power of Yahweh protecting him as he drew his blade to cut down another monster that dwell within the Crystal Expanse which may very well melt over entirely depending how long the supernova lasted. Thanks to Miracle Solomon was also able to resist any backlash Rin's sonic waves would have had on his ears without the need of covering them with his hands. He turned his head to look back at the massive power of the supernova coming after them while continuing his run. Would it ever stop?

[Ayen]

Things were about to get worse.

From the sky one of the self proclaimed guardians of the Crystal Expanse flew through the air and headed through the gap provided by the divided flood, landing against the top of the hill the group was nearing as it made itself known through a mighty roar as the air around it began to freeze over.

Wings outstretched, claws extended and mouth opened as its white eyes looked at the incoming group and then solely on the Priestess who were well known even to the creatures of the Crystal Expanse as an agent of Yahweh. The death of such an individual would surely exalt the guardian's name through all of Genesis. With its mouth now fully opened the ice breath came into effect and a powerful beam of ice shot out of it heading to consume Miracle in an icy prison.

[Sparda]

The frozen wrath of the winged monster intent upon slaying Miracle would find no victim; in fact, it would meet only the infernal power of the Dark Knight and be almost instantly evaporated by the torrent of fire that shielded the young priestess.

When the column of searing flames died away, behind it stood Sparda, interposed between Miracle and the icy creature. Hefted in his right hand was an enormous sword, edged with teeth and blades that looked as if they were made of bone and backed with the crimson scales and hide of some ancient dragon. This was Thanatos, one of the three elemental Devil Arms claimed by the Legendary Dark Knight as his new arsenal.

In the hands of the legend who had bested him, the infamous Terror of Hellfire would impose his ruthless might once again.

[Shiro Kasumi]

Shiro kept running along side Sparda as they brought up the rear. They made sure no one would be left behind. However, his ear's twitched a bit as he heard the roar of some monster. his sapphire eyes looked up upon the beast at the top of the hill. This was not good, not good at all. He noticed that the beast was starring at someone in the front. Who was it after?

Before Shiro could figure this out, the monster attacked with a massive beam of ice. Great, a monster that uses his main element. The boy quickly dashed out and made his way to the front in mere seconds. As the beam got close enough for Shiro to stop it, a wall of flames stopped him. He jumped back, he was just an inch or two away from getting burned. Who? What? How?

He turned his head to the side and saw Sparda. He had went from the back of the group to the front in no time at all. Well, he was a one of the strongest demons in history so this wasn't a surprise to the boy. Shiro quickly walked over to the side of Sparda as the flames died. He drew his katana, Muramasa. The sword he took from his former clan leader Kaze. His eyes glanced up and locked with the demon. "Your mine!"[/b] Shiro said as he took off into a sprint. As he got close enough to the attack, Shiro jumped up and sliced at his head. Hopefully, he would be able to distract this thing so everyone could get away.

[Clash]

Let the kids play with the big monsters, The Two sharks stopped and looked at the little toy that seemed to be all over the place. What an odd like piece of equipment, Screaming at stuff and claiming the pack of ice creatures were gigantic, They were barely bigger than deer! The Balrog's too-cool-for-school cousin was stymied by Sparda and Sparda Jr, the holy kid was saved again, and the flood on either side of the refugees was turning into steam as the wall of fire approached. The two Clashes looked at each other, both remembering that they didn't like the other.

Shit was getting too real for the Ice Beasts, and the pack of shaggy great beasts started to flee. Leaving the two Clashes to herd the refugees away from the fire, water, ice, and winged great galoot that had befallen the group. Fuck it, there was something in the distance. One Clash said to the other. "What do you elf eyes see, Legolas?" The pack of rapidly scattering ice monsters parted to reveal distant hills, and trees! TREES DON'T HAVE ICE, THEY HAVE LEAVES! "I see smooth sailings for a good long time as soon as we get away from... all of this shit!" "With the snow-bro problem taken care of, we should focus a little more on these morons." Clash pointed to the wave of terrified civilians fleeing in their general direction. That wall of fire seemed to be losing speed, though. That's the thing with explosions, they have limits.

"THIS WAY, BORING PEOPLE!" Clash waved his arm, both of those short spears of his in one hand as Clash signaled the people to keep running. It was hard, they were fueled by adrenaline, the cold air ravaging their lungs. People had started to drop, men and women and children who couldn't keep moving. Some were getting trampled, some were unable to escape the wave of flames, some were victims of the waves of ice. A young woman was shoved by a panicking family and fell into the parted flood, but several others stopped and pulled her free before she could be pulled away by the currents that parted the water.

"These people are hopeless." "Then I'mma give 'em some hope!" Clash pointed with Shark and Awe. "We're almost through this twisted tundra! KEEP RUNNING!" There was a bright flash and the sound of moving metal, the whir of mechanical parts and the clank of parts attaching together. Clash was once again a shark. He dove into the ground and swam under the refugees, very visible through the rugged ice as his headlight eyes shone through the murky expanse. That fire wall needed to stop, and it's time to go anime superhero.

Clash raised his head from the ground and opened his mouth. "BWAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" With a dramatic, wordless vocalization, Clash's wind manipulation power kicked in, a vortex of wind so powerful and so compressed the distortions of the air were visible. The tornado slammed into the fiery wall, expanding and creating a buffer. It wasn't much compared to the expansion, and the wall of fire continued to advance, Clash moved back slowly, trying his hardest to stop the wall's fire. His Remoraz hadn't regenerated yet, and his headlight eyes flickered as he burned through his fuel reserves with the futile gesture of trying (and failing) To slow the pyroclastic wave.

"Stupid showoff..." Clash grumbled, then started to run again. He didn't care if the refugees survived or not, he just didn't want to get roasted.

[Miracle]

Miracle looked over to Amoura concerned with the changes present in her speech but there was no time to dwell on that. Things were about to get worse before they got any better. Although the two halves of the flood has finally passed the group and Miracle could focus on other things again a more powerful ice creature now blocked their path at the top of the hill. Sparda and a boy she was not familiar with has already taken to the offense but Miracle didn't want to take any chances with a prolong battle in this situation. Closing her eyes in the midst of her run she prayed.

"Dear Yahweh, please give these warriors the strength to vanquish their enemies!"

Sparda and Shiro's strength was about to be raised ten folds, and considering the devil blood that already ran through their veins that were going to be some power boost. Solomon was also about to receive the strength of twenty men as they neared closer to the ice monster. Rin and the sharks could not be touched by the power as they were cyborgs and Yahweh refused to touch Amoura as long as Other had complete control.

[Silver Eyes]

Other could feel a presence try to settle on her shortly after the child's plea to Yahweh but it moved off, clearly not wanting to bestow its gift onto her. Typical of a god being so picky about those who should be "privileged". At this, she scoffed and scowled at Miracle.

"I don't need a blessing from an impotent god." She hissed and her attention was caught by the creature Sparda and Shiro were fighting just ahead. Already, she had an idea in mind and wasted no time in executing it. While still running near Miracle --the impulse to protect this annoying creature was strong, even while Amoura was unconscious-- she removed three discs from her belt, spread them out and the buttons were pressed with her telekinetic powers.

An obnoxious beeping sounded from all three in sync.

Other ran, leaped, dove into the ice monster, and rolled out after having regained solidity. Shortly after she stood, all three bombs detonated within the creature.

[Ayen]

The Ice Guardian flew above the torrents of flames and then landed back down after it passed. When Shiro came to behead the Ice Guardian it blocked the attack by shielding itself with it very own wings. The wings were more than strong enough to withstand the Half Devil’s blade as they then unfolded and the creature knocked him back down the hill with its ice claws. Then in the moments to follow the creature saw Amoura go right through its very being. It was only irritated at first and prepared another attack until an explosion came from within. The monster was brought down to only one knee at the damage done to its insides by the strange line of offense from Amoura. It let out a cry of pain as the creature’s claws stabbed into the top of the hill.

This one simple act began freezing the hill and ground beneath the approaching people feet and then seconds later the ice broke apart sending shards of ice up into the air in every direction looking to impale the people and slow them down. Forcing itself up on its feet, still heavily wounded, the creature flew into the air and released a power below subzero ice breath towards the group below, mainly on the child, to freeze them all.

[Solomon]

Solomon could feel the power of Yahweh coming over him through Miracle's prayer and felt his strength increase beyond it's means while continuing the ascent up the hill. Judging by the cries of the creature further on up it sounded like the new battle would be cut short but nothing could ever be that simple, could it? Solomon witness the ground underneath them freeze and then break apart as ice shards rose up to pierce their flesh. Solomon jumped up and forward through the air, evading some of the ice shards while others tore through his cloak and hit his armor. The armor got the worse of it as he landed but the refugees would not be so lucky as they were not trained for this kind of thing.

Many fell to the ice shards while others evaded them out of either dumb luck or the mercy of Yahweh. They could only withstand the ice breath as the protection of Yahweh kept them warm and his resolve kept him going. "Archers!" They had to get that thing out of the air as fast as possible so it wouldn't cause them anymore trouble. The archers ignited their arrows and them aimed them up at the beast while never slowing down in their run. "Fire!" They shot the flaming arrows up towards the ice creature to melt through it's ice body and blast the thing out of the sky.

[Sparda]

The very ground beneath Sparda's feet froze over, buckled, and then shattered, but the Dark Knight had already devised his defence. Reversing his grip on his mighty Devil Arm, he plunged the macabre blade into the icy ground. The weapon glowed red-hot for a moment; and in a perfect circle around the demon, a disc of searing demonic flames roared into life, melting the shards of ice before they could reach him and do any significant damage and also keeping any stray ones within its reach from threatening the refugees.

When the frozen ground finally settled, Sparda reined in Thanatos' infernal power and fixed his attention on the monster's next attack; a great torrent of sub-zero air and ice unleashed from its mouth upon the group. Archers under Solomon's command loosed a volley of flaming arrows in return, but they would be little but a distraction if those wings were able to withstand Shiro's blade. Sparda's weapon, however, had proved itself decidedly more hazardous to the ice beast.

In the path of the frozen surge of air, the Dark Knight blurred into view a short distance from Miracle, centering his counterattack on her location to keep her safest. Once again, Thanatos was glowing as if superheated; and raising his blade to the Ice Guardian, Sparda unleashed a searing cylindrical beam of hellfire in reply. It widened as it roared skyward, expanding to a diameter of almost three metres to swallow up the monster's attack and howling as if the demon himself sought to subjugate Sparda's foe beneath his rage.

[Shiro Kasumi]

His eyes widened as he watched as his attack was blocked. In seconds, he was pushed back and fell on the other side of the hill. He rolled down and was separated from the others. As the boy stopped, rage began to bubble up inside of him. After all the training he went through, after obtaining all these new powers, he was still pushed back as if he was rag doll. After everything fight he went through, every enemy he faced, why couldn't he even damage that damn thing?!

It wasn't fair. He was embarrassed by that thing in front of his trainer and friends. This wasn't going to be the end of this. Not on his watch! But something happened. It was like a mysterious power began to empower the Half-Blood. His heart rate began to increase as his eyes began to glow azure. Shiro's demonic aura began to increase it engulfed his body.

His body began to freeze and expand. His shape was not human anymore. The boy's body grew in size and the form was of a dragon. Thick scales and ice covered his body. His eyes glowed green as they glared at the demon on top of the hill. With a mighty roar, the ground around him froze as spike of ice jolted from the ground. Shiro was now in his rage filled Devil Trigger. No one has yet seen him in this form. He quickly clawed his way to the top as he leaped into the air. His massive wings flapped, allowing him to fly into the air after the demon. Shiro reared back his claw as soon as he got in range and jolted it down with angry force, hoping to smash the ice demon and send him flying to the ground.

[Ayen]

The ice beast used his powerful ice breath to freeze the incoming arrows, they froze over before even having the chance to reach their target in the air and fell down shattering against the ground. Seeing Shiro soar through the air towards the great ice beast it quickly rammed its body against him, using its feet to kick Shiro right into the trajectory of the approaching hellfire, compliments of The Legendary Dark Knight Sparda. Meanwhile the explosion behind them has finally died down and the second sun created on this day now burned brightly upon the Crystal Expanse, the ruins of Aircano and even the Downward Spiral itself. While that nightmare has finally came to an end the ice beast however remained in the air, sights set on the High Priestess as it came crashing down to rip through her very flesh.