Alitia: Welcome to Millenia

XL: War Breaks

To put it simply, the battle for control of Sacred Heart was not going well.

Minerva was fighting impressively as always, her flames tearing Shadows apart at the seams. Her fiery sword cut down Shadows left and right, leaving the area around her stained with the sludge of the demonic creatures. Any Sierra students who came her way were promptly knocked unconscious by a small charm, and after they were dealt with, she moved right along.

However, Minerva's fighting technique was the only good thing about the battle thus far. The witches of Sacred Heart were not faring well, and it wasn't uncommon to see one collapse under the weight of their own exhaustion. From there, the Possession Master, Iago Thanatos, would dive down to slap a hand against the fallen witch. After that, they would change as the symbol of the Possession Master's power manifested itself upon their skin.

Nebula remained close to her father throughout the fight. Without any friends at Sacred Heart to rely on, she was stuck with him, not that she was complaining. He was a potent fighter and certainly not a man to be trifled with. He could easily get rid of any Shadows that came too close while also putting the cantors of Sierra to sleep before any significant harm could be done. She hadn't ever seen him fight before, but now that she had, Nebula was positive that she didn't ever want to be the one on the receiving end of his harsh blows.

However, not even Karver's immense fighting prowess could save Sacred Heart from being overwhelmed. Minerva wasn't showing any signs of slowing down, but her students were certainly feeling the effects of this prolonged battle. It had been an hour and a half since the fight began. Nebula could feel her exhaustion kicking in.

Nebula glanced around at everybody in the courtyard of Sacred Heart. She saw more people passed out or hunched over in exhaustion than she did fighting. The teachers and third-year students were the only ones able to remain upright. Nebula herself felt her knees give way from beneath her as a Shadow pounded at her back. Her Isolis gave way to show her bloodied and bruised form. She breathed heavily, her eyes threatening to close on her despite her mind screaming at her to stay awake, stay fighting, stay in the moment so it didn't get her killed.

Nebula felt the rush of air before the hand hit her shoulder. She expected to feel a creeping sensation of horror as she was taken over by the Possession Master, since she knew that was his hand on her back, but she didn't. Similarly to the last time she and Iago had made contact, nothing happened. It was as if he was normal as could be with no powers to take control of the innocent. It was a foreign thought to Nebula, and it sent her heart into a spree of pounding in her moment of panic.

"Why isn't it working?!" Iago shrieked above her. He was trying to hit his hand against her shoulder over and over again, but the contact did little more than make Nebula's skin sting from excessive harm. She didn't move to knock him off simply because she lacked the ability to do so. Instead, she waited for him to lose interest on his own.

Iago kicked her in the side, and Nebula folded in pain, arms going towards her ribs. The pain in her side told her that something had broken, but she had missed the cracking sound when his foot made contact with her side. She felt her eyes trying to close again, but Nebula forced them to stay open as Iago walked away from her and towards Minerva.

Minerva was losing her energy since she was having to fight all the remaining Shadows on her own. The students of Sacred Heart weren't able to help her anymore as they reverted back to normal, unable to keep their magical forms up any longer. Minerva made a clean slice through a Shadow as a blast came from Iago. It knocked her off her feet, and she slammed into the outside wall of Sierra.

Nebula heard Minerva hit the wall from where she was across the courtyard. Iago strolled over to the head teacher before touching her shoulder. Sparks flew as both of them were burned, but it didn't seem to have much of an impact on Iago. Minerva, on the other hand, was biting her lip in pain. Blood streamed down the side of her face. Her lip split, and the bottom half of her face fell limp.