Shinsou could do nothing but watch on as the lean electromancer's impatience got the better of him. For an older man, Storm's footwork was surprisingly sharp. His leaps and bounds up the spiralling staircase to Whitevale's surface were crisp and precise. Augmented by that mighty electrical power he was so feared for, it was a matter of seconds before his friend had reached the parapet and was out of sight.

For fuck's sake. Let's hope Arius isn't counting on you and Gweneal turning up alone, or we're all fucked.

The Telgradian turned his attention to Felicity, sliding an arm under hers to shoulder her weight. Her PTSD had gotten the best of her. There was no doubt that this moment of weakness hadn't escaped Veritas's unforgiving eyes, but there were bigger issues at hand now. Therapy would have to wait.

"Try and walk, Felicity" Shinsou insisted as they made their way up the stone stairs, "We're in a world of trouble if we get to the top like this and Arius has already dealt with that hot-head."

Progress was agonisingly slow. Every now and then he turned his eyes to the girl, seeing what Storm had already seen. Sadness and pity beyond oblivion as the pair limped halfway home. The girl slumped half across his shoulder almost made a mockery of the Felicity Rhyolite he had fought in the Citadel, the one that had given him such trouble that he had to assume his final form. The Telgradian would have been lying to himself if he said he wasn't now questioning his decision to promote her, but he knew that everything was perfect in hindsight.

Easy to assess everything after the fact, though, isn't it? Got to get some semblence of you back in the game here, Fel. Work with me.

"Felicity, listen to me."

They stopped on the stair that exactly made the halfway mark between the lower prison level and the entrance at Whitevale's level above. Shinsou, with determination in his shining golden eyes, swivelled the young girl round, placed two hands on her shoulders and looked her dead in the eye.

"Right now I need you to think. This isn't about the past, or what we've all lost, way back when. Right now, this is about what we have left. If Arius gets his hands on Gweneal, it's over. All of it, as we know it, gone. I don't know if he can, or whether it's even really his plan, but we have to assume that's what is going through his mind. You can put a pin in it right now, we all can. But we have to get there, and get there soon."

Felicity looked almost gone, her eyes cast to the granite beneath her feet, having submitted to her emotions. The Telgradian lifted her chin with his free hand until their gaze met.

"Hey, hey, hey. Listen to me. I didn't recruit you because I didn't believe in what you can do. I don't bring losers to Whitevale. You know what Storm thinks? He thinks you're weak, that you can't handle this gig. He's probably questioning my judgment. There's nothing more I love in this world than proving that wise-ass wrong, and he is. He can't see what I saw. I want you to go up there and show him the strength that brought me to my knees."

The Telgradian hated speeches, especially admist a time-sensitive crisis, but he could think of no other way to motivate his charge. Slowly, the red headed girl absorbed his words. Shinsou had no idea what she was thinking and was three seconds away from fireman lifting his apprentice up the coiling staircase when some fire returned to her eyes. Nodding slowly, as if understanding the universe for the first time, her voice finally regained some density.

"Let's go."

With an affirmative nod, Shinsou righted the girl and flew out of the blocks, sprinting until the spiral ran out of stairs and they were once again level with the town of Whitevale. The pair left the holding area with urgency and bolted through the same windowed amphitheater Storm had passed through what now seemed like hours ago, the disturbed wisps of dust ionised from the electromancer's passing.

Shinsou eyes swivelled straight to the clock tower as he hit the outdoors.

No sign of Storm. Judging from his life force, he's near the tower. I can't sense that piece of shit Arius, though-

His thought was cut off dead as a sphere of crimson energy balled into the back of his head, and his legs gave way underneath him, crumpling like burning paper. As he skidded a few yards over the gravel, blood pouring from his mouth, the dazed Telgradian heard an all too familiar voice lording over him.

"All too easy."

The Telgradian bit his bloodied lip as the pulsating life force swelled in his belly. It was him. Arius was right there, apparantly inside the body of one of Whitevale's guards. Slowly, he pulled apart the armour he wore, each piece dropping to the floor with a clang. Gasping for breath, the spellsword glared through wincing eyes at his oppressor as Felicity stood frozen.

Without warning, a magnesium-white flare burst into existence from Arius’s free hand, and the resulting shockwave sent the bewildered redhead crashing to the floor beside her injured leader.

"I think it's better if you all stay on the floor." The megalomaniacal usurper suggested, turning now to his nemesis. "Surprised to see me, Shinsou? It's been a good while, although you probably barely remember our last meeting. If you're wondering, it only took mere moments to conjure a portal from the tower to here. I was counting on one of you to dive in without thinking and take the bait. No surprise who bit first, obviously."

Arius walked up to Shinsou, swiftly bringing his boot down on the man's ribs. There was a loud crack as the Telgradian's ribs buckled under the weight of the rubber and steel. The Telgradian wheezed, spitting a gobulet of blood on the dusty Whitevale stone.

"Storm's on his way to the clock tower now, expecting to run into me. When he gets to the top, well...let's just say for his efforts he's earned a vacation somewhere warm. Like Fallien's glasslands, perhaps. A one-way portal to a very permanent exile."

As the sun cast its heat on the blood that had spilled, Arius revelled. He had divided, and now all that was left to do was to conquer.