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“Well, don’t you two look awful,” Dehya mused. She stomped over to Alhaitham and Kaveh’s cell, Nilou close behind.
“Yeah. Thanks.” Kaveh rolled his eyes.
“Do either of you have any severe injuries? I can’t heal them, but I can try my best to soothe them…” offered Nilou, trying to be at least somewhat helpful. Her Hydro Vision couldn’t melt the lock like Dehya’s was currently doing, nor could it act as an ice-pack like a Cryo Vision could. She just offered her hand to help the Dendro Allogenes up off the ground, checking them over to the best of her ability.
“Nothing major, thanks for checking,” Kaveh said. He gestured to Alhaitham, who just shook his head. Nilou knew that the Scribe was a man of very few words, thanks to their shared time as commentators for the Interdarshan Championship. Nilou stepped back to let her rescue partner take the stage.
“Shit, you don’t have your Visions. That makes things harder,” the mercenary observed.
“Oh, so that’s what those elemental traces were about…” Nilou said to herself.
“Wait, Nilou, you can sense them?” Dehya asked incredulously, “They’re Dendro Visions though…”
“Does that matter?”
“Logically speaking, yes, it would,” Alhaitham finally chimed in, “It’s not uncommon for Allogenes of the same element to be able to detect similar elemental energies, but sensing other elements is quite rare, indeed.”
“Oh! Um, cool? Anyway, just follow me everyone, I’ll lead the way.” Nilou didn’t really know what was so special about her “rare” ability, so she shrugged it off and kept moving. The traces were coming from further inside the prison ward. Despite her internal warnings, Nilou led the group down the desolate hallway.
They reached the collection room without any issues, Kaveh visibly perking up as they neared his ambitions. Alhaitham looked the same as always, stoic, unemotional, but Nilou knew he was experiencing the same symptoms as Kaveh. Being separated from your Vision for an extended period of time was no small punishment to endure.
Nilou and Dehya hung back in the doorway as the other two members of their party retrieved their Visions. Their respective weapons were also in the room, Kaveh worriedly running over to a rather beat-up Mehrak. One of Nilou’s heartstrings tugged at the sight of it. She thought the little briefcase-robot was pretty adorable.
One Alhaitham finally laid a hand on his Vision, however, the entire room was instantly bathed in a deep, red light, alarms blaring in the small room. Alhaitham promptly shoved his newly recovered headphones onto his ears and switched them on, swiftly clipping his Vision back in place in the same motion. Both Dehya and Nilou jumped at the sudden noise, which turned out to be the right move, for a large metal door began closing over the exit. Dehya’s long hair barely cleared the gap. All four Allogenes converged on the center of the room, swords and claymores drawn.
Nilou’s heart thudded in her chest. They’d been trapped in this small, echoing room, but at least they had each other, right? What’s more, all four of them were armed with both their Visions and their weapons. Dehya and Alhaitham were probably already drafting battle plans based on their elements and the corresponding reactions. Nilou figured those plans included a lot of Burgeoning and Blooming.
To say Nilou didn’t expect what came next would be a lie. She’d preformed in enough plays to know that the bad guys always wanted numbers on their side, and faced with four Allogenes, they needed a lot of numbers. How had these many Eremites slip through the cracks in Dehya’s search? The mercenary had been very thorough. Still, there had to be at least twenty Eremites in the room, and maybe more on the way. They entered through secret doors in the side of the room, which remained open. She hoped the others noticed the possible escape routes.
Kaveh sighed exaggeratedly. “Well, I’ve had worse odds today.”
“Don’t jinx it!” Dehya whisper-shouted.
Nilou had heard about this specific trick that most Hydro users could do, courtesy of the Traveler’s infinite companions and stories. Water was fluid, freeform, and as such, it could mold into any shape. The Traveler told her about Hydro users that could make water clones of themselves… Nilou wondered if she could do it too. That might even the odds.
“Everyone, I’m going to try something new.” She said, only loud enough for the four of them to hear.
“Nilou, I’m all about the pursuit of new ideas, but I really don’t think now is the time for experimentation,” Kaveh looked about as nervous as Nilou felt. She decided to not let that get to her.
“Let her try!” Dehya smacked Kaveh upside the head.
“Ow! Okay, okay, sorry…”
Nilou closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. It was just like making anything out of water. She’d done that for the kids around Zubayr theater before. It was just like that. It was just like that…
On an exhale, Nilou tugged the moisture from the air and materialized it into several water-clones, two of herself, one of Dehya, one of Alhaitham, and one of Kaveh. She felt her innate elemental energy draining but she kept up the illusions, making them dance and sling fake slashes at their enemies. Dehya laughed maniacally to her left.
“What a show! What’s the matter, seeing double?” she jeered, jumping right into the fray like the warrior she was. Kaveh stared at the apparitions for a brief moment before swinging his claymore in tune with Dehya’s, Burgeon reactions exploding in every corner. Even Alhaitham looked impressed. Nilou stood in the middle of the room as her friends fought in a circle around her, every ounce of her brainpower focused on maintaining the clones. Sweat beaded on her forehead.
“Almost there, Nilou! Keep it up!” encouraged Dehya. The dancer could only offer a smile and a nod, her eyelids already drooping. Archons, this took so much out of her…
When the last Eremite fell, Nilou instantly released her clones and stood with her hands on her knees, gasping for air she didn’t knew she needed so desperately. Her friends were doubled over in similar positions of exhaustion, Kaveh slumped against some wooden crates, Alhaitham leaning on the solid metal door. Dehya stumbled over and clapped Nilou a little too hard on the back.
“That was one hell of an experiment! You alright?”
“I…I think so,” she gasped, “Though, I do feel a little lightheaded…” Nilou swayed dangerously but strong hands gripped her shoulders and kept her upright.
“Woah, hey, no passing out on me! You gotta stay awake…”
But Nilou was already too far gone. She thought she mumbled some sort of apology, but the words were lost on all ears.