Dodge: Serial 118

Losha and the Zeroes meet at last. Through the night's tempest she battles her foes. However, a growing darkness begins to trap them all.

Serial 118: Don’t Know Jack - III

June 28th, 48 S.D.         22:05        Kalon, Central Plains

    Losha paused and blinked hard several times, uncertain of just what exactly she was witnessing. It were as if a shadowy presence spread all throughout the hall, rising ever so slightly, becoming thicker by the minute. She only stared at it for a few moments before she hustled on. Her instincts told her to get out. Stepping quickly down a corridor with the Jackal on top of her, Losha worked her way through the villa. The dark haze continued to permeate the space around them. Eventually, it proved so dense in places that she bumped into various objects and nearly tripped over a soldier or two.

    “She must be close,” the Jackal cackled. “Ya, this is all her. I know this feeling. You got what you wanted, lady. The motherfucking Zeroes...” As Losha turned around swiftly, she accidentally swung Black Jackal’s head into a wall. It was far too dim to see properly at that point.

    “Guh...” he said as he went limp once more. Though she hadn’t meant to incapacitate him like that, she thought it for the best. The man had a tongue that ran on and on...

    “Hmph,” Losha said with a shrug as she went forward. She pressed her hand to the side, sensing things by touch as she edged by. It was impossible to walk at a normal pace; her visibility was scarcely a meter now. Her mind turned to the Zeroes. Were they truly here now? She hadn’t planned on meeting them just yet. Where were they though? All nearby seras frequencies were accounted for; they must have been masking themselves. But what on the Continent was this fog? It was unnatural, even paranormal. It never seemed to move, even when she swept by. Was it all a sort of illusion?

    Again she stopped. By now, the murky substance reached her waist, dancing at her fingers. Raising her hand to her face, she flexed all of her digits open and shut. No, she reasoned, this was no trick being played upon her mind. This was something real, but what? Sa, it was faint, but the abyss had a feeling to it, as if it were made of... raw seras? But how could that be?

    As she pulled her hand back, for just a moment, a bewildering sight confronted Losha. She saw a woman’s head directly before her, smiling through the void. However, she seemed to be upside down, as if floating. The moment Losha squinted at this apparition, the woman vanished. As if sucked into the impenetrable smog around them, she outright disappeared. Was this like all those times she saw Suvla, even after her death? Was she suddenly dealing with things no one could explain? She started to think so, but that didn’t quite sit right with her...

    While Losha pondered, a tingling ran up and down her spine, shooting across her nerves; it was a warning. She felt herself turning slowly to the side, as if time were infinitely long. As her brain entered a state of hyper awareness, she ran blindly. Though she only made half a dozen steps, she could hear her heart in her ears all the while. It was like moving underwater. She needed to get away, but she realized her efforts weren’t fast enough.

    A sense of dread washed over Losha as she dove to the floor. Above her an explosion ripped through the ceiling, smashing straight into the villa. Upon impact, her perception of events returned to its regular flow. Grunting as the weight of the Jackal fell with her, Losha swiftly regained herself. Though lying on the ground, she rolled over to look behind them. Something had crashed into the place like a missile. All at once, lightning from the storm flashed, illuminating even the mysterious, blackened air. Water and splintered wood filtered through a hole overhead while the winds howled from outside.

    She spent but one second glancing around before grabbing the Jackal. However, before she could pick him up, another projectile punched through the roof. Rushing in like a bolt, the thing, whatever it was, broke into the villa, shattering beams and boards and quaking the earth. As she shielded herself from debris, a third and fourth unseen force rocketed down nearby. Their landing blew her back several paces as she tumbled across the floor.

    “Shrieks!” Losha whispered to herself. On her back now, she tilted her head up and gazed over at the Jackal. For some reason, she couldn’t find him. His seras frequency seemed to put him close to the source of the bombardment. Oddly enough, she now recognized four new frequencies in the vicinity, all near the same site. It couldn’t have been mere coincidence.

    Hurriedly, she pulled herself upright and stared ahead. Out of nowhere, the woman’s face appeared again, hovering in the cloudy depths. Her visage, however, only lasted an instant before once more retreating. As this woman left, so too did the fog. As inexplicably as it had come, so too did it recede, draining away by degrees. Most of the lights in the villa had been destroyed during her fights, and more still had been damaged in the recent barrage. The mist had cleared, but she couldn’t see perfectly. Even so, she managed well enough to spot four male figures low to the floor a few meters forward.

    Lightning electrified the sky, illuminating the scene in front of Losha. For that brief instant of brightness, she saw people who had dropped to one knee. Leaning ahead, they braced themselves with their arms extended. Each seemed to wear light armor and gear as well as masks that only exposed their eyes. From top to bottom, they were completely covered, however. They bowed their heads down, but from her angle, Losha guessed that they all had protective visors of a sort.

    As the lightning’s effect passed, these four strangers focused on her. Spontaneously, their necks jerked up, zeroing their sights directly upon Losha. In unison, a strange, white glow emitted from their pupils. Like demons, they looked at her as they stood up, as fire burned behind their vision. Losha cocked to the side and growled. What was she looking at? Were these really the Zeroes? Nothing was making sense at all. She ignored anything that confused her and trained her attentions on getting out of the villa. The people before her had strong amounts of seras flowing through them. They’d not be dealt with quickly, but she had little choice but to fight now. Unfortunately, the Zeroes seemed to have other plans.

    One of them stretched out his arm and lit the place as seras surrounded him. Immediately, Losha jumped back, fearing a series was being cast to attack her. This adversary didn’t launch an assault against her, rather he used a kinetic series to draw something towards him. That something happened to be Black Jackal.

    “Damn,” Losha cursed as the Jackal’s body floated away. She was about to counter their move with a kinetic series of her own, yet Losha never had the chance to steal him back. As soon as Black Jackal was secure within their ranks, the Zeroes began their escape. All together, they sprang up, charging through the roof with speed-steps. As if unconcerned with any obstacle, they tore new holes through the villa. A sense of panic surged over Losha. Why had they just left like that? Did they only care about retrieving the Jackal? She’d expected a battle, but now she was compelled to give chase.

    Without delay, she too propelled herself upward via speed-steps, coming topside in a moment. Sliding down the angled tiles, she stopped as she came to the end of the villa’s southern side. Rain and gales slapped her face, blinding her in between lightning strikes. The storm continued as fiercely as ever, however, she could still track the Zeroes by their seras frequencies. They could run, but hiding wouldn’t work. Even if they started masking themselves again, Black Jackal couldn’t do so; she’d always have a trail to follow. She searched the hills and quickly spotted the light of serialization sparking through the night.

    With a huff, her nostrils flared. If the Zeroes thought they could abuse the art behind her back, acting in secret without consequence, they were sorely mistaken. She’d find them, hunt them down, and bring their organization to an end. Gritting her teeth, she readied herself, dropping down to her hands as she crouched. Carefully, she aimed and calculated the power she’d need. The plan was to fling herself at them in one shot using a massive speed-step. Already, the Zeroes had crossed a few hundred meters. In a matter of minutes, they’d be long gone.

    Losha pressed her legs against the roof, like an athlete poised to run. Narrowing her eyes, she prepared her series. Azure light gathered beneath her before a flood of kinetic energy swelled. It quickly coalesced into a single, targeted point under her boots, pushing her away at once. The series was so potent, she actually destroyed a bit of the roof as she leaped off.

    Hurling fast upon the Zeroes, whipping through the downpour, Losha traveled over the land in an almost straight line. By the time gravity even began to grab her, she was just about to collide with the fleeing mercenaries. In her haste, she hadn’t designed a suitable way to stop herself, but she guessed using the Zeroes as her brakes was fine at any rate. Quickly, she cast another kinetic series around her body, a barrier to shield her from the fall.

    As if somehow detecting Losha, the Zeroes turned around the second she entered flight. She was on course to hit them almost instantly, but they managed to scatter just barely. Losha plowed into the earth with a mighty quake. Her landing burrowed a crater into the hillside as grass and mud expelled in all directions. The Zeroes had jumped, yet the blast still caused them to stumble. Having suffered nothing thanks to her protective force-field, Losha pushed herself up and went at her foes.

    Wildly, she pounced from the little hole she’d carved and descended upon the nearest Zero. Rapidly, he darted to the side, but she continued her efforts by speed-stepping towards him. Before she could reach him, however, she saw a blade coming at her from the left. She expected it to hit her barrier, yet it passed right through. Feeling the danger so near to her, Losha threw herself away and rolled. As she came upright, she saw that a second Zero had intervened, cutting his sword at her to prevent Losha’s attack on his partner. An ordinary weapon shouldn’t have pierced a kinetic force-field. Her series could stop any physical object, as long as she was strong enough. She’d suppressed an entire avalanche once. A simple piece of sharpened steel should have been no issue at all, unless...

    If they were using servai - raw seras molded to mimic the form of any battle tool - that would go right past her defenses. Servai weren’t actually corporeal items; instead, they were a particular manifestation of energy, seras that a serialist controlled for combat. Looking like weapons was simply a mnemonic method to help the wielder better handle their servai. Indeed, two other Zeroes held up their arms as white light formed into long, thin, shapes within their hands. In a brilliant flickering, the light seemed to become solid, making it appear as if they were holding real swords. She cursed to herself as she realized how difficult matters were starting to be. If the Zeroes were advanced enough as serialists to use servai, this would not be a quick fight. Once more, however, where Losha anticipated a struggle, her opponents simply fled.

    As the one carrying Black Jackal recovered, the Zeroes speed-stepped away. They really wanted to avoid conflict. She surmised that the Jackal must have been their priority rather than dealing with her. Regrettably for them, she was not so easily shaken. As experienced as she was, Losha was able to outrun them. In a single heartbeat, she tailed after them, gaining on them with a few short speed-steps. To their dismay, she had already come up directly behind them.

    Losha only concerned herself with the one hauling the Jackal. She still needed that man’s information. Capturing one of the Zeroes was always an alternative option, but restraining any of them would be difficult at best. Side by side with the group, Losha reached out to snatch the Jackal, however, the three Zeroes wielding servai again interfered. One slashed at her, forcing her to fall back for the time being. As this race across the hills continued, the trio split and formed up around Losha. Taking turns, one would zip towards her and cut his seratic weapon through the air. To evade, she had to speed-step to the side, but not too much, else the Jackal would only get farther away. Every time she dodged, however, another Zero was close by to lash out. It became a seemingly endless cycle of ducking, twisting, and jumping all while on the run. The Zeroes had no complaints though, as long as it kept her away from the Jackal.

    Frustrated by the situation, at being stalled by these three, Losha took a different approach. When the next tried to slash her, she raised her hand and executed a quick kinetic series. As if struck by a sudden punch, that Zero was sent backwards several meters as he launched right off his feet. Blitzing forward, she came after another one. He swung high, but missed, giving her ample opportunity to retaliate. She unleashed the same series, but this time at the Zero’s legs, pushing them right over his head. Like a wheel, he began whirling and bouncing across the storm-slicked grass. With only one more to go, Losha took a mighty speed-step and body slammed him far off to the side. Thanks to her active force-field, he was shoved harshly out of the way.

    Now upon the final, unarmed Zero, she summoned her own servai in a blaze of blue light. All she had to do was strike him to reclaim the Jackal. Dashing yet again, she thrust her servai into the Zero as she intercepted his path. To her amazement, however, she could not penetrate his armor. Her servai encountered resistance and eventually was repelled after a brief burst of light. The reaction pushed both of them away by several meters. Losha recovered soon, but by then, so had all the other Zeroes. The trio sped past her and joined their teammates as they went up a steep hill.

    Losha snarled to herself lowly. What had happened? Her servai should have passed right through their equipment; it shouldn’t have been countered like that. She had only seen her servai act like that once before, when it had fought against serastone... But that didn’t seem right at all; she sensed no serastone whatsoever in the area. The stones radiated seras, similar to souls; they had frequencies of their own she should have been able to feel. Ignoring this anomaly, Losha resumed her hunt.

    In a few speed-steps, she was ready to tackle them again. Nevertheless, outside forces worked against her. The black fog returned, rolling over the landscape, rising from the ground itself. This time, it came to life hastily, sparing no second as it phased in. All at once, she found herself trapped in the deep darkness.

    “Shrieks! Not now!” she said angrily, unable to see anything. Even as lightning jaggedly crossed the clouds, the mist strangled her sight almost completely. Her only choice was to follow the Zeroes by their seras frequencies, but to her dismay, their signatures were fading. Was it this veil? Was that somehow hiding them? Gradually, she lost track of them entirely. It were as if they’d disappeared from the very world. She kept running after them, but she had no idea where they were or where she was going. Perhaps, she thought, another approach might work, maybe she could use another series to sharpen her hearing and follow them by sound. However, before she could do anything of that nature, that blasted woman’s face once again came at her.

    Like some kind of spirit, she seized upon Losha, flying into the serialist, then passing out her other end. As if ice enveloped her body, she felt herself freezing all over. Whatever had gone through her also stole her vitality. Her energy had all but depleted, her strength began to seep from herself. Fatigue soon plagued Losha as her steps grew shorter and slower. Laboriously, she drew short breaths, panting heavily. Before she could wonder what was happening, her mind started to trip. Her eyes opened and closed drowsily, unable to maintain a consistent state. At last, she came to a halt as her head swooned. She tried looking around, it was of no use; she had no more stamina. Collapsing to her knees, Losha fell over to her side as sleep overpowered her.



    Hours later, she began to stir. With a groan, she shifted around on her back. Trying to recall just where she was, Losha noticed the gentle rain pelting her cheeks every now and then. Though she felt exhausted, she fought to awaken fully. As her eyes split open, she could see the dull gray skies hanging far away. It must have been morning. The tempest had passed, eventually turning into nothing more than a light shower. All the same, the weather had left her absolutely soaked. That wretched haze had left a long time ago, and so too had the Zeroes. Losha held her hand up, looking at it while she clenched tightly.

    She’d been so close to gaining a lead, to finding something, anything about the Zeroes. She could have had decent information on their whereabouts, their clients, and their activities. And yet, all of that had sneaked right by her, slipping through her grasp. Now she was back where she’d started, back to zero. For all the work she’d done, she still didn’t know jack...

    Losha sighed and put her forearm over her face, covering her eyes. Though the rain continued around her as she lay idle, it suddenly stopped hitting her head. Curious, Losha moved her arm and saw someone standing over her. Wearing a hooded cloak, a familiar young woman looked down and smiled at the serialist. Losha stared back for quite a while.

    “Virel...?” she finally asked.

Author's Note

15 years ago, Losha Holvate Sventa fought to bring peace between Sventa and Henron. Though calm has been established between these two major clans, the larger situation has not been resolved. Time has passed, but the Central Plains are still a violent place, seething with anger and hatred. All it takes is a simple scratch, and everything will come rushing to the top. From the shadows, one underground group aims to do just that using the strength of serialization. Now an abandoned hero, Losha must once more rise to save these lands from the destructive power of the art. Yet as the actions of her past confront the Wolf, can she find the will to stand against the one behind it all, her very own son?

The next installment comes April 13, 2016. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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* The last time Losha encountered mysterious fog was when she battled Suvla. Just like before, a specter's head attacked her (causing Izel to become frightened). At this point, it remains unknown just who that woman is or why she's appearing, or what her connection is with the Zeroes. Her presence is definitely linked to the black fog, but just what she means for the rest of this arc will have to be revealed later.

* The Zeroes are introduced finally, however, they still remain faceless, more or less. The 4 men who retrieve Black Jackal say nothing and reveal nothing. In fact, who's to say they are even real? Perhaps they were an illusion created by the fog? Perhaps that's why their eyes were glowing? Or maybe there is something more to them than that? At any rate, this whole escapade up north has left Losha without answers still. With this confrontation, however, the battle between Losha and the Zeroes will only heat up, especially as the Zeroes are forced to reveal themselves...

* Recall that servai are nothing more than raw seras transformed to look like real weapons. Most lower-level serialization revolves around converting raw seras into a more easily manipulated form (kinetic energy primarily, branching into fire, electricity, and light), but advanced series require control over the raw energy of the soul. A servai is this energy, but it can only attack the soul; it passes through regular material (serastone being a notable exception). Servai were designed by Nabel Viska to mimic the appearance of weapons by manipulating the light they generate around them, sort of like a hologram. During the Sventa-Henron war, Losha reverse-engineered how to make servai, basing all of her information on the one brief encounter she and Nabel had back in Palostrol.

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Any feedback is welcome. Just writing because I like it. Always wanted to make a weekly series, so I'm doing it.