The Antikythera Minefield (Part 2 of 2)

By: D. R. Nyan-chan

“Nyu really should apologize to Jason-nya,” Beryl suggested with a hug.

“GET OFF ME!” Fregata shrieked while emitting a harsh gale that knocked everyone back in the process.  “That does it.  Now the real fight starts.”  With a sinister smile, Fregata cast off her bloody bone armor and metallic talon claws, both of which proved to be far heavier than they looked.  Underneath, the harpy only had a few strips of leather loincloth and some well-placed feathers preserving her modesty.  In addition, she also had special anklets and shoulder pads with runic inscriptions.

“Nyo…nyat nyow,” Beryl whispered as she suddenly doubled over and her hair glowed a pale blue.

“Beryl!  What’s wrong?” Kiyoko concernedly shouted as she sprinted over.

“Know your place, Turd-Stomper!” Fregata snarled as she tossed Kiyoko back with a focused blast of air that she produced with a mere flap of her wings.  “And now, a certain kitty needs to die,” she triumphantly cackled as Beryl grunted and mewed in pain.

Silence, then a sonic boom, that was what muffled Fregata’s curses as Yukiko and Kazzy carried the School Pet out of the range of the harpy’s lightning-quick talon strike.  “That was impressive, you two,” Lillitu applauded.  “Now see if you can find Jason.”

“At once, Mistress,” her familiars responded.

“I-if you want Beryl, then you have to go through us!” Milisey proclaimed despite the shakiness in her voice as she and the rest of the students stood between Fregata and Beryl.

“So you all want to die that badly?” the harpy leered.  “Very well.  It’s time you learned why no one dares to cross the few who have earned the title of Peregrine.”  With that, Fregata rocketed into the sky so fast that not even Milisey could reliably follow her.  An instant later, the harpy dove down and past everyone, followed closely by an even louder sonic BOOOM!

Milisey flinched and fearfully covered her ears while everyone else tried their best to shield themselves from the sheer force of the shockwave.  Fregata took this opportunity to close in on Beryl and attempt to slice her with a set of vacuum blades generated from the anklets on her talons.  Fortunately, Ezhyllia was able to intercept with a toss of Yatoburi and the harpy instead ended up slicing the nearby wall due to the deflection.  She, Alex, and Kiyoko then ganged up on Fregata and attacked from multiple sides.

“It’ll be okay, Beryl,” Lillitu whispered to the quivering kitty.  “I’ve seen this before.  I can help.”  Beryl looked up at Lillitu with surprise and a hint of fear.  Her eyes seemed to shimmer with pale blue glitter due to her so-called Fever.  Upon seeing Beryl’s reaction, Lillitu couldn’t help but giggle, “You thought you were hiding it, weren’t you?  Don’t worry, I won’t tell the other students.  You really should talk to Morgana about it once everything settles down, though.  Now bend your head to the side.  This is going to sting a little.”

Beryl let out an adorable squeak as Lillitu bit into her neck and started to drink her blood, which was also glowing pale blue.  After a few seconds, the luminescence began to fade and Beryl began to relax.  After closing the wound with some basic healing magic, Lillitu whispered, “It’s done.  You should be fine for now.”

“Th-thankies,” Beryl blushed.  “I’d better go cuddle that cranky birdie nyow.  She might nyat accept a huggie from anyone-nyelse.”

“Yeah, I-“ Lillitu’s expression suddenly shifted to a scheming smirk which appeared even more sinister than usual because of her eyes faintly glowing a pale blue due to taking in some of Beryl’s excess energy.  “Beryl, let’s give her what she wants…”

“Is this the best you dimwit droppings can muster?” Fregata confidently cackled as she effortlessly evaded every strike from Ezhyllia, Kiyoko, and Alex.

“Lady, I normally don’t mind fast women, but perhaps we could take things a little slower?” Alex gasped between claw swipes and stabs.

“Alex!” Kiyoko suddenly called out as she tossed a shuriken straight at him.

“WHOA!” the incubus exclaimed as he reflexively deflected the friendly fire with his knife, sending the shuriken gliding across Fregata’s right cheek.

“J-just like I planned,” Kiyoko nervously giggled as she rubbed the back of her head.

“Look out!” Ezhyllia shouted, barely managing to deflect Peregrine Fregata’s talons and subsequent vacuum blades.

“It seems you still haven’t learned your lesson,” Fregata said with a toothy grin and a demeaning tone.  “And I though you lot went to school.”  The air around the harpy suddenly seemed to assume a more foreboding nature and she began to rapidly spin in place.  All three of her opponents were sucked into the resulting whirlwind before they could even react and were spun around helplessly.  Soon, the air began to tingle and Fregata shrieked a triumphant screech, converting the whirlwind into a maelstrom of pure electricity in the process.  The alpha harpy merely looked on in satisfaction as their bodies hit the ground.

Meanwhile, Milisey was diligently guarding the Beryl and Lillitu in case Fregata came back for them.  She was still on edge due to the previous sonic booms and when Beryl gently placed a hand on her shoulder, it caused her to jump.  “Everything will be okay-nya,” Beryl assured Milisey with a smile before pulling out a set of noise-canceling headphones with a pair of fluffy white kitty ears on top.  “Maybe we could cosplay together sometime.”

“Th-thanks,” Milisey replied as she accepted the item.  “Are you sure you’re okay?  What was that glow?”

“Everything’s fine nyow,” Beryl giggled before whispering into Milisey’s ear, “Can nyu charge up an-nyattack?  We have a plan…”  After hearing Beryl out, Milisey nodded, adjusted the kitty headphones onto her head, and flew up into the sky while Beryl skipped, leapt, and giggled her way towards their fearsome foe.

Elsewhere, Fregata was triumphantly cackling over the bodies of Ezhyllia, Alex, and Kiyoko, “It’s simply too bad.  This is why you never cross a Peregrine.  Of course, it’s not like I would’ve let you live either way.”  However, the harpy’s smile of victory soon turned to bewilderment when the trio groaned and began to arise.  “H-how?” she exclaimed in shock.  “That was enough to kill you all ten times over!”  Her sharp eyes then shifted around and caught sight of Yatoburi implanted into the pavement and the metal wire still gripped by Ezhyllia.  Just like before with the hydra’s body, the sword acted as a lighting rod and had redirected most of the electricity away from everyone.

“That was too close,” Kiyoko grunted.

“I don’t think I can take another one of those,” Ezhyllia added.

“At least the view is good,” Alex smirked before calling up to Fregata, “You really do have nice legs!”  For an instant, Alex thought that he saw a shadowy figure with a foam finger applauding in the distance, but he concluded that it was just his imagination.

“Once I kill that cat, you’re next, you pervert!” Fregata screeched with a reddened face before looking away due to embarrassment.  However, once she turned back, she only saw the instant before Yukiko and Kazzy helped everyone up and detonated one of Kiyoko’s smoke bombs to make a quick escape.

“You can’t hide forever!” Fregata screeched before blowing the smoke away and huffing, “Fine, be that way.  I’ve got a kitty to kill.”

“I’m over here-nya!” Beryl excitedly mewed from Fregata’s left.

“You’re either very brave or very foolish,” the harpy smirked before diving in and squawking, “Either way, you’re about to be very DEA-OOF!”

“Now, is that any way to treat a lady?” Alex inquired as he removed his fist from the new indentation on Fregata’s cheek.

“I told you to stay out of my way!” Fregata bellowed as she angrily sliced the air with her talons, sending vacuum blades in Alex’s direction and forcing him to fly away.

“Nyor silly,” Beryl giggled from atop a nearby building.

“We’ll see how ‘silly’ I am once I’ve picked all the flesh from your bones,” the Peregrine snarled.  In her haste to scale the structure and see Beryl bleed, Fregata failed to notice Ezhyllia, who had the perfect angle for Feayst’s hooks to cut both of the harpy’s anklets, damaging the runes in the process.

“You arrogant dropping spot!” Fregata enragingly screeched.  “A harpy’s talons are both an arm and a leg.  You had better be ready to pay a similar price.”

“How about a kitty huggie?  NYAAA!” Beryl happily squealed as she rocketed toward the harpy from below with outstretched arms.  Fregata was so surprised that she could only react by dodging and swooping away, losing sight of Beryl in the process.

“You can’t hide forever!  I’ll find you if I have to tear this whole island apart!”  Fregata then noticed Beryl happily skipping a couple blocks away out of the corner of her eye and flew towards her.

NYAAA!

Along the way, Beryl leapt upward from below and tried to hug the harpy again.  Fregata ended up regretting her subsequent dodge, as it left her wide open to a double chop from Alex that cost her the functionality of her shoulder runes.  That was the last straw; Peregrine Fregata was now officially over the edge.

As the harpy enragingly rampaged through town, she always chased Beryl whenever she could, never bothering to question how she was able to get from one location to the other so fast.

Beryl slipped through an open doorway.  Fregata lost her again.

Beryl giggled from behind and skipped around the corner of some debris.  Fregata charged straight through and ended up with several shards in her skin to show for it.

Beryl waved at her from the second story of a dilapidated house.  When Fregata tore down the wall to get to her- “AAAAAH! Pervert!” a shadowy, cloaked creature with rainbow-like wings that contained functional eyes telepathically screamed as it covered itself like a woman who had just been walked in on while taking a shower.  The whole event seemed odd the Fregata, but she had other priorities on her mind.

“I’m over here-nya!” Beryl cried out as she happily waved both of her arms from the village square’s wide-open area.

“The last mistake of your life,” Fregata victoriously smirked, knowing full well that Beryl had nowhere to hide.  As she swooped up and dove towards the School Pet, Fregata maddeningly cackled.  However, once she was inches away from Beryl, Alex elbowed the harpy towards the ground where he and Ezhyllia pinned her down.

“Now!” Alex shouted to someone outside Fregata’s vision who subsequently placed a hand in the middle of her back for an instant.

“RAAAH!” Fregata screeched as she broke free of her opponents and turned around, coming face to face with Jason.  The alpha harpy’s face turned white as a sheet as she flew upwards.  A tingling sensation in her feathers then told her that someone was gathering lightning and sure enough, Milisey could be seen doing just that from far above.

“Not if I can help it,” Fregata said as she sped up her ascension.  Past the buildings, past the clouds, past the strange, shadowy entity from earlier that now possessed a Samusagi plushie, a Beryl plushie, a bag of popcorn, and a purple #1 foam finger that was inscribed with “Go Melfara!”  Fregata climbed higher and higher until she could clearly see Milisey.  However, as soon as she was within range, Milisey shot the entirety of her magical energy into a powerful lighting bolt.

“I think your aim needs work!” Fregata cackled.  Milisey said nothing and merely smirked.  An instant later, the sky was filled with Fregata’s screams of pain as a strong electric current pierced her back and knocked all the wind out of her.  The harpy had lost partial control of her limbs but managed to catch enough air in her wings to avoid any serious injuries.  Still, her stamina was spent and she was in no condition to fight.  “H-how?” she breathlessly gasped.

“Just a little innocent trickery,” Jason smirked.  “A little invisibility for a well-timed shadow meld to transfer some damage and you were guaranteed to pursue the wrong target.”

“I-I killed you.”

“Almost,” Jason replied.  “I had a special glyph from Beryl on my back that was good for one full heal the next time my heart stopped.  However, I wasn’t too keen on getting stabbed to accelerate the process,” he added, glaring at Yukiko and Kazzy.

“B-Beryl again?” the exhausted harpy growled.

“Nya?  Did nyu want nyor huggie nyow?” Beryl jumped in with a smile.

“I’m sure we can be the best of friends,” a second Beryl added, much to Fregata’s shock.

“I’ll make sure that nyu smile every day-nyaaa,” a third Beryl chimed in.

“Great,” Fregata groaned as she hung her head.  “And there were already one too many of you.”

“Nyat quite,” the first Beryl giggled as the other two transformed into Lillitu and Kiyoko.

“You fell for our ruse hook, line, and sinker,” Lillitu giggled.  “It’s almost a shame that that bolt pierced your lungs before your heart.”

“YOU’RE ALL DEAD!” Fregata snarled as she tried to lunge for Beryl and Lillitu, only to be struck with a sudden dizzy spell that caused her to fall flat on her face.

“Temper, temper,” Lillitu teased the harpy with a pat on the head.  “Maybe we should have you learn the true meaning of happiness.  Beryl?  Could you come over here for a second?”  Beryl nodded and skipped towards Lillitu, who whispered something in the kitty’s ear.

“I can do that-nya,” Beryl giggled as she skipped back towards Peregrine Fregata.

“I suggest that the rest of you stay behind me,” Lillitu insisted as she stepped back several meters while Beryl happily danced around Fregata and inscribed a glyph into the ground with her feet and tail.

“What are you going to do?  Dress me to death?” Fregata mocked.

“Well nyu do have every right to be pretty,” Beryl giggled as she hugged the harpy and a flash of light put her in a pink Lolita dress tailored to her form, “but I had something else in mind-nya.”  As soon as the glyph on the ground was activated, Beryl promptly leapt away and several large, white flowers sprang up and sprayed a dense cloud of pollen that everyone else made sure to steer clear of.

Once the dust settled, Fregata merely sat there giggling, “Everythingies so pretty and brighty I lovie-love the world.”  As she danced and flapped around, everyone else merely stood in awe.

“So that’s what happened to Aarina that one time,” Jason surmised before glancing at the giggling Beryl.

“Well, I’m beat,” Alex exhaustively sighed.

“Then let’s heal up-nya,” Beryl suggested as she glomped him.  “This is my Healing Huggies glyph.  As long as we’re cuddling, we’ll heal.  Like regular huggies, it’s even better if more people are included-nya.”

One by one, the rest of the party decided to join in the enlarging group hug while Fregata happily flapped and flopped around with the occasional “oopsies” and subsequent giggle.

“Is it over?” a voice suddenly asked.  Lillitu turned and saw a thin elven man with dirty, torn clothing standing near a hole in the ground.

“Not yet,” Lillitu replied.  “We should be safe for the time being, though.”

“Thank goodness,” the man sighed before turning and calling, “Come on out!  It’s all clear.”  In a matter of seconds, a dozen villagers crawled out from similar holes and looked around at the widespread destruction.

“How did you survive?” Lillitu wondered.

A female shopkeeper explained, “We noticed that the monsters tended to shy away from the square and when we came to investigate, these holes opened up.  We’ve been hiding ever since while sustaining ourselves with what few yodeling lemonade plants we were able to procure.”

“It seems you owe Beryl your thanks, then,” Lillitu explained.

“Nya?” Beryl mewed in confusion.

“How about helping us heal up,” Alex suggested to the shopkeeper with a wink.  “The more people hugging, the stronger the spell is.”  After a quick nod of affirmation from Lillitu, the survivors entered the large embrace.

Meanwhile, the other battles had been resolved and the able-bodied students and teachers from the other fronts began marching towards the location of the final battle led by a seemingly older and more mature Melfara.  Along the way, they crossed through the village.

“NYAAA!” Beryl cheered as she cuddled Samusagi.  “Nyor really all right.”

“I-it’s nice to see you, too-desu,” Sami giggled before trying to get Beryl to let go.

“We don’t have time for this-dearu,” Kazu interjected.  “It would be best if we didn’t keep him waiting.”

“The Taz Trophy Leech that’s nyactually nyor daddy?” Beryl inquired.  “Would nyu happen to knyow his dress size by any chance?”

“I know he’ll kill you if you try to pull one of your usual stunts-dearu,” Kazu snapped.

“Is everyone okay-chu?” Melfara asked.

“We all came through as a team,” Kiyoko eagerly giggled.

“It was tough, but we’re ready for the next round,” Ezhyllia added.

As the villagers spread out started to search for more survivors alongside some of the students and everyone else updated each other about recent events, Kazu noticed a highly embarrassed Fregata in a regenerating pink Lolita dress glaring at Beryl from a distance before glancing at Kazu, who signaled for her to retreat with a subtle movement of his eyes and head.  The harpy flapped away in a huff to lick her wounds.

As soon as everyone resumed marching towards the mountains where the presumed final battle would take place, the shadowy figure that had been observing them appeared overhead once again.  “This has definitely been a worthwhile trip,” the entity silently mused.  “It looks like the SOCC isn’t the only place around that can keep me entertained.  I wonder what they’ll call me here.  They have so much to learn, assuming they live long enough to attend the lessons, that is…”