Shizuka's hand was going straight for the back of Reverendi's neck, with nothing to stop it. That was until the metal in his sword flowed backwards blocking the strike. When Shizuka made contact with metal a dull ringing sound rang out as she stayed half suspended in the air from the force.
Kat heard Minor gasp, and Kat turned her attention to her companion "What?"
Minor paled slightly as she said "We were wrong. The Nightmare isn't Reverendi, it's his sword!"
Kat returned her focus to see Shizuka pushing herself back, a lightly bleeding wound on her right hand. Kat's eyes narrowed as she prepared to jump in and attack Reverendi but Minor stopped her "Wait"
Kat returned to a slightly more neutral stance but was still ready to jump into action, with her wings spread and ready to fly forward at any time "What is the issue? I have to help her. If the Nightmare is changing things we need to make sure it doesn't go too far off course and break the memory right"
Minor nodded "Yes but this is different. In the memory Shizuka beat Reverendi by himself. Major knew he was cheating and this is merely an extension of that. I can tell the memory is still running its course and hasn't started to need correcting"
Kat frowned as she looked at Shizuka, now wary and holding an ice sword in her left uncut hand. She still looked calm, but no longer held the same confidence she did before her failed attack.
"So… what makes this different" asked Kat
"Well, the Nightmare was always something not in the scene. Before, even when it was copying the nurse, it still wasn't the nurse, because she was there. In this one the Nightmare IS the sword, and we never learned all of its tricks
"Sure, it probably can't move so freely like we just saw in reality, but it doesn't matter. It hasn't even damaged the memory so Shizuka will keep fighting. To keep the integrity up she has to win herself" said Minor
Kat bit her lip "So where does that leave us? Can the Shizuka memory even beat it by herself? The Nightmares can disrupt memories, we know this, so why hasn't it?"
Minor frowned… "My best guess is that it's trying to break it properly. Something we can't just fix. So in this instance Shizuka is fighting by herself, but if they manage to make her lose we can't even stop them, and the memory will just end"
Shizuka resummoned a bunch of icicles around her with sigils once again but didn't fire them. Reverendi for his part, finally started to look around. He peaked out from behind his sword to find Shizuka missing. Rapidly shaking his head around looking for her, he just barely caught sight of the icicles Shizuka had summoned and yelped.
Quickly ducking to the other side of his sword Reverendi peaked at Shizuka with fear. *Wow. He has a Nightmare for a weapon, he's cheated by bringing in better gear, his sword alone might be able to defend him from whatever Shizuka throws at him and his is still a coward.*
Kat narrowed her eyes. *So how does the Nightmare think it can win. Even with a few extra abilities there doesn't seem like there is much Reverendi can actually do.* Shizuka narrowed her eyes when she saw Reverendi hide behind his sword once again.
She was starting to realise that something wasn't right, by the look on her face, but her inaction meant she hadn't figured the trick out. "What's the plan Minor" said Kat
Minor looked slightly panicked, but Kat hit her with some calming aura to assist her in regaining some semblance of calm. "I… I'm not sure. I mean… it's strange for the Nightmare to keep within the memory while trying to break it. I know I said it must want to really break it, but it just doesn't seem to have enough power"
Kat tilted her head at this "What do you mean"
"Well…" said Minor "Even if it is the sword, Shizuka completely outclassed Reverendi. Like it wasn't even close even though he cheated the first time. That strike to the back of the neck should have taken him out.
"Now sure, he has a better sword now, but that's it. Reverendi is still hopeless. I don't see how the sword can take memory Shizuka out"
Kat bit her lip at that, and focused on Shizuka, specifically on the cut that was made. It appeared to be bleeding the same light purple that she always was in the memories, so nothing seemed wrong. *Is the cut important?*
*Did the sword cut her because it could? Is there poison or something in the wound? It looks fine maybe? But I don't know what dream figures are supposed to look like when they are bleeding. Hell I'm not sure I've even bled since I've been here so what does my blood look like?*
*Would it be red, perhaps the way Major might expect? But Minor saw that I have black blood, so would it be black instead?* Kat shook her head, she was getting distracted. *Focus, what could the Nightmare attacking Shizuka have to… Oh oh of course.*
"Minor, could the Nightmare be twisting Shizuka with each attack?" asked Kat
Minor paled at that, and got a look of concentration on her face. A few moments passed, as Reverendi and Shizuka calmly stared at each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Shizuka had dismissed her extra icicles, but the sword in her hand remained.
A look of confusion came over Minor just before she spoke "Um… it doesn't make any sense to me either but… it seems like Shizuka isn't twisted at all"
"Wait what?" asked Kat
"Yeah" said Minor "That was my reaction as well. And now that I'm looking, even Reverendi is fine despite holding the sword in the first place. I'm not sure if it has forfeited the ability in exchange for becoming a more complete part of the scene…
"Or if it's because it's an inanimate object, or if it just isn't trying for some reason. I really have no way to tell… but I can say that for now, everything is about as good as it could be"
Kat frowned. *As nice as that is to hear, it doesn't bring us any closer to figuring out what the plan actually is.* As Kat was thinking Shizuka made the first move. Reverendi, flinched as she launched herself at him.
He positioned his sword as a shield, but shrunk its size, perhaps to move it easier. Shizuka took a slash at his side, and the sword enlarged slightly to knock it off course. Reverendi then shrunk the sword rapidly, before stepping to the side and bringing it down.
Shizuka however, was not caught unaware, summoning a block of ice, right on top of the sword and trapping it within. The sword was dragged to the ground because of the extra weight with Reverendi straining against it. Just as Shizuka was about to make a counter attack, the sword creaked, and spikes grew out of it shatter the ice.
Shizuka jumped back instead, taking the chance to eye the sword even more warily then before. Kat tsked at the sight and Minor sighed. "I'm not sure what she can do. Despite not being a shield, it seems this Nightmare has some major defence. Once Reverendi works up the courage to just go at Shizuka he might be able to win" said Minor
Kat frowned at this news "What can we do then? It's not like I can shoot fireballs at them without interfering"
At this Minor got a thoughtful look on her face "Actually… that might not be quite true"
Kat tilted her head "What do you mean. You were quite clear that we can't interfere"
Minor nodded, "Well, let's just say I have an idea. Kat, your fire is actually really cold right?"
Kat nodded
"So… how much control over it do you have?" asked Minor
Kat winced at that "Not quite as much as I'd like. I can hover it around me, perhaps a centimetre away but I find it very hard if it's much further away"
Minor frowned but nodded "Right well, that is a bit of a shame but I can work with that. Kat how much energy do you have to summon fire?"
Kat checked her reserves and found them nearly full. Minor's short break, plus the duration of the memory seemed to be enough for her to recover. "More than enough for a bit of fire" said Kat with a grin.
Minor nodded "If you are confident then I think I have a plan. The best way to interfere, is to just make sure that nobody, not even Shizuka knows we are interfering"
*Well, at least this is sure to be interesting.. Let's see what Minor has in mind.*