Doing the Impossible

The day whose night was going to be illuminated by the green light of the Moon of Carus soon arrived... I used most of my time today to train, even though fox and Jeffrey Gilber, the name of the guy whom I helped a few days ago, insisted to me that exactly because today is so important that I should rest. I feel a bit tired and perhaps they were right, but I felt more ready than when I woke up this morning...

I entered the cave by the time the sun started to set... Jeffrey and the fox stayed by the cave entrance, even though the former couldn't believe that the goddess of Water existed and she lived down there in the cave, he wanted to see it by himself. At least, he understood that this was my battle, that I felt like this should be done for me and me alone.

Just like last time, I passed through the pure water of the lake, almost drowned in it, and fell on the floor of the hidden chamber beneath the lake. When I was up again, with breath caught already and my sword in my hands, it was easy to see that I was very, very nervous, hands slightly trembling and my grip on the sword handle tightened in an attempt to relieve me from the nervousness...

It was my second and only chance to save the princess's dreams... I might have learned from my clash with the goddess before, I might have an adjusted armor and sword now, and my skills have been dusted off with my training, but this doesn't change the fact that this is still a fight between a goddess and a human... The chance of winning is low. But I will fight no matter how low this chance might be.

"I hope you're ready for this...", she said while her body formed with the water of the lake falling in the middle of the chamber. At the same time, the bottle I was seeking formed inside her body, just like last time.

"I am", I simply answered and she gave me a slight smile.

"Good... Do not disappoint me this time, Dagger..."

It then happened in an instant... With a click of her water fingers, the frozen dress shaped itself in her battle armor as well as the ceiling, the walls, and the floor formed a thin ice layer over them. The temperature of the room should have dropped really hard way too quickly, but I was glad it didn't cause any harm to me at all... It was as if she knew that I was stronger and wanted to make this fight more difficult as well.

I waited for her to attack first, in a defensive stance and alarmed for any attacks, I needed her attack to use her ice against herself...

Realizing my lack of action, she took her chance to attack me, moving her hands to form an ice barrier around me at the same she formed a giant icicle above my head, ready to come down and crush me like an insect.

Quickly, I attacked the thin walls of the barrier a few times, only scratching them a little... The ice was too solid, however, and I had to climb up the barrier, just barely making it in time, with the icicle dropping from the frozen lake right after I jumped.

Once I fell on the floor, I rolled over and then looked at Water who, with a serious face, just pulled her hands to herself... I was confused at first, but I realized what was happening soon enough, when I noticed the ice barrier was now coming in my direction...

I didn't have the time to react, the barrier crashed against and I was launched against a wall. Pain spread over all my body with that single attack, but it was something I could ignore to continue the fight, this time at least...

It was my turn to strike, I needed to force her to use an attack that would allow me to manipulate her ice since she seemed to be not willing to use any. As I surged forward towards her, she let some water drops in the air and sent them in my direction, becoming sharp ice needles.

It was maybe dumb, but from inside my shoulder bag, I got the blanket that I previously used to disguise myself and tossed it in my front. The needles would pierce through it, that was a fact, but I used to blind her from seeing me with accuracy. It was successful, she missed me, though the blanket was full of holes now and it was completely frozen.

Once the frozen blanket fell and shattered to pieces on the ground, I continued to run towards her and proceeded to strike once. I knew she'd be forced to use something like a frozen sword to defend herself, I was almost certain of that, but as simply as my swing of the sword, she used her frozen forearm to block my attack, and, with a single maneuver, she grabbed the blade of my sword with her hands and threw it far away, even getting it stuck in a wall.

Without much of a choice, I retreated, step by step while still having my eyes on her in case she decided to attack me. She, however, only stayed in place and smiled at me just slightly.

"You should watch where are you going".

It could be a distraction, true, but I was feeling like something really was going to happen if I didn't look... And so, I saw a frozen warrior behind me, holding a very heavy-looking axe. Without hesitation, it tried to swing it at me and I didn't dodge the attack in time, getting a cut on my left shoulder.

I realized after the attack, She made a mistake by summoning that warrior... If I could somehow manipulate that axe to hit her and grab the bottle inside her body, the battle would be as good as over.

With my mind working on the plan, I started to retreat away from the warrior, but it kept coming closer with the weapon ready... At every opportunity, it tried to attack... But that very heavy weapon made the attacks far too much predictable. This allowed me to keep one of my eyes at the deity at the same, attempting to lure them to fight closer and at the same time.

When we were closer enough, she tried to attack me with her bare hands, aiming for the stomach with her frozen fist, but I dodged. After that, both of them started to have coordinated attacks against me, I had a hard time defending and dodging both of their attacks at the same time, but I managed to do it in the end.

That's when the golden opportunity came... The "axewater" swung its weapon violently and angrily after so many failed attempts... And I dodged the attack, using my hands on his axe to direct the strike to the chest of the deity, where the frozen bottle was... The chest plate broke easily and not giving her time to refreeze the area, I got my hand inside her body and snatched the bottle from out of it...

With the bottle in hand, I immediately stepped back in disbelief... I was tired and needed some time to catch my breath while the goddess sweetly smiled at me and let her armor melt back to her dress as well as the frozen warrior and the layer of ice froze down...

"I see you have indeed not disappointed me, Everblade", she said. It was a sight I never thought I would see, an element kneeling before a mere human being... And specifically me nonetheless. I can't help but feel some pride in that accomplishment... Maybe I will let this make me arrogant for a few days, but I at least retributed the favor, kneeling in front of her as well...

"I am the one who is happy to have the honor of proving my worthiness... And to have defeated you as well", I answered her, and then we both stood up... She created a frozen platform beneath my feet and the lake above opened to let me go back to the surface of the lake.

"I wish you luck in the rest of your journey, Dagger... For this was only the very first step..."