Quicksand Fans

The 3rd & final chapter of Duel in Palus.

The epilogue will come later. I need to give myself a break today.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, children are present, but their presence is merely cameo and not involved in the muddy antics.
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The sands swirled & eddied around the feet of both Sauda & Aquarius. The latter's face unchanging as she glared defiantly at Sauda. "Go on," Aquarius said. "Cast that dark aura of your again." Sauda scoffs. "What? You really want to see it again?" She asked. "Fine, fine. Doesn't really matter long you see it anyway. You still can't do anything to it." She said, smirking. "This time will be different." Aquarius said. "You stupid bitch..." Sauda said.

"When I say you can do nothing to my aura, I absolutely mean... nothing!" Sauda nonetheless pulls her Nightmare Staff out. "But, since you have a death wish, I will oblige!" She proclaimed. Sauda once more used the power of her staff's dark crystal, energizing herself in the same aura she surrounded herself in earlier. "This what you wanted?" Sauda asks. "Go on. Light? Wind? Doesn't matter. You can't penetrate my aura! You're finished!" She gloated.

Aquarius holds her hands up, and calmly begins preparing her newly developed spell. "Please work..." Aquarius says to herself. She quickly gathers enough light & star magic, and points it at Sauda. "Holy Star Beam!!" She calls out, firing her magical beam of light at Sauda. Sauda braced herself. But while the beam went right through her, her dark aura dissolved. Something Sauda didn't notice at the moment. "Really? Is that all you got?" Sauda asks.

But she soon felt herself, calmly at first. But then, she rapidly felt herself. Immediately, she realized that her aura was gone. "Im...Impossible...!" Sauda shuddered. "No, not impossible." Aquarius said. "Your darkness is mighty, but my light is always liable to get stronger!" She declared. "All these people here, they have faith in me! And I won't betray their faith!" Sauda snarls. "They're just strangers to you!" She snapped. Aquarius was unmoved.

"So what if they are? They were nice to me! They're my friends!" Aquarius said. "Every tie you have to a person, small though it may be, will help you rise again when you have fallen!" She went on. Sauda snapped more. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!! ENOUGH OF YOUR PRATTLE, FOOL!!!" She roared. "I don't care how many ties you have! I don't care how many bonds you form, right here & now..." She growled through her teeth.

"BECAUSE ONCE AND FOR ALL, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!" Sauda charged, roaring at Aquarius as the latter braced herself for impact. Their blades met, and Aquarius & Sauda once again entered into a blade lock, but Aquarius suddenly raised her right leg, and kicked Sauda right in the stomach, pushing her away from the Nomads' camp. Aquarius then ran down at Sauda, and ultimately past her; which she immediately sees.

"You are not going to get away from me!" She proclaimed, chasing after Aquarius immediately. As Ajax & Lea watched the two run off, the former wanted to go after Aquarius. But Garnet stopped him. "Don't." She said. "This is Aquarius's fight. We must have faith that she will win." Ajax nods to this. Aquarius meanwhile, leads Sauda to a spacious part of the desert where the Nomads would not be in greater danger of getting into magical crosshairs.

Here, Aquarius was free to unleash her full might. She could go all out here. "It's time for your terror here to end!" Aquarius declares to Sauda as she once more clashed her Celestial Sword with Sauda's Xal'atath sword. "My terror here is just getting started!" Sauda shot back, swinging her sword at Aquarius, and she just barely avoids getting outright slashed by it, merely taking a scratch, which she heals with some light magic. Aquarius returned the assault on Sauda.

Sauda however, noted the area these two were in was quite a deep gorge. "How about a little dark laced swim?!" She sadistically asked as she used her Nightmare Staff to summon gallons of black water to trap Aquarius in. Transforming into her Mermaid form, Aquarius had free movement in the water. The water by all rights should surely make things impossible for Aquarius, but the good purity of her heart protected her from its damaging effects fortunately.

But Sauda was not finished with the set up. Summoning a Blackblood Shark, she hopped onto the behemoth's back and had it race straight at Aquarius. Such a creature should surely be vulnerable to the light of the sun, but in this water, it was protected. This produced an additional problem for Aquarius: Trying to avoid the shark's snapping blood thirsty jaws. "What's the matter, Aquarius?!" Sauda laughed. "Unable to talk to my sweet shark here?!"

Aquarius responded by flinging light from her sword at the shark as it got close to her. She needed to get away from it so she could get back onto dry land & fizzle up the black water. "I think what you need is to be on ice!" Sauda exclaimed, as she prepares a strong Blizzard spell, making it blow across the water, freezing it wherever it passed over. Aquarius got out of the way, to Sauda's irritation. "STAND STILL, YOU BASTARD!!!" Sauda roared.

Aquarius however, suddenly stopped moving after avoiding at least 3 more blizzards. She noted that the Blackblood Shark was a Great White Shark, and it initially had plenty of room to move. But with all these icebergs, that became less & less. Plus, the ice made the water cool, and she remembered that cold can conduct electricity nicely. Aquarius, with all this, ultimately gets a most clever idea. She rose from beneath the black waves soon after.

"Hey, over here!" Aquarius shouted. Sauda glanced over to Aquarius; the latter of whom taunted Sauda right away. "Sucks for you to be a bust smaller than me when I'm almost a KK-Cup here!" She said. Sauda growled. "You, smug bitch!!" Sauda growled, having been easily baited. "Get her!" She orders her Blackblood Shark as it obediently charges at Aquarius. Aquarius however, waited as the shark got close enough to bite down on the 1/2 Mermaid.

However, at the last minute, Aquarius swam away, unveiling an iceberg in the shark's path. Sauda & shark gasped. "Turn around, turn around!" Sauda ordered, but it was too late. The shark crashed into the iceberg, flinging Sauda into it as she herself slammed into it face first. "Now's my chance." Aquarius said, swimming to the edge of the gorge. She managed to get onto dry land & shake herself dry returning to her human form, just as Sauda recovered.

"Can't you do anything right?!" Asked an increasingly pissed off Sauda. Aquarius at this point, aimed at the water itself, and proceeded to zap it with a powerful Thoron. The lake itself fizzled out into harmless vapor, and it easily zapped the Blackblood Shark to death, causing it to fade into a fine black mist; leaving no body behind. Sauda herself got shocked as well, and quite good, too. Her body momentarily became numb, but she shook it off quickly.

Angered even more, Sauda screamed with fury as she leapt out of the gorge, and furiously began swinging her sword at Aquarius, who avoided all her slashes, until Sauda kicks Aquarius into a nearby boulder, and Sauda pins her to it, holding Aquarius at sword point, ready to stab her in the sternum. "Any last words, Aquarius?!" Sauda asked. "C'mon, spit it out!" She then said. Aquarius however, literally spits in Sauda's face, which pushed her back.

Aquarius then moved to another part of the desert. "That didn't count at all!" Sauda exclaimed, chasing after Aquarius. However, Aquarius's feet suddenly got stuck. "W-What?!" She looked down, and spotted a clay pit that held her fast. "Oh no, why now of all times?" She asked herself. Even worse, Sauda caught up to Aquarius. "Stuck in quicksand, hmm?" She asks sarcasticly. "That quicksand's going to be your grave!" She declared as she jumped at Aquarius.

Aquarius braced for impact, and the two women were both stuck in the clay as they fought one another still; despite the fact that they were sinking into it; and pretty quickly at that. Aquarius resorted to wrestling with Sauda in the clay, and she surprisingly proved to be good at it, too. Sauda tried to gain the upper hand against Aquarius, but was unable to at this time. As they both sank to their butts however, Sauda spotted an opening & got a hold of Aquarius.

Immediately, she pinned her down to the sand surrounding the pit and once more materialized a dagger. "Oh, c'mon. This again?" Aquarius asked, recognizing the ploy. "Yeah, what of it?" Sauda coldly asked. However, Aquarius captured Sauda in a hold on her wrist. Sauda desummoned her dagger and resumed her wrestling struggle with Aquarius. This time however, Aquarius turned the tables, snatching Sauda's wrist, and the nape of her neck.

She slammed Sauda down into the clay face first. But, Sauda rose back up, trying to sock Aquarius with a right hook, though Aquarius dodged it. On another attempt, Aquarius moved so fast, she actually got out of the clay safely. Unfortunately, so did Sauda. Both girls shook themselves clean. "You bitch...!" Sauda growled. "I've had enough of this, Sauda! Give up now!" Aquarius said. Sauda growled once again. "Not until you lie dead at my feet...!"

Sauda jumped to a mound of sand nearby, and raised her staff, channeling the magic in her staff's dark crystal, and morphing it into a huge sphere of dark magic. Aquarius looked on in horror. "I was hoping not to use this, but you've seriously pissed me off, and now I've no other options!" Sauda raged. "NOW DIE WITH THIS DESERT!!!" She threw the huge orb of dark magic at Aquarius. Standing her ground, Aquarius held her hands out in front of her.

Crying out, she braced for impact, and her hands made contact with the dark sphere. She struggled with it as it threatened to dig into the earth, and explode with her in it. From afar, Garnet & her family watched as the dark sphere slowly gravitated downwards more. Sauda laughs maniacally. "Struggle all you want! It's over!!" Sauda proclaimed. "You're not coming back from this attack!" Aquarius strained at this point. "No...! Not like this...!" Aquarius said.

"So many people... Are counting on me!" She exclaimed, just as she was pushed into the sands. Sauda laughed more. "Yes, YES!!!" She shouted. "Your struggle was futile! Nobody can stop me! Palus will be mine for the taking!" Her boasts however, came to a stop when she noticed her dark sphere... ...Was being pushed back up instead of continuing down. "W-What?!" She asked, shocked. Aquarius had found her inner strength; physically, and magically.

She rose up, light filling her hands. With hope & determination burning brightly in her heart, Aquarius cried out, and she started to fire off her Holy Star Beam at its full might, pushing Sauda's attack back effortlessly. "No! It can't be!" Sauda said, in utter shock. "DAMN YOU!!!" She then screamed, engaging with her own magic shortly after it came close to her. Try as she might however, Aquarius kept pouring her mana power into her magic attack.

"THIS ENDS NOW, SAUDA!!!" Aquarius roared, as she pulled her right hand back, and thrusts it into her energy beam, pumping it up with more power to make it pierce through Sauda's dark sphere; much to Sauda's shock. "No, no... NOOOOOO!!!" She shouted, just as the beam spectacularly burst through the darkness, and enveloped Sauda as well, causing her to scream bloody murder as she was torched by the light, before being thrown backwards.

She fell into yet another pit of clay, lying in agony. Aquarius panted. She had won. "Yes... I did it..." She says. However, as soon as she was able to it, she ran right to where Sauda had landed. "Aquarius!" Shouted a voice. That was Ajax. He & his family came over to see if Aquarius had won. "Stay back!" Aquarius suddenly shouted. The 4 of them stopped. "What's wrong?" Lea asked. "Sauda could still be dangerous." Aquarius said.

Lea just nodded, as Aquarius got closer to the clay Sauda was lying on her back in. Sauda suddenly sprang up, jump scaring Aquarius back some. "Oh, Vars! She's still alive?!" Ajax asked in shock. "You haven't won yet, Aquarius!" Sauda snarled. "As long as my black crystal still packs magic, I can still try to kill you & your friends!" She unveils her friends. "Fight me if you want," Aquarius said. "But you better leave my friends out of this!" She demanded.

"I'm afraid that's no longer an option." Sauda says. "They helped you, so they die as well." Aquarius shakes her head. "No, I won't allow it!" She exclaimed, standing her ground. "Then I'll kill you all together!" Sauda shot back. She prepared magic in her crystal. But, the sickening sound of cracking filled the air. "What the--?!" Sauda looked at her crystal. And in seconds, it cracked more, before ultimately shattering; not into pieces, but into useless dust.

Sauda was devestated. "No, no, no, no...!" She said. "NOOOOOOOO!!! MY CRYSTAL!!!" She roared. "DAMN YOU, AQUARIUS!!!" She continued, having a serious break down. Finally, she sank to her knees, realizing that she had no other reserves left. She had officially lost this fight. "No... She defeated me... She always defeats me! This time I gained the power to become invincible! AND I STILL COULDN'T BEAT HER?!!? WHY?!!?"

Garnet spoke. "Do you not understand?" She asked. Sauda raised her head, glaring angrily. "Aquarius defeated you because she remained true to her dearest ideals. You on the other hand, cared only for killing her and proving an evil legacy. That war was one you never would've won." Sauda stood up, fuming. "S-Shut up! All of you! Just... SHUT UP!!! Don't you dare belittle me!" Her gaze turned to Aquarius. "I won't forget this!" She then says.

Sauda then turned her back on the 5, and with her axe, tore open a portal in reality's fabric, showing the world she calls home herself. Finally, Sauda regains her composure. "This isn't over, Aquarius. You'll pay for this. I'll be back." Sauda said menacingly before stepping through the portal, closing it behind her. Aquarius shuddered from her words. "She's gone..." Lea said. "Good riddance." Garnet scoffed. "That woman needs some attitude adjustment."

Aquarius sighed. Ajax looked at her. "Aquarius?" He asked. As he looked upon her face, it was very telling: She wasn't happy. "Hey, what's the matter? It's over! You beat her!" Ajax said, enthusiastic. "Yeah, and so my job here's done..." She said, sighing, tears welling up in her eyes. "Ah, I see what the problem is." Amethyst said. "You do, dad?" Ajax asks. "Aquarius is finding it hard to say goodbye to us all. Am I right?" Amethyst asks Aquarius.

She just nodded sadly. She had grown to be quite attached to Garnet's family. They were very kind to her. How could it not be hard to say goodbye? Ajax didn't seem to like this side of Aquarius, but then he reveals something to her. "What's this...?" Aquarius asks. "It's a friendship bracelet." He answered. "My sister & I made it for you earlier while you were healing." Aquarius noted the threads of the bracelet. Blue indicated her, and the red...

That symbolized Ajax & Lea. Garnet smirked. "A fine gift, my children." She said. Though Aquarius still had tears in her eyes, she smiled beautifully. "Thank you so much..." She said, accepting the bracelet. "I'll treasure it dearly..." She then says, before it finally gets to her. Aquarius fell to her knees, crying her heart out. And she did so, surrounded by her friends who provided her comfort the whole entire time as well. It truly was hard for her to say goodbye.

But, much later on, 2 hours to be precise, Aquarius had regained her composure. "Chieftainess." A nomad said. "The herds will be on the move soon." "Then it's time we follow." Garnet said. "But, my family & I must see our friend off. She has done so much for us." The nomad nodded as Aquarius looked at her returned, newly restored & empowered pendant. "Aquarius," Garnet says. "As chietainess, on behalf of all here... I must thank you."

Aquarius looked at Garnet. "But, it was just this land..." She said. "No, it was more than that." Garnet counters. "These wastelands are our home. All of it. So you deserve thanks for protecting it all." Aquarius smiled. "Hey, Aquarius?" Lea says. "Will you show me & my brother an Olympian hot spot for messy fun?" She asks. Aquarius giggled. "Come by Mt. Thick 'n Sticky!" She exclaimed. "We will." Ajax chuckled. Aquarius giggled in return.

"You better! Cause I'll be waiting!" She said. Her smile faded. She then sighed. "Thanks for everything you've all done for me by the way..." She said. "Happy to have helped." Amethyst said. "Now, I believe you've a home to return to. I'm sure your family's waiting." Aquarius nodded as she turned away from Garnet's family. "There's no place like home..." Aquarius whispered, as her pendant's magic fired off a portal beam forward.

And when a portal opened, it revealed a most familiar sight: A house. Aquarius's house! Aquarius was very happily laughing upon the sight. Joy filling her heart, she found it much easier to complete one final task. She turned to face Garnet & her family one last time. "Goodbye, everyone!" She said, waving happily. "Godspeed, Aquarius!" Garnet says, waving back to her. "Come see us again!" Ajax & Lea shout. "Take care of yourself!" Amethyst added.

Aquarius soon turned to the portal, and stepped right through it, and it closed behind her. "She's such a good girl." Amethyst said, smiling. "She is." Garnet replies, smirking. "I'd like to meet the one who raised her sometime." She then chuckles. Meanwhile, right in front of the Socrates Household, the portal Aquarius opened dropped her right off in front of the gates to her house. Though it was hard for her to part from her friends, she was very glad to be here.

Right where she belongs. "Home at last..." She said. Then, she was greeted to a familiar sight: Her sister Fontanne, their littler sister Unice & Unity, and their mother Palutena. Aquarius got their attention. "Hey!" She called out. Unice & Unity were the first ones to hear their big sister. "ONEE!!!" They cried out as they raced over to the gate, just as it opened for Aquarius. She then scooped up her kid siblings, giving them the biggest sisterly hug possible.

Fontanne was the next to spot Aquarius. She was overjoyed. "You're back!!" She said, running up to Aquarius. "Oh, praise the gods you're back home! I was so worried!" Finally, Palutena steps up. "See, Fontanne? What'd your father & eldest sister tell you?" Palutena giggles. "That said... Welcome home, Aquarius." She says. "Thanks so much, mom... It's so good to be back..." She said. "Onee, where did you go?" Unice asked. Unity nodded.

"Yeah, you were at the Wandering Mash, then you disappeared." Unity said, trying to pronounce Wonderland Marsh. "How about I tell you about inside?" Aquarius said. The twins nodded and went inside, with their big sisters & mother going inside. "I bet dad won't believe the stuff I went through..." Aquarius says. "Oh, your father will understand." Said Palutena. "Now, you just take it easy today, you hear me?" Aquarius nodded to Palutena's request.

Seating herself in the main living room, and with Unice & Unity sitting on her lap, Aquarius pulled back on the recliner, cradling her sisters lovingly as she took a most well deserved rest, thinking back on the deed she had performed for the world of Palus, happy that she had saved it from Sauda's evil intentions. Aquarius would have plans to visit Palus properly, but for now... There was no other place she wanted to be than with her own family.

Her journey in Palus might've been short, but it still held a great memory for her already. She also looked at the bracelet Ajax & Lea made for her, smiling warmly at it. "You two will see me again... That's a promise..." She says to herself, just as she starts to doze to sleep, having herself a well deserved nap, and Unice & Unity joined her in it. This is what Aquarius wanted to come home to, and so she has. Her day ending on a very peaceful restful note.

Meanwhile, in the void surrounded Supreme Castle... Sauda was reflecting on her defeat in Palus, growling and snarling. "Damn it to hell! I was so close!!" She cursed. "That stupid naive bitch ruined everything! I hate her so much!" As she ranted about her hatred, she was visited by a figured. Her name was Two, a member of the Blackblood Acolytes, or the First Ones as some call them since they're the 1st Blackblood Spawn capable of speech.

"Your father & the queen want a word with you, princess." Said Two. "Tell them I'll be down there in a moment." Sauda said. "With all this rage in me, I'll say something out of turn." "Understood," Two said. "I will relay your message." She then said, taking her leave. As Sauda resumes regaining her composure, there were two things that never burned out: Her hatred towards Aquarius, and worst of all: A burning desire to get revenge against the 1/2 Mermaid.

"I'll get stronger." Sauda said. "Stronger than anyone in Juni's family!" She then looked at herself in a mirror, fixing up her hair. "Just you wait, Aquarius..." She then said, smirking. Her battle with Aquarius may be over, but if her words are to be believed... Then the conflict with the Supreme Ones, continues to show no signs of letting up anytime soon...

Aquarius, Fontanne, Unice & Unity, Palutena Socrates, Sauda Carlyle: Me

Garnet, Amethyst, Ajax, Lea: Sabbie