Fwip. Crack.

Jean jumped away as a line of invisible air cut through the rooftop. So far, Mister Foley proved to be far more slippery than he seemed. Instead of being a weasel, he was as slippery as an eel.

"Spirit Step." The moment his foot hit the ground, Jean disappeared, trying to get behind the man again.

"Titan's Fist!"

At the same time, Keita raised his own hand, unmoving as a statue. A massive fist erupted from a black hole behind Keita. It soared through the air as Jean appeared behind Mister Foley.

"Wind Wall!"

Fwip. Thud.

A barrier of wind erupted around Mister Foley. Jean's kick landed, but it only knocked him away. An arrow from below flitted by his head as he landed on a nearby rooftop. No matter what he tried, he couldn't get close.

Jean desperately wanted to access the second level of his curse, but that presented problems. The main issue was how Keita would react if he saw Eliza again. Keita was unaware of his progression with his curse and how he had reunited with Eliza.

Was he embarrassed? No, it was something much deeper than that. He did not want Keita to see Eliza gain, and Jean was jealous of the thought.

"You're an annoying one," Keita said, raising his arms as the massive arm disappeared in a cascade of black ash. "What about you, Jean? Is this the limit of your curse?"

Jean frowned but then managed to smirk. He stretched out his hands, willing energy through them, long and thin. They extended out from his fingers until they hit the ground.

"Spirit Strings," Jean whispered before catching Keita's eye. "How about we try working together. I will still him, if you can manage a solid strike."

"I can always manage a strike." Keita smiled, raising his hand and furrowing his brow.

"Are you fools even taking this seriously?" Mister Foley looked back and forth between them, raising two fingers in both hands. "The moment I knock one of you idiots down, you'll have to contend with the entire guard!"

Whoosh.

Another arrow sailed past Jean's head, and he ducked slightly to avoid it. Mister Foley wasn't wrong; however, it was best to deal with the main threat before working on the weaker opponents. If left alone, Mister Foley could take out one of them and leave them both weaker for the coming fight.

"I think we'll take our chances." Jean jumped forward, his hands held low as he ran for Mister Foley.

As he did so, Keita focused on the other side, his hand raising and a black hole opening behind him as he mumbled an incantation. Jean kept his attention on Mister Foley, as the man drew a circle in the air with his fingers.

"Wind Whip!"

Jean rushed forward as the man gathered his hands around the air like he was gripping a rope. A whirling vortex of wind appeared in his hands. It circled his closed hand until he unleashed it right for Jean.

Whip-crack.

The roof in front of Jean cracked under the force of the strike, and Jean jumped in response. Wind buffeted him from below, sending his robes flying around him, but Jean didn't stop. He ran onward, throwing his hands forward and sending his strings out with a whisper of will.

Tap.

He didn't need a strong strike. All he needed was to contact Mister Foley's body with his strings. One, two, three points latched onto Mister Foley's chest. Jean slid to a stop, pivoting into a turn to Mister Foley's opposite side.

"Spirit Step!"

He disappeared, reappearing on Mister Foley's opposite side with his strings still intact. Mister Foley recalled his whip made out of wind, but it was too late. Jean turned again, his bone foot slamming into the roof's tile as he stepped one last time.

"Spirit Step!"

Jean disappeared, his body blurring as he appeared on the final side. He pulled his arms up high as his strings wrapped tightly. Mister Foley's arms snapped toward his chest in the same moment, and his whip disappeared.

"What are you—"

"Titan's Fist!"

Thud. Crack.

Keita came in a moment after ward, a massive white fist raising above his head before it crashed down on Mister Foley. The roof around Mister Foley cracked as the fist came down, and Jean smiled.

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"Trapped between the hammer and the home," Jean said. "It was your fate to be crushed."

However, despite his words, the fist didn't go further down. Jean raised his eyebrow as the fist was pushed back into the air. Despite the blow's strength and being trapped, Mister Foley still stood.

"Wind Dome."

A whirling invisible dome had appeared around Mister Foley, sweeping the dust from the cracked roof into the air and revealing the barrier. Jean clicked his tongue.

A Finger was full of surprises, it seemed.

"Now, that's just not fair." Keita sighed, furrowing his brow as the fist raised again and slammed down harder into the dome.

Thud.

This time, the dome didn't move relative to the roof. It held strong against the attack. Even Jean's strings were cut by the dome. Mister Foley raised his fingers, pointing two gleaming nails toward the sky.

"It won't be enough." Mister Foley laughed, his whiskers twitching as he forced the arm further off the roof. I'm holding back, but you should know that you can't beat me with these kinds of attacks."

Whirr.

The wind around him began to spin, and he started to float. Jean grimaced. He didn't like it, but Mister Foley was right. They needed more than just his first-level curse if they wanted to win.

"Why don't I just show you how outclassed you are?" Mister Foley wrapped his arms close to his body, gathering aether into himself as the wind grew.

Jean shared a look with Keita.

"I think it would be best if we both stopped holding back," Keita said, raising his eyebrow. "You have been holding back, right?"

"Perhaps," Jean said. "I have my reasons."

"Well, I think it's time we both showed this weasel what we have beneath our sleeves."

"Fools," Mister Foley whispered as the aether surrounding him grew. "It doesn't matter what you pull out. When I activate the second level of my curse, I'll level this entire block."

"Then I shall answer with my own." Jean took in a breath. "Spirit Samba."

The cold energy of death froze against Jean's skin as dark purple energy pooled at his feet. A skeletal arm, long and grey with bony fingers, reached out from the darkness. Then a second arm. They both grasped around his legs, clawing at his robes and up his body. A skeletal figure crawled a circle around Jean and came to rest on his shoulders. Though she had a skeletal form, she was a spirit. She was Jean's dance partner and love, Eliza.

Jean looked to Keita, knowing that the other man would react. However, Keita was focused on a ritual of his own. Jean's eyes glowed as he watched Keita, and he saw the difference between a curse and Keita's magick more clearly than he could have before. The amount of aether Keita drew through his hands made it even more obvious.

Keita wasn't drawing aether into his body at all. Aether had to flow into the body of a person who used a technique or a curse. A curse flowed through a person's gate, which resided in their heart, or in Jean's case, a crystal in place of his heart. A technique flowed a little differently, instead gathering the energy in the stomach.

Keita did neither. A blur of dark energy flowed from his hands, tied around the prayer beads. Instead of drawing aether into his body, Keita drew it from the air around him and focused it into his hands without drawing it inside.

"Come to me," Keita whispered, his brow knitting as his fingers stretched wide. "My Temptress."

Thwoop.

A portal, black as night, opened behind Keita. Keita opened his eyes as a long white arm, skin white and veiny, reached out of the portal. It gripped the edge, its elbow sticking out and its fingers wrapping around the edge like it crawled up out of a hole.

Keita's eyes caught sight of Eliza, locking onto her skull as it rested against Jean's shoulder, and he blinked. His eyebrows furrowed, and his hand faltered, clenching back down into a fist.

The portal behind him shrank. However, before it could close, a white foot stepped onto the portal's rim and pushed it open. Keita blinked and opened his hand again. His prayer beads rattled around his wrist as he pushed his hand forward.

"I cannot falter in this," Keita whispered. "You will come out, Temptress. I need your strength in this fight. Regardless of what happens, you are under my will. You are under my command. Come through the portal. Show them all the fruits of my research!"

Thud.

The pallid creature stepped through. It was taller than Jean or Keita, and even Sayed couldn't stand eye to eye with it. It had a lithe form, with long legs and clawed hands that stretched longer than a human's would. It was impossibly skinny, though two rounded breasts, utterly devoid of any other feature, gave it a feminine form.

Jean first thought of mist creatures—monsters that would roam on some islands at night. The creature certainly had the appearance that matched the records; however, it stood in broad daylight, which should have been impossible.

However, his eyes narrowed as he saw the long blonde hair that stretched out in a ponytail from the back of his head. He narrowed his eyes. Now, it was impossible.

Eliza was on his shoulders right now. She couldn't also be behind Keita. Jean raised one bony hand, resting it on Eliza's as Keita met his gaze.

Keita nodded.

"Wind Weasel!"

Pop.

While they gathered their strength, Mister Foley had gathered his own. The air bubble around him that had formed a shield shattered as his body elongated. Fur erupted along his stretching form. He shot straight into the air, rising high above both Jeana and Keita.

"Wow." Jean whistled. "We weren't wrong about him being a weasel."

The fur was white, and two black, beady eyes looked down on them with an almost triangular, pointed face. The wind around the changed Mister Foley whirled. One thing stuck out to Jean, though. Instead of a weasel's furry tail, a long metal scythe stuck out from the form's body.

Thud.

"Indeed," Keita whispered as he stepped beside Jean, his strange creature following him. "I have a way to fight him mid-air, what about you?"

"So long as I have a partner, I can get up there," Jean said, still holding Eliza's hand against his shoulder. "We will dance through the stars if need be to reach him."

Keita nodded, but they hadn't moved yet. They both noticed a problem, though neither wanted to acknowledge it in the middle of the fight. However, it weighed heavily on Jean, and he was sure that Keita felt the same.

"Your spirit," Keita's voice cracked slightly as he spoke. "Is it her?"

"I believe it is," Jean answered simply. "I developed my curse and reached out to find her again. She answered the call."

"I see," Keita whispered.

Jean didn't trust that response. He had his own suspicions, even if the fight was causing him to put them on reserve. The creature that Keita had summoned wasn't quite Eliza's form in life, but it was a close recreation in a more monstrous form.

"We will need to talk after this," Jean said, looking up at the growing storm of whirling wind around the giant weasel above them. "About many things, both old and new."

"You're all just going to stand there?" Mister Foley yelled, his voice booming like a thunderstorm in his giant form. "I won't allow this disrespect to continue! Gale Scythe!"

"Let us dance," Jean said, taking Eliza's hand. "Spirit Step!"

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