The Hunt Begins (Dark Data)

[Celestia]

Celestia was tired. She was no stranger to stressful situations, but the nature of the ones she had faced was very different from that which she was facing now. Politics required a very different set of skills than extended combat, and her relative lack of recent experience combined with the time the group had spent in constant danger was starting to wear on her. Hence her most recent errors.

But if there was one thing Celestia could do, it was persevere through exhaustion. They were sure to be near the end of this operation, she would persevere! By now they all needed some time to rest and recover, but none could just yet. She and Yu Kanda were at the final challenge, just in the room ahead, or at least she hoped. Although even this close to the end, they would need to remain alert, who knew what surprises lay in store for them in the citadel.

Celestia's guess proved correct, they found the castle's sanctum on the upper levels, and it took the shape of a large, and well-stocked library. It was pristine, at odds with the rest of the demi-plane. She was a little curious what books such a creature might have, half expecting many of them to be blank. In other circumstances she would have wanted to check, to see what knowledge a creature such as the judge might store.

Celestia's curiosity was set aside when the judge himself appeared, striding out from behind one of the shelves. All notion of curiosity was set aside. Their foe was ahead of them, and there was only one thing left to do. “No holding back,” Celestia said, as much to herself as to her companion. She doubted that Yu Kanda even heard her, already charging toward the judge as he was. No matter, she would have needed the words more than the exorcist anyways. Moment's later she followed suit, although not straight toward the judge. The bookcases were narrow enough that trying to charge between would as likely cause her to get entangled with her ally as get into any useful position. So instead, she galloped toward the gap between shelves in the side of the room.

The library wasn't so large that it took long to traverse. Celestia turned down a row of shelves as a the sounds of battle grew louder, to see Yu Kanda's sword strikes being barely deflected by the judge's conjured books. Celestia held still, and her horn and eyes began to glow. Small, glowing orbs began to wink into existence in the air around her. Ahead, in the centre of the room, the judge conjured a pillar lighting that erupted from the ground. Yu Kanda noticed at the last second, dashing backwards. The judge used the newly created distance to conjure his whip once again.

Now that the two were separated, Celestia could attack with impunity, and she let fly. The small 'stars' streaked down the hall in a short volley, which the judge saw coming but too late. A few snuck past the book he tried to conjure, and the impacts threw off his focus, leaving the successive bolts to knock the book aside and detonate on his torso. He was driven backwards, the impacts driving him into a nearby shelf, causing several books to fall.

And then a body fell through the roof. A moment's scrutiny revealed it to be Revan's. She couldn't do much for him in their current state, but she could at least provide cover for him to get back on his feet. Still keeping her eyes on the judge, she called out, “Revan! Are you alright?”  It would of course be hard to get through such a fall completely unscathed, but whether or he could still fight or was in need of help would be very significant information.

Of course, Revan had stayed behind to help Ash deal with the creature. If the former was here, it meant this was about to get very complicated.

704 words, and Celestia used A Call Beyond (tier 1 super attack)