Side Note

The second round of the Madeleine Royale had already commenced. The fight is between Deja the Trapped and her psychotic partner Rio versus Light the Blessed and the Goddess of Light Xul. It has been going on for two minutes, yet every combatant remains unscathed. The goddess and her beloved are on the offensive, throwing out light beams and dark daggers at the noble turned mercenary, who dodges each attack with such pinpoint accuracy, it's almost as if she saw them coming. On the other hand, her partner stands back to the side, watching as the fight continues. 

Rio dodges the last of the light beams, a huge smirk appearing on her face as she realises the barrage has ended. She prepares to run forward, her broadsword in her two hands when she is suddenly pierced from below, a spear crafted from her very own shadow quickly followed by a dozen like it. The spears dissipate, her body falls to the ground, and cheers erupt from the crowd. 

Before the death-defying barrier can activate to revive her, however, her body rises, the crowd sits down, and the spears reform, slowly exiting Rio's body. The wounds on the former Queen of Hamblin disappear, and then she moves backwards, beams of light and daggers of dark returning to their senders. Meanwhile, her body replicates her dodges but in reverse. This is her time loop at work, with the only ones knowing of its existence being Rio herself, her partner Deja, and the commentators, due to their cheats.

This two-minute exchange, previously one minute and even before that thirty seconds, has looped over and over, much to the delight of one and the boredom of the other. The main combatant maniacally smiles, itching to go through it all again. For the audience, the fight has yet to start, but for those knowledgeable of the time loop, it has been two weeks. 

Two weeks of death, constant death, so much death that'd cause most into the depths of insanity so deeply, you would mistake reality for a prophecy of the future. Yet for Rio Verdeux, it was merely Tuesday for her. She revels in her situation's complete absurdity and relishes her near-immortality. 

She's learnt a lot in these past two weeks. The Light Goddess is boring, only ever attacking with beams, her hand movements so familiar that Rio can guess when it's coming from the slightest twitch. The shadow clone, on the other hand, varies from approach to approach, living up to her nature as a copy of the living anomaly that is Madeleine, but that isn't to say Rio has learned nothing of her.

When Rio dodges a light beam with a jump, Light quickly follows up with her own, one Rio cannot avoid due to being in midair. When Rio dodges a light beam with a duck, out comes a surprise stab from Rio's shadow, courtesy of the quick travel ability beings from the Shadowrealm are gifted with. When Rio dodges with a sidestep, spikes made of ice emerge from the ground, threatening to either pierce Rio or keep her stuck there until she dies of old age. This has allowed Rio to devise a foolproof plan using all the knowledge she has gathered. A plan she intends to share with her partner.

"Deja," She yells out, only to be met with a head turn that somehow conveys annoyance. "I've got a plan!"

"What?"

"My plan is to…" She purposely lengthens the last word in hopes of creating tension. 

"Just say it." Says her partner, who had grown tired of the endless charades Rio does out of boredom seventy loops ago.

"Let you make the plan!" Rio lets out a hearty laugh. "Aren't I generous? The great me letting you figure things out!"

"My sister is too much, isn't she?" Despite the questioning tone, Deja already knows the answer and lets out a sigh. "Fine, I'll take her out. You can deal with Xul."

"Thanks!" Rio goes in for a hug, only to be pushed with one arm. Having seen an event that had yet to happen in the loops finish, the two commentators announce the start of the match.

The goddess watches as the mercenary dashes towards her, preparing to fire a light beam at her when she suddenly collides with her partner, who had been thrown at her by Deja. She pushed Light off herself, realising she had been knocked out cold, before coming face-to-face with the other shadow clone in this match, now holding a dagger to her face. She immediately raises her arms in surrender, resulting in the victory of the Trapped and The Queen.

"Holy shit! All it took was for the inactive member to take out both opponents!" Darky says in high tension, having grown sort of bored of the seemingly endless deaths of Rio Verdeux. "I did not see that coming! A victory in merely two seconds… if we ignore the two weeks that you audience, both audiences, didn't see."

"Compared to your average Shadow Clone, Deja is a monster, having technically spent the longest time alive if we add on her time from the loops. That's a lot of experience," says Myka, still with no energy and still off a script. She then mutters, "Half that time was watching that bitch tyrant die, though. A couple of sadists, I tell you."

"Anyways, we don't have any Sacred Power holders whose abilities we haven't seen in this battle, so I guess I'll pick out a random one!" Darky snaps her fingers, making a familiar blue screen appear.

The crowd settles down, waiting for the next match. A certain watcher smiles, happy that this time looping farce has finally ended. One step closer to doom.

Character profile: Ephi Xa

Sacred power: IDK

What the Sacred Power actually is: Nothing

Description: Due to… reasons, I cannot create a description. Peculiar.

Chapter namesake: Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear

pojlk

As you might have noticed, the cover has changed! It was made by my sister, and I paid her 0 dollars or 300 dollars, it just depends on who you ask. Here's a bigger version for those who want to see what little details there are:

Spoiler

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I really like the fingerless gloves.