The Laughing Swordsman

Willow stumbled forward a few feet due to the fact she hit the ground fairly hard.

As for Apollo, he miscalculated.

He simply did his strike as soon as he regained control. It canceled out his momentum and even sent him upwards.

...However, he was now falling from fifteen meters up in the air.

Apollo felt the wind blow his hair back.

His face twitched.

"...It seems I've been a little too has-"

He was interrupted by a violent slam into the ground.

Willow was unable to catch him, as she was still stumbling while that transpired. As for Layla, she spread her arms out, holding them high into the sky.

There had been a bright smile on her face.

She fully intended on catching Apollo.

...However, she was over two meters away from Apollo's actual landing point.

In the end, while Layla was looking up into the sky, Apollo crashed into the ground over two meters to her left.

Willow blinked a few times. In a few more moments, she would fully regain her bearings.

"Ah... what just happened..."

She still remembered the life and death battle she was having with Apollo. However, suffering from the sudden fear Hex produced made her lose the will to fight.

Willow just... wanted to lie down in the grass.

As for Layla, she shot a confused look at Apollo's crumpled body.

She puffed up one cheek.

"What are you doing, friend? Why did you move out of the way from my catch?"

Somehow or another, Layla misconstrued the fact she had stood at the wrong spot and believed Apollo was the one that purposely avoided her.

As for Apollo, he landed on his head. Although he tried to twist his body so that it would be his back or even legs, he wasn't exactly experienced in turning in the air.

And so, Apollo was knocked unconscious.

Layla went over to Apollo, her tail swaying.

"Friend?"

Obviously, since Apollo was unconscious, he was unable to respond.

Layla was frustrated. In her eyes, she was being ignored by Apollo.

She grabbed Apollo by his leg and lifted him up. Like a rag doll, he was held up in the air, dangling by his limbs.

Layla stared at Apollo for a few moments. She was at a loss.

After a few moments of hesitation, she violently shook him up and down. A few snapping sounds rang out. They were the kinds of sounds that would make one cringe just from imagining it.

...At least there was minor consolation in the fact the dirt and dust were shaken off.

Under the violent jostling, Apollo was eventually forced awake.

"Ah! Ow, ow, ow!"

Upon hearing the cries of pain, Layla stopped and smiled.

"Friend!"

Apollo blinked a few times.

"...Mommy?"

Layla pouted.

"You forgot my name already? It's Layla! Don't forget next time!"

Apollo shook his head, but immediately regretted that action as it caused him great pain.

"Gah... Layla?"

Layla twirled Apollo around, letting him fall on his feet. Apollo stumbled, but regained his footing quickly enough.

Apollo rubbed his temple with his palm.

"Ah... where are we?"

Layla raised her hands in the air.

"We are super close to we all know you!"

Apollo furrowed his brows, but gasped in enlightenment a second after.

"Ah! Where is he?"

Layla shrugged her shoulders.

"I dunno."

Apollo blinked a few times.

"Oh."

Willow looked at the interaction between the two with a bit of confusion.

Did Apollo forget the fight they just had?

She slowly walked over to her black sword, trying to lower her presence as she picked it up.

Willow gave a quick glance over it. She immediately noticed the blade was chipped. A small frown formed on her face.

It was pretty hard for her to get a sword like this, so she was rightfully upset.

Although a part of her wanted to complain at someone, like Hex or Layla, she remembered their prowess.

Hex was able to directly immobilize people, meaning they were at the full mercy of his strikes. As for Layla, it didn't seem intentional, but it appeared her 'true weight' was something incomprehensible.

After all, she decimated the empire's walls just from falling on it. The walls had taken countless shockwaves and suffered the recoil from countless attacks.

But it seemed to be weaker than paper when Layla collapsed on it.

This reminded Willow of how Layla would never mention she was 'fighting', but 'playing'. It seemed that this was the truth. After all, if she just placed her hand on someone's shoulder and let it fall naturally, the person in question would be crushed. They might be in a better condition if they were hit by a train.

Willow shuddered.

...It was probably best to drop her grievances.

At that time, Apollo looked at his open right hand.

"I feel weird!"

Layla followed Apollo's eyes, staring at his hand.

"Ah, you don't have your wooden sword!"

Apollo gasped.

"Oh no! Where did it go?"

Layla pointed towards it, where Willow was standing.

Once Apollo's eyes were cast over Willow, she trembled.

What was Apollo thinking right now?

How was he going to attack her?

When would it come?

Apollo walked over and picked up his bokken. He shot a glance towards Willow, making her clench her black sword.

Apollo waved.

"Hi Willow!"

Then hopped back to Layla, forgetting about her entirely.

Willow's eyebrow twitched.

...Oh.

She didn't understand, but decided to go with it for now. Perhaps she would figure it out later.

Apollo flashed a smile towards Layla.

"Thanks!"

Layla giggled.

"You are my friend, after all."

Suddenly, Apollo looked towards the side.

"Eh? Is that you, Hex?"

Hex's eyes were closed, but walked forward anyway. He moved as though he was a puppet made to walk by various strings. His head jostled like a rag doll while his movements didn't make sense in terms of physics.

There was a faint black shadow that covered him, making him appear a little... ominous.

Apollo and Layla didn't notice this peculiarity and walked closer.