Quiahuitl's Story: Chapter 5

VS Aodh: Forest Fire

Feb 23, 2023

Open on Quiahuitl’s Ship

Quiahuitl is with her attendant. Epcoatl is absent.

Attendant: My lady, your next match will begin shortly.

Quiahuitl: I’m aware.

Attendant: Lord Epcoatl has not delivered any messages recently. It seems the poisoner is beyond his detection.

Quiahuitl: (I was so fixated on Epcoatl I nearly forgot that someone tried to kill me. How pathetic.)

Quiahuitl: I’ll have orders for you on that after my match.

Transition to Grand Festival Hub

Exploration Start

There’s a good amount of sloped platforms on your way to the next battle, you should take the time to experiment with them a bit.

Gossiper: Apparently the huey chihuatlatoani and her chief husband are at odds with each other now. Just wait until her other consorts like Zolin get involved, then it will get really juicy.

Resentful Lunan Noble: Lady Quiahuitl vs Aodh, who am I supposed to root against?

Laid-back Merchant: Some Corkoa girl, or at least dressed like one of the Corkoa, has been going around asking a bunch of merchants about where they got their supplies. Wonder if she’s interested in the business?

Once you go far enough you’ll get a small cutscene of walking off-screen to the next battle.

Exploration End

Transition to Hollow Mountains

The stage is set high up in a mountain range at night. A full moon hangs in the background. The ground is sloped. Aodh stands on the high ground, Quiahuitl on the lower ground to the left.

Aodh: Oh look, it’s the woman who should have been disqualified already.

Aodh: You do realize that even if you win nobody is going to take it seriously, right? Seems like you’d be better off working on that marital spat everyone knows you’re having.

Quiahuitl: I won’t be condescended to by someone as pathetic as you, who hid in the mountains for years after winning a battle.

Quiahuitl: The only reason anyone ever tolerated you was because of your power, and you drove away the few people who genuinely wanted to be by your side.

Aodh: What was the word Nisha used for something like this? Oh right, projection. You’re only saying that because you know it applies to you too. At least I admit when I fuck up and ruin everything.

The flames on Aodh’s fire fans intensity.

Aodh: You still pissed me off though. So I’m going to make you wish you dropped out when you had the chance.

Battle Start

There’s no flat ground on this stage, so don’t expect to have an easy time bouncing any balls off of it. And at times flowers will sprout up and start to shake in a way that looks like a dance, which is followed by them blowing up. There will be an outline showing the range of the explosion so you can precisely space around it.

If you have the high ground you’ll have an easier time jumping over Aodh’s fireball projectiles without taking an anti-air to the face, but still be careful. The variety of angles you can send your own ball at will help regardless of which part of the stage you’re on.

Aodh is decent at any range, so it’s a matter of preference on if you try to get close and aggressive or show off your ability to play ball on any stage. He does favor aggression however, so expect him to press forward when he can and react accordingly.

There’s not much to say about Aodh’s super moves. Block the giant fireball if you can, don’t risk trying to evade it. And if you block all of his Sunrise Dance super you’ll have a solid opening to land hits of your own.

With how tricky the inconsistent elevation of the stage is, you should generally go for Rubber Rain over Fourfold Strike for the increased coverage. You can still use Fourfold Strike if you’re confident it will connect.

If you can figure out how to make the stage’s unconventional layout work for you, such as making sure Aodh gets caught up in the flower explosions, the fight will be a lot easier. Or you can stick to what you know and avoid the hazards all together. Either way, not letting the stage trip you up is key to victory here.

Battle End

Quiahuitl and Aodh are back at their round start positions, Aodh is weakened from losing.

Quiahuitl: (I won, but what’s the point?)

Quiahuitl: (Aodh was right, and I should have listened to Epcoatl from the start. It doesn’t matter that I’m no longer cheating if the people won’t believe it.)

Quiahuitl walks away

Transition to Grand Festival Hub

Quiahuitl and Epcoatl walk towards each other and stop.

Epcoatl: …

Quiahuitl: Epcoatl I’m not going to have you executed, I would never do that. And I won’t be as callous as to apologize and expect that to change how you feel, but I can promise that things will be different.

Epcoatl: …

Quiahuitl: It’s been a difficult path to walk. Everyone else was content with how things were, but I knew we needed to be stronger for this new age of dragons, especially with Lunis of all places having a dragon of their own.

Quiahuitl: Maybe I pushed on too far ahead, but I’m willing to slow down and walk at your pace so we can stay together.

Quiahuitl: Please, say something.

Epcoatl: You haven’t used that word in a long time. You took me for granted, never questioning how I would feel.

Quiahuitl: Only because we’ve been together for so long that I thought we already knew each other perfectly. We made the empire together, the two of us fighting against all others. Doesn’t that mean something to you?

Epcoatl: That’s not the story you’ve been telling. It’s been about your empire, even if sometimes you call it ours. I know better than to take you at face value.

Epcoatl turns and walks away.

Chapter END

Note from the Author: This chapter ended up being rather short. But after the intensity of the prior two chapters that might not be a bad thing, sometimes readers need a chance to take a breath. Especially since next chapter is the finale for this story.

Optional Discussion Prompt: What do you think of the use of NPC dialogue for Battles Beneath the Stars? Do you like how it contributes to the worldbuilding and set up, or do you skip them?

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