Another whistle from within the field of gem-like spears indicated Arokleth's opponent had survived even her construct's multifarious assault.  "Wowee, you're not cutting any corners here, are ya?"  A chuckle issued forth from what should have been an iron maiden of spines, which started to become more audible as time passed.  However, the moment the tower's attack struck the sound died away.  The second sphere, just like the first one had, dissolved anything that it came into contact with - even the very existence it passed through - and left only a chewed out-looking tunnel of blackness...  No, it wasn't even that.  It was just<span style="font-style: italic">empty.</span>And in its wake there was no sign that Chloe had survived.<br/><br/>At least not until she popped back up again, all grins and chuckles, from beneath the sea of crystal she'd wrenched her trapped shoulder free from and ducked below at the last second.  The only indication she'd even been hurt was the hole in said shoulder, where she'd been unable to avoid the sudden growth and one had pierced metal, a thin, bleeding slice on her cheek under the eye, and some scratches on her armor from when she'd ducked onto the waiting blades so hastily.  She looked like she wanted to explain, but at the same time as opening her mouth to speak she saw that she wasn't home free yet, and yet another projectile was building.  So, without bothering to close it, she reached both arms to the bottom of her neck where she'd been scratching it before and, without so much as a "pop," pulled her head completely free from the rest of her body.  No harm done, though.  Her body kept on functioning, lifting her head forward towards the trail of nothingness.  Her mouth opened wider and... was she really going to?  Yup?  With a wink, the girl bit down on the lack of existence and visibly swallowed.<br/><br/>The world around them seemed to shriek as nothing was forced into an even greater nothing, fabrics of reality just barely managing to repair themselves as fast as they were ripped.  And then she vanished again, this time into a swirling void of light and silence that seemed to be as if someone had turned on a T.V. in the space and it was just picking up 3-dimensional static.  This whirled around for several seconds before depositing Chloe, head safely attached again, on the other side and clearly out of the range of the third aether-eating sphere.  She sighed, gave a two-handed wrench of her head for good measure, and then grinned triumphantly at Arokleth.  "That's why.  I don't understand the details, but someone asked me to eat the kid whenever possible to make him healthier, since it... um...  Don't remember his exact wording, but it was something like... 'for with each self that splinters off from his main leyline, my existence becomes less plausible, yet it can be strengthened by weakening his own power of existence, which was the original cause for my splinter branch.'  So... yeah.  He'd done me some favors in the past, and I kinda owe him.  So you know this 'Tameko' he's talking about?"