Shift

[Andromeda]

Something else more important than Rheia’s motives did not make any sense and it finally started to hit Saki. ‘Why am I not falling?!’ She had stopped herself from rolling down the wall, but did nothing to start actually moving again, yet gravity did nothing to her.

Turning her head, the ground remained out of reach. She could feel her hair hanging with the pull of the Earth, even her cloths, but not her body. Saki stood up testing out the feeling to be sure. ‘How is this happening?’ Caught up in the sights a little, she saw the wide-open plains of Atlantis. Mountains poked through sporadically in the distance. Close to her, she could see all of her friends fighting in their battles.

“You’ve finally realized,” spoke the light brown haired woman after minutes of silence.

Her voice drew Saki back up the wall. She still did not understand it fully. “This is your doing?”

“It’s part of the test.” Everything seemed to have drawn to this moment. She leaned forward a little altering her stance from defense. “Now that you’re at the starting point, let’s start. If you can last a minute without falling then you’ve passed.” Rheia disappeared and reappeared in front of Saki slamming her elbow deep in her stomach. The force slid Saki back and weakened her leg’s strength to stand. “It’s begun!”

Saki rubbed her stomach still feeling the pain from the elbow thrust. It was the first time the woman actually made a direct attack. Everything before and the way she worded her conversation made it clear to Saki. Now was when she began to fight, but only to see if she could last against her long enough. It was not even the real fight yet, even though the first blow was impressive enough. ‘She’s got enough force behind her power to actually push me back. It’s still just her power doing it, but to fight toe-to-toe with me…’

The entire time Saki expected to see some trick or special power from her. Anything that would make it clear she used something more like magic or out of those annoying books Yuki obsessively collected. Yet it never surfaced from Rheia. The woman seemed set to fight only using her body. Almost as if anything more was unnecessary or perhaps it was flashier than she wanted. Either case, it was a simpler fight than Saki expected to get from the one at the top.

“It’s not over yet,” Rheia commented, noting the staggered Saki. She straightened up from her attack.

Brushing off the rest of the pain and locking her legs to stand, Saki stiffened her back in preparation. “You’re right about that!” She charged forward going straight for Rheia.

Chapter 255 – Standing for One Minute

As she already expected, a frontal attack did just about as much as it had before. Nothing changed in that aspect. Rheia remained too fast to break through her defenses. However, the new pattern introduced by Rheia’s elbow before confirmed the new status quo. Rheia countered immediately with quick left jab across Saki’s face.

The blow knocked her back, even though her feet remained firmly planted. Leaning back from the force, the sting in her cheek reminded her she needed to be aware of her own defense. When Rheia followed up with another sharp two punches, Saki jumped back just as the first strike came in. It seemed to come in slow motion with her heightened senses. Rheia’s fist barely grazed her cheek significantly reducing impact. A bit of redness still appeared as if getting carpet burn.

Saki rubbed her jaw and face a little trying to adjust to the sting from the one punch that fully connected with her. ‘Need to remember to defend myself. She’s actually on the offense now.’ However, resting was not allowed. The Atlantean’s offensive did not stop with just a few punches. They seemed more like tests than anything compared to the next one.

Dodging still worked, but the speed of the most recent attack was not like the previous. ‘She got faster?! Was she holding back this whole time?’ A back flip took her out of reach of the next attack. Barely even landing, Rheia was already on top of her again. Forced to keep dodging, Saki made no progress against her attacker.

Rather than just evading each thrown punch, Saki converted her maneuvers into counterattacks. Sliding down and trying to sweep with her legs. Taking a blocked punch to deliver a returned fist. Little bit it helped, all he managed to do was keep her in the fight in an active role.

‘Those hands, if I can just tie them down I might be able to get a clean hit in.’ The fact that everything she threw against the woman ended up blocked by her hands started to bother Saki some. She did not have a certainty that getting a real hit on the woman would do anything, but even the sign was enough.

Strategy or not, it was enough of a plan for her to try something. When the next attack came as expected, Saki blocked her fist. She clamped down firmly on Rheia’s wrist to keep her from moving. The accompanying arm tied up shortly after with Saki snapping out to lock down both. “Now I have you!”

Rheia grinned with delight seeing her target taking advantage of the situation.

Saki flipped around while still holding onto her wrists. While in motion she kicked Rheia, but as she landed, it did not seem to do anything. ‘I sort of knew that wouldn’t do anything. Whatever she’s using on her hands to absorb my strength was likely on the rest of her body just in case. But screw it!’ Not satisfied with just the hit, especially when it did not seem to do anything. Saki tightened up her hold on Rheia and closed in swinging her head.

The pained echo of two skulls smashed together rang though the city of Atlantis. It stunned Saki for a moment not expecting it to hurt as much as it did. “Damn! It’s like your head’s made of steel!”

Even Rheia seemed a little fazed by the attack not striking during the opening. Pain did not seem as strong for Rheia compared to Saki, but it did affect her a little. “You’re head’s pretty tough as well.” Laughter broke out through her lips threatening to move through her whole body. “You’re very amusing and unusual.”

Still rubbing her head from the ringing pain that threatened to turning her brain into a pudding, Saki paused by the surprising reaction. Unlike all of the others that came before her, Saki thought she saw happiness in her face. It was not delight in killing or anything so base and violent. She did not understand it.

Recovering from her interruption, Rheia composed herself once more. “Please, let’s continue.” Eagerness appeared in her face now. She looked forward to what Saki would try next. A smile drew over her lips.

‘She certainly seems to be having fun.’ The next round of attacks came in, wasting no additional time. The timer on the one-minute clock was still moving, only half cleared. The test seemed only interested in if Saki could pass based on whatever rules Rheia determined. The best guess that Saki had was falling to the ground, due to the unusual setup. It was the only thing that made sense. So far she succeeded in not falling. However, it was getting worse.

Each attack came in faster than the last. Saki tried to strike back when she could, but she was not used to dealing with someone at the same speed as her. Even only having her powers for a couple of weeks, all of the fighting made her grow use to a certain speed. Her opponents always moved too slowly as if they stood still. This was so foreign to her, adjusting took a lot more work than she expected.

While flipping end over end to evading the most recent strike her hand slipped on the wall for a moment as if she had no traction. It was so brief she almost did not notice it. She only saw it because only her hand held her in contact with the wall. ‘Damn, I almost slipped up there.’ Leaving the moment behind, she charged back into the fray with Rheia.

Seconds ever so slowly ticked by for the two speedsters. Everything occurred almost invisibly to any possible observation. Only the fractions of fractions of seconds they appeared during clashes could be seen and even that would have been a blur to anyone normal.

Progress proved empty. The only thing that seemed to succeed was Saki’s standing in the test Rheia set forth, but it was not something that Saki really cared about. Pass or failure was not an interest to her, though she did not want to fall either.

Saki slid down the wall a few meters from the last punch that actually connected. ‘Damnit! She keeps getting hits on me, but I can’t even slow her down for more than a moment.’ It did not take long for her to charge back in full steam.

“Why do you keep charging in blindly during the sparring matches?”

“Master?” a young Saki questioned looking very confused.

A quick exchange of blocks flew off between Rheia and Saki trying to break through the other’s defense. The speed of the attacks kept increasing. Percussive blasts began to echo from each clash rumbling the wall. Dust leapt free from the ancient holds as the intensity of the fight increased.

The middle-aged man towered over her looking a bit bewildered by the girl. She had tons of energy and more resolve than any of the other students, despite the exclusion the others embargoed on her. “This class’ focus is on self-defense, not tournament competition. While I teach you both sides, I never see you using any defensive moves.”

“Is that a problem, Master?”

Rheia slipped through moving just a bit faster. Two open palms, with the bottoms of the forearm together, landed deep in Saki’s stomach. The force threw her off her feet and fall towards the ground.

He sighed a bit, disappointed she had not understood one of the fundamentals. “Saki, the reason you’re always losing to him is not because he’s older or more skilled than you. It’s because you only ever attack and never give yourself a chance to read your opponent. A good defense can defeat an opponent just as well as a swift attack.”

Her body spun out of control speeding to the ground below. If she hit it the test would be over, that was how she felt Rheia saw it. She did not even know what might happen as a result. Saki just did not want it to happen. Yet stopping her body did not seem possible. Their fight had stepped up the strength and speed of their attacks. Anything that got through was more than she could deal with.

“If all you do is attack, all you will do is fall on your back each time, Saki.”

‘Like I need to be reminded of that at this moment!’ The base of the wall was nearly in reach. If she hit the earth, she could not imagine how much it would hurt or if she would survive it. She always imagined her body has been tough and resilient, but the force made her question it. This was not like the other fights. She needed to stop herself. ‘Can’t…right myself…’

Images of the boy she always challenged, but never beat appeared in her mind. Rheia’s behavior reminded her of him so much. They seemed very alike in the way they looked at her. Even beaten she never gave up against him in all of the times she sparred with him. She looked forward to the future when she did put him on his back.

‘I won’t…fall…not here…’

Three meters remained, less than a second counted down until impact. Saki was out of time. ‘I won’t give up here!’ Matching the wall with her eyes, she timed out the motion. Her hand slammed out to the wall gripping it.

Cracks ran up from where her hand met the stone. A groan and yelp of pain struck Saki as her whole body wiped around and slammed into the wall suddenly pulled to a stop. “Damn that hurt…” She looked up at her hand that saved her just centimeters from the ground. Her fingers embedded into the stone from the sheer force.

Staring down at how close she came to the earth left her with a strange feeling in her stomach. It felt like she was falling and lying down at the same time. Her body did not know how to feel even if her mind understood.

It did not matter for long though. Saki saw Rheia coming in after her not letting the break rest. Planting her feet on the wall, she threw herself up and over Rheia to return to a safer position. It put her on top, even though it meant nothing with the way their fight played out thus far. ‘Defense, huh? I guess I do take a little too much after those idiots.’

Rheia turned around and followed with a swift strike for Saki’s face, which she evaded. The increase in speed on her attacks started to become something she could see more clearly. ‘Watch her movements. Move with the flow of the fight, not against it.’ Saki deflected the next couple of strikes, pushing them away from her. ‘I’m too focused on ending the fight that I couldn’t see anything else. I have to be smarter when I’m against a stronger opponent than myself.’

As her mind calmed, the defense Saki put up became more difficult to penetrate for Rheia. Counterattacks actually slipped through the woman’s defenses. Then Saki’s foot slipped again. ‘I felt that again, what is that?’ It distracted her at the wrong moment allowing her fist to connect, however before all of the motion finished Saki pulled with the strike converting the rest of the energy into a throw.

Rheia flew up the wall sliding on her back meters away from Saki. She started to stand up, but Saki was already gone. However, Rheia could not react to it. Something seemed wrong. “Huh?” Both of Saki’s arms wrapped around her waist, locked in together. She felt her feet lifting off the ground.

Everything turned around and the world seemed to have flipped. The wall rushed to her face. Stone pulverized and pelted her face.

An explosive force ripped through the wall. It looked as though a bomb went off, tearing through everything. Debris rained down and even shot out through the interior. The explosion ripped through both sides of the wall to the surprise of the citizenry below.

Even more of a surprise was something shot through covered in smoke from the hole punched through the fifty-meter thick wall. Another thing blew through the smoke trailing behind it.

Uncontrolled the first crashed into a tall five story stone building blasting up even more smoke and debris from the collision. The second finally broke free from the smoke revealing Saki. She came to land on a nearby rooftop a story short to the damaged one.

Breaking free from the rubble and ripping the rooftop apart, Rheia surfaced from the destruction with only a little more dirt on her uniform. She wiped away the crushed stone powder from her cheek as she stared across to Saki. “You pass! Let the real fight begin now!” Rheia grinned with delight preparing her next attack.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Breaking free from the rubble and ripping the rooftop apart, Rheia surfaced from the destruction with only a little more dirt on her uniform. She wiped away the crushed stone powder from her cheek as she stared across to Saki. “You pass! Let the real fight begin now!” Rheia grinned with delight preparing her next attack.

The sight of Rheia made Saki groan a little. Her excitement reminded her of Seiji, who just enjoying fight for the sake of fighting as though it was a test of something. Rheia’s expression was more refined and complex with something else coloring that Saki could not understand, but she felt that it was even more important than the one rested on top.

‘Great…the real fight, even though it’s been challenging just keeping up with her this entire time. Now things are getting serious.’ Blowing a hole in the wall and damaging the city did nothing even to faze the woman. She hoped it would surprise her or slow her down, anything to turn the fight in Saki’s favor. Yet it seemed to have created the opposite effect. It seemed actually to make her even more enthusiastic, as if she wanted to see more of what Saki could think up.

At the end, all that happened was that Rheia became rejuvenated for the fight. Any hope for an end disappeared. It was not as though Saki had a notion it could be ended. The last few minutes proved that to her. It just felt like some progress might have been made. She started to get used to the movements. Yet she did not know what to expect next from Rheia.

Staring had to end. Rheia already looked ready for the next stage. Saki was as ready as she could be. A blast of plaster, stone and wood came from behind Rheia as she leapt forward. Secondary effects puffed out from cracks along the building’s fourth and fifth floors. A split second later, Rheia slammed into Saki, fists clashing.

Time started to move normally as the weight of Rheia started to bare down. Behind them, the building Rheia crashed into before started to crumb from the fifth floor collapsing into the fourth and the weight destroying the hope of support. However, a few seconds later cracks and smoke came up around Saki’s feet. The roof could not support her with the force applied. That it managed to hold out for four seconds was a miracle.

As Saki fell into the room below, Rheia leapt back, but Saki grabbed her ankle at the last moment. Spinning her around and down, her body blew through all of the floors of the building completely destroying the whole thing in seconds.

Adding to the throw, Saki kicked several larger pieces of debris as she fell towards where she sent Rheia. Their speed blasted smoke from the crumbling building away clearing a path to the woman. Explosions of dirt, debris and dust filled the whole building almost immediately form the impact.

Stopped at the second floor, Saki dangled to look down at what happened. All around her, the building creaked painfully. It wanted to be released from the pain it felt, but held together. However, it did not last for long. From below, a crack echoed up signaling the demise of the building’s life. Already carved up inside, it lost support from one side as it started to lean, taking Saki with it. ‘Must be her doing…’ She released the broken stump of wood that held her from falling. The rest of the building began to rain down around her.

It gave her enough of a slowed landing to the ruined ground floor, but she could not see where Rheia hid in all of the smoke. Her head turned around in search through the impossibly thick cloud. She could not even hear anything from the deafening sounds of the building falling around her. Chunks of debris blew out some of the veil, but still did not reveal anything.

Then suddenly like a freight train in the dead of night, it appeared. Out of the curtains of dust and dirt came a fist. Saki only saw it in the split second before it hit. In the next moment, she felt the air stinging her face. It was almost two seconds later that she actually felt the pain of the punch, by which point she had already slammed through ten buildings.

Eventually, she came to a stop, but did not know how far it had been. Broken parts of the building she laid in fell around her. The tunic she wore was in shreds again. She had the benefit of Yuki repairing it between the fights, but she was already taking more damage than any of the other fights from just a single punch.

She pushed the debris off her, to allow her to stand. Her body felt like a bell rung by an overly excited child thinking it was a good idea just to keep mercilessly ringing it without thought. “Damn, guess that’s what they mean by getting your bell rung, ugh…”

Noise in the distance alerted her eyes to the wake of destruction she left behind. Through all of the holes punched through the walls of buildings she saw Rheia coming for her. It was not over. “This fight has only just begun!” Saki slipped into a defensive stance preparing for the next round.

Chapter 256 – Standing on Top

The next clash of the two fighters blew out the first floor of the building Saki stopped in, bringing the rest of it down around them. They continued to exchange glancing and deflecting blows while it came down.

Watching her movements carefully, Saki grabbed Rheia intending to throw her, but was countered with a reverse. Rheia landed on her feet at a heavy angle coming off debris. She pulled on Saki with the motion started to turn the reverse into her own throw, but Saki reversed the counter. Dropping her to the debris Saki tried for a pin. ‘I never imagined that my classes would come in use this much.’ Only another split second was needed to finish the hold, but it broke.

Rheia overpowered in a surprising display of strength. She lifted her up with just one arm from a poor position. Then she kicked Saki up into the air to blow her out of the rubble. Shards of building flew off in all directions.

It hurt, yet surprised her more. ‘She’s stronger than me?! What sort of inhuman strength did she give herself? How am I supposed to stop that?’ Questions had to end. In the next moment, the head of the Titans appeared in from of a still soaring Saki. She actually matched the speed perfectly like she was floating with Saki. ‘Can she fly too?!’

Distracted, Saki took a spinning kick that sent her flying back to the walls of the city. She tumbled end over end through the air seeing the wall coming up fast on her. Controlling her body was impossible. Unlike Yumi, she could not float and had no special powers like Yuki and the MPs to make up for it. All she could do was react. Just as she was about to hit the wall, she fixed her legs to try to absorb as much as they could.

The effect still left a deep crater in the wall. Once the force stopped its control over her body, she slid down the rough curved stone until she could stand. ‘She can fly…’ she noted, finding Rheia standing out in the air from the last attack. ‘She just does whatever she wants. It’s like she can what she needs no matter the situation, but it only seems that way. I know from Yuki, if you plan out your powers well enough, it can be very flexible. She’s not the head of the Titans for no reason, she’s likely found the perfect setup to do all of this.’

Saki jumped out of the crater to get to the top of the wall. “She’s quite troublesome. I’m not sure how to beat her. Even playing defensively with throws and pins isn’t getting me anywhere. All of my past tricks do nothing. I’m going to have to find some new tricks if I stand a chance.”

It seemed the waiting was enough for Rheia. She jumped off the air charging for Saki. Watching her was the only thing she could think to do. It was the only way she kept up in the flurry of attacks. ‘Huh?’ For less than a second, she thought she saw a hiccup in Rheia’s movement. It was so slight and brief she could only write it off as her eye strain. Details like that could not cloud her mind in the middle of the fight.

Blocking and deflecting, their dance on the top of the wall played out like someone messing around with the fast forward and play buttons on the remote to a video. Despite the clear advantage of Rheia, Saki managed to keep pace with her. ‘I think I might actually be getting used to this speed. I’m so used to only moving and acting briefly that I haven’t actually had to think and fight at this speed. It feels like I’m in a completely different world every time we exchange blows.’

A flip from a counter sent Rheia slamming into the wall. Chunks of stone shot out from her back pounding the surface. Before the cracks even had time to finish, she recovered and spun around her leg to trip Saki. In the next motion, she made an impossible leap from lying down to a flying spin kick to Saki’s stomach.

Another minor crater formed in the wall. All of their fighting started to turn the wall into the surface of the moon. Craters and cracks ran throughout the top.

Saki rolled away from a follow up punch. ‘Again…’ The brief skipping or hitch popped up again. It did not change the fact that Rheia kept attacking, but something was strange about her movements. ‘It’s not fluid like it should be. Why?’

Jumping back to her feet, she could not ask another question. ‘I don’t have time for this…’ She had to keep up with the pace Rheia set. It might have been easier for her to follow of the movements and see them coming, but she still needed her concentration. A moment of distraction would leave her flat on her back.

However, amongst the fight, it was not something that she could throw away. During the fight, she kept seeing it more. She could not ignore it. Her whole attention focused on every slight movement Rheia made. In such a situation, how could she not see when things changed? They were moving at a pace that almost felt like a normal speed, despite the reality. She became so adjusted to it. The infrequent slip ups stood out.

It was as though they were in a flawless dance. Every action flowed seamlessly between the next. And then for some unknown reason, a trip broke everything. Then it became the only thing to focus on. It was everything and the dance was missing.

‘What’s going on?’ As she focused more and more on the mistakes, Saki started to find patterns. It always occurred between attacks, when she was doing the least amount of action. However, as she saw it before it did not have a location it relied on. She saw it happen in the air and on the ground. In the air, it was more noticeable as the skip was larger. ‘What could be causing that? Why would she do it? It’s not something that she needs. If anything, it slows her down, despite still keeping pace with me.’

Because her mind focused too much on what it meant, the fight turned around on Saki. She could not keep up with the speed while sorting through her thoughts. More craters and destroyed buildings came as a result.

Buried in rubble, deep in the city, Saki had a moment to herself. In the distance, she could see Rheia flying towards her. ‘It’s there again. Like so many times. When she jumped off the building, looked like she dropped for a fraction of a second. Like gravity remembered it was supposed to do something… Gravity…’ It came back to her, the fight she on the wall. She recalled her slipping a couple of times. ‘It didn’t feel right even though I just waved it off as not being used to the situation. If I think about it, it was like gravity pulled on me for a short period.’

She did not have any more time to think. Rheia slammed into the building smashing it to pieces as Saki jumped out. Tossing some of the debris at the last location, she tried to slow her down. ‘If I think about it like that, then that would mean…!’ A surprising thought came to Saki.

Breaking through the smoke of the ruined building, Rheia gave chase. She caught Saki in mid-air still trying to reach the next rooftop. Reaching it was not a problem, she just did so in the painful way. Back on a surface, even if it was two floors down from the roof, Saki countered Rheia’s next attack throwing her through the wall into the adjoining room. ‘If it’s what I think, then my only shot is then.’

Saki charged through the wall like a bulldozer, sending chunks of wall debris everywhere. She immediately met a kick to the face. Dropped to her back, her foot smashed through the floor to drop both of them down another floor. While they fell, she grabbed a hold of the broken floor to use it as grip as she kicked Rheia out of the building.

Once kicked from the room, Saki leapt up to the top of the building. She stared watching the numerous buildings the Atlantean rammed through before stopping. ‘Too far, I won’t make it.’ Closing the distance a little, Saki landed a few buildings away. She had to stay watchful and react fast. She would not get much time. The window was surprisingly small, but she did not understand their powers deeply enough to know how it compared.

‘If I’m right, the way her power works isn’t the way I assumed. This actually does make more sense, but it’s crazy to think she could be doing it all like that.’

Rheia emerged from the ruins of the building falling in around her. The rubble did about as much as it did to Saki, caked powder on her skin and cloths. However, that was the least important thing. The difference in their distance and height required Rheia to fly. She leapt out of the second story floor.

‘There!’ Saki jumped to action disappearing. She pushed her body as fast and hard as possible. The time frame was so small, even her reaction being too slow would cause her failure. ‘I have to hit that ‘lag’ time in her movements. It’s when she’s turning off her power and setting new rules up. It’s insane to imagine, but she’s always turning it off and on constantly altering her powers to the exact needs at the moment. But it is her one moment of weakness, the only time she’s completely normal.’ Inside her mind, she tried to count out the time she had figured out. The whole perception of time became completely skewed to Saki while she existed at such a speed. When she counted it out she had five second to clear what was easily fifty meters. She could not answer how long it was in the real world. Such time was completely incomprehensible to her, it was too slow, an eternity of a crawl.

‘Two seconds…’ Almost there, she was halfway there. She would make it. ‘Three!’ It would be the blow that would end their struggle. The dragged out stalemate would finally end. She could find Yuki after it ended. ‘Four!’ An arm reach was all she needed. Her fist was ready. The strength dialed back enough not to kill her, but to leave her unconscious. A kill would be unnecessary.

The hit landed.

Saki smiled with success.

Nothing.

“Huh?” Her punch did nothing. No impact at all. Then suddenly a spinning back kick slammed into her face even faster than before. Saki shot out blasting through buildings like a cannon. ‘What happened?! Did get the timing wrong? Is it not what I thought?’ In confusion, she did not even try to control her body. The wall came up and exploded. Another hole punched through the wall. Just outside of the wall a massive explosion of earth leapt into the air from Saki’s crash. Layers of old earth displaced in an instant followed by more stone.

Everything hurt. Her mind was numb. ‘What’s going on? I’m in the city, but I thought…’ Old buildings crumbled around her just from the mere sight of her, as though anything she stared at decayed.

Rheia appeared at the top of the hole staring down at her. “You’re the first one to figure it out. Though I guess, you’re the first one I’ve fought with for this long. So someone else might have been able to figure it out. You had the right idea, but I figured out a while ago that you were clued in on the little secret. I was waiting for you to put it together and to act on it. So I left in a little fake, just for you.”

“Damn…” muttered Saki. All of the strength left her body. The one chance she had was even fake. ‘She’s too strong and clever. How am I supposed to beat someone like that?’

“Please hear me everyone! You must listen!”

‘Huh? Is that Yumi’s brother? In my head? She must have hit me harder than I thought if I’m hearing him.’

“Everyone please stop with the questions…I barely have any strength, just listen… I know the truth finally. I know what Ayumi’s goal is.” Part of what he said blurred out of her mind from the pain. Blood slowly fell over her face. But she immediately snapped to attention when she heard Yuki mentioned. “Yuki Hayashi will die! This truth is that Atlantis’ secret is not what any of us thought! They…”

Stone and earth cracked suddenly under Saki. Her hands tensed up breaking free from their hold. The look in her eyes changed, developing harsh shadows. “YUKI!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Athene walked out between Ourias and Yori. She leveled her gaze upon Yori. The air around her seemed to ignite into blue flames with a look that could kill. “You’re mine!” She lifted her arm pointing an array of similar needles floating around her wrist.

“Who are you?” asked Ourias, trying to figure out who the new person into the fight was.

“None of your business, stay out of my way!”

Yori wanted nothing to do with Athene. His eyes remained focused on Ourias. “Don’t interrupt me!” Squeezing his hand, Yori crushed all of the needles pointed at him. Then he threw his hand away casting an invisible force that tossed Athene aside. “You’re not the one I want!”

The swat barely did anything to dint Athene’s drive. She charged back into the battle before Yori could make another attempt on Ourias. “I’m not giving you a choice in the matter!” she yelled. The ground around her tore up creating a wall behind her keeping Ourias out of the scene.

Remaining patience Yori had for Athene burned up instantly. “Fine, I’ll make you then!” He charged after her to remove her personally.

However, she seemed to have something different in mind. The earth lifted up with her like a massive scoop carved out the ground. Everything went flying through the air along with Yori. Well outside of the range of the others, chunks fell back to the field dropping the two emotional warriors. “You’re fight is with me! You owe me more than even your life could hope to repay!”

Everything happened so fast that by the time, he started his build up Athene already dropped them. The black energy half molded in his hand vanished to particles. Immediately, his eyes shifted around the horizon, already forgetting Athene stood in front of him. Her presence nearly disappeared. A singular thought rant through Yori’s mind on repeat, like a skipping record. All his mind’s eye could see was his sister. Her name haunted everything, making him deaf to all.

Seconds ticked by like hours in his panic. He could not see the real one. Even though her image popped up like a collage within him. All the fakes did not count for a single thousandth of a point for the real one. The real Yumi still faced the danger of that Atlantean she foolishly tried to face down without any powers. ‘Where are you, Yumi?! I don’t see you!’

He traced out the city’s wall to locate the fight. Spread out flickers of shapes or shadows, maybe lights, nothing he wanted appeared. ‘…Yumi…’ Finally, the broken sections of the wall came to focus, but he had to strain his eyes.

Shoved up against Yori’s neck, the full ten seconds Athene went ignored hit her limit. “You’d best focus on me.” The needles poked his skin, but did not draw up blood.

Yumi remained missing in his eyes. A nuisance popped up, but he just waved his hand. “Back off.”

Not even touching her, a force gripped her across almost her entire body sending her flying. However, it only took her a few moments to come to a sudden stop in midair. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily!”

“I’ve no interest in you.” A raised palm lifted her up further away from the ground. The annoyance needed to remain still while he searched. ‘Yumi, you’re out there. I know you are. I’ll find you!’

Chapter 257 – Misdirected Emotions

Athene tried to regain control over her body. “Damn you! I won’t--!” Her arms suddenly started to stretched beyond their limits. It felt like invisible hands tried to pop them right out of her joints. The feeling swarmed over her whole body. Everything from the center tried to move away. “B-b-bas-tard…” Her powers were not designed to protect her against such an attack. She did not even know he would have powers. She only thought he could invade her mind.

The pain began to become unbearable. It threatened her concentration. She coughed struggling with holding back all of the screaming her body proclaimed. Each millimeter further on her bones brought them closer to snapping part. She was just a doll in his hands. “Damn…”

Frantic, Yori strained his eyes as much as he could to find his sister. As long as the battle for Yuki Hayashi continued, she remained in danger. Without her powers, she stood no chance against them. ‘There! That must be her.’ Isolating everything else, they were only things in the area. Even if he could not see her clearly, it had to be her.

Released from the hold, Athene dropped back to the ground. Pain and soreness held her from making any action against Yori as he ran off. “You’re…not going…anywhere,” she muttered, trying to get off the grass.

“Yumi, I’m coming!” Yori continued his blind charge after his sister. Interventions could not stop him. He would get back to her no matter what. However, he suddenly hit a wall. It knocked him on his butt, but did not keep him down for long. Immediately a moment later, he was back on his feet pounding on the brick. “This won’t stop me!”

Wasting no time further on the wall, he charged up black energy into his hands. He sent the sphere of darkness at the simple red brick wall. Exploding on impact, smoke covered the area around him. Not waiting on the clearing, he charged back in only to be hit by the wall. “The hell?!” His hands slammed against the wall trying to find the weakness.

Nothing happened.

Searching around, he went off to look for the end of the wall. He needed to get around it and return. Time wasted in each second this delayed him. “Where the hell is the end of this?! Damn it! Let me out!”

“There is no exit,” replied Athene, finally on her feet.

Turning towards Athene, Yori took in the whole surroundings for the first time. It might have been a wall, but it would also be more accurately called a dome. The outside completely disappeared. Somehow a light still remained to keep the interior lit. “Out of my way!”

“No! You’re staying here! I will not be satisfied until you’re dead!” Her fists tightened up. Images in her mind made it difficult to keep her body from shaking. “It’s your fault for everything!”

Yori turned his hand back to Athene. He heard enough from her. “Be gone!” When her body flew back it sent the wall moving with her knocking him forwards. It dropped him on his face with a headache. “Damn it! I don’t have time for this!”

Standing slowly to his feet, his eyes went away from Athene towards where he assumed Yumi to stand. ‘This wall needs to come down. I just need to take out the one keeping it up.’ His all white eyes focused back on the woman. She stood in his way, finally fully realized in his sight. “So I just have to take you out.”

Being grabbed by an invisible force became something of a familiar feeling to Athene at this point. However, each time brought something different. Each time was painful. This time, it pulled her towards Yori. ‘Not this time!’ Long needles materialized between her fingers. Only her torso was under its control, once in range she would be able to attack. This was personal. She gripped the needles tightly.

Seemingly a similar thought in mind, Yori’s hand clutched onto a black blade prepared for her. Once she was in range it would be all over. ‘This ends now! I’m coming soon, Yumi!’

‘I’ll avenge you, Simonides!’

Their weapons sped towards each other. Only seconds remained.

‘…Yori…’

Frozen. Time ceased.

Yori looked around the world suddenly feeling apart from it. It did not feel right. ‘What’s happened to me? Why can’t I move?’ An image of his sister ran through his view. He turned to try to keep her in sight, but she already disappeared. ‘Yumi?’ Something sat in the back of his mind, like a beacon going off repeatedly. It signaled something. It felt familiar. He knew it well. ‘Yumi! Where are you? You’re close by!’

‘…Yori…’

He flipped around knowing that she had to be near him. It felt like she stood next to him. She was there. He just could not see her, but his mind knew with certainty. ‘Yumi, why can’t I find you?’

‘…I’m fine…’

‘Yumi?’ He tried running after her, feeling as if she started to drift away from him. Yet he could not reach her. Something held him down. ‘Yumi!’ She smiled at him fading away.

“Yumi!” Time returned. His eyes returned to normal, restore of their light brown shading. “Where am I?” Ahead of him, he found Athene held just centimeters away with the tips of her needles just under his chin going for his neck. His right arm also seemed position for a lethal blow just barely poking her chest, above her heart.

‘…Yori…’

His head flipped to the side upon hearing his sister’s voice. ‘I can feel her…her presence. Strange, but I know she’ll be fine.’ He pulled back his weapon hand, uncertain about the situation. ‘Last thing I remember is frustrated at my inability to help and now this…’

“I’m going to kill you, Yori Mizuno!” spat Athene, releasing her needles to fly the leftover distance. Unfortunately, they hit a transparent square barrier, halting their strike.

Yori jumped back startled. Then his eyes widened in surprise. “You! You’re that woman that went into my head! What are you doing here?!” He did not get a chance for another question as she lunged at him. Acting defensively, he put up his arms to protect his body from her needles, but a barrier went up.

Bearing her teeth at Yori, Athene’s more primal aspects bleed through in her face. “Damn you!”

“Woah! What did I do to you?! Why do you want to kill me?”

“You’re the reason! It’s your fault! He’s dead because of you!”

“Who’s dead? I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Athene slammed her needles against the barrier with greater frustration at being kept from her target. Nothing happened with the barrier. She would not take it being over. Leaping up into the air, she landed on a circular pattern of light, but that was the least to be concerned over. Back in view, hidden behind where she used to stand was a massive cannon comparable to those found on an Iowa-class battleship.

Barely enough time to yelp in surprise and wide-eyed, Yori dropped to the dirt just as he heard the earth shattering blast from the cannon. Proximity to the ground upon firing was enough to tear away chunks of the earth. Even from his position, he could feel the heat and blasting force against him.

All around him, black shards rained down from his barrier. The grave atmosphere Athene placed on the whole area finally hit Yori. ‘She wants to kill me! I don’t even know what I did to piss her off so much!’ Looking for a place to go but realizing she already cut off all retreats, Yori tried to back up a little to give himself some room. “I’ve been unconscious for the last few days! Since you went playing around in my head! I didn’t kill anyone!” He was not sure pointing blame back on her about something was a good idea in his situation. However, she did already want to kill him, so he judged things could not get much worse.

“Shut up! I know it was you!”

“Huh?” The tone in her voice made him lean back. Her eyes alone were terrifying enough to see. ‘She’s crazy!’ Yori looked around for anything. He had been completely useless since entering Atlantis. There was nothing to blame on him. “If anyone’s got blame, it’s you for kidnapping me and your interrogation! I can’t even remember what happened thanks to you!”

“Silence!” The cannon seemed ready for another round as the barrel rotated a little to line up with Yori once more.

Staring down the sights of a giant cannon made Yori turn blue a little. ‘I was lucky the last time. I can’t do anything about that a second time!’ He glanced back to Athene. The troubled woman directed all her fury upon him. Yet he had no answers. “Who’s dead?” he asked, looking to try to buy himself some time. “Who did I kill?” Any sort of extra time he had to come up with a plan would help, but he did not know what sort of plan could stop a shell from a cannon.

“You know who it was!”

He sighed to himself. ‘This is not getting me anywhere. She’s so off her rocker that she’s going in circular vague responses.’ Any second it seemed the cannon would fire. “Damnit! Just tell me their name!”

“Simonides! The man trying to protect Atlantis from you intruders that ruined our peace!”

The name took him a make for a moment. He immediately recognized the name. Then the rest of the pieces fell into place for him. Recalling the man’s plan, it almost seemed obvious there would no doubt be those under his command looking for vengeance. “Since it’s already out of the bag, he’s not dead. He faked his death to help us settle all of the turmoil we’ve been causing here. If you look back at our group, you’ll find him there.”

Yori’s response twisted Athene’s face to become even harsher than it had been before. She looked to become something other than human. “Lies! Lies!” A deep groan came from the cannon preceding its firing. Fire blew out from the mouth of its barrel locked on Yori.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

He sighed to himself. ‘This is not getting me anywhere. She’s so off her rocker that she’s going in circular vague responses.’ Any second it seemed the cannon would fire. “Damnit! Just tell me their name!”

“Simonides! The man trying to protect Atlantis from you intruders that ruined our peace!”

The name took him back for a moment. He immediately recognized the name. Then the rest of the pieces fell into place for him. Recalling the man’s plan, it almost seemed obvious there would no doubt be those under his command looking for vengeance. “Since it’s already out of the bag, he’s not dead. He faked his death to help us settle all of the turmoil we’ve been causing here. If you look back at our group, you’ll find him there.”

Yori’s response twisted Athene’s face to become even harsher than it had been before. She looked to become something other than human. “Lies! Lies!” A deep groan came from the cannon preceding its firing. Fire blew out from the mouth of its barrel locked on Yori.

“Oh hell!” The explosion completely filled his eyes. His time to act fell away. Staring at his hand the moment before had himself wishes for whatever he held earlier. ‘I know I have something, some power that bastard gave me. Damn inconvenient he waited until now, but I need it again! Please!’

He had heard about moments of tension, extreme situations where people reported to have felt like time slowed down. Their reactions heightened by the rush of adrenaline. Able to achieve impossible feats because they needed it. It was all just stories. The potential of what a human could reach when natural limits were not enforced.

It was the only way he could explain or rationalize it. Everything felt like what they described. His mind did not seem to appreciate what happened to him in that moment. What he saw was what he had to accept.

The shell just left the barrel surrounded by flames and smoke. He only knew it left because of the distortion happening to the flames. It still moved quickly, even though everything slowed down in his eyes. He needed to act. ‘I need something!’

As those answering his call, lines of black materialized drawing to his hand. It molded quickly into physical form. The blade from earlier returned. ‘A sword? It’s a cannon! What am I going to do with a sword against a cannon?!’ No one answered his question. The only sword only insisted on being used.

‘Damnit! This isn’t going to protect me from a naval barrage!’ He pulled up his hands holding the sword in two hands, while closing his eyes. A prayer went through his mind hoping whatever gifted him with the weapon knew what it was doing.

Lined up well enough, the head of the shell raced to the blade. The force it left rocked the energy blade in Yori’s hands, but held firmly. An instant later, the shell split in half directed into different corners of Athene’s field digging out craters.

“What?!” exclaimed Athene, not expecting such precision.

Chapter 258 – Buried Emotions

Sighing and panting a little, Yori looked more surprised than Athene by what happened. He stared at the blade, lifting it towards him. ‘What sort of power did he give me? This isn’t like what I’ve seen the others do or even Yumi. A black sword…’ From everyone else, he had a good sense of their powers, but he just assumed that he would be like his sister. ‘Everyone’s completely different, huh?’

“Damn you, why won’t you just die already!”

Yori staggered back, forced to focus back on Athene. “Well I’m not really fond of the idea for one,” he grimaced a little not sure if joking around was really a smart idea with a woman actually wanting to kill him. “Besides, I already told you he’s not dead. You just have to go look. Once you realize that, there’s no reason to fight!”

“Lies! Lies! Lies!” She slashed her arm through the air generating a massive blade all edge and nothing more. It swung down like a zanbato, the horse-slaying blade, but triple the size. Unwieldy and lacking control, the heavy metal chunk crashed into the ground in front of Yori, missing yet still tossing chunks of earth up at him.

The force of the impact threw Yori on his back once more. “Damn!” Knocking off loose bits of earth, he stared at his feet where the blade embedded itself. “Just trying to explain things rationally.” He looked up at Athene realizing that rational thought probably was not high on her processes. “Damn, I didn’t even ask for this! I was just wanting to protect my sister!”

Somehow he knew she was safe, so nothing else really mattered to him anymore. So long as he survived, everything else could solve itself. Unfortunately, she was not affording him such a luxury. Her single-mindedness on him started to grate on his nerves. “I’m getting sick of this! What is he even to you?! I thought he was just your Commanding Officer! But you’re acting too emotionally for it just to be that.”

“He’s our Captain!”

It was an immediate answer, but it felt like a reflex to him rather than the truth. “But what is he to you! You’re just regurgitating your discipline!”

“Me? He’s the…Captain…” Athene took a step back. It finally started to seem to get through to her. “Captain…Simonides…he’s…”

She had to think about what he meant to her. Everything started from the point that this boy invaded her mind and flipped everything on its head. She lost to him. It fueled her to find him. But Simonides, his death fueled her drive with something else. ‘What is he to me? What is he?’

Athene could clearly see him in her mind without any concentration. It was just natural. They spent years together. All the years they spent, together.

“What’s your name?” an unknown voice from the black void asked. It sounded so distant and faint. At the moment, it seemed the least important thing to be asking.

Reality for her was that she could not feel anything. It was dark because she could not open it herself. Most of her body was beyond her mind’s ability to process pain. It knocked her out already once and it was only his voice that somehow called out to it. ‘Who are you?’

“Can you hear me?”

‘Yes…’

“You’re still alive, right? I already called—“

‘Alive? Am I alive, really?’ Any remaining consciousness faded on her again.

“I’m alive!” she shouted, throwing herself up from the bed.

“I’m sorry to inform you that this is actually the Gates of Hades,” a deep voice off to the side replied.

She jumped almost out of her startled by another presence. When she looked, she saw a human looking form with a vase in place of their head. “Hades?! What?! But why Mr. Vase! I was a good girl! I didn’t fight back even when they were breaking my bones!” She started crying as it all started to sink in. “I died… I’m dead…”

“Wo-wo-woah!” the voice made a sudden sharp pitch to a higher tone. The vase dropped away to reveal a boy, younger than her by a few years. “I’m just a human like you!” Panic quickly settled into his body trying to fix his mistake.

Through tears, she stared at the boy to confirm his story. “So you’re dead too…”

“Ack! N-n-no-no-no! You’re not dead! Neither of us are!”

“Huh?” Her tears came to a stop. “We’re not?”

He shook his head vigorously trying to convince her of their very much living status. Once she started to stare at him longer, he turned his head away. His cheeks began to grow a little red. “Well…” Hesitating, he rubbed his finger over his cheek trying to dig his way out of his mess. “So-sorry, you just looked sad when you were sleeping. I just wanted you to feel better…”

Realizing it all, her eyes widened and then lowered as her emotions quickly switched. She picked up her pillow and chunked it at him in anger. “The hell’s wrong with you!?” Another pillow appeared in her hand and she threw it at him too. “A joke?!”

The first pillow he managed to dodge, but the vase he held already moved beyond his control. Her second pillow came at him, not expecting another. He managed to evade it as well, somehow, but it put the vase even more out of his control. “Watch it! You’re going to make me—“ The next slapped him in the face. Another, followed by another pushed him back almost knocking him over.

Sparing one hand to push the pillows away, he leaned forward a bit letting his emotions get caught up too. “Careful, I almost—“ Interrupted again, this pillow hit him hard. He completely lost his balance both from surprise and the force. Landing on his butt with the vase in the air, he threw off the pillow to try to find the vase. “The vase!” He scrambled to reach for it, just before hitting the wood floor. “Safe…” he sighed with relief.

Once it fit firmly back in his hands, he jumped up to his feet. “Hey! It nearly broke!”

She started to cry again. “You said I was dead!”

“Look, I said I was sorry! I just wanted to see you smile once, you looked so sad sleeping there.”

“I have nothing to smile about! I won’t forgive you!” She threw another pillow at him, but the vase stood between them. A sudden noise startled her as he fell over sharply. The crash and thud came as she expected, but nothing more. He did not get up or say anything.

After a few seconds of waiting for something to happen, she leaned forward. A little bit longer, she crawled towards the end of the bed. Slowly, she peaked over the edge trying to see what happened. “Are you alright?” she inquired cautiously.

“Ouch…”

Covered in water and flowers, but still holding the vase intact, the boy managed to save the most important. Though in his position, it might no longer by relevant. The sight of him, still clinging to the vase and ruined as he was made her grin a bit. She could not help by laugh at the scene. However, the scowl on his face from her reaction made her stop. “Sorry, but the way you look—“ Laughter broke out over her voice.

Given the situation and she was actually smiling, he could not really complain much. He started laughing infectiously with her.

After the laughter and clean up, the boy returned to her side. He sat on her body staring at her. The look of sadness started to wash over her face again. He could do nothing to keep it at bay. “What happened?”

“Huh?” She saw he pointed to her body, likely the cause for her hospitalization. “Nothing.”

“That’s not nothing! I saw you before they fixed you up!” It was not the sort of scene he expected to see. “If I hadn’t gotten lost you could have died!”

She turned away from him. Everyone like her knew it was an everyday occurrence. Some got it worse than others depending on the level of interaction with those not like her. She was still just a preteen making her easy prey.

He leapt out towards her clutching her hand. “Don’t accept it! It’s not right!” His voice started to reach a yell and anger entered his throat. “You’re human, just like them! Don’t think any differently!”

“But I’m not…” She dropped her field removing all of the excess pillows she accidentally summoned. “No normal human can do what I can.”

Suddenly, he stood up on her bed jumping a couple times. “What if I could jump higher than anyone else? Or run faster than everyone? I wouldn’t be normal right?”

“Well…I guess…”

“But I’m still me. I haven’t changed. I’m only using what my body can do. Right?” She did not have an answer for him. “You’re the same, it’s just your in head up here.” He pushed his finger to her forehead. “You just can do something with your brain others can’t, but you’re still the same as me!”

She did not have a good answer for him. She wanted to feel the same, but the world did not work that way. “But no one else thinks like that, not since the rebellion.”

“Then I’ll change it!”

“How?”

He had to think about for a second. He just threw it out there without much thought. Turning around in thought, once he faced her again he had an idea. “I’ll become the King! Then they’ll have to listen to me!”

“You can’t, only Meso Prosecho can.”

“Oh, right. Well maybe I’ll develop them!” He flexed his arms as though they had something to do with the power she had. “They’re always discovering people powers at different ages.” However, she seemed to doubt the odds of it. “I guess that’s not very likely, huh?” He spun around on the bed again in thought. It came to him. “I got it, something more realistic!”

She stared at him in doubt, considering all of his ideas had not been anywhere close to realistic. “What?” Even still, she had to admit some curiosity.

“I’ll becoming the General of the Army! He’s got the ear of the King and the most control over the military. I’ll do it!” He knelt down on her bed leaning in with earnest filled eyes. “I promise, I’ll make it happen. I’ll command them all! And then I’ll put an end to all of this!”

“But isn’t he appointed by the King?”

“I don’t care! I’ll make it happen!” He stared into her eyes trying to fill her with his convention. “I promise today right here in front of you, that I will become the General!”

It actually left her a bit in awe. He seemed goofy and silly, but she could see the sincerity in his face. There was determination and a goal where there had not been one before. She wanted to tell him he could not do it, but she did not think she could find any words that would convince him.

“When I’m old enough to join the military, I’ll find you!”

“But I’ll probably be assigned to one of the border gates by that point.”

“Then I’ll go there! Doesn’t matter, I’ll start there. I’ll become the Captain of the Gate, my first step to General!” Suddenly a voice in the distance called out to him. “Oh that’s my mom calling! I’ve got to go!” He ran off out of sight, but popped back. “What’s your name? So I can find you when I finish at the Academy?”

“Athene.”

“Athene, got it! I’m Simonides! Remember it, because I won’t be forgetting you! It’s a promise!” He threw out his arm in a closed fist. “When we meet again let’s climb the ranks to the top and change the system!”

Athene found herself smiling feeling as if he could actually achieve his bold declaration. “It’s a promise.”

‘Others would just pass it off as childish promises and naïve hope. Empty dreams, but he proved them all wrong. He kept on that path the entire time until I met him again at the South Gate. His goal has never changed.’

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

‘Simonides…’ Athene whispered to herself. Her mind finally came down from the racing pace she pressed it into for days. It staggered her for a moment, falling back. The strength in her legs fell out leaving her a mess on her floating platform of lights. ‘What have I been doing, Simonides?’

The silence and lull in the attacking gave Yori the much needed chance to recover from everything. Ever since he awoke from the fog in his head, things moved too fast for him to process. He hoped it meant that the fighting between them finally ended. ‘Looks like she’s calmed down some. Still didn’t really get an answer from her, but if it brought her to her senses I’m not going to complain.’

Yori took a few steps forward once he gathered himself. A lot rode on his risk, but he needed to provide the proof she needed. “Um…excuse me, Miss.” Silently a prayer ran through his mind that it all worked out. ‘Please don’t try to kill me again.’

Alerted out of her thoughts, Athene glanced down at Yori cautious approaching. Her mind leveled out enough with emotions. No longer was she at a blindly seething rage, but it did not mean she accepted him. She immediately stood up, taking up a dominate position with needles appearing in her hand. “What?”

Holding his hands up, doing everything he could to make himself seem non-offensive, Yori approached her a few more steps. “I was thinking, you don’t believe what I told you, right?”

“Of course! I heard straight from Abeiron that Simonides is dead at the hand of you and your friends.”

It did not feel as strong as before, but he felt the anger directed at him. She did not seem to be solely executing everything upon him. Even still, she dropped most on him. Wincing a little looking at her as though he felt it, he broached the subject. “I was thinking. One of your abilities is to read my mind. Use it and look inside to find the truth. Then you can believe me.”

Narrowing her eyes, she stared at him reading his intent. “Your mind’s a maze. It’s too complex for me to be certain anything I find in there is the truth.”

‘Damnit! Come on, stop making excuses!’ Yori sighed, trying to restrain himself from yelling at her. “You won’t go check over there where my friends are just to see him. And you won’t search my mind. He sounds important to you, I’d bet he’d be pleased to see. Especially since he’s only got Nerine with him that he knows.”

“Second Lieutenant Nerine too…” Athene’s suspicions started to rise. Her eyes glanced over to where she first found Yori. ‘Could it be true?’ The thought made her heart jump. ‘No, I can’t trust him. He’s the enemy.’

He saw the doubt in her face. ‘I almost got her. Is there something else I can do to finally convince her?’ The man she knew was still fairly unknown to him. Yori did not know enough information that might be a trigger for her.

The last chance he had was just to explain everything. He hoped it was enough. “After our last battle with your Captain and his men, he came to our side. He seemed to feel there was something bigger that threatened your country. He could not beat us, so he joined us to watch us. Our goal is not to attack Atlantis, but just to bring an end to the assassination on Yuki Hayashi. Considering what his actions meant, he faked his death. I suspect that it wasn’t just because he was afraid of those in the Capital that would view it as a traitor move to side with us.”

Yori could see that he at least had her attention, even if she remained skeptical. “I think he also wanted to protect his men. Just something in what I saw in his eyes when he talked. He felt very protective of them wanting to keep them out of danger. As he correctly saw the Omega Division and even the Titans coming after us. If you kept following us, the disaster could have been fair worse. The loss of life might have been catastrophic. These people are in a completely different legend than everyone else.”

Silence hung between them for several seconds. He was not sure if he should say anymore. He said what he needed, but she just stared at him. “So I feel he did it all because his men were the most important thing to him, including you.”

Nothing.

Chapter 259 – Awakened Emotions

The silence was unbearable. He knew he could not say anymore. He likely already exceeded his bound. There was a fair bit of assumption made, even though he was honest about what he saw in Simonides when speaking to him.

Athene stared down at him. The whole time she read his face, checking for clues. It should just be lies. She should not believe a word he said. The little chip of his mental avatar still haunted the back of mind threatening her sanity at every turn. It taunted her. He corrupted her mind, tainted her vision and cracked her sanity.

“I despise you, Yori Mizuno,” Athene confirmed. “But I believe you.”

He sighed again. “Thank you.” It was over, finally. He could return to the others.

“But this isn’t over yet.”

“Huh? But you just said you believed me!”

“Believe you when you said that Simonides is still alive and you talked to him, however our matter is still unsettled.”

“What matter? I don’t have anything to settle with you. You’re the one that invaded my mind and left me unconscious for a few days after.”

“You took my sight! And threatened my sanity!”

“Eh?! I did neither of those things!” He could not remember any of that happening. Now it seemed to be her turn for lies. “I don’t know what you’re taking about. Besides, if you can’t see then how can you fight so well still?”

“I modified my power to reproduce everything directly into my mind through echo location. I can make it as detailed as I need to even see the wrinkles in your skin.”

The response made him lean back a bit. “That some frighteningly powerful stuff.” Yori already felt impressed by what they were capable of, but the lengths she went left him surprised. He really did not want to fight her, even though he saw that in her eyes. “Do we really have to fight though? Haven’t we settled the main reason you wanted to kill me already?”

“I still won’t be satisfied without punching you for everything you’ve got coming!”

“That doesn’t even make any sense! Why can’t you people be more enlightened and be above fighting?!” He sighed again seeing her unconvinced expression. She was clearly set on a fight even though it was unnecessary. “Fine, if you just want to punch me a few times. I’ll give you all of the free shots you want until you’re done!”

“Huh? I’m not going to punch you! That’s just an expression!”

“Well I don’t want to be punched by your cannon again!” Yori caught a disappointed look when he shut down that idea. “You were thinking about it?!” He ruffled up his hair annoyed by the whole situation. “Fine, since we’re not getting anywhere like this. You want a fight I’ll do my best with his new power I have. But I want you to unscramble my brain after this! There’s something I know I’m missing still that’s really important.”

“Can you give me back my sight?”

“I don’t know how I took it away from you!”

“You have your answer.”

“Tch! Damn, whatever. We’re having a long chat after this is all over though. We settle everything with this fight, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good!” Yori threw down his hands as black blades materialized at his call. It was the only thing that felt familiar to him. He still was still new to his power to understand it like the others. ‘I’ll give her fight, but hopefully it’ll be over quickly.’ Looking ready for the fight, did not mean his heart was really in it. He just needed to satisfy her need for it.

Athene clinched her needles as her opener, but stored plenty in reserve for the fight. She felt ready for anything he might try to do. ‘I’ll win this and finally put this all to rest. I’ll conquer this!’

Jumping forward, Yori made the first move. Not out of aggression, he just wanted it pushed. However, he realized that he actually was higher than he planned, even though he jumped with full strength. ‘What’s with my body? Is this her field?

The long hang time in the air gave Athene all the time she needed to react, despite his swift act. Throwing her needles at him to force him to use his weapon to block allowed her to set up her next attack. A whip appeared in her freed up hand to latch around his blade and swing him away from her into the ground. She tossed some more needles amongst the coughed up smoke cloud around Yori.

A little shook up, Yori stood up out of the cloud feeling the ringing in his head from the impact. To his side, one of her needles dug into his shoulder. ‘Damn, I’m not sure which hurts more…’ He yanked out the needle chucking it to the side. ‘I know I said I didn’t care about the fight, but I don’t want to get hurt that much…’

Questioning his position in the fight, Yori hesitated too long. Another strike from Athene forced him to start moving. Like before, everything seemed to move slower than it should. ‘What’s with everything? Why is it so slow?’ Because he was not used to it or really even suited to combat, the well-telegraphed attacks gave him time to evade, but still left him rushing around.

Taking up his dual swords, he charged in for Athene blocking her needles. The slashes he made were stopped by more of her needles, a common weapon for her apparently. Between the end and start of his next attack, Athene pushed him back spinning around suddenly whacking him across the stomach with a large scaly tail. The force sent him flying back to the brick wall.

Slamming his head painfully against the immoveable wall, Yori staggered a bit. “Urgh…damn…” He pressed his hand to the wall to push off. A strange image flashed through his mind. He saw a dark sphere gather in his hand in the image. It seemed familiar. ‘Did I…’ Thinking about it, he looked down at his hand to see the sword changing shape into a sphere like in his mind. ‘Something else this power can do?’

Yori wanted to ask what it did, as though someone with the rulebook stood next him. However, he just fired it immediately at Athene, somehow knowing what it did. ‘So it’s a projectile…’ The result from the hit unfortunately missed Athene, something deflected at the last moment. And she seemed to feel encourage to respond with her own ranged attack, missiles. Missiles, as in the rocket propelled from an installed battery or naval ship type. Yori’s eyes widened just looking at what she summoned. “No fair…”

Running was about all he could do in the face of that. Explosions went off behind him tossing him into the air. ‘Why am I still alive?! I thought she didn’t want to kill me anymore!’ Yori slammed into dome wall again, but ran his free hand against it keeping a balance stuck to the side. It gave him visibility on the next missiles allowing him to jump off, taking advantage of the slowed time.

Slicing through the front missile, he jumped off the two halves to turn himself around in midair. While still tumbling through the air he threw his sword at the next to pin it into the ground and took out the last two with quick blasts from his hands. He came to rest on the wall on the complete opposite side. ‘I swear she’s just throwing random things at me. There’s no theme to any of it!’ All around the field explosions ripped through the earth.

Settled into the situation, Yori started feeling different about the fight. “If it’s going to be like that, I’m not going to lose!” He materialized his swords once more before dashing across the air, actually running on air, towards Athene.

Weapons clashed quickly before Athene threw out another random weapon. Yori spun around making use of the slowed movement. She still had another counter, but he could keep up with the pace. Even when he made a mistake, the time given allowed him to make it up.

They danced around each other rapidly exchanging blows. Yori learned he could shift the swords into other shapes, giving him a larger array of weapons. New, more bizarre tools in Athene arsenal appeared like a frog’s tongue, a flame throwing lion’s mouth and a ballista.

Yori ended up staring down the wrong end of a giant guillotine blade, as though there could be a good end. It came flying at him, missing the guide rails and not vertical. It moved too fast for him to dodge. He lifted up his hand with another image popping into his hand. Squeezing his hand, the blade crushed on an invisible force rendering it completely useless.

He sighed, feeling his mortality more than some of the other attacks. However, the pause gave his body enough time to remind him that he was not shape. The minor wounds he picked up from the course of the fighting and fatigue washed over him. ‘Damnit…this is going to be what does me in?’

Gathering up the black energy into his hand, Yori stared across at Athene. He needed something to level the field. ‘All of her random weapons are making it difficult to get close to her at times. My body isn’t holding out for anymore crazy stunts, even if I have the time to pull it off. I need to restrict her movements…’ An idea suddenly came to him. The power was still new to him, but different functions seemed to be popping up. So he had a chance.

His hand closed around the sphere shrinking it down to a smaller size. Opening his hand, several orbs appeared no larger than a marble. ‘Just need to be careful…’ He released them from his palm, letting them float up away into the air. They spread around the space between them. It worked, somehow, but one suddenly faded away. ‘Damn, lost my concentration. Need to focus on them. If I can create them in my hand I should be able to do it elsewhere too…’ More marble sized black spheres appeared in the air all around them. The count increased to the hundreds.

Packed tightly around them, Yori moved in closer to Athene pulling out his swords again. Their blades extended further and thickened. ‘Alright, let’s try this now!’ He forced a clash with the woman once more. She played around him carefully, but made the mistake of hitting one with her dragon’s tail sweep. Blasts went off for the three orbs she collided with knocking her back.

Barely put off by the blasts, Athene charged back in for Yori, but went for a melee weapon. It kept things close range and out of risk. It was exactly how Yori wanted. His floating mines focused their fight to something more favorable.

His weapons clashed with her battleaxe. The weapons sparked with each swing. They struggled against each other for the dominant ground, surrounded by black marbles. Leaning in with their whole bodies, their heads almost touched trying to break through the other.

However, amidst the clash, a swarm of images flooded Yori’s mind. A burning village and a child appeared. They were unfamiliar scenes, but something about them he knew he had seen before. More continued to show of the girl. He felt like he was seeing someone else’s life. Then he remembered.

‘It’s her! I remember! During the interrogation, I saw these memories!’ Everything suddenly started come back to him. The other forgotten pieces swarmed his mind. ‘…the truth! I remember, I saw the truth of Atlantis!’ Finally recalling his forgotten memories, he started to put together all of the pieces. Everything he knew from current events and his newly acquired knowledge formed an even bigger picture. ‘That explains everything! Ayumi’s plan! Yuki Hayashi’s in danger! If she continues with her plan, he’ll die!’

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

However, amidst the clash, a swarm of images flooded Yori’s mind. A burning village and a child appeared. They were unfamiliar scenes, but something about them he knew he had seen before. More continued to show the girl. He felt like he was seeing someone else’s life. Then he remembered.

‘It’s her! I remember! During the interrogation, I saw these memories!’ Everything suddenly started come back to him. The other forgotten pieces swarmed his mind. ‘…the truth! I remember, I saw the truth of Atlantis!’ Finally recalling his forgotten memories, he started to put together all of the pieces. Everything he knew from current events and his newly acquired knowledge formed an even bigger picture. ‘That explains everything! Ayumi’s plan! Yuki Hayashi’s in danger! If she continues with her plan, he’ll die!’

It all hit him so fast that he froze in the fight. Athene capitalized on the opportunity carving out a large gash through Yori’s chest. The surprise, shock and force knocked him off his feet. Blood sprayed in an arc off him and painted the grass when he crashed to the ground. ‘Damnit, I need to tell everyone…’ Yori struggled to pull his head up to see Athene approaching. “Stop! There’s…something…”

Unfortunately, Athene still moved on him planning to be sure she was the winner of the fight. Yori did not have time for her now to bandage her pride anymore. He threw his hand up. “I said stop!” Her body suddenly flew across the room. He coughed hoarsely through the washes of pain infecting his body. “…damn…that hurt…”

Athene returned to her feet unaffected by his toss. She started to walk over to him, but he stopped her again. “Listen…to me… I know…what she’s…planning…Ayumi…” Unfortunately, he did not get any response from Athene. “Eu-e…e…Eudokia…I mean…”

The name brought Athene to an immediate stop. Like anyone, the name was familiar, but naturally she knew her better than others as her Commanding Officer. Athene’s face narrowed quickly wanting answers. “What does Eudokia Ismene have to do with this?”

Some of the confusion Athene took Yori a moment to think about it. “I guess…you were out…of the…loop…” He started coughing again, but blood sprayed out of his mouth. “…damn…I need…” Everything started to get light and the feeling started to fade away. A strange ominous feel overcame Yori. “…oh…”

Chapter 260 – The Recovered Truth

Another cough suddenly brought him back to reality. Yori snapped his eyes open no longer feeling as empty. A light came from just the edge of his sight, pulling him down. “…what…doing…”

“Remain still. I’m tending to your wound.”

Yori dropped his head back to the ground sighing. It was over. However, all his memories and knowledge returned quickly to remind him of his need. He jerked up only to be pushed down by Athene. “This is…important!”

“Let me finish.”

“Damnit! If she gets her way, it’s going to mean that he’ll die, a slow painful prolonged death.”

Athene tried to work around Yori’s stubbornness. He did not make it easy to concentrate on the wound. Fortunately, her power did most of the work. “What are you talking about? Who’s going to die and how does this involve Eudokia?” She hoped talking to him would keep him still.

“Eudokia…right, that’s how you know her. Someone I know, she brought him here with the intention of becoming your new King, though he seemed more interested in just stopping the assassins.”

It all came as a surprise until she started to search her own memories. “I think I remember reading that from your mind. But the King never had any heirs, he’s not related.”

“Yes, I know, but that doesn’t really matter now does it? I finally remembered everything I saw when I was in your mind. I know about it all even the Rite of Succession and the price that must be paid.”

“But he would have to be—“

“Powerful enough to support the Throne of Atlantis.”

It left Athene a little ill at ease having him finish her thoughts. He really did steal things from her. “Are you saying he is?”

“I don’t have a measure for his power and even using your memories I can’t really judge accurate, but I’d say he has power to spare.”

“Then he could save Atlantis.”

“But he doesn’t know about the price.”

“You mean she never told him?”

“She left that detail out. She withheld quite a lot of details from what I saw. You aren’t even in a rush for a King, you have a system that makes sure you have a King even when there is no heirs. She doesn’t need him. But most important, she never mentioned the price knowing how everyone would react.”

Athene looked off towards the Capital. “What is Eudokia thinking forcing Kingship on someone uninformed?”

“She’s desperate, but even I don’t know the reasons. But I need to warn the others so they can stop it from happening.”

In the distance, she saw all of the effects of the many fights playing out. The destructive nature of some made her feel small in their world. “But they’re fighting with the Titans. They’re the best Atlantis has to offer. Getting past them to Eudokia is going to be impossible.”

“Yes, but we have to do it or else Ayumi wins.” Yori paused thinking about the situation and his feelings on the matter. “I don’t approve of him, but my sister is fond of him. If something happened to him she would be…if I can prevent it then I must. I just need to tell them all, somehow.”

“You’re not in a position to be moving even recovered from my healing.”

Yori tried to stand regardless of what Athene said, but lost his strength halfway. The pain was gone, but his body was exhausted as though he had run all day. “…damnit…I need to talk to them!” He closed his eyes thinking about them all around the front of the Capital in their own battles. It felt like they were next to him. It felt like he could reach out and touch them. “Please hear me, everyone! You must listen!” He pled hoping against reason that he could tell them.

‘Yori?! How are you in my head?’ he heard from his sister.

‘…Yori…I must be dreaming or something if I’m hearing your voice…’ Fumiko replied.

‘Huh? Is that Yumi’s brother? In my head? She must have hit me harder than I thought if I’m hearing him,’ answered Saki.

‘What are you doing in my head?’ Chiharu demanded, as though her voice alone could kick him out.

‘A voice… That’s Yumi Mizuno’s brother. If I’m hearing him it must mean that he’s making use of his power. While he never was shown to have anything, I assumed like everyone else had something. So telepathy is his power…it’s likely not the only power given it’s not one that can protect him. He would have been given another ability outside of it. Everything is themed—‘

“Everyone please stop with the questions…” He had to stop all of the voices coming into his head, especially the unexpected one of Haruo. But he had them, somehow. “I barely have any strength, just listen… I know the truth finally. I know what Ayumi’s goal is.”

So many questions still fire at him that he needed their attention. “He’s in danger. If Ayumi succeeds in her plan. Yuki Hayashi will die! This truth is that Atlantis’ secret is not what any of us thought! They are actually dependent on their King for the continued survival of their civilization. The entire country is maintained by the King, through their power. That’s why the position is so important without the King everything created by their power to change Antarctica from an ice wasteland into this paradise would be wiped away. Everyone would die.”

There was so much that he wanted to tell them from what he learned. He understood their entire history, as Athene knew it, at least. There was so much to explain that they did not understood. However, he had to keep things focused. “Yet there’s something even more important that Ayumi never told us about the position as King. The strongest of those like Yuki Hayashi and Ayumi are selected to become King. The one selected is then linked with all of the country and is constantly using their power to maintain the reality of Atlantis. It is permanent until they die and a new King is required to be selected. However, the link is so draining on the King that it saps away their life at an accelerated rate. Most Kings become almost a complete invalid barely able to even leave their room. They become husks and left to a few years or decades miserable servitude to their country.”

Yori could imagine how many of them would react to such a situation. In fact, he counted on it. It might be the pushed needed to defeat the Titans and save him from Ayumi’s scheme. “Yuki Hayashi will be left to a slow and painful death if Ayumi gets him to sit on the Throne of Atlantis! He will die becoming the King, not today, but he won’t ever be the same again. His future will be stolen unknowingly.”

Cutting the connection immediately, he allowed the pieces to fall where they did. ‘I was a little manipulative in my wording, but I had to get their attention. Given the quality of life he’d likely have afterwards, it’d be like a living death.’

Athene noticed the relief in Yori’s face. His body finally relaxed and calmed down. “You did what you needed?”

“Yes, it’s in…their hands now.”

Suddenly, several flashes of light reached across the field towards them. A rumbling through the earth gave the two of them an unsettling sense of the changing winds. “What did you tell them?”

“The truth, or at least as much as I could. They still don’t know about the rebellion or the Anaximandros. There’s still so much they don’t know.” The wealth of knowledge he gained left him a little staggered. It was hard to sift through everything when it was not his own. It was just sort of there. Always mixed in with the rest of his memories. He had trouble being sure of his own past when he had to be careful not to confuse it with Athene’s.

A narrowed expression came across Athene’s face. “You’re a dangerous man, Yori Mizuno.” She could sense the depth of the knowledge he gain from just his expression towards her. The shades of emotions quickly shifting as he experienced everything. Guilt, pity, empathy, they all mixed together. He understood their pain as well as themselves.

“I didn’t ask for this. But it’ll be useful. Perhaps it can be the link we need to understand each other better.”

“You’re getting a little ahead of yourself,” she corrected with a dose of reality. In the distance, fighting still continued and with renewed vigor thanks to him. Things were far from over. ‘I can’t even imagine how things will play out after this all is resolved. The Council of Atlantis is still…’

Yori pushed himself back to his feet, despite the protests from Athene. He tightened up his hand feeling more of his strength coming back. “I really am different now or maybe I always have been since that day and I just now noticed.” Glancing back to Athene, his mind shifted thoughts. “I’m not the only dangerous man here today.”

Athene caught Yori when he stumbled from his overconfidence. “What are you thinking? You might be fully healed, but your fatigue and stress were not. You need some time to recover.”

There was still things he needed to see the outcome. He could not hold himself back just on the account of his back being too slow. “I need to return. I still have some answers I seek and they no doubt need some answers from me.”

She helped him in his slow walk back to the Capital. “I can use my power to carry you there.”

“No, this pace is fine. If we arrive too soon, we’ll get in the way of their fighting. They’ll no doubt be distracted.”

“I guess that’s fair.”

“Besides, you probably need some time to composure yourself.”

“Huh?” She did not understand what he was talking about, despite the annoying knowing grin on his face. There was something he thought about making use of her knowledge. “What are you thinking?”

“We are going to be seeing him.” Yori pointed with his free hand towards the location she stole him from at the start. For him, he could barely see the small gathering figures. The distance made them out to be just bumps in the grass.

Athene scowled at him for his vagueness. “You’re being intentionally indirect.”

It made him laugh a bit seeing her react in such a manner. “Well, you might wound him having already forgot him. You know the reason you came hunting down across half of Atlantis. We’ll be seeing Simonides.”

She immediately knew the reason for the way he acted. It turned her face red before she raised her fist to him. “Don’t use my memories like that again!”

Yori could not help but laugh seeing her face, even if it might have incurred some wrath. “After nearly twenty years, maybe you need a little outside help.”

“Yori Mizuno, I’m going to kill you!”

“Hey, I thought we moved past that part!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Yumi listened to everything Yori said. Her hands lifted up to her mouth as each moment left her more shocked than the last. She could not believe what she was hearing. “How can that be?! All this time…” Yumi turned her head towards the Capital, where Ayumi and Yuki had to be. “…Ayumi…you planned all of this knowing that? Ayumi…” Yumi hung her head down, most of her face disappearing beneath the shadows.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her ankle. It snapped her out of her own world to stare below her. Ourias stared up to her with fierce determination. “I won’t lose… I made a promise…”

A wind suddenly blew out from Yumi. The area around her eyes turned dark as night. Severe lines carved into her face. An intensity not seen before shined from behind her eyes. “You cannot stop me,” she uttered in a grave tone. “Ayumi… Not even hell itself will stand in my way! AYUMI!”

Even faced with the other personality inside the girl, Ourias never saw such a murderous intent in her. The sight actually chilled his spine a little and shook his determination. She had the look of being willing to do anything. ‘What happened suddenly? Is it another personality in this girl?’

Staring down at Ourias, the lines around her eyes multiplied instantly. “Let go,” Yumi demanded tersely. It seemed she had trouble keeping control of her voice as she almost exploded again. Only a second passed before she drew an arc with her finger. Released from her hold, it severed Ourias right arm at the upper arm. She ripped his arm free from her ankle with the use of her telekinesis and crushed it into nothingness. “Don’t make me…TELL you AGAIN!”

Chapter 261 – Burning Freedom

Ourias staggered back with pain fully waking all of his sense. Adrenaline pumped through his body allowing him to stand. The shortness of breath completely disappeared. Ripples ran out from his feet a moment later. Muttering words in a soft tone, a white material formed in the air to stretch over his wound.

Straightened out, Ourias had his composure back. He knew what he had to do. The image of his family sat at the back of his mind. “I can’t allow you to pass.”

“Then you will DIE!” roared Yumi, casting out another arc aimed straight for his head. It faded away to water after a response from him. “Nothing in this world will stop me!”

Grinding his teeth together, she made it clear to him how much things escalated. ‘Damnit, what’s going on with her? Are you going to make me kill a child?’ He summoned up his attack for Yumi. A mixture of his past types came out of the ground. However, her power seemed to have increased as she wiped it all out without even wasting a second. ‘I covered up for the flaw in my power, so she won’t be able to stop me this time, but with this sort of power I’m not going to make any progress.’

His invincible shield protected him from the next of Yumi’s attacks until he was able to nullify it. The exchange continued with the stalemate. ‘She’s increased her attack speed to try to keep me from using my words to destroy her attacks. Even still, we’re not getting anywhere. She’s faster than I can react, but nothing she does will reach me.’

Yumi took to the air, destroying the vines coming after her. “I’m wasting time on this pointless fight. My target lies in there.” Her gaze went to the city wall. She darted for it immediately, giving up the fight. Stone shards rained on her along with metal columns, but she dealt with them quickly and never slowed down.

Still in sight, but far away, Yumi crashed into something before reaching her goal. She pressed against it harder trying to force her away through, but it was not strong enough. Pulling back, she drew up particles into her palm and fired a point blank blast at the invisible wall.

Nothing.

“Damn you!” Yumi tilted her head back over her shoulder to Ourias. “That desperate to die are you?!” She swiped her arm through the air to destroy the incoming attacks.

‘I’ve got her held down, but I need to bring her down.’ Ourias stared up at the girl. The one that caused him so many troubles already. He was not fond of his job at times. It was never the life he wished to have. However, he could not change his course. “I’m ending this now.”

Questioningly, Yumi stared at Ourias. She doubted he had anything to back up the claim. But she waited to see what he did. Anything created by him would be struck down all the same. The untouchable situation would not change.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a metal column running for her like all of the rest. She stretched out her hand to deal with it, but nothing happened. “Huh?” Yumi turned too late for it. The flat end slammed into her hand and then shoulder sending her flying.

Her body crashed into the barrier, that prevented her escape, before dropping to the ground dazed. ‘What just happened? My power…’ She stared at her hand summoning up the energy to confirm she still had it. ‘It’s not gone, then what?’

Unfortunately, she did not have a minute or even a second to contemplate her condition. Vines grew up from the earth to tie down her legs. Once more using her hands to cut through the plants did nothing. Her energy arcs broke apart upon impact. ‘Again…’

The situation became very clear to her what he wanted. She saw even more of his projectiles coming in. Immediately, she threw up a barrier to prevent their progress. While it fought with him, she worked to get her legs free. However, he already dissolved her defenses. ‘Damn, he’s persistent…’ She put another barrier out, which lasted the same amount of time. It just was attrition at the point she reached. He would penetrate her defenses in time.

Once through all she could put up before it was too close to make a difference, she put her hands to stop what she could. Clearly, it would not be enough. A metal column shot through to her head ram it against the wall. The heavy ringing of Yumi’s head crushed into the wall echoed throughout the interior. Following the ringing even more flew in smashing the column with each strike.

Blood splattered upwards across the wall.

“Yumi!” shouted Seiji, stuck inside with the others. The moment Ourias put the field back up they received the paralysis again. He fought with his body to run to her. ‘She’s not moving! He didn’t…’ Seiji clinched his fists. Sidelined while his friend could not fight back enflamed his blood. “Bastard! Let me go and I’ll show you a fight!”

A cough.

Attention shot over to Yumi again. “I can…still fight…Seiji.” Yumi’s voice wound through and underneath everything over her. It came out low and quiet, almost muffled.

All of Ourias objects flew off into the far corners of the field bouncing around a little before sticking themselves in the earth. The vines unwrapped themselves around Yumi’s legs, but seem to be resisting against something.

“I’m still in this,” she declared, emerged from underneath everything. Blood dripped over much of her face ruining her youthful appearance. However, it did not stunt any of her determination.

Flexing her hands a little, they felt tight and stiff. It was nothing she could not work out. “If you want to put me down for good, you’re going to have to do a lot better than invulnerable attacks.”

Ourias’ eyes narrowed with concern. ‘I struck her directly in the head. I did injure her, but it should have killed her or at least knocked her out. She should not be standing still.’ Yumi’s defying his expectations left him a little worried. He did not know how much force he needed actually to kill her.

She started walking towards Ourias slowly. The next attacks came after her. Waving her hand, the attacks diverted off behind her pounding out a heavy hollow tone on the wall. She kept moving forward. “You can’t stop me.” Her destination remained firmly planted in her mind. The obstacle before her was just a small bump.

Pushing off the attacks with telekinesis, Yumi kept the march on towards Ourias. When throwing was not enough she angled her barrier in sections to deflect them off. Her path remained open. Like a machete slashing through a thick jungle, she could see her path clearly. It was always open.

Manipulating her barriers in pieces kept her safe when she finally stood in front of the only defense Ourias had. “We meet again face to face. I’m going to have to thank you for pounding my head into pudding back there. I’m thinking a little straighter now.” She lifted her hand up to the shield protecting him.

‘What are you planning? You can’t break it. I made it impossible for you.’

Energy gathered to her palm despite the impervious nature of the shield. Slowly it built up constantly as though size would change anything. The light of it expanded almost completely blocking her out of sight.

Ourias thinned his eyelids trying not to be blinded by the light. ‘What’s she planning? Even blinding me won’t change the shield.’ However, the ground under him started to rumble. He only had a moment to look down before light exploded from under his feet. It hit him square in the stomach throwing him up into his own shield.

Surprise spread over his face. ‘She was just distracting me from her real intention. The shield doesn’t cover underneath me!’ Blood sprayed out of his mouth. He fell back against the surface of the shield. Once the ball of energy dissipated, Ourias slid down to the earth slumped over.

“You seem to be copying me.” Yumi glared down at him. Despite no long being rage filled, her lethal edge never left. It actually made her look even worse as she was no longer animal like, but wrapped up in a human shell, the shell of a teenage girl small and weak appearing.

Wiping around the blood from his mouth, Ourias forced himself back to his feet. “Then forgive me for repeating you by saying, ‘I can still fight.’ So don’t think this over just yet.” He brushed his stomach where the blast burned through his cloths. It quickly repaired the visual damage to the cloth. “You’ll regret not finishing it there.”

“No. I know you’ve already fixed your shield to encompass a complete sphere around you. But I’ll still win.” The attacks became more difficult to deflect with her concentration focused away. She pulled back floating away as Ourias strikes flew over her as though to block her path to him.

Dozens almost hundreds of pieces of her barrier materialized around her. “My mind was more awake this time around. So I actually remember pieces of things.” Counting on the next round of attacks, she shot out a small blast down at her side. Just before it came into range, beams from all sides bounced around off her scattered barriers creating a mesh of light. The attacks smashed into the beams unable to advance.

Yumi cast her hand out dragging away everything cluttered up around Ourias’ shield. As she timed out, he dealt with her beams. However, she flew in over top of the column and pulled on the back end to turn it around. The force off it sent it speeding towards Ourias’ shield.

A metal clang blew out from the impact. It seemed like the shield vibrated from the ringing, but did not budge. However, before the column fell down Yumi lifted up the end she pulled on with her bare hands. Lifting above her head, she swung down on the shield creating another ringing. The sound started to become deafening. She swung repeatedly as if it was a bat.

Ourias held his hands over his ears being at the center of the racket. ‘Is she trying to kill my ears? She knows she can’t breakthrough like that.’ Then he realized. ‘Concentration…focus…that’s it.’ It took him longer than he thought to remove it from his mind, but all of the ringing made it difficult on him. His discipline and mastery came back to fight against him. Maintaining everything was so simple for him that he did not need much attention for it, but he had to focus to drop it. The pain finally started to ease up. ‘I’ll have to be faster about wiping things.’

The next round came up for Yumi. She dodged the attacks rather than blocking or deflecting them. Her feet bounced around on their tops dancing around the air. When she needed to block, she pulled up a layer of her barrier, then rotated in a new one immediately. It pushed back just enough on the attack before it faded out that it could never make any progress and Ourias could not nullify it in time.

‘Damn, she’s getting more clever with her powers. Her speed is so fast that I can’t even finish a word before it’s pointless. I can’t affect something that didn’t exist the moment before.’ The previous persona remained him of his flaw. Covering up for the other flaws was possible, but it was the one that he had no cover.

Worse for him, Yumi kept increasing the number that she stopped. He could only stare. Other feints did nothing to stop her. The superhuman reaction and awareness made it difficult for him to get anything over her.

Crafting a completely invincible stone column, it rammed through everything straight for Yumi. However, it stopped just in front of her. “Huh?!” He could not see anything by her doing. ‘How is she stopping it?’ Realization for him came a moment too late as she leapt up on the stone column. ‘She must have made it too small for me to see behind the obstruction.’

Yumi ran along the length of the column and hopped up to the next attack trying to knock her over. A barrage came after her to stop her advance. She flipped herself around running upside down skipping around to keep her position difficult to pin down. Finally, Yumi land on top of the shield. “Checkmate.”

Ourias stared up at Yumi confused at her declaration. “You can’t do anything.”

“Not true! I learned a couple of things about my power from her. This being one of them!” She planted her palm against the top of the shield. Suddenly beams projected everywhere around the field to a center point at the top of the shield just inside.

The energy passed through the shield unhindered gathering into a sphere at her command. It finished before a stunned Ourias could react covering the entire interior in a blinding light.

Yumi knew it was over when she started to fall with the shield gone. He laid unconscious at her feet. “Like she said, your defense allows non-aggressive acts through. I just had to alter the waveform of my energy into something that could pass through the shield. Did you think all of those things I was doing was just me playing around? I was testing it out and making the needed adjustments while I kept you distracted. I knew I only had one shot at it.”

She turned away and started to walk off. “Seiji have Nerine tend to any injures he has. I’m going after Ayumi. I’ll save Yuki from her!”

Seiji felt a little stunned himself from watching Yumi. She had become someone that he hardly even recognized anymore. ‘Is this really the same girl I saw back at the tree when the fairy called us?’ Shaking off some of his slack jawedness, he stood up helping Nerine and the others. He looked over at Yumi just as she started to fly away. “Be careful, Yumi!”

“Save that for Ayumi when I see her again!” Being reminded of Ayumi and Yori’s truth triggered her emotions with renewed intensity. She hardened the features in her face flying straight for the wall. Nothing matter to her anymore other than preventing Ayumi. When she approached the city wall a large hole punched through for her allowing her access to the Capital.

“I’m coming to save you, Yuki!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

The state of her body did not leave her much choice in listening to Yori’s explanation. However, she found herself pushing her hand into the earth to get her body back up. She could not believe what she heard from him. ‘If that’s true she’s being lying to us the entire time. This was always her goal.’ Fumiko slammed her feet flat with the earth to straighten herself out.

Across the field stood the teenage girl she faced. The same self-hating express held of her face. ‘She knew we’d never approve of such a plan. Yuki will be like the living dead, that’s no quality of life. How can these people be so selfish to sacrifice people for their own well being?!’ Fumiko could not stand the notion. ‘How many centuries have they been doing this?! How many people have died because of their selfishness?!’

Tiny toys swarmed around her lying into her with their weapons. Her body took the beating, but did not fall. She clinched up her fist. “I won’t allow this to continue any longer!” she shouted up to the sky.

Blue flames erupted from her arm snatching several of the toys out of the air to crush them. She saw the absorbing type coming in wanting her flame, but she threw down a blast at the earth. Clouds of smoke coughed up around them giving her enough of a distraction to wipe them out.

Panting heavily and bleeding from her head and body, she earned herself a little room from the tiny attackers. Any pain or fatigue in her body disappeared with the new rush of adrenaline. “I’m going to change this twisted world!”

Chapter 262 – Childish Dreams

A new magic circle suddenly drew along Fumiko’s back. Magic threads spun across her shoulder to her arm stump. Flailing about at the end of her upper arm, the threads hung in the wind. They slowly grew out in length. The action finally caught Fumiko’s attention, previously focused on the new toys popping up. “What’s going on? Why is it going to where my arm used to be?”

Unfortunately, Fumiko did not have much time to watch what her magic seemed to be doing on it’s own. The toys were back for more. She jumped around to stay ahead of their movements, but they were swift. It made it difficult to avoid everything. Even her flame could not be used as heavily as she would have liked. The absorption toys hovered around spread with the hope of her using a fireball carelessly.

Using a small flame as a test, she went to strike down one of the myriad of dolls. As expected, the neighboring toy went in for the flame. The amount was small, but what it returned to her easily doubled in strength. She was able to counter it with her own fire. ‘Damn, they’re quick to move. It’s as I figured. My flame’s useless if I don’t deal with those things, but she can create as many as she wants. I need something else.’

She glanced over at her stump again hopeful that it created something useful. However, threads continued to gather and spin together in the air. It was pointless as she figured. ‘Tch…stupid body still thinks there’s an arm there.’

Distracted, the toys took the chance to pile up for an attack. Moving in waves, they pushed her back. Fumiko tried to fight back with her fist, but burning them barely slowed them down. And it left her with a wide opening that they charged through. Strikes rained down over her body staggering her back. Through squinted eyes she saw the next major blow coming. ‘Damnit! Give me something! Anything to use!’

Magic circles suddenly grew over the scarred end of her arm. The circles pushed out into the air shrinking in size as they spaced out. The threads tied down to the edges of the circles. Rotating around the circles called out more threads growing and thickening.

Light blew off the gathered magic. Expanding quickly a form grew out of the blinding light. Fumiko no longer knew what was happening. She crossed her arm in front of her to try anything to block the next attack. ‘This is gonna hurt…’

A metallic thud echoed around Fumiko followed by another. “Huh?” Opening her eyes, she found the light almost blinding her. It was sunlight, she was certain. Lowering her arms down, she saw what it was. A metallic arm replaced her missing arm.

Flexing the metal hand, it responded to her commands. It felt like an extension of her, though it had no feelings, no nerve endings. A perfectly smooth and seamless form of metal. It had more of an appearance of chrome with how shiny it was.

“Metal? How is this magic?” Flashes of the final fight against Simonides troops came to her. She still remembered what happened. The sight of metal stretched out everywhere under her feet. Metal like on her arm. “This is the same…as before…” Just thinking about what happened made her arm shake. “No!” She clutched her metallic arm to calm herself. “I can’t do this right now! I don’t have that luxury! Focus!”

The toys took a moment in pause for the new reveal of Fumiko’s arm. It changed the situation, but only barely in their minds as they started to attack again. Fumiko had a little protection now with an arm that was solid. Even with it, little happened to push her forward.

She swung her new arm around to swat the toys out of the air. It had enough force and hardness to smash them apart. Not that doing so did much, they would be back in moments.

“Come on, if you give me this arm it’s got to do something more than just make a little more functional! I need something useful or else this is still pointless!” Annoyed at the empty gesture by her magic, she slammed her hands together. Unlike with other objects, the flame arm actually made physical contact with the metal arm.

Circles lit up all along both arms responding to something. Fumiko stared down a little confused at what happened. The light only seemed to be getting brighter as more symbols lit up over both arms. Magic threads wove down her arms towards her hands. “What now?”

Separating her hands in curiosity, she found something in a loose form spinning about between her palms. Given air and room, it sudden expanded to fill out the space. It tried to hold into a sphere, but continued to bumped and roll about misshapen. The threads remained attached to it with a different set of circles lighting up on her arm. It triggered a different transformation in the molten material.

Almost immediately, it stretched out. Extending to nearly the full length of Fumiko, it thinned out and smoothed starting to reflect light on its surface. The top end flatten and spread out creating a twisted and jagged form. As the headpiece finished taking shape a ruby revealed itself from the retreating material. It completed the look for the headpiece, carved out like a flame.

Once finished, Fumiko pulled it free from the threads taking it into her flame hand. She did not understand it fully, but it made sense. “What? I can hold it?” The moment her hand clamped down firmly on the shaft of the staff the entire length of the metal pole lit up with intricate carved lines creating tiny symbols and circles.

Fumiko could feel it pulsing with power. The glow on the headpiece intensified becoming its own light. It all felt a little familiar to her, but significantly stronger. “This staff, it’s different from the other, but I remember…”

A loud clash vibrated through Fumiko’s arm accompanied by a familiar warmth in her arm. Even through her closed eyes the bright light from in front of her shone through. Curiosity and her still beating heart made her peal back her eyelids to know the outcome. She missed the start, but at the end threads of her magic trailed from her hand penetrating the broom she held. Calling it a broom anymore failed to describe it properly. Silver cast around sections of the wooden pole providing elegance and grace that it lacked. The bottom wrapped completely in silver balling up before finishing off in a sharp pyramid shape added at the end with the point out to contact the ground when vertical. At the opposite end of the broom the head no longer existed. In place of the broom head a silver circular headpiece form. Ornate leafing and stems twisted out from the bottom of the circle building into a complex woven sphere hollowed inside.

The creation of it was different, but it felt like the same power was used in creating both. Fumiko started at her metal arm. ‘Does this have the power to create weapons? Is that the true power of this metal arm?’ Unlike the converted broom she had before, this seemed to respond completely to her magic.

She stared back at the toys all lined up wanting a piece of her. They seemed willing to wait on her finish what she worked on before attacking. “Want a piece of me?” she declared, suddenly brimming confidence. She did not know if she should be, but the power in the staff was almost a rush. It did not feel like she could lose with it.

The first wave came in for her from multiple different sides. She swiped her metal arm through to destroy a few. Then she paused calling on the magic in the arm. She knew what else it should be able to do and with only toys around her it was safe to use. An explosion of metal vines jumped out from her forearm piercing the flanking targets.

Twirling the staff around, flames spun off the ends wiping out those coming up in the following round. She saw the absorbing type popping up hungry for her flame. “Want to eat? Taste this fire!” Fumiko slammed the end of the staff into the ground calling out a large magic circle at the point of impact. Massive flames erupted over their whole area.

She watched as they tried to suck it all in, but were overwhelmed by the volume of power. Explosions went off one after another as they exceeded their limits. Smoke blew out from all sides blanketing the area between the two girls.

Fumiko charged through the smoke not waiting for any more toys. She knew how quickly they popped back. Taking the initiative to strike on Glykeria could seal the fight for her. ‘I can win this now! I can feel it! This is what I needed!’ Swinging the staff, she threw out a massive wave of flames in front. It acted more like water than fire with the way it tumbled end over end rushing for the young teenager.

Leaping a little, magic circles appeared on the soles of her feet. She landed on top of the fire wave, readying it like a surfer owning the ocean. Fumiko rode it in towards the girl, still unmoved.

Popping up around the growing flames, toys reappeared with the taste for Fumiko. Spinning around on the very top of the wave, she tossed out flames nearly the size of her body as if she was spitting. It came with ease. The path was clear.

Waves of flames overran Glykeria completely covering her. Pops of smoke appeared as it was likely toys attempting to mitigate the damage. There was too much for them to stop. The only certainty was burning quickly from all of the fire. Fumiko made sure to add a final dose from her staff fully powered up to ensure the kill.

Fumiko jumped off to let the flames finish their course. She watched from the sidelines to verify it was over. “I can’t see how she’d survive that. My magic is even more powerful than before.”

A voice cracked through the flames, but remained mostly drowned out. It did not call to Fumiko until it became a little clearly. “…terrible… …hate…” All she could hear were fragments, words, but clearly it was Glykeria.

“Can’t be…she’s still alive?!”

Something happened to her fire causing it to spread out and warp. It pushed away from Glykeria revealing a dark form. At the center, the sadistic toy that belittled Glykeria appeared protecting her despite its size.

As the flame started to fade away, more of Glykeria appeared. The fire affected her. She lost all of her skin turned to only a blood and muscle mass nearly unrecognizable from the girl before. “I really hate this life. And the world…” Suddenly, it all wiped away as though changing out a dirty sheet for a clean one. Her reappearance restored all of her youth. “I hate this world!” Hundreds of tiny toys appeared all around her blasting back the remains of the fire.

Fumiko clutched onto her staff for support as the gust coming off her dragged on her body. She felt her body slipping a little, but it ended before it became worse. “Damn…she’s still got this much left in her?! And how is she regenerating her damage?”

“A mouthy arrogant bitch like you should be more concerned about your own health,” the main toy said, appearing in front of her.

“Eh?!” She had no time to react before a heavy force struck her in the stomach. Blood coughed up from her lips as she flew backwards. “Damn…not again…” Before she could even land, the toys gathered up around her and slammed her into the ground. Their various assaults of the elements and weapons left her bruised, battered, cut and burned along with anything else to describe her condition.

In mere seconds, they did worse to her than everything up to that point. It felt that way at least. She could not think of a point on her body that did not scream out in pain. Blood soaked most of her cloths that remained hanging on her. ‘Everything hurts…but I need to keep moving…Yuki’s in danger. I still haven’t done anything for him…’

Fumiko slammed her metal arm into the earth pressing through it a little. Hardening her determination, she grit her teeth through the pain to stand up. Everything felt thick like standing in water. However, she could not stop. ‘I can’t stop, not here!’

Her hand clamped down tightly on the staff. Even with the power surging through her, the high she ran on had been soundly chopped down to size. ‘I did cause her some damage even if she regenerated it. So if I just do enough all at once, maybe I can kill her!’ Fumiko did not know how much longer her body could hold out against her insistence. She kept pushing for more when it wanted none. ‘All or nothing, if I can’t end it here… No, I can’t think that. I have to keep standing up!’

Focusing on getting her body moving, she used her flames to keep the toys off her. Unfortunately, they seemed super charged now. They were faster and stronger. They could even take more of her fire. Her advantage slipped away. “…damn…it…”

Struggling with her body, she forced herself back up. Unwilling to stop moving, Fumiko drew on everything she had. ‘Speed…it’s the only thing I have…I’m not going to have enough strength for a second…’ She knew there was only one thing that she still excelled at against them. ‘If I don’t want anymore pain, then just don’t…get HIT!’

Building up to a run, it felt like her legs were tearing themselves apart. The muscles burned. Blood dripped down her thighs. “Faster! Faster!” She blasted fire behind her to force herself even harder. It was the kick-start he needed. Fumiko disappeared with her legs finally moving.

Appearing behind Glykeria, she rammed the staff’s headpiece straight into her heart. “Die! BITCH!” Flames ignited sharply all around them completely engulfing the child before it could even react. The toys came to a sudden stop all disappearing. Blue flames blurred out her body turning light blue almost white. Everything that was Glykeria incinerated leaving nothing behind.

Fumiko collapsed on the spot. She breathed so hard that it felt like her lungs would crack her ribs. “Finally!”

“Sometimes flames are necessary to allow something beautiful to grow in its place,” an unknown voice spoke.

Surprise and shock turned Fumiko’s head to the direction. “No…can’t be…” She watched in disbelief as a completely different woman appeared exactly in the same place that Glykeria had once stood. Now a woman, she had long deep flowing green hair almost too perfect. Any sign of the child disappeared replaced with a matured woman at the start of her youth. She was a full figured woman, almost the idealistic image.

She gazed down at Fumiko with almost kindness in her eyes as though she was looking for the positive in her. “Though we must fight, I wish for the time in the future where we can walk hand in hand.” Glykeria smiled at Fumiko.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Yumi rushed over to Yuki’s side. He finally understood everything. “You’re not going to become King! She can’t force you to do it!” She glared over at Eudokia.

Eudokia bent down a little prepared for more. She bore her teeth with the rage reaching to the surface once more. Her plan was not ruined. “If you don’t becoming the King willingly, then I’ll just force you!” Her voice roared through the entire chamber. “I’ll KILL that bitch! And then you’ll put you under my control again!”

Her eyes locked on to Yumi immediately, the threat to her plans and reason for everything being ruined. She charged across the entire chamber on all fours with her claws aimed for a quick kill. However, Yuki stepped in front of Yumi. Mist surrounded his hands grabbing her claws before she could do anything. “You’ll have to go through me if you want Yumi!”

“YUKI!” She ripped her hand free from his grasp and slashed repeatedly at him. What little he did not dodge did not make it very far thanks to his mist. At the end of the flurries, a blunt shape from the mist jumped out slamming into her stomach. Eudokia flew back through the air, but quickly came to a stop. She crouched low hanging at an odd angle in the air.

‘Those claws…’ Yuki thought, feeling like they were familiar. Even though everything about the current Ayumi was completely foreign to him, he still felt like he had seen them before. Then his memory finally cleared up. He recalled the result of the assassin that came after him that knew Ayumi.

A dull echo in Yuki’s ears suddenly became a ringing and then clear as it was Fumiko screaming at him. He heard Ayumi’s name being shouted and he looked over through the clearing seeing that both of the women were lying in the grass. The assassin was lying dead in the grass with several evenly placed slash wounds across her body with a large pool of blood soaking into the ground.

It happened quickly and completely out of their sight. The white light blinded them while Ayumi finished off the assassin. ‘I guess that answers that question. She didn’t want to reveal this secret.’ Until he thought about what he saw in the past, the current Ayumi seemed almost impossible. Yet all of the pieces had been there for him. If he just paid more attention.

“Ayumi…I don’t want to have to fight you.”

“Only conditions I accept are you sitting on the Throne!”

“Ayumi…” Things really had reached an impasse. She was dead set on her demands. Yuki could sort of understand her desperation with the weight of an entire country on her. But he could not agree with the methods. “Fine, I’ll put an end to all things. The last two months…Ayumi…”

Chapter 274 – The Corrupted Past

Jumping off her perch, Eudokia clawed out at Yuki. She bounced quickly from side to side. However, none of it really matter when she could not even break his mist barrier. “Bastard!” She pushed herself even harder as though it could make a difference.

Yuki barely even did anything to stop her. More than anything, he just stared at her. There was an odd sense of reversed positions that did not go unnoticed by Yuki. ‘She’s like I was… So enraged that she can’t even think straight. It dulls our powers… She can’t win like this…’

“Don’t give me your pity!” Ice grew over more of her body. Expanding over her face, it covered up her eyes leaving only her mouth and chin exposed. Her speed managed to increase even more becoming a streak through the air. However, speed was not the answer.

Wrinkling his brow, Yuki had trouble watching Ayumi’s self-destruction. She continued to rip apart every piece that he thought he knew about her. “…Ayumi…”

“Stop calling me by that fake name! That’s not who I am!” Eudokia stopped up in the air above Yuki. She directed dozens of ice shards at him. Though they shattered against his mist, the ice dust rained down expanding suddenly to completely encase him. She threw herself down at Yuki. “My name is Eudokia Ismene!”

Held in the ice, Yuki did not even flinch when she crashed through the ice. He grabbed her hands the moment free of the prison. “My memories are with Ayumi, not Eudokia. You’re Ayumi.”

“Shut up!” She kicked at Yuki to break free from his hold. Landing a short distance away, she glared at him. “It was all just a lie! Everything you know was a lie! I planned out every little detail!”

It seemed the right time actually to get some more details out of her. Yumi told him she hid stuff from them, but he did not know how much. He knew well enough that Ayumi’s personality was fake, but he wanted to believe part of her real self made up the fake. “I know you brainwashed me. That much I’ve gathered from how you talked, but when did you do it? Even if I didn’t notice, someone else should have.”

Smirking a little, Eudokia paused in her attack to indulge Yuki. “Since the beginning. I’ve been slowly working on your mind for the last two months!”

“Two months?!” It actually shocked Yuki to hear that she had been planning so far back. He never really realized. It seemed impossible, but with her power, he had to accept she could have done it.

“Did you really think I’d risk you saying no to me? You still had a deep stubborn streak when it came to those close to you. But I was able to overcome that in time. Especially recently…”

Yuki thought about her words. It hit him quickly when he realized it. “The entire time we were flying to the Capital. You were…”

“Saki was easy to get rid, but Haruo he seemed to know something was wrong. So I had to get rid of him.”

“…Ayumi…” Yuki needed a moment to take it all in, but she did not give him that time. She charged at him trying to break through his defenses. Even with his mind in a swirling mess, the mist gave him more than enough defense to stop any attacks. He knew how much weaker Ayumi was compared to him from all of their training. His power was simply on a different level. She could never compete with him.

He needed to know more. The plan, he wanted to know what she had been doing the whole time. It could not simply be only the brainwashing. “What else?” His mist batted her away allowing it time to gather back up. “What all have been lying about? What about the assassins?”

Eudokia stopped again suddenly breaking out in laughter. She rested her hand on her head almost out of control. But she recovered quickly. “That’s the best part! You know, the Council I told you about. They don’t even know you existed! They never did! No one knows you exist! Every believes the King died without any heirs!”

Both Yuki and Yumi fell back in shock. Neither could believe that everything that they were fighting for was a complete lie. Everything they did was made up. The fights through all of Atlantis were pointless. Those that died empty. They had no reason. They never should have been here.

Yumi stared over at Yuki with the same look of borderline despair over their actions. They suddenly felt the weight of them heavier than ever before. She had trouble accepting it all. ‘We…We really are like they said…just terrorists!’

Yuki had a little more trouble with things. His body shook thinking about everything that happened. So many things made a strange amount of sense now. But it meant that he could not trust anything he knew. The entire last two months was a complete and utter lie.

His life was a lie.

Tightening up his hands, he looked back at Ayumi again. He needed to know something. “If they never knew about me, then what about everyone that attacked me? Who were they?”

“They were all my subordinates or fresh picked recruits out of the academy!”

“What?! You killed your own subordinates?!”

“They had only one purpose which they all failed at. They were supposed to awaken your power. It was still locked away and uncontrolled when I found you. I didn’t have time to waste on a slow training with the Rite of Succession in two months.”

A part of it did not make any sense. He called another scene with Ayumi, that he actually fought her over. “Then what about that one you killed that you said you were protecting me?!”

“The Council has been trying to locate and arrest me since I left.”

“You’re saying that…”

“When I fought to protect you, I wasn’t actually protecting you. I just made it look like that because they had no interest you in. They were after me. It wasn’t until Akakios, the assassin with the plants, found me that they started attacking.”

The main fights he had protecting his family and friends went through his mind. He remembered the plant assassin and everything that happened to Saki. Even the assassin that came after Fumiko, Ayumi’s mentor. ‘I can’t believe anything I remember…’ He then thought about the most important one. “Did you even order Demosthenes?”

“He disapproved of my methods. However, he couldn’t undo what I had started so he insisted on being on the one to take the burden as he called it. The death of your friend was exactly what I needed!”

He felt his legs buckle a little. ‘Momo, Jun, Ken, Fumiko, Saki, Seiji…everyone…’ Yuki ground his teeth. His lips separated a little as he felt his heart starting to pound harder. It was difficult for him to hold himself back. ‘She tried killing the ones close to me…’

Yumi could see the rage building up. She knew the feeling too well. It made her want to kill Eudokia all over again knowing what torture she put Yuki through all for her plan. “Yuki…” Like him, she felt like a hypocrite even thinking about telling him not to want to kill her. Yet it was still the truth, she did not want to see him like that. “Yuki! Don’t give into the darkness!”

The sound of her voice was enough to calm his heart. He sighed a little, remembering how he had to stay in control. ‘She’s right…but it’s so hard…Momo was hurt because of Ayumi!’ His struggle did not get any easy. He tried not to think about the images as they came back to him. Everything inside his heart told him just to rip her apart for everything. Even while his mind told him to keep control.

“Yuki!”

‘I’ve got Yumi worrying about me…’ He tried controlling his breathing. He just needed to hold on to something, anything to keep himself from going insane. Yuki stared over at Yumi. Just the look of her face and how much she worried about him calmed him down. He was not completely sure why, but it soothed him a little. “Thanks, Yumi. I needed that. I don’t need to be going berserk again, especially when this is hardly a fair fight already.”

“Fair fight?” questioned Eudokia. The shaking rage in her voice seemed to have disappeared. While she explained everything and exposed all of her lies, it actually seemed to give her calm. Now, she looked more lucid than she had for a while.

Eudokia laughed, but it was no longer the sound of a crazed woman. Rather, she seemed to know something. Something else that seemed to give her confidence still, even against Yuki. “You’ve grown rather arrogant Yuki in experience.”

“Huh?” Yuki quickly realized that Ayumi recovered herself. He understood partly what she meant. He hardened up his mist as she came in for the next round of attacks. Unlike everything before, her claws had greater cutting power. He could see that she actually made it through part of his defense. She quickly bounced around even faster than she had before, but now with frightening precision.

The repeated blows pushed him back a little as he tried to accept the new Ayumi. ‘She’s stronger and faster now… The difference of a clear mind is almost staggering how much it corrupts our abilities…’ It actually made him laugh to himself a little. ‘…so much for the notion of hot blooded warriors…fiction and reality really are quite different…’

Despite the better results from Eudokia’s focused mind, nothing made it through to Yuki. And even worse for her, he seemed to have been holding back. Once she sharpened her attacks, he quickly adapted to the change. It was only moments before her attacks became as ineffective as before.

He did not want to sound arrogant, but Yuki could tell the difference in their power. Even as skilled as she was, she could never breach his defenses. His control improved too much for that to happen. “Give it up, Ayumi. You can’t beat me. You’re far more experienced with your powers than I, but I still can easily overwhelm your field.”

Eudokia came to a stop. She landed on the ground with all of the ice retreating. “You really think you’ve won. There’s something you’re forgetting.” A smirk came across her face.

It was Yumi that figured it out first. “That’s right! Yuki! Heard that she hasn’t actually been honest with about her true power.”

“That’s shocking,” Yuki said almost deadpan. “How strong could she possibly be?”

Suddenly ancient Atlantean symbols appeared on Eudokia’s body. Light came from the symbols quickly growing brighter. They all retreated from her extremities gathering at her core. Building out in front of her body a complex array appeared casting a red light on Eudokia, one that did not match with the array.

Eudokia slammed her hand up against the array. She pushed through the array as the light sank into her skin. The red lines all over her body flowed in reverse suddenly drawn in by the array. In moments, everything had been pulled out of her. She pulled her hand back a little resting it at the center of the array. Her hand squeezed at the center causing the whole things to shatter.

She fell to one knee panting from the effort. Sweat beaded up on her face. It did not take long for her to recover herself fully from the exertion. Eudokia rose to her feet and fixed Yuki with a new look.

In a flash, flames erupted everywhere around them. Eudokia slowly marched with menacing and merciless intent towards Yuki. “Your confidence will be shattered to pieces now! I am the strongest MP alive in Atlantis right now!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Suddenly ancient Atlantean symbols appeared on Eudokia’s body. Light came from symbols quickly growing brighter. They all retreated from her extremities gathering at her core. Building out in front of her body, a complex array appeared casting a red light on Eudokia, one that did not match with the array.

Eudokia slammed her hand up against the array. She pushed through the array as the light sank into her skin. The red lines all over her body flowed in reverse suddenly drawn in by the array. In moments, everything had been pulled out of her. She pulled her hand back a little resting it at the center of the array. Her hand squeezed at the center causing the whole thing to shatter.

She fell to one knee panting from the effort. Sweat beaded up on her face. It did not take long for her to recover herself fully from the exertion. Eudokia rose to her feet and fixed Yuki with a new look.

In a flash, flames erupted everywhere around them. Eudokia slowly marched with menacing and merciless intent towards Yuki. “Your confidence will be shattered to pieces now! I am the strongest MP alive in Atlantis right now!”

“Oh…crap…” Yuki uttered, immediately regretting his previous statement. His field managed to keep her flames from touching him or Yumi, but with a field completely engulfed in flames he would not be able let Yumi out of his sight. Not to mention, he saw how much his field shrank from her release. ‘She was holding back this much?! This is absurd! It’s not even a transformation power up! This is like cheating god-mode!’

As Eudokia approached, she became a little more visible. The previous kimono outfit she wore was gone. A far more practical appearance replaced it. It was a simple body suit in gray. It had flames covering up parts where she still had wounds.

She did not wait any longer diving in after Yuki. Everything about her increased from before. Her new metal claws tore through Yuki’s defense as though they did not even exist. The outer layers disappeared just from her presence.

Blood sprayed up from the wounds Yuki took. He could no longer just stand in one place. His field no longer had the strength to compete with Ayumi. ‘Even against the old man I felt like I had a chance, but this is completely different…’ She moved faster than he could keep up and his defense did nothing to save him. Wounds appeared over his body quickly.

The old injures from his previous fight and new ones from Ayumi compounded themselves. Yuki could not last for long against her. He could not even get himself moving before she trapped him. It did not take long for his body to start giving out. Nothing could hold up against the assault.

Yuki fell to one knelt. His breathing ran shallow. Sweat covered his body. Everything seemed exhausted and he had barely even fought with her for more than thirty seconds. Blood dropped to the stone floor. “This isn’t looking good for me.”

“Yuki!” Yumi rushed over to his side to try and help him. She felt so useless now. Eudokia reached a completely different level that in her condition she could not help to compete against. She could not support Yuki when he needed her the most.

He did not need to look at her face to know the worry that covered it. “Don’t worry, Yumi,” he assured with a smile. Resting a hand on hers, he tried to give her some comfort. “It’s not over yet.”

It seemed like he had a plan, but Yumi wondered what he could do even to come close to challenging Eudokia. “Yuki?” Their power gap was too great.

“I’m glad I saved this. I didn’t expect to use something I planned as a backup against the old man.” Yuki smirked a little gaining his confidence. He dug through his gi to retrieve something small.

Chapter 275 – The Last Guard

Eudokia stared a little curious and cautious at what Yuki boasted to have that might change the outcome of the fight. “What are you planning?”

Quickly, not wasting time, Yuki tossed what he held into his mouth and swallowed. “Just a little insurance plan for my fight with him.” He grinned back at her. Suddenly he stood up and the breathing in his body changed. He no longer seemed to have trouble or shortness of breath. Even his wounds looked to no longer be as serious.

She ground her teeth together knowing what he had done. “You’re accelerating your healing! Damn you, Yuki. When did you have time to do that during that fight?!”

“It was at the same time I made those high density weapons that pinned him. I figured there was a risk he might expect it or it would fail. I was already badly wounded from all of the fighting that the only way I’d be able to continue the fight was if I could recover from my injures. But I never needed it.” He stretched his arms a little getting the feeling back in his body. “Part of the problem I had was already being beat up from the last fight while you’re mostly in good condition. So let’s even things back out!”

“Bastard!”

“I’m not like the heroes in my favorite stories. I’m not going to fight half dead if I don’t have to. This is reality not fiction. Besides, I’m not built like them to be able to overcome overwhelming odds through a gauntlet of fights. I’m just going to beat you!”

The bit of levity from Yuki ended up calming Eudokia as well. She started to smirk again with confidence. “You really think that’s going to make any sort of difference for you?”

Shrugging, Yuki kept the lighter tone in his voice going despite the grave situation. “I guess I won’t know until I try.”

“Still got that glib attitude I see.”

“It’s one of my likeable personality quirks.”

“We’ll see how long that cockiness lasts.”

He stared back up at Eudokia dropping all signs of his smile or lighthearted attitude. Determination carved back into his face. “Long enough to beat you.” He looked ready for the fight. The doubt disappeared from his body.

Eudokia charged back into the fight. They delayed long enough. “I’ll prove to you that a fresh body won’t change the difference in our power!”

What she said was fairly true. It was something that Yuki knew well enough. He had his fair of fights to know what the difference in their power meant. The physical body only amounted to so much. Everything else weighed on their creativity and control of their power. ‘What she’s lacking in creativity, she is making up for sheer power. Don’t need to be creative if it is effective. However, for myself…’

The first clash proved that Eudokia still reigned in power. She cut through his defense the same as she always did. However, Yuki managed to evade her this time. His mist dragged him out of the line of fire before he took any damage.

He landed on the side of the chamber wall keeping attached through his mist. His fight with Demosthenes gave him new ideas on how to use his mist to change the dimensions of his fight. ‘I can’t risk much more injuries from her. Even if my body is healed up, it was a one time deal. I didn’t make enough for a second.’

Yuki ran around the dome keeping ahead of Ayumi’s attacks. When he needed to do more, he pulled himself around. ‘I’m getting a lot more used this sort of fighting. It’s still pretty weird. I’m going to have make some alterations to my laws the next time I use this power.’ Even keeping pace with Ayumi did not mean he could actually do anything to her.

Every time he tried any sort of counter attack, it disappeared before even reaching her. He even focused heavily on his power to give it further strength. All of his tactics he used for Demosthenes proved to be meaningless. ‘Man, I didn’t know Ayumi was this skilled or powerful… She’s been making herself weak this entire time… Why would she?’

Eudokia jumped quickly around the air trying to get to Yuki. ‘Damnit, I can’t reach him! I’m more powerful than him, but I still can’t finish this!’ It frustrated her more with each miss. The healed body made a significant difference in the fight. She had to amend her thinking that it would change nothing.

As the fight dragged on for minutes, a grin started developing on Yuki’s face. He got a better feel of what he needed to do. Every action became less extreme and more refined. Even without touching Ayumi, he felt more confident about his odds in the fight.

“Enjoying yourself? In the middle of a fight for your life and the life of Atlantis?!” The thought of him treating the thing like a joke or something fun angered her. She pushed her body harder to increase her speed.

Her claws managed to sink in farther enough to catch a piece of his gi. The damage was only superficial and repaired immediately. ‘She’s getting even faster. She’s pushing herself to her limits…’ Despite the danger of Ayumi’s attack becoming more accurate again, Yuki could not help himself. His grin grew wide.

Yuki could see the annoyance on Ayumi’s face. Part of it was because of not being able to touch him, he knew that. However, he also knew that it was because he seemed like it was making light of the fight. “I’m not smiling because of that, Ayumi. While I don’t believe I can forgive you for everything you’ve done, thanks to Yumi I can at least keep those emotions in control. Which means all that I have left is a fight, one with the best that Atlantis has to offer. I can’t help, but get a little excited about fighting someone so skilled. It’s an older part of me that I haven’t really indulged in a very long time.”

Harnessing his mist, he hardened it into a single blade. His defense was meaningless against Ayumi anyway. Only an offense would do anything. He jumped into the fight with full intention finally.

The fight pushed around the chamber with Yuki actually giving chase to Eudokia. He managed to block her claws without losing in a straight up power struggle. The concentration of his mist proved to be enough to make up for lack of folding. However, it did leave them in a stalemate and it required significant focus for him to maintain such density.

“This entire journey to Atlantis has been nothing but trouble for all of us and the people here. We’ve caused them hardship and received the same in return. If you look at solely the mistakes we’ve made and the pain, it’s pretty depressing. But even still, if I look at it a little more optimistically we’ve all gained something from it as well.”

“Gained something? The lives of millions are at stake and you’re trying to make this into a life lesson?!”

“I’m not trying to ignore or dismiss that importance.”

“You’re decision to not be King is ignoring them!”

“Perhaps if you just asked rather than trying to force me into this I might have considered it.”

Eudokia growled in annoyance with Yuki. She punched him without her claws sending him flying across the chamber. “Ask?! ASK?! You can’t be serious! You’ve never lived here, you don’t know any of these people. You have no loyalty to them at all! You have a life and peaceful days. Do you really think if someone asks you to sacrifice all of that and their health for complete strangers that they would agree! No one is that naïve!”

Landing softly on the opposite side of the chamber, Yuki tilted his head up to her. “So you just assume that I would say no?”

“You know nothing of our lifestyle or home! You didn’t even know you had powers or such things existed before you met me! Would you have believed anything I told you?!”

“Even if that’s true, you had enough proof on you to convince me that you were telling the truth.”

“This is the only way!”

“Actually, I doubt that greatly.” During their argument, Yuki came to different realization that Ayumi never brought up either. One that weakened her whole argument even further. He could tell from the sudden change in her face that she knew what he was talking about.

Yumi looked over at Yuki a little confused. She was a little out of breathe, forced to keep up with all of his movements so that she did not burn in Eudokia’s flame field. It did not mean she did not sweat from the extreme heat or even the physical exertion required. “What are you talking about Yuki?”

“Well think about it. She already told us this before. She was trying to stop the Council from putting a puppet King on the Throne. At least that was the reason she told us. Which means that I’m not actually required. As long as there is someone with enough power, they can be King even without an heir. So there is no actual real danger to Atlantis or the millions of lives, like she’s been so fixated on.”

It was a fact that Yumi had actually forgotten about. Everything about what Eudokia claimed seemed to have been a lie. So she just discounted everything side. But it was the only part that actually seemed true. And the annoyed look on Eudokia’s face proved that.

“So what you’re doing here is personal. It’s self serving for your own desires. There is no threat.”

It actually seemed that flames appeared in Eudokia’s eyes. Her fury increased again only barely controlled by her reason. “Personal?! Self serving?! What the hell do you even know!? You know nothing about what is happening here! You know nothing!”


“Maybe if you actually explained it I’d understand.”

“YUKI!” Eudokia exploded off the chamber wall, shooting straight for Yuki.

Narrowing his eyes, a strange glow surrounded Yuki before he disappeared suddenly. He met in the middle of the room clutching Ayumi’s head in his hand. In the next instant, he dropped to the ground slamming her whole body into the stone floor. Blood coughed up from her mouth.

Yuki stood up staring down at Ayumi with a different look in his eyes. “Let’s finish this already, Ayumi.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

It actually seemed that flames appeared in Eudokia’s eyes. Her fury increased again only barely controlled by her reason. “Personal?! Self serving?! What the hell do you even know!? You know nothing about what is happening here! You know nothing!”


“Maybe if you actually explained it I’d understand.”

“YUKI!” Eudokia exploded off the chamber wall shooting straight for Yuki.

Narrowing his eyes, a strange glow surrounded Yuki before he disappeared suddenly. He met in the middle of the room clutching Ayumi’s head in his hand. In the next instant, he dropped to the ground slamming her whole body into the stone floor. Blood coughed up from her mouth.

Yuki stood up staring down at Ayumi with a different look in his eyes. “Let’s finish this already, Ayumi.”

It took her a moment to recover from the shock. When she glared up at Yuki, something did not sit right. Her eyes narrowed a little trying to read what had changed. ‘How did he do that? That should not be possible in his law set? I know everything about his law set.’ Separating from him, she shot herself out of the area. Landing back on her feet, she wiped away the blood that dripped down her lips.

He seemed even more ready for a fight than she saw from before. Previously, he enjoyed the fight and exercising his abilities against her. That part annoyed her to no end. However, now he seemed to have left that part of him behind. He just wanted to put the fight to end. He wanted a conclusion.

It did not change for her. She wanted an end as well, her end. The new Yuki seemed to make that less of a reality for her. He felt unknown to her again. “What did you do? That sort of movement shouldn’t have been possible for you. You should have passed out from the G-forces alone.”

“Not if you remove G-force from being a thing.”

“That’s not possible for you. Your law set doesn’t allow for that.”

“My other law set doesn’t allow for that.”

Eudokia ground her teeth together understanding immediately from that clue. ‘I can’t believe he figured out that advanced of a technique from only a few fights.’ She tightened up her fists feeling tension in the uncertainty. She was correct before thinking he was completely different. Yuki had become an unknown once more. She did not know what he gave himself anymore. “…bastard…”

Yuki slowly walked towards her. “I didn’t have time to make it look any different, which actually worked out for me. But I got the idea from the old man and that insane guy I fought. They both did something like this.” He flexed his hand a little. All of the mist had completely disappeared from him. “Keeping two different law sets in your head a little rough. But now you don’t know anything about what I can do.” He disappeared again moving too fast for Ayumi to see. His fist slammed into her stomach throwing her back against the dome.

Chapter 276 – Fire and Ice

More blood coughed up from her mouth. She could feel the pain in her body. It was not like Yuki’s previous method that relied on dealing internal damage. His fists were purely physical. Everything channeled through the speed and force.

She dropped back down to the floor. It took her even longer to recover than last time. ‘Damnit…I can’t let him touch me like that again…’ The back of her hand pushed away the blood leaving a smear across her cheek.

Eudokia knelt down preparing for her attack. “You think you’ve got me just because you’re fast now and I don’t know what your field is now?” Dust kicked up reacting to the power in her feet. “I’ve been holding back on my full power for you. But no more!”

“Good, this’ll be over soon then.” Yuki motioned with his hand to have her bring it.

Accepting, she charged at him completely disappearing as well. Yuki leapt straight in for her. It was only when they clashed that they popped back out. Shockwaves exploded off from the force slammed against each other. Yuki’s fists connected with Eudokia’s claws with both power being equal.

From the sidelines, Yumi could only watch. They moved in a blur for her. She could barely keep track of both them, but her body could not keep up with all of the movement. No longer relying on Yuki’s protection, she created a barrier from all of the flames. It was the less straining part of her power. Even still, her body did not agree with the usage from all of her fatigue. ‘Come on, Yuki! You can beat her!’

Yuki pushed himself harder to keep up with Ayumi’s movements. He was hardly used to such speeds. A normal human body was not designed for such actions. It required a significant amount of special laws and powers to make it all work in a way that did not just out right kill him. ‘Damn…this is not easy to keep up. I can’t do this forever, even though Ayumi only seems to be getting better. She really is more experienced.’

As Yuki bounced around the air, a quick appearance of circles appeared at his feet. They gave him something to stop on, but also thrust him back into the fight. It acted similarly in nature to Eudokia’s leaping. Their battle resulted in a very mirrored look as they both moved like the other.

However, Yuki knew that even with the new power he gave him that it was not beating Ayumi. He could not defeat her as he was fighting. He needed to do something more. ‘I shouldn’t really be concerned about cheap shots at this point. The win is more important than anything since if I lose I’m going to have be a bed-ridden King for the rest of my life. I’d never be able to see Momo, Jun or Ken ever again…’

The thought of the alterative gave Yuki the resolve he needed. He was very thankful for the additional powers that he built into the law set. ‘If I didn’t have this tracking program I’d never be able to actually reliable follow Ayumi…’

Alternating with his less dominate left hand, Yuki pushed on Ayumi with a series of punches. He needed to knock her a little off balance. The distraction was enough, but he needed it to count for more. ‘There!’

Suddenly, a simple sword materialized in his right hand and slashed downward at an angle. Eudokia naturally blocked it, but blood still sprayed up from her body. It came from her back. The hit stunned her enough that Yuki delivered several more blows to her body.

She crashed to the stone floor in a cloud of dust from the ancient room. Blood painted across the intricately detailed stone from her impact. Even now, she did not understand what happened. ‘Another of his powers? How many different things did he gives himself? I don’t have time to figure it out.’

Slowly, Eudokia pulled herself back up. She glared back at Yuki, who continued to improve at an unsettling rate. ‘He’s managed to make his power close enough that any mistakes I make I can’t negate. Damnit!’ Grinding her teeth at the turned around situation, things started to become even more desperate for her. “Cheap tricks now.”

The look in Yuki’s did not change at her accusation. “I’m not a fan of them, but this is a fight over my life. I can’t allow myself to be held back on such accounts!”

“Then I won’t hold back either!” Suddenly the flames disappeared from the field. Eudokia jumped from the ground going for a direct attack on him. He succeeded in blocking her, but flames appeared from the air lashing out at him. Restraining and burning him, Yuki could not block the series of slashes Eudokia left for him.

Yuki managed to break free from the hold with a couple of swift strikes, but the damage was already done. Blood dripped from his chest. Even with the repaired gi, it started to turn a dark crimson soaking up the blood.

He slid through the air, circles of light supporting him. Clutching his wounded chest, Yuki bit through the pain. ‘Figured she was still holding something back despite saying that she was going to bring it all. I was holding back as well, so it’s only fair.’ Fairness meant little though in a fight for life. He was not about to let Ayumi’s attacks slid unreturned.

The clashes of metal and flame continued. Both of their intensities increased further with the fight becoming even more lethal. Blood trailed through the air from both of them. New wounds carved out in their bodies in response of each failed block. In spite of their bodies getting worse with each passing minute, neither could allow themselves to stop.

After a heavy barrage of attacks lasting for nearly two minutes uninterrupted, they came to a pause. Sweat covered their skin and their chests heaved from shortened breathes. All of the signs from their bodies went ignored.

‘It’s a dimensional blade of sorts,’ she thought, having figured out most of its function. ‘However, he’s able to change where the damage comes out making it nearly impossible for me to predict. Damn such an annoying power…’

‘Yuki…’ Yumi became even more worried about the fate of Yuki. It was hard to tell which was winning in the fight. They looked evenly matched. And since they seemed evenly matched it would only take one major mistake for the fight to be over.

‘I’m going to need to end this soon,’ commented Yuki, feeling the pain coursing through his body. ‘I’m already having to make up for a lot of my bodies movements through my power. It’s falling apart quickly.’

Little choice came for Yuki when he already noticed the movement of Ayumi once more. She seemed to have enough of their break. He pushed himself back into the fray with the same intensity and determination. Despite his body, he would not show her the weakness building.

Flames arced around their bodies as sparks and shockwaves burst from their weapons. Yuki had become a little familiar with dealing with the flames. But Ayumi kept mixing up the direction and angles. She had significant control over her field despite being so focused on the melee. Requiring the omnipresent awareness of the entire battlefield made it even more challenging on Yuki.

Outside of the latest round of fighting, Yuki clinched his left hand tightly. He landed on the circle throwing himself back. However, a new glow came about his hand. At the moment of the clash, ice exploded in all directions countering the flames. They fought against each other while the two struggled over their weapons.

“Damn you, Yuki! You even planned for this!”

Groaning in the power struggle, he increased the ice to try to combat the overwhelming flames. “Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for that much planning. I planned on having the ice to negate your own ice powers. But this works just as well.”

Yuki quickly encased some of the flames in ice and grabbed a hold to pull himself around into a different direction. The shift threw off Ayumi allowing him to get a deep wound on her back. However, she lashed out with her flames as he lost focus on the ice in the moment.

Blood trailed off her back as she collapsed to the stone. A dull groan came out of her. The last hit left her body wrecked and in deep pain. She struggled to get herself back on her feet.

Searing pain went through Yuki’s body from the flames. He refocused on the ice to fight of the flames, but the damage was already done. Yuki fell backwards to the opposite side of the chambers. The impact coughed up a massive amount of blood from his mouth. A reminder of how thrashed his body was from everything.

Slowly standing up, Yuki looked across the room through blurred and half-closed eyes. He could see Ayumi back up on her feet. “Damn…”

“…Yuki Hayashi…”

“Looks like I’m going to descend into cliché again, but we’re in no position to keep fighting.”

“Speak for yourself,” snapped Eudokia, holding up her body just as much through her power as Yuki. Her bluff had no weight to it.

“So let’s decide this on one final attack. Everything we’ve got.”

“Tch!” She looked away from him for a moment.

Coughing a little, Yuki smirked. He saw the look in her eyes. “I’ll take that as a yes. If I win this is all over, no more me being King, Ayumi.”

Eudokia grimaced at the thought, but she had to accept it. It was the fight to decide everything. “Fine. When I win you’ll be King.”

Yuki tried to laugh, but his body did not like the idea. More blood dripped out of his mouth. “Still got that confidence, I see. Well let’s do this, Ayumi!”

“Call me, Eudokia!”

“Damn, so picky.”

Building up his strength, he needed everything he had to offer for the final attack. He slid his sword down to his side, too many samurai movies. Ice gathered around the blade creating a haze in the air.

Across the chamber, fire covered Eudokia’s metal claws. She bent down on all fours with her legs primed up against an invisible wall like an Olympian sprinter.

At the center before even they started to fight, their fields already had begun. Each pushed their folding to the limits and beyond. Their mental capacity strained to keep everything together. Fire and ice sparked around through the air as though to play out the increased tension.

They had everything pushed as far as possible completely disregarding their bodies or minds. All that mattered was the importance of the last single attack. Each representing what was unshakable to them. Powered by their resolve, they disappeared.

Blood sprayed up and clashed at the impact. A massive shockwave shook the chamber shaking all of the dust free and knocking Yumi off her feet.

In the next moment, two bodies sped out from the center smashing into the walls of the chamber. First to their feet was Yumi. As the spectator of the fight, she looked at both sides trying to see who was more injured. She saw the entire exchange. It had not been a single attack, but rather five attacks so fast that their bodies had to be falling apart or broken. Eudokia flames overpowered Yuki’s ice, but his dimensional sword hit deep. There was almost no defense only offense.

Neither could have been left with much of their body.

She thought one would rise before the other, but both actually seemed to be standing again. However, it did not look natural, almost as if they were puppets with strings attached to their limbs. Blood dripped off their deep wounds. ‘Who won? They’re both standing, but almost dead too!’

Panting heavily and spent, Eudokia glared with the same fierce resolve at Yuki, who refused to fall. “Damn you, Yuki! Just…fall…accept your…fate…”

In no better shape, possible worse, Yuki stared back at her. “I…make my…own…fate…not you…Eudokia…”

It was the first time she heard him use her name. “…damn…you…” Her body suddenly collapsed to the ground, her strings cut.

Yuki smiled with relief on his face. “It’s…finally…over…” His eyes closed and he fell into Yumi’s arms, rushing to his side. His consciousness faded.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

“Her! Arrest her! She’s…” Yumi’s voice disappeared into the void. It popped back and disappeared in waves. She seemed to be screaming and crying. It was hard to tell what was happening.

“What do you…doing?!”

‘What’s happening, Yumi? Are you fighting someone?’ Yuki could not tell very clearly what happened to her. He heard more voices. They all shouted and trying to go over top the other. It was pure chaos. Everything just fell into a sea of noise to him. ‘Yumi…’

“Don’t touch him!” Get… Yuki! YU…”

‘…Yumi…’

Chapter 277 – Rude Morning

“Yumi!” shouted Yuki. Sweat covered his body and every part of him screamed at him to tell him to stop moving. Once he heard his body, he fell back into a pillow. “Huh?” Yuki tilted his head trying to figure out where he ended up. “Where am I?”

His eyes still worked well even his body complained and protested. All around him was an unknown sight. A massive room that had to be the size of his entire house back in Japan held a single bed. Along the wall on the left of him was fine wood and silver inlaid furniture. It looked expensive, which was about his only reaction to it. On his right, a small table and a couple of overstuffed chairs lined the wall. Unlike the rest of the furniture in the room, the chairs did not look like they belonged and lacked the perfect arrangement.

“I must be in the Palace,” he told himself aloud. It was the only reasonable answer. It was clearly not his room back home. If everything followed as it should have, the fighting was over and them being in the Palace meant that the truth was finally out.

Yuki tried to get up again, but his body refused to give up its control. Pain held him firm. “Damn, I really trashed my body.” He thought back to everything that he forced his body to do. It was beyond the limits of a normal human. He expected it to act like Saki or Seiji’s body. The abuse had a severe price. “I never want to do that again.”

Bursting through the massive wood doors opposite of the bed, Yuki’s friends appeared with relief on their face. Saki and Seiji were the first in and already at the foot of his bed while Yori hung to the background along with Chiharu.

“Yuki!” shouted Saki almost crying from happiness to see him again.

Seiji muscled his way along side Saki, insisting on his importance in the tiers of Yuki’s friends. “Hey man! That must have been one hell of a fight to leave even you unconscious!” He gave him a very approving look.

Saki was already berating Seiji for his boisterous and insensitive comment. ‘This is how it should be…’ Yuki grinned watching them argue and fight. He missed seeing it. However, something was missing.

Searching around the room, he tried to locate everyone that came in. “Where’s Yumi?” he asked, as his first question to them.

Despite the yelling and ruckus, both of them heard Yuki clearly. His voice actually seemed to stop them. Saki leaned around the bed and pointed to the floor at his right.

“Hmm?” Yuki crawled over the bed. It was ridiculously huge. The size had to be big enough for all of his friends to comfortable sit on and not fall off. His sore body did not help making the bed feel even larger. But he made it to the edge finally. “Oh…” He saw her sleeping on the floor and a chair just out of reach of it, which explained why it looked out of place.

It made him smile a little. He looked back at Saki. “How long as she been like that?”

“On the floor, who knows. But she insisted on staying by your side until you woke up.”

“More you like pushed it on her,” corrected Seiji.

She immediately slapped Seiji in the back of head. “Quiet!”

“Hey!” Seiji planned to protest more, but saw the glaring look on Saki. It was a look that he could not argue or win against. His face went a little blue seeing her nearly turn into a demon before their eyes. “Alright, fine.”

“Is she…?”

“Yes, everyone’s been tended to for their injuries,” Saki answered, knowing what he was going to ask. All of them looked in better condition than Yuki, likely an advantage of their altered physical bodies.

However, Yuki still had something to ask. “Where’s Fumiko and Haruo? I don’t see them here. I know Haruo’s pretty anti-social, but I’d expect to see him hiding behind Yori. Oh hey, Yori! I’m glad they were able to rescue you!”

Yuki’s cheerful expression only made the looks on everyone else deepen further. It was a difficult subject for them. One that they did not want to actually open with when Yuki woke up. However, they could not avoid it for much long.

His friends down expressions made all of the warm disappear from the room. The smile he had quickly turned to shaking. “Hey guy, what happened to them? Don’t tell me—“

“No!” interrupted Saki, she saw where he was going. She did not want him to think the worst. “They aren’t dead. It’s nothing like that.”

“Then what?”

“They’ve been arrested,” answered Demosthenes, suddenly appearing in the room behind the others. He stood tall and stoic seemingly unaffected by the mood.

Yuki immediately threw himself up only to fall back down on the bed when his body reminded him of the problem with moving too quickly. “Demosthenes! What the hell are you doing here?!”

Saki and Seiji rushed over to Yuki’s side to keep him from moving. He did not have the rage fueled look, but he did not want to be seeing the man that killed his friend either. “Let go of me! I don’t want this man in my sight!”

“Calm down, Yuki!” shouted Seiji, keep hold on his left side.

Saki had his right side firmly locked. “We’re only here because of him!”

“What are you talking about?” He fell back a little, no longer struggling in their hold. Even if he did struggle, he knew how strong the two were. He never had a chance. Yuki glanced between his two friends wanting answers. “Explain to me what’s going on?!”

“If you calm down, we’ll explain, Yuki!”

“It’s fine,” the old man said calmly. “I expected no less of a response. After I’ve finished with my final duties, I will give you my life if you so wish.” He bowed sincerely to Yuki. The thought of sacrificing himself did not even seem to slow him down. He made it sound as though it was just another expectation of his position.

Yuki growled a little in annoyance. “I’m not interested in your life,” he barked with disgust in his voice. “It wouldn’t bring back Kazuhiro.” His body still shook with barely contained anger. He thought somehow he had controlled it, but this only proved how wrong he was. He was still weak.

Sighing, Yuki needed to calm him. He knew that much. There were more important matters, Demosthenes presence only soured the atmosphere, but did not change things. He needed to understand what happened. Yuki leaned back letting them know that he was over with his fit. “So what’s going on? What have I missed while I was unconscious?”

Demosthenes took a more prominent position in the room, planning to address Yuki. “After you finished your fight with Eudokia in the Throne Room, she was arrested for her crimes against Atlantis.”

“Yeah, I figured about as much. Everything I heard from her didn’t seem like the Council or the rest of you guys would be pleased by what she’s done.”

“That’s correct. The Council has been hunting for her for months, originally only with the intent to bring her back. Since it’s forbidden to leave Atlantis. But after she started killing those that came after her, things changed.”

“Can we skip to the part that involves Fumiko and Haruo? I assume that’s where this is all leading to.”

“Right, in summary then. The Council has marked Eudokia as the leader of a coup d’état to usurp the throne. All those associated with Eudokia have been branded as accomplices. As foreigners you’re all enemies of the state, treated like terrorists.”

Yuki’s hand clawed at the bed’s sheets. He had a pretty good idea where things were headed. “So Fumiko and Haruo were captured during all of the fighting, I’m guessing you did.”

“Yeah,” answered Saki, solemnly. “We were fighting the Titans outside the Capital and Fumiko and Haruo both lost their battles. We weren’t able to stop them from being arrested with our own fights happening. I’m sorry, Yuki. It’s my fault.”

He placed his hand on Saki’s hand for comfort. “Hey, they’re still alive. We’ll think of something. Besides we’ve got the truth on our side. They’ve Ayumi now, so they’ll know that she tricked all of us.” However, none of them seemed to have the same certainty when Yuki looked into their eyes.

Demosthenes took stage again. “The Council has ordered an immediate trial be held for Eudokia, Fumiko Terauchi and Haruo Yoneda.”

“What the hell?! Didn’t she tell them what she did? That she was the cause of it?”

“Even if she did, I doubt the Council really planned to listen to anything she told them. She’s nothing more than a criminal in their eyes. Even her surname has been stripped from her.”

He slammed his fist into the bed. It hurt less than moving his body, but still pained him. “Damn it! What are we going to do?”

Saki leaned forward, stepping between the two of them. “That’s what we’ve been waiting for you to wait up to do. We didn’t want leave you out of this.”

“Yeah right, we had to stop—“ Seiji received another slap to the head. “Hey!”

“Anyway—“

“Saki Furukawa!” yelled an unknown from the adjacent room. “Saki Furukawa?”

Saki’s face suddenly turned blue. Worry painted her face along with sweat. “Crap!” She quickly pulled away from the bed and ran up against the doors keeping out of sight. As the voice got closer, she leaned around trying to see something.

Confused and lost, Yuki stared while everyone else in the room seemed already clued in on things. “What’s going on?”

He did not even get a chance for an answer before a woman with wild hair, as if she jumped out of one of his favorite manga. “Saki Furukawa? Are you in here?” It only took her a few moments to notice Yuki. “Oh hey! You’re that guy everyone’s been talking about. The criminal heir, you’re friends with that girl, right?”

“Huh? You mean Saki?” It was his only guess since she seemed to be looking for her.

“Yeah that’s her! I can’t find her.”

“Oh.” Not knowing better, even though everyone seemed to be silently telling him to say nothing, he pointed to the right.

She immediately saw her target and her eyes went wide with excited. “I found you! I’ve been looking for you everywhere! I can’t believe how much of a maze this place is.”

“Crap…crap…crap…I thought I had you led in the opposite direction.”

The woman immediately jumped into a fighting stance egging on Saki. “Come on! Let’s spar again!”

“Stay away from me you crazy woman!” Saki immediately disappeared, taking advantage of her speed. However, the woman maintained pace with her. “Stop chasing me! I don’t want to fight you anymore!”

Everyone left in the room sweated a little, most of all Yuki. “Um…explanation?”

Demosthenes cleared the air with a throat-clearing cough. “The woman you saw was Commander Rheia of the Titans, the third strongest MP in Atlantis, yourself not included.”

“You’re still missing the important part.”

“Rheia and your friend, Saki Furukawa, fought during the battle between the Titans and your friends. It would seem that ever since their fight she’s taken a liking to your friend.”

Seiji jumped in, pressing on the bed a little. “Yeah, it was nuts, Yuki! Even after everyone else had finished the two of them were still fighting! We tried to stop them a few times after it was clear your fight was over, but no one wanted to get their way. Even after the sun went down they were still going at it. Man, the two women were amazing. I’ve never seen a fight like that before.”

“So who won?”

“No one, they just passed out supporting each other still locked in a fist fight.” Seiji squeezed his fist with excitement just recalling the fight. “Hell, that’s the sort of thing legends are made of! I just wish I can have a fight like that one day!”

Yuki laughed nervously at Seiji’s reaction. ‘Sounds like him.’


His friends passed the hours getting him all caught up on the details. He learned about how the rescue went. The surprise flip of Simonides. How they fought with the Titans. Eventually, Demosthenes insisted on them leaving to let Yuki get some rest again. Unlike them, he still needed more time to recover.

Night arrived when he woke back up. Yuki looked around the room trying to get his baring again. It was still unfamiliar to him, even more so with no lights on. He glanced over in his panning to find Yumi. During all of the talking, they let her sleep. They told him she had likely been awake for more than a day and with an exhausted body.

He smiled over at her. “Hey, sleepy.”

“Yuki…” she said softly just waking up. Considering that she was back next to his bed, she must have woken up sometime after everyone left. “Yuki! You’re awake! You—“ She jumped up and put her arms around him needed to know he was real.

Yuki laughed a little, not expecting such a reaction from her. “Yeah, it’s me. Sorry for worrying you.”

After she let the initial emotions pass, her mind caught up with all of the important details that he needed to know. “Yuki, you need to know about--!”

“I know, Yumi. This isn’t the first time I woke up. I know about Fumiko and Haruo.”

She immediately went a little distant. Different emotions rushed over her face. “I’m sorry, Yuki! I couldn’t stop them!”

He patted her on the head. “It’s ok. We’ll deal with it. They’re still alive.” He smiled encouragingly for her.

“Yuki…” Suddenly, her green barrier went up as a metal clang rang out. She leapt up already in defense of Yuki. “Who’s there?!”

Left in the shadows, only their voice left the protection. “Die, you murderers!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

“Yuki…” Suddenly, her green barrier went up as a metal clang rang out. She leapt up already in defense of Yuki. “Who’s there?!”

Left in the shadows, only their voice left the protection. “Die, you murderers!”

The voice left a chill going down both of their backs. Neither Yuki nor Yumi knew what was going on, but they could feel the death gazes targeted upon them. It was only their voice, but it was thick with murderous intent.

Unfortunately, the only thing clear about their situation was that someone wanted them dead. Yumi had to adjust her barrier a few times to make up for the gaps that she left in it in her rush to protect Yuki. After the initial attacks ended, she advanced a little in the room floating above the bed to watch all angles. “Stay behind me, Yuki!”

Despite Yumi’s insistence, he got to his feet. His body felt more responsive than earlier, however he knew that he could not do a prolonged physical engagement. “I’m fine. I can protect myself.” A ripple ran out from Yuki completely filling the room with light. Yet his field did not reveal anyone.

The change in setting did not stop the attacks. It did end up altering the method. They stopped using normal attacks. Lightning and ice shards shot at the two of them, but Yumi easily intercepted them before they caused anymore. “Yuki…”

“…yeah, it’s MPs…” He stepped forwards hovering in the air to dampen the weight on his body. Focusing on his power, he pulled in his field forcing a fold or as best as he could manage. It was enough to disrupt their invisibility. “Yumi!”

“I see them!” She moved swiftly taking down one as she pulled the other with telekinesis. In an instant, the two attackers were knocked unconscious. She pulled them to the bed to get a better look at them. “Who do you think they are?”

“No clue, but I thought we had ended all of this fighting.”

Chapter 278 – Bloodless Night

It was only a moment later that the doors burst open. In came Demosthenes along with Saki. They were too late to do anything, noticing the neutralized threat down at the feet of Yuki and Yumi.

“Are you alright, Yuki?” Saki disappeared and then reappeared in front of Yuki checking him over like a mother sending her son off to school for the first time.

Yuki batted away her hand. “Yeah, I’m fine. We took care of it.” However, his body disagreed with him and dropped him back to the bed. He felt the wave of lightheadedness wash through his body. It already alerted both the girls to his condition. “I’m fine! My body just still hasn’t fully recovered.”

Demosthenes walked over to the bed and knelt down by the two men they captured. He stared them for a few seconds before looking back at Yuki and the others. “I don’t recognize them, but judging from their ranks I’m guessing that they’re just normal MPs assigned to the Capital. Not even Omega agents.”

They all looked down at the two Atlanteans. There was a definite unease felt between everyone. It should have all been over, but this proved that there was still something going on. A darker shadow still hung over them even with Eudokia’s gone.

Snapping his fingers, four guards appeared in the distant hall. Demosthenes motioned for them to come in. “Take these two. They’re under arrest for attempted murder.” They all stared at the General for a moment and then over to Yuki. There seemed to be an odd look in their eyes, but the old man gave them an intense glare that could kill.

Sweating quickly, all four guards jumped at the order. “Yes, sir!” They picked up the two men and dragged them out of the room.

“Assassins…” muttered Yuki. He fell into deep thought for a moment.

Saki stretched out a hand to touch him, but stopped. “…Yuki…”

Sudden laughter came from Yuki, unsettling Saki. “It’s rather ironic. I came here to stop the assassins from coming after me only to learn that they were never after me. And now that I’m here, I actually do have assassins out for my life.”

“…Yuki…” Yumi wanted to do something for him, but she did not know what she could do. She had hoped that things finally would improve with everything over. They just had to rescue Fumiko and Haruo from their cells and leave. Then everything would be normal once more.

He shrugged pushing it all off his back. “Don’t worry. I’ve gotten this far, I’m not about to bow to pressure now.”

Almost on cue, an old and whining voice started barking in the distance. It shouted off commands to guards positioned outside. Eventually, the owner of the voice showed themselves. He was a middle-aged man, which unlike Demosthenes had not been so kindly treated by age, despite not being anywhere near in the same age.

Demosthenes immediately stood up and started his approach to the man. “Councilor Dimitris, what can I do for you at this late hour?”

“Don’t give me that tone, Demosthenes! What the hell’s going on here? I’m hearing shouting and boots everywhere!”

“It would seem that assassins somehow snuck into the Palace and were after Yuki Hayashi’s life.”

Dimitris glanced over into the room at Yuki, but only quickly not to leave long enough of a stare to betray any intent. “These foreigners are supposed to be under your watch and you let assassins break in?!”

Bowing in apology, Demosthenes did not have any sort of counter. “This is my fault, sir. I’ll be sure to increase the guard and staff MPs.”

The Councilor waved off the General as though he was just a servant. He walked into Yuki’s room finally meeting a full gaze at the young man. Ignoring their similar height, he made it clear that he looked down on Yuki. “I apologize for the trouble. Your safety is our greatest concern. I’ll be sure that this never happens again!”

Everyone looked at Yuki, waiting on his reaction. Yuki stood still just staring at the man for a moment. Then he flipped to his default happy mask that he showed everyone at school. “We’re safe and no one was harmed. So it’s ok. I just didn’t know it was so dangerous inside the Palace.”

“I assure you that we’re a peaceful country normally. Things are just a little chaotic.”

“I understand. You don’t have to worry. Thank you for your concern.”

“Yes. I’ll give you my leave then. I’ll see an investigation into this is started immediately.” Dimitris bowed to Yuki and then hurried out of the room. He made it to the hallway and disappeared, allowing the tension to drop out of the room.

Saki stared at Yuki, she recognized the face all too well. It had been a bit since she had seen him wear it. Not since things were normal and they could just attend classes. “…Yuki…”

The fake face immediately dropped when Yuki saw it was safe. His face narrowed to harsh lines quickly as he stared at the hallway where Dimitris disappeared. “He’s lying.”

“Yuki?” questioned Yumi, not certain how he was so positive. Even she felt that the man was not being truthful, but it was more a gut feeling rather than something she knew for sure.

Demosthenes turned back to the room and walked inside Yuki’s room. He closed the doors behind him. “I sensed it as well. He’s likely the one that orchestrated the attack on Yuki.”

“What?!” Saki already jumped to make a move on the man, but Yumi stopped her. She tried to break free from Yumi’s hold, however she could not get free so easily. “Yumi! If he’s trying to kill Yuki, I’m going to—“

“Saki!” snapped Yuki, interrupting her before she finished her sentence. “Stop, we’ve got no proof right now. And even if we did. He’s a member of the Council, the one that rules Atlantis right now. We have to be cautious about how we move.”

“But Yuki!”

“I know how you feel. But this is the situation we have to live with.”

The General stared at Yuki with a softer look in his eye, almost happy looking, if not for the usual stoic expression that covered him. “You’re more levelheaded that I thought.”

“I’m not looking for praise from you.” Yuki turned away and went around to the bed. “I doubt we’ll get another attack tonight. So you all go back to sleep. We’ll think about how to deal with this in the morning after we see what Dimitris next move is.” He stared at the close door as though trying to see beyond it. Things just got more complicated than he wanted. ‘So much for a smooth resolution…’


A normal breakfast greeted them all in the morning. If being treated to a five course meal was normal. For most of them, they were used to a traditional Japanese breakfast rather than a more Western style one. Though they knew even most Westerners did not have such meals. Most of the food was far too exotic for any normal taste. Yet, it was all prepared well, even after it passed through Demosthenes’ insisted poison check.

Rheia appeared again in search of Saki. One chased the other out of the dining hall. It seemed such events would become commonplace for as long as they stayed in Atlantis. Rheia did not plan to take no for an answer on a rematch, even if it was under more friendly terms.

Chiharu disappeared along with Yori, leaving only Demosthenes, Yuki and Yumi at the table. He invited them on a walk through the Palace, but it was clearly just excuse.

Once they reached the hallways, he gave a motion to them. “I’ve erected a special barrier around us. Our words won’t leave it and anyone watching will think we’re just carrying on idle conversation. It’s safe.”

“What have you learned?” started Yuki, immediately. He knew they had little time remaining before the trial. They needed a plan and whatever Dimitris was up to factored into it.

“According to the official records submitted by the Council’s after their interrogation of the two men, they learned that they acted on their own. The records say that they both lost family during the fighting caused by Commander Rheia and Saki Furukawa that bled into the Capital. They learned that you were the leader of the group and sought revenge.”

A wrinkle creased his brow as he took in the information. Yuki wondered what sort of story that they would cook up. “It’s pretty good. It’s believable that no one would doubt it.”

“Do you think the Council had nothing to do with it?” asked Yumi.

“I said it’s good, but not perfect. How did two MPs know where to find me in such a large place? Like the Rheia woman said, this place is like a maze. I doubt they’ve ever been to the Palace before if they’re just standard soldiers. No, this has the Council’s hand all over it.”

“So, it’s all just another lie then?”

Yuki glanced over at Yumi. He could tell from her question something was up. Once he saw her face he knew for certain what it was. Her concern and worry was another matter than just the threat to Yuki. She was looking for an out. “No, I suspect that they weren’t so direct. They were just the hand to guide things. They found people that were actually hurt by our chaos and aimed them at me.”

“Then, we…”

He stretched out a hand over to her shoulder. “Yumi, please don’t tell Saki about this.”

“But we, I…Yuki!”

“Please. She already takes too many things on her shoulders. I don’t want to burden her with the knowledge that hundreds of innocents died as a result of her actions.”

Yumi was almost on the verge of tears. ‘It wasn’t just Saki. I went blindly through the Capital. I don’t know how much destruction I caused. How many…’ Yuki put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her. The warmth that he gave her she did not feel she deserved even though she did not turn it away.

“Demosthenes, have they made any other move?”

“Nothing overt, but they probably have more things planned in the future.”

“Of course they do. How much of a threat do I present to them for being allied with Ay-Eudokia?”

Glancing away for a moment in thought, Demosthenes still had too much left undone. “It’s less about your connection to Eudokia now. Now they know you’re related to the former King they won’t allow you to sit on the Throne, even if you don’t plan to.”

Yuki narrowed his eyes a little staring Demosthenes. “So there’s some truth to what she said.”

“Yes, the Council and the King did not agree on almost anything. They would like no more than to remove all links to him and start fresh with a new line.”

Staring out ahead at the hall Demosthenes guided them through, Yuki became lost in thought for a moment. There were still more truth to discover. He did not realized how deep or sorted the history in the Palace actually was. “These things aren’t going to be solved in a single day. You owe me some answers, Demosthenes.”

“Yes, I planned to tell you everything as promised.”

“Good, but first I want to see my friends. I want to know that Fumiko and Haruo are safe.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Demosthenes left Yuki and Yumi alone as he went ahead. The dungeons in the Palace were naturally heavily restricted. Yuki’s mere presence as an accomplice to Eudokia’s schemes made it very difficult. The soldiers guarding the entrance had strict instructions regarding Yuki. While he openly said he understood the situation, it was clear that he was willing to tear the whole place apart if it meant seeing his friends. Something Demosthenes took into account as he insisted on handling matters.

Once alone in the hall, Yumi’s face went a little more red than it had been. Considering her proximity to Yuki the whole time, she had been doing very well to keep her emotions in check. But alone with no one watching them, it was hard not to fall into fantasy. Especially given what she told him.

However, it did sort of bother her. Something she never really got clarity due to the situation at the time. ‘I don’t know how feels about me. It seemed that my confession snapped him out, but he’s never said or did anything to acknowledge it.’ She stared over at him. Naturally, his mind heavily weighed on the situation of his friends, a concern that she did not plan to ignore. However, she did not know when her next chance might be. ‘I need to know… Is it all just one sided?’

The thoughts and uncertainty made her even more nervous. Just the thought of the confession made her blush. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t something…so…bold…I never would have done that before…’ At the time, she was desperate and was not sure if she was going to live or die. She did not care much about how she acted. She just did not want to have it end unsaid.

Yumi had been staring at Yuki for so long that she lost track of time. A full face of red and sweat building made it look like she had fever. She had an almost unblinking stare. It was only a matter of time before Yuki actually noticed. She was not exactly being subtle about it, despite her efforts to the contrary.

“Yumi? Something on your mind?”

“YU-ki!” She nearly choked on her words as she jumped. Knocked out of her own world was a far more jarring experience than she expected. “Sorry, I’m mean what?”

He looked at her confused. It made him jump a little startled by her near screaming voice. “You okay? You’ve been staring at me for quite a while. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m feeling a lot better today.”

“Huh?” She did not know what he meant about her being worried. Her mind locked herself for hard into a single path that she had forgotten that he was still recovering. “Oh right, no!” As bad as it sounded, it was an unimportant subject to her immediately. “You definitely seem to be able to walk around on your today, unlike last night.”

“Yeah, my body is actually cooperating with me today.” He flexed his arms a little to show off his confidence. “So what is it then?”

Yumi pushed her fingers together only delaying things further. “I have a question for you...” She was not sure what she wanted suddenly even though she was so set on things a moment before. Actually saying it was impossible. “…or maybe answer…I mean from you…”

“An answer? You’re not making a lot of sense, Yumi.”

‘Please don’t be this dense, YukI! You know how hard this is for me?!’ She wanted to slap him for just not understanding what she wanted. Yumi clinched her fists up as a small sign of resolve. “I want to know your answer to what I told you before!”

Yuki tilted his head staring at her. ‘Answer?’ He tried to think about when Yumi wanted an answer from him. It had to be something recent, but he could not come up with something. “What are you talking about, Yumi? Things have been a little crazy the last couple of days. Maybe if you refresh my memory.”

Her whole face went red thinking about her confession. ‘Repeat that to him!? I can’t do that! That’s not something you just repeat!’ Yumi felt her legs buckling. It seemed that he forgot or maybe never heard her in the first place. A sudden pain struck her heart that felt worse than any injury she took in any of her fighting.

However, all she was doing was delaying again. She needed to tell him something. A part still hoped he remembered if she jogged his memory. The reality was that he was brainwashed at the time. So maybe it was just buried under everything. “Well you know, during your fight with Eudokia. Or rather before.”

“Before? The first thing I remember was from then was seeing you collapsed on the floor. Everything between the end of my fight with Demosthenes to that point is a blur. I’ve tried to remember, but it was like I wasn’t even awake.”

Yumi sank back against the wall. ‘So he really doesn’t remember.’ She felt defeated. Even though it was not Yuki fault, she just wanted punch him for not remembering. ‘I’ll never be able to tell him again!’ It felt like it was all over.

“So what was your question?”

Demosthenes returned to the hallway. “I rearranged the guard duties to people that I trust. But you don’t have much time. So hurry quickly.” He motioned to them, despite neither moving in any meaningful way.

Yuki stared at her not planning to leave her hanging on an answer. However, she did not have the guts anymore. The moment was gone and would never appear again. “It’s nothing. If you don’t remember, don’t worry about it.” She turned away from Yuki, needing to see something else other than him. She needed to get her emotions in control.

“…okay…” He had to accept her decision, especially since Demosthenes was being very insistent on them moving.

Chapter 279 – The Other Side of the Wall

The prisons were about what they expected. The Palace on the surface looked extremely well maintained. And it was, for those that were meant to live and work in it. Those not meant to be there, the criminals had conditions worse than even those in the underground slums of the Capital. A feat that actually surprised Yuki.

Most of the cells remained empty and in severe disuse. Being that they were designed for criminals, it was unlikely they really worried about the care or maintenance so long as it held them. However, it surprised Yuki to see that the cells holding Fumiko and Haruo looked brand new and did not even look like they belonged with the rest of the prison.

Haruo’s cell seemed very normal compared to the others. It just looked like it was made today. The metal and cement that ran around had no age to it compared to those around. The significant difference was the amount of metal used to re-enforce the cell. Even the cement around the walls looked to be supported by metal framing.

Next to him, Fumiko’s cell was the one that looked completely out of place. It was sealed up with no holes anyway, despite somehow air still reaching her, as she was alive. A clear thick polymer of some sort seemed to be attached as the cell’s door and wall with thick metal bars running through for more strength. Then inside faint lights of a strange writing that did not look like anything Yuki had seen before hovered on all sides.

Yuki turned to Demosthenes for some answers. “What the hell is this? Why are they being treated so differently?”

“Because they are not normal humans,” the General answered. He pointed over to Fumiko’s cell. “She makes use of magic namely flames, but also metal. They’ve specifically crafted the cell to completely negate any magic use. It’s a general catch all since we don’t know what type of magic it is to specifically cancel it. So on top of that they constructed a cell that can withstand her fire and any impact from the inside.”

Moving over to Haruo, the more simplistic nature of the cell became apparent based on his previous description of Fumiko’s. “His has been strengthened to handle the significantly great physical strength he possesses. Any of our normal cells they’d be able to escape from. So it’s insurance, extreme as it might seem.”

He leaned forward to the wall that divided their two cells. With each eye, he could see one of the prisons. It frustrated him that they were left to such a condition. ‘Damn…’

“Also, I trust that you understand the current situation you are all in that making any aggressive actions could only make things worse. The entire prison prevents the usage of our powers. The special restrictive seal prevents our powers from altering anything in here and a second layer of protection negates the activation of our powers as well.”

“Why are such extreme measures needed?”

“Most of the criminals that the Council handles are MPs, not normal citizens. Only extraordinary cases that involve the state when involved with normal human are these cells used.”

“Don’t we still present a risk?” asked Yumi. Everyone else on the outside also had special powers. Which meant that they could still break them out.

“You’re all under my protection right now, tenuous as that is, since I have my position thanks to the previous King. I’ve aligned myself with the Council to maintain my position in the Palace. So any actions you might take affect me. I’ve assured them that I’ll handle problems that you present to the country.” Despite his often stoic and emotionless face, he very easily knew how to create a dominating presence when he wanted. He had been nothing but strict and professional in front of them. Yet it was clear that his goal was the safety of Atlantis and his loyalty sat there.

“Even though I’ve beaten the top two MPs Atlantis has to offer,” Yuki commented as though to stir the pot in an unneeded fashion.

“For which, you’ve sustained significant damage to your body. It’s going to be still be a bit before you’re at your peak. Right now you’re of less of a threat than your friends.”

Yuki glared back at Demosthenes in a duel of wills. It seemed to be mere posturing on his part, but Yuki had his reasons. It told him where Demosthenes stood. He had troubling trusting or understanding someone that he did not know where their loyalties lied. It gave him what he needed to know.

Shrugging the whole thing off quickly, Yuki turned away from the old man. “Well, it’s not my plan to break them out of here and run. Though it did cross my mind initially. Unfortunately, things here in Atlantis aren’t resolved yet. If I just leave now, my new problems will just follow me home. I plan to leave here when everything has been settled. So you can trust us not to make any aggressive actions.” Yuki immediately rethought his promise, remembering who his friends were. “Well I won’t. Just don’t show Saki or Seiji this. If they do anything I’ll stop them myself. I’m not interested in creating anymore of an international incident, even if no one knows this country exists.”

“I’m pleased to hear that.”

With things made clear with Demosthenes, Yuki walked in front of Haruo’s cell. He knocked on the metal bars. Inside, Haruo seemed asleep or at least his eyes were closed. Yuki suspected that the guy really did not care about his situation to try to escape. He would just wait. “Hey, Haruo, you awake.”

Slowly moving his body, Haruo stood up acknowledging. As anyone knowing Haruo would expect, he did not try to do anything overt. He casually approached the end of the cell. “Yuki.”

“Still bad with holding a conversation I see,” he joked. Unfortunately, it went over about as well as he figured. “Just hang tight in here. I know it’s not ideal, but I’m working on getting you guys out. Things are just sort of complicated right now. But I’m not planning on giving up.”

“I know.”

A flat, almost disappointed expression came over Yuki’s face. Even if it was expected he still hoped for something more out of Haruo. “You really know how to show your confidence in me, Haruo. You’re even more stiff than the old man.”

“Yuki!” Yumi reprimanded. She smiled nervously at Demosthenes in the hopes that she softened any offensive Yuki caused. Sadly, there was no clear sign if it succeeded. She did not even know if he was offended by Yuki’s comment.

He dismissed Yumi’s concern with a hand wave. “If any of Eudokia’s stories she told me were accurate, this guy is loyal to a fault and as long as you don’t insult the King or the country, he’s not going to take any personal offense.”

“You should still be more polite!”

“It’s fine. He’s had to deal with eccentricities of the last King, he’s used to being called stiff at this point I’d imagine.”

Things reached a nail biting point for Yumi. She could not watch for long the casual way Yuki made offhanded comments to Demosthenes. “…Yuki…” Yumi stared up at the Atlantean nervous by how unresponsive he was to anything Yuki said.

“You would be correct in your assessment. In many ways, your personality does remind me of the late King.”

“See, it’s not a problem.”

“I’m really sorry, Demosthenes!” apologized Yumi, since Yuki clearly never planned to do so.

Demosthenes declined her insistence. “It’s alright. I suspect part of it is also an outlet for him to vent his anger towards me. It’s perfectly reasonable for him to angry.”

“Tch, way to kill the fun.” Yuki moved on over to Fumiko’s cell. He poked his head around trying to figure out how he was supposed to talk to her. “Hey.” Motioning over to the old man, he pointed at the clear wall. “Can she hear me through this?”

“Yes, you will be transmitted through to her.”

“Hey, Fumiko! It’s me! Sorry it took me so long to get down here to see you. It’s been a complicated couple of days.”

Fumiko approached the edge of the cell. Her eyes briefly glanced beyond Yuki, but then snapped back to him. It was only for a moment, but her expression changed harshly at what she saw. “I know about most of it already.”

“You do?”

“Yori’s kept me informed on what’s happening up top, both of us.”

Yuki knocked his hand into palm, understanding why Haruo seemed to understand everything going on. He did give some of the credit to Haruo as he seemed like an intelligent guy. “Explains a few things. So then you know that we’ll be working to do everything get you out of here. We’re not leaving until all of this is settled and we have an apology from those Council bastards!” He knocked his fists together as a promise to Fumiko.

She smiled a little glad to see him looking better. Too much had changed since they all started. ‘Some things never change at least…’ However, things quickly made a change for the worse as she got a new message from Yori. “What?! Are you sure?”

Confused, Yuki was not sure why Fumiko was so upset. “What’s wrong?”

“I just heard from Yori. The Council has decided to move up the trial to this afternoon!”

“What?!” shouted Yuki and Yumi, equally in surprise. It was supposed to have been tomorrow. They barely had any time to recover. Things just kept getting worse.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

She smiled a little glad to see him looking better. Too much had changed since they all started. ‘Some things never change at least…’ However, things quickly made a change for the worse as she got a new message from Yori. “What?! Are you sure?”

Confused, Yuki was not sure why Fumiko was so upset. “What’s wrong?”

“I just heard from Yori. The Council has decided to move up the trial to this afternoon!”

“What?!” shouted Yuki and Yumi, equally in surprise. It was supposed to have been tomorrow. They barely had any time to recover. Things just kept getting worse.

Yuki quickly gave his goodbyes to them and rushed back. He arrived at the main room where they all stayed. All of their rooms connected into it. So everyone gathered up waiting for him. When he arrived, they gave him the full details of what happened. A messenger delivered the notice to them.

However, even with the full note regarding the trial, which actually did not really provide much more in details, Yuki did not understand why it was happening. “I thought we had time to prepare for this! Do they even have time?”

No one else knew better about Atlantis politics and the inner workings than Demosthenes. He took in all of the looks as they made it clear they expected answers from him. “I suspect that answer heavily lies in their failed assassination attempt on Yuki.”

“Why the hell should that matter?” barked Seiji, still not over the fact that he slept through the attempt. Though he also did not agree with Yuki’s more calm decision to letting it all slide. Even if Seiji did not want to kill them, he felt they deserved some payback for their attempt.

“It’s actually really important. It’s less to do with the severity of the crimes and more about the timing.”

Yumi looked as confused as everyone else, but she asked first. “Timing?”

“Yes, the Rite of Succession is in three days. That’s when we pick a new King. Despite Yuki’s insistence on not wishing to be King, I suspect that the Council still fears he may change his mind. So they want to resolve everything before that date. The assassination attempt had likely been their first plan to not worry about you becoming King, but with that ruined they’re taking a new approach.”

Yori still had a problem with the scenario. “Be that as it may, right now we’re all safe due to your influence. Fumiko and Haruo, naturally aren’t under your protection. But even the trial won’t change that Yuki’s protected and still a threat to their power.”

“You’re correct,” agreed Demosthenes. “Which is why I believe they have other schemes in mind. It’s likely their plan is to silence everyone that’s a threat.”

“Won’t that mean you’re at risk as well?”

“Privately yes, the Council doubts my loyalty to them as my loyalty belongs to the King. However, publicly I’ve made no movements to cast any doubt on me. So for the time I’m safe and I’m cautious enough in my dealings with them that they value me more alive than dead.”

“Well aren’t you hot stuff,” Yuki said in a snarky tone. “That still doesn’t change what we’re going to do about the trial.” He looked around at everyone. They could all debate the Council’s motives and plans all day, but it did not change that their friends were all going to trial very soon. They needed to do something about them. “I’m not leaving them to die or rot here in Atlantis, because a bunch of old men have a problem with someone that’s already dead.”

Chapter 280 – One-sided Argument

Despite the enthusiasm of Yuki’s little speech, the truth was they really did not have a lot of time to make any plans. The closeness of the trial made it rather difficult. Plus all of the plans that were put forth were shot down. And all Demosthenes provided to the meeting was to watch the outcome of the trial.

Which set the stage for the next event. The trial came upon them faster than they expected. Yuki and his friends were allowed to join, but only under very strict watch. Most of the Titans they encountered in their battle in the Capital were present. Despite victories against some, they knew anything that would start a fight would only cause more troubles than solve. They were not easy opponents.

Yuki looked around at the ground that had formed around them. Demosthenes stuck like glue to him. Saki’s new best friend in the world, Rheia, stuck very close to her. If he did not know better, he was pretty sure there was love in her eyes. He did not understand it very well, not that he would have any complaints about a little yuri.

In the accompany seat next to Saki was Chiharu with the man introduced as Nereus. Nereus seemed to have some attachment to Chiharu, but it was very hard to read. It certainly was nothing so strong or obvious as Rheia with Saki, but he still sensed something was up between them. Chiharu naturally played the whole thing off as if she did not care. ‘She’s like the perfect Tsundere…’ Yuki grinned a little at the thought.

Then surprising him, Yumi had someone as well. A very mature looking man, but with the same sort of duty bound eyes that Demosthenes had. Though he saw something different behind them as a reason. He knew about Ourias from Yumi, but nothing more. His face told him there was a long story. Not one to get into unfortunately, he knew.

Yori was accompanied by Teris, who seemed the perfect mad scientist from the presentation of his appearance and what he was told about him. Yuki understood the difference between reality and fiction, but it did not change the fact that it felt like things blurred between the two more often than they should.

However, he did not have much time remaining before things start. “So who’s defending them?” he asked lowly to Demosthenes. He knew that they would never let any of them defend them, but someone had to do it. It was a trial after all.

“No one.”

“What?!” Yuki tried to stand up, but Demosthenes kept him from interrupting the hall any more than he did with his raised voice. Even though Yuki understood the importance of manners, he could not believe what he was hearing. “What the hell do you mean no one is defending them?”

“The judicial system here doesn’t work in the same way that it does in the rest of the world.”

“Then how does it?” He ground his teeth together at the thought of this just being a complete farce.

“The Council convenes with the accused and questions them directly. Based on their answers they make their judgment.”

“You can’t be serious! That’s a complete joke! They’re going to just do whatever they want!”

“The King has the final vote, but obviously that’s not possible in this situation.”

“…those bastards… So this is their plan…” Yuki leaned forward tightly gripping the wood railing that sectioned them to the back of the large chamber. He did not have much time to stew in his complaints as Fumiko, Haruo and Eudokia marched in under escort. “Hey what’s keeping her from unleashing her power and just killing them all?” Given the situation, Yuki questioned if he would actually try to stop her. He really started to wonder which of them was worse.

“We have specifically crafted devices that seal their power. Eudokia no matter how powerful can’t do anything right now.”

“I see.” Yuki suddenly saw even more marched in behind them. They were dressed like soldiers, as he recognized their uniforms. There were two women both MPs and a man, who was just a standard soldier. However, the sight alerted Seiji, pulling Yuki’s attention. Saki fortunately was quicker to move than him and calmed him down.

Sensing Yuki’s confusion and wanting to know what he missed, Demosthenes filled him in on the others. “That is Captain Simonides, Commander Athene and Second Lieutenant Nerine. They’ve been viewed by the Council as accomplices for providing aid to your friends during the fight.”

Yuki clinched his hands around the railing even tighter. He really wanted to snap it in half just to make him feel better, plus it would have made for a good effect to his emotions. “They’re really being thorough about this.”

“Yes, it might have been twenty years, but the rebellion isn’t easily forgotten. They’ve tightened their hold on order ever sense. I’ve lost count of the lives they’ve sent to the execution grounds under similar pretenses.”

“These are supposed to be the people protecting this country. If they’re this evil and corrupt, then who’s left for this country?”

“It’s hard to deny what they do, but in their own minds they are just frightened men that want to keep the peace as much as everyone else.”

“That doesn’t give them this sort of right to kill people unjustly.”

“Unfortunately, the world is not just or fair.”

“I know, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it anymore because I understand that.” Yuki understood what Demosthenes said. He really did, but he hated it still. He hated that he understood such a reality. He wished it was different. He wanted a world like in his stories where the bad were caught and the good won out in the end. Not a gray world where evil was allowed to continue unchecked and anyone good is just slaughtered without remorse because they did the right thing. This was a terrible world he lived in.

The world was corrupt.

A pounding of a stone block signaled the silence needed for things to begin. If nothing else, the Council was certainly stuck on procedure. Even as an evil, corrupt bunch of bastard old men, they stuck hard and fast to their routine. They seemed to live by it. Tradition was their way of life. So it took them a full ten minutes before the trial proper even started.

Even though Yuki had a clear idea of what sort of outcome things were going to reach from the way things Demosthenes explained them, the wait for the whole thing to start still left him on the edge of his seat. His nerves were already shot from the anticipation and worry. He did not know how everyone else would react or admittedly even himself.

He could only wait.

Starting the questioning finally with Eudokia, an elderly man next to Dimitris began. “Eudokia, you are before the Council of Atlantis for the charges of inciting rebellion and attempting to usurp power. Did you knowingly bring foreign combatants through the barrier?”

Eudokia stared unwavering at the men that planned her execution. “I brought the true King to Atlantis. That is all I did.”

“This child, Yuki Hayashi is a Japanese citizen, not an Atlantean citizen. Blood tests have confirmed that he is part Japanese.”

Yuki turned to look at Demosthenes. He sought an answer, but the stoic expression gave him none. The longer he stared the more he felt that he knew something about that. “I thought I was Atlantean and you just left me in Japan for protection. If I’m half Japanese then who is my mother?”

“That’s a complicated matter, one better left for after this.”

“Demosthenes!”

“Could you control your emotions in here if you learned the truth now?”

He hated how right he always was. He kept being tossed more and more revelations. It was as if they had a two for one sale on truth revealing at the market. He did not know how much more he could take of it.

The Councilor continued their questioning even with Yuki’s interruption to Demosthenes. They were still on Eudokia. “You orchestrated the attack on the Capital Palace and killed more than hundred guards. On top of that, your accomplices standing before you caused the destruction of two entire district neighborhoods in their fighting. More than four thousands innocents are dead and twenty thousand injured. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Behind him, he heard Saki gasped and muttered under her breath. ‘Damn…I really didn’t want her to learn about that.’ None of them could do anything about it now. They had to live with what all of their fight mistaken or no had caused to the country. Blind innocence did not survive for long.

“Death is a fact of life. Everything I did was for the King and nothing you say or think will make me regret my actions. No change is not without its destruction.” Eudokia lack of empathy for anything that happened actually stirred up murmurs in the crowd. They were all just officials or important families, but it still shocked them to hear her speak so coldly about the reality.

Things moved quickly on to the next accused. “Fumiko Terauchi, did you kill twenty-five Atlantean soldiers in your engagement with the South Gate forces?”

Fumiko gritted her teeth. They stared at her expecting an answer. No answer was just as bad as the answer she had for them. “I-I…my power went out of control.”

“Answer the question. Did you kill twenty-five Atlantean soldiers?”

“As a result…of losing control of my powers…yes…” Her admittance fueled the crowded into more of an uproar that the Council silenced quickly.

Yuki ground his teeth so hard that it felt like they would start popping out. “They’re just asking leading questions. There’s no chance for them. Damnit…” He knew how it would play out. They focused solely on the incriminating parts rather than that Eudokia tricked them all.

Eventually all of the questioning came to an end. They spoke to everyone involved hearing only what they wanted. The picture was painted so grimly that the outcome was telegraphed that anyone saw it coming, even Seiji. “We the Council of Atlantis, find the criminals Eudokia, Fumiko Terauchi, Haruo Yoneda, Simonides, Nerine and Athene to be guilty of crimes against Atlantis. For their acts of rebellion and the deaths of countless innocents, all shall be publically executed from two days from now. This trial is adjured.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

It surprised Yuki to see that none of his friends actually jumped out of their seats upon hearing the verdict. He was not sure how much of it was due to having guards on them or the fact that it was so easy to read. It gave them all time to prepare and accept before it even happened. It was not a surprise when you expected the outcome, painful as it was.

They could do nothing for them. Fumiko and Haruo along with the others were escorted back to their cells. The trial, if it could even be called that, ended. Most of the crowd already started to move out. Yuki and his friends stayed behind for a while.

Saki and Yori were the first to leave with Rheia in tow. Yuki watched them leave. He could see it in Saki’s eyes. She was not finished. He felt the same, but they needed a better plan other than just raising hell in the Palace and making everyone open enemies of them.

Once Chiharu decided to leave along with Nereus, Yuki quickly made a move. He walked up along her side. His finger tapped her arm, keeping it subtle out of notice of Nereus. Yuki never made any eye contact with her and he felt that she could read him well enough. She gave him a tap back before they separated.

Appearing behind him, Demosthenes did not leave his side empty for long. “You ready for the truth?”

“It’s about damn time,” he answered without even looking at him.

Chapter 281 – The Other Half

While they walked out to one of the countless courtyards that made up the massive Palace grounds, Yuki caught sight of Saki and Yori again. ‘She’s with that woman, Rheia. But she’s not chasing. Did they come to terms?’ He did not have much time to consider it before they disappeared around a corner. His mind quickly shifted gears to the more pressing topic.

The truth.

He thought he knew it all, thank you Eudokia’s reveals. However, Demosthenes made it clear that he still did not everything. Clearly Eudokia left out a lot of details during their fight. She was very focused on the immediately issues of being King and her plan. So there was not really any openings for further questions. Though she also did not really introduce answers that led around to expanded questions.

It was not until the fallout of Eudokia’s rebellion that Yuki started to learn there was more truth to the lies that she originally fed him months ago. Now he did not know which was truth or lies. He hated the man, but he trusted him to be honest to him. It seemed the only thing he was good for.

Eventually, they arrived in one of the courtyards. To Yuki’s eyes, it looked just like any of the others that he had seen in passing. Like them, the space filled densely with flowers and trees. It was a beautiful garden and likely a wonderful place to rest during the busy days in the Palace. However, he could not enjoy their soothing serenity that they brought. “Aside from the unnecessary trip outside to have a discussion that could happen anywhere, what do you have to tell me?”

Demosthenes surprisingly took a seat over by one of the wooden benches that sat under the protection of a tree’s shadow. He invited Yuki over. The look on his face actually seemed to change from the constant unbreakable stoic. It seemed softer and gentler as though the garden actually worked on even him. “The King, your father, would come here many times. Whether it was just to sleep while slacking off from work or to think. This was his favorite place. He said that it calmed him.”

He took a long measured look at the old man. During his fight with him and his time as his shadow, each time that Yuki looked at him he never actually looked his age. He seemed completely to resist the weight of time against him. He seemed like he could live forever. It made him easily appear twenty years younger. Yet, when Yuki saw him on that bench it all came rushing back.

Yuki found himself fond of calling him an old man, but it was not until he saw him now that it actually seemed to fit. He looked like a man tired and exhausted from endless years of service. Unwavering and unquestioning loyalty left unrewarded and unnoticed.

‘Damn, he’s actually me feel bad for him now…’ It was hard to see it. It was easier to hate him when he did not seem to have emotions. Now he just looked pathetic, vulnerable, weak, not the man that he fight tooth and nail to defeat.

Uncertain but curious, Yuki took the bench. Regardless of the appearance, he needed to know what Demosthenes knew. “So what’s the story with my father and the Council? What up with all of this bad blood? Why’s Eudokia so dead set against them?”

“This requires a bit of a history lesson on Atlantis, since without it the Council’s behavior would seem to have no reason, however unjustified. They have their reasons that are hard set into their nature.”

“Alright then, start there. I need to know what the situation is or else I can’t make any plans.”

“As you’ve been told, the Throne of Atlantis keeps Atlantis alive. The device known as the Throne of Atlantis is a type of convertor. When a MP is linked with it, it forcibly channels the power out of them to maintain the field that holds Atlantis in this appearance. After the first King of Atlantis died, all this that he created would have gone away, but the second King, his brother figured out a way to keep it going.

“Thus began the system known today for the Rite of Succession. The power required to maintain such an enormous field is massive and only the most gifted can do it. Typically, it is passed to the most powerful heir of the King.

“Keep in mind that neither Eudokia nor myself are qualified. We maybe powerful in your eyes, but that’s only due to our folding potential, not our raw power. It is raw power that is required not just skill, as such one does not actually have to be skilled to become King. They only need to have a large reserve power.”

Yuki nodded, finally understanding one of the questions that had plagued him for a while upon learning about the truth of the King. “That explains why Eudokia didn’t just trying to take control for herself. That never made sense to me.”

“Correct, however there are times when the heir is not powerful enough or there is no heir. So an alternate ruling of the Rite of Succession takes place. Typically, it is just a public display of power and assurance. But when it is lacking, it becomes a search. The device actually hunts out one worthy to be linked with it forcibly drawing out their potential for all to display. Given that their power is often rudely awakened and massive, they are usually easily to locate.”

It sounded very familiar to Yuki. He could not remember how many times his power accidently turned on and took out their whole neighborhood. Yuki did not know how many people he freaked out every time it happened. “This is heading somewhere soon, right?”

“Yes. As explained, it takes up a lot of power. You’re aware that it essentially drains away the life from the one connected to it. It isn’t literally feeding on life, but the constant strain of having your power activated isn’t done without a cost. Those that are powerful enough, but just barely are the worst to be affected.

“Atlantis usually goes through its cycles of powerful and weak Kings. Until your father took control, we were in a weak cycle. The last five Kings before him had all been very weak all coming from the same line. Due to how weak they were, they only lasted between five to ten years. Worst was the last who became King at a younger age than you and died before even reaching twenty.”

The weight of such words made him swallow a little roughly. He understood from Yumi how bad it was, but this put it into a completely new perspective. A system that stole the youth from children seemed hard to justify. Even as he wrestled with the idea, the opposite weight pulled on him, the millions of lives living here.

“It was the last line of Kings that brought Atlantis to the current state it is in. Since the Kings were nearly impotent from their crowning, it was left to the Council to do the ruling. A King that could not even leave their bed was not fit to be a leader of a nation. Until your father came in, the position as King was seen more as a figurehead role rather than one as a leader. Most citizens never saw the King after the Rite of Succession.”

Yuki could see where things were finally headed now with the history lesson. It was far too classic of a setup not to see. “So the Council got used to being in charge and running things that they did not want to give up their power.”

“Right, during the weak cycles the Council ruled for the King, but during the strong cycles the King ruled and the Council was merely an advisory position. However, they had grown used to their position as the weak series of Kings strengthen their position. Though the previous line before was stronger, the Council still had a strong position even then. For more than a century they were power in Atlantis.”

“Then my father steps in and shakes things up.”

“Correct. Since he was a new line, he was not bound by old traditions, nor was he indoctrinated by a lifestyle in the Palace of how things worked. He did things his own way and because he was so powerful he had the right and authority to do so. He and the Council clashed repeatedly.”

“Just so I know, how powerful was my father?”

“We haven’t seen someone as powerful as your father in centuries. Because it’s been so long we don’t really have another King to really compare him against. And since that was the case, many saw him as a figure that might revive the old glory days from a millennia ago.”

“That’s pretty big shoes for anyone to fill.”

“The best gauge I can give you is that the previous Kings were bedridden, but a strong King was known to be able to walk around the Capital. They would become easily fatigued and tired from going so far away from the Throne, but that allowed the public to see the Kings. Your father however was able to go to every corner of the Atlantis without even a shortness of breath.”

“How long did he rule for?”

“More than thirty years.”

“So even someone as powerful as him could only make it thirty years…”

“There were other circumstances involved, but that’s getting ahead of things.”

Demosthenes quick dodge of the complete answer only had Yuki wandering more. He planned on getting an answer out of him even if he did not volunteer it. But there was something more important to get clear at the moment. “As I journeyed through the countryside, I remember hearing that the King was not very popular with the citizens. If he started out so well liked what happened to change everyone’s opinion?”

“A number of factors led to the King’s image crumbling. The first was the death of his wife and Queen. They were married just after he was made King, as the mourning process for the last King delayed their wedding. So they had no children yet. While it’s never been proven, your father strongly believes that it was the Council’s hand to ensure his rule ended with him. They would not kill your father, but they would be sure to get a new replacement, one that ideally was weak.”

As if he needed anymore reasons to the hate the Council, their corruption knew no limits. Yuki wanted to punch each of them for their selfishness. Though, he still did not know the reason for all of the infighting between them. “I can see how things were not ideal for them, but what did my father do that was so bad?”

“Under the Council rule, they pressed their agenda. The biggest was the segregation of the MPs from the normal humans. While we’ve always been seen as saviors of our people. There are always going to be those that abuse our gifts. So we also are greatly feared. Even without the Council doing anything there’s a divide between us. The Council only made it easier by passing laws. They put the mandatory conscription in place, though it was not well enforced until a certain incident.”

“You’re talking about the rebellion.” He had heard about it mentioned from Eudokia, but no real details. “What happened?”

“Twenty years, things reached a head between a group of MPs unhappy with their treatment. A single charismatic force united them. Their leader was powerful and exceptionally gifted. If she was still around she’d very easy challenge Eudokia or myself. It started out small, but grew quickly. There were so many unhappy with their treatment that they jumped in with the rebels. Nearly twenty percent of all MP were part of it.

“The rebellion never made it very far as their leader mysteriously disappeared on them. They lost a lot of their support without the leader and it fell apart. But not before an entire village was wiped out and significant parts of the Capital were damaged.

“While it was not the King’s fault, after his wife died he lost his focus. And the Council very easily manipulated things. They pinned the cause of the uprising on the King’s new policies that tried to grant more freedoms to the MPs. It gave them everything they needed to pass even harsher laws. Conscription was enforced and the Omega Division was formed.”

“And my father did nothing to stop it? What the hell was he doing? I know his wife died, but if he felt so passionately about equality why did he stop? Did he become disillusioned?”

“Quite the opposite actually, but the problem was that he stopped focusing on the immediate problems that Atlantis faced. He became even more determined to fix the system, but he changed his focus.”

“Changed it to what? Wasn’t equality what he wanted?”

“Yes, but he believed that they would not be able to achieve such a world if the current system still was in place. So he sought to destroy the system that forced us to sacrifice someone for the benefit of millions. He wanted to break the cycle of servitude that bound all Kings and MPs to a fate of death. That’s how he can up with this plan. The plan that involves Eudokia and you.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

“And my father did nothing to stop it? What the hell was he doing? I know his wife died, but if he felt so passionately about equality why did he stop? Did he become disillusioned?”

“Quite the opposite actually, but the problem was that he stopped focusing on the immediate problems that Atlantis faced. He became even more determined to fix the system, but he changed his focus.”

“Changed it to what? Wasn’t equality what he wanted?”

“Yes, but he believed that they would not be able to achieve such a world if the current system still was in place. So he sought to destroy the system that forced us to sacrifice someone for the benefit of millions. He wanted to break the cycle of servitude that bound all Kings and MPs to a fate of death. That’s how he can up with this plan. The plan that involves Eudokia and you.”

Yuki needed to take a step back from things. Things only got more complicated the longer he listened. It was supposed to be more straightforward with the more answers he got, yet the opposite happened. He had so many different pieces handed to him. It was hard to see the truth from the lies. Eudokia fed so many lies to him and yet some of them actually had some truth to them.

He stood up and paced around the path that circled around a tree. Demosthenes still had more to tell him. Yuki could tell that much. But he moved too quickly. Things had stop being simple a long time ago. He thought he had gotten used to it. Worse, he still did not have answers to something so simple as who his mother was, which was not what he thought.

Allowing his brain to process things a little, Yuki came back around to Demosthenes. “You’re getting a little ahead of yourself. My father had a plan, but what is this all about? How is it supposed to relate to me or even Eudokia? I thought she had gone rogue.”

“Eudokia discovered a little bit of what his plan was and accepted things wholly. She never actually knew what his true motive was. The only part she really listened to was that he had something he needed her to do. It was his last request to her.”

Demosthenes turned his head a little to look towards a place in the Palace. “To Eudokia, the King was everything. He was her world, his lost hit her worse than anyone. I tried to motivate her and get her to do something, but she was insistent on hanging onto the past. It seemed like she planned to just die. She lost any sort of will to live. Then I told her about the King’s last wish he left for her. I hoped it would give her purpose again. Unfortunately, I never imagined how she would corrupt his wish. This was never what he would have wanted.”

“What did he want her to do?”

“He wanted you to become King. He left it to her, since she had more freedom to move around than me to bring you back to Atlantis. He expected her to explain the situation to her and get your agreement. More than anything, he did not want the Council to be in charge, but it was all because he could not finish his plan to free Atlantis. His wish left behind for you was to save Atlantis.”

Chapter 282 – Secret Origins

It was a little clearer cut, but it was still a lot of jumping around. Yuki waved his hands still needed some important answers to what was going on. “What a minute, he wants me to save Atlantis? I don’t even know what’s going on here. I’ve got this history lesson from you, but it’s still not telling me anything about this plan he has. I don’t even know who I am. How am I supposed to save a country?”

The old man nodded in agreement. There was still much to explain. “After his wife died rather than losing faith in the world it actually strengthened his resolve to fix the world. I actually grew concerned from how fanatical he had become about seeing out. However, he told me he wanted to free us from needing to sacrifice Kings. I believed that was a worthwhile goal, even if he drove himself to madness in search of its answer.”

“What do you mean?” Yuki did not really understand how it could be so hard. There was a lot about how the Throne of Atlantis worked, but it did not seem like something that should be impossible to create. Their power could do anything they wanted. They just needed to imagine it. Why could it not be difficult to do things differently? “Can’t you just create a new solution with our power?”

“If it had been that simple the second King would have done it. Atlantis requires our power to remain as it is, that is a fact. A fact that can’t be avoided. However, the one thing we’ve never be able to achieve through our power is artificially creating our power. It can only occur naturally in humans. There is no substitute for the power we use. So back then, it was decided that using someone else’s power could keep it alive.

“Your father decided that it should not be impossible. While through our power, we could achieve significant technological advancements it was never enough. However, the world was finally making significant strides. So he went outside to search for the answer.”

“Outside, you mean out of Atlantis? How’s that possible, I thought you said he couldn’t leave.”

“As I said, your father was unique in many ways. So powerful was he, he could travel Atlantis. But that’s just what the public knows. The reality is that he actually made many trips around the world in search of his dream. It was due to these long absences that the Council made their move, never questioning his motives.”

“Damn, this guy sounds like has almost god-like powers.”

“However, as I said before, he would have lived longer, but special circumstances lead to him dying earlier than normal. The distance away from the Throne strained him greatly, but he did not care. Eventually, he was no longer able to move as freely. His life significantly shortened due to his insistence on his dream.”

Yuki dropped back down into his seat next to Demosthenes. Atlantis could have still had their King if he did not focus so strongly on achieving his goals. Eudokia could still have a father. None of what happened needed to if he had just stayed. But then Yuki thought about what it meant. “So are you saying that he made a trip to Japan and met my mother. Sounds pretty cliché to me.”

“Nothing so simple or normal as that.”

Sighing, Yuki dropped his head back to rest against the back of the bench. Through the leaves of the tree, he could see the sun. Realizing it was all just artificial, he wondered about the sun too. “Of course, nothing can ever be simple. What’s my story?”

“Sadly, he’s never told me the whole story and what he left behind for me did not provide anymore answers. What I do know will probably give you more questions than answers.”

“Figures. Well it can’t be any worse than not knowing.”

“We’ve refrained from telling you because it could be worse knowing the truth. There is another layer to the world that you aren’t aware of that you’re involved in.”

“Just how many secret civilizations are hiding out on this planet?”

Demosthenes shook his head. He recalled many of the errands the King sent him on in his declining years. The darkness of humanity that he witness made him wish he had been ignorant still. “It might be easier if it was something like that. What I tell you now I give with a warning.”

‘Ominous much?’ Even if Yuki acted glib about his warning, he still felt uneasy about learning yet another new truth. He did not know how much more of it he could handle. The world turned inside out was not something to wish for necessarily.

“Listen closely, because it’s a name that no one knows, but everyone is touched by. Their reach is that far and their threat that grave. The Komatsuzaki have their hands in everything across the world. There is nothing that they are not involved in. And the Komatsuzaki’s singular purpose is the research of our power through any means necessary to understand it.”

“Komatsuzaki…” Naturally, Yuki never even heard of them. It was just something that he had to trust Demosthenes. He knew it was possible that he could be totally bullshitting him, but it made no sense at this point.

While Yuki thought about what it mean and how it affected him, something popped in his mind. He recalled Eudokia story about her time at the South Gate. “Do you remember a time when you went to the South Gate and Eudokia had captured a significant number of intruders that looked linked to some military?”

Demosthenes eyes grew wide in surprise to hear Yuki bring it up. He did not expect to hear such a thing from Yuki. “I didn’t think she’d talk about her past to you. Yes, I remember it. It is as you’re thinking. She never knew, but the reason I went there was because those men worked for the Komatsuzaki. We never had any direct links to them. They’ve always been good about covering up their tracks, even the soldiers were not fully briefed, just instructed on exactly what they needed to know. So interrogations got us nowhere, they know what our powers can do. So they are very careful.”

“I’m guessing you’re going to tell me my father has ties to them. If they were researching our power then it would be perfect for him if he wanted to create it artificially as a substitute power source for the Throne. But you’ve isolated yourself here, how do they even know about your existence?”


“That’s correct. The King actually discovered them when he was searching. He never told me how he found them. I still don’t know how they know about us or how they did their research. I just know of their methods.” Demosthenes fell silent for a moment. Something suddenly seemed to weigh on him even more than usual through the whole conversation. “Human experimentation. As I understand it, many of their tests have been to try to recreate our power forcibly in normal humans. But they were all failures.”

The further silence from the old man told Yuki enough to know of their fate. It really started to sound like one of his stories. A classic case of an evil organization with no regard for human life in search of the answer to life or becoming god. Something silly and selfish as always. The results were always the same, innocents had to die. “You’re not going to tell me I’m one of their experiments that happened to go right and they are actually in search of me even today because I’m the key to the puzzle.” That would just be too cliché, but given his options he was not sure which cliché was worse.

Narrowing his eyes, he knew Yuki joked about it, but it still surprised him how quick to pick up on things he actually was. “You are not completely correct, but not completely wrong either.”

“What?! You can’t be serious!” Yuki jumped up out of the bench and started poking around at the air. “Now I really know I’m dreaming or my life really is a manga, because this stuff just is impossible.”

“You wanted to know the truth.”

He turned around to see how serious the Atlantean looked. The thought of it all made him sigh heavily. Yuki slumped over to the bench and laid back. “Alright, shoot out this horrible doujinshi storyline already.”

“The truth as I understand it, your father knew his time was running out. All of his traveling quickly shortened his life. So he needed to ensure his dream did not die with him. He needed someone to carry on his dream, but that would also be powerful enough to keep Atlantis alive until the solution was found. You are his answer.

“The research done by the Komatsuzaki had hit a wall and so the King worked with them planning to exploit their work. They created many experiments based on what he provided, but they also ended in failure. As a last measure, he had them create you through artificial means using his DNA and one of the Japanese researchers, a woman that worked closely with him.

“Komatsuzaki saw the advantage of someone that could be as powerful as the King as a test subject, so they tried to sabotage the experiment to make it look like the child created died. However, the King actually fooled them and made it looked like the child really died and left the child in the care of someone he trusted, the Hayashis.”

It should not have surprised him, but it still made him turn his head. “My parents knew my real father. They knew everything as well.”

“They made a promise not to reveal any of this to you until you were old enough, unfortunately the both died before that could happen. And then the King died before he could tell you everything as well. After you were born, he tried to hold on long enough, while putting his plans into place, such as finding Eudokia.”

“So the Komatsuzaki think I’m dead, but if I’m just artificially created I’m not that useful to them.”

“Officially, they accept that you died in the experiment. Unofficially, they’ve been trying to get you for years unsuccessfully, but I dealt with their schemes. But like you said, you are a valuable subject to them, but not the solution to their research. So they seem to have given up trying to get you back in the last few years. But I wouldn’t trust them. You still represent something that they lost and feel that they own. So I believe they will eventually come for you.”

“Great, as if I need more people after me. At least they don’t want me dead.” Yuki stood up and stretched. Everything piled up on him making it hard to take in. He really did end up wishing that he did not know. Ignorant bliss was right. “So you got anymore bombshells to drop while you’re on a roll?”

“After everything is resolve in Atlantis I have one final thing to give to you. As it is now it would only be an unnecessary burden. You have your friends to think about and you should focus on them rather than your father’s plans or Atlantis’ future.”

It actually surprised him a bit to hear Demosthenes not try to force an agenda on him. Yuki walked towards the tree and leaned against it. “For being one his biggest supporters, should you really be telling me to ignore everything and just save my friends?”

“It’s what he would say I believe. To him, family was always important. When those you care about are in danger you risk everything for them.”

“Consequences be damned huh? More unbecoming advice from one of the most important people in Atlantis.” It actually made Yuki grin a little. He worried so much about tiptoeing around the problem that it was a little encouraging to hear the straight laced one tell him to go wild. “I don’t need to be told to save them. I planned on doing just that! Those bastards won’t have their way anymore!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

After Demosthenes dumped a literally metric ton of truths on Yuki, he needed to decompress. It was a lot to take in and he still needed to sort it all out. There was so much that he told him that started to fill in some things in very unsettling ways. The more that Yuki thought about the answers the more it made his past even more foreign him. It made him scared to think about.

He needed a break from everything. Even though he did not have Demosthenes’ as an escort, he still was required to have someone with him. Which actually resulted in even more security and annoyances than less. He wanted room to breathe, but it was impossible.

Parked out at a balcony, he stared down at the Palace grounds. The view was pleasing enough for him. ‘How many times did he come here to think or just to stare I wonder?’ Since their talk focused so heavily on his father, it was hard for him not to imagine him wherever he went. However, since he did not know what he looked like he could only see shadows. A form that might have been him.

Hours passed he was certain, but he stopped keeping track. Just as he started to turn away, he caught a quick look at Saki and Rheia again with Yori close behind. ‘What are they up to?’ He paused for a moment, but the guards all looked at him with suspicion. So he could not watch.

Everyone had something going on except for him. Yuki felt useless for not having a plan yet. Time continued to creep forward. He had to come to a decision soon.

Chapter 283 – Night Meetings

The night before the execution came surprisingly fast. No further visits were allowed to their friends, even with Demosthenes pulling strings. They just had to live with the situation. Plans moved around. Everyone did something.

Saki was in a rush through the halls late at night. She had Rheia with her following at her side, the standard escort. None of them were allowed any freedom from out of sight of the Atlanteans. Saki understood their situation as well as any of them. It made things a little awkward, but she made it work.

As she approached the hallway to their room, she noticed someone doing nervous circles around the hall. It made her grin a little knowing pretty easily who it was. “Mind waiting a little for me?” She motioned to Rheia to give her a little room.

“Just remember the situation,” reminded Rheia as she backed off a little.

“I know.” Once she had the space, Saki approached openly to the entrance of the room. “Hey, Yumi! You run any faster in circles they’re going to fine you for property damage.”

Partially embarrassed and half nervous and startled, Yumi came to an immediate stop. “Saki! I-I didn’t know you were still out.” Her nerves were so shot that she could not do anything to cover them.

Saki kept a smile on her face trying to keep things light. The whole situation they were in gave them enough stress. She already had a pretty good idea what bothered Yumi. “If you just hesitate you’re only going to regret things later.”

“What are you talking about?”

Turning to the door, behind which Yuki slept or maybe tossed around still trying to find a way out of their problem. She stared at the door as though she was looking at Yuki rather than the wood. “You need to make a decision about Yuki. Just standing on the sidelines is never going to change things.”

The response made Yumi’s face turn bright red. She ran around even faster around the hall that she started to blur. Saki stopped her abruptly before it went too far. “Saki! H-ho-how…I-I…I…”

While the reaction fell within the expected results for Yumi, Saki still felt something off. She knew as well as many that Yumi had a really bad crush on Yuki, the only one that did not seem to realize it was Yuki, which seemed very sad. The reactions she had were even more extreme than normal. “Yumi, did something happen between you and Yuki?”

“Huh?” Memories of her confession immediately made her head explode. She wanted to pass out and just forget it all. “W-w-why would you s-s-say that?”

‘Can you get any more obvious?’ It made Saki want to laugh watching Yumi’s flustered reaction. She actually understood the feeling of wanting to tease someone acting so adorably. “What happened Yumi? What did Yuki say to you?”

“Nothing, of course!” she replied, jumping the gun on her answer. It skipped all context, but shot straight to her problem. Once she realized the slip, she tried to backpedal. “I mean, nothing. He didn’t do anything to me.”

Saki knew something was up and the embarrassed reaction only made her more certain of it. “Just confess to him already,” she teased, succumbing to her impulses. However, the reaction that she got from Yumi went beyond any sort of expectation. She could not get a word out and her face could not get anymore red if it tried. Then Saki realized what was wrong. “You did didn’t you? When?!” Saki tried to think of when she had time.

“What!? I didn’t!” Unfortunately, Yumi did a really poor job convincing Saki. The tone of her voice failed her. She gave up quickly. “You know how I said that I broke the brainwashing?”

“Yeah, you never said how you did it…wait?! Seriously?!” Saki immediately made all of the leaps needed to connect the dots. “And Yuki doesn’t remember it, of course. Yumi…you have the best and the worst timing. I can’t imagine a better moment than that.”

She nodded in agreement. “But I’ve accepted it. But even when I’m around him I just start thinking about it. I see him looking depressed as if he has the weight of the world on him the last two days and I can’t do anything for him. I’m too afraid to even get near him.”

Saki sighed understanding, but also frustrated with her. Grabbing Yumi by the shoulders, she pushed her towards the doors. “I told you already that your place is there with him.”

“But…” Yumi looked back at Saki, knowing how she watched out for him.

“I’m his shadow. I’ll protect him at a distance, that’s my job. I’m one that is allowed to fall into darkness, so long as he can remain in the light.” Saki kicked the doors open into the main room that connected all of their rooms. “I’m the one that kicks him to move forward when he falters. You’re the one that catches him. He needs that light and warmth right now that I can’t provide. Be what I can’t be for him, Yumi.”

“But Saki, I can’t!”

“Hey, you already admitted to yourself how you feel. Don’t hesitate now because it didn’t work out. You made the first step, so keep taking those steps. Yuki might be dense, but he’s not blind. He’ll notice you.”

“Saki…”

“You said it yourself, he’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders right now. Sometimes when that happens, another shoulder is all you need. Start out simple, Yumi.” Saki smiled encouragingly at her and shoved her into the room before closing the door.

Saki turned back to Rheia, who approached. “Let’s go.” Her expression quickly turned harsh. ‘I’ll bare all the darkness for him…’

Inside the room, Yumi hesitated for a moment, but she pushed herself forward. ‘Saki’s right. I can’t just be worried about myself. Yuki’s in a terrible place right now and he’s all alone. I can’t be afraid of my feelings anymore… I just need to act!’

Yumi knocked on the door to Yuki’s room. “Yuki? You awake?” She pushed through the door opening it just a crack. “Yuki?” Her head popped through the gap in search of him.

“Yumi? You’re up late.” He sat on the bed with a bunch of different images and lights hovering around him. They immediately disappeared at a wave of his hand.

‘He must still be trying to find a solution…’ She smiled to him, stepping all the way into the room. “It seems I’m not the only one up late,” she tossed back playfully.

“Yeah…it’s hard to sleep thinking about tomorrow.”

Yumi walked over to the bed. She stared at it for a moment. In her mind, it had some heavy implications, but she tried to keep them from affecting her. “You aren’t the only one. We’re all wanting to do something.”

“I know, but I can’t help but see this as all my fault. I dragged you guys all with me.”

“We made a choice.” She knelt onto the bed and started to crawl over to him. “We forced you to let us come with you, remember.”

“I could have said no.”

“You did,” she recalled. “We wanted to help you. We knew what we were getting ourselves into following you.”

“But I could have been more insistent. I could—“

Yumi leaned her back up against his interrupting him. It was the closest she could get him. If she actually looked at him, she was certain that she would be too embarrassed to talk straight. “We support you. You aren’t doing this alone, Yuki. We’re all here for you. I’m here for you.”

“…Yumi…” He leaned a little against Yumi feeling the warmth of her body. There was something surprisingly calming about it. “I know you are, that’s why I want to make sure everything works out. I’m not abandoning any of you.”

“I know you won’t. They know too.” Even though they were just touching backs, Yumi felt like she could feel the tension knotting up in him. He was just a massive chaotic ball of knots that tied themselves too tightly to come free with just his own hands. “So what ideas do you have for tomorrow?” She pushed him in a better direction, a productive one. ‘If he keeps dwelling he’ll never get anywhere…’

Yuki activated his power again. Everything that he was working on displayed around them. “I’ve got no end of ideas. Even simulations, though they don’t exactly have the most promising outcomes.”

“Start at the top and let’s go down them together.”

They quickly passed hours of the late night talking over plans. Yumi encouraged him and helped to point out new ideas. In the end, she pushed him in a direction. It was a decision.

Yuki jerked awake, realizing that he had fallen asleep while they talked. “Yumi?” He looked around him to find her, but saw that she was asleep as well. She looked too peaceful to interrupt. Rather than wake her, he carefully slipped out of the bed.

“…Yuki…” whispered Yumi, startling Yuki. She rolled over in her sleep towards him. “You can do it, Yuki.”

He smiled softly at her. “Thank you, Yumi.” Brushing her hair back, he stared down at her. He recognized that look all too well. “I’m sorry, Yumi. I really don’t remember it, but I can’t return your feelings right now.” Even if he did not remember, the looks she had been given him and the way she acted around him was too hard not to miss. He was not so blind as to be unaware of Yumi. “I have some things I must to first before I can accept them. I’m sorry for doing this to you.”

Things set, Yuki walked out of the room. He walked out into the hallway looking around. As expected, his escorts knew immediately when he left. “Take me to the grave of the late King,” he ordered, as he approached them.

They all seemed a little confused by his request and reluctant to accept, but his insistence forced them. A lengthy trip through the maze into the rear grounds brought them to the graveyard of all of the old Kings.

Yuki did not need the grave pointed out to him when he saw Demosthenes. He waved off his escort pointing out his preference. It was not until he was actually next to the General that they gave up their role and departed. “Quite the coincidence. What were you doing?”

“Telling him about everything that’s happened. I haven’t had the time to speak to him recently.”

Kneeling down before the grave, Yuki adjusted his position to get comfortable. “He must be rolling his grave from how far his plans have gone awry.”

“Perhaps, but even if everyone rejects her, he will still love her.”

“A father’s love…I don’t know if I’ll be able to forgive her, but I can understand a little now of what she was feeling. I think she just didn’t want to be alone again. He was the first one to accept her for who she was, everyone betrayed her or was afraid. It’s rather sad thinking about it…”

“You may be right.”

Yuki closed his hands together in prayer. He might not have ever known the man that was apparently his real father, but he felt like he still knew him from everything he heard. Like many of them, he may have been a little misguided and narrow minded, but his heart was in the right place. “Hey, old man. I hear you’re my father. Sort of hard to call someone you’ve never met Dad, but I’ll work on it. I just wanted to let you know you’ve got a pain in the ass daughter and a stiff for a friend.” Yuki smiled a little thinking about the stories he heard. “But you already knew all of that. I don’t know everything you’re planning, but I’ve made my own plans. So hopefully everything works out. But if not, I just want to let you know, despite everything I know, I’m glad to have been born. Thanks.”

Demosthenes bowed politely to Yuki in thanks. He looked a little relieved. “Whatever your plan, my life is yours.”

“Stop with the honor bound sacrifice crap again! I told you already before I’m not letting you die.” Yuki started to walk away from the grave. “No, you’re going to live. I got your payment in mind already. So let’s go see to breaking destiny!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Morning still sat an hour away, but Yuki could feel things already in motion. He knew that the Council did not sit still. They expected him to do something. He knew that much, which made it even easier to make his plans.

While he marched back with Demosthenes to the Palace, a voice popped up in his ear. “They’ve finished their positioning,” Chiharu said. It still unnerved Yuki a little, but found it to be incredibly clever of her. Due to always being under watch, she stuck in the shadows most of the day. Whenever she needed to report something to him, she could open a portal from her world to his inner ear. Her voice would travel straight to him and no one knew a thing, not even Demosthenes.

Naturally, it was only a one-way communication. Under constant watch, he could not make any overtly suspicious actions. But Chiharu was very intelligent and picked up on intentions quickly. He did not have to tell her much after the initial request. ‘Chiharu seems to be enjoying her role as spy.’ She really dove into the role after Yuki’s initial push to get her to accept it. It made it even easier since she always got all of the details he needed.

“As you already figured, they’ve got assassins planted around the execution grounds. Since they had the grounds constructed for this specifically, they were able to craft it in such a way to give them the perfect spots. But it makes them very easy to find.”

Pressing his finger to his temple, he gave the only signal he could manage. A very subtle tap gave her an answer. He continued to rub his forehead as though weighed by the stress. ‘That’s the easy part…the rest…’

“And the three of them will be of use. It’s like you thought. The best use for them will be in handling the snipers. They have the right team composition to bring the best success. I’ll get in contact with them.

‘Excellent…I can trust that’ll be handled then. I just have the hardest hurdle to handle then…’

Chiharu finished with the rest of her report in details on what to expect. As always, she was thorough. Just before she disappeared, she left him with one last thing. “I never expected you to be so shrewd. I might have to stop calling you a weakling after this. Maybe!” She disappeared promptly afterward.

Yuki wanted to smile thinking about what Chiharu said. ‘She just needs a little more of an adjustment to way she talks and she’d be a classic Tsundere.’ Thinking about Chiharu as a typical anime trope made him laugh a little inside. She had plenty of the traits to fit the bill.

Tropes aside, morning finally started to arrive. Judgment day finally came for all involved. The day left to test him. Could he make his goal a reality?

He would know soon.

Chapter 284 – Morning Verdict

The execution brought out quite the audience. Positioned in front of the Palace walls, it stretched out towards the Capital. They opened up a significant amount of the area around the Palace exclusively for the execution. The Council easily made it into the biggest event possible. But it was important for another reason. They planned to hold the selection process for the next King at the same time.

It was the promise of a new King that brought many out. Their plan to do both was meant to show strength and stability in Atlantis. That order and justice still held firmly. After all of the chaos and destruction caused by Yuki and his friends, it only made sense to give them something that would reassure them that they were safe.

Nothing like what happened over the last week had happened in more than twenty years. And it was made even worse than the rebellion when the degree of chaos was carried out by less than ten. Especially in the Capital, the general public mood had become very unsettled by everything. They feared the lack of a King and saw the destruction as signs of their future. Assuring the country’s future was the most important.

Dimitris walked with Yuki and his friends bringing them to their selected seats. All of the nobility and honored individuals were giving positions behind the execution. Yuki’s seat placed them the furthest away from the execution grounds.

As Yuki moved towards his seat, Dimitris leaned down to his ear. “Don’t make a scene, kid. Just sit and pretend you’re part of the background. Any movement will be treated as a violation of our agreement.”

‘Threatening me already, this is going to be a fun morning.’ Yuki sat down and looked ahead. He smiled his fake smile for everyone. “I understand.”

“Good.”

The façade on Yuki’s face dropped momentarily when Dimitris walked away. Dark lines formed around his eyes as a sign to his resolve. ‘I hope you have a good execution day.’ He quickly put his face back on for the crowd.

Saki sat down along with Yumi next to him followed Yori. Seiji and Chiharu moved in after, though Seiji looked very rigid. It was clear that he wanted to do something, but it was only Chiharu that kept him at bay. A rampage was not something they needed, fortunately even Seiji seemed to understand that or else Chiharu would not have been enough.

At Yuki’s side, standing as if he was a Canadian Royal Guardsmen, Demosthenes stood as selected guard unflinching. He looked completely natural in his position.

After everyone on the stage gathered, the main event started. Hardly intended as a massive spectacle, it was hard not to see it as one given the sight. Eudokia, Simonides, Athene and Nerine had normal escorts. They were bound like criminals given only the most bare of clothing needed. However, Fumiko and Haruo were taken to the extreme and became the largest focus.

Yuki could not help but think it looked like some movie over playing how threatening the villain was because they had to be given excessive protection and bindings. It seemed almost comical. However, it was all completely necessary. Both of their strength and power made the need for cages to drag them out in important. Fumiko magic had to be neutralized and Haruo needed something strong enough and fortified to keep his strength in check. Even though neither planned to escape.

The thing that Yuki noticed and expected was that the regular citizens did not understand the purpose. They stared at them confused. ‘I figured as much. The Council has kept all of these details secret. All the public knows is that there was a rebellion and they put it down. This is almost too easy…’ The smile on Yuki’s face grew a little bit.

All of the pieces moved into the designated place. The stage was set and all of the players had their plans in motion already. But Yuki grinned still. ‘Let’s get things started…’

The executor came out from behind the tall chairs set for the audience. They were a tall man, but lacked the usual expectations of being massive muscle bound or even carrying a weapon needed for the execution. However, they wore the white uniform of a MP, making it clear who they were and how things would be handled. They just seemed like another one of the mob.

They positioned themselves before the first target, Eudokia. A ripple came out from their feet as they prepared for their job. Tension ran through the entire gathering. The Council all looked with anticipation for Yuki to make a move that would seal his fate with the rest. The nobles looked forward to the death of traitors and the citizens waited for a sign of returning peace.

‘They’re already making their move. It’s time to make mine…’ Yuki glanced over at Demosthenes. He immediately slid back a step, already in on the plan. Taking in a breath, Yuki gathered up everything he had. ‘Time for the game to start…’

Yuki looked around suddenly in a panic. “What’s that? I see something!” He targeted it to the front to get the nobles looking around. A flash of light went off on cue far in the distance from one of the towers. It started the wild fire among the nobles inducing their panic. At that point, it did not matter who started it, the whole thing took on a life of its own.

Playing things out further, Yuki jumped up as the crowd started to reach a peak. “Look out!” He dove over top all of the chairs pushing around everyone. Dimitris stood in front of his path. Thanks to the panic, many already started pointing out the projectile that clearly flew towards the Councilor. “Get down!” Yuki leapt at the last moment taking Dimtris down to the ground, but not before taking the hit for the man.

Blood sprayed everywhere from the wound. Screaming erupted throughout the crowd and the citizens below. Shouts of rebellion and groundless fears flew quickly. Yuki rolled over off Dimitris, wincing from the pain. “Are you alright, sir?”

Dimitris eyes flooded in panic and confusion. He could not say anything to him, but his expression played too well into the scene. The reasons behind it were different, but no one knew the better. All of the other Councils ran up to him to try to recover.

Yuki pushed them all aside and stood up. Blood poured down his arm from the jagged rock left in his shoulder. He slowly walked towards the front of the stage. Demosthenes managed to appear next to him. “Everyone! Please calm down!” he shouted. His voice barely even carried through jungle of noise. “Shut the hell up!” Suddenly, his voice went through all corners of the site. “Thanks, General Alexander.”

The name drop got everyone’s attention. Yuki finally had everyone’s attention. The panic started to calm. Explosions went off from the location of the assassination attempt. “Everything has been dealt with now. That explosion you heard just now was my team capturing the last of the rebels. You don’t know me, but I’ve been hunting down these rebels for months, though it feels like years at this point.”

He laughed a bit and could see that he already started to lose some people. “This has all been a large secret put into act by the Council of Atlantis you see behind you. They knew about their leader, but could not make a move opening. So they sent me. I can now tell you all about this finally as we’ve finally captured the last of the rebels today right here.”

Yuki walked forward with the help of Demosthenes. He moved out in front of his friends. The closer to the citizens he could see how much they feared the uncertainty. They just wanted to know they could live peacefully. “I’m here today to assure you and confirm that peace has returned to Atlantis. You do not need to fear for your lives anymore!” A quick rise in voices from the citizens pushed into cheering.

“However, I need to clear up some confusion. These criminals you see here have stolen the faces and identities of those you see here. They want to tear us apart from the inside and make us question everyone! I will reveal their true identities before you now! People who even managed to fool our honorable and just Council!”

Giving Demosthenes the signal, he had him suddenly alter his field. Those that were Fumiko, Haruo, Simonides and everyone else captured changed. Complete strangers appeared before everyone even for Eudokia. Gasps went through the whole audience even the nobles.

As Yuki turned around to see everyone’s reactions, he gasped in shock as well. He pointed quickly out to one of the Councilors. “I don’t believe it! General quick, we missed one of them!” Demosthenes leapt into action as the revealed fake Councilor tried to make an escape. Rheia appeared in their path to catch them, cornered by the two.

Yuki turned back to the audience displaying his surprise. “I’m sorry, I must apologize. I thought we had found them all, but it looks like one slipped into the Council. But it explains why they wanted to place blame on Eudokia and Simonides. They sought to bring down those that protect and care the most for this country!”

The sudden reveals carried out by Yuki had everyone’s attention. No one looked away. He had them completely. They were hook on his every word now. He walked out a little further speaking directly to the citizens.

“I know this is all very shocking to you. But now you understand why this day was so important. The Council knew the rebels would take this chance to free their comrades and try to strike at the heart of this great country! They put themselves in harm’s way to see that you had peace tomorrow.

“I make this promise to you now before all of you that we will keep fighting for the peace and see that this sort of thing never happens again!” Another round of cheers went through the crowd. They were pretty easy to work up. Even the Council knew how easy they were to use. It was actually a little sad how desperate they were for a sign of peace and stability. Even with a twenty-year-old rebellion behind them, they still lived in uncertainty and fear constantly.

Yuki glanced back at the Council. They all glared at them. He had the stage and they could do nothing to him. He had the crowd and their plans already fell apart. Even the nobility questioned the Council after what they say. Uncertain looks fell upon them. They could not make a move any longer. Yuki had tied their hands, any action would be seen as suspicious now. ‘One matter resolved…now for the next part…’

He took in a deep breath. It was the hardest part for him. It was his plan. It was his decision. So he knew what he did and accepted it. However, it did not make it any easier to carry out.

Demosthenes walked up behind him, the fake Councilor arrested by Rheia. He stood stiffly behind Yuki giving him the sense of confidence, but also no escape. Yuki smiled a little and relaxed. “There’s one more thing that I have left. Right now it’s just a promise and promises are just words until they have something real that supports them.”

Turning his head to the ground for a moment, he gathered up his resolve. “There’s a reason I’m here in front of you rather than say the General here telling you all of this. You don’t know me and I don’t know all of you very well either. So making promises as a stranger is meaningless. So I’m going to tell you who I am.”

A ripple tore through the entire Capital in an instant from Yuki’s feet. He wiped away everything in the Capital using his field along with a significant expansion of the fields beyond. The display had everyone in complete silence. “I’m your new King!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Things quickly advanced from the moment that Yuki announced himself the new King. The display he gave was powerful enough that he had no one questioning his declaration. In fact, because he used his power to broadcast his announcement to the entire Capital it gave everyone further confidences. They saw how powerful he was and knew with Yuki that Atlantis would finally be safe for decades to come.

Once he made the announcement, he got the Council to carry out the formalities in the ceremony. They already had everything prepared. So Yuki easily cooped it as something they planned to reveal. The Councilors had little maneuvering room and begrudgingly worked with him through the whole thing. While only for show, as the real Throne sat deep in the Palace, Yuki became King before all of Atlantis.

His fate was sealed. It was his choice. As his choice, he accepted it and he could move forward.

Chapter 285 – Return to Peace

After all of the excitement ended, the Council summoned him before them. He insisted on bringing his friends with him along with all of those that they marked as criminals. Once the door sealed, Dimitris leaned forward from behind their desk. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I thought that was pretty clear out there, Councilor.” Yuki grinned having played them all against their own game. He could see how frustrated that they all were. Even though they were in the room privately, nothing they said could change what happened. All of their plans died the moment Yuki moved.

Dimitris gritted his teeth, annoyed to have to deal with a teenager and a foreigner. “You think you’ll be King?”

“You made me King. That’s what the public saw today. And given that even the nobility saw rebels had snuck into your ranks. You don’t have the weight you used to anymore.”

“You think you’ve won?”

Yuki grinned knowingly. He saw them already making new plans. “Won, no. This is a long-term game we’re playing. This battle goes to me, but the war continues.” The grin turned into a smirk quickly. “Just remember I mean to win the war as well. You old men have sat behind your traditions and fears ruling this country from the shadows.”

He stepped forward out of the his group of friends to the Council desk. “Let me make this clear. The secret war in this Palace you waged against the last King isn’t over. My promise to you frightened old men right here is that I will see things changed. You can either work with me or I will see you dragged out before the mob outside of these gates.” A dark shadow fell over Yuki’s eyes to emphasize his resolve.

The Councilors all looked around at each other murmuring. He quickly came to a settlement. They were going to give up their current plans and fold to Yuki. However, it was a war as Yuki said. It was not over. “What do you want?”

“Fumiko and Haruo come with me. Thanks to my little show out there, everyone thinks that they aren’t even rebels anymore, so you don’t have to explain anything.” Yuki walked back over to the others that came in. He made sure that they were with him as they were part of the deal. “I want Simonides re-instated into the military along with Athene and Nerine.”

When Yuki walked over to Eudokia, the Councilors could not keep quiet. “Do you expect us to release her as well? Eudokia is the one that masterminded the whole thing and killed countless people!”

Yuki came to a stop in front of her. He faced her staring straight into her eyes. Their reversed positions actually had a bit of irony. He held the dominate role with everything dancing around in his palm and she could only accept his whims.

Yet despite the reversal, she maintained the determined and unwavering stare. Nothing Yuki did to her would faze her. He knew that well enough. But he still hoped to see even the slight of a flinch from her. The longer he stared the worse the tension in the room became. No one else liked that he did not give an answer.

“What are you planning?”

Yuki spun back around to look at the Council. “Nothing like that. No, Eudokia violated your laws and must be punished for it. She lied to all of us. All I want is for her to rot in a cell for the rest of her life.”

“Traitors must be executed! Especially ones like her!”

Quickly, he flashed a deathly glare at all of the Councilors. It quickly put them all into their place and shut them up without a single word. In their silent acceptance, he had Demosthenes release everyone. “Good talk. We’ll be seeing more of each other.” Yuki walked out of the Council room with his friends following.

They all finally had their freedom.

Seiji rushed up to the left side of Yuki. Over on the right was Saki and Yumi. Unlike the others, Seiji had been out of the loop on everything. “You plan to explain what happened, Yuki? How’d you do all that? Like the swap with everyone and the assassins, everything!”

While Yuki laughed, Saki shoved Yuki a little. “Yeah, you even manipulated me! Do you know how much planning we already had in place?!”

“You had a good start to a plan, but there was still things that it didn’t resolve. This put everything into place.”

“What the hell is going on? Were you all in on this?!”

Pointing his thumb over at Saki, Yuki started out with her. “Yeah, I realized pretty quickly that Saki and Yori were making plans with the Titans.” He saw the shocked look on Seiji’s face. “Did you really think that Rheia was just chasing Saki for the fun of it?”

“It started out that way,” commented Saki, shifting her eyes away.

“Saki and Yori were in talks with Rheia make a rescue attempt on Fumiko and Haruo. Their plan was to swap out the real ones with created fakes so that everyone thought that they were dead. Then we just leave this all behind.”

“It would have worked!” insisted Saki.

“Yes, the rescue would have, but the Council still viewed me as a threat and the nobility all saw us all as rebels. We just getting special treatment from Demosthenes. So I have to fix that so that the only ones that still saw that was the Council. They’re now in a positions where they can’t make any open moves against me since no one trusts them right now.”

Seiji nodded as if he followed it all. Everyone doubted it. “So then you swapped everyone out, but what about the attack?”

“I knew the Council had assassins placed in the execution grounds. They actually planned to kill all of us and swipe it under the rug as rebel work. So I had Saki and Rheia take out all of their assassins with Yori relaying positions to them. The actual attack came from Rheia.”

“Saki and Yori weren’t next to me?!” Seiji started staring deeply at the two of them. He had a suspicious look in his eye wanting to be sure that they were real.

Chiharu piped up, since Yuki was laughing too hard. “They were stand ins by the Titans that were in on the plan with their Commander.” The answer made Seiji back up and question himself as he never even noticed it.

“And the rest was just information manipulation.”

“So what’s next?” Seiji asked, pointing to the most obvious question. It was the one that everyone stared at Yuki for. They all knew what his decision meant for him. It was not just the weight that he would bare either. There were further reaching impacts.

Playing it off like it was nothing, he smiled. “I’ll be King tomorrow.”

“Yeah I know that, but—“

“Don’t worry.”

Yuki continued on while the others just hovered around staring as he walked away. They did not know what he had planned anymore. All they could see was a friend leaving them behind.


The next day came with surprising ease. The Council did nothing more to oppose Yuki. All of the guards and escorts disappeared. In fact, some of the guards even seemed to look favorably at them, thinking that they were part of Yuki’s team in taking down the rebellion. Everything seemed to be at peace, though they were not sure how long it would be. They all knew the Council would not stay quiet forever. But they still did not have their own move yet.

“All hail King Charalampos Chryses!” declared the royal guard. The official process of becoming King ended and they presented Yuki before the entire nobility within the grand hall.

Saki leaned over to Yuki whispering to him. “Charalampos?” The rest of his friends stood around him, now commonly acknowledged as the ones that fought to bring down the rebellion.

“Yeah, I needed an Atlantean name. Makes it easier for everyone than thinking some foreigner is sitting on the throne.” He leaned back in the large throne that completely swallowed him up. The guards already escorted their guests forward as he instructed earlier.

Waiting until Simonides, Athene and Nerine approached, Yuki leaned forward a bit. He motioned off the guards giving a wide gesture to the gathered audience. The three knelt down before their King. “To correct mistakes made during the rebellion, I return the titles and privileges strip from you. Please rise, Captain Simonides, Commander Athene and Second Lieutenant Nerine.” They rose back up with Yuki returning their badges.

Applause broke out through the halls led by Yuki. He smiled down at them. However, he lifted his hand back up to bring order back to the chamber. Turning back to Demosthenes, he retrieved an item and walked out to Simonides. “As is tradition, Captain Simonides I grant to you with this shield the honor of the name Tethys.”

Knelt down before Yuki once more, Simonides accepted the personally crafted shield. Yuki pulled him back up to stand. “Rise, Captain Simonides Tethys. Continue to be the shield that protects the innocent of Atlantis.”

“With every breath that I have.”

Yuki then stepped up towards the throne. He stared out to the crowd once more to address them. “While it is not unusual to have someone as young as myself as your King, I’m still inexperienced in everything. I’m more used to behind the scenes work than running a country. So I announce today that I’m making General Demosthenes Alexander my Regent and Advisor until I mature enough for this throne behind me.”

The decision sent some shock through the crowd not expecting to be hearing such news. It was something that Yuki did not make known to anyone. But the natural question came quickly to everyone’s mind.

Anticipating their question, Yuki prepared the next announcement. “With the General stepping down, I’m announcing today that I’m promoting Captain Simonides Tethys to General of the Army. His loyalty and respect for those that serve under him should be an inspiration to every leader.”

Simonides bowed his head to Yuki once more. However, it was Athene that reacted in place of Simonides. She could not believe what she was hearing. Tears started to fall down her cheeks, ones that only Simonides seemed to understand. Though Yori smiled a little seeing Simonides giving her a little support.

“As my next act as King, I’m going to visit all of the villages and towns in Atlantis! The King is the leader of the people and for the people. I don’t plan to stay hiding in this Palace.”

Thus, Yuki’s month long trip around Atlantis began. None of his friends knew what Yuki was going on to do. They just kept following him around to see if things really were to end. He never said goodbye to them, so they just waited around.

The last stop he made was back to the village of Skoupa, which was affected by their arrival. Yuki helped out with the repairs and smoothed out the relations. Even before he arrived, they heard word of what happened. His coronation spread to all corners. The excitement of a new King and a long term of stability bolstered everyone. Even more so seeing their King all the way out on the border.

It was early morning. They woke up early in Skoupa to a grand morning feast to send off their King. After everything ended, Yuki led everyone out and back to the South Gate. Along with him on the trip was Simonides and Demosthenes.

Yuki stared at the large Command building of the vast complex. He already had Abeiron appointed as the new Captain and though things were a little chaotic for the new Captain, the troops were in high spirits. Even more so to see their old Captain.

“We’re back at the beginning,” Yuki said, everyone gathered around him.

Saki and the others stared at him with the sense of things finally reaching their end. “Yuki…”

He turned around to face all of them. “Everyone…I know that this was not exactly what we planned when coming here. But things don’t work out perfectly.” Yuki turned to look at Athene coming up, having taken care of her orders. He turned back around to Demosthenes and Simonides. “This is where we part ways for now.”

“Yuki, what are you…” questioned Seiji, jumping in first. Though everyone else leaned in quickly behind him trying to be sure they were hearing him right.

Looking back at them confused, Yuki grinned. “What you thought I was leaving you guys behind?”

“But what about Atlantis and Throne?” Saki reminded.

“Demosthenes will be charge during my absence, it’s why I made him Regent. And my father was able to go hopping around the world, so I figure I should be to as well. I still got things to set back in Japan before I return.” Everyone gathered up around Yuki grabbing on him glad to still have their friend with them. They were not ready for a goodbye.

Yuki walked up to Simonides, shaking his hand. “Keep up the good work. I’ve heard a lot about what you’ve done here. It’s not going to be easy, but I plan to see changes made.”

“It’ll be my honor, Your Highness!”

Staring over at Demosthenes, Yuki approached him. “This is your punishment, old man. It’s your job to live and live long enough to see everything that the Council’s done under my father’s rule undone. I won’t allow you to die until then, understand?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Demosthenes handed over a package to Yuki before he turned away. “Good luck.”

Yuki looked back at his friends. He threw his fist up into the air in excitement. “Let’s return home, everyone!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

A calm sea was the most welcome thing to ask for on their return to Japan. Everything in Atlantis had been far too chaotic and stressful for all involved. So just a simple boat ride back felt like almost a vacation.

Even when Yuki became King and all of the outward threats died down. He remained busy on his countrywide tour to boost civilian morale. The constant threat of the Council hung over them, even though Yuki insisted that they would not do anything yet. But the ‘yet’ in his phrasing still made them worry.

Meditating in the center of their yacht, Yuk kept their transport alive. He picked something a little more subdued for their return trip. Some wondered if maybe he had matured a little and some of his childishness disappeared from the heavy dose of reality he received while in Atlantis.

Saki poked in noticing Yumi watching Yuki from a distance. She smiled and stepped lightly forward. Yuki still needed his focus since it was a long trip and they did not have Eudokia as they did for the trip before. Placing a hand on Yumi’s shoulder, she got her attention. “Worried about him?”

A quick turn revealed all of the complex emotions carved through Yumi’s face. She looked away almost immediately when she realized how transparent her face was. “Sorry, Saki. I know I shouldn’t stare and he’d just say he’s fine. He looks fine, but I heard what happened to the last King, his father. We don’t know how long it’ll be before Yuki ends up like that. I can’t—“

“Yumi, he’s tough. And it’s not like he doesn’t know what he’s doing. It’s just until he handles everything here. When we left it was still pretty chaotic in Japan. Yuki feels responsible as the one that unleashed Pandora’s Box upon Japan.”

“I know it’s selfish of me. But I just wish he didn’t have to carry all of this weight. It’s more than one person should have to bear.”

Saki stepped forward a little. “This is just my opinion, so I don’t know if I’m right. But it might sound cruel, I think this is good for him. The last year he might have looked happy, but I sort of got a feeling he was bored or directionless. He didn’t know what he wanted to do. After his mother died, he just lost everything. It might be more than he should need, but for the first time since losing his parents he’s got a goal.”

The thought made Yumi pause for a moment. She had only known him for a short time. Saki had always been next to him. She knew what he was like before everything changed his life. So maybe she was right. “That’s still very sad. But if you’re right, maybe it is a good thing.”

Chapter 286 – Rude Welcome

Out on the bow of the yacht, Fumiko, Yori and Seiji parked themselves. The coldness of the south seas finally left for the warm open sunlit skies of the tropics. While they only had some spare clothes that Yuki made up for them, as they lost all of theirs during the fighting, it was enough to enjoy the weather.

Seiji rubbed his right arm a little absentmindedly. He had been staring at Fumiko’s stump of an arm. The longer that he stared the more that he rubbed his own arm. Eventually, it became more than he could take. “Hey, you know Yuki could fix you up right?” Seiji pointed out.

Keeping silent, Yori just watched to see things play out. ‘Seiji…’ It was a touchy subject. While he never asked either, Yori understood that he did not need ask or should ask. It was just something that remained understood.

Staring through narrow eyes at Seiji, Fumiko’s expression quickly turned twice a severe. “And what about those scars on your arm? I’m surprised you didn’t allow the girl fix them up along with the rest of you.”

“Eh?” He missed the subtext that Fumiko stabbed at him. Seiji raised up his arm to look at it. The two near full-length scars on his arm stayed, the place where Cosmas’ swords cut him during their first encounter. “This and that aren’t the same sort of thing! I mean you don’t even have one of your arms! Mine still functions.” After his last fight with Cosmas, the talismans wrapped around his arm previously never returned. It seemed the healing process ended.

“You sure it’s not for a reason?”

The question targeted him almost too close. “So what if I do?! What about you?” He lashed back at her rather than addressing himself. His hand clutched his wrist as though protecting it.

“I have my own reason.” She glared at him harshly. The look in her eyes told everyone to drop the subject immediately. Once she declared her position on the topic, Fumiko turned and walked away.

“Should have kept your mouth shut, Seiji,” added Yori before walking away.

“Hey! I don’t understand why you’d not get your arm back! You need two of them!” Neither were listening and quickly disappeared into the depth of the yacht. He threw up his fist into the air in annoyance. At least he knew well enough not to punch the boat.

Inside the cabin, Yori followed Fumiko and like Seiji he was about to butt into something that he did not belong. However, he saw how much strain she had been in ever since her capture. On the outside everything seemed fine, but he did not need his mind reading powers to figure out something was wrong. “You should get some rest.”

Fumiko tilted her head back quickly over her shoulder. Most of the glare still held on from Seiji’s blunder. “Putting your nose into places it shouldn’t be. I thought you knew better.”

‘This isn’t the same girl I remembered coming out to Atlantis with. It’s completely changed her and not something as simple as maturity like with some of the others. There’s something darker at work, it’s not even just her anger at Yumi.’ He only had an idea of what was going on with her. The experiences in Atlantis were something that had a harsher impact on her than anyone else. He could only understand a part of what she was going through. “I know you haven’t been sleeping well. Back in Atlantis, I saw you up late nights pacing or balled up in a corner.”

He touched on something more personal than she expected. It immediately brought out her fangs. “Stay away from me, Mizuno.” A flame popped up in her hand almost instantly without the need for a cast. “Before I force you.”

Yori ground his teeth behind pursed lips. She completely rebuffed him. Pressing his groundless position further would only be dangerous. ‘I’m going to have to take this more carefully than I expected…’


Aside from the occasional nosiness from Seiji, the boat ride ran smoothly. It impressed everyone that Yuki managed to keep the boat up for the entire trip back to Japan. He ran them faster than the last time, since he was working against his own ability to stay awake as well. It only took about thirty hours to reach the waters near to Japan.

Unfortunately, that was when their next challenge presented itself. They had been gone for a month. In that time the world continued to move without them. And things were no longer the same for Japan. None of them expected what they saw on the horizon. Saki pulled Yuki up under protest to the deck.

“Why won’t you tell me what’s going on Saki? You know I need to focus. I’m getting really sleepy right now and my head is hurting like someone’s taking an ice pick to my skull.”

Saki shoved Yuki out in front. “That’s not important. You need to see this.” She pointed out to what should have been Japan.

Blurry eyed, Yuki stumbled around his friends, all gathered on deck as well, to look at Japan. Or the lack of the islands. “Huh? That’s not an island, that’s a boat, Saki. Why’d you bring me up to see a boat?”

“Damn it, Yuki! Open your eyes!”

“Eh?” He stared back at her. His ability to focus on anything that was not his power was pretty much shot. However, her glare certainly did wonders to motivate him. “…right…” Yuki stared across the horizon once more trying to take it all in. “There’s more than one boat. Did we arrive during a festival?”

Tired of Yuki not getting it, Yori spoke up to fill him. “It’s the entirety of the US Pacific Fleet, or at least a significant portion of it from what we’ve been able to see just from here.”

That seemed to perk up Yuki immediately as though he was some sort of military otaku. He leaned forward against the railings to stare harder. A pair of binoculars popped up in his hands to let him examine one of the ships. “You’re right?! Plus isn’t that a British flag?” Everywhere he looked he saw warships. They all sailed in a tight formation.

“We’ve picked up at least five different country’s naval vessels. Something like that can only mean one thing.”

“It’s a UN organized mobilization. But what’s the UN doing in Japan?”

“We still don’t know, but that massive of a fleet isn’t parked out here for no reason.” Yori looked back at their boat and how close they were getting to the fleet. “We aren’t a registered ship. It’s going to be hard getting in even as something as small as us.”

Yuki turned away from the ships and focused back on his friends. He knew what Yori implied. “Well, we won’t know what’s going on out here. I gave no profile on radar, so they haven’t seen us yet, probably. But visual identification is still a risk. I’ll make us invisible, so everyone get inside.”

As they all shuffled inside, Yuki looked back over his shoulder at the fleet. ‘I’m not liking the feeling I’m getting from this. It’s not quite the homecoming I was expecting for us…’ Once they entered the main cabin for the yacht, Yuki altered the boat’s appearance to cloak it completely. He built it into the law just in case something came up that they needed to sneak it.

“Yori, you still got those translation earrings I made for you?” He saw him nod and pointed him to the radio. “We might learn something from him if they are broadcasting. With any luck it’ll be across all frequencies.”

Yumi stepped up in front of Yuki, as he stared out in front of the ship. “Anything we can do?”

“Yeah actually, you’ve got far better eyes than do. Watch out ahead and to the side. They aren’t going to know we’re here. So we need to steer around.” Everyone took up positions around the windows calling out to Yuki any dangers they saw.

Slipping into the fleet was no problem. But trying to get around a bunch of warships with no clue of their presence made things challenging. Yuki kept over steering in his unfamiliarity with boats. Even if it was newbie friendly, he still never drove one. ‘Damnit!’ he snapped as he nearly spun them around avoiding a destroyer.

Just as they broke free from wall of ships, a voice broke through from all sides. They thought they were spotted for a moment, but realized that it was not pointed at them. Someone from the fleet spoke over the broadcast equipment.

They spoke in something that was not Japanese, leaving it up to Yori to be their translator. “This is the UN Blockade Fleet! Stand down immediately! If you continue to take aggressive actions direct force will be taken to subdue all individuals. I repeat this is…”

“Blockade?” Yumi questioned in surprise. It explained the reason for the fleet, but not for why it was happening. All of them looked around at each other trying to understand what had happened to Japan since they were gone.

Saki shouted out pointing to something she saw in the distance. “There’s something coming towards the fleet!” In another second, it was almost too late for her to scream. “Get down!”

Just off their starboard side, a massive blast of purple rocked the boat around in the disrupted sea. The target was one of the UN warships. It scored a direct hit to the upper deck, but did not cause any severe damage that would cause it to sink. However, another blast came in quickly likely trying to finish the job off.

They could only watch unable to do anything as the boat jumped almost into the air from the next attack. But a bright light from behind blinded everyone. An explosion came out of the light a moment later breaking out new tide waves spinning their boat around in circles.

“Yuki!”

“Damn it!”

“What the hell is going on?!”

The voice said something else, but Yori was too busy holding on to dear life that he could not be bothered to translate. However, they did not have to guess for long as something flew by their boat along with several others.

It was all too fast for Yuki to see. They were merely blurs. “What’s going on?!”

Chiharu was the only one that seemed unaffected by the whole thing. She watched carefully everything unfold. “It looks like the UN sent in a peacekeeping force. They don’t look familiar, but judging from the fact that they were using powers like us, I’m guessing the UN somehow has empowered people working with them.”

The boat finally started to ease up, though the fighting that broke out in the distance left the sea angry. It did give them enough to stand back up, though Yuki had the hardest time of it. The others seemed to have already adapted and were barely affected. “The UN is fighting someone? That blast before was from that group wasn’t it?”

“Most likely. When we left people were still discovering their powers. In a month’s time they’ve already started to use them.” Chiharu looked closely at the fighting happening in the distance. It gathered everyone’s attention quickly. “Given this information, it’s safe to assume that the UN’s purpose here is a peacekeeping action against Japan. They’ve likely blockade the entire country viewing all of us as threats to the world.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Chiharu was the only one that seemed unaffected by the whole thing. She watched carefully everything unfold. “It looks like the UN sent in a peacekeeping force. They don’t look familiar, but judging from the fact that they were using powers like us, I’m guessing the UN somehow has empowered people working with them.”

The boat finally started to ease up, though the fighting that broke out in the distance left the sea angry. It did give them enough to stand back up, though Yuki had the hardest time of it. The others seemed to have already adapted and were barely affected. “The UN is fighting someone? That blast before was from that group wasn’t it?”

“Most likely. When we left people were still discovering their powers. In a month’s time they’ve already started to use them.” Chiharu looked closely at the fighting happening in the distance. It gathered everyone’s attention quickly. “Given this information, it’s safe to assume that the UN’s purpose here is a peacekeeping action against Japan. They’ve likely blockade the entire country viewing all of us as threats to the world.”

Even though it should have been that much of a surprise to them, it still left the entire cabin in silence. Several of them could only stare out at the fighting, not completely focused on it. Shock ran through them all. The significance of it was not lost on them.

If the UN presence was as Chiharu surmised, then the world or at least the most powerful countries in the world all saw them as a threat. They were potential enemies to something far larger than they could possibly comprehend.

Yuki was the first to break the silence with awkward laughter. It seemed completely inappropriate, especially as it drew everyone’s attention. They did not know what to think of his reaction. “And I thought making enemies of the Council of Atlantis was the biggest problem. What ever god is looking down on us as play things must to be having quite the laugh right now.”

“…Yuki…” Yumi stared at him not sure what she could really do for something. None of them could do anything. She understood how impossible their situation was.

However, there was one that did not. Seiji made his way to the door planning to make for a stupid action. “I’m not one for fate or destiny! Only what I can hold with my hands!” It should have been a good and possibly inspiring little moment. However, Yumi and Yori already moved to hold him back.

Struggling with Seiji’s strength, they needed help. “Saki! Help us stop Seiji!”

“What the hell do you think you guys are doing?” barked Seiji, trying to get them off him. “I’m going out there and put a stop to this!”

Saki did not make any movement to help them. Her arms crossed over her chest as she stared at the fighting. She could see very clearly the looks on the faces of the Japanese. “I’m with Seiji on this. I won’t stop him if he wants to help them. I don’t agree with this.”

“Saki?!”

It was actually Yuki that stepped forward to stand in Seiji’s way, despite him be the least likely to succeed. The only thing that would stop Seiji was great strength. He had the determined look in his eye. “Seiji! We can’t intervene here.”

Seiji ripped free from Yori’s hold and quickly escaped Yumi as well. He stared down with Yuki. “There’s people out there that did nothing wrong! They just want to be free and you’re saying it fine just to have the UN walk all over us? Because they’re afraid of what we can do!?”

“Besides not understanding the situation fully, this isn’t on the same scale of things we’ve dealt with.”

“In Atlantis—“

“That was different! And at the end all I managed to do was delay things to another day. The problem hasn’t been resolved! This isn’t going to be something that ends pretty or happy.” Yuki threw his hand up against the glass of the door out to deck. “You don’t think I want to go out there and help them? I do! But if we make any action in that fight we’ll be facing the UN. You know what that means? That’s the world’s arm swinging out there!”

Yuki stepped up getting right into Seiji’s face. “Strength isn’t going to solve this! We got lucky with Atlantis and my position solved a lot of our immediate problems. But Atlantis never had any plans to do anything beyond keep hiding. This is the world stage out there. If we make a move it’s not just affecting us. This affects our families, friends, our town, all Japan! They already fear us, what do you think will happen to the people that are unable to protect themselves if we retaliate right now? How much suffering could we cause to countless unknown innocents from our selfish actions?!”

Everyone watched to see how Seiji reacted. Like him, none of them felt good about watching what happened beyond their safety. But they knew that Yuki was right. The risks of making any sort of move were too high. They could not foresee what course the world would take if they acted.

Slamming his fist through the wall of the cabin, the boat rocked a little from Seiji’s anger. He seemed to understand what Yuki said. It was the only outlet to vent his frustration. Things greater than him tied his hands. “Damnit all! Why does this have to be happening?!”

Relieved, Yuki walked back to the center of the room. After they cleared through the blockade, it was mostly just a straight shot. However, it did not mean that the boat was going the way they wanted. The waves created from the fighting threw off their course significantly.

He hung his hand down with his eyes disappearing behind his hair. “I should have seen this outcome. It’s a classic case of those that thought they were on top suddenly seeing there is someone higher up. Societies become afraid and are prone to violence when it happens. We see it all the time in those sorts of movies.” An awkward grin came across his lips. “I thought art was supposed to imitate life, not the other way around…”

Chapter 287 – False Normalcy

No one could be happy anymore. Despite the gloom that existed over everyone’s head about Yuki’s potential condition in the future, everything seemed to be better after Atlantis. Not everything was perfect, but they were headed home. If they just saw their families again, maybe they could forget everything bad that happened. Maybe it would just be like a bad dream. And they could continue with their life. In the future, they could laugh and tell stories about what happened in a more fond light.

None of that was possible anymore.

The docks crawled with UN soldiers at every corner. They were likely there to enforce the blockade and prevent anyone from stealing boats to try to escape. It was just another reminder of how much things had changed in the short time they were away. It did not even feel like home anymore.

Once they had a moment to move, Yuki swapped out their protection on the boat for personal invisibility. They still had the same intention of just avoiding any sort of encounter. While still on the docks, the noise in the distance came to an end.

They stopped between two moored freight boats. The gap gave them a good view of the shoreline. “I don’t see them fighting anymore,” reported Saki. “I guess the UN won.” It seemed safe to assume since the blockade held.

Yuki looked in the distance at the numerous patrols by the UN. They were not messing around. A sign of how much they feared them. While he could not see it, the others told them that there were vehicle checkpoints and fortifications locking down the entire dock. “Chiharu.”

“Right. On it.” She immediately disappeared from the group into her shadows.

The others looked around and then focused on Yuki. Saki made the first move in front of Yuki demanding an answer. “What are you planning?”

His eyes narrowed and the lines of his face hardened significantly. It was not the same Yuki that Saki knew. “Recon. I don’t plan on fighting them, but we need an escape strategy from here. She’s the best for scouting thanks to her powers.” Once he finished explaining himself, he started moving again.

The others followed along with Yuki, but Saki hung back for a bit. She stared at his back. ‘I don’t recognize that face. It’s not the sad depressed one that he’s always hiding from everyone and not the fight starved one that seemed to be appearing lately. This is something completely different… What’s going on Yuki?’ However, she could not keep staring for long. She forced herself to keep up with the others.

With the aid of Chiharu’s investigations, Yuki guided them through the docks. He ended up taking them to an isolated room in the docks. Chiharu popped back into the room with the others confused why he led him to a dead end. “And this is it, right?”

Chiharu nodded to him. “Correct. There’s about a third of a meter of building or wall, but it is the best location in the entire docks.”

“Good.” Yuki dropped his field for a moment before bringing it back up. A door suddenly appeared in front of them with a very inviting look to it. “I picked this little trick up from Eudokia. It’s a lot easier than forcing a hole. My power is still too much of a nuke rather than a cruise missile when it comes to precision.” To encourage them about his plan, he opened the doorway into the room.

Through the threshold they all saw a short tunnel to another door. Yuki welcomed them through it. Seiji accepted the challenge as though they were needing muscle for something. He opened the other door only to be a bit disappointed. “It just goes outside,” he called back.

“Well of course, what did you think it would do? This is how we’ll get out of the docks without the UN spotting us.” Seiji was not the only one that seemed to expect something a little more climatic than just walking through a door. He could see it in their eyes as he panned around to his friends. However, he was not going to hold things up. Yuki joined Seiji outside.

The difference of the inside versus the outside almost seemed like night and day. While the presence of the UN still ran throughout the city, it no longer looked like a military state as the docks appeared. None of them could shake off the feeling of being watched.

Once they were all out, Yuk shutdown his field for the last time. He sighed finally able to rest. His mind suddenly felt fuzzy and light. “…oh…I…” Yuki fell over in the street completely unconscious before he even hit.

“Yuki!” everyone shouted trying to all for him.

Yumi and Saki moved the fastest. Yumi checked immediately for his vitals. When she found them it gave her a bit of relief. “He’s fine, just feels like his heart is racing a little.” She stared down at him realizing how much he had been working for them all. “He’s probably just exhausted from using his power constantly for so long. Plus…” The following thought stopped before she could finish it. They had the immediate thought about it. None of them wanted to consider it.

Seiji already picked up Yuki to toss him over his shoulder. He looked over at the rest of them. “It’s just a little further. Let’s stick together just to be safe.” It sounded like a sound decision, considering Seiji’s personality. However, none of them were really in the mood to comment on his slightly out of character remark.

Once they reached their neighborhood, Chiharu broke off from the group. “This is where we part ways.” She caught the look from Seiji, who seemed like he wanted to walk her all the way back to her mansion. “I’ll be keeping to the shadows. I’m not interested in fights right now.” The comment went out to no one in particular, she made sure of it. Though they all seemed to see that she was covering up for something. Before they could say anything she disappeared into the ground.

Fumiko was the first they dropped off, a little out of their way along with Yumi and Yori. Yumi wished go all the way with Yuki, but Yori insisted on them seeing their mother quickly. The amount of time that they had been gone was longer than planned.

Along the way deeper into their neighborhood, Haruo disappeared without so much as a word to them. They just realized he was gone one moment. Saki and Seiji could do little about him. But they trusted he would be fine.

It left them at the steps of Yuki’s house with an unconscious Yuki in their hands. They looked at each other trying to figure out what to do about their situation. It was not exactly the most ideal position for them. Saki was reminded of Yuki’s comment of how he left his family. Such a scenario only made things worse.

Pushing him forward, Saki threw him into the fire. “You knock.”

“Huh?” Seiji turned back around to look at Saki. “What do you mean? Why aren’t you knocking?!”

“It’s complicated.”

“And it’s not for me?” He threw his hand up to point back at the house. “They don’t exactly have the best opinion of me. And I can’t even remember the last time I actually met Momoko. I just remember the glare she gave me when she found out who I was.”

“Afraid of his sister?” Saki teased.

“Damn right!” He caught Yuki from slipping off his shoulder in all of their arguing. “And you’re not?”

She backed a step away from Seiji with her face turning a little blue. “Well—“ Everything in her face went pale suddenly. Sweat started to build up over her face.

Seiji leaned forward trying to figure out what had Saki so frightened. He just lightly mentioned Yuki’s sister and did not expect to get such a reaction for him. “Saki?” However, she was not answering him. Approaching her more, Seiji tried to get her voice working, but all she did was point at him. “The hell’s wrong with you?” She just kept pointing with her face getting worse and worse .

Then Seiji felt the presence. The ominous over bearing presence that seeped into every pore. The one more frightening than any of those that he fought in Atlantis. It made his whole body sweat and lock up. Seiji turned as if he was rusty behind him towards the door. The door was open and it was filled with the most terrifying image any of them had seen. “Oh crap…Momoko…”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

“Afraid of his sister?” Saki teased.

“Damn right!” He caught Yuki from slipping off his shoulder in all of their arguing. “And you’re not?”

She backed a step away from Seiji with her face turning a little blue. “Well—“ Everything in her face went pale suddenly. Sweat started to build up over her face.

Seiji leaned forward trying to figure out what had Saki so frightened. He just lightly mentioned Yuki’s sister and did not expect to get such a reaction for him. “Saki?” However, she was not answering him. Approaching her more, Seiji tried to get her voice working, but all she did was point at him. “The hell’s wrong with you?” She just kept pointing with her face getting worse and worse.

Then Seiji felt the presence. The ominous over bearing presence that seeped into every pore. The one more frightening than any of those that he fought in Atlantis. It made his whole body sweat and lock up. Seiji turned as if he was rusty behind him towards the door. The door was open and filled with the most terrifying image any of them had seen. “Oh crap…Momoko…”

Momoko stared at them not even saying anything. The fact that she held silence only made the scene worse for them. It was as if they were thieves in the night caught in the act. Everything aimed directly at them.

Not certain where things were going, Seiji took a step back. “Now Momoko, this isn’t what it looks like.” He looked over at Saki for some support. “Hey, Saki! Back me up here!” Unfortunately, she was useless. Neither of them were good at handling Yuki’s older sister. She always had a huge protective streak even more so than Saki, if that could be believed. It was why they tried keeping her in the dark about a lot of the trouble that Yuki got involved in.

Unfortunately, there was no hiding what they did. In fact, it actually looked worse than it was or perhaps it did not look as worse as it should. Seiji had to reconsider Yuki’s reality, the one that Momoko could not know about. If she knew, none of them would make it out of their house alive. ‘Damnit Yuki, why’d you have to pass out? Only you would have gotten a yelling at…’

Chapter 288 – Family

Stepping backwards a little in progress, Fumiko stood in front of her house. The lights were not on. It was the late evening by the time they got through all of the trouble at the docks and back to their neighborhood.

She was not sure what she expected from the house. Or even her parents for that matter. They did not come rushing out to see her. She did not even know if they knew she returned. ‘I didn’t exactly leave on the best terms. I just yelled at them before I left. Am I even welcome?’ Standing before her house, it almost seemed selfish of her. She expected nothing to be different. She expected everything to just return to how things were before. She could start her life back up.

That was how it should have been. Yuki’s quest was over. Her involvement in things ended. While she did not feel like she repaid him for saving her life in full, she did all she could for him. There was nothing left she could do. Her part in things was over.

A normal life was all she had to return to now. A home waited for her, maybe. It could have been that she demanded the home be waiting on her instead. It was a complicated feeling. ‘What do I do now? Everything just goes back to the way things were before? I return to being a student like nothing happened?’ She could not move her body forward. Was such a notion even possible for her?

In the distance, a loud noise erupted, shattering the peace of the neighborhood. For Fumiko’s enhanced hearing it almost sounded like it was near to her. She immediately flipped around. Magic circles spun out over her arm quickly with flames hovering off her hand. ‘An enemy?! Where?’ Sweat built up over her face in uncertainty. Her eyes darted around to locate where they hid.

Nothing.

The noise never came back. All she could hear was the wind. Her entire body had tightened up to the point it felt like she could snap at any moment. ‘Relax it’s nothing…’ Fumiko tried to calm herself down, but the anxiety already took over for her. She pressed her back up against the property wall before she fell down. Her body could not stop shaking.

It took her forever to actually calm down. All her mind could do was race thinking about all of the possible ways the enemy could come at her. She did not feel safe even though she should have. It was her home. It was not Atlantis. The threat was over. She did not have anything to fear from sneak attacks.

She did not know when it happened, but as she finally came down from her panic attack, she heard some familiar voices. They started out as distant, something she thought she had been hearing the entire time.

“Fumiko? Can you hear me, dear?”

“Fumiko!”

Fumiko stared a little confused for a moment. She saw them, but they looked out of focus to her. “Dad? Mom…”

They helped her up to her feet when they saw she could finally acknowledge them. Perhaps it could just returned to normal. Maybe a happy ending was possible, even for someone like her.


The meeting for Yumi and Yori was not so dramatic. In fact, it did not even happen. When they opened the door to their house and announced their return, no one met them. Yumi went around the house quickly to check to see if their mother was asleep. When she entered the kitchen, she found Yori. “She’s not here.”

Yori agreed with her quickly and produced a paper. It had her writing on it. “Seems that she’s already working tonight.” He pointed to the trash bin in the corner noting few other papers looking very similar to the one he held.

They had been gone longer than planned. She stared at their mother’s handwriting for a minute. It might have only been a paper with ink, but she felt how important it was. The feelings from it bleed into her hand. “We’re finally home, Yori.”

“It’s over now.”

Yumi dropped the paper to the table. She approached her brother. Her hand wanted to reach out for him, but it still shook. It was something that became more manageable, but her mind still had trouble forgetting the nightmares. All she really had done was improve how to hide her feelings from him. It made her feel awful that she could not even feel comfortable around him anymore. He was her brother and the most important person to her and yet she could not even look at him without fear crawling down her neck.

Despite it, she had to keep appearances up. It was nothing he could do for her. In fact, all it would do was put distance between them.

“Thank you for putting up with my selfish requests.” She had never really actually apologized or thanked him for going along with Yuki despite the dangers. It was worse on him given what happened to him. Because of her insistence, he had been captured, even interrogated. He had to fight as a result of her. “I’m sorry, Yori.”

He dropped a hand on her head to ease her concerns. “You don’t have to Yumi. We both made choices. Everything worked out in the end.”

“You’re right…”


“Lady Chiharu, you’ve returned,” spoke Tamotsu sliding the doors open to Chiharu’s room.

She had just popped out of the shadows and barely even set a foot into her room. Chiharu stared at the older man for a long time. Her mind went through numerous responses for him. However, she simply just walked forward. He made room for her as she came to the threshold.

Following behind her with still no response, Tamotsu tried to determine what happened to her. However, he was not making any progress against her stonewall. It seemed her expression had improved in her time away. “You’ve been missing for a month, Lady Chiharu. What have you been doing? The men—“

Chiharu came to a stop. Her head tilted over her shoulder to look back at Tamotsu. “Are you so incompetent to not be able to handle the morale of the men in my absence, Tamotsu?” The look in her eyes suddenly became very demanding. She expected a lot from him.

‘She’s changed quite a bit in her disappearance, what happened to her?’ It was a little trouble for him. He thought he had her under his control, but when he could not stop her from her leaving she left his grasp. However, it was nothing he could not handle. “I merely am a single man. While I can keep the men together, you’re the Head. They look to you and a missing Head only invites disruption.”

Her eyes narrowed a little watching him longer. However, there was nothing to be found. All she could see was his loyalty and concern. He was useless. He just followed her and waited on her action. He did nothing on his own. “That’s why I’ve returned, Tamotsu.”

Chiharu threw open the doors to the main hall. The small numbers of what remained of her clan’s men loosely gathered about. They looked unmotivated and even lost. It annoyed her to no end to see how empty her men looked. “What the hell is wrong with all of you?!” she yelled, announcing her arrival in the most thunderous way possible.

The sound of her small, but barking voice was all they needed to jump up. A moment later, they all charged after their tiny leader hardly acting the part of cold-blooded killers. Chiharu pushed them off her trying to get them under control, but they were impossible to deal with. They had not seen her for so long. “Damnit! Are you all babies? Children!”

“Lady Chiharu!”

After she fought them all off and put them into their place, she had them lined up in front of her. ‘Though small we maybe, the Higoshi won’t be able to stop us. It’s not about the numbers, but the individuals.’ Chiharu saw all of the fierce loyalty in her men’s eyes. They might have been pathetic, but they were her men and they looked to her. ‘This is mine to accept…’

Taking a step forward, she took up a strong position before them all. “Now that I’ve returned, I’m not going to be letting any of your slack off! The Higoshi Clan thinks that we’re weak and open for attack. We’ll show them how wrong that they are! Starting today, you’re all getting my special training!” Chiharu bunched up her hands together in a familiar excited look she borrowed from someone else. “Prepare for hell!”

Tamotsu watched from her right flank. He saw the fire that Chiharu lit in all of the men. ‘She was nearly crushed by the weight of leadership before, what’s changed about her? This is going to be more troublesome than I expected. I may have to advance things sooner that I planned. The time for Chiharu Chinen to die might be sooner than I foresaw…’


“…and you show…Yuki…wrong with…”

All he could hear from yelling or more like lecturing. The volume was consistent, but never actually made it painful to hear. It just did not seem to stop. His head was still fuzzy that he could not catch everything going on. However, he did recognized one thing. “Momo?”

It was enough to stop the endless battery from Momoko. “Yuki!” She immediately turned around to look at Yuki, laid out on the couch. Despite what seemed like never taking a break for a breath and she still managed to hear his soft voice. “Are you alright?”

He still tried to get his baring on everything. “Yeah, I think so…” His eyes turned about the room starting to recognize things. It was his house, the living room and across the table was Seiji and Saki. He got up with a little help from his sister. Though his body did not have any pain it still felt like he was fatigued like someone ran him on a treadmill for hours without even water. “I’m thirsty…”

“Right!” She immediately jumped up to her feet and bolted for the kitchen.

Yuki still trying to figure out what was going on. He could see his friends more clearly than before. They looked like they had been through hell and seen death itself in the face. “What’s the better with you two? I don’t know what I look like, but I’d almost say you look worse than I feel.”

“You’re not far off,” answered Seiji.

Saki could only muster up a ‘yeah’ in a very halfhearted way.

It did not really make a lot of sense to him, but his little brothers did not really give him much opportunity really to understand them before they were all over him. He did not even have the energy to fight them off. They completely had their way with him.

Momo returned with a glass she handed to Yuki. “Come on, you two!” She glared down at Jun and Ken grabbing them off Yuki. “Your brother’s very tired right now. I know you’re excited to see him again, but give him some space!”

“Yes, Momo…”

Amongst the chaos of reunions, the disciplined two tried to sneak out of the house. They wanted to avoid another hour of Momoko telling them everything that they did wrong. Neither knew how she had enough to say for so long without actually repeating herself, but she managed it still. However, she appeared behind the two of them as they slipped on their shoes. “Where are you to going?”

“Ah, didn’t want to get the way now that Yuki’s awake,” Seiji quickly replied. He stared at Saki who tried to use her speed to leave with the door already wide open. He did not want to be abandoned to Momoko, she had more problems with him than Saki.

Momoko grabbed the both of them by the neck. Either through fear or a real source of strength, neither could escape her. She leaned her head between them. “Thank you.” They stared at her in a little surprise not expecting to her that from her. It was not another lecture. “…for bring him back to us…”

Saki and Seiji both stared at Momoko needing a moment to take it all in. They could see that she was almost on the verge of tears. She was happy to have him and not any worse than he left. They could only smile a little with deep guilt sitting in their chests. While already individually agreed upon, they made a personal pack between them never to tell Momoko the truth.

It was the only thing that they could think to do. Cruel as it was to do, it would have far more cruel to know the truth. It was not the right answer, but it was the best answer.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

An uncomfortable silence fell between them. Yuki’s house fell behind them into the background. All they could think about was the look on his sister’s face. She had relief. Even though she was likely upset with Yuki leaving, she was glad he returned. She had no idea what he was doing. Yuki made it pretty clear to them that he left them in the dark on what he was planning. He in a way just left without a word. The return of her brother could not have made her any happier.

Yet it weighed on the two of them. They knew what Yuki had to do and the future he had in store for himself now. His fate or destiny, whatever people wanted to call it, had already been locked. It might have been forced on him even if he made the choice himself, a choice of circumstance. Yet none of it changed the eventuality he faced like all Kings before him. Atlantis’ dark secret kept from them until the end.

It seemed far too cruel to say and even more heartless to explain. It was a horrible situation where there was nothing good to be had from it. Seiji and Saki hoped, believed, prayed they took the right course.

For such a family, it was a terrible curse.

Chapter 289 – Uneasy Night

It was not as though Saki need the company or even the protection back to her place. Seiji just did not feel like immediately returning home. Part of it did come from the fact that they both had similar thoughts and emotions on the mind. So it came as part of a weird licking each other wounds as they both knew the feeling. All of it played out in silence.

When Saki reached her home, she departed without a word. Not even a wave, but it was not something that bothered Seiji. He just acknowledged her disappeared up the stairs to the apartment.

Seiji came to a stop long after she disappeared. He turned around looking at the complex. His eyes stared off in the distance seeing where Yuki was. Everyone of their friends returned to someone, to family. It got him thinking about strange things that he had not even thought about for years. ‘…I wonder if she’s… Even though she left so long ago…’ Seiji shook his head needing to focus. It was not the time to get distracted.

The thoughts lingered for a little while, but he turned away to focus on the road. Or at least what served as a road, since grass and nature covered everything. The change was actually not that big for him, since he had been used to Atlantis for so long. However, the unusual clash with nature and civilization made the homecoming a little less meaningful. It was not the way they remembered, even if it was how it was now.

Saki stood in front of the door for several minutes trying to come up with a plan. She did not exactly leave on the best terms with her mother. ‘This is actually worse than the way Yuki left. He just disappeared mostly. Mom actually knows I left and for Yuki’s sake. She’s never gotten over the past…’ The thought of all sorts of scenarios went through her mind.

Hesitation got her nowhere, as she expected. It only dragged things out. She did not have an answer to her dilemma. She wondered if she would ever have an answer to it. Standing around outside of the door was not solving anything.

At the end, all she could do was just open the door and deal with things as they came. No plan was probably the best thing. Though she feared how many mistakes she would make as she fumbled. ‘I’ll just have to live with it. Weird how I’d rather take on two Rheia’s than my own mother…’ The thought made her laugh a little as she opened the door.

It ended up happening a lot sooner than she expected. Bad timing could not have come at a worse moment. She had no preparation for actually confronting the situation so quickly. “Hey…” Saki greeted, weakly to her mother standing slack jawed at her daughter’s return. “I’m home.”

Her mother stood in mid action, trying to help Noriko to the kitchen for something. A wash of emotions ran through her face. The most noticeable was anger, powerful anger.

However, it was stunted quickly by Noriko realizing that Saki had returned. “Sis!” She broke free from the directed motions and sped over to Saki. “You’re back!” Noriko jumped up quickly to greet her big sister. “Did you beat up all of those bad guys?!” She made tiny little fists to try to illustrate her words.

Saki immediately turned down away from her mother. Half of her did not want to deal with it, but the rest could not ignore her little sister. She knew her mother wanted to get into it over Yuki, but it was not the time. Not in front of Noriko.

Bending down, she reached eye level with Noriko. Saki caught her fists that she tossed about. “Yup! I stopped every last one of them. Now you don’t have to worry anymore!”

“Really?!”

Saki picked up Noriko and walked into the living room past her mother. The glare was stronger than the one that she felt from Momoko. It followed her wherever she went. She felt sweaty already from just entering the room. All she could do was keep a happy smile on her face for her sister. ‘Is this how Yuki does it every day?’ She was not used to making it natural, she was not sure how well she was doing.

Noriko jumped around on the couch getting excited to hear about the stories that Saki had to tell. She never really had the chance meet Yuki before everything with south between their families. She was too young to remember when Yuki came over. It did not stop her from asking for stories. Saki wondered how she heard anything about Yuki, since his name was taboo in the household. Perhaps the mystery of him made her more interested in learning about him. But she always pestered Saki for tales of Yuki and Saki’s adventurers, as Noriko liked to call them. She seemed to treat them as though they were a fantasy that happened in some other world.

However, it did not take long for Noriko to want to include their mother. “Did you hear, mom? Saki beat them all up!” She bounced off the couch with surprising agility to run over to her mother. Noriko tugged on her to bring her into the living room. “She did it for us!”

The little sister completely obvious to the drop in temperature in the room, Saki could feel the changes as their mother stepped into the same space. Noriko kept pulling on her ignoring all of the signs. The look on her face was hard not to miss, but Noriko was too excited to see it.

They stared at each other coming to a silent conclusion that they would make nice for Noriko. Saki still found it a little surprising how stubborn she was being over Yuki. She almost felt like the adult was being the most childish one in the room.

Faking a smile as well, their mother sat down on the couch far opposite of Saki. “Come on up here, Noriko,” she invited. It put her between the two of them.

“What sort of fights did you get into?” the little sister asked still just as clueless.

Saki glanced over at her mom for a read. She hesitated in telling her about anything that happened in Atlantis. It was not exactly the fairy tale to spread around.

“Yes, I’m curious as well,” insisted their mother. The look of her eyes made it clear she judged her on every word. There was no enthusiasm that Noriko shared, even if she pretended to have it.

Put on the awkward spot by both of them, Saki did not really have much choice. ‘Damn, mom’s just looking for anything to tighten her hold on me and place blame on Yuki.’ However, even knowing that she was not getting out of it. Noriko wanted a story. “I guess I have a story or two…” she began.

Saki could not remember the last time she felt so awkward in doing anything. It like being naked giving a presentation in front of her entire classmates and all they could do was stare at her. She really did not want to be on that couch. Worse was that the atmosphere only became more oppressive the longer it went.

An hour passed before Noriko released her from her bondage. She did everything she could to try to skip around details that would be too incriminating for either of them. There was plenty that her mother would not approve of her doing, not that society approved anymore of it.

“It’s getting late,” their mother reminded, trying to get Noriko out of the room. While it was night, it was hardly that late for Noriko.

“But mom! I don’t even have school!”

“No buts. You need to get to sleep. I won’t have you ruining your sleep just because the rest of the world is falling apart.”

“Yes…” She pouted and started to walk off. However, she came to a stop and grabbed Saki one last time. “Since you beat up all those bad guys, are you going to do the same here now that you’re back?”

Saki turned in confusion towards her sister. She was not sure what she talked about. ‘Is she meaning the UN forces? How bad have them been here?’ The questions made Saki lean in a little more wanting to know more. “What bad guys, Noriko?”

Before her sister could even answer, their mother intervened again. “Noriko,” she reprimanded.

The feeling that she got from Noriko left her a little uneasy. She wanted to know what she was talking about. It felt like an ill omen. Saki stood up wanting to know more, but that was not going to happen.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The anger returned without a missed beat. It was as though it actually increased intensity having been plugged up for so long. “You’re not going back out there.”

Saki had it with her mother. She was not even sure if this was about Yuki anymore. “You planning to stop me?” she dared her mother, stepping up. Any sort of uneasy or fear she might have had in confronting the woman disappeared. All she had was emotions burning through her blood.

“I won’t allow you to leave this room, Saki!”

“What do you think you can do to stop me? Huh?” Saki vanished quickly from her mother’s eyes and appeared a short distance away. “Can you do anything, really?”

“What’s gotten into you? It’s that boy again!”

“You’re going to bring up Yuki again! Leave him out of this! This isn’t about him!”

“All he has been doing is twisting your mind!”

“Is that what you think?! There’s people out there hurting and in trouble!”

“You seemed to have gotten it into your head that you need to be some hero! It’s that boy’s doing corrupting you!”

Saki stepped up her mother’s face. Her eyes narrowed harshly. They were yelling already at each other. It was nothing but emotions flying between them. “This is who I am! It wasn’t him doing anything! These are choices I made! I don’t give a damn anymore! I don’t need your approval for what I want to do!”

Her mother did not back down anymore than Saki even with the intimidating stare. “You aren’t my daughter! I don’t even recognize you!” She stared longer into Saki’s eyes and saw something that she did not expect to see in her daughter, darkness. “What the hell did he do to you!?” She grabbed onto Saki’s wrist demanding.

Slapping her hand away, Saki stepped free. “You’re just seeing what you want to see! You don’t care about me, just blaming everything on Yuki! What gives you that right?!” Saki turned away and walked towards the door.

“Saki if you walk out, you’re never coming back!”

“That a threat?” Saki tilted her head back over her shoulder with a fierce glare. Their stares matched increasing the atmosphere. She did not plan to back down. She had been pushed too far by her mother to stop.

“You’re not my daughter anymore!”

“Is that how it’s going to be, mom?” It became very clear how things would turn out. The worst case scenario happened. Saki did not plan to stop anymore.

Their mother could see Saki calling her bluff. She pressed her into action. It was completely rash and quick without any thought. “Get out of my home! You’re not welcome back here anymore!”

“I was tired of living here anyway! Maybe I can find someone that isn’t so blindly prejudice!”

“I only have one daughter!” she shot back as though needing the final word and the final nail. Everything was sealed with those words.

Saki walked out of the apartment and sped away. It was mere moments, but she stood in front of Yuki’s house. She was still across the street with no plans on approaching. She did not even know why she came to him. All she could do was stare.

She leaned up against a tree finally taking a pause. ‘This is how it’s meant to be…now I can watch Yuki’s back…as I promised…’ It was not the way she wanted it to go. It just turned out that way. She had to accept it. But even accepting it, she could not help but find tears falling down her face. Sadness covered her face through a determined pair of eyes.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

When Seiji and Saki left, Momoko had disappeared out of sight for only a few moments. She saw the two out. That was all it took for Ken and Jun to take their opportunity to disobey their big sister and jump back on Yuki. He did not even fight them.

It was an odd feeling for them. They expected him to fight them or toss them off. Anything to get away from them, it was his routine, their routine. Yet it played out nothing like it was supposed to for them. It made them a little uncomfortable. Their movements slowed tried to understand why things felt so strange.

In their pausing, Momo returned to the living and found them hanging off Yuki, even if they were not doing anything. “What did I tell you two!? Yuki is tired!”

Ken dropped off more obedient than she expected. “Yeah…” He plopped down on the couch with a little distance between the two brothers.

It took Jun longer to listen. He just hung tightly onto Yuki’s arm not comprehending what was happening. Blank eyes stared up at Yuki in search of what he could not find.

Chapter 290 – Awkward Moments

Silence filled in the gaps between the family. Ken and Jun did not know what happened. They found Momo just staring at Yuki never say a word. Even judging from her face, they could not tell if she was angry with him or happy to see him as they were. It was not even that it was impossible to read. It was just that she had no expression. She just simply stared at Yuki. Almost like, she waited on him to do something.

While opposite of it all, Yuki did not completely seem present in the room. He was awake, but even when he came to from his sleep he did not really seem to be with everyone else. The distance between them was further than it seemed. As though beyond their reach with all ties cut. No bridges could be found to connect to him.

It continued in strange eerie silence for minutes. All that could be heard was the creaking of the house. It seemed unusually loud. They never realized how old it sounded or in pain it must have been. Everything had a weird life to it as though it was trying to make for up for the lack of it elsewhere.

It had to come to an end eventually. It was Yuki that made the first move. They waited on him and he acted. Unfortunately, he did not act how any of them wanted. It fell into their expectations, but that did not mean they wanted it.

Yuki simple stood up and bowed to them in an oddly formal manner. Without a single word, he just left the room. He made it clear that he wanted to be alone. All they could do was stare, trying to figure out where their brother had gone.

Upstairs and in his room, Yuki slid down against his door as though he needed to enforce it against something dangerous trying to break in. He let out a painful sigh. His heart pounded in his chest and his head ached like nothing he ever felt before. ‘Is this what a migraine feels like?’ It was the only explanation that he had. He never knew a headache to be so painful that it actually seemed to affect his body physically.

It took him a while just to catch his breath and calm down. Even a little more at ease, his head still felt like someone was taking an ice pick to it and pounding out Beethoven’s 5^th with nothing but a bell. The urge to throw up was powerful.

Yet, even with all of that affecting him, that was not even the reason for his attitude with his family. It was much more simple, as it often was.

He could hear the footsteps of his brothers. They paused at his room for a few seconds. But continued on, likely Jun stopped wanted to try to see him again, but Ken pulled him along. Ken was a little more mature than Jun in understanding the way things worked.

Yuki hung his head down. He thought it might improve his pain. It did not. ‘…sorry…I don’t know what I should say to them…’ The entire boat ride back he thought about what he was going to say. All the time in Atlantis he pushed it to the back of his mind.

Demosthenes had him so busy at times it was pretty easy to ignore or forget. The countrywide tour was important to him, he was the one that purposed it. So he always was meeting people, complete strangers. They all looked at him with hope in their eyes. They saw a future in him. Everything was placed on him. He did not even need their reminding and grateful words to tell him how much they dumped on him.

The weight alone from the citizens was painful enough. It was worse than the migraine currently inhabiting his skull that played his bones like an out of tune xylophone. ‘I bet those old bastards are laughing and grinning at the thought of me being crushed on the weight of the responsibility. They probably think I’ll end up running back to them for help and they’ll have me right where they want me. Damn bastards…’

Determination alone fueled partially by spite kept him going at times on the long days. He planned to see them all eat crow before the power he gave stole all of his life. Things had to change, he would see to that. He just did not expect to be the one faced with trying to rewrite and overcome thousands of years of fear and discrimination. It was an impossible task.

A task passed upon him. ‘…is this the right thing to be doing?’

Yuki dug into his pocket retrieving something that was given to him. It was a simple device with just a single button on it. He stared at the worn metal that started to go dull with dust and age.

“Take this,” said Demosthenes, as he pulled Yuki aside from his friends. They were just about to leave the barrier and return home.

Yuki stared for a moment at what rested in the old man’s hand. He did not know what to make of it. It was far too simple to give any real sense of what the purpose of it was. A simple saucer shape out of metal. A thickness just a centimeter and diameter of a few centimeters, it fit perfect into the palm. “What’s this?”

Stepping forward a little to insist on giving the gift to Yuki, Demosthenes did not let him back away. “This is the last thing I have for you. I told you before all this that there was more left to tell.”

“So it’s information or a message for me?”

“Correct, it’s the last gift from your father.”

Those words had Yuki’s attention finally. He sort of saw it coming with the line of dialogue. It only made sense with the flow. A departing gift left to him to explain everything. “Something from my old man...” He picked it up in acceptance. The simple design made it hard to figure out.

“View this in private as it is meant only for you.”

“…right…” Yuki thought about whether to honor that part or not. But he did not know if it was a personal message to him or actually something helpful. For now, he just pocketed it away. He started to leave.

“And please excuse any sort of eccentricities,” asked Demosthenes.

“Huh?”

‘Eccentricities?’ thought Yuki, thumbing over the surface of the saucer. He waited until he got home for it. There really was not a good time for it at any other point. ‘I guess I’ll see what he has to say. If it is something useful to his plans then I’ll share it, but if he’s just going to be embarrassing about father-son stuff then I’ll keep it to myself.’

Yuki pressed his thumb on the top. He had figured out while on the boat what he needed to do with it. All he really had to do was think over his stories that he read to figure out what made the most since. And it worked out, as he saw a light come from the perimeter.

A light then came from the top. Moving his thumb, he saw an image of an elderly man loosely pieced together by blue particles of like. They bounced from the saucer surface and rose a small distance before falling, all while holding a form.

‘…this is my father…’ It was the first time he had seen the man before. He thought if he saw him that maybe he would remember him. Like he was some stranger that his parents introduced as a friend or something. But nothing seemed familiar about him.

“Is this on?” Not exactly the opening greeting he expected. “I’m pretty sure I made this thing right. It’s on right? Well I’ll just go with it, if it’s not I’ll record it again.”

A bit of sweat slid down his head as the awkward opening. ‘This was the King of Atlantis?’ It suddenly seemed hard to believe this man kept the council on edge and was a threat to their control. He seemed too carefree. ‘I guess it does sort of fit with the images of the stories I got from Eudokia.’

“If this is not Yuki then shut it off right now! I’m warning you! If you touched this thing it will kill you! I’ve set it up so only my son can use it! Anyone else this will kill you! So go away!”

‘…wha? What a terrible bluff…’

Coughing a little, he finally seemed to look a little serious. “My son…Yuki. If you’re watching this it means that I’ve died and I wasn’t able to tell you this in person as I had hoped. I’m taking it also that you’ve met my daughter Eudokia, who I’ve asked to bring you here to Atlantis. She’s very loving, but can be a little too serious at times, a trait I fear she picked up from Demosthenes.”

‘…that’s an understatement… You’re the reason she went nuts to begin with…’

“I hope you will be able to work with the both of them as allies. They both believe strongly in my dream.”

‘It’s a little late for that.’ Yuki still had so much anger for what they both did to him. He managed to settle most of it with them, but they were not feelings that would just disappear immediately. He worked with Demosthenes in an uneasy fashion. It was only through others that he did not finish to act upon his desires. In time, he knew that he would thank them for it, but until that day came he would be controlling the boiling emotions. He resolved not to kill. A resolve that was tested every day and every moment.

“However, there is much that neither of them know. Eudokia at the moment is in the dark about what I’ve done. She has her entire future ahead of her. I wanted to spare her from the darkness of my past for as long as I could, as I wished for you as well. I wish I did not have to drag you into my world, but the world is not a kind place like it should be. I want to see it better, but I’m unable to achieve my dream as I’m dying now and already dead for you.”

Yuki could tell that he was finally getting to the heart the matter. Demosthenes explained quite a bit about what was going on behind the scenes in Atlantis and the King, so it surprised him to hear there was still more to learn. ‘How big is this secret that he kept it from even those that he trusted the most? And he’s telling me.’

“I imagine that Demosthenes has explained some of what is happening to you. I’ve pulled my dearest friend into the darkness along with me for too long, but I did not have a choice. So he knows much about what is happening. He should be able to answer questions you have after this. But I need to tell you what I’ve told no one else.”

Such an ominous atmosphere came from the words. He felt like he was about to revealed the entire secret to the universe. The one that the ancient societies conspired to hold to themselves so as to manipulate the world in their palm.

“Years ago, I discovered the Komatsuzaki. At first, I thought that they were just fanatical group wanting to learn about the past. They seemed to have an unnatural fascination with history, specially Greek history. But that was only a front, while they were started from something so simple, it’s stopped being anything but the devil’s work. And I tread on such work where only gods were meant to walk.

“Even the King of Atlantis is just a mortal. I did not belong there, but it was necessary. I’ve done many things I’m not proud of in my time, but everything I did while with them makes all of the mistakes I made before or after pale in comparison. I warn you now, never trust anything they say no matter how many sweet words they feed you or hopeful promises. These are all men and women completely devoid of any shred of humanity with a singular driven self-serving focus. Unfortunately, in all of my digging I never learned what their true purpose actually is, but such inhumane experiments can only beget further evil.”

Yuki had to swallow for a moment. His father was laying on it pretty thick. He already got a warning from Demosthenes and told how they were on the hunt for him, even if they were not currently. The way they sounded from his father, they were evil taken human form. Almost absolute stereotypes of evil that he expected to see from a classic manga of heroes against an ancient conspiracy that threatens the world. While he did not want to doubt either of them, they seemed to be over blowing things. ‘I find it hard to believe there is someone that is pure and completely evil with no shred of humanity in them.’

“Yuki, because of my assistance in their research they’ve advanced decades faster than they could have without me. Though I’m no longer presence, their work will continue. They’ve already cleared Phase 1 of their plan, the research phase. By now, they’ve no doubt moved into Phase 2, experimentation. I never saw what their plans were for Phase 2, but I believe they were going to be practical applications of their research in order to prepare for Phase 3. I’m sorry I can’t answer anymore about what their plan is or what to expect, but this is a group that’s been silently researching for more than a century. They have patience and connections in every known corner of the world. It is only because we made it more trouble than they were willing to deal with at the time that kept you safe. The day that they come for you may be closer than you think.”

‘Yeah, I know Demosthenes told me the same thing. Damn, this is getting worse and worse by the minute.’

“The last thing I leave to you is this device and the knowledge of everything I’ve done in my life to achieve a free Atlantis. Because I did not want my personal research to fall into the Komatsuzaki’s hands I hide my research back in Japan in multiple locations. Alone one piece is completely meaningless. Together they will become the light of Atlantis. So please, I beg you as a citizen of Atlantis, not as the King save our people from the shackles we have placed on ourselves and protect them from those that would seek to do us harm.”

The image then disappeared. Yuki just stared at it with the expectation of having something more. “The hell?! You don’t just leave saying that you hid them without giving me the coordinates or clues! Anything!”

As though to respond to his complaint, his father popped back up. “And if you’re yelling right now about me not telling you where I hid my notes, I’m not going to tell you. It’ll be a journey! Like in those manga from Japan where a group of friends go off to save the world and have adventures and form deep bonds of friendship! So go take Eudokia and Demosthenes with you and your friends and have fun!”

“Damn you old man!” Yuki started to throw the device, but a final message popped up.

“The only hint I’ll give is that you need this device to find them. It’ll signal you when you’re in the area. Good luck!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

“A better question is what side you’re on,” shouted a new voice from the distance. Everyone turned around trying to locate the source only to discover that they were suddenly surrounded. Many of the faces they recognized as students in their class or other classes in the same year. Even a teacher or two as well were in their ranks, but they all looked worn and tired.

While some bore weapons others had powers on display making it clear that they wanted compliance. They looked ready for a fight. However, Yuki did not want to get involved in something that he did not understand. He stepped out only to draw all of their attention and have threats of attacks aimed at him. The sign of attacks hardly fazed him after everything in Atlantis. He just wanted answers. “What’s going on here? And who is your leader?”

“Like I said before, the question I have for you is what side are you on?” It was the same voice once more. However, this time a shadowed figure stepped out from the second floor of the ruined building.

It took Yuki a moment for his eyes to adjust to the distance, but he recognized them immediately. “Hiroshi?!”

While Yuki might have been stunned in surprise by the sudden appearance of one of his friends, Saki did not waste any time charging straight for them. Anyone that threatened them Saki would not hold back against, even it was a friend. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Hiroshi?!”

Though a blur to Yuki, Hiroshi saw her coming with ease and lifted his hand up. “I haven’t said ‘hajime no ippo’ yet. You’re now my prisoner.”

Saki suddenly came to a stop. “What’s wrong with my body?” She struggled to move, but could do nothing. Then her hands moved to close her palms together. Despite her efforts, Saki found that her body never moved for her. It was not even that she was under restraints or pressure, she just simply could not order her body to do anything. “What the hell did you do to me, Hiroshi? If this isn’t one of your pranks, I swear a kick won’t be enough penance!”

Yumi and Yori made a motion to help Saki as the situation quickly escalated, but Yuki threw out his hands. “Don’t make a move!”

“Yuki?”

“Saki’s in trouble, Hayashi!”

“Yes, and you’ll fall into the same trap if you move a centimeter as well.”

Hiroshi stared down at Yuki seeing that he already figured things out. “Quick to pick up on things I see, Yuki. You played the fool and class clown so well, it’s hard to remember that you actually have intelligence underneath that façade you gave all of us.”

“What’s going on, Yuki?”

The hardened look he saw in Hiroshi’s eyes told Yuki volumes. ‘What the hell’s been going on here? A graveyard with students from our school. Teachers and students lined up like they’re out of some post-apocalypse storyline. This isn’t the UN’s doing. I would have seen a heavier presence in the city if it was. This isn’t a martial law situation. So what the hell happened?’

Trying to think it through in the time that he had was not going to get him to the answers. Plus, the Mizuno siblings wanted some answers. Yuki focused on what he did know instead. “It seems that Hiroshi also has powers, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise. I’m guessing everyone here does. The reason I stopped you is because we’re all under Hiroshi’s power already. His power probably has some similarities with mine.”

Yori stared at Yuki with some reluctant awe. ‘He only just showed off his power and Hayashi already understands how it works? Hayashi’s more intelligent than I gave him credit for. I guess his friend is right. He’s fooled all of us…’

“What is his power?” asked Yumi, feeding Yuki more questions.

“The power we’re under right now is Darumasan ga Koronda.”

“The game kids play?” Yori incredulously questioned. However, when he looked over at Saki and saw her position with her hands clasped together it did make sense. ‘How in the world did he figure all of that out so fast? That’s far too unnatural for any reasonable deductions.’

As though Yumi kept throwing out what Yori needed, she could not stop asking questions. “How do you know? It could be another sort of power like mind control.”

“A few reasons, Saki came to an immediate stop and put her hands together, which is traditional for being captured by the oni in the game and he also mentioned ‘hajime no ippo’, “Taking the first step”, which you say when starting the game. However it goes beyond that, doesn’t it Hiroshi? You’re not restricted to just a single children’s game are you?”

Narrowing his eyes to almost thin lines, Hiroshi even had to admit to being impressed by Yuki’s accuracy. “I’m guessing that part of you isn’t fake after all.”

Yuki felt like he saw some resentment in Hiroshi’s face specifically aimed at him for lying to him. He did present a front to everyone in a way to hide from his past. It was who he had become after the incident. Though it did not change that it was just a cover up to his old self. ‘I’m sorry, Hiroshi. That part of my life was supposed to be behind me.’

“What’s Hiroshi referring to?”

“Probably Hayashi’s book knowledge,” guessed Yori. He was already knew Hayashi long enough to figure out a few of the ways that his mind worked. Once he put it together a lot more of the deductions he made did not seem as farfetched.

“Book knowledge?”

“Enough stalling,” barked Hiroshi. He motioned loosely to those gathered around him. They tightened their position on Yuki and his friends. “I know you’re already thinking up a countermeasure with that power of yours Yuki. One ripple and you won’t be able to finish that thought before your head is on the ground.” Hiroshi’s face ran dark with shadows introducing further harshness to his already severe appearance. He was not the same Hiroshi they all knew anymore. There was lethal intent in his eyes. Blood could almost be seen on him, baked into his shadow.

Chapter 292 – Friend or Enemy

The friend he knew seemed unrecognizable from the one he remembered. There was no mischievous grin eternally painted across his face. No jokes slipped out from his lips. It all disappeared and replaced with cold and merciless figure. “What happened to you, Hiroshi?”

“I’m asking the questions here, Yuki. Which side are you on?”

“Side? What sides? I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

The perimeter closed in further on them with Hiroshi losing patience with them. “Enough! Answer the question or die where you stand!”

Yuki ground his teeth together unable to answer him. ‘I can just say that I’m on his side, but would that really be convincing enough for him? I mean anyone with their life threatened would say that. Hiroshi doesn’t look like he’ll go so easily on us, even being friends. Plus, I don’t know what’s going on. While I don’t want to doubt him, there is a graveyard without an explanation and he’s willing to kill.’ All of the doubt made Yuki feel guilty. He was supposed to be his friend, not an enemy. But he could not help but feel cautious of what surrounded him.

Yet as though someone looked to make the answer easier for him, the ground nearby him suddenly exploded. Yumi already had her barrier up to completely protect them. To Yuki’s eyes it seemed as though she saw it coming, even though it did come up afterward. He could hear the sound of the debris dully falling onto her shield.

Immediately, Yuki turned back to look at Hiroshi, planning to yell at him for jumping the gun. However, it was clear that they were not the reason for it. Hiroshi motioned out to his group for them to get into position. Students and teachers alike took his orders and ignored his friends. They no longer seemed to be the most important thing.

Yuki motioned over to Saki. “Hiroshi freed her, Yumi! We need to move from this place. Whatever is happening, we’re just sitting ducks out in the open!” She nodded in agreement and Yori had no complaints. They regrouped with Saki dragging her away from Hiroshi, as she already wanted a piece of him once she realized that she was not under his power. “Saki! We need to understand the situation before you start a fight with Hiroshi!”

“…fine…” she agreed, giving into Yuki’s request. He was too much of a weakness for her. It made her too agreeable, but protecting Yuki was her other duty apart from dealing with any of his enemies. “What’s going on?” She shouted as more stray blasts erupted around them.

The whole area became even more of a battlefield than it felt. Worse was that they stood in a graveyard. This was no respect for the dead, especially as they all knew them. Yuki tilted over his shoulder in the direction of where Hiroshi ran off. He picked cover behind some fallen wall that used to belong to a bookstore.

Retreated to safety behind a more structurally complete building, Yumi hovered away from the group. She moved to the roof as the lookout, while Saki peered out from the corner. Yori stayed down on the ground with Yuki feeling a little useless. Both of the girls had more combat experience than him and more familiarity with their powers. He still did not understand his very well to feel confident in them.

“What do you see?” asked Yuki. He already knew that they had better sight than him. It was one of the many advantages that they received from their powers. The sight of seeing them moving around as he had only read and dreamed of made him a little jealous. They lived his dream. He could only pretend with his power.

“Hiroshi’s group is fighting with another group. It’s another powered group.”

“That makes sense, pretty sure the way things are nearly everyone in the city, in Japan rather, has powers. It’s just up to the individual to discover it. Who is the other group?”

“I don’t see anyone in charge, they all just seem to be doing whatever they want with no structure or command.”

“Yuki,” called out Saki, though her voice shook a little bit. “Hiroshi isn’t fighting strangers. They’re other classmates! Ishihara and Santo among them, even some from my track team.”

“The hell?!” Yuki stepped out no longer thinking about his safety. A stray green blob flew past him sending shimmers down his protective field. His fighting gi resurfaced as a sign that he had activated his power. He flipped his mist around dealing with the strays. “Saki, Yumi, we need to stop this fighting! Our classmates shouldn’t be fighting each other!”

“I thought you wanted to understand the situation first,” Saki reminded, though it was clear in her face she was just as eager to step in as Yuki.

“To hell with planning! I’m not letting anyone else die because of me!” Yuki ran off toward the battle line effortlessly knocking away anything coming in his direction.

Saki had to think a little figuring that Yuki was referring to all of the death they caused in Atlantis. However, she quickly remembered that Kazuhiro died before it all began, at the start of everything. It was what triggered everything. The thought only made it harder on Saki to look at Yuki. ‘He’s still carrying that weight… There’s too many things on his back these days…’ She made her decision long ago to follow Yuki. It sent her disappearing into the fray.

Yumi glanced down at Yori to check on him. Though there was more to it than just that. He saw it in her eyes clearly, though he did not even need that. He already expected it to happen. “Go. I won’t stop you.”

“Thank you, brother!” Yumi hovered off the roof and flew herself over the battlefield. The intensity was so much different from Atlantis. Everyone had the same dark expression as Hiroshi as though they were brainwashed into madness.

Yuki could see his friends going around with the same intention as him. It gave him some much needed reassurance that the world had not completely descended into despair. But he could not rest just yet. In front of him, one of his classmates was did not see a flanking attack. “Takagi! Look out!” Yuki blasted himself forward dealing with the person’s sword with his mist. It fell apart on the individual before the swing could finish.

Unfortunately, that was not enough to stop them. They dropped the remains of their sword and charged in with their fists. Yuki’s momentum put him into the right position to plow into them. It just did not go down as planned. He did in fact hit them, but it barely made them budge. And they were too fast in responding that Yuki only had his barrier to protect him as he dug into the earth from the force.

They quickly refocused their attention back to their original target, Takagi. All of the struggling from Yuki did give Takagi enough time to realize he was under attack from two sides. He, however, could not handle both of them. They overwhelmed him and in a few moments bloods sprayed up along with his screams.

Horror filled Yuki’s eyes watching Takagi murdered before him. It was only made worse by the fact that he recognized the two assailants. “Shunsen? Nagai? He was your friend!” The next moment Yuki immediately regretted saying anything. They turned to him next alerted to Yuki presence, as though completely blind to him before.

He tried to get to his feet, but they were too fast for him. He had no chance against them. Only his mist protected him and barely at that. The weight of their blows could be felt through his defense. Yuki could barely stay on his feet using all of his attention just to shield himself. ‘What’s going on? Why are friends killing each other?!’

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Horror filled Yuki’s eyes watching Takagi murdered before him. It was only made worse by the fact that he recognized the two assailants. “Shunsen? Nagai? He was your friend!” The next moment Yuki immediately regretted saying anything. They turned to him next alerted to Yuki’s presence, as though completely blind to him before.

He tried to get to his feet, but they were too fast for him. He had no chance against them. Only his mist protected him and barely at that. The weight of their blows could be felt through his defense. Yuki could barely stay on his feet using all of his attention just to shield himself. ‘What’s going on? Why are friends killing each other?!’

The two boys seemed to have started figuring out more about the way that Yuki’s power worked. Their attacks became more accurate and lethal. He could easily feel the impacts through his defense. It would not last for much longer. ‘They’re really trying to kill me! Don’t they see me?’ Gritting through the dull pain echoing through his body, Yuki could not remain inactive.

He hated the thought of fighting people he knew. They were just his classmates. They should not be fighting. The school was supposed to be a sign of normalcy returned. Not the ignition for something else. “Damnit all!” yelled Yuki. He had no other choice.

Shunsen’s latest attack completely missed Yuki as he was no longer present there. He had nearly disappeared in the moment. Several meters away dirt kicked up from Yuki sliding across the earth. It was a rough escape, he supported himself with extra help from his hand.

The movement from Nagai came in faster than his eyes could follow, but thankfully his tracking program from Eudokia’s fight still worked. He wisely left it on automatic rather than manual. At their speeds, he would never be able to have the reactions to counter them. The explosion of earth from Nagai failing to connect with Yuki’s body rained out on all sides. Ice shields blossomed in the air to deal with the debris.

Hesitating to strike with the opening he had, the two seconds delay allowed them to recover and zero back in on Yuki. He prepared himself for another bout from them when a massive wave of flames spilled out between them. Caught by surprise, they were touched by the fire for only moments before making a retreat.

While he had not been too familiar with it, his mind immediately went to the only possible answer. “Fumiko?” He turned to see that she had appeared on the battleground along with Haruo.

Fumiko surfed in on the flames and dropped out in front of Yuki. She quickly turned out a few fireballs from her flaming arm to discourage any others looking at Yuki as an easy mark. “You can’t show them mercy, Yuki! They’re out for blood!”

“But I know them! We sat in the same class room only a couple months ago!”

Shunsen and Nagai did not seem to get the hint from Fumiko and returned. Better reactions than Yuki and decisiveness, she jumped out and grasped Shunsen’s head in her flame hand. Flames surrounded his head while she threw them down into the earth as she came to a landing. She retrieved the staff from her back, carrying in a makeshift cloth sheath likely made in a couple hours. The staff was different from her last one as it was shorter and extended out quickly to its normal length.

Tossed behind her, she caught Nagai before he came in reach of Yuki. The staff end embedded into the earth with a magic circle expanding out in less than a second. Flame walls stretched out for more than five meters catching Nagai in mid strike. Fumiko stood up finished with Shunsen. She swiftly snatched the staff back up and sliced it through the fire canceling the magic. In the next motion, she grabbed Nagai and threw him back. Flames erupted from her hand sending them throughout his body.

It was over.

Fumiko turned back to Yuki knocking her staff against the earth as flames painted a background for her. If he had not been so bothered by the way she dispatched them with merciless execution, he would have thought she looked cool or badass. “Those are students at our school, Fumiko! What are you doing?!”

Partially bothered by his naïve attitude, she turned away to not look at him. “This is a battlefield. There are no friends or students. Just people that threaten us. I’ll kill anyone in my way.” She leapt into the air jumping deeper into the fighting without a chance for Yuki to react.

His arm stretched out in a futile effort to stop Fumiko, but it was a lost cause. ‘What happened to Fumiko? She wasn’t like this before. Why is she being so…deadly…’ Yuki did not understand what happened to his world. No one was acting right. ‘Has the whole world gone insane?!’

Chapter 293 – The Resistance

Haruo strolled in with only a couple of his wolves out following them. He seemed to take the whole thing very leisurely as always. It might have been the only constant still left for Yuki. The sight gave him a little hope for reality. “What are you doing here, Haruo? I know you’re not one for a fight.”

“Nearby.”

“Terse as always. We’re really going to have to work on your replies.” Yuki rubbed the side of his cheek sorting through the likely case for what brought Haruo to the area. “Just in the area huh? I guess I did find you around here the last time. I’m sorry about the neighborhood.” He did not really get much more out of Haruo. It was more than he could expect. ‘I can only really only expect him to defend himself, which in this situation is all I would want. I don’t need someone else acting like Fumiko…’

The thought of Fumiko’s aggressive attitude reminded him of another. ‘Hiroshi!’ He looked around for his friend. ‘If he’s the leader like it seems he might be able to stop this fighting!’ It did not take long for him to find Hiroshi calling out orders from a front line position. The landscape had already been completely changed from the fighting. More than two dozen combatants filled the field all with vastly different types of abilities, some more destructive than others, but thankfully nothing earth changing.

“Keep yourself safe, Haruo! I’m going to try to talk some sense into Hiroshi!” Yuki flew into a blur towards Hiroshi. The detection of an incoming threat signaled Yuki ahead. He could see it coming after Hiroshi, who seemed prepared for it, however, Yuki intercepted for him instead. Ice grew out geometrically to absorb the impact from the purple orb. It exploded quickly harmlessly raining ice dust. “Hiroshi!”

Hiroshi glanced back putting it together that Yuki had aided him. His eyes narrowed with some suspicion still.

‘I need him to trust me. Hopefully that display was enough to see that I don’t want to fight him.’ Yuki slid in up against the wall that Hiroshi crouched behind. “I’m not here to fight you! I just want to put an end to this fighting! It’s meaningless!”

Silence hung between the two for several seconds. An another attacker came after Hiroshi, an adult possibly a teacher but not one Yuki recognized. It broke the tension. Hiroshi swiftly dealt with the attack in an unusual way that disabled them. However, he did not leave Yuki time to figure it out. “This isn’t meaningless! We’re fighting for our lives here! There isn’t anything meaningless about survival!”

“What the hell, Hiroshi! This shouldn’t be happening!”

“Naïve words aren’t going to fix things right now! If you’re not helping you’re in the way!”

“…Hiroshi…” Yuki could not believe that this was the same friend he knew to tease him on a regular basis about his romantic failures or the one that took a beating from Saki. There were too many gaps to understand the situation. It was not going to end soon without something drastic. ‘I can handle them all with ease. I just need to be sure not to hurt anyone.’

Yuki stood up from this cover to get a full view of the field. He started to figure out the exact measures he need for his plan.

“What do you think you’re doing, Yuki?! Are you trying to die?” Hiroshi jumped out halting two attackers before they reached Yuki.

“I’m ending this since you’re unable to do so yourself.” However, Yuki did not get a chance to anything. The tide of the battle had changed with the introduction of Fumiko. Teaming up with Saki and Yumi, they routed many of the attackers. The group fell apart and started to retreat all in unison without any sign of orders as though all well planned out.

It made Yuki sigh with relief to know it ended. He fell down to his knees. “It’s over…” For some reason, he felt a little lightheaded. It made his body unable to stand for the moment.

“For now…” countered Hiroshi, seemly insistent on dashing any hope Yuki had. He looked around gathering up his group. “How many?”

“Three…Takagi, Iwasaki and Ayugai.”

“Damn…all these hit and runs are just picking us apart.” Hiroshi slammed his fists together in frustration. He clearly felt the loss of each of them despite his stoic appearance. “Give them proper burials. Take your team to see to it. I’ll deal with them.” The intent of his words pointed it back to Yuki and his friends, who all started to return.

Hiroshi crossed his arms seeing all of them gather around Yuki. “Well isn’t this some reunion. Care to explain yourself, Yuki?” He still wanted answers more than anything. The demanding tone in his voice echoed the shortness of his temper.

Refusing to back down to intimidation, Yuki stepped forward with similar demands. “I think you owe us more of an explanation, Hiroshi! We’re gone for a month and I find that our city is like this!” Needing to show Hiroshi that he was not weak, Yuki snatched up the collar of Hiroshi’s shirt. “I want some answers! I don’t give a damn about sides or whatever!”

Those behind Hiroshi all moved to make to defend Hiroshi. Fumiko along with Saki quickly accepted their aggression and willing to defend Yuki. An uncomfortable standoff built around the two friends.

Hiroshi was the first to motion for a cessation. Even though he told his team to back down, it did not end the glaring contest between the two of them. Easing the atmosphere only went so far when the two would not even say a word. They just let their eyes do the talking.

Breaking Yuki’s hold with ease, Hiroshi fixed his shirt casually. “They’re safe.”

“But—“ One of the students that Yuki did not recall tried to object, but Hiroshi cut him off before much could be said.

“I’ll take responsibility for them. Besides, you saw how they fought. It’s apparent that they aren’t enemies.” Hiroshi turned half away to signal his team to move out. “We’re returning home! Leave no trace of our presence!” Two members of his team a teacher that Yuki knew he had seen around and another unfamiliar student broke off.

Waving to Yuki, Hiroshi ushered them out of the graveyard. “Follow me. I’ll explain everything when we get to safety. Though they retreated, it’s not uncommon for them to have a second team.” Spinning around his finger in the air, he whistled to get everyone’s attention. “Team Two on recon! Make sure we’ve got no unwelcome guests!”

Saki joined up with Yuki, who started to follow uneasily the ragtag group of students and teachers. She leaned over to whisper to Yuki. “Hey you know anything about what’s going on? This isn’t the Hiroshi we know. He’s acting like he’s charge of everyone, even the adults.”

“I know as much as you. I’ll agree though I don’t recognize this Hiroshi. I didn’t think he had it in him. But we barely even know him. We’ve only known each other since the start of the school year.”

“Yeah, but this is just too much of a change.”

“We’ll get some answers soon.”

Answers were all any of them wanted. The only one they got was that everything was no longer the same. Their familiar world, their city, their home, their school, even friends were changed almost as if it was a nightmare where someone twisted everything good and comforting into something awful. They just hoped to wake up from it all.

The first answer they got was the location of their ‘Home’ as mentioned by Hiroshi. Several blocks away and a thirty-minute walk brought them to a family owned store. Judging from what they saw inside it seemed to be part convenience store and part homemade food. It was one of the few buildings that looked to still be unaffected by whatever war trashed the city.

Hiroshi motioned them over to an arcade box. It had an old game from the late 80s still running on it. Long out of style and not even popular, it gathered quite a bit of dust on it. A lonely presence that seemed to beg for even a little attention. Today seemed to be its lucky day with how many gathered around it. “All clear?”

A nod from the middle-aged man at the counter confirmed the final check Hiroshi needed. He quickly played the buttons in a seemingly random order and then flicked the stick. Suddenly the arcade groaned to life as it moved away from the wall. Behind it against an outline of aged paint, a deep hole revealed itself. A ladder rose up to the full height in greeting.

“This way,” invited Hiroshi. His team went in first along with Team Two. He stared back at those that still might call him friend. “This is our secret base. What you’re about to see may surprise you, but this is the reality of our city now.” With those ominous words, he jumped to the ladder and slid down.

Yuki looked around at his friends to see their resolve. None of them needed words to answer his question. They all had the same desire as him. They wanted answers and to know why their home was in ruins. Only Hiroshi had their answers. They could not turn away.

Taking up the rear behind everyone else, Yuki arrived at the bottom last. After taking more than twenty rungs, he followed in suit with the others to slide down. It was still an unfamiliar and risky move, so he stopped every few dozen. What surprised him more was how deep it went down. Before even taking in the scene, Yuki complained, “Damn, feels like we went a kilometer underground.”

“It’s actually one hundred and sixteen meters,” corrected Hiroshi. “But it doesn’t feel it.”

Yuki finally opened his eyes to his surroundings. The sight left his mouth hanging open a little. “How…the hell?” A massive cavern seemed to be carved out before them extending for countless meters into the air. If it had been a cave he might have been more accepting, but it looked like it had an atmosphere. He thought he saw clouds near the top. It looked impossible.

“Welcome to the Resistance. Where we fight for the survival and safety of our city!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Yuki finally opened his eyes to his surroundings. The sight left his mouth hanging open a little. “How…the hell?” A massive cavern seemed to be carved out before them extending for countless meters into the air. If it had been a cave he might have been more accepting, but it looked like it had an atmosphere. He thought he saw clouds near the top. It looked impossible.

“Welcome to the Resistance. Where we fight for the survival and safety of our city!”

The declaration of Hiroshi had a stronger weight to them than Yuki expected. All around him, he saw signs of life. Though a massive underground, small pieces broke off to house different people. They all seemed to live here rather than the surface. ‘That explains why I didn’t see anyone. They were all down here.’

“But how is this possible?” inquired Yori with the question on everyone’s mind.

“Right, something this big would hardly be easily created,” agreed Yuki. It had another one of his manga feels to it. The temptation to make a comment was nearly unbearable for him.

Hiroshi motioned them deeper into the complex. “One of our founding members created it. They’re sort of special. When everything went south they offered this place to us.” Several strangers came up to Hiroshi showing some signs of appreciation to him. None of them were students or teachers like before. The only guess was that they lived in the city. The increasingly eclectic cast only created more questions.

“Went south? I think you’re understating that,” remarked Yuki, “You planning on explaining that any time soon?”

“Yeah, we’re just going somewhere private to talk.”

Chapter 294 – Stolen Future

Milling through what could easily pass for a village, they made it to a large building. It had a more will-built appearance that did not share the same makeshift construction of the others. Real materials rather than salvaged one put it together. Hiroshi led them inside it.

The interior had a more military feel to it. While Hiroshi did not seem to approve of the attention, he got a lot of strange salutes in passing. The crew ranged from the same types they had already seen before.

A radio signal broke through one of the rooms that they passed. “…a god walked among us! Finding us worthy to bare his light, he eternal blessing was grant unto us! This is not a time of fear, but of rejoicing! Rise up my brothers and sisters! We are not monsters like they call us, but the Kami no Kodotachi!”

“Children of God?” repeated Yuki. He glanced over at Hiroshi for an explanation as they walked. It only added to layers of new situations to develop in their absence.

Hiroshi did not break with his pace. “Ever since the world declared all of Japan a threat to world peace and blockaded us fear spread through the country. A lot of groups like that one have popped up trying to bring relief and comfort to the frighten. The Kami no Kodotachi are probably one of the larger groups.”

“Why Children of God?” asked Yori. He understood the need people had for religion as a means of comfort. The world had completely turned on its head and they needed some sort of guidance. Certainty in a confusing world brought ease. It was only natural.

Stopping for a moment, Hiroshi looked back at Yuki. His eyes seemed to divide the entire group specifically to target him. “How does it feel to be worshiped as a god?”

“You can’t be serious?!” Yuki knew he should have seen it coming, it was too easy of a telegraph, but it was aimed at himself. He did not expect it. “I’m no god!” The whole thing was just a mistake, an accident caused by an uncontrollable rage.

His friend turned away and resumed his walk. “Be that as it is, only a few of us know the truth. Everyone else just knows reality changed. Without the truth, what answers do you expect people to find?”

The weight he felt for what he did suddenly became heavier. It was not the sort of responsibility that he wanted or expected. The idea of a religion centered around him was absurd even if it already happened. He could not accept that people believed that a god came down and granted everyone with powers. ‘This is insane!’

“The more important matter is answering the initial question that you had,” noted Hiroshi. He had come to a stop and before they knew it, they were inside a room. The door closed behind the last person inside and though a little tight with the numbers they had it certainly seemed private. “First, these are my most trusted comrades.”

“We’re your Lieutenants!” corrected Tatsuya, appearing out of the corner.

The familiar voice perked up Yuki. Hiroshi’s best friend looked almost the same as he remembered. He had a rough look from days or weeks in the grime, but still not hardened and merciless like Hiroshi. It gave him some assurance once more. Yuki jumped up quickly to hug Tatsuya. “Tatsuya! I’m so glad to see you!” He patted him on the back and held tight needing to know it was real.

“Glad to see you still got all that energy, Yuki!” He grinned pleased to a friend. “Seems that Hiroshi’s been giving you a hard time.”

Yuki laughed a bit suddenly feeling like they were back on the rooftop of the school chatting about the latest game over lunch. “Yeah, Hiroshi playing the hard ass today.”

“Commander Kuroda is working harder than anyone to ensure everyone’s safety and protection!” a stranger barked, clearly feeling insulted by Yuki’s casual tone.

“Miyako, how many times have I asked you not to call me that,” Hiroshi groaned. He took a seat in what looked like a lawn chair taken from a hundred yen sale.

The tall yankee looking woman with bleached brown, nearly orange, hair stalked over to Yuki. She seemed to want to intimidate Yuki into an apology, however he had met far more frightening individuals than some tough talking girl that might have rolled in a gang. He dealt with plenty like her in his past. “You want something?” Yuki taunted with an unimpressed tone.

“Miyako, enough,” order Hiroshi. He saw the look in her eye. Fighting was a pointless effort.

Tatsuya stepped in working on making Miyako back off. “She takes her job very seriously after Hiroshi saved her gang,” he explained. “Though Hiroshi hates it, she calls him Commander and it’s just sort of stuck now. Everyone sees him as the leader, thus we’re his Lieutenants. Sort of feels like we’re playing out feudal lords during the warring states period, huh?”

Nodding in agreement, Yuki started to have a similar impression. It all felt familiar and yet out of place. “I was going to say, but you’re right. Never imagined Hiroshi as the Lord.”

They laughed over the notion understanding out of place nature of it all. However, Tatsuya corrected himself soon. “We joke about it, but if you knew his past you understand that this is not so far from his character. He’s actually quite resourceful and charismatic.”

Hiroshi tossed a spare box at Tatsuya to shut him up. The hint of embarrassment ran through his face. “Enough of that. You came for some answers. I expect afterwards to hear your decision on my question. First, I must check something. You said that you’ve been away. When was that?”

Factoring the math quickly in his head, Yuki came out with the time. “It’s been about six weeks give or take a day or two.”

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you don’t know then. What were you doing that you were completely unaware of events here?”

“Out of the country.” Yuki hesitated even saying that, but it was the simplest answer. It was no lie, but he knew that it only created new questions. Atlantis still needed its privacy for the time. “That’s all I can say about it for now. It was a personal matter.”

The two stared at each again for nearly a minute. Hiroshi wanted more from Yuki than a vague answer. However, the look in his eyes told him a great deal. ‘What did Yuki see to change his eyes so much? He’s only showing me that look to tell me to back off…But it only makes me want to know more. However, I’ll get the answers out of him later…’

Focus returned the bigger matter that Hiroshi needed resolve. “I would say that it’s been like this since about a month. It was not long after the UN blockade went up. I don’t know if people got scared and went insane or what, but for no apparent reason they attacked.”

“Who’s they?” Yori questioned on the vague description.

“A random group of people. Calling them ‘they’ is the best answer I can give, because they don’t have any common ground other than that they are all fighting together. At the start, it was mostly just students from our school.”

“What did they want?”

“We don’t know. We still don’t understand it. All we know is that they wanted territory. It started from the school and spread out from there. In the short span of a week they brought the entire neighborhood and the surrounding neighborhoods under the control. It all surprised us that we didn’t know how to react.”

“That’s where Hiroshi stepped in,” inserted Tatsuya.

“We were just a small group then, but I wasn’t about to see innocent people harmed because people were just looking for trouble. We won a couple of a battles and that gave people hope. Before long, there was too many for me to count. Two weeks ago, we managed to stage a major offensive against them and took back the western half of the area, but they’ve grown tougher as of late. As a result, we haven’t made any real progress apart from the minor skirmishes that have broken out.”

Yuki had enough of the beating around the bush now. He had something to go on, though it was hard to believe such an incident went down while they were away. It did not make any sense and it seemed that Hiroshi still had not figured it out as well. “Do you know who their leader is? Who’s giving the orders?”

“Yeah, but you’re not going to like what you see.” Hiroshi slid a photo across the table to Yuki’s group. It was a slightly blurred image taken from a distance and through a window, the school. But they all could recognize the central figure in the photo.

Looking up from the photo, Yuki and Saki both stared across the table with their pressed tightly against the edge. “Are you certain?”

“We’ve seen them giving out orders to the others.”

Saki was in disbelief over the revelation. She staggered back into the group feeling the ground threatening to fall out from underneath her. “This can’t be! No! I-I…”

It was hard for Yuki to watch Saki. He saw how much it ate it her. He knew better than the others. ‘Things just go from bad to worse…’ Even though he did not want to hear anymore, he needed to know. “Tell me everything you know about the situation.”

“Of course…”

The meeting ended with far more unsettling things than they wanted to know. It left the group having trouble processing it all. They split up in the base needing to handle things in their own away. Yuki left last with Hiroshi holding him back.

“I expect an answer from you.”

“Yeah, this is all just a lot to take in. You’re asking me to fight friends, classmates, people I know!”

“This is the reality, even if we don’t understand it. You have to accept it!”

“I know… Just give me some time…” Yuki disappeared into the crowd leaving the sight of Hiroshi and Tatsuya.

Tatsuya glanced over at Hiroshi. The look on his face told him how much worry he had over Yuki. “You think he’ll join us?”


“I guess that depends.”

“On what?”

“On which is the real one, the Yuki we know from class or the Yuki we haven’t seen.”


Saki stood in front of her high school. Speed gave her the advantage of not being spotted very easily, even though she did have to lose a couple of tails. In the end, it did not matter too much for her. Her goal was the high school.

“Of course…I’ll tell you everything we know about them. The other Faction in the city. Their base seems to be the high school as you probably already figured out. Mostly it’s just students around there from what we’ve seen.”

The five guards protecting the main gate all looked ready to attack her. She felt like she could have dealt with them, but it was not her intention. “I’ve come to see your leader. Take me to them. I don’t plan on fighting.” Silence carried out between them as they did not make any reaction to her demands. She felt the tension in the air as she was not sure if they would agree.

However, after a wait that seemed to go for days, the gate opened. Waiting for her was an escort of six. They were a mix of students and teachers, all that she recognized. Saki accepted their invitation. ‘I must know… If it is true…this is all…’

Within the school grounds, she did not expect to see such ruin. The once beautiful grounds were completely blackened by death and destruction. It was all senseless. Just random violence. Worse, she saw bodies littered about everywhere at different states of decay. The odor was horrid and made her want to throw up.

“Their group is made up of everyone and anyone they can find. We don’t know how they do it, but the only one truth is that anyone that enters their gates never returns, at least in the same as they entered. They always join the other Faction without fail. We’ve lost too many already to scouting parties.”

Saki thought the outside was bad, but it was only to prepare her for the halls. Blood painted the walls in the worst possible ways. There was odd pieces that she saw stuck to the walls along with the blood and spread out over the floor. It felt like a horror movie made real. All of the students that passed through thought nothing of the sight as though it was invisible to them. ‘How can they be fine with such horrors?!’

It felt like she had descended into the depths of hell. The very walls seemed alive with so much blood and viscera. She was not sure if the nightmare around her had corrupted her mind already to produce illusions, but it felt like they moved.

However, none of it prepared her what she regretted the most. A strange moan and scream came from one of the classrooms. She caught it at the perfectly wrong time. It was a sight that was never going to be able to be removed from her mind. A scar forever carved out in her brain. Saki already considered herself tainted, corrupted by the deaths on her hands, but it could not even compare to the sight.

Two students had a third tied down and stripped naked, but it was hard to even tell that. Blood poured everywhere along with organs. Their eyes were completely dead as they kept carving into the student as they moaned and screamed. Worst of all the third student did not even seem to be pleading. They seemed as dead to it all, despite still being alive.

She never read it before, but she felt like it might have been what Dante saw in his descent through the different circles of hell. Each room only seemed to get worse and worse. Rooms of pleasure, pain, gluttony to describe a few. Then they just became more twisted and insane. The sight alone made Saki question if she still had her sanity.

The sight at the end of the hall of the second floor gave her some relief. It was their destination. She prayed for nothing more. Holding back vomit in her mouth only burned her throat further, but it was the only thing she could do to keep herself together. She was quite certain if she did allow herself the weakness the last thread of sanity she had would be snapped.

Imposing doors stood before her along with her escort. She stared at them in silence trying to hold herself together. ‘I haven’t felt this mentally strained since that man went dancing through my mind. I’m not even sure which is worse anymore… I didn’t think that feeling of violation could ever be surpassed…’ The door opened to grant Saki entrance into the lair of the leader. The one that allowed all of this depravity to continue.

Saki stepped in feeling very uneasy. The room thankfully had a more normal appearance. It was cloaked utterly in darkness with black cloths everywhere. Layers upon layers of sheets had to be navigated to even reach to the mastermind.

“We don’t know how it happened, just that it happened. The day the school opened was the day everything changed. All we know is everyone that attended school that day joined them. Teachers, students it did not seem to matter. From there they expanded their control.”

The last of the sheets parted for Saki. She could finally see in the darkened light of the room the figure. They were the one that controlled it all. The one that plunged the city into darkness. Saki’s eyes widened in surprise even though she already knew the truth. She just did not want to believe it. “It can’t be! Why?! Why is it you?! Takako!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Yuki had enough of the beating around the bush now. He had something to go on, though it was hard to believe such an incident went down while they were away. It did not make any sense and it seemed that Hiroshi still had not figured it out as well. “Do you know who is their leader? Who’s giving the orders?”

“Yeah, but you’re not going to like what you see.” Hiroshi slid a photo across the table to Yuki’s group. It was a slightly blurred image taken from a distance and through a window, the school. But they all could recognize the central figure in the photo.

Looking up from the photo, Yuki and Saki both stared across the table with their hands pressed tightly against the edge. “Are you certain?”

“We’ve seen them giving out orders to the others.”

Saki was in disbelief over the revelation. She staggered back into the group feeling the ground threatening to fall out from underneath her. “This can’t be! No! I-I…” Memories quickly rushed up around Saki. ‘Takako…why are you?’

Hiroshi went into an explanation for Yuki, but Saki’s mind was already closed off. She only heard pieces of what he said. Every thought went to her friend. She was supposed to be safe from all of it. ‘This can’t be true! She was taken away from here for treatment. They promised they’d help her!’

None of it made any sense to her. It should be impossible for Takako to be doing what they claimed. She could not believe it. This was not Takako. It had to be a lie. ‘She was trapped in her mind, she couldn’t be giving the orders.’ Saki pulled herself clear of her thoughts and focused back on what Hiroshi said.

Determination carved into her face tightly around her eyes. She already knew what she had to do. ‘I’ll get to the bottom of this and prove to them that they’re mistaken. It’s a lie. All of it is!’

“Even if we don’t understand how they’re doing it, it doesn’t change that we still have to fight them. They have no mercy in their fighting and no pattern that we’ve been able to see either. Sometimes they capture and others just brutally slaughter everyone in sight. And I’m not about to let them go around murdering in this city.”

As Hiroshi trailed off, something really seemed to get to him. It caused his voice to rise and then break. A memory likely came back to him that he preferred not to remember. The opening gave Tatsuya the moment to step in and fill in a few more details. “One of the most recent battles with them created that crater you saw before.”

“They did that?!” Yuki jumped, his body shaking at the thought of how many might have been caught up in it.

Shaking his head, Tatsuya corrected his assumption. “No, that was caused by one in our group. We had already lost the fight and needed to retreat, but they were slaughtering us. Even those unable to fight back. It was an ambush. Shiga, she stayed behind to let us escape with those that we could. She…” It was Tatsuya’s turn to come to a grinding halt in emotions and memories. He looked even more shaken than Hiroshi.

Yuki and Yumi both immediately knew who Tatsuya talked about. She was another one of their classmates. Yumi gasped in shock falling back a little into Yori, but quickly corrected herself. While Yuki’s body shook.

He did not know her well. They were only classmates and for a short time with the start of the new year, but that did not change anything for him. Pain still gripped his chest. ‘I can picture her in my mind. She was in the art club and I saw her staying late a couple of times when I had clean up. And now…how did things come to this…’

Recovering finally, Hiroshi leaned against the table. “They haven’t made their intentions known to us or even tried talking to us. They just act in whatever way they see fit. Since Takako is their leader, we’ve defaulted to calling them the Takako Faction for lack of a better name.” He looked around at Yuki’s friends seeing their reactions. “This is where I want answers from you. Who’s side are you on?”

“Not her’s!” shouted Yuki quickly in reaction. A hint of disgust over their actions trailed through his face. “We might not have known each other for long, but how could you even think that?”

Hiroshi stared at Yuki directly, ignoring the others. “You’re right, we haven’t known each other for long. We barely know each other.” While subtle, he was clear in his intent that it would not go undetected by Yuki.

Dropping his fists to the table, Yuki matched stares with Hiroshi. He was not being very subtle about it in Yuki’s eyes, even though it did not necessarily mean everyone in the room understood. It was something meant only for Yuki. ‘Is this how he’s going to be about me hiding my past from him? I thought he accepted that already.’ Yuki read through the layers of features on Hiroshi’s face trying to understand him. “Don’t trust me?”

“I don’t trust anyone. Not anymore, given the situation and potential can you say any different?”

‘A month did this much to change him? Is that even possible?’ They might have had the big picture, but Yuki did not really feel like he had the full picture. There was still too many things that Hiroshi was not telling him. While he might not have been as good as a trained Atlantean in reading others, he knew that much. There was more going on, but Hiroshi had no plans to let him in on it. Paranoia and caution, it seemed like the only friends that Hiroshi had left. “For now, my answer to you is that I belong to no side.”

Slamming his fists against the table, Hiroshi ground his teeth in frustration with Yuki. “You can’t be neutral like this doesn’t affect you just because you’ve been away the entire time! There are only two sides our side and their side!”

Yuki turned away from Hiroshi to look at his friends. It seemed that they all mirrored similar expressions as himself. They were confused. Hiroshi had them all up against the wall demanding an answer when they only just started to know what the question was. They needed time. “I won’t make a decision for you. Everyone should decide for themselves what they want to do.” He started to walk away from the table for the exit.

Miyako, who out of respect for Hiroshi, remained silent despite her emotions finally broke. She broke through the group and grabbed Yuki before he could leave. “Where the hell do ya get off thinking you can just walk out of here?!” Her rashness immediately had Saki on the offensive along with Yumi. The three women stared down each other.

Walking around the group to reach Miyako, Hiroshi placed a hand on her shoulder. “That’s enough, Miyako. They’re allowed to leave.”

“But Comman—Hiroshi…”

“It’s fine. They need time.” He got Miyako to release Yuki, which backed down the others. The sight actually made him sweat a little. ‘Saki sure, but even Yumi. Both of them had looks that could kill…and Yuki…he’s actually even more frightening than the others. It’s buried, but for a moment I swear I could see a look I’ve never seen from him. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s like even though he knows he’s surrounded by all of us, he knows that we’re no threat to him. But it’s not simple arrogance…it’s more complex than just that…unsettling…’ Hiroshi questioned if this was really the boy he knew from high school. Even between the lies of class clown or the truth as a delinquent, neither answered what he saw in Yuki.

“But—“

Motioning for the door to open, he let them go. Though he held Yuki back. “I expect an answer from you.”

Chapter 295 – Sides

After all of them left, Hiroshi motioned over Miyako to him. He stared in the distance at Saki quickly making for the exit. “Put tails on all of them. Despite what they’ve learned, they don’t seem to understand the dire situation of going outside. Keep them away from the high school at all costs.”

Her eyes lit up a little to see the Commander that she knew and respected back. “I understand! I will at once!” Miyako jumped double time out of the Command Room moving about gathering up teams.

Tatsuya glanced over at Hiroshi. The look on his face told him how much worry he had over Yuki. “You think he’ll join us?”


“I guess that depends.”

“On what?”

“On which is the real one, the Yuki we know from class or the Yuki we haven’t seen.”


Outside, Yori took a brisk pace away from the store. Yumi with some curiosity followed him. “Where are you going?” she thought aloud watching his back. The sight of him still left her with pangs of fear, but she learned how to control it better.

“I want to see things for myself,” he answered.

Not expecting a response, Yumi came to a halt. She stared at him unable to say anything, partly out of fear for what she might say and be heard.

He tilted his head over his shoulders as he stopped. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. It seems to be one of my powers.” Yori saw the mixed look of fear and embarrassment. “I can only hear surface thoughts. You’re not always in my head.”

The thought of him being able to hear her thoughts, even if it was the loudest of ones did not give her anymore comfort. She had too many things that she did not want to reveal to him. She did not know how much he already knew about her because of it. ‘I’m going to need be more vigilant…’ A mental conversation with her brother gave her too many unsettling thoughts to continue it. “Do you not trust Hiroshi?”

Turning back towards the grass street, he began to walk again. “I believe he believes what he told us, but there’s two sides to every conflict. I want to see what the other side is. Something about this whole thing doesn’t sit right with me. We’re missing something.”


In the opposite direction, Fumiko parked herself at an intersection. She went south, not directly moving towards the school, but her eyes looked in that direction. ‘Saki was the first out…I don’t know what’s going on with her, but she seemed the most shaken by all of this.’

Taking a slightly meandering route towards the school, she broke into an abandoned building a few blocks away. The whole area was mostly just houses and a few stores. It was a little more built up for businesses further away, but almost nothing went past two stories. So it made looking from the roof of the second floor pretty easy. She could see to the high school. Her improved sight gave her a glimpse behind the walls.

Most of the windows were blacken and the grounds of school looked more like a construction site than anything. Earth tore up and random materials thrown about without care gave little sense of purpose. ‘Knowing Saki, she’s thinking that she can handle them all by herself. However, we don’t know what they’re doing to get everyone on their side. If it is so absolute, then we can’t be so arrogant to think we can do whatever…’

Caught in the middle of thought, it was almost too late before Fumiko realized that someone was inside the building. She heard the groaning of the stairs behind her. Immediately, her body reacted flashing a fireball in her hand. ‘Who is it?’


Yori and Yumi held their backs almost up against each other. Everything turned south so fast that they did not even realize what was happening until it was too late. Surrounded and outnumbered, neither knew what they were going to be dealing with. The situation was unlike the ones that they were familiar with from the Atlanteans. These people were powered up in the same fashion as them.

“Yori…how much control do you have?”

Grinding his teeth together, he knew he did not have the same sort of combat experience as his sister. ‘She’s already thinking about fighting. I’m still thinking we can talk our way out…’ She accepted their situation faster than he had. He was still behind her. “I’ve been practicing. I’ve had a month while we were in Atlantis.” Black blades form in his hands in response.

“Right…” She could tell his hesitation. Her mind was already thinking about what powers they might have and how she was going to counter them. ‘I have to remember that he’s not use to this. I probably should take the lead in this…’

Two figures appeared behind the circle, partially obscured by the others. “Look who we have here,” a girl’s voice said.

“So this is where you are,” the other replied.

Yumi’s eyes widened immediately recognizing their voices. She turned to her left to see them push through and reveal themselves. “Kaede…Katsumi…what are you doing here?!”

Grinning with a dark expression, Kaede leaned up against Katsumi, both wearing their school uniform still, though the color scheme changed to black matching with their dark intent. “It’s been a while Yumi, we’ve missed you.”


Inside Takako’s room, Saki started to come to terms with reality, even though it still did not make any sense to her. She did not understand it. “Are you really Takako?” Her voice almost plead for it not to be true. A hope for it all to be an illusion was the only thing that could save her.

Leaning back in an odd pile of chairs and desks completely mangled into a distorted mass sat Takako. It almost looked like she treated it like a throne for her and she stared out among her empire. However, unlike the last time that Saki saw her, a light had returned to her eyes. A dark light that seemed blacker than any moonless night. Just a look was enough to feel the menacing presence bleeding off her.

Takako’s eyes focused in on Saki in the moment after hearing her. Her face soured and then grew in happiness only to twist away once more. “Saki Furukawa! I never expected to see you.”

“What are you doing, Takako?! Why are you doing all of this?!”

“All of what?” Takako asked, looking genuinely confused. She did not seem to understand the question or even what Saki was getting at.

Saki threw her hand back to the entrance. “All of that! The hell that is living in this school!”

“Is there something wrong?”

The look of complete confusion actually terrified Saki. ‘What’s the matter with Takako? She doesn’t seem to understand at all what’s wrong with it.’ As it all soaked into Saki’s mind, she realized that Takako knew what happened. It was impossible for her not to know. And yet she honestly did not understand the problem with it. She was completely detached for the whole thing. There was no empathy, no feelings, no comprehension. She accepted the reality and saw nothing wrong in what happened as though it was completely natural.

Saki made herself feel even more sick as she understood how completely broken Takako had become. “You’re insane! What happened?! Takako!”

Takako rubbed a finger down her cheek in an absentminded manner. “Am I? Perhaps or perhaps not. Maybe you the insane one and I’m sane.” She stood up from her throne and walked down to Saki. “What are you doing here?”

It troubled Saki that the very sight of someone that she worried and cared about, a friend, made her feel sick to her stomach. The stench of death soaked through her very being. She was not innocent. Saki felt that. She could only steel herself to it all. “I came to see you.”

Clapping her hands together in excitement, she walked around Saki always staring. Her eyes never left her. It was almost as if she longed for her. “To see me! Well isn’t that exciting!” Takako pressed her finger up against Saki in the most uncomfortable manner possible, but lacking any hint of knowing it was such. “So you’ve come to join me.”

Clinching her jaw tight, Saki struggled to keep herself in control. Every part of Takako left her unnerved. Nothing of the friend she knew seemed to be present. She did not know the girl that circled around her. “No. I came to stop you.”

Giggling uncontrollably, Takako fell over Saki for the moment. She rested her head next to her ear. “Is that right? Is there something I need to stop?”

Fighting the chills up her spine, Saki held fast. “Of course! You’re killing your own classmates!”

“Is that right? I think I recall that happening.” Takako jumped off Saki and landed out in front of her. “Is there something wrong with that? Death is part of life. Ending a life is so simple. If it was bad they would have made it harder to do.”

“You can’t be serious!” Saki took a step forward at Takako, but sensed the room change. ‘I’m being watched still. They’re going to attack if I make any move.’ She eased up her stance.

Takako laughed until her head seemed ready to fall off. “I’m very serious,” she replied sharply returning to a semi-normal state. She walked back up to the throne and took her seat once more. “Will you join me, Saki?”

“Never!”

Grinning, she leaned forward from her throne. Takako stared straight into Saki’s soul with the most coherent expression she had the entire time. “One last time, will you join me, Saki?”

Saki knelt down bowing her head to Takako. “Naturally, Takako. What would you have me do?”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Two figures appeared behind the circle, partially obscured by the others. “Look who we have here,” a girl’s voice said.

“So this is where you are,” the other replied.

Yumi’s eyes widened immediately recognizing their voices. She turned to her left to see them push through and reveal themselves. “Kaede…Katsumi…what are you doing here?!”

Grinning with a dark expression, Kaede leaned up against Katsumi, both wearing their school uniforms still, though the color scheme changed to black matching with their dark intent. “It’s been a while Yumi, we’ve missed you.”

The sight of her friends in the company of the others that surrounded her sent a cold paralyzing pulse down her body. She immediately understood the implications. She did not want to believe it anymore than Saki with Takako, but seeing it was enough.

Barely even hidden, she could see the void within Kaede’s eyes. There was a twisted malice that she never had seen in her friend before. It seemed to consume her being completely. While she physically was the same person he knew, it twisted her whole soul into something unrecognizable. ‘What is Takako doing to them? How is she able to do this to others? To corrupt them so deeply…’

“Yumi…” Yori reached back to hold her hand for support. While he might not have known her friends, he saw clearly what the scene was before him. He knew the importance they had for her.

A different chill ran up her body. She fought through it all to keep herself in control. “…I know…” Yumi forced herself to focus. Caught up completely by Kaede, she barely even noticed Katsumi standing next to her. Unlike all of the others, Katsumi seemed out of place with the rest. She looked more dead inside than anything with no side of life, but most of all none of the bloodlust or corruption. She somehow seemed completely separated from the rest. Yet she was still with them and most importantly, Kaede.

Giggling a little at the façade, Kaede pushed away from Katsumi and stepped forward. She started to brush her hair in a casual manner while staring at Yumi. “Are you planning on fighting us, Yumi? Aren’t we friends?”

Chapter 296 – The Fragility of Friendship

Miyako watched from a building away with her team of five. She saw the difference in numbers and ground her teeth together. ‘Damn, they don’t even get five minutes before finding trouble. They might have been hunting for us after the last skirmish earlier.’ There was no question a fight was going to breakout.

Pounding her fist against the wall sent cracks up the old building. She pulled back from the broken window. “Looks like we’ve got another fight on our hands, boys!”

“Yes, boss!” they all echoed together.

“Jiro, setup on the rooftop. You’re the spotter, only take a shot when you absolutely must. The rest of you are with me. We’re going to dig those kids out of a little trouble!” They all gave a deep guttural cry in enthusiasm.

Kaede approached Yumi finishing with her hair and returning her hairbrush. Her hair suddenly straightened out away from the curls up to her neck. It shortened a little and took on a slight auburn appearance. “Yumi…” She grinned across at her.

It was almost too late before Yumi knew what happened. It was faster than she expected. Only her barrier saved her, but she still felt the force ringing throughout. ‘Kaede…so fast…’ She built up her barrier more to push back Kaede.

Yori took a glimpse at her sister. ‘She’s not used to fighting people similarly enhanced on top of being her friends… She’s not going to be able to do this…’ Tightening his hands around the black blades, he swung wide to keep back the sudden onslaught.

Retrieving matching blue gloves from her pocket, Katsumi drew them up the entire length of her arm covering up all of her skin. “Seems I must make a move as well.” She stepped through the crowd coming straight up to Yori. Her right hand reached out to grab a hold of his blade before it struck one of the students.

The surprising ease at which she blocked his attack took him back a step. He took another swing directly for her and she blocked it once more with her hand. Phasing the material out for a moment, he retrieved them and swung down together at her. She stopped both with her arms crossed in front. ‘She put on the gloves before fighting…are they resistance to damage? Is that how she’s doing it?’ Letting them dematerialize again, he forced them past her defense and struck directly on her chest. He slashed downward trying to get the most coverage from his attack.

Katsumi slid back a little from the force, but nothing more seemed to happen. “Playing pretty rough, thought being the President you’d be a little softer.” Straightening out her uniform from the rough treatment, she looked completely unfazed by the attack. Not even her clothes seemed to have a stray thread.

Failing to achieve anything meaningful from the attack, Yori ground his teeth together trying to come up with another plan. ‘So it’s not just the gloves then. I can’t make a scratch on her period…I’m going to need something more powerful, but if I do I might end up dealing a severe injury.’ Uncertainty begat hesitation within him. He tried to fight seriously with the girl, but he knew she was Yumi’s friend. He could not do anything too severe. And worse, he saw that Yumi could only be defensive against the other one.

‘What am I going to do? We can’t just let them kill us!’ All of the powers that he practiced ran through his mind. He needed something that he could use. The problem he faced was not knowing which would be effective without being deadly. His swords gave him the most control, but they were useless. ‘I need to do something!’

“Why the hell are ya hesitating?!” shouted Miyako arriving on the scene. She fell from the sky it seemed dropping in the middle of the whole group with her fist. A crater quickly grew out from her strike tossing debris in all directions. It spread smoke out in all directions.

Coughing and blinded, Yori stumbled around in the cloud. “What the hell is going on?!” He tried to find his way out, but someone grabbed him. Resisting with a swing of his blade, they caught his forearm before it sank into anything. “What are—“

“I don’t have time babysitting you! Pull back now!”

It took him a moment, but the voice was faintly familiar. “You’re the woman from Hiroshi’s group!”

“Yeah, we don’t have time to sip tea and eat cookies over this! Get moving!”

“Where’s Yumi?”

Jiro came in through her earpiece with a report. “The screen is dissipating quickly. Ten seconds before they recover.”

“Understood.” Miyako grabbed Yori and threw him in the direction he needed to leave. “Get moving! I’ll get your sister!”

Yumi held firm in her position even though the attacks from Kaede stopped. ‘The best thing to do is not move. I completely lost my sense of direction between the ringing in my ears and the loss of sight. But I can’t fight my friend… What am I supposed to do?!’ Her barrier bounced and reflected the dust stirring about her. It was too thick to do anything, especially not knowing where anyone was.

She understood how Yuki felt before when he was told about Takako. They all understood in that moment, but Takako was not a friend to her. It was just an empty sense of empathy for him. They understood, but not really. Part of her felt Yuki being too idealistic and a little childish. They already saw what happened with the fight in the morning.

However, she understood it now. The feelings he had then were inside her now. ‘I was a fool. I thought I could do this because while they were all classmates I barely knew any of them. I was so isolated from most of the class and school that I thought I didn’t care. But they had to be with them. The only ones I could never fight…’ She thought Atlantis might have given her something for her resolve. The path she picked and walked, the destruction and death she wrought. ‘At the end I can only kill those that I don’t know…I’m no different than a common criminal…’

Her body suddenly felt strangely. It was heavy and her mind turned to fog. Her sight blurred. “What’s happening…to me?” Yumi staggered forward as her barrier fell away. She collapsed to one knee unable to stand. “Something’s…wrong…”

Breaking through the smoke, a longer green haired Kaede stood grinning down at Yumi. She slowly stalked forward to Yumi. Kneeling down to meet her unfocused gaze, Kaede grabbed the top of Yumi’s hair. “It’s sleepy time for you.” Quickly, she ripped her up by her hair and rammed her knee into Yumi’s stomach. A semi-clear liquid coughed up from Yumi as she fell over Kaede.

Draped over her shoulder, Kaede turned to Katsumi. “You got things wrapped up on your end?”

“No, there’s a little trouble.” The smoke finally cleared away and revealed Miyako along with her team of four and Yori. Katsumi held back Miyako. Each of Miyako’s punches slid Katsumi back and drew up smoke, but did nothing more. The rest of their group swarmed over Miyako’s team keeping them out of the fight.

Miyako slid back a little to recover from the latest futile attempt against Katsumi. “Damn, you’re tough.” She shook out her hands a little feeling them sting from the repeated blows. “It’s like I’m hitting concrete.”

“…boss…”

Flipping her head around to her team, she shouted, “Masato!” She saw the blood dripping from his mouth, a wound in his chest. ‘Damnit! I won’t lose anymore!’ Roaring her voice as deep as she could draw from her stomach, her fists suddenly shimmered and beefed up. Miyako threw out her fist at Katsumi knocking her back and tearing into her gloves a little. She then threw her fist into the earth again creating an even larger crater than before casting out large chunks of the earth outward.

She jumped through the smoke she created aiming for Yumi only to be met with a sudden drop in her strength. Miyako stretched out her hand for Yumi, but Kaede spun around whipping her hair around. Numerous cuts formed all over Miyako’s body throwing blood into the air. “…damn…not here…” Miyako leapt backwards disappearing into the clouds.

“We’re pulling back now!” she shouted to everyone trying to maintain her stride.

Yori quickly jumped out after Miyako with fury in his eyes. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Yumi’s still over there! I’m not leaving without her!”

Gritting her teeth in anger, she wound up a punch and drop Yori to the grass. “You want to die? Because that’s all that’s waiting for you on the other side! She’s already lost!”

He spat out the blood from his mouth. Nothing fazed him from the punch. Yori materialized his blades going straight for Miyako. “She’s not lost! I will die before that happens!” The rage already started to consume him.

Miyako hardened her features and grabbed the blade aimed at her throat. Blood dripped down her hand as though it was nothing but a paper cut to her. “You think it’s brave running to your death?! Grow up! You can do nothing while you’re dead, but you never run out of options when you’re alive!”

“Damn you! I’m not leaving my sister behind!”

“All you are is blind!” Miyako snapped the blade off and rammed her fist into Yori once more. He went down hard with the black energy disappearing. “Cool off before you start thinking about charging in after her!” She ram her other fist into his stomach completely blacking him out. As she stood up blood dripped from her lips. “Damn…pick him up. Jiro!”

“They’re retreating as well, boss!”

“Good, meet up at ground point.”

“Understood.”


The haze started to lift from her mind. “Urgh…where am I?” Fumiko asked, trying to remember what happened. Flashes appeared in her mind from the last moments. Flames were everywhere, but it did not seem to stop them. “I…lost again…”

“So you’re awake, Fumiko Terauchi,” unfamiliar voice replied.

Fumiko tilted her head up, realizing that she laid on the floor. “Who—“ Her eyes widened immediately as she recognized the girl before her from the image that Hiroshi presented them. “You’re that girl, the one leading them!”

“Oh so you heard about me?” She grinned a little with excitement.

Trying to stand, Fumiko found that she was tied up with her arms behind her back. She rolled around struggling to work with her still drowsy body. “What’s going on? Why am I here?”

“What don’t you know? This is a high school and you are a student, even if you are a third year you still need to attend class.”

“I’m not interested in any classes you’re having,” she bit back. As she turned herself over, she saw someone else next to her. And then she immediately recognized them. “Yumi…” There was a mix of distain and surprise.

The tone did not go unnoticed by Takako. It made her lips curl a little. “Oh you know this girl. Join me and I’ll let you have your way with her.”

Fumiko stared back up at Takako a little bit in horror. She had seen plenty of faces in Atlantis while fighting, but never one like the one that she saw on Takako. There was absolutely no sense of reason or acknowledgement of them as humans as something sacred. Life meant nothing to her. Just a toy. “I’m not joining you.” It took everything Fumiko had to hold herself together.

Dark shadows cast over Takako’s eyes and in the carved lines in her face as it seemed to crack with strange pleasure. The grin on her face was worse than even a demon could produce. “I love hearing that phrase! I’m getting that so much today!” Takako leaned forward with a hungry look in her eyes.

As almost summoned, another figure appeared out of the shadows standing at Takako’s right. It completely shocked Fumiko to see it. Standing next to Takako as though she just belonged there was Saki. “Not you…”

Saki stared down at Fumiko completely cold wearing a black variant of their school uniform. “You will be joining Takako.”

To be continued…