Shift

[Andromeda]

Calm returned. The tension disappeared. Everyone was prepared, but it was unnecessary. The distant rumbling ceased. A little uncertainty still existed; the silence meant it was over. But it did not last for long.

Chiharu appeared back with the group, who all waited on news of Seiji and Nerine’s battle. “They won. They’ll be heading back soon,” she reported. She could see relief passing through everyone. Chatter already started up. None of it interested her. She turned to look in the direction of Seiji’s battlefield. ‘Were you able to overcome your fear?’

A few minute wait was all they had before Seiji and Nerine appeared through the night haze. Despite his fully healed appearance, the fatigue was clear in his eyes. The fight exhausted him in a way none of the other fights had. “I’m back!” he shouted, nonchalantly brushing the whole experience off as if it was nothing.

Yumi ran out along with Saki to check on them. “Are you badly hurt?” Yumi asked, trying to look over his body with only the moonlight.

“Made it back in one piece, I see,” commented Saki, covering up her relief. She worked hard to maintain her annoyed expression to keep up the façade.

Laughing a little out of awkwardness, Seiji remembered all of the things that happened to him during the fight. “Well there might be a piece of me back there still, but Nerine fixed me up good!” He patted her on the back lightly.

Unfortunately, Nerine’s injures were still not recovered like Seiji’s. She staggered forward from his hit, only to collapse to the ground immediately. Blood splattered out from her countless wounds.

Seiji was the first to act. “Nerine!” He grabbed her up to check on her. She breathed heavily having trouble keeping focused. “Why didn’t you tell me damnit?!” The closer view of her made him see how many wounds she took from the fight. Her uniforms torn to shreds barely seemed to be holding together. Blood soaked through the major of the white appearing as if she wore a red uniform.

The longer he stared at her the more he cursed his blindness. ‘I forgot that she wasn’t like the rest of us. She has a normal body. Damn, why was I so blind!’ He turned up to looking for Yuki. He knew that he would be able to fix her up, but naturally, Yuki was not with them. Anyone, someone in their group had to be able to do something for her.

He stood up carrying Nerine with him. Without Yuki, his eyes searched through the group. “Fumiko, you!” He immediately charged in front of her. “You’ve got magical powers or something, right!”

Fumiko stared at Seiji for a moment, as she already knew what he wanted from her. “I have offensive magic. I don’t have healing magic.”

“What the hell use are you?! You’re supposed to be one of those mage-thingies from those RPGs right!”

Her face immediately went flat in disbelief and some annoyance. “I’m not some video game character!” she shouted back. The thought of being defined so one-dimensionally into a stereotype bothered her more than anything else he said.

“Why the hell not? She needs healing!”

She needed some distance. Seiji kept pushing in closer with more of a demanding look in each step. “Seiji!” Fumiko slapped him hard to try to snap him out of his hysterics, however it still felt more painful for her. ‘Damn his tough body.’ It seemed to work a little as it stopped Seiji from pressing closer. “None of us here have that ability, but I don’t think she looks to be in a life-threatening condition. All of the adrenaline finally wore off and caught up to her. We’ll patch her up, she’ll just have to recover until we find someone that can help her.”

“But—“

Nerine lifted her head up. She tried to speak, but it only came out in Atlantean. Enough shouting by her forced them all to look at her. Unfortunately, speaking in Atlantean left them all confused.

Seiji looked over at Yumi. “What’s she saying?”

Surprise caught Yumi’s face. “I don’t know, I don’t speak her language.”

“Sure you do! You were before!”

“Huh? When?”

“Don’t both, Seiji,” interrupted Fumiko. “She’s not going to be of help.”

“Eh?”

“English?” asked Simonides in English. He saw how the language barrier blocked any hopes of communication. Unfortunately, he did not know Japanese. It was not one of the languages for the South Gate recommendations.

Yori stepped forward, finally feeling like he had something useful to do. “I can speak a little English,” he replied in English as well.

A quick conversation played out between the two men. Even in English, neither being perfect, finding the necessary words made them struggle. Yori had words he did not understand from Simonides. Simonides seemed to be also finding it difficult to pick English words to explain him. Only a rough primitive dialogue seemed possible. A lot of gesturing went on between them explaining the more complex ideas that their vocabulary lacked.

“I think I understand the gist of it,” began Yori, returning to the group. “He said that Nerine should be able to use her power to make some medical supplies to help with the injuries, but her strength is weak. She’s only got enough in her for one more attempt to use her powers.”

The news excited Seiji. He immediately jumped over to Yori ignoring everyone else. “Really?! That’s what she said?”

“Best that I can tell from talking with him.”

“Well let’s get started!” Seiji looked around at everyone and then Nerine. He did not know what he needed to do. He just stood there holding Nerine waiting for something to happen.

Yumi stepped in, poking his shoulder. “You should probably set her down first.”

Chapter 238 – Arrival

Quiet. Unnaturally so. Something had to be wrong. It just had to be wrong. It only made sense. It could not possibly be. The same thoughts ran through on repeat like a tape stuck with the rewind button held down.

It was how it was. Yuki just had to accept the fact that it was actually going to be easier. The struggle they had with escape the Omega soldiers made it seem like they walked into a trap. However, Ayumi seemed very confident. He trusted her, but it just did not seem like it should be like this. Honestly, if it was following proper story development, there should be a massive showdown with all of the opposing forces all spread out in front of the city’s walls. The heroes should be struggling and crawling to reach the city and only after a long, hard won battle make it to their destination. It was just too easy.

Such a terrible story.

Yuki could see the Capital staring at them. For hours now, he watched it grow larger and larger. Previously, he only saw a massive spire and then a couple of other larger structures. One of them looked grand, even from a distance it seemed to shine with a special sort of beauty that should not be able to exist in the world yet it still did. The impossibly beauty of it made him only want to stare longer at it. Yuki realized the more he saw of the Atlantean Capital how much their power had to have shaped it.

In the last couple of hours, he saw a massive pale white, maybe off-white, maybe gray, maybe dirty white (Yuki was still uncertain what sort of white it was, it was not dark or pure, but it was not average either). The white he realized in the last few minutes belonged to a wall. Then he realized all the white he saw before that seemed to go on forever as that wall. The size of the city quickly became something too large for his head to really get wrapped out it.

He always imagined it being some fantasy city out of the books he read. A great city stretching up to the sky built out of a mountain. Maybe a massive lake sat at the center of the city with beautiful marble structures played out around it. It could be a multi-tier city built up on a wide hill. The castle sat the top overlooking everything and even from outside could be seen. It would be fantastic and beyond imagining, but still small. He did not know why he thought it, but he just assumed the Capital to be small. It had maybe a few thousands or tens of thousands, nothing more. Maybe his hobby ruined his expectations.

None of the expectations could equal what he saw. It was the Capital, but it was no town or village. The village of Skoupa would have fit on top of the wall it seemed. No, even to call it a city seemed not to do it an accurate justice. It was a metropolis, a massive ancient city kilometers and kilometers in length. Millions of Atlanteans had to live inside.

The true read of the size came to him when he discovered from Ayumi that they were still an hour walk away. “Unbelievable…” he said, staring still.

“Hey, focus!” snapped Ayumi, grabbing his wrist to get his attention.

“Oh, right! I’m sorry.” He had to maintain his concentration. Using his powers certainly was a lot easier for him now that they felt more like an extension of him rather than something added on to him like some mysterious technology that activated an ancient power from a long dead civilization that needed a full series to truly understand its potential. The reason he needed to focus was because he kept them hidden.

Using his power, he made a bubble around them that allowed them to keep talking, but their voices would never leave beyond. The more important part was that it made them invisible to the outside. Anyone too close would have discovered them, but at a distance nothing would have been off. None of the scouts would be able to find them.

It bothered him that they just walked up to the front door and walked in. It did not feel right, even though he knew why. “So we just going through the front?”

“No, that’s the reason I have you keeping us hidden.” Ayumi suddenly changed their course away from the straight-line path to the Capital’s wall. She motioned over to him to follow.

Now curious, Yuki followed Ayumi wondering what she had planned for them. “I just thought it was another test you were giving me to keep myself flexible with my powers.”

“What?” She looked back at him for a moment. Shaking her head, she kept moving forward. “No, you’re powers are already more than enough.”

“Ok.” But it did not answer his curiosity. He hurried a little to catch up to her. “So why are we not moving towards the Capital anymore?”

“Because we aren’t going through the Main Gate. They have security measures in place to identify anyone going through, even hidden like we are.” Ayumi came to a stop. She turned around as though in search of something. It took her a few moments to scanning the area before she moved on.

Immediately, Yuki’s mind started stirring up ideas. The first to jump to him came out of his mouth. “A secret passage!”

“Corre—“

“All castles and royal families have secret passages. I bet they run through the whole city. Some ancient labyrinth underneath the city from a long forgotten civilization. If you stray from the correct path you’ll become lost and never able to find your way out as there are secret powers at work to keep unwanted guests from passing through. I bet there are even monsters down there, giant minotaur’s and dragons, maybe even—“

“Will you shut up!” she yelled, breaking her normally characteristically stoic controlled voice.

“Sorry.” Yuki looked away, not wanting to see her staring at him. The daggers from her eyes were painful enough. It felt like she wanted to punch him for speaking.

Silence returned for Ayumi, something she greatly enjoyed. She finished her search after another moment, finally able to think straight. It was all she needed to find what she needed. A few minutes of following a strange path through a forest put them at the destination. “We’re here.”

“Huh?” It was nothing. He jumped around all over the place in search of the secret passage. He made use of all of his knowledge (from his manga and anime) for the switch that would open up the entrance to the stairs. It had to be obvious and hidden. He knew he could find it. It would be something that should stand out to him. Yet there was nothing. It was just a forest, completely random with no markers or any signs that anyone traveled through it.

Yuki realized it had to be not even a switch. It had to be just a chain or handle to pull up. He scrambled over the grass with a fine precision. His hands ran through the grass and dirty. Time had to have buried it. It was just under the surface. It had to be. It only made sense.

Ayumi allowed him his time. He seemed heavily engrossed in it. Even when she did try to say something, he just waved her off. So she waited until he seemed less focused. “What are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” He stared over at Ayumi with excitement glowing brightly in his eyes. However, his enthusiasm did not seem to transfer to her. Yuki did not really see her looking completely blank faced at him. “It’s a secret passage, so there must be a switch or lever or handle, something that opens it up! I’ve always want to find something like this! So don’t tell me the secret! I want to figure it out on my own!”

Crossing her arms, she could not believe what she heard from him. He looked like a kid hyped up on sugar and just finished watching his favorite super sentai show feeling need to go act out the whole thing in the front yard (oddly specific, especially for Ayumi). The longer she watched him the more painful it became. Her hand rolled over her face in exasperation. A sigh soon followed, naturally. “Yuki—“

“No, hints!”

“You’re wasting time. It’s—“

His hand went up again to stop her. “I’ll figure this out!”

“I need to use my power—“

“Of course!” Yuki jumped up at his epiphany. “I was approaching this from the completely wrong angle! You would use your powers to open it! You wouldn’t want just anyone using it. It all makes sense!” He kept nodding to him in agreement. Any idea popped in his head on how to solve the puzzle.

Ayumi immediately recognized the look in his eyes. She leapt off to him quickly slapping him. “Stop now! If you turn off your power you’ll expose us!”

“Ow, Ayumi that hurt.” He stepped back a step catching the deadly serious glare she leveled at him. “You know if you hit me too hard it’d do that same thing.” The comment he slid earned him another even more menacing glare.

Finally, she seemed to have his attention. “Yes, you’re right that it can only be opened through our power. Which is why I’m going to do it. I know where it. So when I give you the signal drop your field. Do you understand?”

He nodded to her. “Yes.” Ayumi’s look cut through all of the excitement and antics of Yuki. He quickly understood he had to be serious again. Following her led, he waited for the signal. Once she was ready, she activated her field and his dropped soon after. It might have been brief, but they should not have been visible for long.

The difference in their fields was that Ayumi’s cut into the earth. A perfect sphere carved out the ground below them. An anti-gravity law kept them from falling endlessly through the earth. She lowered them down slowly until dirt and earth changed to stone. The stone soon appeared as smoothly polished and carved, a manmade structure.

Ayumi dropped her field once they cleared the ceiling. They fell the rest of the distance of half a meter to the floor. “We’re inside the Capital now.”

It was just a tunnel to Yuki. He looked behind him at the ‘entrance’ to see it all just caved in with stone and earth. It looked like it had been like that for years or even centuries. “That’s not an entrance at all, it’s just a cave-in! There’s nothing special about this!”

Her eyes lowered in annoyance again. “Is that all that matters to you?”

Pouting, Yuki walked on ahead. He refused to answer someone that did not understand the enjoyment of such things. ‘Fumiko would understand. I wish she was here. She’d get excited.’ The length of the tunnel seemed really straightforward. It turned frequently, but there were no forks or traps. Just a simple path.

Yuki was really bored.

Until he left the tunnel at least. He stopped at the exit staring wide-eyed. “I didn’t expect this…” Yuki kept staring trying to take it all in. A couple of people in ragged cloths passed by him, then a few more. They were in a street, an underground street. Houses were everywhere packed in tightly like they were the only thing holding up the ceiling that pressed on upon them. Ahead, the street fell as the whole area sank like a basin. The further he looked the more of the subterranean city he saw. A lot of structures blocked his full view, but he walked slowly out into the city to get more and more of a picture.

He reached a balcony on the side of the street that was built on top of another building underneath it. It all stretched out endlessly it seemed. Then he understood the street he walked on was the roof of someone’s home. Support pillars ran through the entire space. He kept finding more and more people too. All of them dressed poorly.

Ayumi stepped up next to Yuki’s right side. “Welcome to the Capital.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

He stopped at the exit staring wide-eyed. “I didn’t expect this…” Yuki kept staring trying to take it all in. A couple of people in ragged cloths passed by him, then a few more. They were in a street, an underground street. Houses were everywhere packed in tightly as if they were the only thing holding up the ceiling that pressed on upon them. Ahead, the street fell as the whole area sank like a basin. The further he looked the more of the subterranean city he saw. A lot of structures blocked his full view, but he walked slowly out into the city to get more and more of a picture.

He reached a balcony on the side of the street that was built on top of another building underneath it. It all stretched out endlessly it seemed. Then he understood the street he walked on was the roof of someone’s home. Support pillars ran through the entire space. He kept finding more and more people too. All of them dressed poorly.

Ayumi stepped up next to Yuki’s right side. “Welcome to the Capital.”

In a way, it felt almost anti-climatic for Yuki and yet also immensely dramatic to see the view stretched out before him. He was under the city, something that he never even considered a possibility. ‘An underground city with the poor, it feels like a cliché development, but this is supposed to be a fantasy setting. Atlantis is more of a high fantasy setting, but this makes it feel more low fantasy. With all of the conflict between the two different classes it’s a much darker setting. I feel like I’m in some dystopian setting rather than a fantasy one. Such a mixed-up genre…but this is reality.’

The Capital continued to meet his expectations and then promptly invert them to something completely different. The scale of the underground matched much of that with the visible city above. Buildings or supports obstructed much of his view of the city, but it gave him a clear sense of the size. The neighborhood he stood in was merely a small part of the massive structure. Everywhere he looked things looked old and run down, but patched up. It felt like things wanted to fall about, but something would not allow it to happen. Everything was against its will.

Yuki had so many questions about it. He tilted his head over to Ayumi, who actually seemed a little lost. It seemed that the view held her entranced as well. However, the look in her eyes was quite a bit different from the one in Yuki’s eyes. “Ayumi?” he opened, stretching his hand out to touch her hand.

Snapping a little back to reality, she shook off her thoughts. “Sorry, I was just a little lost in thought.” She looked over at Yuki. He was very close, staring in concern.

‘It’s unlike her to so freely admit that, but she’s back in her hometown. She must have old memories coming back, though down here seems a little odd since her life was above ground.’ Despite learning so much about her in the last few days, Yuki still did not feel like he knew her. It still felt a wall was between them. “What sort of thoughts?”

“It’s nothing.” She pushed off from the ledge and started down the street. “Let’s get going. Now that we’re in the Capital, we just need to sneak into the palace.”

Yuki smiled a little happy to see the normal Ayumi back. She stared at him for a moment giving him a ‘What are you smiling at?’ sort of look. It only made him grin wider. “Nothing.”

“Right…”

Chapter 239 – Morning without the Sun

Following the road only took them so far. Ayumi dragged them off the main street into extremely narrow passages between ruined homes, still used to live in. He guessed being underground shelter from the elements took on a different meaning.

Just as he passed through the housing-Yuki sandwich something grabbed his pant leg. He looked down to see a young man in rags sitting. “Spare a brass?” It caught him a little off-guard that he did not have a response. He had seen others like him begging for money. They seemed to be everywhere.

“Well…I-I-um…” He fumbled around his cloths as though looking for loose change, though he knew that he did not have any on him. They could all beg however much they wanted, but it made no difference.”

Ayumi came back grabbing him by his arm. “We don’t have time to waste.” She dragged him away from the man. Her hand held on to him until they were out of sight.

“Th-thanks.” Yuki caught up to her and discovered a scarf around her neck and part of her face. He looked a little confused by it. “What’s with the scarf?”

“Low profile.”

“Doesn’t that make you stand out more?” He sighed a little remembering the reason. The identity of the Captain of the Royal Guard was a highly visible position according to Ayumi. Though he wondered if anyone down in the underground actually would recognize her. “What’s with the Haruo level briefness?”

However, he did not have time for an answer as two kids ran past him. They lightly brushed up against playing with each other. Both were gone up the narrow street. Yuki started to walk away with Ayumi when a rock hit him in the back of the head. “The hell hit me?” He turned around having to dodge another one.

It was the two kids. They were sticking their tongues out at him and yelling. “What the hell is this?”

“Why don’t you have money on you?!”

“Huh?” Yuki patted himself realizing that they just pick pocketed him. “You’re the one’s stealing! And you have the nerve to complain about not having anything to steal!”

“All rich people have fat purses!”

“Rich? Do I look rich? I’m just a teenager!”

“You ain’t dressed like us! So you have to have something on you!”

His expression went flat unable to believe that he was in a yelling match with thieves over not having something to steal. He wondered how he got into such a situation. “It’ll tell you not to judge people by their appearance! I’m just as poor as you!”

“Not likely! We actually have money!”

Now they were getting arrogant with him. He could not believe it. “That you stole!”

“Still counts!”

Ayumi tugged on Yuki to get him moving. “Enough use of your field to yell at street thieves. They deploy agents down here too. We don’t need them picking up your field.”

“Right.”

An hour passed in wandering around the city. Yuki started to think they would not get out of the underground slums. The entire place felt like a labyrinth. Guidance from Ayumi made him thankful for having her along. He never would have made it anywhere without her. In fact, he was worried about losing sight of her, keeping close the entire time.

Still, he wondered about the history. The city’s appearance was old beyond any sort of measure he could come up with. Guessing seemed like a bad idea. “Hey Ayumi, what happened here?”

“What do you mean?” She kept moving forward not allowing for a break. The distance they had to their goal was so small in comparison. She could not let it go.

“You don’t just build something like this. The Capital looked like it had plenty of room to expand. So why is there such a massive underground? I could understand some ruins or old passages from long forgotten days, but this exceeds any sort of scale like that. People live here.”

“This used to be the Capital.”

She did not really explain anything with such an answer. All it did was fuel more ideas for him. He had too many stories in his head to develop ideas from. He needed something more straight from her. “The Capital? What are you saying?”

“We call this the Old Capital.”

“The Old Capital? You make it sound like this used to be where everyone lived and then you moved. Did something happen?”

“You’re close. In reality, this is the third Capital.”

“Third?” Suddenly, his mind started to piece everything together. All of his guessing finally got narrowed down. He understood better what was going on now. “Which means there was a First and Second and what I saw on the surface was the Fourth? There some accident?”

“You’re correct. There have been four Capitals, each new one built on top of the old one. If you go even further down you’ll find the ruins of the ancient Capital. Some people still live there, but it’s mostly a den of criminals where only the military enter.”

“Taking the word ‘underground’ a little too literally, aren’t we?” For his joke, she tossed back a piercing gaze. Yuki quickly clammed up on his humor returning to a serious tone. “What caused you to have to do that? This place looks too civilized to have been a natural disaster or war. Did a Kasou-ryoku user do it?”

Ayumi did not answer immediately. It seemed she needed time to think about an answer. “It’s nothing like what you’re thinking. It was disaster, fire and bad construction that destroyed the old cities. We built top of the ruins each time. It impossible to see anymore, but the Capital is actually built on slightly higher ground because it is built on top of the old.

“It was through our power though that we helped with the rebuilding. Over time, each new Capital continues to push down the older parts until you have what you see now. Layers of ruins stacked on top of itself. Most was destroyed when it happened leaving only parts of buildings behind. But these ruins are more than a millennia old. In that time, people have settled here and built a new city.”

“Sounds rather incredible.” Images filled Yuki’s mind of their history. The more details he received the more elaborate the picture became. However, he came to a sticking point for him. “How come people live down here? It’s not as though you’re hurting for space above and with the power you possess it would be simple to make new homes for everyone.”

Ayumi came to a stop suddenly. Her gaze changed away from their goal and back to the slums. “Life is rarely equal or fair. The truth is that using your power requires orders or government permission, especially for something like construction. You can’t just do whatever you want.”

“But all of these people.”

“Can you imagine what sort of chaos we’d have if everyone with power was free to use it however they wanted? That’s why they are all in military service and under the government’s control.”

“So these people just go homeless?”

“They’ve found a life. They have their pride still.”

“Pride?!”

“They have a home they built with their own hands, not relying on anyone.”

Yuki had trouble agreeing with her. All of the stories he heard from her past painted a terrible picture of Atlantis. Everyone struggled or lived in fear. Those with power had no future or freedom. Those without power lived in fear. How could they live in such a state? Yet they did find a life, as she said. They even seemed fairly content with their situation. ‘It doesn’t seem right. Even like this. Is this really freedom and pride?’

Her eyes narrowed watching Yuki’s reaction. Grabbing his hand, she snapped Yuki out of his thoughts. “Come on, we still have a ways to go. You can’t try to impress your Japanese values on these people. Think of it like different worlds, this is life and you can’t sit in judgment of the way things run.”

“Ok.”

“Good, we’re getting close to being under the palace.” Ayumi pointed out a heavily fortified wall that ran through the entire underground from ground to ceiling. It was a massive structure with no windows. It almost seemed as if the palace was truly above it, then what they saw was the foundation stretching down for countless meters. “It’s still a bit away, so I’ll entertain everyone with another flashback.”

“Hey! You’re breaking the fourth wall!” complained Yuki. He jumped out in front of her. “And you’re stealing my gimmick! This is out of character for you. I’m the one that should be saying such things.”

“Fine. I’ll do it normally.” She motioned over to him like handing off something invisible.

He threw his fist into the air for excitement. “The chapter next will finally see the final piece of Ayumi’s mysterious past! Look forward to it!”

Ayumi’s face went a little flat watching his enthusiasm over it. “Feel better?”

“Yeah.” He wiped off the sweat from his forehead actually appearing relieved.

“I think you over did it. I was only leaning on it a little, I think you destroyed it.”

“Never like that wall to begin with. On a more serious note…” Yuki flicked his index fingers back over to Ayumi passing the scene back to her (he is enjoying this too much).

Clearing her throat, Ayumi pulled things back into the correct tone. “This also used to be my home as well,” she declared as if it was nothing.

Yuki grimaced hearing her reply. “Sounds too forced. You need a better transition.”

“I’ll try to work on that,” she replied in a non-committal tone. Her gaze turned briefly down to the lower city from the bridge they walked. Below her, countless homes painted the ground. The whole place brought back memories for her. She tried to avoid them as much as she could, but nostalgia won out in the end. Thoughts of the time alone in the slums came back to her. Her life before he found her. When she was barely even a child, no longer a baby. The harsh reality she spoke of she knew too well.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Whether it be one year, ten years or twenty years, time held very little meaning to the Slums of the Capital. It was the same in any year, for the most part. Coming off the post-years of the rebellion certainly left stronger sense of fear among the populace. However, life continued the same as it always had. Nothing changed in the end. Before the rebellion still felt the same as after it.

It was always the same. Thievery ran out of control in the streets. Death was just as common. If something happened, no one cared. They had their own life to live and wanted nothing to do with others problem.

That was the general case for people in the underworld, the shadows of the glorious civilization of Atlantis. A few sparks of weak light could still be found, one just had to look hard enough. One such faint sign of hope had adopted an abandoned child. A girl no one wanted.

Still only a baby, barely two years alive in the world, she already saw too much of the ugliness of the world. But she was too young to understand any of it. She could just play and live. It was simple.

Reality forced her to grow up fast. Fate had other plans in store.

“Now wait a minute!” interrupted Yuki. He shifted his position around from Ayumi’s side to stand in front of her. They had a place to be, so he kept walking backwards to keep their pace. “You’re telling me that you remember in detail your life from the age of two? Bull!”

Hardly affected by him anymore, Ayumi stopped her story. It was not the first time he interrupted her to deal with some inconsistency in her story. She could not even get annoyed at it anymore. He was so picky. “No, I don’t remember the details of my life that far back. My first memory is leaving the Slums.”

“Then how are you claiming to know what happened then?”

“I never said I didn’t return back here at anytime. My power’s simple enough to extract the information I need.”

Yuki saw the cold expression in Ayumi’s eyes. “Scary.” The thought of her forcibly hunting down the people with her memories just to know what happened hardly seemed out of character, but still the lengths to go still came off a little shocking. “The way you talk about your life here, it doesn’t seem like something you’d want to remember. Why do you know so much?”

“Because I was looking for something.”

Now she had Yuki’s attention. She could not say something so mysterious and enticing without expecting to get some curiosity. “What were you looking for?”

“It’s personal.” Ayumi walked around Yuki, making her stance on the matter clear.

“What!?” Yuki turned to rush after her. “You can’t just drop something like that and expect me to just let you drop it. It was important enough to you to dredge up your past. What was it?”

She stopped abruptly. Her head turned just enough to meet his gaze. “It’s a private matter.” The finality in her stare said everything else.

Sweating a little and turning a bit blue in the face, Yuki cut his losses and accepted things, for now anyway. “Fine.”

Chapter 240 – The Unwanted Gift

Aella was the woman that took her in off the street. She just found the baby crawling around an alley with no direction. No one seemed to be giving her any notice. They just ignored her. Most had no interest in complicating their life further with an unknown child. However, Aella could not let her just roam.

It was not something that went unnoticed by the others. “What were you thinking, Aella?”

“A child? She’s going to die anyway.”

“She needs someone to watch over her. It’s because she is a child that I’ll give her protection.”

“But she was abandoned.”

“There must be a reason for it.”

“All the more reason to keep her safe. It’s too harsh for a child alone.”

“What if it was because of that.”

“You’re right. She might be one of them, Aella.”

“Does that change the fact she needs help?”

“You’ll regret it.”

Despite the warnings from her neighbors, she continued to watch over the child. They kept talking about her. They tried to convince her to get rid of the baby. It had to be only trouble. No one wanted the baby. She was not even the first person to take her in. Everyone that took her in threw her out just as quickly. There was never a welcome home. Yet Aella kept her.

It was nearly a year. Persistent fear mongering was not enough. Aella resolved herself to the task. Nothing she could imagine would be enough to change her mind. She felt it impossible to break.

However, it was a simple act that revealed the greatest crack to shatter everything. It was not even anything dramatic or threatening. Just an everyday wish.

Everything changed. A frozen time.

Complaining, the baby wanted something. Aella was busy working on dinner for them. She had just enough to keep t hem from not having growling stomachs. Anymore was too much to ask for. “I’m making dinner, dear! Just wait a little bit longer! I know you’re hungry!”

The baby whined again. She seemed to be getting more impatience with Aella. Calming and reassuring words meant nothing. They cried more. “Just a little bit longer.”

Longer was too long for the baby.

Suddenly, the air felt cold and Aella could see her breath. “Why’d it get so cold so suddenly?” Everything in the room was covered in snow an instant later. She stared down at her hands holding what used to be a knife, but now looked like a toy a kid made out of snow. It was impossible. The impossibility quickly turned into a single thought in her mind. She knew, just not who. Fear rattled her bones. “The baby!”

Aella turned around to the table to see her cheerfully playing with the snow. She did not seemed to understand. Rushing over to her, Aella pushed her up quickly. “It’s alright. We just have to hide and they’ll pass by.” The baby whined wanting something, they stretched out their tiny hands to something no longer in their reach. Aella realized quickly they wanted their cup. However, when she picked it up she realized it not one of her cups. It was made from pure crystal so clear it acted like a prism. “This isn’t yours…” She still wanted it and Aella gave into the request since she went quiet.

Taking cover in the furthest part of their snow-filled house was all she could do. The temperatures kept dropping as she tried to keep the baby warm, even though it did not seem to notice even the cold. Aella shivered in the corner praying for it all to end soon. The water in the cup emptied with the baby happy. All of the snow disappeared a moment later with the room warming back up.

It was over.

She sighed with relief. Yet something nagged at her. Aella looked at the baby seeing the cup went missing. It was nowhere to be seen. “You were thirsty huh?” She looked happy and completely oblivious. Aella could only stare at the baby. The missing cup. The snow. The crystal cup. The baby. Each piece suddenly fell into place.

Aella set the baby down on the floor. It paralyzed her knowing it. She understood. It made sense. She stared down the content child, unaware. Aella’s hands shook. The cold she felt still chilled her body only more unnerving than before. She walked to the other corner of the room sliding down as small as possible.

More than an hour passed before she was startled awake to the world. It was a touch from it. The baby’s hand poked her. She tried to grab her finger. It wanted attention. She stared at Aella. It did not understand.

The shaking would not stop. It only seemed to get worse the more it stared at her. She could do only one thing. Aella rubbed her arms trying to warm up. The lingering chill still gripped her tightly.

The baby was alone again. However, everyone knew. Fear fell in quickly. Aella disappeared. Alone she quickly started to understand certain things. Her power responded to her desires. Even alone, she only needed it to survive. It came to be surprisingly useful. She even managed to evade the military searches.

Another year passed.

A stranger in worn cloths stepped into the Slums. They looked like they fit in, but still stood out. Something about them made people naturally wanted to avoid them. He looked aged from years of hard living. “I must be getting close,” he commented. It became very apparent to him passing another block. ‘There’s no one living in any of these homes. Normally, these would all be filled. I’m not even seeing beggars.’

It was a sign.

He knew it all too well. They all gave a silent message. ‘Leave and don’t look back.’ The message did not bother him. He kept walking forward deeper into the ghost town. A paper came out from under his tattered robes. Several notes were carefully written out along with a map. It matched the area he was in.

The stranger stopped in front of the house. He glanced down at the stone steps. Something seemed to have caught his eye. “It’s here.” He walked into the house. It looked abandoned, but with careful signs of life. He walked around the single room searching around before coming to a stop in the middle. Placing a hand on the floor, it suddenly opened with a tunnel.

Descent through the tunnel brought him to the no man zone of the Slums. The area between one layer of the Underground and the next. The area collapsed and built upon. Old never used tunnels formed from the crushing weight of the above on top of leftovers from a dead period. It was too dangerous to go inside with no chance for exits and high chance of cave-ins. Yet a perfect place to hide. It was something the military knew well, yet they still managed to miss it.

He found a wall that stopped him from progressing. “A strong one.” The wall disappeared like it was nothing and he continued. Traps and detours could not stop him. He was in search with no plans to be halted.

“Here you are,” he said, finally reaching the end of the line. He found a child hold up in a corner so far removed it was just as easy to have missed her. The difficulty of reaching made him understand why the Academy had such trouble looking for her. They would have eventually find her, even the best at hiding did not last forever. He was fortunate to have found her first.

Ice spread out everywhere. Cornered, she was not ready to go without a fight. He knelt down holding out his hand. “I’m not from the military. I was looking for you, but I wanted to help you.”

Shards of ice appeared around her looking ready to fire. “No you don’t.” The shards flew at the stranger without anymore warning.

The ice disappeared before even touching him. He smiled a little. “You’ve got a fire in you. That’s good.”

She immediately understood what he was. The signs were clear. She tried to back away even further. “Go away!”

“I don’t want to frighten you any further. I’m only here to help.”

“You’re lying!”

“It’s the truth.” He tried a warm grin for her as a sign of safety. Though he rough appearance made it look more forced than natural. “I want to offer you a new home.”

She shook her head. “No! You’re just saying whatever you want! You want to take me away!”

“I’m not with the military. You already saw before I’m stronger, but I want you to have the choice. They wouldn’t give you one.” He sat down trying to give every sign possible that he meant no threat to her. “You’ve been on the run. No one wants you. You’re afraid of everyone. You can’t trust. I’m sorry you had to learn the cruelty of this world at such a young age. But I’m like you. I know how everything changes and those close to you no longer look at you the same. When they know you can see it in their eyes. You can see their fear. Even when they try to hide it, you can still see it.”

The girl looked at him a little strangely. He realized that he was talking a little too complex for someone barely even child. She was too young to understand everything he said. He had to rewind his steps. “Would you like a home? A place where you’re among those that love you and aren’t afraid? Where you can be yourself?” He offered his hand out to her across the long distance. “Would you come with me?”

She stared at him for a long time. Everyone was always afraid of her. They all knew her and left immediately. The moment they learned nothing was the same again. He was like her. He was not afraid. She felt like he might be telling the truth. She just wanted to be warm again. “I-I’ll…I’ll come.”

He lit up quickly with a wide smile on his face. Jumping over to her and picking her up, he looked even happier than before. “I’ve always wanted a daughter!” He realized that it was a little too fast for her. She already started to look like she regretted the decision. The man set her back down. “Right! Let’s get you out of here. I’ll keep you hidden, so you don’t have to worry about anyone seeing you. You’ll be safe with me!”

It was all a whirlwind and daze for her. She did not know when the Slums changed, but eventually she stood in a gigantic room. It seemed larger than the whole Slums, but it was simply the scale that threw her off. She wandered around the place see a bed and toys, anything she might have wanted.

The stranger threw off his robes, suddenly changing back to his original appearance. His field dropped the disguise. He had an aged appearance, but a much kinder look in his face. Hidden behind it seemed to be something deeper, a darkness. The change startled the girl a little. “Sorry, I can’t use this face around the town, everyone would recognize me.”

“Who are you?” She did not know. Her head tilted a little curious, but seeing the real him actually made her feel more comfortable. The rough appearance gone, he seemed like the warmth she wanted.

“You don’t know?” He was actually surprised, but he was so used to being so will recognized that it only made sense a child would not know. “I’m the King of Atlantis.”

“King? What’s that?”

He laughed a little embarrassed and amused by her innocence. “Just a title with a heavy burden. But more important, what’s your name? I sort of forgot to ask earlier.”

“Name? I don’t have one.”

“What?! That’s terrible! How could no one have given you a name?” He raised his hand up to his face to think for a moment. “You’re name is Eudokia! You’re my daughter starting today!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

A few days passed quickly for Eudokia. The new life was like nothing she ever knew before. She was never hungry and no one feared her. She had a massive room with more things to play with than she could possibly know what to do with. Every day, he came to her room and played with her for hours. Despite him having other duties, he always made time for her. His aides often had to pull him away.

She felt the warmth.

However, after time passed she realized something. “Why can’t I leave this room, daddy?” Every time he left the door was locked. She even tried opening, but found that even with her powers nothing freed her. Inside the room, she was happy, but wanted to see outside.

He smiled at her and patted her on the head. Kneeling down, he came eye-level with her. “The palace is a big place. You’d make me very scared if you got lost.”

“But I want to see the sky.”

The King leaned back a bit forgetting how sheltered of a life the girl had up to moving in with him. She never went out of the Slums. The only sky she was used to seeing was the ceiling of the city. So many experiences that seemed normal were foreign to her. He grinned a little having coming up with an idea. “Ok, I’ll take you outside, but you have to stay with me at all times. Promise?”

“I promise!” Eudokia leapt up to hug him unable to hold in her excitement. “Thank you, daddy!”

Chapter 241 – First Steps

“It’s so big!” she shouted, trying to stretch her hands out to the open blue sky. Her deep green eyes could not be pulled away. It looked to reflect through her. “And it really goes on forever, daddy?”

He could not help but laugh a little. “That’s right. It’s so big you could run after it and never be able to touch it.”

“Wow!”

Just watching her excitement was enough for him. It made him smile. An uncontrollable cough suddenly overtook him. It sounded horrible reaching up from his feet, but it passed quickly. She looked back at him a little surprised. “Just a little cold going around. I’m fine.”

It was not much later that the first meeting happened for her. The King opened the door to Eudokia’s room. He looked very happy. “Eudokia! I’ve got someone I’d like you to meet!”

“Daddy!” She dropped the blocks she played with to run over and hug his leg. “Who is it?” The thought of another face got her energy levels rising.

However, when he stepped aside to let them in, the sight of the new person completely changed the mood. She immediately hid behind his legs the moment she saw his face. Too excited to notice, the King tried to introduce them, but ended up doing so to the air. “This is Demosthenes Alexander.” It took him only another second to realize Eudokia was not in the same spot before. “Where’d you go, dear?”

Standing rigidly at the King’s side, Demosthenes looked like he wanted to receive another order. Yet, the King’s lack of sensing the mood and desperately trying to find his daughter left him out a little out of place. “Your Majesty, the Lady Eudokia is behind you.” He realized that if things went on the King would only look more the fool.

A little embarrassed for not seeing her sooner, he laughed nervously. “Thanks, Demosthenes! How’d she get there?” He still did not see it. He knelt down to pick her up. The shaking in her body immediately became clear to him. “What’s wrong, Eudokia? You’re shaking like a tree.”

“He’s scary.”

He looked a little surprised back at Demosthenes, still strictly maintaining his discipline. “What this guy? He’s an old softy.” The King rubbed Demosthenes’ head while he failed to react. “See, he won’t do anything bad to you.” He poked Demosthenes a little in the cheek trying to show his daughter.

She was not convinced and tried to hide behind the King as much as possible. “He’s got scary eyes.”

“What?! No…” He looked over at Demosthenes staring quite intently at him, getting almost uncomfortable close. “Maybe you’re right. Demosthenes, do something about those eyes of yours. You’re scaring my daughter.”

“Yeah!” Eudokia added in for extra measure. She immediately lowered herself back down afterwards just in case of retaliation.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. This was the face I was born with.”

The King slapped him on the back trying to get him to budge from his statue-like posture. “You’re too serious, old friend! I’m always telling you, you need to loosen up!”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Your Majesty.”

A little annoyed by Demosthenes resistance, the King turned to his daughter. He started to whisper to her suspiciously. “Think that’ll help?” She nodded slightly to him, clearly nervous about whatever he told her. “Demosthenes, I order you to sit down here, seiza style.”

“Seiza, Your Majesty?”

“Japanese! Whatever, just sit down and don’t move. Also close your eyes.”

Demosthenes’ eyes finally slid over to look at the King. He wanted to see the look on his face. Though the man tried to hid it, there was clearly a mischievous plot hiding behind the innocent face. However, the man was his superior and King. “Yes, Your Majesty.” All he could do was obey and pray his Majesty’s eccentricity did not go too far.

“There! I think that improves him a lot, don’t you?”

“No, he needs more there, daddy!” Eudokia had started to get really into part way through. She directed most of the efforts now.

“I think you’re right!”

“Your Majesty?”

“I thought you were a statue, Demosthenes. Statues don’t complain.”

“Yes…Your Majesty.”

“All done!” The King nodded to himself with pride. He looked over to Eudokia. She looked pleased as well. Summoning up a mirror, he handed it over to Demosthenes. “What you think? I think I really does wonders to improve that scary face of yours.”

Even Demosthenes’ stoic, rigid nature cracked a little beholding the paint job done to his face. He turned a little blue as depression set in. The father and daughter pair seemed especially happy with the results. “Yes…Your Majesty.” He resigned himself.

“So Eudokia, what you think? He friendly now?”

“Yeah, daddy!” She had trouble not laughing for more than a few seconds.

“So let’s do those introductions once more. This Demosthenes Alexander.”

“De-De-Dem…Alice?” Eudokia received help from her father in trying to say his name. It continued to only come up with mixed results. “…mos…hand…er…Moss head! Moss head!”

Demosthenes’ inner self screamed and cracked. He did not know how to react. She seemed so pleased to have gotten his name…wrong. He sighed in silence. “Lady Eudokia…”

With the introduction out of the way and Eudokia content, the two old men stepped out of the room. The King’s playful expression dropped the moment the door closed. “You understand your orders?”

“Yes. I’ll watch over her in your stead when you’re unable.”

“More than that, Demosthenes. I want you watching the eyes that watch me as well.” He looked around the hall. “No one can know about her, not until the time is right.” A coughing fitting broke out in the middle of his orders.

Demosthenes quickly moved to help him out. “Are you alright? It’s getting worse isn’t it?”

He recovered quickly from the interruption as though it never happened. “Yes, but it’s only brief.” The look in Demosthenes’ eyes told him enough of his concern. “Don’t make that face. We both knew this day was coming. I’ve known my fate since I’ve become King. Keep looking to the future, not regretting the past.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“So, the King…my father, was sick?” Yuki interrupted. The story seemed like it was concluding anyway. There was little more he could gain from her story. Plus, they had arrived at their destination. “Is that what…killed him?”

Ayumi manipulated her field to create a wood door in the support column of the palace. She opened it up granting them access to the interior. A simple, but massive chamber filled with nothing but gigantic columns spaced every three meters. Along the wall was a stairwell, the long climb up. Once Yuki was inside, the door closed and then disappeared. “That’s correct. Though the council plotted against him for years, it was that that actually took his life.”

They started up the stairs. It seemed like a very long walk. “But with your power can’t you just make medicine to fix him?”

“There was no medicine to cure him. It was beyond our control.”

Yuki paused on the stairs. ‘There’s something beyond their power? What could it be?’ The thought of some disease killing the King consumed his thoughts. It was something he lived with for years. He looked up at Ayumi. ‘He was so important to her. How can she still be moving forward after losing someone so important?’ Yuki had seen moments of weakness out of her in desperate times, but he never saw her sad over his death. He wondered how she held herself together, was it revenge?

Inside the Titan’s room, Demosthenes appeared before them once more. The gathered Titans sat around their table. Rheia already had an eager look in her eye that she did not try to hide. They watched the reports all closely enough. It was obvious what was coming. “I’m granted you all permission to act. The defense of the Capital is now in your hands. Keep them from entering.”

Grinning with excitement, Rheia leaned back in her chair. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Defense? I’m not interested in defending dirt,” commented Nereus. He still had the same disinterested expression on his face. Even the threat of the invasion breaching the Capital did nothing for him. However, he did see the look he got from the General. “But if it is an order, I’ll do it. Hopefully, they prove to at least to be human.”

Glykeria bounced in her chair. She held onto her doll, no longer combing it’s hair. “I hope they have someone that’s fun to play with.”

“They have some interesting abilities, “Teris remarked. “It should be different.”

Ourias looked the most serious about the situation. Something bothered him deep inside. “I won’t allow them to step a single foot inside.”

“According to the last reports, they should arrive in the next hour or two. Depart immediately.” Demosthenes turned away. “I’ve ordered all other soldiers to hold back. You’ll have them to yourselves.” He left the room already with something set on his mind.

Rheia stood up from the chair once he left. “Alright! Pick your targets! I don’t want anyone trying to take the same one!” She drew her finger across the table, dragging on the profiles with her. “This one’s mine, the rest are for you.” Walking out of the room, she smirked a little. ‘You better be everything your report makes you out to be or I’m going to be very disappointed.’

A little over an hour had passed in waiting. The five Titans stood outside of the main gate to the Capital. Their waiting finally ended. The intruders appeared in the distance.

“So we didn’t find Yuki here,” commented Seiji, still looking very tired from last night’s fight. “We didn’t pass him up back there?” He looked back towards the way they came.

“Seiji,” called Saki, trying to get him to quiet down.

“What? We’re looking for Yuki.”

“We have a new problem.”

“Huh?” He looked forward to see what bothered Saki. Five figures all in the same white uniforms they came to expect from the MPs of Atlantis. However, they had a completely different look from all of the rest that they faced. They did not even try to hide or use any other ambush tactics. He could feel the difference in the atmosphere. “New problems, are right.”

As they kept moving closer, they exercised caution. It was too late to back away, they all got the sense running away was pointless. Simonides was the first to react out of the normal humans, when they were close enough for him to see them clearly. “They sent the Titans?!”

Everyone looked back at Simonides, who actually looked shaken by their presence. However, it was Nerine that lost her composure. Sweat covered her body. “Titans?! Why them?” The longer she stared at them the more frightened she got. Stories alone were enough for her. Nerine glanced over at the Captain. “You were right, sir. They could bring ruin to Atlantis. We can’t fight them!”

Yumi felt a little warm from the weight of their words. They managed to get victory up to now, but they felt like nothing she saw from the others. “I don’t think we’re going to have much of a choice.”

Grinding his teeth together, Simonides saw each of the Titan members, recalling all of them. However, worst of all it was her. “Even Commander Rheia is out. Things must be bad if they allowed her out.”

Saki stared out at the line up of opponents. One of them seemed to be very interested in her. She could see their eyes only saw her, rest were just trash to be ignored. “How bad are we talking?”

“She’s the third most powerful and peerless among everyone even in the Titans.”

“That bad…well at least the strength is meaningless.”

“But no one knows what her powers are, I don’t have any information on her.” Public information on the Titans was thin to begin with and their powers were all carefully guarded. Most knowledge was just vague rumors, nothing to trust.

Rubbing her hands together, Saki tried to get the tension that built up out of her body. Everything they kept saying only made things worse. “It’s not like we ever went in knowing what they could do in the past. This won’t be any different.”

Yumi stepped out a little from all of them. She tilted her head back towards her friends. “We’re within reach. Yuki is here somewhere. They are the last thing stopping us. Let’s end things, find Yuki and finally go home!”

Across the Capital, inside the walls of the palace another wooden door opened. Ayumi and Yuki surfaced from their long walk out into a massive square. On the left stood the majestic structure of the Kings and the right a wall locking them inside. Ahead however, Demosthenes stood awaiting their arrival.

He stepped forward declaring his presence to them both. A spear already rested in his hand, propped up against his shoulder. “I figured you’d come in this way…Eudokia.”

“Demosthenes…”

Yuki could not hold himself back any longer than a second. The sound of the man’s voice was enough to set off the trigger. An image of Kazuhiro appeared in his head. He needed nothing more. A ripple exploded out from Yuki as he blasted forward. “Demosthenes Alexander! I’m going to KILL YOU!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

No one seemed to be making a move. The Titans remained in a line-up, the wall to hold back the tide. The intruders clumped together poorly with a clear view of uncertainty. Talked up big, the Titans made them a little uneasy. Atmosphere from their presence alone was enough to make them understand the difference in them stacked up against all of the others they faced. None of them had the same sort of look in their eyes from what they were used to seeing. They all have very different looks like they were only pretending to be soldiers because it made the others feel better. Something about them made it clear that there was no controlling them.

A frightening, unsettling aura came from each of them.

Yumi looked through the group at Simonides, as always he tried to remain the most hidden. The hood over his face made him the most conspicuous of the group, but it protected his identity. Keeping his face hidden was more important as it maintained his faked death. Most times, he managed to stay out of battle and away from the sights of the Omega soldiers, so he remained safe. “Do you have anything you can provide on them to help us?”

A short pause from him did not provide confidence. He already made it clear before that he knew nothing about their Commander. “I know only what they’ve allowed to be public information. The Titans are a closely guarded group sent out only when there is no one else and all other solutions have failed. They are the problem solvers. It wouldn’t be very advantageous for them if their methods were known.”

Crossing her arms looking a little bothered, Rheia changed her sights. “No need for such a pathetic disguise, Captain Simonides.”

The group was all caught by surprise, but no more so than Simonides. His face hardened up quickly, to try to hold onto what remained of his composure. ‘This is Rheia we’re dealing with. She probably just used her power to see through. It was bound to happen I knew, but I thought it’d be through a slip up. Damn…’ No longer needing to hide himself, he removed the hood. The exposed position was not lost on him. He could see Rheia understood just as well.

“That’s better. So you’ve decided to turn traitor? Or have you always been the traitor? Perhaps the mastermind behind all of this? Your codling methods no longer working with the pups?”

‘She’s well informed.’ Keeping up the front against Rheia proved to be more difficult than he first imagined. “I’m honored that the leader of the Titans would know so much about a simple border Captain.”

“Always giving me too little credit. So what is it? I’m curious why the ‘perfect’ Simonides would become so dirty. Your naivety finally run out?”

“I only act in the interests of Atlantis.”

Grinning like a cat, he had her curiosity. Rheia leaned a little wanting more. “This should be interesting. Do tell me more.”

“I’m protecting Atlantis and its citizens.”

“Really? Last I checked, the people next to you are the ones causing the trouble. They’re the ones that Atlantis is needing protected from.”

“I have my doubts. I’ll learn if there is truth to my fears soon.”

“Oh? This gets more and more interesting by the moment.” Rheia wanted to know more, but it was not going to happen.

Taking the chance to end things, Saki disappeared. Rheia vanished for a moment as well. An explosive blast erupted from the middle between both parties. Saki appeared along with Rheia, though Saki’s eyes were wide with surprise. “What?!” Rheia stopped her completely in her tracks with only an open palm. All of the excess energy tore behind Rheia as a gale.

Excitement lit up Rheia’s face in the sight of Saki. “I’m glad I picked you. Show me everything you’ve got!”

Chapter 242 – Pick Your Partner

“What?! That’s impossible!” shouted Seiji from the sidelines. “How can she block a punch from Saki?”

Everyone was in so much shock that none of them had a reply, even if they might have had an answer. The one they relied upon to keep everyone off their back the last few days was effortlessly stopped. A terrible sign revealed itself. Further proof the fight ahead of them would be their toughest yet.

Yumi snapped back first ahead of the other. She already tried to understand what happened. The first guess came from their experience with fighting Simonides. “It might be like when we fought with you before, but the timing of everything doesn’t look right.” All of it happened too quickly for her to even see.

“Her fist never made contact,” commented Chiharu. Unlike the others, her eyes were well-tuned to faster and more subtle details. “It’s not the sealing of powers like before. This is all just use of their powers for dramatic effect. From this distance, it looks like she was stopped, but there was a thin gap between them that her fist hit, just made to appear like she blocked the attack.”

“Then what about her movements?” asked Fumiko, her eyes were okay, but nothing like Chiharu’s. She never was able to see Saki when she actually moved when she meant it. “The woman moved just as a fast it seemed, which shouldn’t be possible.”

Unfortunately, it was where things ended for Chiharu. She could only analyze what she saw. Rheia remained a mystery. “I couldn’t see her movements. In her case, she literally disappeared and then reappeared. I don’t know how she managed to cover the distance or move to the correct location to counter the attack.”

Seiji looked back at the two women. Saki tried greater punches of strength. The results against Rheia remained the same, the woman was unmoved. It was only through the environment that anyone knew Saki tried. The first attempt was only a gale, but the second flattened all of the grass behind Rheia, the third ripped up the earth and the fourth tore everything into a crater. “Which means even Saki didn’t see her. She’s dealing with someone that can counter her speed and strength, the only special power she has.”

Everything she threw was meaningless. It annoyed Saki. The fight would be extended, dragged out, prolonged. She wanted things over quickly. It was impossible. ‘Everyone I’ve dealt with up to this point hasn’t tried to fight me head-on before. They’ve always had their tricks to keep me away from them once they realized, but this woman… She’s different. She wants me close…’ Saki backed a step away needing to find a different tactic.

Glancing behind her, Rheia admired the massive crater. ‘Anymore and she would have broke into the under city. Impressive power…’ The scale did not have any effect on her emotions. She still looked excited. The brief encounter gave her a good feeling about Saki. She might have finally found it, but she needed to test her. Rheia threw out her arm towards the Titans behind her, who remain unmoved the entire time. “The rest are yours.” It was the signal.

The Titans moved.

The Siege of the Capital began.

“Come! Things are not over yet!” beckoned Rheia, appearing to retreat. She vanished and reappeared numerous times not following a direct line, but a direction. The direction took her to the gigantic walls of the Capital. She stood on the side, as she seemed fond of doing, staring down at Saki, who stood on the remaining ground around the base of the city walls.

Motioning with her arm to the wall, she opened the invitation to Saki. “I’ll provide you with steps.” Suddenly, seams appeared all over the wall that held perfectly with no damage from the weather or age. It was not cracks, but like cuts through the wall. Massive blocks easily weighing thousands of kilos slipped out from their centuries of sleeping.

Shadows fell over Saki as she stared up at the sight. Dodging it all would be simple, but it still made her eyes widen a little. Perfect five-meter cubes began to rain down on her position. The size alone made her pause and then the fact that this woman destroyed the city’s wall just to do it. ‘Simonides’ fear…’ Saki had a quick explanation given to her on why Atlanteans joined their group. She had her doubts even if she felt he believed sincerely what he said. It all made sense to her now. ‘He was right…I need to try to end this quickly before it gets out of control…’

Saki narrowed her eyes and hardened her emotions. She needed to be focused. The fight ahead of her was nothing like the past. She knew from just looking at her face. Others seemed bloodthirsty or fight hungry, they all wanted something, but the woman was different. She was not battle starved like the rest. She had a desire, but she could not see it clearly. All of her attention was focused on Saki, she saw her completely. It was as if she had an expectation. She wanted her to meet something. Saki did not like the strangeness she felt from her eyes.

Disappearing, Saki appeared on the nearest falling block and leapt off it. The force sent the block hurdling down to the ground blasting out another crater until a strange heavy ring echoed from the bottom. Saki kept jumping, shooting the blocks off into different directions away from the Capital. Explosions of earth appeared all around in the distant horizon.

Landing on the broken wall, Saki stared over at Rheia. “I’m here. Steps were unnecessary.”

“Maybe so, but will you still be here in ten seconds?”

Down on the ground, Nerine had to use her power to keep one of the blocks from hitting nearby. It made Seiji blink, mostly because his strength was not back. He was pretty sure he could have dealt with it, but the speed was an uncertainly. Only Nerine’s quick forethought after the first one saved them. “Thanks, Nerine.” Above them, the fight only seemed to be getting warmed up. “Damn that Saki! She’s going to be just as much of a danger as them the way she’s fighting!”

“Oh, you look like you might be fun! Do you dance or will you just run?” a singsong voice said from within the group. Childish giggle came out as everyone jumped back in surprise to find that the child Titan appeared amongst them. She was small, enough to make even Chiharu not feel like a child in her group. Everyone stared down at the grinning pink haired child. She seemed like she merely wanted to play and looked for someone that would take her out to the playground.

“What the hell?!”

“How did she?”

“Lieutenant Commander Glykeria…” muttered Simonides.

Glykeria suddenly popped out of smoke on top of Simonides’ shoulders, as if he was her father giving her a ride. She bopped him on the head playfully. “No, silly-willy Simon-Lemon, you’re not supposed to do the introduction for me.” Simonides tried to recover from the surprise, but she already left back to her spot. She spun around for them showing her light yellow sundress and matched well with her single ponytail pinked hair held back with a yellow ribbon woven through her hair. “I’m the cute and adorable Glykeria! Age nine and two-tenths!”

“Wouldn’t that be one-fifth?” Yori inserted lowly.

“It’s a great super amazing pleasure!” She smiled at them with bubbly energy. If appearance could be judged, she seemed like a normal nine-year a little desperate for attention and containing a bit too much energy. Yet they all knew it to be wrong. She was a Titan, a monster behind that smile.

The rest of the Titans came walking in as though none of it mattered. Speed was unimportant. Not even the dangerous battle between Saki and Rheia held any significance. “Quit messing around Glykeria and make your pick,” the red-haired Nereus demanded, already short with Glykeria’s antics.

The child looked ready to cry staring up at Nereus’ stern rock like face. It never happened. “Fine! Sour puss, Neruss!” A giant stuff bear appeared lifting her up a full three meters into the air to tower over everyone. She rested on the shoulders of the bear. Her arm threw down pointing at her target. “I want to play with you!” The bear grabbed up Fumiko and leapt into the air taking them far out of sight.

“Fumiko!” several of the group shouted in vain, already beyond stopping the child. It happened without any warning.

Nereus stepped forward staring down through everyone. Water erupted from the air attempting to surround Chiharu, but she appeared out on top of it. A slight movement in his eyes seemed to acknowledge her position. “You seem alive.”

Holding her thoughts away from her face, she had mixed feelings on him. ‘He seemed to only be looking at me now and not before, like I was invisible. What’s with him?’ Chiharu was also not sure about his comment. Regardless, the act was clear enough. “So you’ve made your pick.”

Almost bored looking, he started walking away. “I was given the choice, you had the best chance. I’ll see if it was right.” His attitude was so different from Rheia that it threw off the group. It seemed like he did not even want to be fighting, it was only by order that he was standing on the field.

Everything about him made Chiharu even more curious. She landed on the ground and followed after him. It was almost polite, if it was not like he did not seem to care. However, she still knew if she tried to break for the Capital he would chase her down. He did not want to be here, but still did what he was told. ‘Strange one…’

Extending a finger suddenly, Teris pointed out Haruo. It was another one of the strange looks. “You’re the one that uses animals to fight right?” Typical Haruo only gave him a nod. “Some sort of spiritual power and it’s real according to the reports. Very fascinating. Something scientifically unproven. I want to see this up close.” Almost as if he was ordered, Haruo started walking off with Teris without a question.

The remaining group with Yumi could only stare at what was most certainly a very Haruo action, yet still strange to watch. However, the last Titan broke their stares.

“I’m the last line,” started Ourias. “I won’t allow any of you to pass.” He made himself the wall between the intruders and the Capital. “Don’t try to cross and you will remain safe. I can’t make the promise if you attempt to get to the Capital.”

Yumi stepped forward already knowing her position. Everyone in the group with her was not in a position to fight. Seiji and Nerine were the closest, but with their weakened states it would not be smart to let him fight. She had to stand for them. No one else could do it. “I’m afraid we can’t do that. We must get to the Capital.” The sword had almost complete become part of her. She rarely realized it was with her even though it still ran through her hand and chest.

Ourias stared at Yumi, his brow twisting a little. “Children should not be here. I’m giving you your last warning.”

Another step closer, she moved to Ourias. She fixed her sights upon him unflinching, despite her situation. “I’m no child. I lost those rights when I stepped into this country.” Yumi presented a solid game face for him. It was no mere words. Her presence backed her up.

Hesitation delayed him, but he accepted quickly. “I see. You’re correct.” He read into her features and lines of her face. ‘I didn’t expect to find someone like this among them. She’s mature. She understands the meaning of consequences and the weight to them. She’s willing to carry it all.’ It was the acceptance. The odds against her, she still stood in front of him. He could not ignore such resolve. “Fine. If you wish to test the sincerity of my words then I shall have to make them truth! All others are not allowed to interfere.”

Part of the sidelines, Yori did not understand what was happening. His sister stood up against one of the Titans without any powers. She could do nothing to him. “Yumi! What are you thinking?”

She began walking to Ourias in her defiance of his law. “What I must, brother. You can’t stop me.” Yumi broke out into a sprint going straight for Ourias.

“Yumi!” He could not stop her. She was already beyond him. It was out of reach. He could do nothing to prevent her from going to her death. ‘Why am I so powerless?! I’m always useless!’ Yori recalled all of the times he wanted to help his sister. The cave-in with the school, the Atlantean village, the ambush and the escape. He never did anything. He was unneeded. Someone always did what he wanted.

Yori looked over to the others, realizing he was not alone. “Seiji! You can do it! You can stop, Yumi! Save her from getting herself killed!”

Next to Yori, Seiji knelt down on one knee looking more tired than earlier. “I’d like to, but I can’t seem to move.” His body looked to be shaking, struggling against an unknown force.

“What?!” It was then that he realized, it was not his own fear or helplessness that paralyzed him, but the same thing that held back Seiji. Yori quickly knew it was the Titan’s doing. “Miss Nerine!”

“I’m not strong enough, he’s completely overwhelmed my field. I won’t be able to reach her.”

‘Damn! Damn! Damn this world! Damn everything!’ He wished he was not so useless. He did not want a world where he had to watch his sister die and he was unable to protect her. ‘I’m supposed to be the one that protects you! It’s my job! I promised! I promised her, I’d protect you!’

Yori’s body held firm forcing him to watch Yumi beat up by Ourias because she had to protect everyone. Each failed attempt by her made it that much worse for him to watch. ‘I don’t want to be on the sidelines anymore! I don’t want to be protected! Damn you stupid bastard, Yuki! Why didn’t you give me any power so I could stop this from happening?!’

Blood dripped down Yumi’s face, still determined to keep standing back up. Her unwillingness to stop made the situation worse. Ourias did not make light of his declaration. Her body shook and wobbled, but she kept going forward. All she had was her fist to throw, the fist that never landed.

“Stop!” A wind suddenly tossed up around Yori. “I…can’t!” Yori clenched his fists in frustration at his uselessness. He had nothing. He wanted something. Anything. He did not care. ‘Can you hear me, you bastard?! I don’t like you. I don’t trust you. You destroyed the world and gave Yumi powers. You ruin lives. But I don’t care anymore. I’ll take anything, even if it is from you! Give me the power to save my sister!’

Yori screamed aloud his frustration. The ground started to shake under his feet. Wind blew away from him alerting those around him to the reaction. Sparks ignited in the air, as everything suddenly seemed to become heavy. The very air seemed dense almost impossible to breathe. “Damn you, you bastard! Yuki Hayashi!”

Wind whipped around Yori’s hair blocking out his eyes for a moment. In the next, everything was solid white. The iris, pupil, everything was missing. A couple of veins around his forehead protruded to visibility. Yori leaned forward trying to fight the power that held him down. “You won’t stop me!”

Suddenly, Yori disappeared only for Yumi to appear in his place looking very confused. Across the field, Yori took over Yumi’s place still yelling completely blind on emotions. “I won’t let you harm her anymore!” A black barrier appeared in front of him shattering, but blocking the incoming attack meant for Yumi. In the next instant, Yori grabbed out at the shattered pieces of the barrier taking one piece in each of his hands. The pieces suddenly grew into transparent swords. “Hayashi bastard!” Yori swung down on an off-guard Ourias.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Yori screamed aloud his frustration. The ground started to shake under his feet. Wind blew away from him alerting those around him to the reaction. Sparks ignited in the air, as everything suddenly seemed to become heavy. The very air seemed dense almost impossible to breathe. “Damn you, you bastard! Yuki Hayashi!”

Wind whipped around Yori’s hair blocking out his eyes for a moment. In the next, everything was solid white. The iris, pupil, everything was missing. A couple of veins around his forehead protruded to visibility. Yori leaned forward trying to fight the power that held him down. “You won’t stop me!”

Suddenly, Yori disappeared only for Yumi to appear in his place looking very confused. Across the field, Yori took over Yumi’s place still yelling completely blind on emotions. “I won’t let you harm her anymore!” A black barrier appeared in front of him shattering, but blocking the incoming attack meant for Yumi. In the next instant, Yori grabbed out at the shattered pieces of the barrier taking one piece in each of his hands. The pieces suddenly grew into transparent swords. “Hayashi bastard!” Yori swung down on an off-guard Ourias.

Muttering something, a wall of thick vines sprouted out of the earth acting as protection. The vines started to wrap around black swords in Yori’s hands. He ripped through the vines before they reached his hands. Pieces of the vines fell at his feet twitching only to suddenly grow up after him. “Tch! Don’t think this’ll be enough to protect you!”

From the sidelines, Yumi stared in shock at seeing her brother completely consumed by his rage. It was such a foreign sight for her. ‘He’s normally so calm and in control…what’s gotten into him?’ She completely ignored the fact that he suddenly had powers.

Ourias took a step back keeping their distance even. However, Yori did not plan to let him escape his reach. The sword stretched around the vines aiming directly for him. Inside his clouded mind, he could not hear Ourias speaking. A semi-opaque block shifted in to absorb the impact, preventing the attack from connecting.

Grinding his teeth in annoyance, the man kept stopping his attacks. He needed something different. Yori threw out his arm in an arch. The vines in his way suddenly fell to the ground crushed by an unknown force. Cleared away, Yori brought his hands together clapping them. A black light pierced through the gaps in his fingers. He slowly pulled his hands away revealing a tiny black sphere.

Exposed, the atmosphere around the sphere dragged in towards the form. Wind reversed with a suction force coming from the sphere. The sphere quickly grew in size becoming palm-sized. “All the defense you can mutter won’t be enough to save you!” spat Yori. Small chunks of the earth ripped up near to the Yori’s feet. Debris lifted into the air starting to swirl around the growing mass in his hands. Streams of black light broke from the sphere signaling a sudden expansion.

Now a diameter greater than his waist, the effect the sphere had on the environment became more pronounced. The forces increased with the pull making it difficult for those normal humans to hold their position without keeping up an effort.

Wrinkles raked across Yori’s face. Strain stressed every corner of his expression. The pure white of his eyes made him appear more like a wild beast than a human. All reason lost only instinct and emotion. A being filled, consumed by rage.

All of the gathered energy in his hands unleashed on Ourias without any warning. Old walls jumped up in its path, but the black sphere blew through them with little effort. The chunks of shattered cement dragged behind it. Steel beams fell down rapidly followed by a strange liquid coating the whole surface. Nothing stopped it.

Yori’s face darkened further. “I told you nothing will stop me!”

Suddenly from far outside of the battle, several thin metal long needle-like objects flew in piercing the black orb. A reaction occurred inside exploding beams of black light before the whole thing collapsed upon itself. Moments later, shockwaves ripped through the area knocking everyone off their feet.

A heavy cloud from the explosion covered the whole area. Yori stared angry and confused. Through the cloud, a figure appeared walk towards him. “I finally found you,” a familiar voice said through the smoke. “I searched, tracked you across all of Atlantis. I made a vow that I would not stop until I found you.” Out of the white veil stepped Athene in a metal infused blue dress glowing with a mysterious power. “This is the end for you, Yori Mizuno!”

Chapter 243 – Internal Freedom

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 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!”

Yumi tried to do something about everything that happened, but naturally, without her powers she was on the sideline the entire time. She could only shout out for her brother as he disappeared from her sight. Everything turned into a mess quicker than she could follow. ‘He’s got powers too now? I assumed he did since everyone did, but he never used them before. How long has he been able to use them?’ More important matters came up for her to change her focus. Ourias marched on her to resume their one-sided fight. Yumi tried to prepare herself.

“Do you still plan to resist?”

She looked a little surprised at him. The question was not meant to be intimidating. He was genuine. “Eh!?” It caught her off guard that he still seemed uninterested in fighting.

“Surrender yourself now and nothing further needs to happen.”

The offer still laid out for her. However, nothing changed for Yumi. “I still have things I must do and they are behind you.”

“I cannot allow you into the Capital.”

“So we’re back to the same place we were before.”

“It would appear to be the case.”

“Then I will fight to the last drop of blood in my body!”

Ourias sighed. Something came from him that she did not understand. Everything that remained from his exchange with Yori disappeared. A clean slate. “It should not be children here like this, but perhaps it’s a sign of the times.”

Prepared as will as she could, Yumi dropped into a weak stance. She had no official martial training like the others. All she could do was copy what she saw others do and in the media. She did not even know if she did it correctly (she wasn’t). “It’s not the times, but the need.”

“Need? You have no need to be here stirring up trouble.”

Yumi wiped away the blood from her forehead that started to dry a little. She remembered how rough it was before for her. Nothing she did reached him. It was like a baby trying to fight an adult. It could not detour her. “That might be the effect, but the cause is different. However, it doesn’t matter what I say. Nothing will change your mind.”

“You’re right. My duty is to protect the city and I won’t allow you to set foot inside. All you bring in your wake is destruction.”

“Sadly that is the case, but I hope one last act of destruction is all that is needed to reach the truth!” She knew it was all talk for her. There was no chance for her to be able to do something against Ourias. Chance or choice did not play in to it. She had to do it. ‘Some way, things will work out. It’s not really logical or strategic, but I can only do what I can as I am.’

Suddenly the gravity disappeared from around Yumi or rather it seemed to have reversed. Something pulled her along, but not like a hand. She could only describe it as gravity, the way it weighed on her body. It cut off sharply to leave her suspended for a brief moment before falling back down to the earth.

A few meter fall normally was painful in any normal situation, but the sword part of Yumi jerked her sternum around like it wanted to tear apart her chest. It remained solidly embedded like an extension of her body.

Fresh wounds from her last round with Ourias reopened to spread the dirt in her blood. Yumi coughed trying to get back to her feet. However, sharp vines jumped out of the dirt drawing up new wounds. The first was enough for her to attempt to roll away even as they followed her.

Yumi breathed heavily once more feeling the full mortality of her body. She started to wonder if everything before was merely a dream. This felt normal, how things should be, yet she wished for the way things were. ‘I want my power back! I can’t always be standing behind shouting out orders. I need to stand myself!’

Rocks rained down from above bruising and bludgeoning Yumi. She felt backwards in an effort to escape the attack. Her leg took the worst blow. Yumi yelped aloud grabbing for her injury. ‘Is it broken? I can’t let him beat us here.’ She pushed herself back up. ‘He wouldn’t give up!’ A faint image of Yuki’s back in front of her appeared as a reminder. Yumi forced herself back to her feet. Pain shot up through her leg when she put her weight on it. “I won’t give up!”

Blood dripped over her face once more. The look only re-enforced her resolve. She refused to stop.

Narrowing his expression, Ourias stared at Yumi. The gigantic wall of the Capital stood behind him. Its shadow weighed at him. ‘I do what I must for them. Even the dirtiest of deeds. So that I may in the future stand next to them once more…’ A dark shadow fell over Ourias’ face blotting out his eyes. ‘It must be done. They’re just criminals.’

Vines grew up behind Ourias twisting together quickly. They stretched out speeding into a piercing edge straight for Yumi’s heart, the deathblow. The end. The dirtiest of deeds.

Blood dripped in thin trickles from the vines bunched up in Yumi. Her free hand rested on the spun vines in a failed attempt to stop them from running through her heart.

“You’re right,” she said with her head hung forward covering up her face in a darkened shadow. “You must stand in the front if you want others to follow. No one follows someone cowering in the rear.” An odd laugh came from her.

Ourias turned up his head in confusion. He noticed something did not seem right with the girl.

Suddenly, Yumi’s black hair ran with streaks of red. Coming from the roots of her hair it changed completely. Her hand tightened around the bundle of vines tighter and tighter and crushing them. Torn in two, she ripped out the remains of the vines. Behind her tunic, the wound turned out to be shallow. Yumi pulled her head back revealing green eyes had completely taken over in place of her soft brown. “I would have been done a lot sooner if you hadn’t bothered me so many times.”

‘What’s going on? She stopped the attack with only her hand?’ He ran through the report on Yumi recalling that she once had powers like the others. ‘That’s right, one of Captain Simonides’ men sealed away her power. I picked her hoping that she would see reason and not fight. They’re just kids.’ Yet Ourias sense the sudden change in the air from Yumi. Things were no longer the same as before.

Yumi flexed her hand staring at the state of her body. “She’s started to rub off on you, that woman’s recklessness.” She seemed to be catching up with everything that happened as though waking up from a sleep to find an earthquake and trashed her room. “You’re better off remembering my lessons.” Her free hand stretched out and took hold of the hilt of the sword.

“This is in the way.” The hand pierced by the sword squeezed down sharply completely crushing the blade into pieces. She freed up her hand finally and used it to pull out the remains of the broken blade from her chest. The hilt rested in one hand at her side with the destroy blade at her other side. “Much better!”

Suddenly, a white multi-layered barrier came up around her with hexagonal patterns inlaid. She floated up off the ground as white particles started to emit from her body. “This is your one freebie for keeping our body in piece.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Yumi flexed her hand staring at the state of her body. “She’s started to rub off on you, that woman’s recklessness.” She seemed to be catching up with everything that happened as though waking up from a sleep to find an earthquake and trashed her room. “You’re better off remembering my lessons.” Her free hand stretched out and took hold of the hilt of the sword.

“This is in the way.” The hand pierced by the sword squeezed down sharply completely crushing the blade into pieces. She freed up her hand finally and used it to pull out the remains of the broken blade from her chest. The hilt rested in one hand at her side with the destroy blade at her other side. “Much better!”

Suddenly, a white multi-layered barrier came up around her with hexagonal patterns inlaid. She floated up off the ground as white particles started to emit from her body. “This is your one freebie for keeping our body in one piece.”

Sensing the change in the atmosphere clearly from the different countenance coming off Yumi, Ourias subtly shifted his weight back in preparation for a defensive position. The new hair and eye color made him wonder the change in her meant. Everything he saw was new. Nothing in the many reports said anything about such a transformation.

However, something else bothered him even more than the visible changes. ‘She’s talking to herself. As though there were others to carry a conversation. Is this the true appearance of her power? Has she held this back as a trump card?’ So many questions remained unanswered.

“Who are you?”

Chapter 244 – Modified Freedom

She grinned a little watching the subtle changes in his face. ‘He’s not completely sure of himself, but he feels strongly enough about it.’ It impressed her a little his deductive skills. “Realized already? You’re more observant than the last one, though it’s not like I’m trying to hide it. It’s as you’re thinking. Doctor Sumiko at your service.”

Things only got more complicated for Ourias. She seemed like she looked down at him. The superiority was clear, but also just a sense of maturity earned from years of experience. An unsettling combination. “Doctor? You’re a teenager.”

Sumiko shook her finger a little at him. “At this age I had earned my first doctorate degree, so it’s still appropriate to call me Doctor.”

‘She’s acting like this is not even her body, like she’s borrowing it. What sort of power is this? Will change the powers she’s been shown to have?’ Questions only compounded on top of new questions. It never seemed to end. Even if it did end, there seemed to chance for clarity at the conclusion. The girl was more of a mystery than a moment ago. “You’re saying that this is not your real appearance and that you’re older. What are you?”

Looking around at her body for another quick check, Sumiko nodded. “It’s been a while since I was a teenager and I looked quite a bit different than her. The rest I’ll leave up to your imagination. A woman needs a little mystery.” She winked at him just to accent it, though it completely lacked any sort of charm. It was clearly not her sort of forte

More mystery was not something he needed. He wanted some answers, but he had to settle for what he had. ‘In the end, this doesn’t affect things any differently. She’s still an intruder that must to be stopped.’ If she was a different person from the other she faced, there remained a chance for him. A peaceful settlement would be best. “Since you are not the same person, I’ll ask you. You seem like a reasonable and logical individual.”

It made her giggle a little. She foresaw it. He played too cleanly into her perimeters. “Flattery’s not going to change the situation. Her goal is my goal, so while you may be thinking this has nothing to do with me, it still does. Besides, threat and boast as much as you want, there’s nothing you can do to stop me from entering your city.” The expression in her eyes suddenly shifted becoming serious and ready for a fight. Play was over. “And I assure you, I don’t boast. It’s the simple truth.”

Ourias ground his teeth together in response to her answer. He feared it to be as much, but hoped anyway. If fighting could be avoided, it was the best. Protecting the Capital was their mission, but it was up to him to determine how to care it out. “I’ll protect the Capital! You won’t pass!”

“You’re doing a bad job of that, judging from those two fighting,” Sumiko remarked, pointing out Rheia and Saki’s battle on the Capital’s walls.

“She won’t enter the Capital, any damage to the wall can be easily repaired. There won’t be any deaths while I stand!”

Sumiko suddenly disappeared. Appearing at the side of Ourias, she leaned closer to him. “So you’re that type. There’s always bystanders, innocents caught up in the middle. There will be deaths, even if you don’t know them, even if they aren’t reported, even if you didn’t see them die.”

The Atlantean jumped away from Sumiko, clearing out his personal space. “The earth transformed into hardened spikes lashing out at its foe.” In front of him, the grass transformed into a darkened mass that stretched out for Sumiko becoming spikes. She disappeared again, never touched by the attack. “You know nothing about death!”

Dropping back at her original spot, Sumiko appeared to Ourias’ sight. Her face darkened drastically in response to him. “Making assumptions are very bad. You’ve painted an image of me in your head already based on what I’ve told you, but you couldn’t be more wrong. I’m very familiar with death, more than you.” The white barrier around Sumiko shattered into hex pieces. Hexagon shards spun around her. Each piece blended together speeding up to appear like a ring around her.

She began to float closer to Ourias. Her presence had completely changed. A strange darkness seemed to surround her. It was not a menacing appearance. It was not evil, even if it could have easily been confused as one. Just reality, cold hard, unforgiving, unbending, inflexible, unrelenting reality. It was truth. Blunt as a hammer. “I have another name, a name those that survived call me, Doctor Death. Uncreative, but no less accurate. Billions have died by my hands. I caused the near extinction of an entire civilization. So trust me when I say I know a few things about death and reality. Blindness to reality doesn’t excuse you from its consequences.”

The woman’s presence actually unnerved Ourias in a way that he did not think possible. Ignoring the fact that he was an adult, the things he saw in the academy felt like staring in the heart of evil at times. The cold and merciless life almost seemed like they designed it to prepare him for the future. His future, one of blame and prejudice. He thought he understood, but one look into Sumiko’s eyes was enough for him. He was certain he saw the blood of billions in her eyes, ever flowing for all eternity unable to after be washed away. Yet staring at her, he did not see any of the same darkness he felt from within the Capital. She was complex and nothing made sense anymore to him.

He knew nothing. It was how he felt.

Cold chills ran through his spine. Ourias already felt like he lost to her without the fight even starting. An indescribable weight crushed her, yet she still moved as though it was nothing. It should have been crushing her. Resolve was the only he could see.

Caught within his hesitation, Ourias did not see the attack coming until it was almost too late. Hexagonal discs flew at him, narrowly missing their target. He felt flat on his back to avoid a lethal strike. However, he realized a second later that he was not safe yet. They turned around coming back for him. “The semi-opaque discs suddenly became like water and evaporated into the air.” Before even reaching him, Sumiko’s white discs turned to a white liquid, but barely started to fall before turning to vapor.

“You have a very interesting power there. It’s a lot more flexible and intelligent use than others that I’ve seen.”

A bit of surprise came across Ourias’ face. She had figured out his power already, but that was not what surprised him. It was a natural thing to figure out after a couple uses of his power. He knew how transparent his power was to others. Out of any of the powers, it was the simplest to understand, but none of that was the problem. ‘She shouldn’t be able to understand me. I purposely adjusted the field for that reason.’

“I can understand Atlantean Greek. I figured it out a while ago, so while your clever trick worked on her, it won’t fool me.” She found it an interesting complication to his power. He actually divided his speech into two groups. Normal conversation was translated, but anything related to controlling his powers remained in Atlantean Greek. It was only something that could fool a foreigner. “Controlling anything you want within your field is the most logical use when you’re dealing with the unknown. Though making it speech driven is your flaw.”

The shock boiled off Ourias after her expectation. It only made things fair. “You can’t change what I’ve spoken to pass. There is no flaw.”

“You’re confident in your power. I’ll reveal to you the weaknesses.” The hexagonal discs materialized around Sumiko once more. Their movements became so fast that they appeared in multiple locations and then disappeared. “The first flaw requires you to speak for an action. If you can’t speak in time, you can’t negate my attack.”

Ourias remained standing, despite the attack made by Sumiko. It moved too fast for him to see, but nothing happened to him. A large stone hand appeared in front of him. Smoke trailed off the hand from the attacks made. “My power isn’t so simple.” Traced back, the arm led to the earth where a mound raised from the flat surface. The mound grew larger taking on a human like shape.

“A golem,” she noted. She saw the very clear contradiction, but understood everything he did had rules to follow. It came to her quickly. “You can set actions in reserve that have conditions for activating. Clever, planning ahead. I’ll grant you the point for covering for your flaw, but you can have only so many stored actions you’ve made. It’ll be exhausted eventually.”

“But you don’t think I haven’t foreseen all areas of weakness.”

Sumiko grinned at the challenge. ‘This is going to be a little more effort than I gave him credit for. Doesn’t change anything. I can still see the victory!’ Little changed for Sumiko. Adjusting a move, realigning path, it was all just a simple step.

Testing out the golem, more discs appeared around her. They flew directly at the golem. She watched it carefully. The actions and movements were important to her. Nothing from the attacks seemed to harm the golem, but she did not care about any of it.

Amidst her investigation, Ourias did not remain silent. He already started an offensive against her. Black bands materialized around her moving in to restrain her. However, she disappeared before it got close to her. ‘I need to stop that speed of hers if I’m to do anything in this fight.’

A silver metallic sphere appeared in front of Ourias. It darted forward almost becoming a blur. Sumiko evaded it, but saw that turned around quickly. It would not leave her wake for long and kept pace with her. She began jumping around with bursts of speed. Her discs just bounced off it, when she tried to destroy it.

“However, the metal sphere suddenly disappeared, moving faster than her sight, slamming into the woman with enough force to draw blood.”

As commanded, the sphere acted as spoken. Sumiko lost sight of it unable to dodge the new speed it presented. It embedded itself in her stomach nearly folding her over it before throwing her out of control. Clouds of dirt coughed up from the earth as Sumiko’s body pounded, skipped and carved through the land, eventually coming to a stop.

Smoke slowly drifted through the space waiting on Sumiko. Her figure finally appeared through the veil of debris. Stains and dirt seemed the worst to have happened. Sumiko made it back to Ourias undeterred by him. “So you can modify as well, not surprising.” A drip of blood suddenly streamed down her lips, as a delayed reaction from her restraining everything. ‘That hurt quite a bit. He did make that line directly to cause injury.’ Her hand wiped away the blood from her chin.

Stretching her hand out towards the golem protecting Ourias, she closed her hand. The golem suddenly compressed under an enormous weight into a super-dense sphere. It fell to the ground leaving a bit of a crater. “I learned enough from that.” All of the hexagon discs around her stopped moving. Each piece began to move quickly into position reforming the barrier around her. “It’s time that I finish this little skirmish of ours.”

Defense from Sumiko made it clear to Ourias. ‘She’s preparing something. That barrier is pointless. She knows it. So why?’ It felt like an invitation to a trap. Ourias did not know what she planned, but he felt certain he could deal with her.

“A long thin needle flew through the air piercing her barrier, striking the joint at her shoulder disabling her left arm.”

The needle ran through each of the three layers of Sumiko’s barrier barely even slowed down. Tiny holes remain behind with particles of white light falling like dust. However, the needle hit another hex deflecting off it. “Your power only works on things at the moment you create it. If I create something new after your command I can still cancel your action.” She raised two fingers to him, calling back to her note of his flaws.

‘She’s very intelligent and quick to adapt…’ The women pushed Ourias into a corner more than anyone else had ever done to him. ‘I’m going to have to get more creative with my words.’

“The needle appeared inside the barrier at point blank range, it was impossible to dodge the strike. It immediately struck for her shoulder.”

Nothing happened.

Sumiko then suddenly added a third finger. “This is where things end.” Her other hand raised up as white particles gathered to her palm quickly forming into a sphere of energy. A beam shot out from the sphere. The grass bowed down from the force and speed of the energy. It sped towards Ourias, defenseless.

To be continued…