Shift

[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…

[Andromeda]

“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.

As to be expected, the well-planned Ourias had contingences in place for such an outcome. He was never truly defenseless. A cement wall formed from the air to block beam. Scorch marks and smoke appeared as the only results. “You know I have defenses setup. Such attacks are pointless.”

Smiling, she did not let it deter her. “Of course, I need to run through all of your defenses. You can do nothing while I burn through all of your back-up plans.” The light from the orb, in front of her palm, grew brighter preparing for another shot. Hexagonal discs appeared in front of varying thickness and opacity. When the energy fired, it passed through the discs becoming brighter and thinner. It focused the energy.

The beam pierced the wall without being stopped for a moment. Multiple more defenses appeared in different forms to stop Sumiko’s attack. However, when it seemed to stop another hex slid focusing the beam further. Nothing stood in its way. Everything was torn asunder.

“The white beam lost its light becoming nothing but harmless unfocused rays.” He spoke, but his defenses still fell. ‘She really has somehow neutralized my power. What did she do?’ Everything seemed right, but reality did not lie. His power no longer worked. ‘I still have everything I setup prior to the fight, but anything new can’t be created.’

“I told you before. You can do nothing. I’ve sealed your speech.”

Ourias felt the cornering presence from Sumiko. She somehow figured out a way through his power. “How’d you do it? No one’s been able to do that.”

“That’s only because you fight your own kind. This is only something that someone like me would be able to achieve.” She saw the confusion in his eyes. “You can’t hear it? I guess it is different hearing your voice as opposed to hearing someone else’s voice.”

“What?” He had the clues handed to him, but it still did not make a lot of sense to him. Ourias sorted through her hints. ‘I should be able to hear it? My voice? There’s nothing wrong with my voice…it’s the same as…always…’ Something came to him. He stared across the field at Sumiko. The realization of what she might be meaning hit him. The weight of the truth felt like it would crush him. “Impossible…you…”

“You figured it out. I knew you could do it.” Sumiko lifted her hand. A disc appeared floating at her fingertips. “It was the first attempt I made. It actually surprised me that you made it that simple. Your power works from registering your voice. Naturally, you can’t have others controlling it, so it’s tuned specifically to you. Because it is tuned to you, a slight change in your voice is enough to throw it off and not accept what you say.”

“But when and how?”

“I’ve been testing your defenses whole time. Back with golem. I learned your defenses don’t react to non-hostile invasion. A flaw in your defense is assuming I’d only use attacks.” The disc bounced in her palm bringing attention to it. “A couple of tweaks and this can easily become a filter rather than a shield.” She pointed over to him as a faint shine coming from one of the discs imbedded in his neck.

A new beam began charging in front of Sumiko ready for the final strike. “As I said before, this is where things end.”

Chapter 245 – Sealed Freedom

The white line flew across the field straight for Ourias. However, a barrier erected around him. It held against Sumiko’s attack. She continued to focus the beam, but never made any progress. Shutting down her attack, she regrouped. “You made it indestructible, didn’t you?”

“A final defense. It’s my duty to protect the Capital. No matter the means.”

Suddenly, discs started to fly away from Sumiko over towards Ourias. They pieced together a barrier around him. “It’s not as direct, but this will have to do.”

Ourias looked around not sure what she planned. ‘She can’t penetrate my defense, what’s with the barrier?’ Nothing offensive happened. His defense remained silent. He looked around trying to understand it. It still did not make a lot of sense. He knew she did something to him.

Then he felt a little strange. His breathing came shallow almost strained. Looking over at Sumiko, he finally knew. ‘You’ve sealed me inside your barrier preventing oxygen from entering. You’re planning on winning by suffocating me!’ Ourias walked towards the barrier. It was solid with no hopes of him breaking it.

All around tiny lights appeared. They surrounded him just waiting for him to make an action. ‘You plan to take me immediately if I drop my field to try to rewrite it. I’m out of options…’

“What are you doing?” asked a young voice. He was not familiar with it, but it was clearly a woman. Ourias lowered the pad of paper, one he stared at for the last several hours. Laying down, he saw the face of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen painted with a perfect sky as her background. She stared down at him very curious to the reason he laid in the middle of the park.

He lifted himself up quickly, feeling compelled. The pad fell down to his side. “Just reviewing some notes.”

“Notes?” She drew back her golden hair to keep it out of her eyes. “Are you a student?” The woman knelt down next to him. Her curious still seemed strong. It was not the first time she saw him in the park.

Waving his hand, he corrected her. “Nothing like that. I don’t have the money to attend the University.” It was probably more than he needed to say. However, it did not to seem to sway her. She wanted to know. ‘Is she interested in me?’ Ourias looked surprised. A bit of red bleed into his face. “It’s a story I’m working on.” He had not told anyone.

It seemed to intrigue her even more. His embarrassment did nothing. “You’re a novelist?”

“Well Amateur Novelist is probably more accurate. I haven’t published anything.”

“But you’re going to?”

“That’s my dream!”

She sat down completely drawn in by him. “Can I read what you have?”

Nervousness immediately popped up through all of Ourias’ body. Sweat started to pour out. He never had anyone read what he wrote. He could not imagine it. “W-well it’s not really very coherent right now. It’s just a bunch of random scribbles.” Ourias tried his best to dissuade her.

“Oh? That’s too bad…” The woman stood, suddenly looking to have lost her interest. She started to walk away leaving Ourias stunned at the reversal. Then she paused and tilted her head back to him. “What’s your name?”

“Huh?”

“So that I know who to look for when you publish your book.”

If his jaw could hit the grass, it would have. Ourias froze up. The longer she stared at him, smiling warming the more he thawed. “Ourias!” He finally managed.

“Ourias…I’ll remember that.” She resumed walking away.

He scrambled to his feet trying to chase after her. “What’s your name?!” he shouted through the whole park, immediately regretting the attention. “If I may ask.” His voice softened up.

“Dione.”

“…Dione…”

A fire suddenly consumed everything around her. It all faded away. It was the house, their house. It was on fire. Ourias leapt out of their bed. The baby cried next to him with Dione slowly waking up. ‘What’s going on?’ He rushed over to Dione, helping her with the baby. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

She looked around their house. Flames covered everything. There is did not seem to be any way out. “What’s happening? Where’d this fire come from?”

“I don’t know, but we have to hurry!”

Suddenly, something hit their door. It made them jump back. The door crumbled with a body falling with it. In the distance, a voice screamed, one that was not familiar. Yet the scene before him felt like something he saw before. Ourias looked over at Dione. “I-I…”

“This is a scene…from your story.” She knew just as quickly as him. It should be easily remember as it was in the first chapter of his story.

Then as though never existing, it all vanished from sight. Everything returned to normal. They both knew immediately what it meant. Their first reaction was to look at their child, but it was impossible. The only remaining answer came to them. It only took a few more incidents for them to be certain.

A heavy knock came to their door. No one answered. It all happened too fast for them.

Their house disappeared. It was the military. In corner, Ourias huddled with his wife and child. Nowhere remained to run.

Ourias stretched her arm out as they dragged him away. “Dione! Dione!”

She tried to run after him, but they stopped her. “Ourias!”

“I’ll return to you! I promise!”

He walked into the classroom with a gloomy shadow over his whole body. Most of the room had kids in it. The only adult made him stand out and it was not for his actions. The nosing kid next to him perked up. “Back from solitary?”

“Yeah,” he replied with no further details.

“You know that’s going to happen if you keep trying to escape.” Ourias remained silent, uninterested in something from a fourteen year-old know-it-all. “This is your new home, better get used to it. No one escapes.”

‘It’s not going to stop me.’

He marched down the hall to the Academy Commander’s office. He slammed his hands down on the secretary’s desk. Ourias glared at the young Lieutenant, he was just a normal human. “I want to talk to the Commander, right now!”

The young man was a little shaken by Ourias’ presence. “What is it that you want?”

“I want to know why you aren’t delivering my letters! You won’t let me leave, but I should at least be able to send a letter!”

“I’m sorry, but Academy policy is—“

“Your policy be damned!” The door to the Commander’s office slowly opened. The man behind it appeared, drawn by the noise. He glared across the room at Ourias not intimidated.

Another failure.

“The only way to change things is at the top.”

“I know.”

“You can’t do anything from the bottom.”

“I know.”

“It’s pointless, just accept reality.”

“You seem interesting,” a woman’s voice said from the darkness.

Ourias looked up to see Commander Rheia staring at him. Her presence and notoriety were enough to make him take a step back. ‘What does she want? Does she want to fight me? I only just recently joined Omega.’

Rheia stretched out her hand to him. “Want to be a Titan?”

“Huh?” He stared at her in disbelief. It was not something that was so easily passed around. Even if she was the Commander of the Titans.

Ourias laid on the grass, the last of his air leaving his body. He could see the blue sky above staring back. ‘Dione…I promise…’ His eyes slowly closed, no longer able to keep conscious.

Everything ended quickly in that moment. Sumiko landed on the ground. The barrier faded away. The red in her hair began to fade away as well as the green in her eyes. “This is as far as I take you. Anymore, you have to do on your own.”

Yumi’s consciousness slammed back into her body. She darted her head around, understanding quickly things were not right. The man she challenged laid at her feet. “It happened again…” It did not take long for her to realize the sword was missing and everything about her body felt different once more. She had a thousand questions to ask, but no one to answer them.

Before she could think much more about her situation, she heard Yori’s voice inside her head. “Please hear me, everyone! You must listen!”

“Yori?! How are you in my head?”

“Everyone please stop with the questions…I barely have any strength, just listen… I know the truth finally. I know what Ayumi’s goal is.” The sudden reveal made Yumi freeze in her steps. She would finally have the answer to the biggest question they all had. The mystery behind Ayumi. Her motive. Yumi wanted to know immediately, but Yori seemed to be straining himself. “He’s in danger. If Ayumi succeeds in her plan. Yuki Hayashi will die!”

‘Ayumi’s going to kill Yuki?’ The revelation stunned her. She could not react. The world disappeared. Nearby, she could see Yuki walking away with Ayumi pulling him. She stretched out her hand trying to stop him. She tried to shout to him, but her voice was gone. She was helpless.

Yori’s voice snapped her back to reality. ‘Why? How? What did you learn?’

“The truth is…”

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

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

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

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

“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.

Wind whipped around Fumiko’s long dark brown hair making it difficult for her to see anything. Such speeds were hardly something that bothered her. Her body barely seemed to notice the pressure even though she was certain the speed was certainly great. However, she had bigger problems. Everything ran at someone else’s pace. She could not let that continue.

Flames erupted suddenly from the center of the bear where it held onto Fumiko. The flames quickly started to spread over the fur material. It loosened things enough for her to push off from the bear. “Let me go!” she shouted, firing off another blast of magic. The explosion propelled her away from the child and her bear.

As she fell back down to the earth, the flames quickly consumed the stuff bear. It became a massive fireball falling along with her, as though a meteorite broke through the atmosphere. Fumiko, unfortunately, fell fast and had no ability to fly. Her eyes stared at the earth racing to her with almost sinister glee. “Oh hell! I didn’t plan for any of this!” She extended her hand out sending out threads of magic down her arm summoning up her flame.

An explosion of earth and dust shot up around Fumiko. Small chunks flew out from the cloud. Nearby, a similar blast broke the ground from the child and bear.

Coughing came out of the smoke, signaling Fumiko’s health. Her figure appeared in the smoke as she stepped out. She wiped away some of the dirt cramming into the cracks and corners of her skin. All the fighting was hardly kind on her normal upkeep. Her fingers were dry and rough. Every surface of her felt like sandpaper. It was not really time to complain about beauty care.

Her legs staggered and dropped herself to one knee. “Damn! That hurt even worse than I thought…” It was not the best of ideas she had, but she had to deal with her decisions. Unfortunately, she did not know how well she could move her body in such a state. ‘Already handicapped…’

The area where the bear landed became a bonfire. Her flames on it still had plenty of material to burn. Almost none of the smoke from the impact hung around. However, it still did not seem to stop the giant stuffed animal. At first, it seemed that the flames had a life of its own, but Fumiko understood quickly that it was actually the bear standing up. The flames already had burned away much of the outer layer of fabric. It feasted on the stuffing, but the melted and burned away face turned something cute into something out of a horror film. Worse, it hauntingly walked towards her still on fire.

It did not seem affect by the flames. The thought of it being pain seemed a joke, even though it was the first thought. It was just an object, a toy. The flames would naturally never actually do anything to it. It could never do anything to something that did not have a life. Yet the tortured and ashen features gave it more life than it had before as just a puppet.

Nothing seemed to stop it. At least, that was the presence it had. The imposing and menacing appearance without even doing anything to achieve it. It was just all natural.

A horror fueled zombie stuffed bear.

Chapter 246 – Childish Thoughts

Fumiko fought with her legs to stand. ‘Come on! I need to move!’ It moved closer. All she could think of was running away. Nothing else filled her mind.

Suddenly, the arm fell off from the bear as if it was dripping butter heated up on an open flame from a stove. More nightmare inducing fuel for Fumiko. It was not even alive, but it seemed more terrifying then real people that burned at her hand. Maybe because it was not alive, yet looked more alive than them. Maybe because it was not affected by her flame. It did not seem to care it burned. Only reaching her.

Then its leg fell off. It fell flat on its face, naturally unable to move. The flames finally had eaten through much of the core turning it into nothing, but a hollow form. It tried to move still, but lacked any sort of control. Most of its body was gone. Its head separated from the body, quickly burning up. It rolled around towards Fumiko before completely exhausting its material.

Nothing but ash remained.

Fumiko stared a little dumbfounded by the whole experience. It embarrassed her a little to have been scared, though it could just be the moment passed. Hindsight made it not so scary.

It was not over though. It was merely starting.

“Owies…” complained Glykeria, surfacing from the small crater. She revealed herself out the smoke appearing completely unharmed by the fall. “That didn’t feel good.” Her hand adjusted her pink hair to get it out of her face.

The doll normally held in front of her by her hands floated at her side, just level with her shoulders. “But you didn’t even get hurt,” it responded.

“Yeah, I know! I just wanted to play along! It was a really fun ride!” She began to bounce around on the balls of her feet. It looked like a bit of a dance, the way she spun around. Nothing about her situation seemed to bother her. No care in the world, described her accurately.

Fumiko found herself a little uncertain by the whole scene. She was not sure if it was someone that she should be taking seriously. They did not seem to be taking anything seriously. They only seemed to want to have fun. ‘Why is a child in the military or even one of their elite? Is that even possible?’ She remembered the age range of everyone that faced them did not seem to all be adults, even Ayumi was still a teenager.

The whole notion sat uncomfortably with her. ‘She’s only nine years old.’ A child like her should not be in the military or even told how the rest of her life would be at such an age. It was wrong. ‘If this was a book, I’d be able to accept it more, but this is reality. Those sorts of things don’t happen.’ Reality was not fantasy. She knew that, even though it sounded like a little ironic of a thought given what Fumiko was capable of doing.

Glykeria came to a sharp stop. “Are you ready to play some more?” she called out to Fumiko across the field. The atmosphere around here completely flipped on its head. She spoke in a playful, childlike voice, but laced through her voice was a darker intent. It barely came out in her face, well disguised by her innocent appearance. “I want to have more fun!”

Fumiko felt it like a cold October wind that snuck up behind her, not prepared for it to be so chilly. The hairs on the back of her hair seemed to stand up, sensing it as well. ‘Is this kid really going to fight me? I can’t fight a kid. This isn’t right!’

The child looked over at the doll hovering next to her. “Paramonimos, go see if she wants to play.”

“I understand.” The doll began moving away from Glykeria, making no haste to reach Fumiko. Once it came into range, the doll move about in front of Fumiko. It waited for Fumiko actually to meet gazes with it. A sword, twice the size of its forty-centimeter body, materialized its right hand. It took a casual swipe at her.

It was never really meant to connect with her. Just enough to get her attention. Fumiko knew she had to keep her head on straight. ‘Child or not, this is one of their best! I need to focus!’ She forced her feet to start moving again even through the weakness. Threads of magic wove down her arm. Fire streamed from her palm pushing the doll back.

Her flames did little to reach it. The doll’s movements came effortlessly and smooth. None of the flames even singed the fabric. It immediately countered with the sword, actually serious. The surprise left her with a gash in her waist. ‘Damn…’ Fumiko tried to dodge the attack, but her action was too late. ‘I’m not used to dealing with something so close to me.’ She pressed her hand to the wound trying to feel how bad it was. The sting of pain signaled up her body told her enough. ‘I can’t take too many like that.’

Magic spun around her arm preparing for the next attack. She wanted to push her own offense, rather than letting the doll set the pace. Unfortunately, it did not give her much of a chance for it. She tried to keep building up her magic, while dodging away from the doll. Her body finally started to move the way she wanted. ‘I can see its movements. Just need to keep my legs moving.’ Fear settled in the back of her head that if she stopped her body would never get moving again. The fall really wrecked her body.

‘Just need another moment.’ Dodging the next attack, Fumiko became more comfortable with the dolls movements. She immediately countered as the thrust finished. Grabbing the doll’s sword arm, Fumiko drew it up. Magic threads rapid wrapped around the doll setting it alight. The intensity of the flames burned it up within seconds.

Fumiko turned back to the main target. ‘Time to end this while I have the chance!’ She charged for the child with a new flame burning brightly in her palm. It would be over. The end, quick and painless. She could deliver it. Once more would not be an issue.

She froze.

Only a few centimeters away from Glykeria, her hand stopped moving. The flames went out. ‘…can’t do it…’ Pain erupted from her torso. It was back. She knew it would not be long. She lost her chance.

“So you do want to play,” Glykeria sang, gleefully.

The doll removed the sword from inside Fumiko. Blood poured out of the deep wound. The shock was enough to make Fumiko drop to one knee. Pain flooded through her body. Despite losing her arm, this actually felt worse to her. ‘Damnit…’

Glykeria walked up the rest of the distance to Fumiko. She stared up at her face. An odd mix of innocence and murderous glee washed over her face. “I thought you wanted to play, but you only stay.” She poked at Fumiko’s wound, letting the blood wash over her tiny fingers. “You’re spilling.”

Coughing in pain, Fumiko forced herself back and to her feet. The kid was just toying with her. “I’m not done…” A glow came from her hand with magic weaving down. Fumiko placed her burning fingers into the wound. She screamed loudly as the flame burned flesh and sealed up the wounds.

Panting and her legs shaking, it ended. Fumiko stiffened her back feeling the pain still linger in her body. ‘It’s not the best solution, but it is the only one. I can’t go down here. No, not before I see her get what’s coming to her! Nothing else matters, right now!’ Misdirected and missing the more important point, none of it mattered to Fumiko. It did not make a difference if it was shallow. It was how she felt. Honestly was the only thing she had anymore.

‘I need to get my head on straight!’ She forced a flame out of her hand at Glykeria as proof of her resolve. Fumiko barely watched the whole thing, but viewed the aftermath. The doll had protected her from the whole thing, a shield now present as well. ‘So she uses that doll for all of her fighting. Makes sense given she’s just a child.’ Unfortunately, Fumiko also realized what it meant for her. ‘That doll doesn’t have the same sort of limits as a human. It’s not going to be easy dealing with it.’

Truth came through her in her speculation. The doll returned to the offense. Now with a shield to accompany the sword, it blocked whatever Fumiko tried while striking. The speed of its movements increased, catching her off guard. Her body still struggling to recover from the last wound and she feared she would have another soon. Stuttered movements, shallow wounds came off her failures. Nothing as bad, but still reminders.

“I thought you wanted to play, big sis! Was that all just a lie, Miss?”

Fumiko caught another edge of the blade, over her shoulder this time. “Damn…” She stepped away from the doll trying to figure out what she could do. Her eyes darted over to the child. ‘Focus…’ The doll immediately resumed the attack. She could do nothing. ‘I’m losing…’

“This isn’t very fun. You just run.”

She had enough of the child playing innocent. “This isn’t a game! What do you think you’re doing?! Do you even realize that people are dying out there?! This is serious!” Fumiko panted a little yelling at the child.

Glykeria giggled. “Big sis looks so angry. Maybe you’re hungry?”

“Enough with the rhymes!” She did not know if the child was truly blind to reality, really innocent, or if it all just a act. It was hard to know. But she had had enough of it all. She needed to understand the gravity of the actions. The consequences of her actions.

Suddenly, Fumiko disappeared just as the doll tried to strike. She appeared behind Glykeria, a fire burning brightly in her hand. Her hand streaked across dragging the flames towards the child. A familiar image popped into her head, someone she knew too well to ever forget. The fire disappeared once more centimeters away from Glykeria. ‘I still can’t!’

“It looks like you’re not the one being serious, everything you do is so humorous.”

Fumiko ground her teeth together in frustration at her inability and lack of resolve. It kept blocking her. “What do you even know? You’re just a child!”

Grinning, Glykeria grabbed Fumiko’s hand with both of her hands. She stared up at the teenager. “You’re more a child than me. Both mentally and physically.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “What did you say?!” She could not believe what she heard from the child. Fumiko wanted to dismiss it immediately, but the look from the child make her doubt her own uncertainty. “What do you mean?”

Glykeria laughed again, a strange eerie tone slipped into her childlike voice. “I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Suddenly, Fumiko disappeared just as the doll tried to strike. She appeared behind Glykeria, a fire burning brightly in her hand. Her hand streaked across dragging the flames towards the child. A familiar image popped into her head, someone she knew too well to ever forget. The fire disappeared once more centimeters away from Glykeria. ‘I still can’t!’

“It looks like you’re the one not being serious, everything you do is so humorous.”

Fumiko ground her teeth together in frustration at her inability and lack of resolve. It kept blocking her. “What do you even know? You’re just a child!”

Grinning, Glykeria grabbed Fumiko’s hand with both of her hands. She stared up at the teenager. “You’re more a child than me. Both mentally and physically.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “What did you say?!” She could not believe what she heard from the child. Fumiko wanted to dismiss it immediately, but the look from the child made her doubt her own uncertainty. “What do you mean?”

Glykeria laughed again, a strange eerie tone slipped into her childlike voice. “I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive.”

It was as she heard. There was no mistaking it again. It should have been impossible. Everything made sense. Worse more, it was not even the first time she experienced it. Whatever god that looked over her had a cruel and uninventive means of toying with her. To use the same trick on her again, yet she did fall over it again. Who was more of the fool?

Fumiko stared down at the girl, a quick shift occurred across her face. “You’re saying that this is just an image, an illusion. You don’t actually look like this, you’re not actually a child.” It was all spelled out clearly in front of it. However, she needed the girl to confirm it for her just once, clearly without any doubts.

Giggling a little more for Fumiko, Glykeria smiled for a few moments. It was hard to see if she enjoyed the scene from some sort of malicious intent or just a playful one. Her emotions blended together too well. “That’s right. The smart ones usually figure it out quickly, seeing the inconsistencies, but the dumb ones just take things at face value. They’re always so shocked when they learn. People rely too much on what they can see for their answers.”

A shadow drew down over Fumiko’s eyes. That was what she needed. “Then how old are you? Older than me?”

“Naturally, I’m one of the most veteran Titans. I’m not ranked third for nothing.”

“Is that so?” she muttered. Streams of magic poured down her arm into her hand. It made her entire arm almost appear to glow red.

Glykeria’s expression quickly changed to bewildered confusion. “Eh?” She did not understand the change in Fumiko’s attitude. The entire presence around her flipped.

Red turned to blue within Fumiko’s palm as massive flame ignited to consume her hand completely. “Knowing that, I can fight with my full power!” Fumiko swung with her hand still holding on to the flame. The blue flame immediately engulfed Glykeria.

Chapter 247 – Childish Beliefs

Dragged out of the initial blast by her doll, Glykeria remained doused in flames. She began to pat down her body trying to extinguish the fire to little results. Another doll appeared, but with bright blue hair, though otherwise seemed similar in features to the existing one. Water appeared from the air drowning Glykeria, finally putting out the flames.

Stepping out, she looked soaked and permanently scarred with burns over most of her body that was not clothed. “So you can be serious. But only because some moral is no longer in your way, eh?” A moment later, like stepping a frame forward, Glykeria body returned to the original unharmed state.

Blue flames burned in Fumiko’s hand still waiting more. “It’s nothing like what you’re thinking. I have my reasons, which I don’t plan to explain to you!” Fumiko charged forward after Glykeria to put a quick end to the fight. Even though she could fight now without any hesitation, there was no reason for it to continue. Target the user and the fight ended, especially since she did not seem to have any power for herself.

The blue-haired doll moved in front to take over. Immediately a large volume of water grew out in front of the doll’s raised hand, directing it at the charging Fumiko. She dodged it with plenty of time, but the doll adapted and changed the course of the water. It ended up catching her hand stealing away the flame.

Fumiko leapt away a couple of steps to safety, staring at her hand. ‘Damn, it supposed to be magic right? Shouldn’t I be able to overcome it? Or is it not normal water?’ Lost in thought, she did not see Paramonimus, the first doll, flanking her. Its sword caught another piece of her before she escaped. ‘She kept him out still…’

Glykeria laughed watching Fumiko fumbling around. “You thought I’d only have one out at time? When I play with my dolls, I play with more than one. You should know you never play with just one.”

The water-using doll fired off volleys of water at Fumiko, keeping the timing with the other doll. She was able to use her fire to keep the water from doing anything, but it was a purely defensive position. With only two dolls, Glykeria had pushed Fumiko to a pace set by her. She could do nothing. ‘I need something better than this. I can’t cast the fire fast enough to deal with both and I can only dodge so well. She’s got me completely disadvantaged…’

In front of her face, a white-haired doll appeared, one she never saw before. She could not react. A flash of light blinded her and left her dazed. “Huh?” It was gone almost immediately, but the situation had somehow turned worse against her. The blue-haired doll had used its water like rope to tie her up. ‘What just happened? It just disappeared…and now I’m…’

“I told you. I play with more than one doll.” The white one rested on her shoulder almost like it sat down, but still hovered a little. “This one plays with your perceptions. Just a little game it likes to play. Makes hide-and-seek a lot more interesting. Don’t you think?”

Fumiko ground her teeth taking in her situation. She did not know what they had planned for her, but she was completely at their whim. ‘She’s supposed to be an adult, yet playing around like a child. Even now, I don’t think she is even being serious. It’s all just a game for her.’ An adult pretending to be a child. The notion made Fumiko want to laugh.

‘Which of us is more foolish? An adult that can’t be serious or a child that is unable to be a child?’ She could not believe that she was actually thinking about having some consideration for her opponent. They just wanted capture her or worse kill her. They were not something that she should be giving any sort of thought.

Fumiko saw quick flashes in the back of his mind. She returned to her mind once more. She was the reason for the chains on her body. She was the reason for the shield she bore for the others. She was the source of everything. The one thing that she could never forget, never forgive and never escape.

‘…Kimiko…’

The source of all and the cause of her changes. She was the reason for all of her actions. ‘Sister…’ Fumiko had to face it again. More so even now, that it affected her fight. She had to help Yuki and losing or dying would only cause burden for the others. ‘An adult that’s a child and a child that wants to be an adult. Some pair we are…’

Channeling magic down her arm, Fumiko attempted to free herself from the water. However, water materialized around her hand completely preventing her magic from forming. Escape was cut off. ‘Damn…why can’t my fire work…’

She did not feel that her doubt clouded her anymore. Confessions made it clear that she was no child. ‘It’s no longer a reason. Isn’t my magic strong enough?’ The water doll took to giving a little punishment for the attempted to breakout. The water rope tightened around her. It seemed impossible for water to have any strength to be harmful, but Fumiko’ could barely breathe from the crushing pressure of it wrapped around her chest.

‘I know she’s not a child, so I should be able to fight. Is it because of the appearance that I’m still subconsciously holding back? Are you angry Kimiko?’ The shadow over her never went away. All of the years it still hung over everything she did. It was such a long drawn shadow. She was never able to out run it. ‘I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I know…but I need to fight right now…please…’

Various images went through her mind of her sister. Fumiko begged to her. ‘I’m not asking for forgiveness. It’s not something I can have. I don’t deserve it. Never, but I need to do this.’ Fumiko tried calling on her magic again. ‘I’ve done everything I can. I’ve never forgotten. It’s controlled me and made me act differently.’

Her magic still refused her. It seemed actually to be weaker than before. The blue flame stopped appearing, only the normal red flame answered her. Her body tightened further. It felt like her bones would snap as her arm dug into her ribs. She could not move. ‘What more can I do for you?! I can’t ever forget that day! Every time I see a child, I can only think of you. I failed you, so I can’t fail them. It was just some pathetic form of penance for something that could never be absolved.’

Fumiko had almost become completely lost in her mind. Only the bodily pain reminded her that she still lived. Pain surrounded her and comforted her. It was all she knew. ‘I only did this because of you! I saw her…’ Chiharu surfaced in her mind. Their meeting at the tree where the fairy gathered them. ‘I knew at that moment I had to go. She was just a child, younger than all of us. She shouldn’t be there, but I could see that she planned on going. I couldn’t let her go into such a dangerous situation. I had to protect her, because I couldn’t protect you.’

Many times before it controlled her, the guilt. It was all she had to carry her. The child she found at the school, when she first met Yuki came to mind. ‘I actually thought that I might have finally paid enough. That the end was finally for me. But I understood, I would never be released. It’s everlasting. I know that. All I can do is keep carrying this selfishness that I project on others to try to ease my suffering.’ Her arm went still.

‘I’m the worst.’

The magic disappeared. Her body groaned under the stress.

‘I killed you, Kimiko.’

Fumiko’s face lost any sense of life.

‘That’ll never be wiped away…nothing I do can remove it. Yet I still try…selfishly to make up for it.’

Kimiko surfaced in her mind again. She never answered her. Anytime she tried to call out to her sister, she never replied. It only made sense. Who would reply to the one that killed you?

‘I can’t die yet huh? Yeah, you won’t let me. My suffering can’t end so simply.’ Fumiko pulled at her arm, sparking life back into her body. ‘I’m selfish. I’m a killer. I’m a murder. I’m just a child. I shout at the unjust world thinking I deserve something better than what I have.’ Magic channeled down her arm. ‘Shouting is all I can do. I’m selfish after all. I want the impossible. What I can’t have. But I won’t stop, I told myself that day.’ Blue flames erupted inside the water, causing bubbles and steam to appear.

‘I made a promise. A promise to myself.’ Fumiko squeezed her hand. The flames blasted out completely throwing off the water. Her arm leapt out for the water doll burning to ash with her flame. ‘I told myself. You were dead. I couldn’t fix it. No wishes would change death.’ Released from the water, Fumiko fell back to the ground. She landed with ease. ‘If I couldn’t change death, then I would prevent death from stealing anyone else. I killed you.’ Fumiko slowly rose to her full stature. Blue flames started to form around her hand, feed by threads of magic spun down her arm. ‘So it was a promise. If there was ever someone in trouble or danger, I’d help them. I’d protect them. I’d protect every child I saw. I promised I’d be the adult that kept the children safe from death.’

All three dolls flew at Fumiko, realizing she prepared for an attack. A magic circle drew out across the ground, as threads wound down her legs. The white one went for the first strike to rob Fumiko of her sense again, but three blue fireballs knocked it out before it could get anything off. As the two remaining dolls charged in blue flames erupted from the ground completely engulfing them. Nothing could escape.

Blue flames surrounded Fumiko making her disappear from their tall column. A moment later, Fumiko walked out of the flames. Flames danced around her palm. “I’m not allowed to die yet, which means I must defeat you.”

Glykeria jumped around a little clapping her hands together. “Oh, you’ve made that decision? But is that really something you can make happen?” The dolls destroyed moments before resurfaced, but had even more along with them. It was like a flock of birds, all in formation.

Flames grew and merged together on Fumiko’s palm. She sprinted forward straight for the dolls. Fumiko threw her fist out wide growing her flame, wielding it like a club. The frontline burst in flames, crumbling to ash. She broke through the line and went for Glykeria.

Fumiko’s hand nearly eclipsed Glykeria’s tiny head, as she palmed her like a basketball and threw her into the ground. Blue flames erupted over Glykeria’s entire body as magic funneled in the attack. “I’m already a murderer and one more adult is hardly enough to weigh my conscious down any further! This is reality!”

It looked like it was over. Fumiko kept her magic going to ensure the kill. However, she heard a voice that was not familiar coming from under her flame. “Reality really is cruel.” The voice was almost self-attacking and soaked in self-pity. Foreign and unknown. Beneath her fingers, blue hair appeared amongst the flame.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Flames grew and merged together on Fumiko’s palm. She sprinted forward straight for the dolls. Fumiko threw her fist out wide growing her flame, wielding it like a club. The frontline burst in flames, crumbling to ash. She broke through the line and went for Glykeria.

Fumiko’s hand nearly eclipsed Glykeria’s tiny head, as she palmed her like a basketball and threw her into the ground. Blue flames erupted over Glykeria’s entire body as magic funneled in the attack. “I’m already a murderer and one more adult is hardly enough to weigh my conscious down any further! This is reality!”

It looked like it was over. Fumiko kept her magic going to ensure the kill. However, she heard a voice that was not familiar coming from under her flame. “Reality really is cruel.” The voice was almost self-attacking and soaked in self-pity. Foreign and unknown. Beneath her fingers, blue hair appeared amongst the flame.

Something was wrong. That became very clear quickly. Fumiko hesitated with her flame pulling back. The delay was enough for Glykeria to push back. An invisible force blasted Fumiko off Glykeria. She fell on her back a few meters away, still trying to understand what happened. ‘What was it that I saw?’ The sight of the blue hair originally seemed like something caused from the light of her blue flame, but she realized that was not the case. Something changed.

Smoke surrounded the area around Glykeria, keeping her hidden. “I really hate waking up like this. So rude.” The tone in her voice had deepened a little. It was still very young, but the signs of the childish almost innocent carefree higher pitch disappeared completely. There was no happiness or innocence in the voice.

Standing back up, Fumiko stared into the smoke wondering what was going to come out of it. ‘Is this their true appearance?’ She did not know what to expect. Acting out on the unknown seemed like a reckless decision.

Glykeria’s figure appeared as a silhouette through the smoke initially. It hardly gave her a judge to her appearance. However, wind quickly blew away the hovering clouds to give a look at her face first. It became certain that she was no longer the same person. Blue hair stood out as the immediate clue, but her face was not even the same as the child. She had a very thin and angular shape, almost harsh like her features were chipped away rather than smoothed out. Equally deep blue eyes matched with her short spiky hair.

The child was gone.

As she stepped out of the smoke, the missing child became clear. While certainly not an adult as Fumiko thought might appear, they were older than the nine year old. She appeared to be closer to a teenager, but probably still just a little younger. Extra height and the loss of the baby fat-like chubbiness pushed her age. She seemed more mature.

‘This isn’t the real one either, is it? What’s the point of hiding like this?’

Chapter 248 – Childish Growth

The new child brushed through her hair with her fingers, removing the last embers of Fumiko’s flame. “That burned a little, but I guess it’s really no less than I deserve.” A small toy appeared in her hand. It had a cute and child-like appearance that went in contrast with her new look in tight blue jeans and multi-layered shirts. The toy had a human shape dressed completely in black leather.

The toy jumped up her arm running the length up to her shoulder and leapt into the air. Using its tiny fists, it punched her in the head. “What’s the matter with you, you moron? You really are an idiot! What did you think you were doing? Getting caught like that! Stupid! Worthless! Worm!”

Fumiko was not sure what to make of the sudden change. It seemed like she no longer had any control of her power, attacking her physically and verbally. ‘This is nothing like what I was dealing with before. What’s going on?’

“I am. Sorry.”

“Damn straight! You’re just going to screw up again!” The toy jumped into the air, hovering in front of her. “So I better handle this.”

The whole exchange left her off balance, but Fumiko quickly forced herself to prepare for the next attack. She did not notice it before, but she realized something that sank into her heart. ‘I hit her point blank with my strongest flame and she wasn’t even singed by it. How am I going to beat something that strong?’

Flying too quickly at Fumiko to react in time, the toy’s tiny fist landed the first hit. The blow to her stomach felt like pile driver fired off. Saliva escaped her mouth as Fumiko flew backwards. She tumbled over a few times before sliding over the grass, eventually coming to a stop.

“Damn…that hurt…” she moaned, working to get herself to her feet. Far in the distance, she could see Glykeria. The girl was tiny, giving her a sense of how far she went. “Well I guess I’m at least outside of her field for now. It’ll give me a little bit to figure out what to do about her.” However, it was not accurate. The toy showed up in her face wielding a bat too longer for it to hold realistically. “Can’t be—“ The bat cracked over her head interrupting her and sending her tumbling off once more.

Face down in the dirt, Fumiko felt her head aching and pulsing in pain. Ringing still polluted her head making hearing almost impossible. “…damn…” She touched to her temple where it struck her, feeling the slow stream of blood. Her eyesight was completely shot with everything being a blur. Dazed and blind, Fumiko started to stand up only to be knocked off her feet again.

Sliding over the ground, Fumiko felt the deep scraping from the earth into her back. ‘I can’t even defend myself…’ Everything seemed to be against her the moment Glykeria changed.

Less dazed, recovery began to come to Fumiko, but not before the toy threw her around a few more times. She started to wonder how she remained alive. ‘I’m strong enough to survive, but not to fight back. I can’t let…’ Finally seeing straight again, Fumiko started to summon her magic, but the toy was too fast for her. She managed to catch the bat before it her and throw him down.

The toy down, Fumiko attempted to take it out again with her fire, but needed her hand for it. It meant the toy escaped before she finished the cast. The pattern repeated for her again and again in her attempts. ‘It’s too slow. Even when I try to factor in the time, I’m still unable to hit it. I need to find a way to speed up the casting time on the spell.’ Fumiko started forcibly altering her fire in ways to try to get the speed she needed, but it produced more failure than success. ‘Is there a way to cut out steps and still keep it together?’

All while Fumiko and Glykeria’s toy fought it out, Glykeria remained on the sideline too far away to even see the fight herself. She seemed to want to crawl away with the look on her face. A great pain fell upon her from all appearances. Yet she did nothing.

Fumiko in her failures, took advantage of one of the collapsing spells to detonate it when the toy reached her. It was not a direct hit, but it was the only victory she had since the new girl showed up. Unfortunately, it also meant that she took the backlash from the blast.

On her back again with smoke trailing off her, Fumiko quickly learned it did nothing to really stop the toy. It landed several more blows on her before knocking her into another part of the field.

Coughing, every part of her body hurt. She could not remember any of her previous fights being so one-sided against her. ‘I’ve got to think of something!’ Fumiko pulled herself back up, knowing the annoying toy would not stop coming after her. The only thing keeping her alive was the toughness of her body, something she started to regret a little with her inability to do anything.

Foregoing magic, Fumiko did the only thing that made any sense at the moment. She struck out with her fist. It was a little awkward trying to fight something that was hardly more than ten centimeters. Her hand could crush it, if it were weaker. However, it gave her more ground than it had before. She was hardly a physical fighter, but it was the only thing she had left with her spells unable to finish.

The regained stance provided her some defense against the toy. She still missed more than hit anything and when she did hit, nothing really seemed to happen. It went flying, but returned immediately with no signs of damage. The power of Glykeria prevented it from taking any permanent damage.

‘If I can keep this up, maybe I can weave in my spells. It kept breaking my concentration before with how much I was being knocked around. But if I can keep on my feet like this, I should be able to split my tasks.’ Thin threads of magic started to move down her shoulder into her arm. The toy seemed to understand what it meant, its attacks increased in strength and intensity. Splitting her attention, left her more open than she expected. Fumiko could not maintain her stance.

Knocked back, Fumiko struggled to keep from falling over. The magic already started to disperse as she lost her focus. ‘It’s harder than I thought to do both at the same time, but it’s the only way it’s going to work!’ She charged back in for the toy grabbing for it.

Dancing around, the two exchanged strikes with Fumiko still less than successful. However, she was able to get more of her magic funneled into her spell before it broke. Each attempt worked a little better. She eventually managed to make it work finally, landing a flaming fist on the toy. It went bouncing around as a ball of fire.

Fumiko held of her hand, pleased with the results. ‘I’ve got a better feel for it now. I know where I can work it.’ The flame remained surrounding her hand. She did not plan to let it release, as she normally would have. It was her only weapon.

The toy was back like expected. However, now that she had the fire, the side of the fight turned against it. It could not keep from burning frequently. Fumiko reached out taking a hold of it. The fire burned stronger with it in her hand. She looked back to where Glykeria remained the entire time. ‘I have to deal with her. The way things are going, I won’t be able to hold out and the same thing that happened to Saki will happen to me.’ Fumiko tightened her hand around the toy before winding up to pitch it back at Glykeria. ‘This far away, I doubt she’ll know what’s going on until it’s too late…’

As planned, the toy slammed into Glykeria’s head taking her off her feet. She fell back several meters to land on her back unmoving. Fumiko felt good about it. However, she wanted to be sure about it. While she ran the distance, she completed casting her spell throwing out several fireballs on her motionless body.

Fumiko stopped a few meters away, waiting for the smoke to clear. The stop in the fight made her realize how much pain her body held back. She felt her legs wanting to give out. Panting heavily, the crushing sound of her heartbeat ran through her ears. It was so invisible to her before. Her body was screaming to her to stop. She was deaf to it. Completely absorbed by the fight. ‘Is it over now?’

Nothing so lucky as it being finished.

Initially, it was just the sound of something cracking. Probably just the earth, but it became more clear that it was caused by something rather than just the fire from Fumiko. Glykeria was still alive. It became a certainty. “I really hate this. It’s awful. Why can’t it all just end?” She surfaced from the clouds soon after, no more worse from the hit. In fact, she seemed perfectly healthy, untouched.

‘How is that possible?!’ Fumiko stared in confusion. She knew she hit her, but nothing happened. It did not make any sense.

“You idiot! You weren’t paying attention again. Dumbass!”

“Sorry. But you hit me.”

“Did you talk back? I’m doing all of your fighting for you. You pathetic sack of shit thinks you can speak to me?”

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

The toy floated away from Glykeria after the round of verbal abuse. It looked at Fumiko. “Getting a little cheeky there. That won’t be happening again.” Suddenly, three more toys appeared coming out from behind it. They all had different appearances, but remained the same cute-dark theme of the first.

‘More! Again… I could barely handle one of them!’ Fumiko did not really have time to complain as they all charged at her. They each had a different way to attack. The bat made its appearance again, but a box cutter also showed up, swirling mass of light and shield too big for the toy.

The attacks came in almost too numerous for her to even see. Any sort of defense she had seemed pointless. Fumiko fell back once again. All of her gained ground disappeared quickly. ‘The constant flame is going to be the only way I stand any chance…’ She started her slow continuous cast while defending against the four toys. Even knocked down, she learned how to keep her progress. It took too long for her, but she succeeded with the spell. Yet it did little to improve her odds. They still out numbered her and out flanked her.

Her options quickly started to shrink on her. Fumiko kept fueling the fire with her magic, but she did not know how long her body would hold out. Even amidst the fighting, she felt her fatigue creeping on her. ‘I can’t last like this…’ More magic arrays drew over her arm. The threads wove thicker around her arm as she pumped as much as she could into her arm. Flames from her hand grew back consuming her wrist and then forearm.

In the middle of the process, Fumiko realized what was happening. ‘This again?! Why is it happening now? I wanted it earlier, but it didn’t come. What am I missing?’ Finally, her entire arm became flame. The magic infused arm from her battle in the Atlantean camp returned. ‘I can use this, I remember what it can do!’ She channeled her blue flame into it immediately to strengthen the fire.

Fumiko immediately quick cast a fireball at the incoming toy. It blew up less than a meter from her face throwing smoke and debris over her. She leaned forward to see through the mess and find her next target. Rapidly firing her spells, the remaining three went down with little effort. However, more appeared to replace the lost ones, the numbers increased as well. She could only keep up the attack.

The spells were small, but she did not stop casing. It was almost too late when she saw the transparency in her arm starting to disappear. ‘It’s going away?! Did I over use it?’ Fumiko ground her teeth seeing that the toys took advantage of her hesitation. She fell back from their unison strike, collapsed on the ground panting heavily.

‘…damnit…I can’t hold back…’ The toys did not stop even with her on the ground. Fumiko tried to block with her flame arm, but it had no substance, a fact she forgot from the last fight. The toys went straight through to strike her chest. She coughed painfully nearly certain she heard bones breaking. ‘I’ve got no defense like this. It’s purely an offensive spell…’ Fumiko directed a blast at her feet with more incoming. It kicked up enough clouds to give her a spare moment.

Leaping back to her feet, she prepared her arm to attack anything that came through the smoke. It did not take long for the first couple of toys to burst through and be shot down. However, no more came afterward. They all seemed to remain hidden. ‘What are they doing?’ Fumiko looked around trying to see if they wanted to flank her.

Nothing.

Then the smoke started to clear, revealing even greater numbers. Most of them looked the same to her, but it did not make any difference. ‘I’ll take them all out. They’re close enough.’ Fumiko had the advantage of her arm to quickly increase the power of her spell with almost no cast time needed. She could react sooner than they would know what happened.

A large blue swirling mass of fire grew from her hand. In less than a second, it reached critical mass. Flung at the toys, the sphere was ten times the size of any of the toys easy. Many of the toys moved around behind the speeding mass, but some remained still as though paralyzed in fear.

However, it was not fear. It was a plan. Fumiko realized too late. All of the same type of toy remain behind, the one uses the strange light. The flames slammed into the toys, but did not burn them. Rather, it seemed to be channeled through their hands guided by them. They stole her attack, but it did not end by negating the damage. It arched around coming back at her.

Fumiko was so surprised by the act that she could not react in time. She barely moved before her magic was transformed into a massive wave of energy that engulfed her. “No!”

It was all over. Her body laid face forward in the dirt smoking painfully. Nothing wanted to move, nothing could move. She had lost.

“Please hear me, everyone! You must listen!”

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

“Everyone please stop with the questions…I barely have any strength, just listen… I know the truth finally. I know what Ayumi’s goal is.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

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…’

It was the contradiction above all that made Chiharu interested in the man. She did not know what was going on with him. His mind held tightly closed from the outside. Only through his words could she piece together any sort of an idea of what type of man he was.

Beyond the words, Nereus was a tall man, even compared to the others. Few in Chiharu’s group matched or surpassed him. Though, it was the bright red hair that stood out the most for Chiharu. Living in Japan, such a hair color was uncommon unless it was dyed. It made him seem like he still had a lot of youth in him, though she was certain he was actually fairly old. If she had to make a guess, he was probably in his forties, but in good shape for such an age.

After ten minutes of walking casually away from both the fighting and Capital, Chiharu started to wonder if he was going to do anything. “We’re far enough away.” However, he did not stop or even react to her. A bit annoyed, Chiharu moved a little closer. Perhaps he did not hear her. “This is far enough. We can stop.”

Nothing.

Chiharu reappeared in front of Nereus looking to stop him, however he continued on through her, literally. The unsettling feeling some having someone pass through her sent a chill down her back, but not as much as the same dead look in his eye. It did not even look like he saw her, as though she was invisible to him. ‘What the hell’s wrong with him?’

Trying to understand him a little, Chiharu watched and followed for a little while. Yet, he did not stop after the waiting. She moved to grab his arm and force him to stop, but she went through him again. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ Chiharu tested her hands and body, everything was solid, normal. Ahead of her, Nereus kept walking. ‘What’s going on? Is this another manifestation of his power? I thought he was water based from what he showed before.’ When he called out to him, he did not answer and physically stopping him did nothing as well. She could do nothing to him.

Eventually, he came to a stop, appearing to be no longer interested in their walk. Chiharu moved out in front of him wanting some answers. “Finally decided to stop.”

Nereus barely looked in her general direction. It was hard to tell if he actually saw her. “You failed the first test. Just further proof. I wondered if it was possible, but it seems I might have over spoken about you being alive.”

“Huh?” Chiharu leaned in a little not entirely clear if he was insulting her or not. He was not making a lot of sense. She remembered him saying something about being alive before. “You mean to tell me you were testing to see if I could stop you?”

“Correct, but you failed. Though you seem to have some degree of intelligence and deductive skills. But even an animal has instincts.”

Now she was certain he was insulting her. A bit of a vein popped up on her forehead as she struggled to keep her anger in check. “Comparing me to an animal now? That’s some mouth you’ve got. You’re quite an arrogant bastard, aren’t you?”

“You’re right, animal’s have claws and can protect themselves. I haven’t seen you prove you can do such things. You simple follow, you’re led. You let me do whatever I wanted. You are nothing more than dirt.”

“…dirt…” Chiharu started to lose any control she had on her emotions. He went beyond just being arrogant. He was looking down on her, but he was not even arrogant. The whole time he was so far above her that arrogances was a waste of time. Such superiority made her blood boil.

She leapt after Nereus throwing out her fist at him. He stopped her with his hand before she got too far. “Can dirt do this?!” A flurry of punches tried their best to land hits on him, but all she got for her troubles was an oddly moist hand dripping in water as he stopped all of her attempts.

“I guess you’re right. You do talk. You’re living dirt.”

Chapter 249 – Living Dirt

Shock and anger mixed through Chiharu’s eyes. She could not break through his defense, but he still called her dirt. ‘I’ve never known someone so…so…’ Anger prevented her from finishing her own thought. Only the muscle head made her so upset and it was nothing to compared to him. It was worse. She knew he at least acknowledged her despite all of their arguments. The same was not the case for Nereus. She did not even know she existed, it felt like to her. And that was not even worst part of it. She was not worth time in his eyes.

She backed off from him, seeing that her punches were not doing anything to him. Anything she threw at him was just stopped. ‘Water?’ she noted, from looking at her hand. It felt strange when she hit his hand. It was not as though it was soaked in water, but her skin was damp. A couple of drops of water slid down her fingers before getting stuck at her tips. ‘Did he stop me with only water? So is his element really water? Then was what that lack of physical form from before?’

So many questions came up from so little shown. It also seemed that he was not aggressive or eager to start their fight, almost as if she had to prove something to him before the fight could begin. Perhaps another one of his test needed to be passed.

The thing that bothered her the most was the way he was before during the walk. Further analysis only made the thoughts more unsettling. ‘I couldn’t grab him. It was like he had no real form or it was just an illusion. But he can’t do anything to himself with his powers. So there’s only two possibilities. He created a double of himself or did something to me. Did he take away my physical form?’ Chiharu did not want to consider it a possibility, but she knew with their powers anything was possible so long as they thought it up. Nothing was outside of the possibilities. Their power completely denied nature, if they wished it.

Negatives from the thoughts became too much of a dwelling point for her. She pushed it aside to focus on the more important issue in front of her. She could not touch Nereus with any of her punches. It was not her normal method, probably a bad habit picked up from the moron, but it should have done something. She knew that she did not swing lightly. ‘How did he keep up with my speed? I wasn’t going the fastest I could, but it should have been too fast for him to react. I should have seen what his defense was with that attack.’ The whole thing was covered in a shroud of mystery, both his attitude and his powers.

She knew he used water and it seemed part of his defense. But she needed more information on him. The disinterested, nearly disconnected look from Nereus only made her angrier. Chiharu charged back in for another test. She needed to understand how his power worked.

Chiharu flung her foot out in a wide kick to his upper arm. It should have been sharp and fast, but he still blocked her with his hand. ‘How is that possible? His body shouldn’t be able to move like that!’ She threw more at him as her frustration mounted. Everything she did she wrote off as a test, but it no longer looked like one. Emotions came out more in her voice, grunting and roaring.

Nereus stopped her last attack and placed his hand on her chest. Her body recoiled from some unknown force. It sent her flying backwards out of control. ‘What did he do to me? He just touched me!’ Chiharu stared at him while spinning through the air, the same unfocused eyes never meeting her.

Retrieving her kunai, she dug both into the earth to control her speed and body, no longer flipping end over end. She still carved out a several meter long line through the soft earth with her blade before coming to a full stop. The kunai reached back to their sheath at her side. Chiharu stood up checking on her garb from whatever hit her. The outer layer of cloth covering up the chainmail was destroyed, but it seemed the links of metal remained intact.

Nereus pulled his hand back, rubbing his fingers a little. “I had to hold back quite a bit. It was so weak. So flawed. But I guess it’s the best you can do.”

‘More of his crap. I’m getting tired of listening about it.’ She wanted to do anything to knock him down off his mountain that he stared down upon the world. Anything would do for her. It would make her feel better.

Chiharu glanced around the area for anything, but found that there was literally nothing in sight. The slightly tall grass stretched out to the horizon. It was endless. ‘Must be his field’s doing. They probably know about my shadow powers thanks to the last fight, even if their Captain came with us. They passed on what they learned no doubt since he faked his death.’ She looked down at her feet. ‘Fortunately, my powers have evolved. I don’t need something else’s shadow anymore.’

Her body slowly sank into the grass until it completely disappeared from sight. Within the shadow world, she moved to the window from Nereus’ shadow. ‘This should catch him off guard.’ She shifted her position a little coming out on his left flank rather than directly behind. Her kunai swung out for the area between his ribs, but something stopped her blade. He was standing before her with his hand preventing her blade from going any further. “What?!”

“Confused? Is it so beyond your comprehensive?” He pushed back on the blade knocking it out of her hand by the same unseen force. “This is why you’re nothing but dirt. A sneak attack was too obvious.”

Chiharu leapt away from him, getting out of his hand’s reach. “…damn…” She rubbed her wrist, a little sore from her weapon behind ripped out of her hand. Redness painted her palm from where she held it. ‘I specifically made sure not to do a direct back attack figuring he’d expect that, but he still predicted what side I’d come out on. He’s as dangerous as he is arrogant.’

Worse from the attack, she failed to learn anything from the attempt. She knew nothing more about his powers from it than she did a moment before. They generally had a defense as a final line to protect them. She expected to see that defense and hopefully understand what his power was based around. Everything she saw made her doubt his water power. It seemed unlikely from the displays.

She needed a new plan. Confronting him directly proved not to have any success. ‘If I attack from multiple sides, I should be able to learn something. He only has two hands. He can’t block everything.’ Out of sight by her feet, portals into the shadow world opened up for her. She pulled out several kunai and shuriken hidden underneath her mail. They all fell into the grass disappearing from sight.

All around Nereus portals opened in the very air into black voids. They varied in height and position to encompass him completely like an invisible sphere. Not even a second later, weapons flew out of the portals straight for Nereus. Straight became both a figurative and literal interpretation of what happened next.

The kunai and shurikens all moved at him, but their courses were not the ones set by Chiharu or their exit from the portals. Some external power seemed to be at work. They all gravitated to him along different lines, but came to the same place, his hand. Nothing hit anywhere else. He had somehow managed to make all of her attacks still come to him and hide his power. “Trying to be clever? It’s going to take more than that.”

‘Damnit!’ Grinding her teeth together, Chiharu tried to analyze what she saw. ‘Even if he’s not doing what I want, I’m getting something. I just don’t know what!’ Nothing about him made any sense to her. Everything she tried just failed. It was as if he knew what she was going to do before she even made it. Like he was inside her mind. An unsettling thought to be sure.

She started to run out of plans to expose his power. All he did was wait for her making him even more annoying. She wanted just to punch him in the face. If she could, it might calm her anger. Those eyes made her blood burn like nothing else. They continued to look past her rather than at her. She did not understand what his problem was with her. ‘I’m not dirt! Bastard!’

In her attempts to buy time for something else and partly because she could not control her anger, Chiharu flew at Nereus. She increased her speed to make it more difficult on him, yet it did not work. Mixing up her attacks, she swapped in her blades between every couple of attacks out of pattern just to throw him off. Even if it was not expected it, he still did not lose his defense. Nothing breached the impossible wall he put up. His hand mocked her. Nothing got through.

She slid back for a break. Nothing worked. What could she do? ‘Those eyes…damn those eyes!’ Emotions raged beating her heart faster. She charged for him again out of options. Anger had full control of her actions. It did even less than nothing. He seemed to handle her easily. ‘How is he so fast?! It’s not possible! I can’t be this slow!’

Nereus ended it knocking her back. Her back scraped through the earth kicking up a small cloud that hovered around her body. It barely cloaked her, but she used it to disappear into the shadows. She popped out above, but he still stopped her with the same effortless action. “Bastard!”

“Even an animal would know when to run away. This is pointless.”

“Damn you!” Chiharu charged in blindly after him. However, he stopped her in her tracks before she could do anything. She tried to fight him in that position, but it did nothing. All stopped before his hand.

He appeared tired of the events and repetition. Nereus placed a single finger on the chainmail exposed through all of her fighting. “I can see the weakness so easily. Just a slight crack is all that is needed to break something so fragile.” Suddenly all of the links in Chiharu’s chainmail shattered. Her protection blew off her body as the force sent her flying away. “It all crumbles like dirt. Worthless dirt.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

He appeared tired of the events and repetition. Nereus placed a single finger on the chainmail exposed through all of her fighting. “I can see the weakness so easily. Just a slight crack is all that is needed to break something so fragile.” Suddenly all of the links in Chiharu’s chainmail shattered. Her protection blew off her body as the force sent her flying away. “It all crumbles like dirt. Worthless dirt.”

Crashed into the earth, Chiharu laid on her back left with only her leather padding that the chainmail had rested upon. The sort of defense it provided against enemies like Nereus was meaningless, but it still left her shaken. Motionless, she could not move for a minute. ‘Defeated that simply? I can’t believe it…’ Her mind had trouble getting around the idea.

She was not certain what to do. Nothing she did made it through him. He easily penetrated her defense. ‘How do I beat someone like that? Any attack I make he intercepts. I can’t surprise him! The hidden attack is supposed to be my specialty.’ Unease crept into her heart. She was shaken down to her core. She had no injuries, but the wound she took was far worse than any physical one.

Chiharu heard the crumbling of the earth underneath Nereus’ feet. His approach came sooner than she thought. How much time had she lost in thought? She did not know what was happening to her any longer.

Flipping backward off the ground, she gave herself a little room. His eyes seemed even less focused than before. He might have seen her as dirt before, something that he walked over, but it was not even that anymore. It was as if she was the very air around him. Just something invisible and pushed aside just as simply. She was of no concern to him.

The thoughts made her want to fume, but she lost even that. She could not get her legs to move towards him. She did not expect to face such a thing from him or any of them.

Fear. Doubt. Timid.

Chapter 250 – Mindless Animal

Chiharu ground her teeth realizing her weakness. ‘I’m supposed to be in charge, calm, in command,’ she chastised herself. She was letting everything take over. She was…

Emotional.

‘I’m better than this…this isn’t me. Why is he getting to me so?’ Her hands tensed up trying to deal with everything flooding through her. Nereus stood over her, his presence enlarging his stature. He seemed to cast a shadow that went on forever.

“Disappointing. Already giving up.” Nereus stretched out his hand, grabbing Chiharu by her leather undercoat. “I don’t kill something that isn’t even alive.” He then turned back in the direction of the Capital bringing her with him.

She knew what he planned to do. She was not about to let herself by captured, especially without so much of a fight. She did nothing meaningful. All her talk before was just puffed up pride and arrogance if she threw in the towel now. ‘I can’t let it just end here. This isn’t me!’

Sapped of her strength, Chiharu faced the struggle of breaking free. Her body felt stiff and unwilling. The paralysis went deep. But she could not allow herself to be captured. ‘Move it! Damnit! Are you a Chinen?!’ Her hand slapped the side of her thigh, a signal that part of her body finally started to follow her commands.

Some confidence flowed back into her. It gave her enough strength to break free from Nereus. She leapt several meters away from him, bouncing a lightly on her feet a few times to increase the distance. “I won’t be going with you.”

A raised eyebrow was his only reaction. He did not look bothered by it. Nothing seemed wasted on the matter. “You won’t be able to achieve anything. Dirt is still dirt. Nothing more. You’ve failed all tests.” Nereus’ disinterest increased quickly with Chiharu. Only his order kept him from leaving.

“I don’t care about your damn tests! I’ll prove to you I’m more than you think.”

“I find that unlikely. You’d have to be a human to even stand a chance. Everything I see makes it clear that’s impossible. Dirt only has one purpose, to submit to the superior.”

It was his words again. They made her angry and difficult to hold back her urge to attack. Unfortunately, she knew that none of it worked against him. All she attempted failed. She needed something different against him. It was her only chance. Yet she did not have many options. Everything she tried ran through the majority of her options. ‘I don’t really have anything else to throw at him. At least that I’m aware of. That weakling might have given me more than I know, but I don’t know how he thinks. I have to rely on what I know and can achieve on my own.’ Mustering any amount of determination forced her to confront her emotions. They rested on the surface easily called upon thanks to Nereus.

Her thoughts gave her something to consider. There was one last technique that she had available, though discovered by accident. ‘It’s the only option I have anymore. It might give me a little more of a clue to what his power really is.’ The more she saw his power at work the less convinced she became that it was simple water control. The timing and reactions he had were not explained by water. Nothing she could think of explained it, yet. ‘I’ll figure him out.’

Chiharu turned away from Nereus. The distance she had on him made it too close. She was still not comfortable with the ability. She wanted to be sure that she had the distance and time to put it together correctly. It was all about the right perceptions.

Disappearing from a blur, Nereus naturally lost sight of her. Seconds slowly passed by for him. He waited to see what she attempted. ‘Still struggling even though it’s pointless. I don’t understand why it keeps bothering. It’ll never reach.’ In front of him, Chiharu appeared suddenly, but also on his right and then his left. They all looked real. “This your attempt? It’ll meet the same end.”

Her voice came from all of the copies of Chiharu, “We’ll see about that.”

“You already tried it with multiple projectiles, multiples of you won’t make a difference.”

She did not take his advice. Maintaining the copies ended. Each one moved on a different arc for Nereus, yet they still all reached the same point. It did not matter how different she moved. It did not matter that she guided each differently. She controlled every action tightly. It was all her, but she still arrived at the same point. His hand effortlessly blocked everything she tossed at him.

All she got for her trouble was a slightly damp hand, his strange water defense at work, same as always. ‘I don’t understand it. Why can’t I do anything else? I have to reach the other sides, but I always end up on the same course. What is he doing to me?’ It still did not make any sense. It only increased her frustration. Clinched hands and gnashed teeth did nothing for her, even if it was her only outlet.

“I told you how this would play out.”

“Shut up already! I’ve had enough of your condescending tone.”

“I’m only speaking the truth. This is reality.”

The way he did not even raise his voice at her only infuriated her more. Nothing ever got a rise out of him. She just was not worth the effort. That annoying thought persisted in her head. “Reality? I’ll tell you what is reality. You’re just the same as me. Two humans with different gifts or powers if you want. That’s it. Nothing more than that.”

“You couldn’t be further from the truth. I am human, you’re right about that. But you’ve failed all of the tests. You don’t even register as a human. Failing all measures of being human means you can only be something less than human. Since you can’t even protect yourself you’re not even an animal. Even a spider or mouse has a means to defend itself from aggressors.”

Nereus raised his finger with his arm to point at Chiharu, probably the first time the whole fight he had any sort of acknowledgement on her presence. “You can’t even do that. Something that can’t even defend itself is less than an animal. Nothing but dirt.”

There he went again. She could not stand him comparing her to dirt. She was nothing of the sort. She could not control her anger anymore. It might have been pointless as before. All of the punches or kicks she threw before were equally as effective as anything else she did. Anger did nothing to solve anything, but she could not hold herself back. Chiharu attacked him.

None of it matter to her. She just needed to vent. It was pointless, meaningless. She wasted her energy, but she could not help it. “I told you to shut up about the dirt. I’m a human being! If anything you’re dirt!”

Lowering his brow a little, after he stopped all of her attacks, he stretched his hand open in front of her. “Then prove it.” An invisible force unleashed from his hand blasting Chiharu at point blank range.

Blood trailed through the air as she flew backwards. Numerous tiny cuts of impossible thinness appeared across her body. The amount of blood held to only a few drops, as the wounds were too thin to release much. However, the damage was done.

Chiharu quickly corrected her position and landed. ‘He cut me up with ease…’ she commented as she examined one of the wounds. ‘These are too thin for a blade, it’s almost like it was done by a nanoblade. But I didn’t see anything like that on him.’ She stared across the field at his hand. The whole time she saw nothing. It was invisible, but knowing their power, she assumed it was yet another aspect of his power. Yet it did not get her any closer to understanding what he did. ‘What’s his foundation, everyone seems to have a theme, but what’s his?’

“You did well to hold against that. But it seems it’s natural defense rather than your own will to defend that protected you.”

“Then try again. If all you can do is microscopic cuts, it’s going to take more than that.” Without any warning, she felt a change in the air. Something was off. Then she realized she had another cut on her arm. ‘When did he?’ It was invisible like before, but no gestures. He was getting more serious with her. Chiharu disappeared to dodge the attacks. Unfortunately, she still was hit with it even at her speeds. ‘Is he doing something widespread since he can’t see me?’

She tried to keep moving in different directions. Even at her speed, he should not be able to see her actions. The cuts still came, which gave her the confirmation she needed. ‘It’s a blind attack.’ However, it remained effective even blind. Yet, she started to feel a bit of the changes in the air before the invisible blade came. She just needed to get her timing down.

It took more mistakes before Chiharu managed to figure out the feel of it. ‘It’s so small, but I can finally detect when it is coming. Whatever it is, it’s still using natural laws. This is a lot easier now.’ Chiharu resurfaced from her evasion. The attacks still came at her, but she had the timing down to dodge while still appearing not to have moved a centimeter. “Your attack’s meaningless to me. You can’t hit me with it.”

“So you can improve. I guess I’ll have to amend my previous statement. You seem to be enough to be called an animal, mindless as you are.”

A vein popped up on Chiharu’s forehead. “Animal?!” It was hard to know if she was angry over a minor correction or that he was still acting superior to her.

“It should hardly be that surprising. You remain unable to pass any of the other tests. You can only react and not act. You’re a follower, looking for the sheppard.”

“I’m no follower! I’m the head of my clan! I command others!”

“I find that unlikely. As you are, you’re weak and directionless. You’re not fit to lead only to follow.”

That was the last straw for Chiharu. She no longer had any reason. Everything about her fell to her rage. “I am their leader!” Consumed, she charged blindly at Nereus. Nothing was effective against him. She even used her speed, disappearing on him repeatedly. “Shut the hell up about things you don’t understand!” Nothing changed, but she could not be reasoned with any longer. He hit what never should have been hit.

None of it mattered. Results and outcome were the same.

Blood sprayed into the air.

Nereus had landed his invisible attack on her, her blindness made it impossible for her to dodge anything. She did not care about dodging. She would only be calmed by seeing the bloody pulp of his face under her fist.

The reality was he hit her with numerous attacks. Still small, they began to add up. She lost more blood with each failure. “I’m tired of hearing your voice!”

“Because I’m right,” he replied calmly, halting her attack. Nereus turned her around and threw her into the ground. However, Chiharu escaped from his grasp and came on the offense again. He could stop her all day. The amount of energy it expended was insignificant against such a beast. “The way you are I can only see anyone following you dying. Failure of any leader is the death of those that follow them.”

Chiharu suddenly stopped. While blind, her hearing still worked perfectly. His annoying voice continued to fuel her, until now. “Death? Dead…my men…” Images from her raid on the Higoshi Clan’s stronghold returned to her. She led her men on an attack for revenge for them killing her grandfather, yet she failed them. Men died listening to her. She failed.

“You’re not a leader, you’re just a failure. A mindless beast, barely better than the dirt you stomp on.”

Failed.

Just a failure.

‘Worthless? They’re dead because of me.’ Her body started to shake. She could not move. All she could see were the images of her men. They were all dead before. ‘I killed them. I failed them.’ Chiharu completely lost sight of Nereus. The world disappeared. Everything went black. ‘I’m no leader. I fail at everything I do. I have to rely on others for my success. I’m nothing.’ The light left Chiharu’s eyes. Her body was lifeless.

She was dead to the world.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Nothing happened the entire walk. No words exchanged, no subtle movements for tricks. It was just a simple walk, almost as if they might have been good acquaintances. Calling them good friends would have been too much, real friends would have talked. They just looked completely comfortable with the situation. No questions. No problems.

Yet it did not change the fact that it all had to end eventually. The point at which they reached a safe distance from everyone else came. Neither would react if it was too soon or too long. Both just seemed to agree on the matter in silence. The distance was enough.

Such behavior was a natural course for Haruo since if he said anything it would have been a surprise. He read the atmosphere clearly to know what was going on. A completely passive approach. If it had been any more willing you might have thought he already had surrendered himself to Teris.

Turning to face the other, Teris broke his featureless expression the moment he looked at Haruo. It would have been impossible for even someone like Seiji not to see how excited the man was about the potential that Haruo represented for him. He wanted to know more. “You’re a very interesting man.”

Stone faced, Haruo made no sort of twitch to mark his own quandary on Teris’ reaction. ‘He still referring to my power or something else? Feels like he’s looking deeper.’

Haruo was correct about Teris. “I’ve been looking over the reports about you. Unlike the others, you’ve shown off your power the least with only a single engagement. You’re cautious individual. It’s left things with a lot of uncertainty regarding you. Makes me very curious.”

Unknown to Teris, it was largely not a case of caution. It was often just how things worked out for him. ‘Fighting is unnecessary. Best to avoid it when possible.’ He traveled with them, but was not motivated by the same things as them.

Digging his hand around in some void, which ate his arm up to the elbow, produced a stack of papers. Teris flipped through enjoying the tactile feeling of the paper. “The reports from the other Agents are probably the strangest I’ve seen since I’ve joined. It says you stayed behind to allow the escape of two others.”

Such information was hardly news to him, since he was present. So he wondered what the man tried to achieve by bringing up something unneeded.

“Says here that the entire situation just ended. None of the Agents report about an engagement of any sort. Just that after your comrades left things just ended. Very mysterious. Surrounded by twenty Agents and nothing happens, if the reports are to be believed.” Teris tossed the papers back into the void, disappearing from sight. Refocused, his eyes locked on Haruo with a deeply penetrating stare. A stare that wanted to dissect and breakdown every part and piece of Haruo to understand it better. “Care to add your commentary about the situation?”

“No.”

Raising an eyebrow, Teris seemed a little surprised by the refusal. “If an understanding is to be reached multiple perspectives are required. These reports are meaningless.”

While hardly a persuasive agreement, nothing changed Haruo’s decision. “Abstain.” It was nothing he planned to talk about. It was a pointless pursuit.

“So you’re going to keep quiet on how you managed to defeat twenty Agents without fighting.” Teris had some thought about the subject. It gave him a few pieces to work a theory, but a theory only went so far until it needed to be tested. The one to test it stood before him, refusing him. “I can glean a little from their statements. Whatever happened then you did so in such a way that no one wishes to talk about it or is unable to talk about it. Unless you have other powers outside of your animals, I find the latter an impossibility. I can’t rule anything out yet. I doubt you’ve shown the full potential of your power yet.”

There was one thing Teris was correct about. Haruo felt certain that his power was not at its maximum yet. However, he did not know how powerful it could be or what he needed to do to be able to reach that strength. The whole thing was as foreign as Atlantis. Powers, super humans should have been something of fiction left to authors, yet it became reality. A reality that swallowed him up. “So…”

“So I want to see your power in action. Oh sure, I’ve got orders to capture or kill you for suspicion of rebellion and colluding with Eudokia. But that’s only a secondary matter. You’ve got something interesting inside of your body. That’s far more compelling then the orders.”

The direction and reveal of Teris true motives did not surprise Haruo much. From the start, it was one of the possibilities that Haruo concluded based on his initial reactions. It should be a positive thing for him, however Haruo felt certain it was not so simple. “No fighting?”

“Now, I didn’t say anything about that. Though it’s going to depend on what you can tell me. Practical experience is more useful.”

Unfortunately, there was little that Haruo could answer. He knew a little about his power, but it still remained beyond his understanding. “I can’t answer.”

“As I would expect. Revealing your secrets would open up weaknesses for me to exploit. This is still a combat situation for you. So it would only invite disaster. Hence why this’ll come down to fighting. It’ll be the only way to satisfy both of us.”

“I don’t have the answers you want. I don’t know why it works, just that it does.”

“You can cover yourself up as much as you want, but there’s no need to pretend.”

“I’ve run tests. I know how to make it work, but the reasons are beyond me.”

Teris lifted his hand to his chin in thought. ‘There seems to be something of a truth to what he says. Is it actually possible?’ Even true, it did not stop Teris’ goal. “No matter, I’ll figure out how it works for you.”

“I find it unlikely.” If he could not figure it out from his testing his body, it seemed unlikely a stranger would have better luck. His power did not make any sense. There was nothing logical about the way his power worked. Haruo could not understand it.

Chapter 251 – Reluctant Beast

“Sounds like a challenge. That’s why you seemed interesting. I like a tough problem.” The white uniform disappeared in place of a white lab coat along with a simple tan leather vest and shirt. An orderly appearance replaced the stock one. Already tall, even more so next to Haruo, the length of the coat seemed to make him stretch in length further.

Even though it was a clear sign of intent, Haruo made no action. ‘It’s come down to a fight again. This is not why I came.’ He stared over at Teris to get a read on his stance, one that was different from others. It was not very martial related like he saw from others. “I’ve no reason to fight.”

“You do seem more like the tag along type from the way I saw you in your group. And judging from your lack of engagements, but it’s going to happen. I want to see your power at work and you need to defend yourself.”

“No.”

“Your physical body won’t be able to take the sorts of things I’ve got. You will need to do more than just stand there.”

‘There’s no convincing him.’ Still unmotivated, Haruo waited for Teris to make an action. Reaction was better in his situation, especially since he did not know what the man could do.

A glass vial containing a clear liquid popped up from seemingly under Teris’ coat sleeve. He balanced it atop his index finger with effortless ease, likely with no effort thanks to his power. “If you’re going to be like that. I’ll just have to show you that you need to be more accommodating.” Twirling his finger around the base of the vial like it was glued to his finger, the contents seemed to be stirred up in prep. He tossed it once he felt things were ready.

Before it even hit the ground, a light came from inside the glass reacting to the chemicals. It burst open into a violent explosion just a meter away from Haruo. Despite the blast, Haruo made no move do anything about it. Smoke and a strange blue substance surrounded the air around him. A lack of any sort of response from Haruo made it clear that the results were poor.

Once the cover from the explosion blew away, Teris got a better look on Haruo. It confirmed everything that he speculated from the early test results. “A sturdy body on top of your strange power. I see why you’ve resisted the need to fight.” Producing two vials this time, he seemed to have a new plan. “Just as a warning, this is going to amplify the power of that explosive you just witness tenfold. You’ll need to do something more than just stand there.”

Bluffs did not seem in his nature, something Haruo judged. It did not change what he knew that Teris aimed to achieve, while Haruo remaining unwilling to cave. ‘I’ll still survive a blast like that, but it wouldn’t come out unscathed like before. I’ll need to do something.’

The amount of time he had to come up with a plan ran out fast. His next attack already was in motion towards him. Haruo stared at the two vials, one clear like before and the other purplish. An easy identification, but Teris had no intention of hiding it. He just wanted to force Haruo’s hand, killing him would have ended what would be interesting.

An explosion went off again, completing covering Haruo. Yet it did not seem anymore intense as the last. Teris noticed immediately and narrowed his eyes to examine the situation. ‘What was that I saw? A blur of something…’ Just before it blew up, a part of Haruo’s body blurred in his eyes, his arm. “So you prevented my enhancing agent from mixing with the explosive agent. Stubborn still.”

Haruo lifted his left hand up to reveal the protected purple liquid. It remained intact from the blast, hence unable to add to the blast. “Your explosive agent consumes the liquid in here acting as a catalyst that it feeds on to exponentially increase the rate of the compound’s heating and energy artificially.”

Teris clapped his hands actually pleased with the quick deduction. “A fellow intellectual. You will be a very interesting one indeed.” Popping up from his sleeve again, as though the man was a magician, a yellow hued liquid appeared in a similarly shaped vial. “This time it’s mixed together. So you won’t be able to avoid it this time with your sleight of hand. Though it’s more unstable mixed and the results are actually less even and predictable, I don’t prefer it like this. Lacks the sort of elegance.”

‘Another attempt, but if it is as unstable as he saying, it could be very bad. An uneven consumption and release of energy is going to make some areas weaker and others far more powerful.’ Considering the odds he dealt with did not make Haruo secure in his position. It was escalation in the worst way possible.

There was no hesitation in its use. Teris tossed it stirred up at Haruo with some hopefully expectations. Unable to prevent it, the blast went off two meters away from Haruo, a case of its unstable properties. Unstable or not, the explosion was no less than what it was talked up to be. It completely covered up Haruo and ripped into the grass taking out random chunks to toss as debris.

However, when the smoke cleared Haruo remained unharmed and no closer to summoning its animals. It did not mean Teris was without answers. His eyes quickly locked in on a strange arc carved deeply through the earth. ‘So you used your leg strength to force enough earth up with near equal force to counter the blast. It rendered it weak enough for you to just take the rest unguarded.’

Some frustration would be natural for Teris, but it just made him think even more. He wanted to see this animal power in person. He needed to analyze it himself. All the reports were done with too little information and unreliable. Not until he saw it could he grasp it. Something unscientific like spirits was a curiosity he normally ignored.

Opening his lab coat, a quick peak beneath it revealed a wealth of thin vials stored on loops. Retrieving a single small vial, no larger than a needle, the significance of it could not be understated. Teris glanced over at Haruo, but his stoic expression prevented any thing to read from him. However, he knew from the previous displays that Haruo would immediately understand the importance.

Another of the usual vials popped up in his hand as an accompaniment. He tossed them into the air far beyond Haruo, where it exploded. The size was about the same as the first, but it did not seem to be the important part.

Watching the fallout from the blast, Haruo started to deduce the intent. ‘The blast was meant as a transport for the smaller compound he pulled out. Likely it needs to be spread through the air to be effective. Could be a poison, but that would defeat his purpose. But it needed to be distributed as an aerosol.’ The limited information he had could only produce theories. He had to wait to what happened and gamble that it was not something dangerous him.

Suddenly his stance slipped and he forced himself to readjust his footing. ‘The ground’s even almost soft…’ He dropped his sight to the earth, realizing whatever Teris released into the air must have started to have its affect. His foot slipped again. He had trouble keeping his balance. ‘Liquefaction?’ Another second later his foot pushed through the earth. It was as though he fell in quicksand with it swallowing him up too quickly to react. Further movements just made it worse.

Teris walked up to Haruo putting one of his vials near the edge of the liquefied ground. It was of a different color again, a pale blue. “This explosive is quite a bit more powerful than the other I used alone, but it’s quite a bit more stable. Easy for transport.” He dropped down another of the purple enhancing compound, followed by a final clear vial. “See this one? It’s an acid, powerful enough to melt this glass as you can see. I use it as a timer. You’ve got about thirty seconds before the acid is released and triggers the others.”

Standing up and walking away to a safe distance, the whole thing played out so casually. It was all just an experiment, for science. “You’ve got twenty seconds now. I’d suggest you make your decision soon on using your power.”

Haruo stared at the three containers. All out of his reach, nothing could be done to stop them. Not with him stuck in the sinkhole. ‘Looks like he found a way to corner me…’ The options finally ran out. He would be forced to use his animals. It was not the way he would have preferred, but he could not let himself die.

A bright light broke through parts of the earth. It grew stronger as the earth seemed to mound and rise.

Time ran out.

Bright red blasted out over the area throwing chunks of earth and waves of mud. Smoke covered over the entire area form the blast. It cut out everything with shattering silence.

Thinning clouds allowed a faint white light to bleed through. It took on further shape as the smoke dissipated. The form was large and wide, but became clear quickly through pockets of the clouds. A lion’s head bathed in white light revealed itself. Seated on its back, Haruo, dirtied from the experience in the liquefied earth, unharmed still.

“Now we can begin,” Teris remarked with excitement.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Thinning clouds allowed a faint white light to bleed through. It took on further shape as the smoke dissipated. The form was large and wide, but became clear quickly through pockets of the clouds. A lion’s head bathed in white light revealed itself. Seated on its back, Haruo, dirtied from the experience in the liquefied earth, unharmed still.

“Now we can begin,” Teris remarked with excitement. The moment he waited for had not disappointed him. More questions continued to rise in his mind. Question that needed answers. ‘Their powers work on a fundamentally different level than ours. Is it truly a spirit or non-corporeal entity? Or is it just a manifestation of his ability? So many things I must know!’

His eyes quickly started to analyze what he had of Haruo power. All he had at his disposal was the animal, which not a lot for him to go from. ‘A lion, is there meaning to it? Significance in this rather than another animal. It’s clearly too large to be a real lion. None have ever been known to be that large. So it’s fictitious, but he using it as a model. Judging from the mane, I’d say it’s a Cape Lion, but they’ve been extinct for a while. Definitely not real. Does this mean he uses his memory or imagination to create the animals? Would imply this is not a spirit then.’ Too much speculation, that was all he could conclude. He needed more sample points. A single animal was not enough.

‘He’s not wasting anytime examining my power,’ judged Haruo. Both of their insight and deductive skills were high. The more each revealed the more dangerous it would become for the other. Weakness came out quickly in such a situation. ‘I’ll have to be careful with him. I already don’t want to fight, but he’s going to push me to do so. Last time I was able to manage, but he’s clearly more resourceful and talented than them. He’ll find a way through my defense in time.’ Haruo stared across the field at Teris with equal intensity. The man had nothing new to show, but Haruo could not miss a moment with him. ‘The possibility this reaches the point where I’ll have to fight back is very high. If that happens I should try to end it quickly, just to keep things from dragging out.’

Just examining the situation reached its end. A new action would obtain further information. The decision made, a new vial appeared in his hand. “Let’s see how your pet handles this.” Another identical vial of shape and color accompanied the other. “From here on out you’ll have to use that brain of yours to figure things out. No more hints.”

“Fine.” The previous warnings came as a little surprising, but it did give Haruo a good sense of the man he faced. He was fair, if nothing else.

Chapter 252 – Restrained Beast

The battle began, though calling it one might have been overselling the scene. Haruo remained defensive even with Teris throwing the vials at him. It seemed more aimed at the lion than him. So dodging it was easy.

Shattering in the grass, a hiss came from the burning as the liquid poured out. Anything it touched completely dissolved in moments. ‘Acid, perhaps the same from before. I never saw the reaction it had. But it’s clear he’s trying to understand how my power works. Breaking down the animal would certainly give him some valuable information.’

An expected result for Teris, however a simple challenge barely provided any interest to him. He would just have to keep trying. ‘He’s not attacking still. He seems set on not making an offensive action despite his situation. It won’t be like before.’

It sort of went against his method, but his style did not fit well with someone that had as fast reactions. A normal pace from other humans was what he was used to dealing with. More vials appeared in his hands, but the count increased with him fanning them out behind his fingers. It was like taking a shotgun to the problem. An inelegant solution, but still the only option. He needed to get a hit.

‘Numbers, makes sense. If they all move as expected, then it shouldn’t be a problem. But he can use his power…’ Haruo needed no preparation, even with the escalation. The watchful eyes kept locked on each of his movements. He would be able to be ready.

Released into the air, dozens of glass vials spun end over end towards Haruo in the animal. The spread on them went wider than initially telegraphed. Dodging did not prove to be an issue, in fact it was even easier. Until he realized one of the vials was not like the others. It was already reacting before he could do anything.

Chain explosions went off throughout the array as more hidden vials appeared. The yield was low enough that the risk did not come from blast, but what the blast did. It managed to spread and accelerate the acid in all directions. Avoiding it would have been impossible. The lion understood that and leapt in front of Haruo to shield him.

‘Hmm…looked more like the lion acted rather than commanded by him. Does it have a mind, its own intelligence? I would have figured that he’d command it. An interesting detail…’ Once the smoke cleared away, it gave him a better look at the beast. Holes dotted its frame from where the acid burned through.

Nothing serious, yet.

When the regeneration began Teris interested peaked again. ‘So the damage can be healed. That’ll be problematic, but how much damage can it take?’ More tests were required.

Summoning up more of his usual, things advanced to the next stage. Rather than holding them this time, they flew out from under his sleeves. It became easily apparent for the reason. He stopped dealing in only a few that he could hold. The count went beyond the norm. Many rolled around on the ground while he continued to launch more.

Haruo stoic face narrowed a little watching the scene. ‘Such a large scale, but judging from these they aren’t the same timed attacks. Guessing this is a proximity like charge and given his previous attack, likely a variety of compounds.’ He knelt down pressing his hand to the earth for a moment. ‘He’s observant, anything I do he’ll pick up on unless I distract him.’ Finally, he started realizing a proactive role in the situation.

Within sight of him was one of the unknown compounds. A quick assessment based on the color gave him a good enough guess. He picked it up and threw it what he believed a safe distance of three meters in front of him, between Teris and himself.

The blast however was more powerful than he expected and caused a chain reaction throughout the field. Explosions popped up from flying debris, but the main one covered all way the back to Haruo. Intense heat burned against his skin, but it was still no more than like opening an oven door.

‘Testing? Or a screen?’ wondered Teris, until the smoke cleared. Then he understood. Wolves appeared alongside the lion. ‘A subspecies I don’t recognize, probably a small regional type. Still the fact that he wanted to hide him calling these means that seeing it would give more clues to how his power functions.’ He grinned a little with excitement. Working the problem was when he was at his happiest. ‘Even when you try to give me nothing I’ll still get something. Every action is a new piece of information for me.’

The white color of the wolves matched that of the lion. Everything down to the larger than normal size fit in line. However, the more important note that Teris picked up on was that the wolves moved in an aggressive manner. They looked like they stalked their prey, already fanning out. The pack of six wolves each kept contact on Teris. Infrequent low growls kept their intent clear.

‘Most curious. The animals actually seem ready for a fight, yet the expression on his face hasn’t changed. He still looks completely detached from the situation. Is it because he can use his pets by proxy and keep himself removed?’ Encircling wolves turned up the tension in the air as the mood shifted down quickly. ‘Looks like I’ll have to make a move and stop thinking. I’ll have more time later once I deal with this.’

Monitoring the progress of the wolves advance, he picked exactly the measures needed. His hands slid through the air moving through a strange pattern, traced by his fingers. It was a series of vertical lines evenly spaced. “Got it.” His hand came to a stop and his index finger moved as though it pushed button, even though it was only the air.

The action was not for play. Immediately in response, a sudden blast of water with rapidly freezing properties stretched out in all directions. The nearby wolf could not react quickly enough falling for the trap. It only partially encased the animal.

Another air button press triggered another trap, this time smoke, but quickly turned to flame as the partials combusted. The beast went up in flames running about unable to put it out. Further explosions and traps went off finally putting it out of its misery.

More traps went off for the remaining four wolves. The effects varied with differing amounts of success, none were ever the same. It made the diversity in the vials clear.

Both of the men were thick in calculations based off what they learned. Haruo needed to know more of what to expect, but did not plan for such accuracy. ‘So he has an eidetic memory. The hand motions are his means of recall like pushing buttons on a panel. And he stopped using normal means of catalyst. They were all created by his mind, so he can set them off whenever he desires. He’s gotten more serious.’ Out of the wolves, he still had three that survived. Recovering their injuries, they would be ready soon.

Teris had a new wealth of information based on his traps. ‘I can conclude now that what he’s creating doesn’t have a physical body in the traditional sense. It’s still effected by its surroundings, but doesn’t hold the same properties. Poisons and paralysis have no effect, the ice only froze it, but didn’t cause any damage to limbs or internal structure. They can be destroyed with enough effort. The animals are his power, whatever he uses manifests them and they are created out of that source.’ He felt it still too early to conclude if they were spirits, but the theory lost some support from his current findings.

Refilling the field with more of his vials, he readied the next round of tests. The wolves seemed ready for the attack once again. Their stalking already began. Encircling them, Teris stood at the ready to dispose of them, yet the opportunities did not come when he expected. ‘They’re avoiding the traps I revealed before. They know which ones have no effect.’ Glancing over at Haruo, it made him wonder once again about his previous findings. ‘Is it their instinct or is he controlling them? It seems unlikely they’d understand that quickly. How can he see from his position if he is commanding them?’

New questions came to Teris, but they would have to wait for later. The wolves came close enough to leap for an attack. Their timing was exact to be sure it was a three-prong strike from flanking positions.

A white glove materialized on Teris’ hand as he produced a vial. The wolves immediately understood the familiar color, the ice trap. However, already committed, their course could not be changed. Teris poured out the contents of the vial in an endless stream. Using his gloved hand like a brush, he actually seemed to control the course and strength of the water flow as it froze. Unlike the wolves trapped in ice, his hand never froze.

‘A special glove he can use to manipulate the water? It probably can be used with many of his compounds to alter them on his will.’ As much as Teris learned about the intricacies in Haruo’s power, the reverse remained equally true. He needed to see the man’s defense for his next plan.

Haruo held one of the vials spread out over the field. The color was a faint pinkish hue, but more orange. Each compound had subtle differences, mostly by color. He could tell the slight alterations, likely meant to be easy identification for Teris and stump his opponents that lack a discerning eye.

Throwing the container across the ten meter distance was a simple effort for him. Strength behind his arm easily shattered it on the ice as it continued to vine out over the wolves. Flames ignited as the fluid spread out. It quickly grew out of control following the path that Teris mapped with his hand. The wolves looked to be engulfed as well until the ice shattered consumed by flame allowing them to break free.

Freedom granted to the beasts, they dropped down. Scattered fires persisted along their bodies, but had no meaningful affect. They wasted no time jumping back into action, wanting to bring Teris down ending the fight immediately, as desired by Haruo.

Pinning Teris down, the three wolves clawed at him working up to the finish. However, vines grew up from around his body latching on quickly to the wolves. As they grew larger, it pushed the wolves off Teris and into the air until they were completely entangled.

Removing himself from the greenery, Teris stood up nearby. His hand rested on one of the vines grown out to a thickness greater than his body. “Incredible plant. Highly reactive to any sort of movement. It loves to grow and wrap around anything that moves.”

‘That’s not normal growth, he must have accelerated it somehow. Such science isn’t possible with current technology, meaning he’s not limited himself to just the present day. He’s investigated future advancements. This makes him even more unpredictable.’

“You’ve gotten more active finally. You’ve been far too passive to have been taking this seriously. I’m guessing you’ve still got plenty left to show.” A new container appeared in his hand, but it was no longer the standard glass vial. Clad in metal and sealed with bolts, the multi-faced shape defied Teris established motif. “Know what I’ve got stored in here?”

Haruo had no response for him. It was a rhetorical question. The whole point meant to draw his attention to it. However, the container concerned him. ‘What requires such an unusual design? The implication is that it is dangerous.’

His hand moved towards the seal on the metal container. “A fabricated element of the cosmos lies inside.” A strange light began to break through the partial opening in the seal. Everything in the area died expanding outward.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

“You’ve gotten more active finally. You’ve been far too passive to have been taking this seriously. I’m guessing you’ve still got plenty left to show.” A new container appeared in his hand, but it was no longer the standard glass vial. Clad in metal and sealed with bolts, the multi-faced shape defied Teris established motif. “Know what I’ve got stored in here?”

Haruo had no response for him. It was a rhetorical question. The whole point meant to draw his attention to it. However, the container concerned him. ‘What requires such an unusual design? The implication is that it is dangerous.’

His hand moved towards the seal on the metal container. “A fabricated element of the cosmos lies inside.” A strange light began to break through the partial opening in the seal. Everything in the area died expanding outward.

The sight alone would have been enough for anyone else to start running. Even Haruo reacted, but less because of what he saw and more of the possible considerations in his mind. ‘A cosmic particle? His power allows him to do that, but the threat of such a particle if it is anything that gives off radiation of any sort would be devastating to everything.’ If he had to guess it seemed likely that it would give off gamma radiation, which he could do nothing against. It did not matter the sort of body he had, he doubted it would hold up to radiation, specially the strength likely stored.

Given the situation and prompt, Haruo had a good idea what his plan was. It had not changed since they made loose introductions. ‘He’s trying to force me to fight with more effort. He’s not going to be satisfied with just a little understanding of how my power works. He wants everything.’ A dangerous emotion fueled Teris. Haruo could see it plainly in his eyes.

Greed.

A greed for knowledge. Or perhaps a lust for knowledge. Regardless it was powerful and consuming. It controlled what he did. As skilled or knowledgeable as he was, he wanted more. A ceaseless pursuit for more without restraints. Caution or morals held no place for him. It was all hard facts. Pure information.

He needed to know, no matter the cost.

Reckless abandon summed it up for Haruo.

Chapter 253 – Prowling Beast

However, the problem remained for Haruo. An unknown particle rested inside the container before Teris. The man feared nothing from it, it was his own creation so it could not harm him. The environment cried and plead for mercy after only ten seconds of exposure. Worse was the fact that it was not even full exposure. The seal that managed to contain and hold back the dangerous radiation only released a small dose. A demonstration of the potency.

If it remained only a demonstration Haruo had nothing to concern himself over. However, it was a call or a threat. He needed to find a response. “You just want to see more. That’s unnecessary.”

“It’s meaningless if I take away. You aren’t being serious and how am I to understand this interesting power if aren’t being serious.” He loosened the seal ever so slightly. Death spread out further in a radius.

“Remove it and I’ll show you what you want.”

“Oh?” Haruo had his attention now. What he wanted dangled in front of him. It nearly made him mindless, despite him remaining sharp almost too much. “You’ll have nothing to motivate you if I do. Dangerous situations bring out the best from living creatures, humans even more so. A crisis is exactly what someone like you needs.”

Lowering his brow a little, Haruo did not like the direction things headed. He could feel his side slipping quickly. The threat started pour into the next jar, action. Following through. Haruo had to act immediately before the irreversible occurred.

He preferred playing the situation with caution, but the moment Teris introduced his little trick that stopped being a reality. It was something Haruo had to accept. The man meant to force Haruo’s hand and that was exactly what he wished to avoid. His powers were too easily read before a man such as Teris.

No choice.

Haruo raked his hand through the earth. Grinding it up in his hand, he molded it tightly. ‘The distance is greater than the others. I’ll need to space them out…’ In his hand, three balls of compressed earth rested, a slight shine emitted from them.

Feeding the first between his thumb and index finger, Haruo shot it out in the direction of Teris. Immediately following up, he slotted the next in and fired it off, but angled away from them with the third set at a more extreme angle than the other.

Teris prepared, hand firmed planted on the seal. The ball sped towards him glowing bright with each moment before suddenly coming to a stop in front of him. It expanded quickly, but something bit his hand dropped his gaze. ‘A squirrel?’ he pondered, batting it away with his hand.

It was all the time he needed. Before Teris’ hand returned to the container, a monkey, no larger than half a meter and bathed in white, appeared right in front of the oddly shaped metal vessel. It grabbed it away from Teris held and started to sprint away with it, almost running sideways to keep up with the awkward size.

After ten meters of running, the monkey spun around a few times throwing off its stolen goods to another prepared monkey. Just as the monkey finished its delivery, it shattered into white particles. The same occurred to the next monkey and the third as well, but they managed to toss beyond the range of Teris’ field causing it to disappear. The radiation would no longer be a threat.

The grin returned to Teris’ face. He had more information as he hoped. ‘Looked like a squirrel monkey or some related genus or subfamily. He’s got quite the range of animals.’ Near his foot, the squirrel that distracted him ran about. ‘I didn’t see it all, because of his little pet. But it seems that a component is necessary for his pets. It looked like he just used some dirt.’

So many thoughts came to his mind. Theories changed and modified. New explanations came forward, but still remained far from fully answered. ‘But it does seem that unlike what I thought before, radiation will affect them. They don’t have normal physical bodies, but can still interact with other physical objects. So it’d make sense they’d break down from radiation, but what part is the radiation affecting that they’re unable to recover from the damage?’

‘I hope that was enough granted to him.’ Haruo managed to keep things hidden to some degree, but he knew that he let slip more than he wished. ‘It shouldn’t be enough to swing the advantage further to him. But he’s likely only a few hints away from fully comprehending.’ The threat did exactly what Teris wanted. Haruo knew it going in, but there was little choice. ‘I’m going to have to end things before he learns too much more.’

Digging through his pockets, Haruo found what he wanted. His hands drew behind him, using the broad length of his short body to keep things secretive. Light grew out from his back, but looked more like flashes as more bursts came.

A large pack of wolves walked out from behind him in a steady stream. They replaced the lost pack from before. However, it was even larger at a full twelve. Their size also increased from the last. But it did not stop with the wolves. More animals came out, rabbits, dogs and monkeys, like previous. The count exceeded thirty.

‘Quite the collection of animals he’s got. So he can make them even bigger, huh. Those wolves are at least twenty percent larger. Means he really isn’t locked to the actual perimeters of the animals he’s modeling.’

The zoo collection began to fan out. Though seeming mischievous, the monkeys worked together to clear away many of the scattered vials. A quick toss far in the distance and explosion cleared away many of the lethal compounds. In this manner, the monkey managed to open up routes for the animals to move safely. Though how long before Teris changed things remained an open question in the air.

‘Is he controlling them all individually? Maintaining that many is impressive enough to make him a good MP.’ Admiration passed quickly with him refocusing. Teris found himself surrounded by the mob of beasts. ‘This should be interesting…what’s he planning?’

Circling around Teris, the wolves kept an inner line ahead of the rest. Weaving around them were the smaller beasts. They seemed to have their own orders apart from the wolves.

Tilting his head over his shoulder, Teris saw the signs of the wolves moving in earnest. ‘Looks like it’s time again.’ Moving his hand into his inside coat ended up being the trigger for it all. The actions played out quickly as though both sides had long planned every single move to razor precision. Hesitation disappeared.

A vial of green liquid appeared from his coat accompanied by three more vials of varying colors. The first vial flew behind Teris with no checking. Three wolves charged at the position as the vial broke on the ground. Geometric crystalline structures erected quickly stacking upon each other forming a makeshift wall.

On his right flank, the wolves poured in partnered with the monkeys. Using vials picked up as a screen, they opened a route for the wolves to charge. Another one of Teris’ vials flew from his hand spreading out a gas, which only remained neutral for a moment. He kicked a vessel resting at his foot into the expanding gas igniting it into a cloud of flames.

The left flank contended with Teris manipulating his two compounds creating an explosive force along his special glove. Everywhere he swiped with his hand the attacking animal went flying.

Ahead of him a sinkhole opened up collapsing all of the would-be attackers into a pit. He packed in earth on top of them with another of his vials, which he immediately retrieved.

Under foot, the smaller creatures had found some of his vials crushing them at his feet. The effect was non-existent, but served exactly what was needed. Distracted, the crystal wall stopping the wolves suddenly broke. A hole created in the middle let the lion, which had been unseen during much of the fight as of recent, through to charge straight for Teris.

Teris tried to cast out a defense with his materials and glove, but it was fruitless. The lion shattered it plowing through everything. Nothing could stand between it and its prey, Teris. First strike had its mouth clamped down tightly on his arm. At the size of the lion, the whole arm could have easily fit down its throat without trying. Its paws pinned him down to the ground in the following instant. Teeth gashed at skin drawing up blood.

Wincing through the pain, Teris used his free arm to push through the air into an invisible space again. He smashed the spherical vial he retrieved on the ground. Splashing up, the liquid dotted his hand before changing states into a solid. Green crystals grew out from his hand completely covering it in a spiky mess.

His weaponized left hand plunged into the chest of the lion. The spread of the crystals left numerous puncture wounds from small to larger across the lion’s torso. An annoyed roar escaped the lion’s mouth before it squeezed harder on Teris right arm and bit and tore it off, leaving with its trophy. It limped at every other step bounding away, recovering from its wound.

‘A portal or gateway,’ considered Haruo, examining what happened. He saw Teris’ arm disappear into the air before. The report he pulled out made Haruo a little suspicious, but not until now did he have proof of it. ‘He uses it as a store, but wouldn’t it be more efficient to create it? The report…unless he stores things not created by his power in there. A dimensional pocket that can be accessed from any point and always safe from damage.’ It was just speculation for the moment.

“Damn, that hurts more than I thought it would,” Teris commented. Blood fell in globs from his shoulder, now lacking an entire right arm. His crystallized left hand poked into the dimensional rift again. Several bottles floated out. Some moved so he could swallow their contents and others went for the wound. “You went through my coat like it was nothing. Impressive jaw strength, clearly your animals don’t follow the same physical attributes as well, not just size perimeters.”

The whole thing before Haruo left him more than a little curious. ‘The bleeding stopped. The pain’s gone from his face. It must be medicine that he took, but such things aren’t possible with today’s medicine. He’s created advanced medicine, but it shouldn’t work on their bodies. It would only do so if it were…real.’ Realization set in quickly for him. Full implications of such scenario played out in his mind. ‘He’s exploiting the loophole in their powers to its fullest. That dimensional store likely holds real compounds he’s made to achieve whatever results he needs. He could be almost unstoppable…’

Appearing casual in the whole situation, as if it meant nothing to him, the loss of an arm was just another routine day. His left hand opened the gateway once more. “Seems the cat’s out of the bag now. You’ve already figured it out.” Out came an energy bar, which floating before him to bite. Another few bottles left the void as well. He consumed them all immediately. “You know if it weren’t for the fact that you’re an enemy of the state I’d ask to you to be my assistant. You’re far more competent than Didymos. You’re able to quickly and rational assess a situation and the outcomes. Which is why you won’t be surprised by this.”

A growth came out from Teris’ right shoulder. It started as a mound, but quickly extruded out. Pale in color, it became clear quickly it was a new arm. In less than a minute, he had a completely functioning appendage. “Feels a little strange growing limbs, but it’s the least of your concerns.” He slammed his new hand into the air, the air panel once more.

Everything suddenly went up in a massive pyre of flames. Haruo had no chance to defend himself from the explosion. However, it was not what he should have been focused on. Through the fire, Teris burst through somehow covering the distance of more than ten meters in a second. A force lifted him off his feet to send him falling a few meters backwards.

The red fiery torment calmed to leave only Teris and Haruo. He stared up from his prone position as Teris. ‘He increased his strength and speed, enough to take me off my feet. The power of a MP and enhanced physical properties. He’s a combination of them and us without any of the weaknesses. Is it possible for me to end this fight anymore?’

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

“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, which held perfectly with no damage from the weather or age. It was not cracks, but as if someone made 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?”

“No, because I won’t need but five seconds to knock you off this wall,” snapped back Saki with a heavy dose of bravado. Internally, she already questioned herself. The entire fight up to the where she arrived proved how different Rheia was from the others she dealt with. ‘I want to end this quickly, but it’s not going to be possible. I can’t break through her defenses.’ Her opponent sat at the top of all other MPs and with good reason.

Even with a quick end out of the question for Saki, the thought of an easy fight seemed equally unlikely. A certain amount of unease about the situation arose for her. All her most recent fights dropped her into a false sense of security. The Omega MPs were powerful, she did not doubt it. Her fight with the invisible Twins proved to her how much different they were. Yet, as long as she was fast enough and caught them unprepared, they were just normal humans she could stop. Those tricks did not work on Rheia, she somehow could react to Saki’s speed as though she had the same reflexes.

Something that should be impossible for a MP. Their bodies were normal, even in their empowered state their powers did not work on their bodies. It was what Yuki and Ayumi explained to her. It was the reason she was the one that did all of the work in the last leg of the journey. The things about Rheia were impossible. She did not understand how she managed it. The power she had to be using to recreate an identical match.

Her hand shook a little. It was slight, barely something that Saki noticed. She stopped it before it spread. Such a reaction confused her. Saki was quite certain it was not fear that caused it, which was why it confused her. She did not know why it happened. Rheia was skilled, no doubt about it, but Saki was not afraid of her. It was not like her fight with Kallias, who fought for the sake of being entertained. There was no desperation.

It made no sense.

The shaking calmed. Control restored.

Saki let out a carefully measured breath. ‘I have to remain completely focused in this fight. I need to find the holes in her defense. It’s going to be the only chance I have!’

Across the wall, stood Rheia with a waiting look painted across her face. Her arms remained crossed as she stood on the wall horizontal with the ground below, completely ignoring that gravity was a real thing that actually influenced everything. It made for a strange standoff for Saki, to be glaring over at someone that seemed to act as if they were another brick of the wall. A reminder of how powerful their reality defying power could be if desired.

Scanning her eyes over the wall, she looked for ways to reach Rheia. The broken up wall would not give her the range she needed. Only the upper layers of a massive wall fell away, much of it remained usable for Rheia. Evenly spaced extrusions on the wall that looked to be supports were the only part that broke the perfectly even surface of the wall. Nothing to hold or to grip.

A normal fight was impossible.

Though in fairness, when was the last time she had a normal fight. Ever since Ayumi showed up in their lives nothing remained normal. Every day was a fight against Yuki’s uncontrollable powers and assassins with weird powers. An actual normal day and what it meant made her want to a smile a little, not that she had the time for it.

She could not delay any longer. Yuki stood behind her in the gigantic city laid out below her. He waited for her, well probably not, he probably was off doing his own thing with little regard for patience. ‘I’ll be coming soon Yuki!’

Chapter 254 – Standing Room Only

Saki propelled herself forward with a short burst of speed before her leap off the wall. Gravity weighed on her, her short hair swayed loosely with the change. The only thing keeping her on the wall was the speed, even still she knew she slipped a little. Wall fighting was hardly something she practiced in her martial arts classes.

It put her in arm’s reach of Rheia, which was all she needed. Yet, it did not matter. Flank or not, standing on a wall, it all did not seem to change a thing for her. It was as if she stood on the ground. Her open palm blocked Saki. Even with the increased speed and strength she applied, knowing that restrained she could not stop her.

Cracks ran along the wall from the force of Saki’s collision with Rheia. Atlantis’ old wall held firm. It had more durability than the earth, which Saki carved up as if she was scooping ice cream out from the bottom of a nearly empty tub.

‘Damn, I’m already losing my footing like this.’ She disappeared again only a half second later as gravity kicked in on her body. It desperately wanted to pull her back to where she should have been, since it could do nothing to Rheia.

Bouncing off the supports, Saki pulled herself back around to hit from the other side. She managed to increase her speed even further. Each step pounded into the wall. Dirt and dust built up from centuries of silent vigil tore out from the rough surface behind her footstep. ‘There’s got to be a limit to what she can react to! I just have to move faster than she can handle! She’s only human.’

Speed increased resulted in the same effect. It was hardly a surprise. Saki could not even feign surprise anymore with what Rheia did. Anything she saw should have been impossible, but the truth spoke for itself. She only could accept the reality, Rheia’s reality.

Accept, but not understand. It was still beyond her.

The end of her run left her more than ten meters below Rheia on the wall. She quickly turned it into a loop to force herself back around. Slingshot back at the woman, Saki came out landing on the top of the wall, a part that remained untouched by Rheia’s attempt to make an easy way up.

Looking down through her feet at Rheia, Saki recalculated her strategy. Speed proved not to be the solution. ‘Doesn’t matter how fast I go and on this wall, I’m actually limited. I can’t reach my top speed, which is probably her plan. How can she expect anyone to fight on the side of a wall?’ Frustration had not really surfaced for Saki. She knew that she should be annoyed that the fight did not end. The seconds it should have been over turned to minutes. The rate she went it would just turn to another Twins battle. She needed a different angle.

‘If just going straight at her is not going to work…I could try that. It worked well against him.’ It was the only plan. Wasted energy in pointless effort served no purpose.

The shaking in her arm needed to be calmed once more. Acting up a second time annoyed Saki. ‘What’s with my hand? It feels strange. I’m not scared, so why is it shaking?’ Once relaxed, her focused pointed down. ‘No matter. I don’t need to be concerned about it. My attention should be on just her and ending this fight.’

Pushing off from the edge of the wall, Saki let her body be taken by gravity. The wind brushing against her face reminded her of the limit she had. It was not enough for it. Just a start. A moment later, feet met with the stone of the wall. Shards of stone exploded suddenly from just the press of her feet. Saki sharply disappeared.

She appeared directly in front of Rheia, arm extended out. Then Saki passed through the wild-haired woman’s body. Barely a reaction came from her face as she turned around to meet Saki coming up from behind. This time the fist connected with her palm, like all previous times. Cracks ripped up through the wall protesting the pressure.

A bigger reaction came from Saki. ‘What?! She even blocked me after my illusion feint?’

‘It’s called an Afterimage!’ poked Yuki’s commentary.

The trick she discovered in her fight with Kallias did nothing to Rheia. An effortless motion turned her around to allow her to block the real attack. Once more the impossible happened, but Saki thought it actually would work. Surprise returned to her face.

‘What sort power does she have?! There could not have been more than a tenth of a second between the feint and true strike.’ In the time that Saki stood confused, reality came back to her. She realized she needed to move again. Staying in one place too long would be bad.

Recovered and back at the ruined part of the wall, where it all began, Saki stared the length to the woman. She kept waiting for Saki. Status quo needed to change for Saki. Without any sign of an improvement of her situation all she did was keep running along a wall for the exercise.

Thinking on her Kallias fight again, she knew she still had something left. ‘The only way to deal with someone with a perfect defense is going to be force them to use their power. I need to drain her dry.’

“All or nothing now…” Despite the sound logic behind her plan, uncertainty about the success of it still lingered. The biggest question was how long could someone like her last. Kallias was not even on the same level of skill or power. He burned out quickly, but Rheia was different. She showed no signs of even being warmed up.

Bending her knees in preparation, the course committed her. ‘Can’t worry about the what-ifs right now. Just need to go for it. Though on this surface, it’s going to be even harder to keep up.’ Explosive power shot through her legs tossing Saki into the fray.

Disappearing a split second later, Saki reappeared in eight forms surrounding Rheia. Each form slammed into her with all of her strength. All real, but on fraction of a second delay to account for the travel distance.

As to be expected, Rheia maintained the same stance as before. Each punch blocked with the same palm. She rotated in place to meet her every time. Due to the speed at which Saki moved, even Rheia became a blur to keep up with the rapid succession of attacks.

‘I expected this much,’ thought Saki, focusing on keeping her footing together.

Seconds of the high-speed barrage continued before one of Saki’s multi-forms shimmered out of phase. It dropped to seven and then to six. ‘Damn the wall and gravity. I’m losing my speed!’ It settled out to only four forms assaulting Rheia, yet still no sign of a change in the Commander of the Titans.

Nearly a minute passed with no change from either. Saki managed to hold her pace despite the slip-ups, but an accident would eventually happen. Inevitability showed up about a minute and twenty seconds into the attack. All of the running weakened the wall’s surface enough that Saki lost her footing when the outer layer crumbled. She slid down the wall tumbling end over end for more than twenty meters before correcting her position.

Finally stopped, she stared back up at Rheia. The woman waited for her. She wanted something from her. The same expectant look from before. It had a familiar look to her. ‘She’s got the same look on her face as that boy I always fought at the dojo.’ It was not one that looked down upon or stood in superiority, even though they always came out on top while she laid flat on her back.

They wanted to see more. They were curious. They wanted to see how skilled she was. ‘What does she want from me? She’s supposed to be trying to capture or kill me, but she looks like she just wants a fair fight, a test of skill to see who is the best. It doesn’t make any sense.’

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

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

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

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

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

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 255 – Standing for One Minute

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Is that a problem, Master?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘I won’t…fall…not here…’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 256 – Standing on Top

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The hit landed.

Saki smiled with success.

Nothing.

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

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

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

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

“Please hear me everyone! You must listen!”

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

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

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

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 257 – Misdirected Emotions

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nothing happened.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘I’ll avenge you, Simonides!’

Their weapons sped towards each other. Only seconds remained.

‘…Yori…’

Frozen. Time ceased.

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

‘…Yori…’

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

‘…I’m fine…’

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

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

‘…Yori…’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Shut up! I know it was you!”

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

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

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

“You know who it was!”

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

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

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

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

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 258 – Buried Emotions

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

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

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

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

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

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

“He’s our Captain!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Can you hear me?”

‘Yes…’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Ouch…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Well…I guess…”

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

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

“Then I’ll change it!”

“How?”

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

“You can’t, only Meso Prosecho can.”

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

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

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

“But isn’t he appointed by the King?”

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

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

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

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

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

“Athene.”

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

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

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

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nothing.

Chapter 259 – Awakened Emotions

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

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

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

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

“But this isn’t over yet.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Can you give me back my sight?”

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

“You have your answer.”

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

“Yes.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 260 – The Recovered Truth

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

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

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

“Let me finish.”

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

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

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

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

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

“But he would have to be—“

“Powerful enough to support the Throne of Atlantis.”

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

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

“Then he could save Atlantis.”

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

“You mean she never told him?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes, it’s in…their hands now.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I guess that’s fair.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yori Mizuno, I’m going to kill you!”

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

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 261 – Burning Freedom

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nothing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blood splattered upwards across the wall.

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

A cough.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’m coming to save you, Yuki!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 262 – Childish Dreams

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Can’t be…she’s still alive?!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

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

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

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

Slack jawed, Fumiko had no words for moments. Reality eventually slammed in the back of head, pushing her forward. “No way! Impossible! I killed you!”

The new version of Glykeria had an almost innocence in her eyes and nothing like the child-like innocence of the nine-year-old. Unlike the other, which had an almost hidden murderous intent, she felt like she just wanted to be friends with Fumiko and sad knowing that she could not. She understood the reality, but hoped for something different. It was the most complex version Fumiko met yet.

Her body did not want to move on her. Her legs almost felt numb from the torture she put them through. “Damn, how the many are you?! How many times do I have to kill you?”

Glykeria knelt down at Fumiko’s side. She gazed up and down the length of her body. “You never killed me, but if you want to think of it like I don’t mind. This is just how my power works.”

“Tch…” Fumiko felt cornered. She knew that Glykeria could do anything to her she wanted, but refrained from it. The new version made even less sense to her, though the others had very little logic to them either. At the very least, they all seemed willing to fight. This one felt like she restrained herself from doing so. What point was a pacifist?

After everything that happened, Fumiko actually felt the most afraid in those moments of being examined. Because she did not know what the woman planned, she did not know what to expect. She would have said she would be patched up and released or maybe arrested. Yet, some of her words made it clear that she intended to fight, despite her actions. ‘I already tried to kill her several times, she may do the same to me. But I don’t know if she plans to , I can’t read her at all. She seems the most frightening of them all, that placid expression.’

Chapter 263 – Childish Resistance

Glykeria snapped her fingers; a doll appeared next to her. The same theme of weapon continued for her, but it was different just like the others. For this version of the woman, the doll was the size of about a human baby and had an unnervingly close appearance in the face of a real human. It looked almost like a horror prop as it clearly was not real, but if you did not stare long it could easily have passed for real.

“Paramonimos, if you will.”

“Yes, as you command, Mistress.” The doll very politely bowed to the woman before floating away. It circled around Fumiko and grabbed her up by the tatters of her cloths. The weight of Fumiko’s body was too much for them hold. Tears increased across the tunic until the doll grabbed her by the back of neck. What was left of her tunic slid off her shoulders revealing her bra with only one strap still holding together.

Fumiko grimace both from pain and embarrassment. She could do nothing to stop woman. “What the hell you want?” Her lips quivered a little as she tried to hold up her resolve.

Looking up at Fumiko, though taller Fumiko still held the number one stop, Glykeria walked closer. She bent over picking up the scraps that remained of the tunic. Offering it back to her for her modesty, Fumiko refused her. “You’re stubborn. A strong and willful spirit. However, it seems you’ve reached the limit your body will allow. Please surrender now and this will all be over.”

“Surrender?” Narrowing her eyes with suspicion, Fumiko had trouble believing it would be so simple. It seemed more likely that she would be killed. Especially with all of the havoc they caused throughout Atlantis. “I find…that unlikely… You plan to kill me.”

Poking her eyebrow up a little, Glykeria seemed a little surprised by the reaction. “I don’t want to kill you.”

“I’m dead either way. If not by you, but by someone else. The blood on my hands is reason enough for someone to want to kill me.”

“That’s a rather sad outlook on your life.” She actually seemed ready to cry for Fumiko. “You have to believe that there is still a chance. You can’t give up just because the situation seems grim.”

“Huh? Aren’t I the enemy to you? Should you really be saying such things?”

“We might be on opposite sides, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t reach for the same goal.”

Her face turned flat as her disbelief increased. “I think you exceeded anyone I know for naivety.” Fumiko stared at her seeing a smile on her face. “I wasn’t complimenting you.”

Fumiko reached behind herself and grabbed the doll, actually getting grip on it thanks to its size. She pushed her flames into it and ripped it off her neck. The support it provided dropped her back down to the ground. She tightened her hold on it hoping to either crush or burn it, but neither happened. After a couple of seconds, she threw it back at the feet of Glykeria.

Slowly standing back on her feet, Fumiko worked up the most stoic expression she still had left in her. Her body screamed louder than her voice could grant words. The twitching in her face revealed the pain she tried to conceal. “You want me to surrender, then come for me. Earn your victory!” Still a large unknown, she sort of hoped that the naivety would make her less of a threat as a fighter.

“I see. You leave me no choice then. While I did not start this, I will end it. Rest assured of that.”

“Let’s see what you’ve got!”

“Para.”

“Yes, Mistress.” The doll flew forward ramming its tiny fist deep inside Fumiko’s stomach. It tossed her back through the air. Blood sprayed in a trail of her wake.

Fumiko felt lightheaded immediately. ‘Guess I was wrong…’ She ignored all her body’s complaining and threw the staff, she picked up when she landed, into the earth. Multiple magic circles expanded out over the area flooding everything in flames, a river of fire. Fumiko landed in the fire that raced out to catch her, magic circles appeared on her feet and hands.

She turned her head up to the distance where Glykera stood along with the doll. Underneath her, the flames carried her along a wavy river back to her staff. She snatched it back up, surfing with one hand running on the river and her feet. ‘If my body doesn’t have any strength, my magic remains just a strong. I haven’t exhausted that yet!’

Testing out the new doll, Fumiko fired off a quick succession of fireballs from her mobile position. All she saw was the lone doll. None of the others popped up like she had seen with the others. ‘She’s likely going to show the others soon. She’ll need them to compete with my magic.’ Yet, the doll deflected them with only its fists and even crushed the last one for good measure.

The display impressed Fumiko admittedly. ‘So it she only needs the one. Is that it?’ Questioning the situation did not last for long. The doll charged forward after ending the attack Fumiko made. It easily crossed the distance in a single second that even Fumiko had a little trouble following it. Waves of fire rose up along her flank to overwhelm it. But it punched through completely unhindered.

Fumiko leapt back switching the streams direction to get her ahead of him. It still connected with her, but she managed to dampen enough of the force that it only pushed her faster along the fire. However, it kept up chase.

Quick exchanges between the two sparked along the flame flow. Fumiko clearly came out on the losing side of most of them, even though she managed to stay in the fight through careful maneuvering. A battle of attrition remained attrition even if it looked like a stalemate. She could not keep up forever with the doll. Even using her surfing technique to reduce the stress on her body, her arms could not hold out, magic infused as they were.

A new plan needed to be created if she stood any chance of turning her fortune around. ‘Damn…this is getting me nowhere and this doll is even more annoying than the hundreds I dealt with before. It feels like it’s getting even faster even though I’m pretty sure it’s just my body that’s slowing down.’

Fire rose up in front of Fumiko. It tried to push back the doll, but like before nothing happened. None of her magic spells could do anything. Even the metal vines failed to touch it.

Nothing reached.

‘I can’t compete with this doll…’ Fumiko glanced over in the distance as Glykeria. They were far away, nearly out of sight. The only idea she had left came seemed like rehashing old ideas. ‘If you have multiple lives, then I just need to keep burning until I exhaust all of your lives.’

She worked to guide their fight back to Glykeria. Once she felt they were in range, she fired off a couple of spells at Glykeria to distract the doll. It bought the feint, while Fumiko slid around behind. ‘You’re just a normal human. You don’t have the same reaction speed as your doll or me!’ She completely flooded Glykeria in her flames.

However, the flames suddenly went out as Glykeria slashed through them with her arm. “Coming straight for me. You’re quite predictable.”

“Is that so?!” Fumiko threw out a fireball straight at Glykeria’s face.

A hand moved in to catch the spell and crushed it. “I’m not so defenseless as you seem to think I am.”

“I see.” Fumiko looked down at her metal hand. ‘I need something different.’ Through the fight, she got a better feel of the new arm. The flow of magic through it became easier to understand. It responded to her will and command as she directed.

Magic circles flashed all over the shiny surface. Out of her palm, the metal extruded until it become large enough for her to take hold. The moment her hand gripped the unformed molten metal it jumped into the shape within her mind.

A scimitar grew out of the mass. Carved through the length of the blade magic imbued it with power. It had a different purpose from her staff. Red glowed in the lines that coursed through the metal.

Fumiko drew back the sword and swung it down at Glykeria. It briefly flashed with flames before it stopped suddenly. “What?!” Bare handed, Glykeria had halted the blade she specifically crafted to cut her. “The edge is supposed to be enhanced to be sharp enough to cut through anything!”

“I guess you failed then.” Glykeria closed her fingers to grip the blade. A quick twist snapped and crushed the blade. Shards of metal rained down in front as though confetti. It was completely worthless. “This is where you fall.” She rammed her fist into Fumiko crushing her ribs and soaking her blood on her hand.

Gasping in surprise, Fumiko fell back. Her body completely stopped function. The flames disappeared returning her arm to normal and the metal dislocated from her arm. Blood pooled up from the fist size wound in her abdomen. ‘I lost…I’m sorry, Yuki…’ Her eyes closed slowly losing sight of the world.

Glykeria materialized a new doll to rest on her hand. “Tend to her.” As ordered, it floated over beginning work on the countless injures that Fumiko sustained during the fight. She stared down at her bloodied fist with a look of disappointment. “It didn’t need to end like this. But I’ve completed my assignment.”

Paramonimos floated over to her right side. “What is your next order, Mistress?”

“Nothing. The others still have their battles to resolve. We wait to see their conclusion. Then we’ll act.”

“Understood, Mistress.”

She looked back at Fumiko’s unconscious body. Then she glanced at her condition. Glykeria let out a soft sigh. Her countenance suddenly shifted with a neutral expression taking over. “She pushed me this far. But I never used my field and my other self remained hidden. I wonder if there’s someone out there that will force me to get serious. All of these games only keep things so interesting…”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

The reality was he hit her with numerous attacks. Still small, they began to add up. She lost more blood with each failure. “I’m tired of hearing your voice!”

“Because I’m right,” he replied calmly, halting her attack. Nereus turned her around and threw her into the ground. However, Chiharu escaped from his grasp and came on the offense again. He could stop her all day. The amount of energy it expended was insignificant against such a beast. “The way you are I can only see anyone following you dying. Failure of any leader is the death of those that follow them.”

Chiharu suddenly stopped. While blind, her hearing still worked perfectly. His annoying voice continued to fuel her, until now. “Death? Dead…my men…” Images from her raid on the Higoshi Clan’s stronghold returned to her. She led her men on an attack for revenge for them killing her grandfather, yet she failed them. Men died listening to her. She failed.

“You’re not a leader, you’re just a failure. A mindless beast, barely better than the dirt you stomp on.”

Failed.

Just a failure.

‘Worthless? They’re dead because of me.’ Her body started to shake. She could not move. All she could see were the images of her men. They were all dead before. ‘I killed them. I failed them.’ Chiharu completely lost sight of Nereus. The world disappeared. Everything went black. ‘I’m no leader. I fail at everything I do. I have to rely on others for my success. I’m nothing.’ The light left Chiharu’s eyes. Her body was lifeless.

She was dead to the world.

“Chiharu… Chiharu!”

A young Chiharu turned her head up catching the ball she bounced. It only took a moment to find who called out to her. “Mommy!” She ran up to her mother standing at the doorway.

“There you are my dear!”

“Mommy!” Suddenly blood sprayed over her face. Confusion painted the young child’s face unable to react to what happened. Blood continued to pour out soaking her in crimson. “Mommy?”

Her mother collapsed on the deck completely lifeless. Behind her, her father laid face down in a pool of his own blood. Scattered everywhere blood painted the walls and doors with men broken.

A complete bloodbath.

“Dead…everyone…is…dead…DEAD!”

Chiharu ran through the room into the hall trying to escape it. She only saw more and more death wherever she went. No matter the hall she turned down, she could not escape. Tears streamed down her face.

“Chiharu…”

“Grandfather?” She turned around, suddenly older, her normal age. Her eyes widened in shock to see him completely covered in blood.

“Why? Why did you fail me?”

“But I—“ Turning away, she fled from him as well. Only to come across even more dead. They seemed to be everywhere. She slipped on a pool of blood trying to turn away again. It dragged her towards the pile of dead.

“Lady Chiharu…”

“Why Lady Chiharu…”

“Why did I die?”

“I-I-I…” Chiharu could not answer. The mass of dead fell over top of her. She slid further into the abyss. Completely soaked in crimson. So soaked that it became a new skin for her.

She was completely lost.

Chapter 264 – Almost Human

“Please hear me, everyone! You must listen!”

It was distant at first, but grew stronger. Somehow the voice penetrated through everything. It shattered everything held around Chiharu. She awoke mentally in a void. The nightmare passed for the moment. She had some relief. However, someone intruded into her mind, despite how helpful it unintentionally was she hated the feeling.

“What are you doing in my head?” she demanded promptly. The way his voice reached her seemed as though he stood next to her. However, no matter how she turned about in the space he was nowhere to be found.

It did not take long for him to start getting into the details. She picked up on the more manipulative wording he made before clarifying himself. Yet it did end up affecting her more than she thought. The idea of the weakling left rot or being tricked and lied to the whole time, she was not sure what part of it actually affected her.

“Damn, the weakling’s always getting himself into trouble. Makes me wonder why I even thought he’d be worth my time.”

Awakened from the other world, Chiharu stared a little more clearly at Nereus. The experience left her a little bothered, her past still haunted her. It was something that she could never out run. However, the whole thing gave something that she needed at the moment, a sober mind. All of the wasted energy on emotions that clouded her head flipped her view. She could finally see correctly.

“You’ve returned. Have you made a decision?”

“Yes.” Chiharu retrieved her tanto to slide into an offensive stance. “I’m fighting. I don’t care about your tests or what you think might or might not be human. I know who I am and that’s all that matters.”

“Is that so?” Water spun around Nereus in response to Chiharu declaration. He seemed ready to finish things with her. “Then I will continue to remind you of the truth.”

“The only truth is that I’m going to knock your arrogant ass of your pedestal.”

“It’s not arrogance, only truth.”

Chiharu sighed, he was a broken record. More depressing was that he seemed to believe it actually. ‘He’s not actually saying those things to taunt me like I thought. He just genuinely seems to believe completely in what he is saying. What sort of twisted upbringing did he have to warp his mind like that?’ With the emotions and rage removed from her eyes, Chiharu saw Nereus in a completely different light. It was actually hard to be angry with him. She almost pitied him for not knowing better. “Yeah, yeah, let’s just get this going.”

He still seemed less interested in being proactive. So it was Chiharu that took the initiative to strike first. She had no plan just needed to start something. As she went through the first few attacks, she planned to watch and figure something out. However, the first strike told her so much more about him than she expected.

Like always, it guided straight to his hand to block. She expected that, but she did not expect to see or feel what she did during it. ‘How did I miss that before? It’s so obvious…’ Chiharu needed to be sure, but it seemed her mind had been more clouded than she realized. Attacking a second and third time, she verified it.

‘I’m right. That’s actually quite simple, though…’ Chiharu sheathed her sword with her checks completed. Ready, she disappeared moving straight for Nereus. Stealth attacks were unnecessary. Her fist lined up directly for him, but hit sudden resistance. It was hard for her to describe, but simply felt like thick air. The density was enough to draw her out of her speed and slow down her fist significantly.

She could see him already moving his hand and her hand being guided down to him. An exterior force pushed and acted like a guide rail. Anything else rather than the opened path was so thick it was too easy to take the least resistant course. However, she understood it now. She pushed with her strength altering the course. Her fist missed his palm and hit square in his chest knocking him back a meter.

Staggered and surprised, Nereus took a moment to pause. A shallow cough came up from the hit, though he was not injured from it. Once he recovered, Nereus looked back at Chiharu with a different look in his eyes. He actually seemed to be seeing her. “So you might actually be alive after all.”

Chiharu cocked her eyebrow up at his response. “That’s an odd way of saying I figure out your defense.”

“Since you seem to potentially be worth taking a little more seriously, I’ll cease my defensive stance.” The water around him suddenly came to a complete halt. Out of the surface shot several long cone shaped forms.

Chiharu evaded them with ease as they moved almost too slowly for her. It was the first time he acted on his own rather than a counter to her. ‘So he can actually make offense, but if this is all he’s got it’s going to be disappointing. Now that I know what’s going on, it’s completely changed.’ However, when she started to move for next strike, the first water cone, already passed her, shrank and grew quickly in size before exploding.

A little surprised by the secondary effect, she was not able to dodge everything. Not knowing what it did, she preferred to not be hit, but it only felt a little warm. She was certain she saw some steam trailing off it as it exploded. ‘Steam? He boiled the water?’

Questioning it did not have the time. He already went into his second round of attacks. They varied in being perfect cubes flying at her. The speed significantly increased over the last forcing her to stay aware. One barely clipped her and it felt like a wrecking ball slammed into her. It knocked her off balance, but nothing she could not recover from. ‘I can manage this sort of pace, this battle…’ Her confidence returned seeing his attacks.

‘I’ll need to try to end this quickly if I can. I can’t be certain of the others fights and if the weakling is in trouble as the brother says, then I can’t spend time on this man for long. I came all the way out here because of him…’

The fight finally found its rhythm. No longer one sided, both sides had to be in effort. Dodging remained Chiharu’s focus, while testing his defenses. They naturally changed after she broke through. The density increased, but he no longer guided her around in the same fashion. He did not allow her much time to test before running with another water attack.

‘I mostly just used her as an excuse. She saved me. So I guess I was grateful, but she was strong and unyielding. Nothing seemed to stop her. She was everything that I…’

Dancing around the field, water started to build up on the grass. When Chiharu ran out it splashed. The number of water attacks continued increase, each adding more to the developing swamp. It did not slow her down for now, but she worried about the conditions as the fight dragged out.

‘She was most of the reason, but there was something odd about the weakling. He had a strange strength that I didn’t understand. I wanted to know more… I thought it might be important…’

As Chiharu tasted more of Nereus’ attacks, she began to get an understanding for them. She realized he could alter the density. It was always water, normal water, nothing magical or supernatural. He always used natural laws to govern it. Even though he could make it so much more with different properties, it was purely science driven. Even though such a conclusion still left her with one question that was at the core of everything that he did.

What was his theme? What was the single answer that tied together everything? It might have been scientifically explained what he did, it did not answer how he created water. She did not have that answer yet.

‘Though once we were in this strange land, I saw the sister step up. I could see what she wanted and others followed her. I had to know more, see how it worked. I needed…’

Every action Chiharu made went towards figuring out his power. She knew if she figured out the final piece that she would be able to defeat him. It was a lot of weight on a single bit of intelligence. Yet, she knew despite the progress made against him without it he still had the advantage. The unknown quality of his power held great versatility that she could not fully predict.

Water continued to rain down over the field. It actually surprised her that he kept it around, but it made her cautious. All of it could be part of his plan. Despite his more aggressive state, she did not feel he still fought seriously. It seemed like he held back most of his tricks still. A fact that concerned her a little.

‘I know… They have something…something I…’ Chiharu slid over the water soaked grass. Small waves splashed around her. Her hand gripped against the water to slow down her movement. He actually countered rather than blocked her. Inconsistency was the only consistent thing she could say about his method of fighting. It made it difficult to react.

Finally, she came to a stop several meters away from Nereus. She felt the water drip down her fingers. ‘I need it. This won’t be the end.’ Chiharu stood up tightening up her hold of her kunai, she recently used in her last few attacks. She rubbed her fingers over her thumb on her free hand feeling a little off about something. ‘I know what I lack and until I obtain it… I won’t stop following them…watching them… What I desire… What I need…’

Chiharu reaffirmed her resolve. Nereus’ comments struck a painful point on her. But it was behind her now. She knew the path in front of her once more. It was all clear.

Suddenly water jumped up all around her. It rotated in tendrils that slowly grew wider. They all converged to a point in front of Chiharu forming a sphere of water. A moment later, a jet of water shot out from the sphere like a cannon straight for Nereus.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Suddenly water jumped up all around her. It rotated in tendrils that slowly grew wider. They all converged to a point in front of Chiharu forming a sphere of water. A moment later, a jet of water shot out from the sphere like a cannon straight for Nereus.

Surprised from the completely different method of attack, Nereus had little prepared to respond. Only the water and his existing defenses saved him from a complete defeat in that instant. However, the water poured all around him forcing him back. Controlled by the pressure of the water, it lifted him off the ground. Carried more than thirty meters, it finally stopped. Nereus fell on his back unmoving.

Nearly equally surprised, but actually more taken aback was Chiharu. She kept staring around at the water that continued a stayed flow around her. ‘What’s this? I thought it was him, but it attacked him.’ Running her fingers through the water gave her a strange sensation. Something triggered in her mind. It felt like she was feeling out through the water almost.

Chiharu took a step back, trying to distance herself from the strange water. The sensations it gave her felt almost natural yet she knew it should not be. It unnerved her how her body almost seemed to want it. ‘What’s wrong with me? Is this…’

The water lowered back to the ground becoming inert once more. Whatever life it obtained disappeared the moment she left it. Chiharu stared at the water still feeling the odd connection coursing through her body. It was almost as if she could manipulate it like it was an extension of her body.

‘It was almost like someone cut something off from me. Not like severing a limb, but nothing so minor as losing a few strains of hair either. It’s so unsettling.’ The water still stuck to her finger tips rolled around. She stared intently on her fingers watching as the water seemed to bead up. The more she pushed it around the more it built up as if it was gum sticking everything to it. ‘Is this really me?’

Movement in the distance alerted Chiharu away from the distraction. Nereus looked to be recovering from her attack. ‘Damn, I didn’t need this right now.’ Glancing back, all of the water on her fingers finished gathering from all of the rolling. A tight sphere of water hovered in her palm. If she needed any further clues, that settled it for her. ‘A new power, completely unrelated to any of my other abilities. Why now? I don’t even know how it works or if it’ll be useful against him. It caught him off guard once, but he uses water too.’

Soaked and bruised, Nereus appeared to have sustained damage from Chiharu’s attack. He looked a little uneasy in his walk, but returned quickly. “So you’ve been holding back your true abilities.”

Chiharu saw the look in his eyes change once again. He saw her, but it was more than just acknowledgement like before when she broke through his barrier. He actually seemed to only be focused on her. All attention narrowed to her. He wanted to see more. It almost seemed like he judged her equally.

‘I wasn’t holding back anything, but I’m not going to tell him that I discovered a new power. He’d take advantage of it knowing I didn’t know how to control it.’ She fixed her stance to remove any doubt she had about the water power. All she could present to him was confidence and certainty. “You seemed to be holding back as well.”

“True, but it did not seem fair to use my full power on someone that proved they were merely a normal human.”

Chapter 265 – More than Human

Chiharu perked her eyebrow up to his odd statement. In his words, he admitted to upgrading her status, yet it still seemed like a strange contradiction. “You’ve got a strange world view. What I’ve been doing would hardly be considered normal by the rest of the world’s standards.”

He tilted his head a little, returning similar confusion. “There is no one else in the world besides other Meso Prosecho. You’re the first human I’ve met that doesn’t have the same abilities. So what other standard would there be?”

“Are you being serious? You literally don’t view the eight billion people in the world as human?”

“There’s only a few thousand humans in the world.”

She could not help but drop her mouth open a little in surprise. Chiharu figured out from watching before that he seemed to be serious about his perceptions of others, but she did not think it ran so deep. “You believe that without any doubt that everyone without abilities like yours is not even part of the same species as you. I don’t understand how you can actually function like that.”

“This is just the reality of the world. But you’ve proven yourself to be among us. I didn’t think it was possible for there to be a different type of human like you.”

Chiharu could only shake her head listening him. Arguing with him was pointless. She saw how deeply it went just by looking into his eyes. She already saw before it was genuine and no act. This only confirmed it with further proof.

“Let’s just finish this,” she said, settling on focusing on the fight rather than his delusional beliefs.

The water hovering around Nereus suddenly evaporated. Humidity increased dramatically with the air pressure dropping. “Very well. I do have my orders to place you under arrest.” Dark clouds grew out above them as the furthest point of his power. Winds suddenly picked up dragging everything loose along.

The change in the atmosphere and scale of the powers displayed made Chiharu certain that he pulled out all of the stops. ‘He’s getting serious now. His power extends to even creating storms.’ Rain began to drop over the battlefield. ‘This is more than just a water power. Something else is at work.’

Continuing to modify the weather, the storm became worse. Lightning strikes jumped from the clouds in the distance bouncing around the light. The cracks and rumbles of the storm echoed throughout the field.

Despite the change in the conditions, Chiharu wondered how it gave him any advantage. ‘If I’m understanding my power, this is more of a benefit to me. All his attacks have follow natural laws that can be scientifically explained. So what does he have planned?’

Chiharu suddenly felt the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand up. A strange feeling washed over her body. The air felt oddly charged and warm. Her body reacted before her mind realized what was happening. ‘Lightning!’ Sure enough, a split second later only centimeters away from her a massive bolt of lightning struck.

The heat and discharge knocked her off balance. Proximity to the flash blinded her. Chiharu rolled over the grass to a stop. She could still feel the warmth coming off of it from the few meters away. It persisted around longer than she thought possible. ‘Damn that was close…what are the odds of that?’

Before she could even regain her sight, the same feeling came over her again. She knew better now what it meant and jumped out of the way, even lacking her sight. A third came as well, each seemed to have a greater intensity than the last.

When the fourth hit it became clear to her the truth. ‘He’s able to control lightning as well. Making pinpoint strikes in succession would not be possible if he wasn’t controlling it. It’s statistically impossible, but that’s more proof his power isn’t water… It’s something else…’

Failing on the strikes, the lightning calmed down. However, Chiharu detected a new change in the weather. The wind grew stronger starting to approach gale forces. ‘What’s he planning now?’ Her eyes sight still had not recovered from the blinding light. Blurs were the only thing she could see.

A dull tap knocked on her leg, signaling to Chiharu something new. ‘Wish I could see…’ Chiharu moved around guessing he might have been sending something at her. Her eyesight improved, but not enough yet. Something else hit her making her jump away only to be hit again and again in quick succession. The objects were getting larger and heavier. ‘Hail?’

The longer it lasted the more certain she became it was hailing. Dodging it all meant nothing if she could not see it, but so far the impacts were not even something that hurt. Yet, she could tell they constantly increased in size. Eventually, it would probably start causing problems.

As her eyes finally started to see again, the degree at which hail filled the sky took her back a step. It was almost as dense as rain, but varied greatly in size. She had actually been pelted by numerous smaller pieces that she did not even notice. ‘He must be doing something with the storm to create such extreme weather. The control he has makes it seem more like his power is weather and the water he used before was just a facet. Yet I don’t even think that’s right… Something about his defense doesn’t sit right with me…’

Regardless of her theory crafting, Chiharu had more immediate concerns. The hail continued to grow dramatically in size. He created an impossible scenario with an extreme storm. Hail fell denting the earth with their size surpassing small watermelons. Chiharu got better at dodging now that she could see them. However, the screen of hail made it impossible to avoid them all, she had to pick which hit her. ‘Damn…’

The progressive degree the situation became worse came sooner than she expected. Even the smallest pieces of ice were still large enough to leave bruises. ‘I need to do something about this, running is just going to delay things.’ When she heard the splashing of water under foot from the increased rainfall it reminded her of the one asset she had unexplored. ‘It might be able to do something. At this point I won’t know unless I try…’

Chiharu hated the notion of using something untested. It only worked once when she was not even trying. She had no guidelines on how to use it. No practice or training told her what it could be used for or even how long it took to activate. The whole thing was the waste type of unknown for her, completely unrelated to any physical training.

‘I need something, anything once more. Something to deal with this hail…’ She ran her fingers through the water at her feet as he knelt down. All the while, she waited for something to happen with her body ached from the pounding. She had no protection of any sort, her chainmail destroyed. ‘Do something!’

Nothing.

Waiting any longer meant suffering the beating of nature. ‘Should have known to trust something I don’t know understand.’ Standing up, the water on her fingers followed her stretching out to long threads. ‘What the hell is this?’ She tried to pull her hand away, but the water just followed until it laid down four columns in front of her.

The larger chunks of hail bounced off, unable to break through. Pleased with the results, she drew up another set with her other hand to weave a net on front. The defense held, but it left her completely stationary. She had no offense.

Drawing her hands away from the water, she tried to separate from it. She needed to get back into the fight. However, it would not break away. It followed everywhere she moved her hands. “Damn thing. Break.”

Unfortunately, she left holes in the defense requiring her to dodge to avoid a massive rock of ice flying at her. It caused her to rotate around the anchor position wrapping the water up into a tangled mess on her waist. “Damnit!” Chiharu nearly fell over trying to recover from the trap.

The water finally broke and released her. Stumbling around, the water still clung to her fingers even if it freed itself from the ground. “Get off!” She rubbed her hands up and down her leather under jacket to try to get it off her fingers, but it only seemed to spread it further.

A few moments later, she realized the water actually started to grow and stretch over her body. It covered in the gaps between the threads until completely wearing itself on her like another layer of her cloths. Yet it was when she stopped feeling the hail that she realized what occurred. ‘I have new armor, stronger than conventional armor…’ She liked the feel it, her body felt comfortable with it for some reason.

When Nereus realized that hail stopped having an effect it ceased. However, the wind suddenly picked up even harder. It became harder to hold her position as the wind exceeded standard typhoon force winds. Worse was she looked up towards the clouds. “Is that a tornado?” She never seen one before or even had to deal with it in Japan, but it fit with what she knew about them. “This just keeps getting more absurd. What next? A typhoon?”

Aspirated or not, Chiharu did not have much time to argue with reality. The tornado already started to touch down only twenty meters away with a path locked on to her. “…crap…” She knelt down dragging her fingers through the water to pull up more threads. The connections felt a little more natural to her and attached to her. She repeated it quickly several times to give herself plenty of anchors as the winds started to pick her up off her feet. “This is not how I wanted to experience my first tornado…” she complained as it completely swallowed her up.

Nereus watched from his safe position completely unaffected by the entire storm system. ‘She’s got some interesting powers. Though judging from the way she acted, doesn’t seem she’s in full control of them.’ Calling down the tornado, he felt would be the point that she reached. It seemed unlikely for her to escape.

Yet, the tornado developed a distortion near the base as the first signal. He leaned forward a little curious what she tried to achieve. In the next moment, a massive beam of blue light ripped through the walls of the tornado. It tore through in a spiral pattern up the collapsing structure.

Out of the gray bands of wind, Chiharu burst through trailing threads of her water anchors. She closed to the gap between them quickly with Nereus defense trying to account for her. Water flowed over her fist and arm thickening until her arm became broken and impossible to see. It hardened into a punching drill that smashed through all of Nereus’ defenses.

Her fist slammed into his chest tearing up his uniform and exploding in long serpentine water dragons that sent him flying out of control for meters.

The storm broke quickly with the loss of Nereus’ field. Chiharu landed dripping water off her body with the release of her power. She sighed and breathed out heavily. Walking over to Nereus, she stood next to him. “Remember my lesson, no one is created equally, but we’re still all the same when you strip everything way. A human is not simply defined. So try using that head you’ve got.” She paused looking back at their battlefield. “If you’re intelligent enough to control things at the atomic level, you should be able to not be blinded by such a flawed dogma.”

Nereus’ eyes widened in surprise. “You’re the second one to ever figure it out. You’re certainly worthy to be human and among the same ranks as my comrades.”

Chiharu stared at him a little tired of his continued need to set position. “I already told you, you can’t simply define a human. We have unlimited potential.” She stared across the open fields back to the Capital. Inside, she knew the weakling raced towards a dark fate. “Hopefully, I can figure out mine by following them. I’ve found that I can’t discover the answers alone anymore…”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Doubt was a bit of an odd and surprising thing for Haruo. He had little emotions about the whole journey through Atlantis. The things he saw certainly gave him an opinion, but nothing that really made him feel something. It was simply their reality and he accepted such facts. It was not really his place to do anything about it. He had other issues to sort through that their problems were the least of his concern.

Even during the other fight and the ones he watched, he did not really have much affect him. It was just things he expected to happen. They were unavoidable scenarios. Even the one he found himself at the moment was unavoidable. He understood that part. He understood his role needed for the situation.

Yet he still had doubt. He had no answer for it. He just was not certain how things would play out. Now that he knew how Teris’ power worked and how he made the most of the loophole everything changed. A part of him felt more surprise that none of them ran into such scenarios sooner. He thought about the real possibility of it the moment he watched Yuki exploit how their powers work.

It was a strange condition for their power to start. They could completely rewrite the universal laws to their desire with the mere thought. It required almost no effort or training to alter reality. Yet, their own body and mind remained immune their own power. It was the only constant in a world they filled with their imaginations. However, it made less sense that it would stop there, it presented them with an incredible flaw. An ultimate power at the cost of the greatest weakness, mortality.

Covering up those flaws only made sense. Every one of them they met did the same thing to protect themselves and prevent their weakness from being exposed. Yet none of them tried to eliminate it completely. It should be the most natural step. Yet, the fact it did not happen meant he did not fully understand everything about their power.

Standing back on his feet, Haruo met gazes with Teris. The man that used to just be a lanky appearing scientist had altered himself dramatically. ‘How much did this rewrite his body? Will he be able to keep it up?’ While not grossly blown out of proportion by muscle, Teris looked more like a body builder now rather than someone average off the street. Yet the increase in his body also gave him greater speed, something troublesome for Haruo. ‘He seems like a well tested person, so I doubt everything he’s done to himself will end up disadvantaging him in anyway. This is only getting more troublesome.’

His body was not broken from the surprise attack, but it did leave some ringing throughout him. Haruo could continue, he just needed to keep Teris away from him. The lion walked up behind Haruo nearly completely recovered from the last attacks. ‘I’m not sure how many more animals I can make. I’ve done more than I’ve ever attempted. My body is fine, but I can feel a strange lack of energy. I’m guessing that means I’m not going to be able to make many more… Can I deal with him with what I have left in me?’

Chapter 266 – Unchained Beast

“Coming up with a new plan?” grinned Teris, his eagerness was hardly disguised on his face like the muscle on his body. “I look forward to dissecting it and breaking it down to understand how it works!”

“Rather simplistic.”

“Simplistic, but knowledge and understanding is the greatest a man of science could seek. I’m in the unique position of never being out of new things to discover. This is the greatest life a scientist could want! The dream of everyone!”

In a way, Haruo could understand his desires. While he lacked the strong motivation that Teris seemed to possess to seek out more knowledge and the unknown, Haruo certainly appreciated the effort as one who also sought to learn more. Their goals and motives remained very distant. ‘He’s starting to sound a little preachy and caught up in his own emotions. Maybe that’ll be the edge I need.’

Marching the lion back into combat, Haruo needed to test Teris’ new attributes. He had a good sense already from the first strike. But he needed to know if his animals could even keep up. All Haruo had were his animals. The only advantage of his body was the defensive properties. He knew he could deal with much that Teris tossed at him, unless he tried to increase his body further.

Freed of traps and bombs, the lion had full range to move around. It tried to out flank Teris, but such a thing was not possible. Teris had strength and speed to his advantage. The two clashed once the lion charged in and despite the size, Teris held his position. He clearly had to struggle with the lion, but in the end, the lion was tossed away. ‘So it’s not going to be enough.’

Teris walked over to the collapsed lion. The lust carved deeply into his eyes. He had to know how it worked. The lion tried to fight back against Teris’ strength, but was overpowered. It was futile. Ripped apart and wounded of its pride, the lion laid unable to even move after Teris finished. Its regeneration kept it alive even when it rather have died.

Rubbing his chin in thought, Teris stared with great intent. ‘I’ve destroyed plenty of these already. Size and strength notwithstanding, it’s very resistant more than the others. Is it because it is larger or for different reason? The regenerative properties also seem to be more powerful as well.’ A constantly reviving subject made things easier for Teris, but also complicated matters. He had to be quick if he wanted to reach deeper.

Glancing back to Haruo, who remained still the whole time made him ponder something else. “Afraid? Scared… No, you are an interesting on indeed.” Teris picked up the lion and cast it at Haruo. The speed should have been enough to surprise even Haruo, but he just stepped aside. The lion dropped just out of reach. “There’s nothing there. I can’t see anything in your eyes. Surprise, sorrow, hate, nothing. You’re completely devoid of any emotion.”

“I’ve no need for such things. They’ve all been burned from my body.”

“Now that’s very interesting. However, it does explain something. Why you’re so difficult to motivate. You’ve got no passion.”

Raising his eyebrows, Teris’ reaction left him a little curious why it mattered. He did not know why it was important. “It’s unnecessary.”

Teris started to laugh listening to Haruo. “You might actually be more suited to being a scientist than myself.” However, he quickly came to a stop and lifted a finger to make a point. “From one side anyway. Detachment is valuable. Emotions can get in the way of breakthroughs. However, no passion or strong emotions will leave you unable to keep moving forward. You lose that never say die spirit that is so important to the world changing moments.” Thrusting his finger at Haruo, he made his declaration. “You lack that important quality!”

Haruo remained silent. A pointless debate to enter while they still fought. He went over to the lion to touch it. Any remaining wounds recovered immediately. It stood up next to him once more. ‘He’s simplified matters by making this a more straightforward fight. Yet I don’t have anything strong enough, not from what I witnessed.’

Teris grinned over at Haruo. He charged straight for him becoming a bit of a blur in his movements. Actually prepared and familiar with his movements, Haruo could defend himself against the direct strike. Teris tried to push him back, but the strength he had was not nearly enough.

“Silence, huh? It doesn’t change the fact that it’ll be the reason you won’t beat me. It’ll be over soon!” Suddenly a new burst of strength came from Teris breaking the balance Haruo had. Teris pushed harder throwing Haruo back again.

In defense of Haruo, the lion jumped out for Teris. It clamped down on Teris’ new arm, yet made no progress against him. Teris jerked his arm sideways at an angle. Tossed the ground, he pinned the creature to the earth with his foot. “Your pets are pointless to me now. I’ve analyzed them enough.” He thrust his hand deep into the chest of the lion ripping out the glowing core.

Holding it tightly in his hand, the rest of the lion disappeared into white particles. “It’s surprisingly simple. This is their heart or brain, however you want to label it. Without it they cease to be and are unable to regenerate. This is their weakness.” Teris tightened his hand around the lion’s core until it crushed into particles.

He spread the remains into the air letting it pour from his fingers. “Curiously enough, you still hold one secret that I haven’t solved yet. How your power functions on a fundamental level. I can guess and theorize for a while, but that’s not going to give me any answers. I had hoped in fighting you I’d figured out enough clues to understand the more critical part.”

Wiping off the particles from his hand, he started to approach the still prone Haruo. “Yet, you’ve done well concealing that aspect from me. I know you put something into these cores, which seem to be anything even made from the earth. Though this one did not have the same consistency or fragility of the ones you created from the earth. So my guess, you used something else to create this core. But the question of what you’re putting into these cores will explain your curious power.”

Teris dug up some of the earth as he approached. He pushed his fingers through the crumbling brown mass. “Someone less logical and scientific might claim you’re putting spirits into this, which might answer why you use the earth. However, I don’t think that the case. It’s something else. Something from you. A power you hold inside yourself, but what power is that?” Brushing off the dirt, he cleaned his hands and stood before Haruo.

Still emotionless, there did seem to be a hint of loss of interest. He did not seem to really care about indulging the man’s whims. At least that was how appeared to Teris. “Seems I won’t be getting those answers from you, at least this way. You’ve satisfied my requests. Now I just have to satisfy my orders. But don’t worry, I’ll ensure your body tells its secrets before they execute you.” Teris lifted Haruo up by his neck to hold him hovering off the ground. “Looks like things will be ending for you soon. I wonder if you’ll feel regret. Emotions are important.”

Disinterest in Haruo’s eyes suddenly changed the moment he heard Yori Mizuno’s voice in his head. ‘Please hear me, everyone! You must listen!’ Without even waiting a moment, his mind already worked out all of the angles to how it was possible. His mind sped through the scenarios quickly. However, the moment he heard about the situation Yuki Hayashi faced Haruo found that he did not want to give up the fight.

Teris looked away from Haruo. ‘What’s that sound?’ It sounded distant or faint. He was not sure which, but it quickly changed. Something massive slammed into Teris breaking his grip over Haruo. Haruo dropped and Teris flung several meters away. The whole situation flipped.

Recovering, Teris discovered that his left arm was completely broken in three different places. The shock of the pain finally washed away allowing it to reach him. “Damn…shit! Argh…I don’t think there’s enough words in the language to describe this.” Quickly grabbing for his portal, a white massive slammed into him again breaking his opportunity.

On his back, it took him even longer to recover from the most recent strike. “What did he pull out?” The hit actually dazed his vision enough to make it challenging to focus. It prevented him from clearly seeing what suddenly roared before him. The volume was enough to kill any hearing he might have had and felt like it actually might sent him tumbling away. It seemed even the earth quaked in the presence.

Slowly standing up, Teris found the pain difficult to concentrate on what he needed. He felt fortunate most of his powers did not rely on his mind. His vision started to clear up to grant him a view of what he dealt with. “So what is it now? Oh, you’re certainly impressive looking.” Teris had to looked up to actually see the top of what stood before him.

A gorilla. The scale of it completely put the lion to shame. Hunched over in its current position, it still rose to exceed three meters. The white core that rested at its center glowed brighter than any of the others. It seemed to correspond outward to the white glow of the creature with an intense almost blinding light.

“Still got something left you huh? Sorry, but I already know how all of this works.” While talking, Teris finished his digging around in the void, hidden carefully behind his back. He quickly consumed everything just as the gorilla struck. However, Teris threw up his previously shattered arm to halt the gorilla. “It would seem we’re getting dangerous now. So allow me to get a little serious for you.”

Crushing the containers in his hand, he dispensed with any further delay to strike deep inside the gorilla. It barely budged from the hit. “I can give you thirty seconds of my time.” In a surprising turn, Teris dropped his lab coat. Disrobed down to just his pants and a bare chest, Teris lost any sign of being the person before.

Sweat covered much of his body. The further enhanced muscles made him look more of a freak than a normal human. Every centimeter of his body pulsed in finely tuned precision. It reached as close to perfection as possible.

Despite the size, Teris still kept his quick movement landing another blow deep inside the gorilla’s chest. This time the creature fell backwards, but not before Teris jumped up and kicked it in the head to send it flying back.

He charged off after the animal, but he met it in route. The two titans clashed jumped the earth from their impact. Teris effortlessly dodged the hairy fists thrown at him. The last one he gripped the broad arm of the gorilla and flung it back towards Haruo. However, he caught up to it just in time to ram his fist through the chest of the gorilla. The force pinned it to the earth with his arm all the way up to his shoulder, but just out of reach of the core.

The gorilla suddenly vanished into particles without its core destroyed. Teris looked up in confusion. “Huh? What’s going on?” He saw that Haruo had fallen unconscious. “I guess it’s over. Twenty-three seconds. Close. This comes with a dangerous side effect if I let it go past.” His hand dug around the void and retrieved the antidote needed to reverse the process.

Normal once more, he knelt down a little surprised to find what remained behind. “A pen?” It was just a simple ordinary pen, nothing that seemed expensive or unique about it. The only characteristic it held was a well worn appearance with all of the branding rubbed away from continued use. Teris glanced back at Haruo. “He made that giant gorilla from just this little pen? Hmm… Perhaps there lies some emotions buried inside you after all…”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

“YUKI!” It seemed as though the volume of her voice alone made the ruined building around her crumble, rather than the fact that her fall weakened it. Saki screamed until her voice ran out. Every part of her body suddenly stopped feeling any pain. Everything was still.

Her eyes focused solely on Rheia, the one that stood as the wall between her and Yuki. Everything that Yori told her ran in repeat through her mind. Each time it added a new wrinkle around her dark cast eyes.

Pulling out the seemingly forgotten and irrelevant “Yuki Protection Meter”, a check on Saki left it completely broken.

The ground crumbled under Saki’s feet. Sparks and dust jumped around from around her. She stared up at Rheia. “Get out of my way if you know what’s good for YOU!”

“O—“ Rheia could not even utter a whole word, even one so small as “Oh”, before Saki slammed into her with a fist straight to her face. The force of her entry cracked more of the ceiling. Her impact destroyed another section of the under city’s roof.

In less than a fraction of a fraction of a second, Saki had jumped the thirty-meter distance. The immediate frame that followed sent Rheia speeding through the earth from the trajectory that Saki hit her. Forcibly punched through the earth, Rheia eventually popped out to the surface inside the city just a little away from the inner wall. Her new entrance exploded rocks and earth everywhere to the open street.

Following her own path, the jump Saki made put her more than two hundred meters into the sky before she started to fall once more. When her body rotated to point out the problem of gravity her eyes snapped back to reality. “Crap! Crap! Crap!”

Chapter 267 – Standing Still

Smashing several buildings along her rocketed path out of the Capital, Rheia came to a stop a few seconds later out in mid air. “She’s gotten much stronger suddenly,” Rheia commented, rubbing her cheek. A bruise started to develop, ruining her smooth complexity. She grinned with the notion of the newfound strength from Saki. “She just keeps getting better and better. You definitely don’t disappoint.”

In the distance, a new puff of smoke jumped up from behind the walls. Rheia jumped off the air moving quickly to the wall. By the time she arrived, Saki already started to dig herself out of the earth. “Keep it coming! You still have more in you that you’re holding back, right?”

Saki knocked the dirt off her head, staring up from her new crater. “Damn, you can still move.”

“It’s going to take more than just one good punch to stop me.”

“I have somewhere more important to be now! I don’t have time for you anymore!”

A little confused, Rheia looked down at Saki, getting more upset with the situation. The notion made her feel very happy. It immediately transitioned to a benefit for Rheia. “So that means you’re going to use all your strength then?” She suddenly appeared down on the ground just outside of the crater.

Annoyed by the unflinching tone in Rheia’s voice, her foot slid back a little. “Right, I won’t be pulling my punches anymore! I hope you can keep up!”

“That’s exactly what I want!” Rheia jumped immediately into her fighting stance wanting the fight to continue already. “Bring it all!” A battle-loving grin painted over her lips.

Exploding behind Saki before she even moved, large chunks of earth flew away. The moment that Saki jumped out of the crater all of the earth cracked falling down further increasing the size of the hole to the under city.

Even faster than the last time, Rheia could not even react before she found herself crashing through the wall once again. It already started to look like swiss cheese with the number of times they punched each other through it. Behind the wall, a massive explosion completely pulverized the building Rheia crashed in.

Not even waiting for Rheia to settle, Saki burst through the smoke throwing down a vertical spin kick. Rheia’s body screamed through the smoke and rumble of the building, still trying to collapse. Her body cratered the neighborhood raining in all of the surrounding buildings on top of her. Still continuing, Saki pushed off a ruined building, sent it flying through half of the Capital like a cannonball, to throw herself into the pile.

Her fist smashed everything into dust to meet Rheia at the bottom. However, her hand caught the punch. Excess energy broke away as a shockwave shaking the whole area. Caught off guard from her combo, Saki did not have the time to block the counterattack. She flew through the remains of the neighbor raining down chunks of the homes she blew through.

Rheia jumped up to the top of the crater checking on Saki’s progress before chasing after her. “You’re the one!” The grin of excitement widened more as she looked forward to the next exchange.

“Oh wow! Do it again!”

“Sure!” Rheia, five years old, ran up the side of the ruined wall and did a perfect back flip over to the opposite building before landing back in the same spot she started. A proud look covered her face as all of the kids gathered around her.

“I bet you can’t grab that!” a reluctant believer dared. He pointed up to a tore bit of cloth caught at the very top of the ruins of the building they used as their playground. The distance easily passed more than five meters. It was impossible. Everyone knew it was.

Rheia grinned with the same confidence. “I can do it!” With feline-like grace, she ran and jumped up the length of the walls grabbing the cloth as her reward. It was just long enough to act as a scarf, which she promptly wrapped around her neck to display her achievement. She gained applause and cheering from the children below, convincing all doubters.

She jumped back down landing with ease. “Let’s go!” Rheia ran off to another site they liked to play in. All of the children followed her. Their eager eyes looked on to her back in the distance.

Blows exchanged between Saki and Rheia. Each round brought down another building. They tossed each other around. Bruises became more common on their bodies. Even a little blood began to dot their dirt-caked skin. It did not stop either of them from continuing. Both motivated to see the end of the fight, even if for different reasons.

“Bet you can’t beat me!” A tough looking eight year old, new to the neighborhood, boasted. “You’re the one I’ve been hearing about everywhere from the other weaklings.”

Rheia grinned stepping up with no hesitation. “I bet you won’t be standing in ten seconds.” He had height and size, but none of it mattered to her. She believed she could beat him. She could do anything she wanted when she put her mind to it.

In a blur, it was over. The five year old stood victorious over the eight year old. A new follower gained her ranks.

‘Yuki…I’m coming soon,’ thought Saki, after she sent Rheia flying again. They had a pattern of mirroring their positions. It alternated, but Saki could not see the pattern. She eyes remained locked on rescuing Yuki after defeating Rheia. A single obstacle stood in her path.

Breaking free from the most recent ruins she created, Rheia disappeared for Saki. The knee to her stomach sent her over her leg before flying through the building behind her. “Don’t stop now! We’re just getting started!” She grinned happily, as she bolted after Saki.

Saki pulled back her arm already ready for the next strike and Rheia prepared herself as well. However, a meter apart they came to a stop. A heavy rumbling distracted them coming from an unknown position. It gave them both an odd ominous feeling.

The first to recognize it was Saki, since she heard a voice. They screamed out a familiar name. “Yumi?! What’s she doing?” No more than a few seconds after her question, the answer came or arrived perhaps.

Stone and rock exploded around them as massive force broke through. The familiar glow of Yumi’s barrier telegraphed her appearance. However, Saki felt a little shocked seeing Yumi’s face. ‘What’s wrong with Yumi?’ The longer she stared and listened to Yumi, she understood all too well. She did not take the news from Yori very well. ‘She’s going after Ayumi and Yuki.’ When it all fit, Saki turned a little blue realizing the expression on her face.

Once their interruption disappeared through the rest of the Capital, both women stared at the other for a bit. It was not exactly what they expected to happen. They paused to see what the other would do.

Saki could see that Rheia remained set on their fight rather than Yumi. ‘Yumi looks pissed off for the both of us and still has some left over. I’d prefer not to leave it on her, but judging from how things are going with my fight. I don’t know when I’ll get to Yuki, so someone is at least. I trust Yumi.’ She turned her head to the wake left behind by the vengeful woman. ‘I’ll catch up to you when I’m done here…’

Taking the opening, Rheia closed the rest of the distance to strike Saki, but Saki actually caught her fist. “Not so distracted then,” she said pleased further.

“No, we’re in a fight without rules, so I expect such tactics.”

“Well said!”

Throwing the next punch, Saki tried to breach the woman’s defenses. Yet they seemed to have suddenly become even faster. She could not believe the woman still had even more left in her. Saki pushed her body with everything it had. She never felt her body at such extremes.

Rheia countered immediately only to be blocked as well. They had settled into a stalemate. Both sent their fists and feet flying around the tiny one meter area they never left. Blocked or deflected, nothing reached either. They only kept the intensity rising.

“Damn it, where’d she disappear to?”

“This girl’s more trouble than she’s worth, Second Lieutenant.”

Rheia softly giggled to herself. She perched herself out of sight, but still allowed herself to watch. “They’re so silly, no one can catch Rheia.”

Slipping between punches, Saki managed to break her foot through the thick defenses of Rheia. She disappeared in the next instant to convert the momentum into a throw. Saki followed Rheia to pin her into the Capital’s walls once more. “Gotcha!” she shouted, actually cracking a small smile, which she immediately corrected when she realized it.

Rather than trying to break free through strength, Rheia smashed the both of them into the wall. A new crater formed breaking the hold. Stunned, Rheia took the opportunity to lay in a barrage on Saki undefended. The last of the punches shattered the wall knocking her through it again. She jumped into the hole watching Saki fly away. “You’re going to have to keep trying!” The smile on her face just kept growing.

Rheia scowled up at the obnoxious structure. Her captors pushed her forward into the gates. “…Omega…”

They presented her before the Head of Omega, the only normal human in the entire building. It made them feel better after having the previous Head being a MP user, the current General of the Army. “You should feel lucky. Everyone else has to go through the Academy and years of practice just to be allowed inside these grounds.”

“I don’t feel lucky,” she retorted, keeping the scowl on her face. “Your little walls can’t hold me.”

The man behind the desk laughed a little at the child’s defiance. “You may be surprised to find that you aren’t as peerless as you seem to think.”

Barely a break, Saki returned striking back even harder. The two women danced around the hole in the wall. Stray punches sent cracks up the wall. Each second ticked with flurry of nearly invisible blows. The force shook the wall bringing down dust and bits of stone over their heads. Yet it never interrupted them.

Even when the wall started to fall in larger pieces, their fight just crushed the chunks before they could even touch them. Further flashes of grins came across Saki’s face, but disappeared just as a fast. As the area became too unstable, they jumped up through the broken wall. They continued their fighting on the top of the wall once again.

“Who are you?”

Wild eyed and angry, Rheia stared the teenager down across the palace courtyard. “Commander Rheia, I’ve come to challenge you, Eudokia Ismene!”

Requiring a moment to think, Eudokia grinned a little at the notion of being sought out for a duel. “You’re the new leader of the Titans. I’ve heard stories about you. Completely peerless in Omega.” Accepting the challenge, she activated her field. “I’m curious how strong the Wild Child of Omega is.”

The arrogance and cockiness of the teenager, much younger than Rheia, annoyed her to no end. She could not stop her anger. Nothing managed to calm it. “I’ll put you in your place!”

Five seconds was all it took for Eudokia to end the fight. Rheia laid on her back unable to move or even keep her field. Shock filled her eyes. A complete loss. She stood no chance against the teenager. However, a deeper emotion settled into her mind. The one that shaped her future.

After all of the other fights came to a close, Rheia and Saki continued their battle on the wall. Time left them alone to continue. Nothing could stand between their fight.

Even as their strength started to finally drain the two women continued their battle. Neither was willing to stop. They kept throwing punches. Defense started to lose any meaning to them. Their bodies wanted to stop, but their arms kept flying. Not even their bodies could stand between them.

Clashing in strength, they gripped their hands vying for position and dominance. Saki smashed her head into Rheia, who returned the favor. Dull ringing did nothing to slow them down.

Rheia grinned happily. ‘I finally found them. I’m not alone…’

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

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!”

Slapping her face, Eudokia sighed. She sort of expected it to happen the moment that Yuki saw Demosthenes, but she hoped he had gotten over it. ‘I had hoped I had tempered some of his emotions, but I guess that part of him too strong for me to completely remove.’ The initial clash between the two already started leaving Eudokia on the sidelines. “Yuki! You need to calm down!” She tried getting closer to the two, but they jumped off to a different part of the courtyard.

She could keep up with them if needed, but she would only be adding a potential for greater risk. ‘Damn, he can’t even hear me right now. He’s mind’s so closed off it wouldn’t matter how much time I spent on him. Perhaps it was a bad idea to leave that much free will.’ Eudokia shook her head to close out the doubt. ‘He already started acting suspiciously that Haruo probably noticed, the man’s too observant not to have. Any more would have ruined the plan…’

Eudokia stared at Yuki bouncing around his stage. It was the last trial, the last test he needed. Even though she knew how it needed to end, the one that he was up against was Demosthenes. The second most powerful currently in Atlantis. Regardless of how powerful or skilled Yuki became from all of his fighting, Demosthenes still sat on a completely different level. ‘Last time, Yuki didn’t have a set power so Demosthenes was not fully prepared for him. But even despite that, Demosthenes never actually use his full power against Yuki. Saki interrupted them before that might have happened…’

This was the only part of the plan that Eudokia did not know how it would turn out. She did everything to set up the pieces so that Yuki was prepared for it. Yet preparation alone would not be enough. He would need to take his skill to a new stage to compete with the old man. ‘Come on, Yuki…prove to that old man you’re worthy of being the new King! That throne belongs to you!’

Chapter 268 – Screaming Revenge

“Damnit,” cursed Yuki, still not being able to do anything to touch the man. Even with a more refined control of his powers, the spear kept him from breaching his defense. “I’m going to KILL you!”

The constantly analyzing eyes of Demosthenes watched every movement of Yuki. Despite their age difference, it did nothing to slow him down. In fact, he actually seemed even faster than Yuki. Age seemed to be a meaningless notion to him.

Throwing Yuki off with his spear, they landed apart. “I see you’ve made some advancements,” praised Demosthenes. “Your field is quite a bit stronger than it was when we last meant.”

Yuki charged back in, an explosion of brick coming off his feet. “Screw you! I don’t care about your talk!” He danced around the spear doing an awkward flip to evade the thrust over top of it and land on the other side. It allowed him to keep his forward momentum. Yet when Yuki managed to get inside his defense, Demosthenes blocked his fist with an open hand. “Damn you!”

Lowering his fingers over Yuki’s closed hand, Demosthenes paused holding him at bay. “You take advantage of that energy surrounds you to give you a speed boost by creating micro explosions underneath you. Riding the blast wave is very dangerous on your body. There’s much better methods to achieve such results.”

Tearing his hand free and jumping back, Yuki shook his hand a little to break free of the sensation. “The only results I care about are seeing you dead!”

Narrowing his eyes, Demosthenes seemed a little troubled by something. However, he did not give a voice. He simply dashed over the ground as though surfing the air. Spear held down, an explosive force shattered the brick tiles in front of Yuki. Using it throw himself into the air, a series of new spears materialized just above Yuki.

Trying to cut through the barrage, all he managed to do was deflect them away from him. “Bastard!” Yuki pushed himself out of the forest of spears with another burst from his feet to try to flank Demosthenes. However, the old man stopped him once more.

Nothing could get through, even when he hit him. ‘Damnit all! I can’t even harm him anymore!’ Anger and frustration fueled everything in his body. He threw everything he had into his punches to try to beat the man’s speed, but nothing succeeded. It only made him feel tired. ‘Why can’t I even touch him?! Last time I know I wounded him!’

Demosthenes lowered his eyes a little watching the continued increase in emotions. He threw back Yuki with the shaft of his spear. “You seem to be under the impression that you can wound me just by getting past my defenses. I’ll show you how wrong you are.” The spear disappeared from his hand. An odd shift in his stance made it clear he looked to fight bare handed. “I fight with a weapon because it is my choice, but I’ll show you how different we are.”

‘Now he’s mocking me! An old man like him is trying to take me on?!’ Just staring at him made Yuki think of Kazuhiro. He could hear Hiroshi yelling at him in confusion to why their friend was dead. He had no answer for him. All he could do was accept the reality. Their friend was gone forever. Nothing would bring him back. Yet if he could kill this man perhaps his body would stop burning every night when he tried to sleep. Perhaps he would stop the nightmares of seeing him die repeatedly. Maybe he would have closure, anything to end it.

Accepting the challenge, Yuki dove straight in with Demosthenes. While no master, Yuki had refined a certain style from all of his street brawls after he quit the dojo. But after the first few blocks, he saw it clearly. Demosthenes martial prowess was no less than him and perhaps better.

Yuki purposely even strengthen the energy around his hand and arms by stealing it from his back. The old man kept up with him blow for blow. Nothing still breached his impenetrable defenses.

Trying to mix in kicks with his flurry of punches, Yuki did everything he had in his bag. Flipping around and blasting off, Yuki tried to out flank him. He managed to get behind for a hit on his back, but all it did was make him step forward. The fight resumed without further interruption and in reality Yuki had trouble keeping up.

Knocked off his feet, Yuki fell prone a couple of meters away. Eudokia rushed up as he slowly returned to his feet. She grabbed his shoulder, but he ripped free of her hold. “Yuki!”

“Not now, Ayumi! Get back!” Expelling the barrier around him, he used it to knock her away from him.

“You think you can be King with that level control? Very disappointing.”

Yuki sprinted back into his clash with Demosthenes. “I don’t care about the throne! I’m only here for two reasons! To kill you and stop people from killing me! Atlantis can burn in hell for all I care!”

A break in Demosthenes’ stoic face blew back Yuki in a swift leg sweep and one palm thrust. The look in his eyes hardened up quickly. “I see you’ve got a lot lessons still to learn. Allow me to hammer them into you.” He punched a slowly rising Yuki directly in the face knocking him back again.

Wiping away the blood from his lip, Yuki grinned a little. “Touch a nerve, Mr. High-and-Mighty?”

‘Yuki you idiot!’ Eudokia stared over to Demosthenes after Yuki. The fighting only got more heated for the wrong reasons. ‘Don’t you want him to be King? Why are you provoking him too?’

The fight continued to go even worse for Yuki. Before he had been able to touch Demosthenes, even if it did nothing. However, it all changed suddenly with him not even able to touch him. Most of the fight he laid on his back. The other half had him charging back in for more of the same.

It was no longer a wall he tried to punch. He fought against a cannon. One that easily moved to counter him. It rotated with ease to shoot whenever he got in range. Demosthenes became even more of a monster than Yuki thought possible.

Once again on his back, Yuki wiped away the latest bit of blood from his face. “Damnit!” He tried to get up only to be grabbed by Ayumi once more. “I thought I told—“

Eudokia slapped him hard enough to echo through the courtyard. “Snap out of it! Yuki!” She had enough of the mindless fighting . It was getting them nowhere.

Blinking a little confused by Ayumi’s slap. “Ayumi?” It did manage to cut through a lot of the rage that walled up his awareness.

“What the hell is the matter with you!? This isn’t you, Yuki!”

Kazuhiro appeared in his mind again. The reminder never went away from him. He could never forget in front of this man. Yuki clinched his hands together unwilling to let go. “This bastard killed my friend! He killed Kazuhiro! He deserves to die! And I will be the one that serves it!”

Eudokia threw herself in front of Yuki to hold him back from standing up. She needed him to hold still. “Do you hear yourself, Yuki? Do you hear what you’re saying? Is this really what you’ve become?!” Her voice shook a little bordering on tears. “Yuki! You shouldn’t kill someone!”

“…Ayumi…” Her words left a surprising deep cut on his heart and mind. Yuki froze hearing her words repeat in his mind. Ayumi’s words and Kazuhiro’s memories fought within him.

‘You shouldn’t kill someone!’

‘Chiharu!’

Suddenly, Yuki felt the weight of another memory slam into his chest. It felt him in shock as he remembered. It was so familiar to him. The whole scene was familiar. How could he have forgotten so easily?

He stretched out his arm futilely trying to stop Chiharu. “Chiharu! You shouldn’t kill someone!” Chiharu was getting further away from them, but Yuki was not going to give up on Saki’s fight. He had been down this road and knew how it felt. “I know how you’re feeling! Chiharu stop!” It seemed to hit a nerve with Chiharu as she paused in foot step when Yuki spoke. “The rage and anger inside you is too much to contain. It speaks to you telling you this is right. That you must do it. There’s no other way. If you don’t it won’t be at peace.”

Chiharu turned part way looking back at Yuki. Her were fists tightened at her side and shaking. “Is that all you can do, talk?”

“It’s feels uncontrollable doesn’t it?”

The tension in his body fell away. It actually made him start to laugh. Enough that Ayumi looked at him strangely and backed away. She did not seem to know if he was still sane or not.

“Yuki?”

Yuki placed a hand on her shoulder as a bit of comfort. He managed a smile for her. “Thanks for clearing my mind, Ayumi.”

“…Yuki…”

Sighing to himself, he got back to his feet. His body felt sore from all of the beating he received already. Flexing his hands and testing out his current state made him feel a little better, even though his condition should have worried him. “I guess this is what I get for acting like a damn fool. Well, a handicap will make things interesting.” A confident grin drew over his lips staring at Demosthenes.

Lifting his hand to call to the old man, Yuki addressed him. “I can’t forgive you for what you did to Kazuhiro. However, I’m reminded of my own words that killing you won’t make things any better for me. It’s something I’ll have to sort out with myself later.” Yuki closed his hand and returned to his fighting stance. “That being said, we still have something to settle. Until I defeat you I can’t put an end to all of this fighting.” The energy mist suddenly started to appear throughout all of Yuki’s field.

Demosthenes saw the change in countenance. So many changes occurred in Yuki that he had to re-evaluate the situation. “So you’ve mastered your rage.”

Yuki chuckled a little at the comment. “I don’t think I’d go that far. You hurt my friends you’re going to piss me off pretty easily. So I don’t think there’s anything mastered there.” He sheepishly rubbed his cheek. His thoughts went back to the fight with Vangelis where a similar thing occurred. “It’s going to be something I need to work on. Clearly our powers don’t work very well clouded with strong emotions.”

“Understanding that is the first step,” Demosthenes replied with praise. The spear returned to his hand making it clear that he took the fight more seriously again.

Narrowing his features in preparation for the fight, Yuki watched every movement from Demosthenes. “I should give you a much better fight now!” He charged in on the twitch Demosthenes made bringing them to clash once more.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Demosthenes saw the change in countenance. So many changes occurred in Yuki that he had to re-evaluate the situation. “So you’ve mastered your rage.”

Yuki chuckled a little at the comment. “I don’t think I’d go that far. You hurt my friends you’re going to piss me off pretty easily. So I don’t think there’s anything mastered there.” He sheepishly rubbed his cheek. His thoughts went back to the fight with Vangelis where a similar thing occurred. “It’s going to be something I need to work on. Clearly our powers don’t work very well clouded with strong emotions.”

“Understanding that is the first step,” Demosthenes replied with praise. The spear returned to his hand making it clear that he took the fight more seriously again.

Narrowing his features in preparation for the fight, Yuki watched every movement from Demosthenes. “I should give you a much better fight now!” He charged in on the twitch Demosthenes made bringing them to clash once more.

The extra mist that swarmed around Yuki allowed him to manage the spear. It became stuck and pulled away while he charged in to hit Demosthenes. Unfortunately, the momentary surprise for his opponent wore off too quickly. He managed to deflect and dodge most of the strike away. ‘Damn, I couldn’t have ended it there… Now things are going to be dragged out since he knows its potential.’

Demosthenes took a few steps back recovering his spear from the mist. “So this is how you’ve evolved your power. This certainly looks more on par with the potential you should have.”

“You have an odd way of being surprised.” Now that Ayumi cleared up his head, he could see the old man a little differently. Before he was so blinded by emotions that he could not see it. There was a strange gentleness in his eye accompanied by stubborn harshness. Unyielding resolve carved out every wrinkle in his face with such intensity that could never bend or break, impossible strength to carry through any hardship. Years and trials seemed to be painfully marked throughout his expression. A long story walked the length of his face. Yuki could see it all there plain as the nearly white color in his hair.

The images that had been built up of him certainly had conflicting imagery. ‘I’m not getting the same sort of vibe from him that Ayumi claims, at least for him now. He looks more like how she remembers from her stories she tells me, rather than the dark hand manipulating everything.’ Her stories had some date to them. He sort of expected they might be colored by her bias to remember him the way she wanted rather than he truly was. He might have been some con artist playing everyone. She claimed he was working with the council and at the heart of the assassinations, yet such impressions expose themselves when he examined him. ‘What do I believe then?’

Confusion did not help in the middle of a fight. Yuki shook his head needing to focus on what the old man’s move might be. ‘The reality at the moment is that he’s standing in our way. Once in the palace I’ll be able to get to heart of this matter. The council…’

Chapter 269 – Screaming Fists

Eudokia watched the two battling renewed with Yuki making full use of his power. She smiled pleased to see it had worked. ‘Demosthenes should see the proof of my work now. Yuki’s able to challenge him on a level field now, but Demosthenes still hasn’t revealed the full extent of his power.’ The fact that the secret remained sealed for the time being still left Eudokia with concern. She knew how he currently fought was the preferred method by Demosthenes, but if he needed to be serious, he could be nearly unstoppable. These were facts that Eudokia understood, one Yuki knew none about. ‘It’s your final test, Yuki…’

Yuki danced around the grass field keeping up with the thrusts from Demosthenes’ spear. His mist prevented any projectile spears from being a threat. The focus could be solely on their martial skill. It was how Yuki preferred it, but he knew part of it did come down to their skill with their powers. ‘Currently my field is roughly equal to his, but he still hasn’t done any folding. I can’t be certain that he started out at his max number of folds. Judging from how he’s been fighting, I’m guessing he started out his base and waiting to need to use them.’

Grabbing the spear just behind the head, Yuki squeezed down on the wood. He focused his power at his hand drawing in an increased amount of the mist. The wood splintered. It struggled to keep its shape. ‘I can exceed his strength if I concentrate more of the energy in one place, but I still can’t complete a fold.’ He watched the shaft suddenly reform and return him back to the start. Further application proved to be even more challenging. A battle of field strength carried out on the spear. ‘If he goes and does any folding I don’t know if my excess energy can make up the difference.’

The constant worry over fields and folds left Yuki more open than he wanted for Demosthenes. He lost hold of the spear and flew backwards just above the grass. ‘Damn, I can’t think too much or lose my focus.’ Yuki turned his head towards the grass and pulled the mist in around him. Manipulating it like a hand, he righted himself and flung himself back towards his fight. ‘I can’t afford to get lost in my thoughts against someone like him…’

Blocking and deflecting Yuki into the air, Demosthenes watched him land safely behind him. His mist came to his aid once more. “So it has multiple uses. Then let’s make this a little more interesting.”

“Huh?” Yuki tilt his head in confusion. Confusion did not last for long when he saw Demosthenes start to lift away from the Earth. “You can fly too?” The old man hovered about a meter off the ground.

“It’s a little different from flying, but close enough.”

It might not have been the first time Yuki saw someone use their power to fly, the Sand Assassin demonstrated and Ayumi explained it. However, it did not change the fact that every time he saw it made him smile a little inside. The idea of flying was a simple, but consistent dream. Living inside the world of manga and anime gave him the only outlet of vicarious experience, unreal and fictional as it was.

He then realized he had to match him for their fight. Demosthenes expected it of him. ‘I’ve never actually tried to maintain myself before with this power. It’s flexible enough, it’s why I’ve kept it.’ A general idea of how to make it work came to him.

Mist gathered up under his feet. The energy he used had the benefit of only requiring a position to fix rather than needing something to support it. So all he had to do was stand on it. Just to be sure, he covered his entire feet. It looked like he glowed a little as he raised up in the air. ‘Careful…’ He made the mistake of leaning forward too more and nearly fell over. Yuki caught himself with the mist a few centimeters before crashing into the grass.

Pushing himself back up and adjusting to the balance, Yuki found himself in a little better of a position. He found spreading his legs like he was standing on ground helped. “So much for showing off…” Yuki allowed himself to float a little higher, while not so casually staring at the ground. He had protection against falls, but he still did not want to think about it.

Once it seemed that Yuki stabilized himself, Demosthenes took the first move. He did not seem to run, but more like glide through the air. It looked with his spear held out front and aim down that he used it to balance or steer. Regardless of the purpose, he slashed upwards at Yuki. “Don’t start getting complacent.”

Yuki tried to keep his balance from the slash, but the force was more than his feet could handle. His body still did not trust the mist. The result left him falling backwards rotating around the point that anchored his feet. “Wo-woa-woah!” He flailed about coming around. When he saw Demosthenes in range, he pushed himself forward to try to punch him. A little weak, he connected with something, even if it was just a deflecting hand.

Flipping over sideways, Yuki awkwardly tumbled around in a circle again. He had to use more of his mist to control his position. ‘I could really use that natural talent heroes get for just being heroes… This is making for a really embarrassing fight…’ Yuki tried to ignore how he might have looked to focus on the fight. He stomped through the air like trudging through snow. The experience Demosthenes had in such an environment made it difficult for him to keep up.

Eudokia stared watching the two taking their fighting to the sky. It was difficult for her watch Yuki flailing about while Demosthenes looked like he was walking on the ground. ‘Demosthenes…what are you trying to do? Yuki’s not used to fighting in the sky. What sort of point are you trying to make?’

The clashes with Demosthenes still knocked Yuki back, but he got a better feel for how to handle it. He slid through the air, while using mist to hold his back from spinning around. ‘This is far more complicated than I expected. I have to think about so many different things other than the fight… How is he managing it so effortlessly?’

Not paying good attention, Yuki made the mistake of leaving his bottom completely exposed. None of his mist covered him under his feet. A large array of spears appeared to fly at him. ‘Damn! No time…’ He dodged some of them and used the mist to deal with others, but one still got through. The sharpness of it must have had a lot of attention by Demosthenes as it cut through his personal shield.

Blood dripped from the side of his shoulder. He modified his energy to patch up the injury before it bled too much. ‘I can’t believe I made such a rookie mistake! I’ve read enough to know that I should be paying to every angle when I’m fighting in a 360 environment. He’s exploiting my unfamiliarity with the situation.’ Yuki corrected the error allowing the mist to surround him completely.

He witnessed more coming in from his flank. The mist dealt largely with them. All he had to do was thicken the mist to prevent them from entering. However, Demosthenes came up from the opening forcing Yuki to cover with his hands. He punched out at the spear tip halting Demosthenes. The force still pushed him around into a spiral upwards into the air.

Higher and higher into the air they went. Demosthenes broke free and struck out with several spears along with the one he wielded. Pulling himself away, Yuki escaped the immediate threat, but it turned into a chase. He had to dodge flying spears and the swift flying Demosthenes. ‘Damn, just as I’m getting used to it flying. He’s coming at me with everything. I feel like I’m going to fly apart.’ One of the spears broke through drawing up a little blood from a graze on the upper part of his shoulder. ‘I can’t keep all of this straight in my head. If I was on the ground I wouldn’t be having this problem.’

A hundred or more spears all flew in at him from every and any direction possible. The count only seemed to increase as well leaving Yuki a bit in awe at the impressive scale he could achieve. Unfortunately, it also meant that he had that more to dodge. He could not keep up with the flying and dodging leading to further injuries.

Yuki blew out his mist and put a spin on it to try to give himself some space. It managed to hold back the spears for a moment. He recalled the multi-layered barrier Yumi used and took inspiration from her. Drawing up five layers of spherical mist around him all moving at different rotations and speeds, he kept up with the attacks.

However, as he got pushed higher and higher, Yuki realized how high up they had become. Only the distant looking Omega Spire was taller. “Crap! I really didn’t want to be this high up.” He glanced over at Demosthenes charging in at him for another round. “He’s wanting me up here. It’s part of his plan…”

As Yuki’s new shield made it difficult for the spears to get through, Demosthenes smashed through directly. The mist was nothing to him. He thrust straight for Yuki. He tried to grab the spear, but lost his barrier from the proximity. The spearhead dug into his waist, but the mist kept it from going in too far.

Refocusing his power, Yuki pulled the metal out from his waist and immediately sealed up the wound. ‘Damn that hurts a lot! I don’t think it’s that bad, I stopped it in time, but that was too close…’

In the distance, loud noises finally made it to Yuki. It sounded like explosions initially. He glanced over with curiosity, a little worried their fight might have caused trouble to the Capital. The distance was too great for him to see anything. All he saw was smoke and the occasional movement of buildings. It was all too tiny for him to clearly make out. ‘Is that you guys fighting?’

Thoughts of his friends had to be packed away as the fight never stopped. The next strike knocked him back with surprising force. Yuki danced around on the air trying to keep his balance. He even used his hands to slow himself down.

‘They’re all fighting because of me. All of this is happening because of me.’ He could not be certain if it was them down there, but he felt pretty positive about it. They were not so far behind them to not have caught up, especially Saki. The thought of his friends fighting strengthen his determination. ‘If I end this fight I can stop all of this fighting. They won’t have to be hurt anymore!’

Yelling a little to give voice to his strength, Yuki tightened up his hands in concentration. ‘Come on! I need more power from it! Fold, damnit!’ In the air, he had no clear sign if he worked, but he was certain he could feel a difference. The strain in his mind certainly felt heavier than before.

Demosthenes came diving in from above with the sun behind him. Filtered through the mist, Yuki did not have to strain as much to see him. ‘Do or die time now!’ Yuki flew up to meet him, gathering more of his mist together on his hand. His fist slammed into the spear once more. This time the wood groaned under the force. He could feel it overwhelming the weapon. Pushing with the mist on his feet further, he rammed through the spear.

Shattered, Demosthenes blocked him with his hand. However, before Yuki allowed it to continue, he shaped out the mist into a claw that gripped the air. It pulled him away and threw him around behind Demosthenes. His fist slammed into his back sending him flying downward. Even with him falling, he still could manage to throw spears at Yuki.

Yuki flew down in chase narrowly evading the spears. A couple clipped his face barely. Demosthenes already started to turn around recovering and bearing new spear. Throwing the mist aside, Yuki used his flight to navigate around the weapon. He struck deep inside Demosthenes’ stomach adding even more force downward on him.

His body shot back to the courtyard as it quickly grew grass everywhere in his approach. Demosthenes righted himself at the last moment to land knelt in the grass. The force sent minor cracks outward.

Staring up at Yuki, his single blue eye held fixed on him. “Seems I will need this after all.” Demosthenes began to raise his hand up to the eye patch covering up his left eye.

“Well this is a little cliché,” commented Yuki, “Hiding a secret behind your eye patch.”

Eudokia leaned forward knowing what was going to be happening. “Yuki! Watch out!” she yelled with panic heavily weighing her words.

“Eh?” He did not expect to hear Ayumi freaking out. Yuki stared back down at Demosthenes wondering what had her so scared.

Demosthenes grabbed his patch and moved it over to his right eye rather than actually removing it. Underneath the patch, he slowly opened his left eye to reveal a yellow glow from it. Suddenly the ground and air vibrated.

Yuki could nearly feel the ominous atmosphere coming off the change. “What the hell’s going on?!” He looked around trying to see what changed.

In the next moment, thousands of ripples appeared in the space around the General of the Army. Out of the ripples each revealed a weapon none like the next. It looked like a sight out of a weapon smith’s shed with them gone crazy on making any sort of weapon they could think up. Most did not even look like a realist weapon. It did not matter though. The scale spoke for itself.

“…oh crap…” uttered Yuki, as his eyes and mouth widened in shock.

Demosthenes stood up calling to both of his hands weapons, one a giant sword and the other a scythe. “Now bear witness to why I hold the name Alexander! The Bearer of an Army!”

To be continued…