“I do.”

The girl’s voice cracked the silence of the room like two swords clashing in the night. She walked towards them, her footsteps echoing like the soft beating of a heart. With the exception of Enies, everyone turned to look. Even Theresa, who had given the impression of being fearful of nothing, fell silent. Remi’s mouth went dry. The one approaching, was undoubtedly, Lady Scylla, the Captain of the Force.

Now she’s gonna get what she deserves, thought Remi, glaring at Enies.

The footsteps grew louder until the source of the voice came to a stop at the tip of the gathering. Remi found herself surprised as she took in the sight of the girl, for the one standing before them was not the Captain of the Force, but a young woman, maybe around Remi’s age, if not slightly older. She had bluish-silver hair that fell to the nape of her neck, and meticulously placed above her right ear was a dark pink flower.

“Lady Sakura . . .” whispered Baelie. She wore a half-cloak, a short azure skirt, and thin leather boots that came up to her shins.

“You know her?” Remi whispered.

Baelie nodded. “Of course. She is the champion of the last Soldier Games, the newest member of the Force.”

Remi looked Sakura over. Cast over her shoulder was a long, snow-colored bow and strapped to her hip was a quiver of sleek black arrows. A tiny magenta dagger, no longer than Remi’s palm, hung daintily at her side.

Remi quickly remembered the girl she had seen standing on the floating rock in the sky when they had first entered the Valyti. Of course, she had been a member of the Force. Remi could see the fury in Sakura’s eyes as she glowered at the Vice-Captain.

“You have grown quite confident in your cycles, Lady Enies,” Sakura began, her voice as calm as still water. “I’m sure Lady Scylla would be more than interested to hear what has just transpired.”

Sakura’s voice did well in hiding her more than apparent anger. Looking closer at Sakura, Remi observed that she was perhaps the loveliest of the soldiers – maybe even more so than Theresa. She had a perfectly smooth face, brightened by warm, full lips and a bright flush to her cheeks. Single strands of hair fell across her brow as if the wind had blown them into a perfectly undone state.

Enies snickered softly. For a second, she didn’t speak, as if weighing the cautionary words of the soldier confronting her, though her answer was not what Remi expected.

“Sakura, what a surprise it is to have you here, speaking on behalf of Lady Scylla,” Enies answered. “As if you were of any importance to her at all. You, the rank 9, and the weakest of the Force, dare to think that you have a place speaking openly to me? Could this be the arrogance of a young child, fresh with the confidence of winning the last Soldier Games? Don’t forget, young Sakura, that all of us in the Force have at one point accomplished that very same feat.”

“Any who bear a rank in the Force have a place speaking openly with you, Lady Enies,” Sakura responded without missing a beat. “Especially when the matter at hand entails you disobeying a direct order from our Captain, for if she were here at this very moment, you would be quivering under the wrath of her eye.”

“Do not chastise me, Sakura,” Enies’s voice grew tight, like a taut bow string. “What has it been, ten cycles since you received rank in the Force? A brief spot of time, indeed, and perhaps, you have yet to learn how things work around here.”

“My apologies. I was under the impression that rank 1 outranks that of 2,” said Sakura, raising a few eyebrows across the room. “But according to your leadership, you openly disobey when you see fit, as if you are above the very essence of the Force itself. I cannot allow your judgment to go uncontested, for it is honesty and loyalty that binds our souls ready for Éiéndrahk at any time. You have become a weakness, Lady Enies. And now that weakness has been revealed, that it has.”

A shiver spread throughout everyone as her last words seemed to chill the very air itself. Remi could feel the tension rising fast. Only problem is that the Captain isn’t here, Remi thought. Honorable. But stupid.

Enies took a long puff of her pipe. “‘A weakness,’ you say? I’m intrigued. You speak as if you intend to do more than lecture me?” A twisting grin curved her lips. “Don’t tease me, Sakura.”

“I cannot allow you to disobey the Captain, that I cannot,” said Sakura. “So, I implore you, Lady Enies, re-evaluate your current decision and allow these three sisters, children as they may be, to guard the Relic Room door during the 250th Soldier Games.”

Why did you have to go and put us in the middle!? Remi’s thoughts raced.

Enies burst into a fit of laughter so wild that Remi thought she might just snap at any moment and kill Sakura where she stood. How she could speak so bravely to such a frightening woman was beyond Remi. Fragmented images of Sakura’s bloody and mangled body kept reaching forth from the darkest pits of her mind.

“No, I will not,” Enies said sharply. “Why should I consent to such an order? The guarding of the Relic Room is a task typically given to soldiers that are B class and higher. As I’m sure you know, Sakura, the task this cycle would have been given to Lithael and Rakaella, a promotion that they have been working toward for quite some time. Not all have the strength to win the Soldier Games and are thus forced to move their way up through the classes in different ways. But why should I stand by when others are wrongfully stripped of their hard-earned rewards, and watch as it is given to those who never earned it?” Enies glanced at Arya, Aquas and Theresa. “Am I wrong?”

“Not in the least,” said Theresa, but Arya and Aquas were silent.

“It is clear to me why the Captain has made such a choice,” Enies continued. “A favor made to the Empress is often one worthy of making, but not in this case. This is blatantly disrespectful. This is blasphemy. They are commoners, Sakura, hardly better than curseborn. Nobility with the illusion of royalty. You would hardly treat a curseborn boy like a king just because he happened to be wearing a crown. We are the Empress’ true family. We were the ones honorably knighted into the realm of royalty. Lithael and Rakaella share Theresa’s bloodline. They were born into higher status, a status that has never, and will never, be forgotten. At least, not while I live.”

So that’s why, Remi thought, realizing the reason for Theresa, Lithael, and Rakaella’s cruelty toward them. They think that we are stealing something from them. Something that isn’t ours. Something that should never be ours. But why would this be a favor to the Empress? Remi looked at Baelie, finding her answer.

Enies held her arms out. “We are your family, Sakura. Yet you side with those who you do not know, those whom you have never fought beside. You betray us with your faux sense of honor. You do not know your place, and for that, you shall be punished.” Enies took a long drag from her pipe and blew forth a thick cloud of smoke that twisted into the form of a dragon. The smoke dragon slithered around Sakura’s body.

Sakura’s eyes were like blades, cutting the space between them. She slashed her arm through the dragon, dissipating it into wisps of smoke. Remi felt a sudden change in the air, and it grew warmer as if spring had come to be in a chamber so long imprisoned to winter.

“I have no family,” said Sakura. “I am a soldier who swore an oath to uphold the judgment of the Captain, no matter if I think she is wrong or right. That is loyalty. That is truth. And that is integrity. Three things that you lack as the Vice-Captain, that you do. And I will not stand under a Vice-Captain who lacks these, nor should anyone else. You are nothing but seditious in my eyes.”

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Enies’s face twisted into a scowl as Sakura spoke her next words.

“I declare, as the ninth seat of the Force, the Right of Challenge.”

Hushed whispers could be heard from Aquas and Arya. Theresa merely gasped aloud. And Enies stood in the center of it all, surprised by Sakura’s unexpected words. She looked hard into Sakura’s eyes, weighing the resolution within them.

“What’s happening?” Remi whispered to Arya.

“Within the Force are nine seats of power,” Arya began. “The highest are held by the Captain and the Vice-Captain, and all beneath are numbered up until nine. We are the S-class soldier unit, made up of the most powerful women on Soria. We are the sharpest point of a spear seven-thousand generations in the making. Upon joining the Force, you enter at rank 9, and must fight your way up to improve your rank. I did not become the 4th Seat by waiting for it. I earned it. Through fist. Through blade. Through blood.”

“Who is the number three?” Remi asked.

Arya was quiet for a moment. “Lady Lylise. But she is not here with us today.”

“And when you say, ‘you earned it,’ does that mean that you fought Theresa?”

“Yes, it does.”

Remi remembered Arya’s regard of Theresa when she had first appeared. She had spoken to Theresa as if she had no fear of her, and she had not addressed her with the honorific title of Lady. They must only use the formality when speaking to someone of higher rank. Oh, how I wish I could have seen Arya smacking Theresa around! Now that’s something I can only dream about! An image of Arya standing with her foot over Theresa’s face took place in her mind, and Remi felt a little semblance of joy at the thought.

Arya continued, her voice still a whisper. “There is but one way to increase your rank—you must earn it by fighting. That is why, many cycles ago, Lady Islair, the first-ever Captain of the Force, created the Right of Challenge. Initially, it was named after our world’s 4th Great Law, the Law of Challenge, but it was changed to Right when it became apparent that this was more of a choice made of free will. It is a choice that places your life and honor, willingly, on the line. Fighting is our lives. We live and die by our strength.”

“So, that is what Lady Sakura is doing?” Remi said. “She’s challenging Lady Enies!? Is she crazy? As the 9th rank, isn’t she the weakest of everyone? It’s impossible for her to win!”

“Yes, that is what her rank denotes . . . and there is a price to pay if she loses.”

“Has anyone ever done it before?”

“Not once in all the cycles of the Force.”

Remi’s frantic eyes shot back to Sakura. “Then why?”

But Arya was quiet. Something was happening.

Cracking her neck, Enies strode to within a foot from Sakura. “As Vice-Captain of the Force, I hereby accept your declaration of the Right of Challenge. I trust you understand to full extent what you risk in your declaration?”

Sakura nodded. “I do.”

“So, you walk willingly into your own exile?”

“We shall see, Lady Enies, that we shall.”

“You mentioned a price to pay?” Remi whispered. “If one loses?”

“A dire one,” said Arya. “To openly challenge the Vice-Captain is considered an act of pure arrogance. If the challenger, the rank 9 soldier, loses, but is not killed, they will be exiled from the Force. Forever.”

Remi’s eyes widened. “Is she out of her mind? Why don’t you stop her?”

Arya glanced at Remi. “You still lack understanding of us, young one. It is not my place to stop the foolhardy from making their decisions. Sakura must learn from her mistakes on her own. Despite her honorable intentions, she may not live to see the rest of her days. Watch and learn, for you are truly lucky to be able to see with your own eyes the power of our second strongest. There is a reason we are silent before the Vice-Captain.”

“Lucky? But isn’t it wrong to disobey the Captain? And besides, we don’t even need to guard the Relic Room or whatever it is. I know Baelie, and . . .” Remi glanced at her sister who had been listening quietly. “I know Baelie loves and respects all of you with all her heart, but I don’t think she wants someone dying over it.”

“Right or wrong, our Captain needs no other to fight her battles,” Arya said flatly. “Lady Enies undoubtedly understands the repercussions of her choice, and she knows that she will confront Lady Scylla eventually.” Arya looked at Enies. “Considering her confidence and her hostile words toward the Captain, I can only imagine that Lady Enies is planning on challenging Lady Scylla for the seat of Captain herself.”

Remi’s eyes were ghostlike. “Is she that powerful?”

Baelie was clenching her hands. Her entire body trembled upon hearing the words of Arya. Maile tried to hold her hand, but Baelie instinctively pulled away.

“This is my fault,” Baelie bit her lip, holding back tears. “Everything is my fault . . .”

Maile tried to touch her hand again, but Baelie moved away. Remi inched closer to her.

“This isn’t your fault, Baelie. I know you think so, but you have to hear the truth within the words and what they reveal. Lady Enies was already planning on becoming Captain. This is just the perfect excuse to do it. Don’t blame yourself.”

“What do you know, Remi? I wanted to be Vice-Captain, so the Empress gave us a job. You didn’t even want to come here. And now Lady Sakura is going to die . . . and it’s my fault. It’s all my fault.”

Remi felt her legs weaken as she looked back at Sakura. She had a dreadful feeling that they were about to witness the death of a young, naïve girl, one who only felt she was doing the right thing.

Is this the true nature of the Force? Remi looked at them one by one. Are they really all so heartless?

“Shall we?” Enies blew out the contents of her long, thin pipe, tapped it against her open palm, and then used it to pin up her blood-red hair. “I’m getting antsy already just thinking about it.”

The next few minutes passed quickly as Sakura and Enies walked to the center of the Valyti. The other soldiers of the Force had spread out around them from afar, creating a ring around the two of them. Remi, Baelie, and Maile had unquestioningly followed Arya, keeping a small distance between them, but they felt much safer when they were closer to her.

Unexpectedly getting the sense that something palpable yet invisible was wrapping around her, Remi turned to find Aquas speaking under her breath. She soon heard what sounded like the ring of a far-off bell and saw traces of green energy encompassing the bodies of her sisters and herself. The chill of the room seemed to fade, and a sense of comfort eased her mind.

“I encased you within a Ward of Shield,” Aquas said, “so that none of the energy from their fight may harm you in any way. Without a ward, this place would no longer be safe for you. And even still, do not move closer than where you stand.”

“Thank you, Miss Lady Aquas,” Maile said. Aquas smiled at young Maile, running her hand through her hair like a mother would with her own child.

‘You are most welcome, young princess.”

Enies stood a rock’s throw away from Remi, her half-cloak lifting with the wind. Standing before her was Sakura, who held her snow-white bow firmly in her right hand, though oddly enough, it had no string binding its ends together. As if reacting to Remi’s thoughts, a string of bright blue aura blazed across it, connecting the ends of the bow, and creating a steady humming sound. Reaching to her waist, Sakura took one of the long black arrows from her quiver and gracefully notched it against the aura-string, steadying herself.

Then, without warning, it happened. Like two shooting stars colliding, Enies and Sakura shot forth and clashed against one another, releasing an initial burst of pressure so strong it cracked several of the black marble pillars. Sakura parried Enies strike with her bow, pushing her to the side, and fired back at her head.

Ducking swiftly, Enies backflipped, sending the top of her foot straight into Sakura’s chin. Sakura’s body twisted up through the air and smashed into the ceiling. As debris began to fall, arrows shot out of the crater left by Sakura’s impact. Raising one finger, Enies blocked the arrows one by one, as if they were nothing. Each one shattered into particles of dust upon striking her.

The sounds from their blows were like thunder, and each of the sisters had to cover their ears. Arrows shot across the room at dizzying speeds, impossible to follow. One of the arrows blasted quite unexpectedly into Maile’s ward, scaring her so close to death that she fainted. Dropping to her sister’s side, Remi realized the Shield Ward had saved her sister’s life, though not her consciousness.

Real aura . . . Remi thought, looking at the broken energy rising from where the arrow had struck the ward. Maile would have been dead . . . their strength is unimaginable . . . all the stories are true . . .

Remi turned back to the battle raging across the Valyti. She felt as if she were in a vivid dream, watching the two powerful soldiers battle. They would appear in one place for half a second, exchange blows, then vanish and reappear hundreds of feet away just to clash again. If she hadn’t been watching it before her eyes, she would have never imagined such beings could exist. It was truly as if they were like gods.

What seemed like shades of constant fighting wore on, and Remi did not know how much longer she could continue listening to what sounded like a civilization crumbling. She soon realized that the Valyti was encased in its own unique wards, for each time one of the pillars was about to crumble from their deflected blows, it magically repaired itself, as if the place were forever impenetrable.

The fight soon took to the outer sky, leaving the Valyti. Each of them landed on a large chunk of floating rock, facing one another. For a second, they paused, catching their breath, and Remi could make out dabs of blood that dripped from Sakura’s lips, and the triumphant smile that was on Enies’s face. Sakura struggled to stand and fell to one knee, grasping the earth between her fingers to balance herself. Enies sprang at the opportunity, and the two resumed their fatalistic battle in the sky.

She can’t win, thought Remi, feeling her hope plummeting. Enies is just too powerful . . .