I tell him the truth. The future as I see it. One possibility that I plan to make happen. His eyes snap open. Wonder fills them. As if he’s only seeing me for the first time.
“W-Why do you care about me?” He’s wondering why. The reason. Always the reason. I simply give him a choice. Glancing over my shoulder, I see the Elders floating around. Judging. Waiting. Some of them look like they’re about ready to swoop in and intervene. Quietly, I whisper one last thing-
“They will try to stop me. Weaklings, they just want to control the Sect for their own gain. But I don’t think you’re one of them. You said you’d give me a chance to forfeit for the good of the Sect. Now I’m giving you one. Are you a man of honor? Will you join me...or follow them?” He has to think about it. Janus is probably barely conscious. I’m only just holding the knife to his throat. Soon, I’ll have to kill him or I won’t have the strength. Come on then. Let’s see if you’re really as honorable as you believe. Make your choice!
“I...” He closes his eyes. Takes a deep breath. Opens them again. Stares at me. And then breathes out. With that exhalation, I know I’ve won. Janus’s head falls back as he accepts it. “I serve the Sect. No matter what, I will never betray the name of Rainstopper! ELDERS! I FORFEIT!”
*Clatter*
My blade bounces off the melting ice as I roll off Janus. Tightening my fist, I make sure to pull it to my chest so I don’t lose it.
He’s mine.
“Myrr! Are you okay?”
As I heave in great gulps of air, shadows fly in around me. Elina arrives first. This time Jarshan does not hold her back. She runs into check on me. Feels all over my broken body and finds my ribs. Warmth blossoms as she starts to chant. Her ugly possum snout looks funny as if she’s sniffing out my injuries. However, there isn’t really time for her to finish healing me. It starts then. I foresaw this future, but not through Foresight. Simple deduction, seeing from outside of humanity has taught me cause and effect. My voice catches, it’s hard to speak. So...cold...I wish she’d keep healing me. But no time-
“Elina...watch out,” I warn. She tries to shush me, but when I raise my index finger wearily and point over her shoulder, Elina understands. After all, she’s always been hiding her true nature. Just like I do. The only difference is that her enemies are real. She may not want it to be true, but she knows that my ascension will not be allowed. It’s out of my hands now. I just don’t have enough mana. Hopefully I thought of everything!
“It’s okay, Myrr! Rest now!” Elina tells me before whirling around. She crouches with her back to me, protectively, almost spider-like. Shapes flash. An enemy attack from afar. Ambush? Blades come from nowhere, glinting, fast, throwing knives like the ones Jarold Westblade used to end my childhood. I gasp, instinct telling me the danger. I cannot help myself. The memory is strong. However, the possum mother is fierce when defending her young. No more playing dead. Elina’s twin short-swords finally draw as the two women, Seanne and Sein follow up their sneak attack with a coordinated assault from both sides. Bits of metal fly off everywhere and sparks burst out into the night as my Auntie’s sister deflects their throwing knives. “Back off! What do you think you’re doing?! Jarshan help me!”
“Stupid, Girl!” Sein has a dagger in each hand. As does her sister. Their black Rainstopper robes flutter as they come in like ghostly meteors. They’re almost as fast as Janus!
“JARSHAN!” Awkwardly, the Healer spins, her twisted arms moving with surprising speed as she tries to watch two angles at once. “This is still the Trials! Are you going to allow this treachery!” Off to the side, I can see Elder Heilan and Jarshan watching. The wolf-masked Supervisor has an appraising look in his eyes. He does not look away as Sein and Seanne rush in. For a split second, I experience a moment of doubt. What if I was wrong? What if it’s really too much for Elina? Was it all for nothing? How would I tell Romy? Well I suppose we’d be dead so...
*Swish Swish*
Four daggers come at Elina, two from each side. Sein and Seanne slash wildly at the same time from all angles. Elina takes her eyes off of them for just a second, to glance back at me. On the ground, I meet her angry gaze and mouth the words.
“Stop hiding!”
I swear I can see something behind her mask. A moment of frustration. She narrows her eyes at me. Maybe she’s starting to understand. That I engineered this moment. That I knew. However, when she nods, I know it’s okay. Their speeding daggers, our enemies’ weapons curve in from all sides, four points of death. Elina’s twin short swords are not idle though. Her robes whirl. The wrong lines and poorly healed joints all those old wounds in her limbs, they don’t seem to matter, as she spins superhumanly fast. Head on a swivel, hair flying, she weaves under Seanne’s dagger, and deflects the other with one blade. By pushing towards one of the two attackers, Elina gains space from the other threat. Sein, coming from the other side, has to take an extra step to follow them, and by the time she arrives, Elina has turned.
*Swoosh*
It’s like watching a strange version of Romy as Elina sways back at the knees, her hair almost touching the ground while Sein’s two daggers pass overhead. Both enemies recover their balance, waiting for Elina to pop back up. But she never comes back from the ground. Instead, Elina bends unnaturally, the world’s best limbo player, and her swords clang against the ground as the Healer drops both hands beside her head to create a bridge with her body! There’s a series of snapping noises from her spine as she rolls over onto her front.
*Crack*
*Crack*
*Crack*
Palms against the ground, she pushes off the ground so hard that she shoots straight up. Spinning like a top, her swords scythe out, forcing Sein and Seanne to retreat. They back away to either side as Elina lands on her feet. Once again, she crouches in front of me. Her arms tremble slightly as she bares her metal fangs in each hand, forcing the enemy to be wary. For a second, it’s a standoff.
“Nice,” Jarshan comments from the side. That’s all he says. Elder Heilan is speaking to him during the ambush. I can hear their conversation. “So, Heilan, where do you stand on all this?”
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“Well, it’s regrettable,” Janus’s master answers. His calm façade fades away as he stares directly at Janus and I. Condescension appears on his lips, not just for me, but also his disciple. “Tradition must give way for the good of the Sect. I’ll give you this. Romy’s brat has shown us something interesting today. But can you really imagine that he will bring back the old ways? In the end, he let Janus forfeit. If the brat was what we are seeking, if he wasn’t like the Secthead, he would have seized his chance and killed Janus. No...he’s weak, just like his master.”
“Is that how you see it?” The wolf-masked Supervisor is impassive. He watches while more shadows begin to mass from all sides. Sein and Seanne are no longer alone. They’re coming! “And you speak for all the Elders?”
“I do.” Elder Heilan replies.
“I see,” Jarshan nods thoughtfully, his grey wolf face giving nothing away. “And what would you have me do then? This is treachery after all. And I am still the Supervisor.”
“Just look away,” Elder Heilan tells him. “What happens in the dark doesn’t matter if no eyes see it, right...Supervisor?”
“Mmm. I suppose the moon is bright tonight.” Jarshan tilts his head upwards as Seanne and Sein close in once more. Behind them, the other Elders appear one by one, their masks on. Crane, monkey, shark, we are surrounded by a menagerie of creepy white faces atop black robes. They leer at Elina who stands alone above me. Clearly, she wants to run away. Elina hates killing. However, to leave now would be to abandon me. And after seeing the loving way she stashed every letter from Romy, I know she will never do that. Heh, to think I’d end up playing someone else’s feelings...maybe I picked up too many bad habits from those gold-diggers in my last life.
“Jarshan...Romy will make you all pay for this...” My Auntie’s sister tells them. She bows her head, sneaking a look back at me. I can tell what she’s thinking. We can’t run away, Elina. I’m sorry.
*Tap*
*Tap*
*Tap*
The Elders move en masse. Two lines of shadows dart in-
“Cripple! None of us will listen to you anymore!” Sein is first on the left. Her sister comes next on the right. The chill in my heart grows. I try to peek into the future only for the rebound to snap my head back. Damnit. Let me see! I can help her if I can just see! Their battle is on another level from the one I just fought. Naively, I thought I could take on an Elder alone. But now I see the difference between them and I. Perhaps I might have had a chance with enough preparation and the will to kill. It would have been a pyrrhic victory though. Each of them is practically on the same level as Janus in speed, some faster. Their black robes blur into clouds of pure darkness, not like when Romy disappears, but still so much faster than I’d expect. I can see their forms now, after training with Elina. Just barely so. I can witness the battle at least.
“Myrr! Stay down!” Elina’s back straightens and she howls, a wildcat as her head whips around to take in the threats. The moment she lets go of her resolution as a healer, it’s obvious. Her blades turn ever so slightly. The deadly edges line up to face our enemies. They don’t take her seriously. It must be ten on one. And she seems broken. Scythe, sword, dagger, the moonlight flashes off so many blades that it’s blinding. No one would take such odds. But still, I’m not betting on the Elders-
*Pop*
*Pop*
*Pop*
...
*CRACK*
I smile.
Get them, Elina.
Show them who you are!
My Auntie’s SISTER!
Those twisted limbs, all the wrong angles, she pops her joints back into place in that moment. I knew she could do it! Sometimes when we were training, Elina would slip up. She was always so careful in public, afraid to show them all that she wasn’t just a cripple. Afraid of a bunch of weaklings. Same mistake I used to make. Shadows on shadows, blade on blade, I knew she was strong. I had no idea how strong. The Elders were more than I expected, I admit this. So is Elina. She is Romy’s blood, and I can’t believe I ever doubted her. They tried to break Elina’s body but in reality, all they broke was her spirit. Now, with something to protect, a reason to live for, she is not what they think she is. Nine Elders rush in to beat a cripple. Only to find that an uncrowned Raingoddess finally dances again.
“What the-“ Sein is first. Her eyes are the widest. There is no mask on her. She never hid her anger. The jealousy, that look when Elina’s sword cuts through her wrist and slices off her hand, it’s the best. I love it. Like gambling and winning the jackpot when you knew that all 7’s were about to line up. “Y-You...were faking it?!”
Ding Ding Ding!
We have a winner!
Enjoy your prize!
*Crack*
A snappy kick, Elina leans back as she smashes her foot into Sein’s chest and sends her flying away, blood exploding everywhere. Her sister runs in, ghostly, a fluttering ribbon of darkness to avenge her.
“Whore!” Seanne screams in anger. Her daggers come for the back of Elina’s head. But now I see why she carries two swords. A blur, afterimages, Elina surges away after her kick and whips around to block. “Who gave you permission to heal yourself!” At this, Elina’s eyes harden. Before she can take a step, one of the other Elders, a man with a crane-face, appears out of nowhere. His scythe comes from behind, trying to slip around Elina’s neck like a hook. Her eyes flick to the corners, and she sways back again. A bit slow. The scythe misses her neck, but catches the snout of her possum mask. The strap snaps and I watch it tumble off onto the ground. Angrily, Elina reverses the sword in her left hand, pointing it downwards like a fang and stabs backwards behind her, a silvery line flashing in the darkness. Her aim is true. She slowly rises back up and as she pulls her blade forwards and out, the crane-faced Elder crumples behind her, a hole in his eye. Red blood trickles out onto the white paint of his cracked mask.
“You dare kill another Elder!” Seanne is enraged. However, one look at Elina’s face causes her to freeze. The twin scars forming an X on my Auntie’s sister’s face squeeze together.
“I don’t need permission from any of you!” Elina snarls. She un-reverses her sword, and matches her blades. The other Elders slow down at the death of one of their own. However, I become aware of a problem. Oh crap!
“ELINA!” My cry causes her to turn. I don’t want to distract her. But the Elder sprinting towards me from behind with his short sword out is obviously not gunning for Elina. “HELP!”
“Myrr!” She tries to turn around to come to my aid. Only for Seanne to take advantage of the opening. The other Elders rush in as if on queue. A pack of hyenas, that’s what their masks should be. Nothing so beautiful as civilized animals. They are not strong. Just a bunch of weaklings ganging up on a Healer and a child. I try to get up, but my limbs don’t work. Still frozen and drained, I’m like a fish on the cutting board for the Elder coming for me. His jackal mask is curved with an ugly smile, wicked and cunning. It’s mocking as he blurs over me. Really? This is how it’s going to go? How unlucky is this?!
I can’t believe I’m going to die to someone with such a bad sense of style.
Elina looks back, trying as hard as she can to break free of her captors. But they have her surrounded, seven on one. The jackal Elder is almost here. Unfortunately, I can calculate my future even without Foresight. Elina won’t make it in time. Damnit, I messed up...she was the only one I could trust huh? Gambling really was a bad idea-
Fine.
You want me?
Then pay the price!
[Muddy Stone of My Endurance, Move Forth-Meld]
[Frozen Wind of My Soul, Come Forth-Chill]
I use what’s left of my mana to summon an Earthen Icebomb in between my hands. Dirt flows up into its core as frost spins about its surface into a sphere. It’s not my best work. I recover fast, but not that fast. Still, I put all my focus, all my disgust and resentment into this damn thing. Useless idiots. This is what I get for relying on others! The Elder takes pause when he sees the orb forming in my hand. Doubtless he remembers the last time someone underestimated my magic. However, when he sees that it’s different, the frost thinner and weaker, mixed with dirt, the eyes behind the jackal mask grow greedy. He pounces towards me, sword first and I get ready to blow it all apart-
I’ll take you to hell with me!