Examining her wound, Yumi noted the condition of her arm. The blood made everything seem worse than reality. ‘…rather shallow… could’ve gone for the kill, but didn’t… she was making a point…’ Yumi dropped the remaining pieces of her barrier. It served her no use if it no longer had a purpose. “I wouldn’t be so quick to make that judgment. The powers she has aren’t so limited.”

“I’ve seen your powers. I’ve calculated for all of them.”

All the talking did little to change her situation. She had to do something about the weapons. ‘The last time she used only one of her special swords disguised amongst the rest. She did it to catch me off guard. I can only assume these are all the same barrier-cutting type. The trick’s out of the bag, no sense hiding it.’ Yumi analyzed the blades to discern their difference. The variance and quality were all so random they all looked the same.

Her eyes slid over at her side judging the distance. Options ran short as well as uncertainty. ‘Considering their powers, it wouldn’t need to be any different. Just something inherit. Only one choice remains then…’ Yumi leapt into the air. She saw the weapons response delay significantly before they ran to her previous location. ‘So she’s got full control right now. That’ll slow them down.’

Yumi hovered in the air several meters above the cluster of metal. She extended her arm towards the spot. Her eyes narrowed as the seconds worked through. Nothing changed for her. Each second wasted away until the weapons turned around and charged for Yumi. Still caught in the moment, she dodged late and found a new wound on her arm. She dropped down to the ground staring over at Photine. “You’ve sealed her telekinesis.”

Photine nodded to Yumi with growing smugness. “I told you. You can’t win.”

Chapter 159 – Reality of Fiction

Staring back down at her hand, Yumi began to understand. The confirmation from Photine gave her what she needed to work the problem. It troubled her. The implications wielded in the power. “You added a rule to your Field to negate telekinesis.”

The weapons moved back into an encirclement position of Yumi. Photine took a couple of steps towards her feeling safer in her situation. “It’s not something normally very useful. Canceling things that don’t exist is not something that’s needed. The more practical application of this is eliminating friction, gravity or something that exists in the normal laws of physics.”

“Not really needed against others like you,” agreed Yumi. She understood the limitless possibilities of their powers, but the crippling application of them against her gave her more appreciation. Yumi found a new challenge. “When someone can cancel your Field with theirs it’s pointless to try to neutralize their powers. However, we’re different. We’ve become our own reality. So you can rewrite our reality. But only if you understand us.”

“I’m glad you understand.” Materializing several more weapons, they closed in to prevent any escape. Even above, all directions locked down. Photine lifted her arm to keep control of the swords. “Now that I’ve crushed your powers and hope for escape. I’ll rip you apart! Just like you did to the soldiers here!” Motioning with her free arm, a new thin blade appeared above Photine. It had a smooth edge heavily polished and sharpened. Floating in the air, it seemed to split everything that even dared to approach.

Yumi raised her brow a little with disbelief. “You can’t kill me with those eyes.” She stared through the prison of blades, unconcerned by their presence. The gaze she met with Photine ran so deep Photine couldn’t turn away. It drew her in, unable to escape.

A thin line drew across Photine’s lips with only a glimpse of her teeth bared. They ground together responding to her thoughts. Photine struggled to keep her arms stretched out. Shaking began to spread through her body and affect her muscles. “You don’t know anything about me!”

“But I can see your eyes,” commented Yumi. “You don’t have what it takes. You’ve never killed anyone. You still have your innocence.”

Her emotions began to control her again. All of the weapons slid in closer to Yumi. The tightened net left only centimeters between the tips of the blades and Yumi. “I have no innocence! No one here does! It’s all stolen away! So don’t talk to me like you know anything! You grew up in a safe home without fear or oppression! So don’t you dare even start to talk like you understand!”

Yumi crossed her arms. Her features didn’t budge for a second. “A fear so deep and primal it makes even your bones feel cold. Lasting for so long that it becomes the only feeling you understand. It becomes your companion and yet it is so strong that you never can feel its release as it always presses down with no remorse. Not even being able to lift your head because they might see you, recognize you. You only wish it were like a cage, because then you could stop running. The emptiness of knowing it is the only thing that will be with you. That is true fear.”

Photine took a step back. The words alone didn’t unnerve her as much as the cold stare, which persisted through everything. Her eyes spoke volumes more than the words. They pierced into her being. She felt the raw emotions. There was something more to her. Photine didn’t want to believe it, but it froze her emotions off. It sobered her to things she missed before. ‘Damn it! What’s with her? She’s not like the last time at all!’ She wondered whom she fought. She felt the age and experience in her.

Things didn’t add up correctly. “You speak as though you know it too well. And act like you’re familiar with death. The outside world is nothing like here.”

“That’s because I’ve been killing since before you were born. The world I’m from is far harsher and deadly than here.”

“That’s—“ she interrupted herself. She wanted to deny it immediately, but something inside her told her otherwise. It didn’t feel right. What was her enemy? “You’re lying! You’re too young to be making such claims!”

The mysterious girl tilted her head, appearing almost amused by the rejection. However, her eyes remained fixed on Photine without a break. “Believe what you want, but I’ve no need for lies. You shouldn’t use her body as your measurement.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“…her?” It seemed an unimportant detail. One she forgot before, many times. The word kept repeating and Photine finally noticed. ‘She keeps speaking like that, as though not herself. Talking about herself as though it was someone else.’ Photine narrowed her eyes a bit. The clarity from her calmness finally gave her time for rational thought. ‘I can’t believe I missed it before! No wonder she doesn’t feel the same!’ Unfortunately, logic gave her something even more unsettling.

She still needed answers. Answers had to come from her enemy. She wasn’t sure if she could trust them. But her enemy was different and she needed to understand. Photine didn’t have much choice. “Who are you? You aren’t the same person I fought before, are you?” Her foot drew her forward as a show of her confidence. She couldn’t have any visible weakness.

“Oh?” The question changed the expression on her face. “So you’ve finally calmed down enough to realize that?”

“Enough with the arrogance! Who are you?!”

“I was present during the time when she fought with you. I’m the one that looks after her. I’m called Masa.”

“Masa?” questioned Photine. So much said still didn’t make a lot of sense to her. She felt like the girl spoke to her riddles. It had a disembodied feeling to the words. “It doesn’t matter if you’re someone else or not. You’ve violated our laws. And you’ve killed a soldier. You’re under arrest!”

Masa seemed a little disappointed. Her arms dropped to her sides. “Not planning to kill me anymore?” A small smirk crept across her face just before the wind blew out from the point she stood. Light flashed from her hands and exploded almost immediately. Clouds of debris and dirt made it impossible to see. “You would have had a chance if you wanted to kill me.” Chunks of metal from Photine’s weapons fell to the ground adding confusion to the scene.

Realizing something happened, all of the weapons cut through the veil. Photine let out a click of her tongue when her swords found nothing. ‘She’s escaped…but where?’ All of her tools pulled back around her in defense. “You can’t escape me!”

“I’m not escaping,” Masa whispered, behind Photine. A flash appeared with the trailing of blood. Masa narrowed her eyes as she gazed down at Photine.

Photine panted heavily feeling the wound in her waist. She thought with the way Masa looked she should have died. ‘Why didn’t she kill me?’ However, she forced her mind to focus on the problem in front of her. She called in her blades to take care of Masa.

She disappeared from Photine’s sight again. Explosions and a shower of metal remained the only things left behind. Masa resurfaced a few meters away from Photine unaffected. She even held one of Photine’s swords. “There’s still things you don’t know about us.” Masa turned the blade out to point at Photine. Light erupted from within the blade creating cracks along the surface. It exploded a moment later.

‘What did I miss? I thought she used everything the last time!’ Confusion filled inside Photine. She searched for the missing piece, but it only distracted her. It left her with openings.

Masa appeared before her with a raised arm. A glance up from Photine gave her enough to know what went through her mind. “Don’t ask for an explanation. I kill my opponents and nothing more. I was only buying time before.” She plunged her arm down drawing up blood. Her features narrowed again looking down at Photine.

Photine coughed from the pain, but realized she was still very much alive. ‘Again? What’s going on? Why did she miss twice?’

“Damn, she’s already waking up.” Wrinkles drew across her face. The time she had ran short. ‘I’ll have to end this before she completely awakes…’ Masa’s started to glow with a faint red light. It highlighted contours of her fingers to make them appear sharper than usual.

The events disturbed Photine. She didn’t understand why Masa missed killing her. The look she found in her eyes told her she had no reservation about it. In fact, the look of death in her eyes was part of what made Masa so unnerving. She was nothing like what she encountered before. ‘What’s going on?’

Focusing everything on Photine, Masa pushed back Yumi as much as she could from their mind. She only needed seconds in complete control to end it. ‘I’ll clear away the dirty work, that you don’t have the heart to do yourself…’ Her hand began moving down towards Photine. It shone brighter than before, ready.

‘No! Stop it!’

Everything froze.

Turning her eyes to the side within her mind, she saw Yumi clinging to her arm. ‘This is how the world works. Your enemies die or you die. There’s no middle ground.’

Tears built up around the bottom of Yumi’s eyes, too small to fall. ‘You can’t! Such a world is just…’

‘You’re being too soft. You need to face reality.’

‘There’s another way!’

‘If you want that strength you so desperately desire, this is the only way!’

‘Then I’ll find my own strength!’ replied Yumi, narrowing her eyes. Determination built up around her features shining through her eyes.

Masa sighed at the signs of Yumi’s willfulness. Her muscles relaxed. She stood up to face Yumi. ‘The reality you face is worse than the one I present to you.’

‘Maybe, but this is how I want things.’

She shrugged to Yumi, completely relinquishing control over to her. ‘You’re the boss. Remember I’m always nearby…’ Masa faded away from Yumi’s presence. However, it wasn’t quite over for her yet. Beyond Yumi’s purview other presences appeared, but didn’t make themselves seen. She still knew they watched her in judgment of her actions.

Masa crossed her arms, not intimidated. She looked up at the white void. “This is what you get when you send someone like me. Don’t like the results then stop hiding, otherwise you’ve got no position to be passing judgment. I kept her alive and out of the hands of the enemy.” Silence spun around in building tension. “Still nothing? Then keep out of my way. She wants strength, first she needs to lose that innocence and naivety. I put her on that path. This is how I teach.”

Stillness surrounded Photine as Masa stared down at her unmoved. If she planned to kill her, pausing seemed a strange tactic. Thoughts of countering surfaced in her mind, but staggered with inaction. It wasn’t her wounds, which held her back from acting. The uncertainty, from someone that bested her a second time, froze her movements, even if it seemed like they were different. Photine waited to act.

Across from her, Yumi’s features smoothed out from the harshness that previously shaped them. She pulled back her arm with the glow turning green before fading away. Her eyes darted around picking up the scene. “This is reality…” A questioning tone came through in her voice with some uncertainty. Yumi’s eyes widened and her pupils’ shrank when they laid upon a bloody corpse. She immediately recognized it. “…the boy…I did this…”

An awkward cough from Photine drew her attention. She narrowed her eyes as Yumi. “What’s going on? Why are you playing tricks on me, Masa?”

Yumi froze for a moment before turning around to face Photine. “It’s you!” Yumi exclaimed, recognizing Photine. It took a few moments to process everything that happened. The fight she interrupted made it clear to her. “So you were fighting with her.”

“What?” Photine pushed herself back up to her feet. The presence of Yumi felt nothing like that of Masa. She started to believe that the one she spoke with before was gone. ‘I’m injured, but I can still move… She doesn’t look like she'll be of much challenge…’ Weapons surfaced from the dirt of the field and moved to surround her.

The movement of the swords alerted Yumi to the situation. “You’re still wanting to fight in your condition?” Yumi didn’t need an answer from Photine. Her eyes told her everything that she needed to know. “Fine. I’ll just have to defeat you again!”