Prone and covered in pain, Chiharu found her body trying to refuse her demands. She slid her eyes over to her arm when it struggled to move for her. ‘Damn! I didn’t expect this…’ Everything narrowed for her. All the small points of pain over her body felt impossible to single out. It all barraged her at once. A single needle would have been nothing to her, but the innumerable cries made it heavy.
Wind brushed over Chiharu’s body leaving her stinging. It drew her away for a moment, long enough to distract her. However, it meant she didn’t realize the significance of it until it was almost too late. Her eyes snapped open with the sight of the needles coming back around for another assault. Chiharu dipped her hand into the void allowing it to pull at her enough to get her body moving once more.
Needles pinned the ground and a few shot through the loose bits of clothes on her arm. Once in motion, Chiharu got her feet running again as she took cover behind a tree out of Miltiades’ sight. ‘Narrowly avoided it.’ She looked back at her hand with the maneuver pulled. ‘I had to expose it out in plain sight. Only seeing it once and partially shouldn’t present too much of a risk. But I can’t let him learn any more about my abilities.’
Chapter 169 – Two Fists
Wiping away some sweat, Miltiades brought the mass of needles around the tree hiding Chiharu. He wanted to end the fight quickly. “Hiding’s not going to do you much good.”
Chiharu’s eyes narrowed and flipped to the sides. She saw the signs already. ‘This isn’t good…I’m moving at his pace now…I can’t win like this…’ Sliding down the tree, she evaded the first bout, though her hair caught a little with cut strains floating away. The rest of the storm already turned around making another pass within moments. Chiharu pushed off from the tree, getting her legs back in motion.
Jumping around on the ground, Chiharu tried to keep ahead and use the trees for as much cover as she could. It mostly worked, but she slipped up a few times and took more direct hits. ‘I need a different plan!’ Her hand lowered to her kunai and retrieved two to her hand. It was the only spare time she had. ‘This’ll have to work!’
She barely dodged the attack, feeling needles graze past her. Chiharu launched herself into the air. The bare trees granted an easy branch to land on. It didn’t change what chased her. Needles still came after her, not that she expected anything else. Her hand tightened around the handle of the kunai as she jumped to the next branch. She glanced to the corner confirming Miltiades’ position. ‘He hasn’t moved yet. Passive as always.’ Things had to change, she knew. Defense had to turn to offense.
Avoiding the next attack nearly tripped her as the needles embedded in her leg. ‘I’m slowing down…must do it now! No time…’ Chiharu turned her direction, shifting to Miltiades’ tree. She pulled her arm back already ready. A moment later her hand released the two kunai from their hold aimed for Miltiades.
Miltiades caught sight of her plan. He quickly redirected his needles back around for defense. A hailstorm of needles sprayed over the course of the kunai. Needles pierced the hardened metal putting small holes in them. The force was enough to change their direction leaving them to pass him. He glanced in the direction of where they went to disappear in his forest. “That’s not going to work on me.” Miltiades looked back in search of Chiharu, expecting something more from her, but she wasn’t in sight.
The forest was empty. He moved the needles around searching for her, but they came back with nothing. Any attempt he made to flush her out turned up empty. ‘Disappeared? Did she give up and leave?’ He let out a sigh returning the needles back to the tree. Sweat dripped down his chin. ‘I doubt she’s gone… She's out there somewhere…’
He blinked trying to ignore the fatigue. The release lightened the weight on him. Miltiades jumped out to the next tree.
It was a hunt.
He hated the word. ‘I thought I didn’t have to do this anymore.’ Such a word held only one meaning for most, but it had other meanings for Miltiades. In truth, he knew it was all the same. However, he preferred to divide it into different meanings, personal meanings. Personal meanings created after he made the decision.
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Heavy breathing whispered through the darkness. A sour taste of fear leaked between branches. Pleas went unanswered. The same inevitable conclusion came each time, no escape.
It was always the same. It played out the same way. It never changed. It was his life. Cast in a darkness worn as a cloak. The only clothes he knew. They made him ache.
“Good job, Miltiades!” replied a voice, with a firm pat on the shoulder. “They’ll probably promote you soon with the success record you have for captures. How many does this make?”
Miltiades’ dead face looked back at the older man. The man was only a few years older than him, but still treated him friendly enough. It was an odd behavior, he discovered. “Fourteen.” No one did anything in the Omega Division without a motive and no one used them without one as well.
“Fourteen, damn! Your first year here and that many already.” The man grinned a little, appearing proud of his achievement. He was Miltiades’ senior and mentor within the organization. His name was Iordanes, a man who seemed to have no ambition other than to push others up. A strange man made out of place. “I thought it was a little odd sending someone so new to retrieve emerged ones, but you have a talent for it. I’m sure you’ll be receiving higher ranked missions soon enough.”
“Thank you, sir,” replied Miltiades. There was no warmth in his voice. His answer came as a reflex. It barely seemed as though he was alive.
Iordanes patted Miltiades once more before starting to depart. He paused and looked back at him with his eyes narrowed a little. “You’ve done me proud. You’re the best junior anyone could ask for. Be proud.”
Miltiades remained silent, but a little light returned to his eyes. He walked off into the halls of the Omega Division. Small words were the only thing he found he could live for. The reality was nothing like he dreamed. He thought he found a great honor in his selection for the Omega Division, but only kept finding it not to be like what he envisioned.
The halls of the Omega Division were always crowded and tight, even on inactive days. People gathered around trying to get the last scoop. “Rumors say a request came in from the Scylla family.”
“Scylla!? That’s huge if it is true.”
“I’ve already got my junior investigating.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“What already? Damn you, how’d you hear about it?”
“I have my ways.”
“We’ll see about that. You’re not the only one that wants the connections the Scylla family holds.”
Miltiades continued on ignoring the conversation further. He wanted nothing to do with politics. It was the part of the Omega Division he hated more than anything else. Everyone used everyone else for their own needs. ‘There’s nowhere else for me…I just have to keep down and not do anything…this is my life…’ He repeated such words on a daily basis to convince himself.
It worked for him, for a while. However, it all changed eventually. Another mission came to him, but not like the others. Iordanes told him his years of service paid off. He received a higher ranked mission made available and Iordanes selected him for it.
The mission was unlike the ones he was used to in the past. He received a file with the details, but was told not to read them until at the mission location. It took him into the capital underground. A place most avoided due to the poverty and danger.
Miltiades held the sealed file in his hands. An unsettling feeling still hung in his stomach from the moment he accepted the mission. He didn’t know why, but it was already too late for him to turn away. His thoughts went back to the last words Iordanes gave him.
‘You complete this mission and you’ll seal your position in the Omega Division. This will open many doors for you. This is a very important mission, more than the ones you’ve carried out before. A mistake or failure here will mean more than just a bad mark.’ Iornades never said it, but Miltiades felt as though the situation he was in was far graver than he originally considered. Unfortunately, he was already so deep he couldn’t back out. It would be a failure as well. He heard rumors of what happened to those that failed and he preferred they stayed rumors in his mind.
He opened his Field to erase the seal on the file and remove it safely to be read. The uncomfortable dread grew inside him. ‘It’s just a mission. I complete it and then I just go back to accepting regular missions. This isn’t for me.’ Miltiades slid a finger into the file and spread the contents open.
Only two papers and a photo rested inside. A simple mission by appearance he thought. Nothing he should be concerned over. ‘Another capture mission, huh?’ He saw the photo and quickly made the leap. ‘Must be someone powerful if he talked me up that much. What’s the intel…’ Miltiades found most of it to be as he expected, but he found something that disturbed him. His eyes widened and the air in his lungs escaped leaving him almost gasping.
His fingers tightened around the file wrinkling the paper. He couldn’t believe it. Reading it ten times changed nothing in the contents. ‘This can’t be right! How can this be? Did he know the mission?’ The grave look from Iordanes told him he understood. He sent him on the mission knowing. ‘He expects me to do this?! Why? I can’t…’
‘A mistake or failure here will mean more than just a bad mark.’
Miltiades fell back against a column. Every part of him was shaking. He remembered how Iordanes looked when he spoke to him. ‘It was a warning! If I don’t this is…if I don’t…’ A weight crushed his shoulders, dropping him to the hard stone street. His mind kept going over it all in his mind repeatedly.
Escape was not possible.
He returned to Iordanes with a face even more dead than usual. Miltiades handed over the file and started to leave. A question stopped him. “The mission?”
“Complete,” Miltiades answered, unable to turn around.
“Very good. You did well. I’m proud of you.”
The words sounded empty to him for the first time. Miltiades glanced over his shoulder back at Iordanes. He saw a different expression in his eyes that he never noticed before. A dark aura seemed to completely envelop him. It suited him, somehow. “Thank you, sir.” He turned away and left his office. ‘How did I never see it before?’
Reality surfaced for Miltiades quickly to confirm his suspensions. Iornades received a big promotion from the mission Miltiades completed. He just followed orders and Iornades advanced. Iornades always advanced, linked with Miltiades successes.
Miltiades made his decision shortly after he learned the outcome. He stood before Iornades again. “I request a transfer to the Barrier Division.”
Iornades’ eyebrows lifted a little at the strange request. “Why? You’ve just started to make it here.”
“I haven’t done my tour of duty, that is tradition. I skipped it because of my placement in Omega Division. I wish to do my patriotic duty to protect our people.”
A narrowed expression came across his face. “You’re sure? This will set you back and cut off many of the bridges you’ve made in your time.” Miltiades simply nodded to him. “Very well, I can’t convince someone with their heart set.”
As much as Iordanes tried to hide it, Miltiades saw the hints of relief. He acted for his own reasons, but they helped Iordanes as well. He knew Iordanes saw the doubt and conflict in him. Plans were made already, Miltiades assumed to deal with him, but Miltiades made his move first. It simplified matters. Miltiades hated the thought it only helped Iordanes more, but he needed to leave.
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Miltiades snapped back to reality. He pushed the memories away. What he did now was different from his past. He protected people and his country. A life in obscurity was enough for him. ‘I have to find her. I need to put an end to this fighting. Once this is all over my peaceful life will return.’
Chiharu resurfaced in the shadow realm after her little stunt. Her kunai and his wave of needles gave her all of the distraction needed to use her powers to slip out of sight without him knowing. It gave her time to rethink her strategy. ‘This is going to be difficult. I’m already getting weaker and his new ability…’ Images of the attack washed through her mind looking for weak points.
‘It’s here again…’ She bent over picking up her tanto. It slid back into her sheath. Chiharu discovered another aspect of her power earlier after the last fight. All of her weapons appeared back in the dimension between somehow. They were never lost. ‘This won’t be enough, but to be able to produce so many…he must be getting exhausted as well. If I just hold out…’
An image popped up in her windows distracting her. Her eyes widened a bit and it drew her close. ‘The idiot, what’s he think he’s doing!?’ Chiharu slipped out the closest window to Seiji appearing behind him. She reached out for him to stop him. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Seiji spun back around, slapping away Chiharu’s hand. He breathed heavily from the brief act. His eyes had the look of wanting a fight until he realized it was Chiharu. “Oh, the brat…what are…you doing…here?”
Chiharu crossed her arms staring at Seiji. “I asked first. If you think you’re here for a rematch, this is my fight.”
“Huh? Rematch? Fight?” Seiji stared deeply at Chiharu. However, he quickly looked around, seeing the forest that surrounded them. “Where the hell…am I?”
“In the middle of my fight.”
“Eh?” He examined Chiharu a little closer in the weak light starting to break through the coming dawn. Tiny tears and holes scattered over her body and blood covered most of her. He cocked his eye a little at the sight. “Fight? Looks like you’re losing.”
Her arms tightened a little around her chest. “You’ve got no room to speak given your state and the fact that you lost again.”
Seiji shot out his talisman bandaged arm with his fist closed tightly. “I protected someone…that’s all that matters…”
Chiharu brushed past him, no longer interested. She also realized that Miltiades discovered their position. The leaves chattered again. “Just leave this to me. You’re in no shape to fight.”
He stretched out his hand and grabbed her wrist to stop her. He saw enough to know how she was doing. “You’re no better than me. You can’t keep going in your state.”
Trying to rip her arm free, Chiharu noticed her strength weakening again. She stiffened her stance unwilling to give up. “I know my body. I’ll end this by myself.”
Seiji’s hand tightened around her wrist. He pulled on her, dragging her back to face him. His head leaned down to stare at her. “You don’t have to do this alone! When you stand together with those you trust you never lose!”
“Trust?” she questioned, giving him a glare back.
A weak grin popped on Seiji’s face. “Well, we can work on that part. The rest is still true.”
“And what are you suggesting?” Seiji leaned over to Chiharu and whispered his plan to her. The expression on her face changed a couple times in the course of his explanation. After he finished, she pulled back. “That’s stupid.”
“You got another idea?”
Chiharu had no reply for him. The trees lost their needles once more and the green wave swarmed in their direction. She had nothing. They had to act quickly and it was at least a plan. A sigh escaped her lips as she considered it. “…fine…”
A few moments later, they were in position. Seiji tensed up holding Chiharu in his hand looking like he was ready for a human shot put. Chiharu held her tanto in her hand and stared up at the imminent attack. “Don’t tell anyone about this,” she said, with a little red bleeding into her cheeks through the blood.
“Right!” Seiji shouted, with his arm released a moment later. Using all of his strength, he launched Chiharu into the air against Miltiades for their final attack.