If Haruo had or felt regret, which was an unknown thing through all of his stonewalling, he would have felt it in that moment. Efforts came to an end. Just a waste. Nothing could have been said to change things. It was merely futile to attempt. Brainwashing couldn’t be so simply altered or changed. That was the fact.

Facts as they were, Haruo had no chance of being able to do anything for Fumiko. It was nigh impossible to even call themselves friends. Even acquaintances could have been a bit of a stretch. They only just met two months ago and most of that time wasn’t even together. She intentionally isolated herself from the group. Even during the fighting, they weren’t together for most of the journey. So there wasn’t even the so-called battle born camaraderie to fall back on. He was the worst person to be trying to reach Fumiko.

That much he knew. That much he was certain.

Which is why it took him aback when he saw her stop. Her blade practically touched his chest when she froze. ‘Why did she stop? Is it because I’m someone she knows? Did I somehow reach her?’

Chapter 326 – Misjudged Memories

What Haruo didn’t know was that inside Fumiko a new battle burned brightly. It was the reason for her pause. Where there should have only been one side, became two. Less about being a direct opposite, but still a contradiction. The battle became fierce for what would become the earned reality.

A scream ripped through the darkened room, yet it didn’t wake anyone. Fumiko sat soaked in sweat and out of breath. Even though she was awake, she could still hear the faint screams from her nightmare crawling up her back. If her hair stood anymore on end, it would have looked like something out of Yuki’s shounen manga.

She looked around once she collected herself a little. Her chest still heaved and didn’t calm down any time soon. ‘Saki’s still asleep…’ It was the first night out of the dungeon and in a more normal cell. While it was hard to call sleeping in a palace normal, it was certainly better accommodations than the cell she spent the last few days living out of until her release.

Standing up made her realize how much she had sweated while she slept. Her Atlantean robes were completely stuck to the form of her body. Unsticking it hardly made it an improved situation. Silk hardly felt very good drenched in sweat. ‘…a bath isn’t really an option right now…’ Fumiko threw off the long single piece robe and drew out one of the articles from the closet that she had seen others in the palace wear. It had a similar design to the military uniforms, but had far more embellishments on the trim and rather than pants a full dress. They looked very much out of the history books, like stuck in the past.

She made her way to the door and caught the sound of Saki snoring. ‘Glad she’s a heavy sleeper.’ Poking her head out of the girl’s room, the central chamber hung in a low light from candles lined around the room. There was no sight of the other one, not something she needed at the moment.

Sneaking through the room, Fumiko made her way to the hall. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the hall from what she could find. It was safe. She needed none of it.

A hand came out of the shadows before she made it even three steps into the hall. “You’re out late,” a deep voice echoed from behind her.

‘An enemy?!’ Her mind snapped awake so fast that even if she had been running on no sleep for four days straight she still would have been completely sober. Fumiko spun around her arm, channeling her magic. Flames grew off her fingertips coalescing together quickly.

The other hand of her would be attacker reached out and silenced her flame in an instant. No effort, as though snuffing out a candle with two fingers. She recoiled, needing to get away and put some distance between them.

“Fired up I see.”

‘That voice…’ In the heat of the moment, even though she stared straight at him all she saw was an Atlantean. Nothing else in her brain saw anything else. It was not a face, just a marker. She had to snap herself out of it. “Demosthenes Alexander…”

He looked to be in full grandfather mode than the ruthless warrior she had seen before. It was never going to be something she was going to get used to seeing. “I’m sensing a little anger in your voice.”

Fumiko looked around quickly to see a lay of the hallway, since she already missed one of them. It was empty still, apart from the two of them. She felt better about that at least. ‘I need to refocus. It’s not my intention to get into a match with him of all people. I hear Yuki beat him, but since he was apparently on our side from the beginning, I have to wonder if he didn’t hold back against Yuki.’ The story of Yuki beating Demosthenes was well known around the palace guards that even she heard in the dungeon. It seemed to help Yuki’s case for being King defeating someone so high ranked. “Only from having to hear such a horrible and clichéd pun.”

“A little levity never hurts a conversation.”

‘Is this really the same man that without pause destroyed our school and nearly killed most of us?’ She had misgivings still about dealing with the man they thought of as their enemy and with very good reason. The others seemed almost too willing to forgive and forget. Fumiko maintained a specific distance away from him. “Things are still dire and nowhere near resolved. Should you really be making jokes?”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Always being wound tight with tension isn’t good either. Breaking that tension is just as important and being aware of the seriousness of the situation. It may help you see more clearly when you need to.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Fair enough. I won’t tell you want to do. You are guests here.”

“Speaking of which. Shouldn’t you be with your new King with the whole Eudokia incident, there’s no more Royal Guard, right?”

“A new Royal Guard will be formed in time to protect him, but he’s not King yet. There are still rituals and ceremonies to go through before that.” Demosthenes never changed from his slightly smiling expression. He looked like he was teaching his granddaughter about history with the look on his face. “But I was giving him some room. Even I have the courtesy to leave those two alone.”

She needed no names to know immediately what he was talking about. Her arms crossed subconsciously at the mention. “Already making plans.”

“A King does need a Queen after all.”

“Given the situation here and the two of them, they should fit in right at home here.”

Demosthenes didn’t seem to follow the same line of thought that Fumiko had. A quizzical look came over his face as he sought out an answer from Fumiko.

“After the stunts he pulled today, he’s just as much of a manipulative bastard as her. No wonder she’s in love with him. He’s been manipulating all of us since day one.”

Even he could sense the mood well enough to know the usual wouldn’t work for Fumiko anymore. He matched the serious, almost grave tone Fumiko forcibly hung over the area. “Those are some strong opinions.”

Once again, it felt like she might be getting into more than an argument with Demosthenes. ‘Damn, this guy is completely falling over Yuki too. He’s going to defend him regardless of what happens. I’m going to have to be careful around him with my words.’ Fumiko quickly reversed her outward emotions. They had to be bottled up given her situation. “Don’t mind me. Being locked up in the dungeon for half a week will leave anyone sour.”

“They were unavoidable circumstances. My influence barely was enough to keep everyone else out of the dungeon.”

“Yeah, I know how it all went down. It’s what happens.” Fumiko turned away and looked towards the direction she had originally intended to go before being interrupted. “Unless I still require a guard to always be present, I have somewhere else to be.”

“For the time, yes actually.”

“…fine…” It didn’t seem that she would be able to work it out to be in peace. However, she couldn’t really fight him over it. She knew better than to argue.

Another bad morning threw her out of her blankets. She didn’t know if she was screaming as she had done so many times before, but no one seemed the wiser to it. The rest of the girls stayed asleep in the small inn room they stayed in. But she couldn’t stay in bed anymore. Sleep was going to be impossible again.

Fatigue stopped being a thing after the first week. Her body seemed to be getting used to the interrupted and poor sleep schedule she kept. It was almost easier for her to get an hour or two of sleep rather than attempting to sleep for a full night. It was asking the impossible of her. Anymore than that and the voices came back along with the images.

She hurriedly dropped her sweat drenched clothes for something fresher and walked outside. Being late at night, there normally would have only been a few people out, as she understood. However, since today was special everyone was out in full celebration mode still, despite most of the honored guests being asleep. Being that he was King, Yuki stayed out with the townspeople.

The energy in the town was very different from the last time she had been in one of Atlantis' villages. All of the gloom and doom disappeared. The people were happy and energized in a way she had really only ever seen in movies or books. It seemed unnatural. Yet she understood why they were happy. It wasn’t just the fact that they were safe once more because they had a King. It became clear that the King was visiting them. A rare sight not seen in decades and even before then centuries. They weren’t used to it. She had a feeling that this was going to be a familiar sight for them.

Unfortunately for her efforts, the town’s inn was positioned near to the center. Which meant that she was exiting out near the main part of the celebration. She couldn’t escape very well. All the stealth in the world wouldn’t make the difference coming out into the massive bonfire filled with dozens of dancing and drinking Atlanteans. And it was only made worse that she was Japanese. Her features made her stand out so easily, height notwithstanding, among everyone else it was like she wore a bright red dress in a sea of gray.

They stopped her in an instant and started calling out in Atlantean, which she didn’t understand. She left behind the earring Yuki made, not wanting to deal with this. ‘Crap! This wasn’t what I need right now…’ Fumiko tried to escape, but they quickly surrounded her. Nothing of what they said made any sense. It was all just a drone of voices. They all looked and sounded the same. They were Atlanteans. The same faces of the people she fought.

Her chest started to hurt as she felt the pounding of her heart and shortness of breath. She was cut off. No escape. They had her surrounded. They were the enemy. They wanted revenge for all of those that she murdered. They weren’t going to let her leave without the punishment that she deserved.

Just as she had trouble standing, a hand grabbed or touched her. She didn’t know what it was. She just felt them. Fumiko spun around trying to find who it was. Her magic started to bleed through her arm. Loose threads blew about in response. ‘Enemy…no, they’re not…peace…fighting…stop it!’ Their voices carved through her ears into her brain. She couldn’t escape it. “Don’t touch me!”

The Atlanteans could no more understand her than she could them. They didn’t respond to her. They just got closer to her. It felt like she was suffocating. She couldn’t breath.

All she saw was blood everywhere. They were covered in it. Blood soaked their faces until only the whites were visible. She knew their faces. The soldiers she killed. They wanted her. They weren’t going to stop until they killed her. “I won’t let you take me! I’ll kill you first!”

Something suddenly grabbed her. She threw her flames at them to get them off of her, but they wouldn’t let her go. They were strong. The fire did nothing to them. Why could she not hurt them? They moved in closer. They were after her. “I won’t let you!”

Then suddenly a sharp slap came across her face. Reality returned and she was staring at Yuki with all of the townspeople scattered. They all looked a little confused at her. But Yuki kept himself in her center so that she couldn’t ignore him. “Fumiko! Look at me! It’s alright! Ease up!”

“Yuki? Ease up?” She didn’t understand what he was talking about. There seemed to be meaning behind what he wanted, but it wasn’t clear.

“Yes, your magic.”

“My magic?” Fumiko looked down at her hand to see the whole thing completely engulfed in flames. It had somehow subconsciously activated the spell partially to alter her arm. Yuki’s hand held her in place with it barely visible through the light of her flame. She immediately understood what was happening and stopped her magic from flowing freely. “I-I didn’t…”

“It’s fine. You just got a little startled.” Yuki turned around to face the townspeople now that the situation was in hand. “Sorry about that! Lightweight!” He made a drinking gesture and they all quickly understood. Once the celebration was put back on track, he turned around to Fumiko once more. “You alright? You’re not looking so good. Did some of their local food not agree with you?”

She pushed off from him to get distance. Her body still had not fully recovered. “I’m fine. They were just getting too close and I slipped. I’ll be going.” Once she made her intention clear to Yuki, she walked away seeking the exit to the town.

“…alright…”

Fumiko stared down at her hand that had been in flames only moments before. ‘It’s happening more frequently… I need to get this under control…’