"Where am I? Am I dreaming?"
Neige looked around, confused about the situation. It looked like he was in a church, the same one where he lost Kairo to the anomaly. His memories were hazy, he didn't feel like himself and was barely able to think properly. However, he wasn't alone in the church, a nun was praying, lost in her thoughts. She looked exactly like Ada, the anomaly. But she seemed younger, like a teenager around 16. Neige couldn't explain it, but it was like he remembered this scene, but not by himself.
He reached his hand toward the girl, only to phase through her like a ghost.
The door of the church suddenly opened, letting the cold enter. It seemed like there was a big snowstorm outside, a boy entered the church, probably to find shelter from the cold.
Neige recognized him quickly, they both looked almost identical, the boy just looked somehow even more feminine, probably due to his younger age.
The nun hurried toward the boy after hearing the door open. The boy fell into her arms, exhausted. Even after being in the arms of the girl, he still tried to get up by himself.
"Don't move my child, you're exhausted." Answered the nun. She looked around for any way to warm up the boy, but whether it was because of pride or stubbornness, he still resisted.
"I'm not here for your help... I came to deliver a message, that's it."
"No, you're way too sick for that. Whatever it is, it will have to wait."
The boy tried to get up but lacked the strength to do so. The girl held him close to him, trying to make him warmer with her body heat.
"Why are you helping me? Don't you know who I am?" Asked the boy.
"I'm afraid not, my child. But it doesn't matter either way, as a person of faith, it is my duty to help people in need."
The boy chuckled slightly at the woman's words, but his eyes looked sad for some reason.
"You're too good for this world. Now I feel bad about the message I came to deliver."
"It doesn't matter." The girl caressed his hair slightly while pressing him softly against her.
"I'm Neige, you still don't know who I am?"
"... Nice to meet you Neige, you can call me Ada."
The scene started to get blurry, and like nothing ever happened, everything vanished before Neige's eyes.
"What a weird dream. I feel like I remember that somehow."
Sepide looked around, both the leader and Silva were there too. It seemed like an empty place, but it was hard to see because of the snowstorm.
"Now I regret not wearing a vest." Said Silva, shivering because of the cold. Sepide took her phone and started to record her report.
"There's snow everywhere, and it's very cold. We need to find a shelter, or else-"
"Memories broken, the truth goes unspoken! I've even forgotten my name!" The leader yelled from the top of her lungs while looking in a seemingly random direction.
"Leader? Are you alright?" Asked Sepide, worried for her.
"I don't know the season, or what is the reason, I'm standing here holding my blade!" Right after continuing her battle cry, the leader took her sword in hand and started to run deeper into the snowstorm.
"That's our leader?" Asked Silva, already exhausted. Forced to, they followed her, unsure about what would be awaiting them.
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Sepide and Silva tried their best to navigate through the snowstorm. They followed the leader the best they could, and after a long moment, they saw her stopping. They walked to her level to see what was stopping her only to see their friend Neige, standing there. Or rather Neige, possessed by the anomaly. The leader took her sword and pointed it at him, visibly about to fight.
"Give Neige back, now." Her words were cold and serious, but they didn't seem to impress the anomaly in the slightest.
"So you're Neige's friend? I'm sorry, but I think he would be better under my care for now. But I was expecting you, I have a proposition to make."
"I don't negotiate with terrorists."
The leader seemed to confuse not only her friends but the anomaly as well. Without a warning, she took her sword and rushed at the anomaly in a swift movement, but the attack was dodged at the last moment.
"How are you so fast!?"
The question of the anomaly stayed without an answer, as the leader continued attacking without rest. The anomaly took its dagger by reflex and tried her best to defend herself against the relentless attacks.
"Can you stop and listen for a minute?" Asked the anomaly, almost begging while dodging all the attacks. The leader wasn't about to give up, it wasn't even sure if she heard a single word from the anomaly. But after a few more slashes from her sword, she finally was able to cut the cheek of the anomaly. The kind of dark matter that the anomaly was made out of ran away from Neige's body, making him fall to the ground.
"How... How can you hurt me?"
Once more, her question never got an answer. The leader quickly ran toward Neige's body lying on the ground. As she dropped her guard for a moment, the anomaly took Neige's firearm to shoot at her opponent. The sound of a gunshot was heard before the leader fell on the snowy ground, under the shocked gaze of Silva and Sepide. They tried to come to help their leader, but the snowstorm got more intense, blocking all of their senses. After a short moment, they both fell unconscious.
Sepide slowly opened her eyes as if she slept for days. It looked like she was in an old cell, the walls barely seemed to hold up. Silva was sitting on the bed, she seemed pretty bored until she realized that Sepide woke up.
"Hey, are you okay? You've been sleeping for a while." Silva asked, visibly worried. Sepide stood up with some difficulties and answered after she felt like she was in better shape.
"I think I am, but I could be better. It's so cold in here." Sepide looked around, trying to find any signs of Neige or their leader. All she could remember was seeing their leader shot and falling to the ground "Have you seen the others?"
Silva shook her head to gesture that she didn't. Sepide got the idea to call on the ship, thinking they could help them. But she noticed that her watch was missing, not only that but all of her tools and weapons were robbed from her. She looked at Silva and noticed that she too seemed to have lost her watch. Before she could be worried, a voice from outside their cell called to them.
"Hey, you two, come with us."
The voice came from a woman dressed like a nun, armed with a spear. She wasn't alone and was accompanied by other women in the same dark blue outfits. They opened the door, and without a choice, Silva and Sepide both followed them. The group walked in the long and cold hallways for a moment, building up the two friend's worries.
"Excuse me," Asked Sepide "Aren't you servants of Gods? Aren't you supposed to be peaceful?"
"We are, we obey the holy Ada, our dear Goddess. We are only executing her orders."
"Ada? The anomaly?" Sepide whispered to herself. She wasn't sure what to think of it, all she hoped was that her friends were alright.
The nuns brought them to the middle of a colosseum, with thousands of people cheering from the benches. There were around thirty people in the middle of the arena, but Sepide quickly ran toward one of them, more than happy to see her alive.
"Leader!"
The leader turned around Sepide and Silva, with shock on her face.
"Sepide? Silva? You're alive? I was so worried about you. I'm sorry... I wish I could have done better."
"Don't stress about it." Said Silva in an attempt to make her feel better "We barely could do anything to the anomaly, and you managed to hit her! Now I understand why you're our leader."
"Oh, thanks... But I don't think I'm the leader because of my sword skills."
Sepide looked around, trying to find Neige somewhere in the arena. When she looked up, she managed to see him, sitting on a throne in the highest place of the Colosseum. He was unconscious, but it looked like he was overseeing the whole arena from this position. Next to him was the anomaly, which was looking at everyone in the arena. After a long moment, she took a step forward and started talking in a microphone.
"Can everyone hear me?"
The crowd answered cheerfully to her question and became silent to hear what the woman was about to say.
"First off, thanks to everyone for coming to assist to the first ever, great tournament!!!"
"The name sucks!" Silva yelled, which seemed to make the nun uncomfortable.
"A-Anyway, I'd also like to thank our 31 candidates who will participate in it, even if against their will."
The crowd was as cheerful as the participants were terrified. When Sepide looked around, she could see how everyone was as lost as she was. Did they fall into the anomaly's trap? And why was she doing it in the first place? The only thing they could do for now, would be to abide by the rules, at least for now.