“So… have you thought about what we spoke of a while back?”
I watch Atlas as he stands before me in a black void. His hands are behind his back as his gentle gaze looks upon me. He smiles a little, waiting for my response.
It’s been two weeks since we came to Destiny. There hasn’t been any luck in finding Kaen or Violet. No matter where we look, there’s been no trace. We’re unsure of where to go. The only thing I can do as of now is continue to train with the Blades or work with Soveliss.
“I mean, I haven’t really seen my friends much recently,” I answer, “So no… not really.”
“You know, you really need to open your eyes.” Atlas sighs. “Otherwise, you’re going to stay blind to what needs to change forever.”
“What does that mean…?”
“I guess you’ll find out one day.”
I jolt up out of bed, sitting up as I try to control my breathing.
What does Atlas mean by that? He can’t just leave me hanging like that! It was so rude of him to do that.
Ugh…
I start to stretch as I wake up. I have to get moving. I have a long day ahead of me, and I need to be prepared. I’m training with the Blades again today.
Hopefully this will go well.
I grab an apple, tossing it between my hands a few times before finally taking a bite. I smile to myself. If I’m gonna be doing work, I gotta start the day off right. And that means eating something for breakfast. I’ve never been much of a breakfast person, but I will always have at least something.
I walk out of the room and out towards the training grounds. I do a few more stretches as I hear something telepathically.
“Let’s go, mages! Hop to it!” Sara’s voice rings in my head. “We’re not gonna improve if we’re lollygagging like… lollygags!”
Sara is already outside. She looks determined to do well, with her hands on her hips as she looks between the other three Blades. She grins to herself.
This is the most lively I’ve seen her. I’m honestly surprised. I would have thought that her enthusiasm would’ve died down a little, especially with the abundance of failure we’ve had in trying to find our missing people.
At this point in our last visit, we gave up already. So why are we still going?
Kori snaps her fingers. Within seconds, she glows an ice blue color. She transforms into what I’ve seen as her Written form. She wears white tank top with a black metal collar and a black and blue underbust corset around her waist. One arm has a fishnet sleeve, but her forearms each have blue leather arm guards. Attached at her hip is a silky, translucent blue piece of fabric. The inside of her black, knee-high boots have a white squiggle design on them. Her hairpin charm shines a bit.
“Alright,” She says. “Who wants to go first? Do a bit of sparring?”
Sara claps her hands and transforms within a bright red glow. She now wears a sleeveless red to dark red ombre dress that splits into another layer at the middle of her waist. It reveals a white underskirt. She has maroon sneakers, and her skull ring shines more. Once she finishes transforming, she jokingly puts her fists up with Kori.
“Careful,” Kori smirks at her girlfriend. She dusts off her corset. “I don’t wanna go too rough on you.”
Kori then looks at me. “Ikimono, how about you go with Maeko and Sora?”
I roll my eyes, grumbling. “Sure.” I shake my head.
I never get to train with Kori…
I watch as Kori summons a simple, silver blade with a blue curved hilt. It has near-white jewels that remind me of her charm. She grins at Sara as they both get ready.
I sigh. I raise my hand into the air, letting the familiar purple glow take over my vision. I transform into my Written Form, readying myself for whatever I’ll be ‘challenged’ with. I walk towards the others as Sara and Kori begin to spar.
“Alright,” I look at Maeko and Sora. “Who’s going first…?”
Maeko and Sora are both already in their Written Forms. Maeko wears a cream tank top with one sleeve off the shoulder, and a black cami underneath. She has tan pants under white and green thigh-high boots. A belt made of leaf-shape particles surrounds her waist. Her leaf hair charm glows as she messes with her arm guards.
Sora, on the other hand, wears an orange long-sleeved shirt with a high neck and yellow sparkles on the sleeves. Their shoulders show. Their yellow pendant charm transformed into their form, embedding itself in the shirt. They wear brown pants with scarlet boots. A pair of translucent yellow glasses hovers over their face like a shield. A pair of geometrical wings glow like sunlight behind them.
“Oh!” Sora bounces a bit. “Me. I haven’t really gotten to train with you, Iki.”
They’re right… Normally, I train with Maeko. She’s fairly easy to spar with. I’ve gotten used to how she fights. She gives me a challenge.
Sora won’t.
“Alright…” I grumble. I step towards Sora as we walk to the second field.
The smaller Written smirks at me. “Ready?”
I roll my eyes. “Let’s go.”
Sora lunges at me, readying their fists. They try to punch me, but I nimbly dodge out of the way. They giggle as they continue to try and hit me. I dodge every time, ducking, moving, or doing whatever to keep them from landing anything on me.
What? I’m not taking it easy on them. Plus, they’re only punching and jumping around. There’s no use of spells.
I’m getting bored.
“This is fun!” Sora giggles. They continue to throw some punches. “I think I’m getting better with my aim!”
I continue to dodge. “Sure.” I roll my eyes.
I hear Maeko giggle.
“Oh, come on, Ikimono.” She teases. “Give them a bit of a challenge. You’ve given me one- don’t go easy on Sora!”
Crap. I’ve been caught.
“Fine.” I grumble through gritted teeth.
If it’s a challenge Sora wants, I’ll give them what they ask for.
The next time Sora throws a punch, I reach out. I grab their fist. Within seconds, Sora’s confidence melts into panic. They begin to narrow their eyes.
“Oh,” I say, “Now it’s not so fun, is it?”
They pull their hand back. A golden blade with swirls forms at their side. They grab onto it before getting into a readied stance, pointing their sword at me. They grin.
“Want to test those words?” They giggle within a sneer.
I back up a few steps. “What the?! Isn’t that illegal?!”
“What’s wrong?” Sora asks. They tilt their head. “Come on! Keep coming at me.” Sora takes a few steps forward. “Where’s your sword?”
“I don’t-”
“You don’t what? You don’t have one? Or are you scared?”
At Sora’s words, my hands glow purple. I glare. Even if those words were meant as a joke, they weren’t funny.
“Metal Dagger!” I yell.
I slash my hand towards Sora. A sharp wave of purple flies at them. Sora manages to smack it away with their sword, but they yelp in surprise. They look up at me and smile again.
“Ah! There we go!” Sora says. “I got you into it!”
My eyes narrow as I focus on Sora. “You can’t just joke around like that.” I snarl. “Metallic Slash!”
A larger blast of purple flies out at Sora. Immediately, they put their sword up before themself.
“Sun Screen!”
A barrier of sunlight forms from Sora’s swords. The purple blast of metal flies back towards me. As it lands on my stomach, I let out a scream as I fly back.
The barrier immediately fades away as Sora rushes up towards me. They extend a hand towards me.
“Are you okay?!”
“What the hell is wrong with you, Sora?!” I yell out.
The other two Blades in the middle of training stop what they’re doing. Kori whispers something to Sara before they rush over.
Sara crouches by me. She starts to feel around my stomach.
“Ah, I see.” Sara messages me telepathically. “Iki, let’s get you inside to get that patched up. Sora, you can stay here, or go to your room if you’d like. It’s alright. I’ll get her patched up.”
“I don’t have a wound!” I snap at Sara. “But I am in pain thanks to that brainless child!”
Immediately, Sora freezes. “Um…” Their eyes are wide open as they slowly back up.
Kori glares at me. “What did you just say?!” She demands.
“Brainless child.” I sneer. “That’s what I said!”
Sora lets out a sob. There’s heartbreak in their eyes. Immediately, they run off into the cottage. Sara reaches out, but stops herself. She then looks at Kori. In silence, Kori nods. She gives me a glare before running after Sora.
“Come inside,” Sara grits her teeth at me. “Let’s get that pain taken care of. You can use my room if you wish, but it’s best we get you off your feet for now.”
Before Maeko runs off, she glares at me as well.
“You might have anger issues,” Maeko mutters, “but this behavior is toxic. You don’t get to treat anyone that way, especially not Sora. If you want respect here, you earn it.”
Maeko storms off. I watch as she leaves, then I look at Sara. She offers a hand out to me.
I hesitantly take it.
“They deserved it.” I mutter as Sara helps me up. “They weren’t being careful…”
As we walk inside, Sara keeps her head down.
“Sora is still learning, just like the rest of us are.” Sara whispers in telepathic. “But they try. They try really hard. And I know you’re a good fighter. I could see you out of the corner of my eye.”
We walk down a small flight of stairs. Sara opens the door into a barely-lit room. The only light is provided by candles. Books are scattered everywhere.
“Sorry about the mess.” Sara says. “This was the only room left when we moved in here.” She leads me over to the bed. “Lay down. I have a first aid kit in here somewhere.”
I lay down after a moment of contemplating. I wince a little.
“About what you said earlier,” I mutter. “What do you mean they’re ‘still learning’? They’re eighteen or nineteen right?” I purse my lips. “Shouldn’t they… know?”
“Sora isn’t like us.”
I look over at the door. Maeko leans on the door frame to Sara’s room.
What is she doing here?
Comments (0)
See all