Childish Thoughts

Wind whipped around Fumiko’s long dark brown hair making it difficult for her to see anything. Such speeds were hardly something that bothered her. Her body barely seemed to notice the pressure even though she was certain the speed was certainly great. However, she had bigger problems. Everything ran at someone else’s pace. She couldn’t let that continue.

Flames erupted suddenly from the center of the bear where it held onto Fumiko. An inferno quickly started to spread over the fur material. It loosened things enough for her to push off from the bear. “Let me go!” she shouted, firing off another blast of magic. The explosion propelled her away from the child and her bear.

As she fell back down to the earth, the flames quickly consumed the stuff bear. It became a massive fireball falling along with her, like a meteorite breaking through the atmosphere. Fumiko, unfortunately, fell fast and had no ability to fly. Her eyes stared at the earth racing to her with almost sinister glee. “Oh hell! I didn’t plan for any of this!” She extended her hand out sending out threads of magic down her arm summoning up her flame.

An explosion of earth and dust shot up around Fumiko. Small chunks flew out from the cloud. Nearby, a similar blast broke the ground from the child and bear.

Coughing came out of the smoke, signaling Fumiko’s health. Her figure appeared in the smoke as she stepped out. She wiped away some of the dirt cramming into the cracks and corners of her skin. All the fighting was hardly kind on her normal upkeep. Her fingers were dry and rough. Every surface of her felt like sandpaper. It wasn’t really time to complain about beauty care when faced with darkness.

Her legs staggered and dropped herself to one knee. “Damn! That hurt even worse than I thought…” It wasn’t the best of ideas she had, but she had to deal with her decisions. Unfortunately, she didn’t know how well she could move her body in such a state. ‘Already handicapped…’ Yet this was how it should be.

The area where the bear landed became a bonfire. Her flames on it still had plenty of material to burn. Almost none of the smoke from the impact hung around. However, it still didn’t seem to stop the giant stuffed animal. At first, it seemed that the fire had a life of its own, but Fumiko understood quickly that it was actually the bear standing up. The magic had already burned away much of the outer layer of fabric. It feasted on the stuffing, but the melted and burned away face turned something cute into something out of a horror film. Worse, it hauntingly walked towards her still on fire.

It didn’t seem affected by the blaze. The thought of it being pain seemed a joke, even though it was the first thought. It was just an object, a toy. The flames would naturally never actually do anything to it. It could never do anything to something that didn’t have a life. Yet the tortured and ashen features gave it more life than it had before as just a puppet.

Nothing seemed to stop it. At least, that was the presence it had. The imposing and menacing appearance without even doing anything to achieve it. It was just all natural.

A horror fueled zombie stuffed bear.

Chapter 246 – Childish Thoughts

Fumiko fought with her legs to stand. ‘Come on! I need to move!’ It moved closer. All she could think of was running away. Nothing else filled her mind.

Suddenly, the arm fell off from the bear as if it was dripping butter heated up on an open flame from a stove. More nightmare-inducing fuel for Fumiko. It wasn’t even alive, but it seemed more terrifying than real people that burned at her hand. Maybe because it wasn’t alive, yet looked more alive than them. Maybe because it wasn’t affected by her flame. It didn’t seem to care that it burned. Only reaching her.

Then its leg fell off. It fell flat on its face, naturally unable to move. The conflagration finally had eaten through much of the core turning it into nothing, but a hollow form. It tried to move still, but lacked any sort of control. Most of its body was gone. Its head separated from the body, quickly burning up. It rolled around towards Fumiko before completely exhausting its material.

Nothing but ash remained.

Fumiko stared a little dumbfounded by the whole experience. It embarrassed her a little to have been scared, though it could just be the moment passed. Hindsight made it not so scary.

It wasn’t over though. It was merely starting.

“Owies…” complained Glykeria, surfacing from the small crater. She revealed herself out the smoke appearing completely unharmed by the fall. “That didn’t feel good.” Her hand adjusted her pink hair to get it out of her face.

The doll normally held in front of her by her hands floated at her side, just level with her shoulders. “But you didn’t even get hurt,” it responded.

“Yeah, I know! I just wanted to play along! It was a really fun ride!” She began to bounce around on the balls of her feet. It looked like a bit of a dance, the way she spun around. Nothing about her situation seemed to bother her. No care in the world, described her accurately.

Fumiko found herself a little uncertain by the whole scene. She wasn’t sure if it was someone that she should be taking seriously. They didn’t seem to be taking anything seriously. They only seemed to want to have fun. ‘Why is a child in the military or even one of their elite? Is that even possible?’ She remembered the age range of everyone that faced them didn’t seem to all be adults, even Ayumi was still a teenager.

The whole notion sat uncomfortably with her. ‘She’s only nine years old.’ A child like her shouldn’t be in the military or even told how the rest of her life would be at such an age. It was wrong. ‘If this was a book, I’d be able to accept it more, but this is reality. Those sorts of things don’t happen.’ Reality wasn’t fantasy. She knew that, even though it sounded a little ironic of a thought given what Fumiko was capable of doing.

Glykeria came to a sharp stop. “Are you ready to play some more?” she called out to Fumiko across the grass. The atmosphere around here completely flipped on its head. She spoke in a playful, childlike voice, but laced through her voice was a sinister intent. It barely came out in her face, well disguised by her innocent appearance. “I want to have more fun!”

Fumiko felt it like a cold October wind that snuck up behind her, not prepared for it to be so chilly. The hairs on the back of her hair seemed to stand up, sensing it as well. ‘Is this kid really going to fight me? I can’t fight a kid. This isn’t right!’

The child looked over at the doll hovering next to her. “Paramonimos, go see if she wants to play.”

“I understand.” The doll began moving away from Glykeria, making no haste to reach Fumiko. Once it came into range, the doll moved about in front of Fumiko. It waited for Fumiko actually to meet gazes with it. A sword, twice the size of its forty-centimeter body, materialized its right hand. It took a casual swipe at her.

It was never really meant to connect with her. Just enough to get her attention. Fumiko knew she had to keep her head on straight. ‘Child or not, this is one of their best! I need to focus!’ She forced her feet to start moving again even through the weakness. Threads of magic wove down her arm. Fire streamed from her palm pushing the doll back.

Her flames did little to reach it. The doll’s movements came effortlessly and smoothly. None of the flames even singed the fabric. It immediately countered with the sword, actually serious. The surprise left her with a gash in her waist. ‘Damn…’ Fumiko tried to dodge the attack, but her action was too late. ‘I’m not used to dealing with something so close to me.’ She pressed her hand to the wound trying to feel how bad it was. The sting of pain signaled up her body told her enough. ‘I can’t take too many like that.’

Magic spun around her arm preparing for the next attack. She wanted to push her own offense, rather than letting the doll set the pace. Unfortunately, it didn’t give her much of a chance for it. She tried to keep building up her magic, while dodging away from the doll. Her body finally started to move the way she wanted. ‘I can see its movements. Just need to keep my legs moving.’ Fear settled in the back of her head that if she stopped her body would never get moving again. The fall really wrecked her body.

‘Just need another moment.’ Dodging the next attack, Fumiko became more comfortable with the dolls movements. She immediately countered as the thrust finished. Grabbing the doll’s sword arm, Fumiko drew it up. Magic threads rapidly wrapped around the doll setting it alight. The intensity of the flames burned it up within seconds.

Fumiko turned back to the main target. ‘Time to end this while I have the chance!’ She charged for the child with a new flame burning brightly in her palm. It would be over. The end, quick and painless. She could deliver it. Once more wouldn’t be an issue.

She froze.

Only a few centimeters away from Glykeria, her hand stopped moving. The flames went out. ‘…can’t do it…’ Pain erupted from her torso. It was back. She knew it wouldn’t be long. She lost her chance.

“So you do want to play,” Glykeria sang, gleefully.

The doll removed the sword from inside Fumiko. Blood poured out of the deep wound. The shock was enough to make Fumiko drop to one knee. Pain flooded through her body. Despite losing her arm, this actually felt worse to her. ‘Dammit…’

Glykeria walked up the rest of the distance to Fumiko. She stared up at her face. An odd mix of innocence and murderous glee washed over her face. “I thought you wanted to play, but you only stay.” She poked at Fumiko’s wound, letting the blood wash over her tiny fingers. “You’re spilling.”

Coughing in pain, Fumiko forced herself back and to her feet. The kid was just toying with her. “I’m not done…” A glow came from her hand with magic weaving down. Fumiko placed her burning fingers into the wound. She screamed loudly as the flame burned flesh and sealed up the wounds.

Panting and her legs shaking, it ended. Fumiko stiffened her back feeling the pain still linger in her body. ‘It’s not the best solution, but it is the only one. I can’t go down here. No, not before I see her get what’s coming to her! Nothing else matters, right now!’ Not pure or sacred colors to lavish herself in anymore. Corruption threatened to claim her now. Ugliness bled out, but purity couldn’t be an option, she’d embrace the thorny path for the sake of the just.

‘I need to get my head on straight!’ She forced a flame out of her hand at Glykeria as proof of her resolve. Fumiko barely watched the whole thing, but viewed the aftermath. The doll had protected her from the whole thing, a shield now present as well. ‘So she uses that doll for all of her fighting. Makes sense given she’s just a child.’ Unfortunately, Fumiko also realized what it meant for her. ‘That doll doesn’t have the same sort of limits as a human. It’s not going to be easy dealing with it.’

Truth came through her in her speculation. The doll returned to the offense. Now with a shield to accompany the sword, it blocked whatever Fumiko tried while striking. The speed of its movements increased, catching her off guard. Her body still struggled to recover from the last wound and she feared she would have another soon. Stuttered movements, shallow wounds came off her failures. Nothing as bad, but still a reminder.

“I thought you wanted to play, big sis! Was that all just a lie, Miss?”

Fumiko caught another edge of the blade, over her shoulder this time. “Damn…” She stepped away from the doll trying to figure out what she could do. Her eyes darted over to the child. ‘Focus…’ The doll immediately resumed the attack. She could do nothing. ‘I’m losing…’

“This isn’t very fun. You just run.”

She had enough of the child playing innocent. “This isn’t a game! What do you think you’re doing?! Do you even realize that people are dying out there?! This is serious!” Fumiko panted a little yelling at the child.

Glykeria giggled. “Big sis looks so angry. Maybe you’re hungry?”

“Enough with the rhymes!” She didn’t know if the child was truly blind to reality, really innocent, or if it was all just an act. It was hard to know. But she had had enough of it all. She needed to understand the gravity of the actions. The consequences of her actions.

Suddenly, Fumiko disappeared just as the doll tried to strike. She appeared behind Glykeria, a fire burning brightly in her hand. Her hand streaked across, dragging the flames towards the child. A familiar image popped into her head, someone she knew too well to ever forget. The fire disappeared once more centimeters away from Glykeria. ‘I still can’t!’

“It looks like you’re not the one being serious, everything you do is so humorous.”

Fumiko ground her teeth together in frustration at her inability and lack of resolve. It kept blocking her. “What do you even know? You’re just a child!”

Grinning, Glykeria grabbed Fumiko’s hand with both of her hands. She stared up at the teenager. “You’re more of a child than me. Both mentally and physically.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “What did you say?!” She couldn’t believe what she heard from the child. Fumiko wanted to dismiss it immediately, but the look from the child made her doubt her own uncertainty. “What do you mean?”

Glykeria laughed again, a strange eerie tone slipped into her childlike voice. “I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive.”