Pick Your Partner

No one seemed to be making a move. The Titans remained in a line-up, the wall to hold back the tide. The intruders clumped together poorly with a clear view of uncertainty. Talked up big, the Titans made them a little uneasy. Atmosphere from their presence alone was enough to make them understand the difference in them stacked up against all of the others they faced. None of them had the same sort of look in their eyes from what they were used to seeing. They all have very different looks like they were only pretending to be soldiers because it made the others feel better. Something about them made it clear that there was no controlling them.

A frightening, unsettling aura came from each of them.

Yumi looked through the group at Simonides, as always he tried to remain the most hidden. The hood over his face made him the most conspicuous of the group, but it protected his identity. Keeping his face hidden was more important. Most times, he managed to stay out of battle and away from the sights of the Omega soldiers, so he remained safe. “Do you have anything you can provide on them to help us?”

A short pause from him didn’t provide confidence. He already made it clear before that he knew nothing about their Commander. “I know only what they’ve allowed to be public information. The Titans are a closely guarded group sent out only when there is no one else and all other solutions have failed. They are the crisis enders. It wouldn’t be very advantageous for them if their methods were known.”

Crossing her arms looking a little bothered, Rheia changed her sights. “No need for such a pathetic disguise, Captain Simonides.”

The group was all caught by surprise, but no more so than Simonides. His face hardened up quickly, to try to hold onto what remained of his composure. ‘This is Rheia we’re dealing with. She probably just used her power to see through. It was bound to happen I knew, but I thought it’d be through a slip up. Damn…’ No longer needing to hide himself, he removed the hood. The exposed position wasn’t lost on him. He could see Rheia understood just as well.

“That’s better. So you’ve decided to turn traitor? Or have you always been a traitor? Perhaps the mastermind behind all of this? Your codling methods no longer working with the pups?”

‘She’s well informed.’ Keeping up the front against Rheia proved to be more difficult than he first imagined. “I’m honored that the leader of the Titans would know so much about a simple border Captain.”

“Always giving me too little credit. So what is it? I’m curious why the ‘perfect’ Simonides would become so dirty. Your naivety finally run out?”

“I only act in the interests of Atlantis.”

Grinning like a cat, he had her curiosity. Rheia leaned a little wanting more. “This should be interesting. Do tell me more.”

“I’m protecting Atlantis and its citizens.” “Really? Last I checked, the people next to you are the ones causing the trouble. They’re the ones that Atlantis is needing protected from.”

“I have my doubts. I’ll learn if there is truth to my fears soon.”

“Oh? This gets more and more interesting by the moment.” Rheia wanted to know more, but it wasn’t going to happen.

Taking the chance to end things, Saki disappeared. Rheia vanished for a moment as well. An explosive blast erupted from the middle between both parties. Saki appeared along with Rheia, though Saki’s eyes were wide with surprise. “What?!” Rheia stopped her completely in her tracks with only an open palm. All of the excess energy tore behind Rheia as a gale.

Excitement lit up Rheia’s face in the sight of Saki. “I’m glad I picked you. Show me everything you’ve got!”

Chapter 242 – Pick Your Partner

“What?! That’s impossible!” shouted Seiji from the sidelines. “How can she block a punch from Saki?”

Everyone was in so much shock that none of them had a reply, even if they might have had an answer. The one they relied upon to keep everyone off their back the last few days was effortlessly stopped. A terrible sign revealed itself. Further proof the fight ahead of them would be their toughest yet.

Yumi snapped back first ahead of the other. She already tried to understand what happened. The first guess came from their experience with fighting Simonides. “It might be like when we fought with you before, but the timing of everything doesn’t look right.” All of it happened too quickly for her to even see.

“Her fist never made contact,” commented Chiharu. Unlike the others, her eyes were well-tuned to faster and more subtle details. “It’s not the sealing of powers like before. This is all just the use of their powers for dramatic effect. From this distance, it looks like she was stopped, but there was a thin gap between them that her fist hit, just made to appear like she blocked the attack.”

“Then what about her movements?” asked Fumiko, her eyes were okay, but nothing like Chiharu’s. She never was able to see Saki when she actually moved like she meant it. “The woman moved just as a fast as it seemed, which shouldn’t be possible.”

Unfortunately, it was where things ended for Chiharu. She could only analyze what she saw. Rheia remained a mystery. “I couldn’t see her movements. In her case, she literally disappeared and then reappeared. I don’t know how she managed to cover the distance or move to the correct location to counter the attack.”

Seiji looked back at the two women. Saki tried greater punches of strength. The results against Rheia remained the same, the woman was unmoved. It was only through the environment that anyone knew Saki tried. The first attempt was only a gale, but the second flattened all of the grass behind Rheia, the third ripped up the earth and the fourth tore everything into a crater. “Which means even Saki didn’t see her. She’s dealing with someone that could counter her speed and strength, the only special power she has.”

Everything she threw was meaningless. It annoyed Saki. The fight would be extended, dragged out, prolonged. She wanted things over quickly. It was impossible. ‘Everyone I’ve dealt with up to this point hasn’t tried to fight me head-on before. They’ve always had their tricks to keep me away from them once they realized, but this woman… She’s different. She wants me close…’ Saki backed a step away needing to find a different tactic.

Glancing behind her, Rheia admired the massive crater. ‘Anymore and she would have broken into the under-city. Impressive power…’ The scale didn’t have any effect on her emotions. She still looked excited. The brief encounter gave her a good feeling about Saki. She might have finally found it, but she needed to test her. Rheia threw out her arm towards the Titans behind her, who remained unmoved the entire time. “The rest are yours.” It was the signal.

The Titans moved.

The Siege of the Capital began.

“Come! Things are not over yet!” beckoned Rheia, appearing to retreat. She vanished and reappeared numerous times not following a direct line, but a direction. The direction took her to the gigantic walls of the Capital. She stood on the side, as she seemed fond of doing, staring down at Saki, who stood on the remaining ground around the base of the city walls.

Motioning with her arm to the wall, she opened the invitation to Saki. “I’ll provide you with steps.” Suddenly, seams appeared all over the wall, which held perfectly with no damage from the weather or age. It wasn’t cracks, but as if someone made cuts through the wall. Massive blocks easily weighing thousands of kilos slipped out from their centuries of sleeping.

Shadows fell over Saki as she stared up at the sight. Dodging it all would be simple, but it still made her eyes widen a little. Perfect five-meter cubes began to rain down on her position. The size alone made her pause and then the fact that this woman destroyed the city’s wall just to do it. ‘Simonides’ fear…’ Saki had a quick explanation given to her on why Atlanteans joined their group. She had her doubts even if she felt he believed sincerely what he said. It all made sense to her now. ‘He was right…I need to try to end this quickly before it gets out of control…’

Saki narrowed her eyes and hardened her emotions. She needed to be focused. The fight ahead of her was nothing like the past. She knew from just looking at her face. Others seemed bloodthirsty or fight hungry, they all wanted something, but the woman was different. She wasn’t battle starved like the rest. She had a desire, but she couldn’t see it clearly. All of her attention was focused on Saki, she saw her completely. It was as if she had an expectation. She wanted her to meet something. Saki didn’t like the strangeness she felt from her eyes.

Disappearing, Saki appeared on the nearest falling block and leapt off it. The force sent the block hurdling down to the ground blasting out another crater until a strange heavy ring echoed from the bottom. Saki kept jumping, shooting the blocks off into different directions away from the Capital. Explosions of earth appeared all around in the distant horizon.

Landing on the broken wall, Saki stared over at Rheia. “I’m here. Steps were unnecessary.”

“Maybe so, but will you still be here in ten seconds?”

Down on the ground, Nerine had to use her power to keep one of the blocks from hitting nearby. It made Seiji blink, mostly because his strength wasn’t back. He was pretty sure he could have dealt with it, but the speed was an uncertainty. Only Nerine’s quick forethought after the first one saved them. “Thanks, Nerine.” Above them, the fight only seemed to be getting warmed up. “Damn that Saki! She’s going to be just as much of a danger as them the way she’s fighting!”

“Oh, you look like you might be fun! Do you dance or will you just run?” a singsong voice said from within the group. Childish giggling came out as everyone jumped back in surprise to find that the child Titan appeared amongst them. She was small, enough to make even Chiharu not feel like a child in her group. Everyone stared down at the grinning pink haired child. She seemed like she merely wanted to play and looked for someone that would take her out to the playground.

“What the hell?!”

“How did she?”

“Lieutenant Commander Glykeria…” muttered Simonides.

Glykeria suddenly popped out of smoke on top of Simonides’ shoulders, as if he was her father giving her a ride. She bopped him on the head playfully. “No, silly-willy Simon-Lemon, you’re not supposed to do the introduction for me.” Simonides tried to recover from the surprise, but she already left back to her spot. She spun around for them showing her light yellow sundress and matched well with her single ponytail pinked hair held back with a yellow ribbon woven through her hair. “I’m the cute and adorable Glykeria! Age nine and two-tenths!”

“Wouldn’t that be one-fifth?” Yori inserted lowly.

“It’s a great super amazing pleasure!” She smiled at them with bubbly energy. If appearance could be judged, she seemed like a normal nine-year-old, a little desperate for attention and containing a bit too much energy. Yet they all knew it to be wrong. She was a Titan, a monster behind that smile.

The rest of the Titans came walking in as though none of it mattered. Speed was unimportant. Not even the dangerous battle between Saki and Rheia held any significance. “Quit messing around Glykeria and make your pick,” the red-haired Nereus demanded, already short with Glykeria’s antics.

The child looked ready to cry, staring up at Nereus’ stern rock-like face. It never happened. “Fine! Sour puss, Neruss!” A giant stuffed bear appeared lifting her up a full three meters into the air to tower over everyone. She rested on the shoulders of the bear. Her arm threw down pointing at her target. “I want to play with you!” The bear grabbed up Fumiko and leapt into the air, taking them far out of sight.

“Fumiko!” several of the group shouted in vain, already beyond stopping the child. It happened without any warning.

Nereus stepped forward staring down through everyone. Water erupted from the air attempting to surround Chiharu, but she appeared out on top of it. A slight movement in his eyes seemed to acknowledge her position. “You seem alive.”

Holding her thoughts away from her face, she had mixed feelings on him. ‘He seemed to only be looking at me now and not before, like I was invisible. What’s with him?’ Chiharu was also not sure about his comment. Regardless, the act was clear enough. “So you’ve made your pick.”

Almost bored looking, he started walking away. “I was given the choice, you had the best chance. I’ll see if it was right.” His attitude was so different from Rheia that it threw off the group. It seemed like he didn’t even want to be fighting, it was only by order that he was standing on the field.

Everything about him made Chiharu even more curious. She landed on the ground and followed him. It was almost polite, if it wasn’t for the fact that he didn’t seem to care. However, she still knew if she tried to break for the Capital he would chase her down. He didn’t want to be here, but still did what he was told. ‘Strange one…’

Extending a finger suddenly, Teris pointed out Haruo. It was another one of the strange looks. “You’re the one that uses animals to fight right?” Typical Haruo only gave him a nod. “Some sort of spiritual power and it’s real according to the reports. Very fascinating. Something scientifically unproven. I want to see this up close.” Almost as if he was ordered, Haruo started walking off with Teris without a question.

The remaining group with Yumi could only stare at what was most certainly a very Haruo action, yet still strange to watch. However, the last Titan broke their stares.

“I’m the last line,” started Ourias. “I won’t allow any of you to pass.” He made himself the wall between the intruders and the Capital. “Don’t try to cross and you will remain safe. I can’t make that promise if you attempt to get to the Capital.”

Yumi stepped forward already knowing her position. Everyone in the group with her wasn’t in a position to fight. Seiji and Nerine were the closest, but with their weakened states, it wouldn’t be smart to let him fight. She had to stand for them. No one else could do it. “I’m afraid we can’t do that. We must get to the Capital.” The sword had almost completely become part of her. She rarely realized it was with her even though it still ran through her hand and chest.

Ourias stared at Yumi, his brow twisting a little. “Children should not be here. I’m giving you your last warning.”

Another step closer, she moved to Ourias. She fixed her sights upon him unflinchingly, despite her situation. “I’m no child. I lost those rights when I stepped into this country.” Yumi presented a solid game face for him. It was no mere words. Her presence backed her up.

Hesitation delayed him, but he accepted quickly. “I see. You’re correct.” He read into her features and lines of her face. ‘I didn’t expect to find someone like this among them. She’s mature. She understands the meaning of consequences and the weight to them. She’s willing to carry it all.’ It was the acceptance. The odds against her, she still stood in front of him. He couldn’t ignore such resolve. “Fine. If you wish to test the sincerity of my words then I shall have to make them truth! All others are not allowed to interfere.”

Part of the sidelines, Yori didn’t understand what was happening. His sister stood up against one of the Titans without any powers. She could do nothing to him. “Yumi! What are you thinking?”

She began walking to Ourias in her defiance of his law. “What I must, brother. You can’t stop me.” Yumi broke out into a sprint going straight for Ourias.

“Yumi!” He couldn’t stop her. She was already beyond him. It was out of reach. He could do nothing to prevent her from going to her death. ‘Why am I so powerless?! I’m always useless!’ Yori recalled all of the times he wanted to help his sister. The cave-in with the school, the Atlantean village, the ambush and the escape. He never did anything. He was unneeded. Someone always did what he wanted.

Yori looked over to the others, realizing he was not alone. “Seiji! You can do it! You can stop, Yumi! Save her from getting herself killed!”

Next to Yori, Seiji knelt down on one knee looking more tired than earlier. “I’d like to, but I can’t seem to move.” His body looked to be shaking, struggling against an unknown force.

“What?!” It was then that he realized, it wasn’t his own fear or helplessness that paralyzed him, but the same thing that held back Seiji. Yori quickly knew it was the Titan’s doing. “Miss Nerine!”

“I’m not strong enough, he’s completely overwhelmed my Field. I won’t be able to reach her.”

‘Damn! Damn! Damn this world! Damn everything!’ He wished he wasn’t so useless. He didn’t want a world where he had to watch his sister die and he was unable to protect her. ‘I’m supposed to be the one that protects you! It’s my job! I promised! I promised her, I’d protect you!’

Yori’s body held firm forcing him to watch Yumi be beaten up by Ourias because she had to protect everyone. Each failed attempt by her made it that much worse for him to watch. ‘I don’t want to be on the sidelines anymore! I don’t want to be protected! Damn you stupid bastard, Hayashi! Why didn’t you give me any power so I could stop this from happening?!’

Blood dripped down Yumi’s face, still determined to keep standing back up. Her unwillingness to stop made the situation worse. Ourias didn’t make light of his declaration. Her body shook and wobbled, but she kept going forward. All she had was her fist to throw, the fist that never landed.

“Stop!” A wind suddenly tossed up around Yori. “I…can’t!” Yori clenched his fists in frustration at his uselessness. He had nothing. He wanted something. Anything. He didn’t care. ‘Can you hear me, you bastard?! I don’t like you. I don’t trust you. You destroyed the world and gave Yumi powers. You ruin lives. But I don’t care anymore. I’ll take anything, even if it is from you! Give me the power to save my sister!’

Yori screamed aloud his frustration. The ground started to shake under his feet. Wind blew away from him alerting those around him to the reaction. Sparks ignited in the air, as everything suddenly seemed to become heavy. The very air seemed dense, almost impossible to breathe. “Damn you, you bastard! Yuki Hayashi!”

Wind whipped around Yori’s hair blocking out his eyes for a moment. In the next, everything was solid white. The iris, pupil, everything was missing. A couple of veins around his forehead protruded to visibility. Yori leaned forward trying to fight the power that held him down. “You won’t stop me!”

Suddenly, Yori disappeared only for Yumi to appear in his place looking very confused. Across the Field, Yori took over Yumi’s place still yelling completely blind on emotions. “I won’t let you harm her anymore!” A black barrier appeared in front of him shattering, but blocking the incoming attack meant for Yumi. In the next instant, Yori grabbed out at the shattered pieces of the barrier taking one piece in each of his hands. The pieces suddenly grew into transparent swords. “Hayashi bastard!” Yori swung down on an off-guard Ourias.