Forced Expectations

Eudokia’s hands pulled at the cloth tightly spun around her neck. Her teeth ground together trying to struggle. Nothing she did broke its hold. The struggling started to calm down. Less movement came from her body with each attempt. Time continued to pass as tensions mounted.

Everything went still.

Eudokia stopped moving.

Chapter 194 – Forced Expectations

Trying to read the scene, Chariton paused in motion to stare down at Eudokia. He had his suspicions. ‘This can’t be the end. What trick is she playing?’ His hand materialized a broom, lightly rotating it around his fingers. It seemed to carry an odd amount of force with it turning up the air as it spun.

A chill entered the air. The temperature rapidly dropped. Frost appeared on the edges of anything it could touch. Chariton saw his breath expand in front of him as white puffs. ‘She’s planning something…’ The spinning broom pulled in the falling snow starting to appear like a white tornado.

Crackling sounds ran up from Eudokia. They grew louder and louder. Tension increased with the questions. It was already clear she did something. It only became a question on when she would act.

Action came quickly, almost completely carried out in only a second. The blanket shattered as though it were ice. Eudokia began to fall. Her snow Field shattered in the next moment, exploding upwards as Chariton fell down. In the same moment, Eudokia’s direction changed rapidly, ascending suddenly with her sword in hand.

His broom ended up being the only reason he survived the surprise attack. Blood arched up from the slash as Eudokia finished. A glimmer of surprise fell amongst Chariton’s pain.

Once time resumed passing normally, Eudokia landed on the ground several meters away from Chariton. Their backs faced each other in silence. They just stood for a while not making a move. Eventually, Chariton slammed his broom into the ground to keep himself on his feet. The surprise started to drown out the pain.

Frost covered his broom with droplets of his blood. Already patched up, a large nick used to be buried in the broom handle from Eudokia’s sword. It dampened enough of the force and deflected the angle to leave only a shallow wound across his chest. ‘It was executed so quickly. Going for the kill, merciless and confident…that’s the one I remember…’ Chariton rotated around his broom to get a look at Eudokia.

All he found was her back staring at him. However, it appeared tall and broad as though necessary to carry an unimaginable weight. ‘She looks different, yet the same too…very strange…’ The pain in his chest snapped him back to reality. ‘What am I doing standing here like I’m admiring her…’

He straightened himself out, no longer supported by the broom. His eyes winced a little as he covered up from the pain. It looked worse than it felt, not that Chariton believed it. ‘It’s been a while since I’ve felt pain like this…the routine doesn’t normally follow along these paths. These exceptions are the days we all look forward to, even if we don’t admit it. The days we actually feel alive and not crushed.’ A tap of his foot knocked the broom back up to his shoulder. The frost quickly disappeared from his broom. Chariton started to look more like his previous self.

Glancing down at his ruined uniform, he picked at the torn edges of the cloth. “Guess I’ll be needing something else now. I had planned to hold off on it until you got serious, but it can’t be helped.” Spinning the broom around, the uniform disappeared. A strangely formal appearing suit, while also dated, replaced his military garb.

It had an incredibly poor sense of taste. The striped vest was yellow and pink, bright hues. His double-breasted suit was no more subdued with a mix of red, purple, green, white and cyan. Almost not wanting to be outdone by the style, his pants carried literal swirls constantly moving covering at least ten completely distinctive colors and probably a hundred more that no normal person even knew names for. A fashion disaster understated the criminal appearance he held, and wore as though nothing was wrong.

To make matters even worse (which at this point doesn’t even seem possible), the colors flipped and then changed in the span of a few seconds. They couldn’t even stay in one pattern for more than a few moments. It looked like they were scrambling about trying to figure out what actually worked, but none of them actually worked in concert. Therefore, it always failed to achieve anything.

Staring too long at his clothes made it seem almost as though he moved without moving. A natural waviness altered his stance without even doing anything. It made for an unsettling sight. One didn’t have to have a love for fashion to actually feel nauseous from a momentary glance. It actually seemed to induce a feeling of seasickness.

Twitching a little, Eudokia only looked at him briefly. It affected her, the same as it did to everyone else. “I had hoped to end this before you did that,” muttered Eudokia, “It’s a pain dealing with you.”

The man in a fashion crisis twirled the broom about, appearing to have recovered completely from this injury. “You could have if you actually got serious. This is only your own fault.”

“Maybe so,” she admitted. Her sword came up as a signal of her preparedness for the next round. “But I won’t need to for you.”

He grinned back at her. “Oh, are you so sure? If you keep this relaxed attitude about things you might slip up.”

“If you keep talking it only highlights your cowardice.”

“Provoking me now? I’ve kept pace with you. I’d think that earned me a little respect.”

“You have to do more than still be standing against me to earn that.”

Sighing a little bit, Chariton started to spin his broom around with greater intensity. It began to affect all of the foliage in his Field. Spores from the mushrooms blew about while floating plants drifted away from him. “Still as rigid. Was getting worried everything about you had changed.”

“Enough with the games.”

“Yeah, I guess it is about that time, huh?” Chariton began to walk forward accepting that their fight continued. He saw how Eudokia tried to focus on him, but glanced away. ‘This is why I wanted to wait until you were serious. But it should draw you out of your stubbornness. I don’t understand what your reasons are, but you can’t win as you are.’ The whirlwind he built up followed him, while he continued to spin the broom around. He looked almost casual about the whole approach.

The waiting and delay ended abruptly as though both signaled the other. They broke into a sprint to charge across the remaining short distance. Eudokia brought her sword up to parry his incoming strike. The broom spun down on her sword with all of the built up momentum. Sparks and an explosive blast of air erupted from the clash in the first second. The next found Eudokia’s sword shatter and the broom carry through.

His blow missed Eudokia as she leapt back, already sensing her loss. However, when the broom head rammed into the earth it cratered everything around it into chunks. Stone and chunks of earth flew up along with a wave of dirt knocking Eudokia off balance. Her body flung through the air until collapsing in her snow.

Hefting the broom out of the cracked earth, smaller chunks fell down, as it broke free. Chariton spun it around letting the dust trail off the ends. He started to stalk his way over to Eudokia. “Shouldn’t underestimate a broom.” The broom came to an end resting up against his back ready again.

He rubbed his head a little in his approach. A pencil suddenly appeared resting on the back of his ear. His hand retrieved it, judging it a little, pressed between his fingers. It was sharpened, but otherwise looked ordinary.

Eudokia coughed a little, gathering herself together. The pencil came speeding at her, the eraser end first. Snow stretched up to block the attack. A dull thud sounded off. It had a rather anticlimactic end, until it exploded ripping through her snow and ice. “…damn…” The force sent her flying again, tumbling over her Field.

Continuing his march, he resumed spinning his broom. However, he allowed it close to the ground, letting it brush over it. Little chunks and pebbles flew across the Field, picked up by the broom. It applied enough force to turn them into deadly projectiles.

Still trying to recover, Eudokia managed a loose defense, but the objects were real. The ones that made it through weren’t subdued by her power. They ripped through her clothes and cut into her skin. Minor lacerations were the least of her problems. Eudokia fought to right herself as Chariton came in for the attack.

She threw out her chakram as an opening strike. The broom knocked it away with ease. It gave her enough of a momentum to get back on her feet when Chariton swung the broom. Her feet stepped away to dodge the initial strike. A sword formed in each of her hands to counter him. Quick exchanges fired off between them. The weight of the broom pushed her back.

Knocked around, Eudokia had to dodge the next series of swings. Converting her weapons into shields to deflect much of the debris tossed up at her. Dragged around by her Field, she moved into a better position. However, she found chalk flying at her. It blew apart her path knocking her to the ground.

Eudokia scrambled to get to her feet as Chariton hunted her. She tried to parry him again, but it didn’t last for long. None of his movements could be followed by her anymore. Everything was distorted. He moved like a blur to her eyes. In a moment of confusion, Chariton broke through her defense. The broom hit her dead center in her chest sending her flying through the air. Unlike previous times, there was no control in the way she fell.

She dropped to the ground in a most ungraceful manner. A cloud of snow coughed up around her. Eudokia remained still after.

Narrowing his eyes, he watched for any reaction out of Eudokia. ‘I got a clean hit on her that time. It must have hurt a lot for her. She going to be able to continue the fight?’ He rested the handle on the ground, leaving it to crush the earth a little. ‘She never got serious…what’s her game?’

While Chariton filled his mind with thoughts, slight movements came from Eudokia signaling her consciousness. It went ignored by him until he noticed something changed in the air surrounding her. A fog rolled in to begin to mask her out. It was enough to focus his attention back on Eudokia. ‘Huh? Something new?’

He watched with caution, wondering if she might be actually getting serious. Old experiences with her already made him uneasy every time something different happened. Each chance could be the next time she unveils her true self. He wouldn’t approach carelessly without understanding her motives.

Eventually, the fog completely wiped her from sight. It continued to stretch out over her entire Field. The mystery left him even more uncertain about her actions. ‘I haven’t seen her do this before. Does that mean this is just more of her Law set? But what purpose is this? Our strengths are nearly equal, the fog won’t give her any real cover.’ He tried to keep everything in his sight while he considered the situation. The silent moments left him concerned he missed something.

Keeping to his advice of caution, Chariton materialized another broom. He stepped back a little to allow him more room to react to whatever Eudokia tried. “Alright…Eudokia…” The brooms spun around slowly in preparation.

The fog began to lift a little. A shadowed figure appeared deep inside. However, through the fog two tiny lights surfaced attached to the figure. The figure remained small and unmoved. Yet the presence it gave off sent chills different from the temperatures. It had a darker, more savage aura. A voice came out from the darkness rough and shaking, but still unmistakably Eudokia. “You wanted to see something more…don’t start having regrets now!”