Mounting Troubles

Peacefully kept, the forest that housed those on the run remained quiet. Nothing stirred around; even the wind felt no interest in bothering the situation. The stillness ran through everything. However, eyes remained ever vigilant. They watched everything from the shadows, made like windows to peer through.

Chiharu didn’t bother with a normal patrol. She knew to keep a real eye on everything and act the fastest, she needed to use her powers. It gave her time to continue to test them and gain a better understanding of them.

One eye glanced and shifted around at all of the panes quickly, still safe. She changed her gaze to her hand. ‘There’s still a lot I don’t know about this power. I thought I understood it, but it’s still growing and evolving.’ Her thoughts went back to her fight with Miltiades. Something happened outside of what she planned, it saved her from the recklessness of Seiji’s tactic. However, it still troubled her that her powers weren’t in her control. ‘If I can’t control this power…I…’ She tried to remember the feeling.

The needles roared down onto Chiharu unrelenting. They tried to stop her and push her down, but she remained on course. Miltiades’ eyes focused on Chiharu trying to understand her ability. His eyes thinned out when he saw it. In front of Chiharu’s arms, a loose circle of endless black hovered protecting her from all of the needles. When a needle hit the circle, it disappeared. The void swallowed everything leaving Chiharu safe.

‘It all happened too fast. I didn’t even notice it the first time, my mind was elsewhere…’ Chiharu cursed her own lack of awareness. She only saw it briefly once. The second time the power activated. After the wave didn’t hit her, she knew something was wrong.

She stretched out her hand pointed in no direction of importance. All of her focus drew to the point in front of her hand. A low groan came from Chiharu from the exertion.

Nothing happened.

Sighing, Chiharu pulled back her hand to stare at it. She was missing something. ‘I remember seeing a strange distortion. It almost looked like a thick layer of cloudy water.’ Thoughts returned to the moment, the short few seconds.

Ripples by the dozens appeared before her eyes. From the last time, she already understood what happened. Each ripple was a needle. She couldn’t see through the film only the effect objects had on it. It made her wonder what Miltiades saw from his side.

She knew it was an extension of the power she already had. Something randomly new was too unlikely. It was the only starting point she had. ‘Considering that my primary power seems to involve interaction with this other dimensional space, I must have somehow opened a window myself. But I’ve never been able to do that. I tried it already…’ When she trained, she explored the different possibilities of it. However, she was never able to create a portal willfully.

The windows into the forest reminded her of what she knew and how little she seemed to understand. ‘I’ve only been able to open portals in shadows and only ones large enough for me to fit in. However…’ Her mind thought about her last two fights. She already analyzed them afterward in their march. Something about them bothered her.

Retreating a little, the ground rolled around her knocking her on her back. She glared back at the man as he made no action to take her. He acted too casually for her, but in her state, she had few options. Chiharu rolled over letting the ground guide her away from him. It dumped her out of his sight. ‘I need a plan… I can’t let it end like this, not failing…again…’

Sighing softly, he ignored the blood dripping. Bakkhos stepped forward, paving out the ground in search of Chiharu’s body. The last place he found her came up empty. “Hmm…” he muttered with his eyes narrowing. He preferred not to doubt his eyes.

She knew she escaped into the void in the moments she fell out of his sight. Yet, she also knew she shouldn’t have found a large enough shadow. The tests she ran she understood the limitations of the power. ‘I can only enter shadows large enough for me to fit through. If I can’t fit, then I can’t use it. Though, I can see through it. I can’t use my own shadow to enter the space, it has to be another’s shadow. And I can’t create a portal.’ She thought she understood, but her fights proved her wrong.

The only answer she had to what happened was that she broke the second rule. She couldn’t use her own shadow to enter the void. It was the only explanation. During the fight, her mind focused on surviving and fighting that anything that happened she accepted. Reviewing the fight, she understood better.

‘The only rule I haven’t broken yet is the shadow has to be large enough. Will I break that one eventually as well?’

Chapter 173 – Mounting Troubles

Further attempts followed by Chiharu. Each effort produced the same results. She theorized if she could open a portal in the real world the same should be possible inside as well. Nothing worked. She sat down and scanned her windows, maintaining her regular duty to stay on watch. An hour already disappeared from her wasted efforts. It bothered her knowing something was out of her control.

Chiharu’s mind ran through the details again. She replayed everything she tried through her mind. Her fights ran in review to try to understand every moment of what she did. Every thrown punch and movement of her legs had to be analyzed. It needed to be figured out. She would keep watching until she found the answer. Chiharu knew the answer lay within, somewhere.

‘Weakling,’ echoed a voice from behind her.

It interrupted her thoughts and sent a cold trickle down her spine. Her eyes slide around with a tilt of her head. Nothing. She knew it was nothing, but still felt compelled to check. Yet the voice came out to her clearly. The sound settled deep in the pit of her stomach. Everything inside grew aggravated.

‘Weakling!’

“Shut up!” shouted Chiharu, already on her feet. She faced in the direction of the voice, even though it was still nothing.

‘You’re relying on her. Because you can’t find the answer yourself.’ The voice almost turned into a laugh as it mocked Chiharu further.

Chiharu spun her head around as the voice was behind her again. “I’m not relying on anyone!”

‘It’s because you’re weak. A weakling that can’t do anything. You’re not strong enough to even stand on your own.’

“I don’t need anyone! I’ll achieve my goals by my own hands!”

‘What hands? You have none of your own. You couldn’t even beat him. You had to use someone else to win. You’re weak.’

Shaking her head, Chiharu ran off into the black void. The voice followed her, never getting any softer. It actually felt like it grew in volume. “You’re wrong! I just fought two fights in a row! I would have beaten him easily if I had my full strength.”

‘Just excuses. You failed, again. Just like before. You’re always a failure. You can’t even protect your men. You’re worthless.’

“No! It’s not like that!” Chiharu tripped over her feet. She fell to the ground with her face pressed in against the bottom. Flashes of her past whipped through her mind’s eye, nearly blinding her. She tightened her fist struggling with the memories. “I…I don’t need…any of them…”

‘Try that with better conviction and maybe even you will believe. Pathetic. Weakling. Worthless.’

Chiharu pushed up against the surface, but only managed to lift her upper body. She stared down at the endless black void. Windows into the real world covered everything, even below her. It went on without her. “I already told you to shut up!” Her voice echoed around the space to an empty reply. She forced herself back to her feet. “Keep up your meaningless words! I'll show you! Just like everyone else! I’m the right one to lead! No one else will die!” Chiharu’s face narrowed with her brow pulled down in determination. Resolve sharpened the corners of her face.

She turned back to the place she started. She drew up her power and focused on it. The answer could not hide from her.

‘This is no longer about capture. Kill everyone connected to Captain of the Guard Eudokia Ismene. No exceptions, Captain.’ The General’s words echoed in Simonides’ mind long after their meeting ended. It left him with a heavy weight. As Captain of the South Gate, his duties meant the capture and safe return of those accidentally passing through the barrier. Even in the most difficult of cases, they succeeded without resorting to taking a life. It wasn’t their assigned duty.

A new order, a new duty, he didn’t know how he should take it. The military training taught to everyone tried to make the soldiers understand that sometimes killing would happen. However, it was a rare occurrence left for extreme situations.

Simonides wandered aimlessly in the camp with his mind occupied on the orders. So much of it changed everything and made him question everything that he knew about the ones he hunted. ‘Captain of the Guard…it’s hard to imagine someone like her plotting against Atlantis. I’ve never seen anyone more devoted to the King, in spite of everything he did. Nothing swayed her.’

He thought back to the time when she was assigned to him. She came under recommendations from both the academy and the General. A young child already pressed with an unimaginable weight, yet he never saw it break her. He found her strength surprising for someone her age. After she distinguished herself, no one doubted her position or appearance. ‘Could it have been the King’s death? What would happen to someone so young and devoted to suddenly lose the one thing that meant more to them than even themselves? Was that enough to break her?’

Everything came to an end. He faced such reality with his men. Death surrounded them all, watching and waiting. Simonides knew it was inescapable. ‘Execution orders…they’re all still just kids…but I have my orders…’ Through his mental turmoil, Simonides caught sight of Abeiron. It drew him away from his conflictions.

Abeiron ordered a young officer off into the camp. He still worked to finish bringing the camp under order. The papers in his hand passed off to his assistant. “Take these to the quartermaster. The fighting ruined many of our supplies. Report back immediately after meeting with him. I need to know how many to send out to resupply us.”

“Yes, sir!” The officer disappeared behind one of the tents.

Simonides approached Abeiron, now finished. “Commander.”

“Captain? How long have you been there?” Abeiron caught himself a little surprised with the proximity of his Captain. He beat himself up a little inside for not noticing him.

“We have new orders from the Capital.” A thin grim line drew across his lips. The words from the General echoed through his mind again. His entire meeting replayed to pack more weight on him.

The change in Simonides wasn’t lost on Abeiron. ‘What are these orders that it has the Captain so upset? It’s rare to see him like this.’ A bit of concern and fear settled into Abeiron. The more he allowed his mind time the worse things he produced. “What are the orders?”

Simonides returned to his time with the General on the orders. Something else other than just the execution orders weighed on him. If possible, it meant something even direr. Simonides felt everyone was on an uncontrollable spiral to destruction. He hoped he could avert the worst possible outcome.

Demosthenes nodded to confirm Simonides’ suspicions. A slightly pained expression crept through the cracks in his face from the weight of the words he delivered. “It is the same for any traitor of Atlantis. You’ve been granted the permission to execute her along with all of her sympathizers.”

‘Execution orders!? What’s happening in the Capital?’

“This is no longer about capture. Kill everyone connected to Captain of the Guard Eudokia Ismene. No exceptions, Captain.” Demosthenes paused, measuring out his words as he watched Simonides' features change. “I understand this is hard to hear, it surprises me as well. The council hoped to resolve these matters in private and limit the dishonor, but things have changed.”

“Changed, sir?”

“Yes, your last report about the intruders. The more it was reviewed the more certain the council is that she is the leader behind it.”

“But I haven’t seen her in their group, sir. I wouldn’t forget her face.”

“Yes, but don’t forget that she is a very skilled MP user. She could easily disguise herself.”

“Yes, sir.” Simonides thought about the implications of fighting Eudokia. He knew her strengths well enough. There were few in the military that wouldn’t recognize or even fear her. She held a position closest to the King and young enough to earn it through hard work rather than nepotism. “I understand, sir, but capturing her—“

“The council already knows. They are in deliberations on mobilizing the Omega Division.”

Simonides sank a little in his seat hearing the words. He couldn’t believe it. ‘Mobilizing the Omega Division…’ They were never mobilized until there was a large-scale emergency. Only individuals deployed, even for capturing criminal MPs. The mobilization of the division for a single person was unheard of in their history. ‘The last time they were mobilized…Atlantis shook…’

He knew he had to face the responsibility of the title he held. Doubt still filled his mind with the orders and their reasons. It didn’t make any sense to him. “We’re mobilizing all forces to move out as soon as possible. Our orders are the capture of the traitor Eudokia Ismene, leader of this rebellion!”