“Brave words for someohat ’t kill me.” Photine managed another array of ons to surround Yumi. Escape routes closed tighter than before. She couldn’t let a repeat of before happen.

  The se looked familiar to Yumi, but she didn’t know the reason. She remembered the ons that Photine used against her, however the exact setup shouldn’t have been so simir to something. Yumi didn’t waste much time on it. She summoned up her barrier to protect her. ‘Last time her sword needed a lot of force to break through… I’ll take advantage of that…’ Ready, she shifted her stance a little to act.

  A narrowed look came from Photine’s eyes. “Just because you’re using a different color for your barrier the results will still be the same.” Moving slowly, the swords all closed in pierg Yumi’s barrier as though it did.

  Yumi flinched, reag to her barrier. It made her eyes widened in surprise. “How? This didn’t happen before!”

  “Huh?” Photine suddenly felt fused. Signs already made her question what happeo Masa. Each time she spoke only made it worse. ‘She’s ag like ht never happened. What’s going on?’

  ‘Is this like what happened before? My powers aren’t w correctly anymore?’ Unfortunately, her memories tied to those moments carried unpleasant ones as well. Images of her nightmares stalked her shadows. She knew nothing was behind her, but it didn’t stop a chill from going up her spine. A cold sweat broke out over her body. It remembered everything too well. Yumi shook her head trying to clear her mind. ‘I’ve got to focus. It’s behind me. Just a nightmare…’

  “Tricks don’t seem like your style, Masa. What’s yame?”

  “Masa?” The voice gave her something to focus on, something not ected to her delusions. “Who’s Masa?”

  New questions surfaced for Photine. She felt like their fight disappeared further from her grasp. ‘Is this the other personality that she spoke about? I went with it si made matters simpler at the time, but if it is true there’s another personality inside. What happeo cause this ge? She reminds me of how she was when I first fought her…’ Photine needed new answers. Her oppo kept ging. She wished she actually uood her. It was the only way to win. “Are you g not to be Masa?”

  “I don’t know a Masa. My name is Yumi, not Masa.”

  “Different names?” It made her eyes narrow. ‘She’s not lying from the look of it. So the one before was telling the truth? Two pletely distinct personalities…’ The thought brought a bit of a smirk to her fabsp; The situation ged back to her favor. “So you’re the inal? Whichever, I have you surrounded. There’s nothing you do to resist me! You're mine now!”

  Chapter 160 – Phantoms

  In spite of her injuries, Photine bore out fiden her words. She could still stand and move, though slowly. However, she didn’t o do anything to capture Yumi. She khe situatioer after Yumi revealed her identity. Everything was in her hands.

  She tightehe position of the ons on Yumi. Photine wanted Yumi to pay for everything she did, but with her emotions ba check, she knew what o happen. The images of infirmary still haunted her and challenged her, however she resisted. ‘Death is too easy,’ she agreed.

  Yumi still felt fused with the question. ‘Why’d she think I was called Masa? Is it because of the other person? She was trying to kill her…’ Pieces of her jumbled memories came back to her. Everything when she woke was hazy. She only uood ohing. The feeling of wanting to kill alerted her. It was a terrible dark feeling she never felt before, but somehow uood. She reized it.

  Photiried to clude their fight, but Yumi wasn’t willing to accept. ‘My barrier doesn’t work… I need something else…’ She moved her hand to absp; A tinge of pain bolted down her arm. Previously sustained injuries made her realize more happened while she was unscious. She pushed through the faint stings to focus on her goal. ‘I just o crush them, like before. Then I ter her…’

  Her mind started pnning ahead of what her moves would be. She remembered the bits from her first fight with Photine. The tactid abilities the woman wielded worked into her strategy. Yumi knew she o keep in mind the dangerous potential of their power. It slowed her down, but did not stop her from making calcutions.

  However, she got ahead of herself.

  It wasn’t doing anything. ‘What?!’ She squeezed her hand thinking the physical a would make a differenbsp; Nothing happened regardless of her effort. Her eyes widened again realizing the meaning. ‘I ’t crush them. My power is gone.’

  Yumi looked over at Photine, while trying to hide her reas. The awkward stifled look in her eyes failed to protect her. She caught sight of a knowing smirk from the woman. ‘She did something. Is that what she was referring to before? How did she seal my power?’ Her hand lowered to her side.

  “Reciled yourself finally?” Photiook a couple steps forward. Blood dripped from her ignored wounds. Nearby her feet, the ground suddenly cratered and then swelled. Out of the earth, a wood block appeared with two metal poles embedded at the top. Their shape indicated they supported or held something, but nothing resent. “This will end your troublesome ways food.”

  Light sprung from the air above the blobsp; ks disappeared from the arid rock gathering into the light. It slowly expanded.

  Yumi didn’t knohotine had pnned. She frantically looked around her for ideas. ‘She sealed my powers…but when? I could use my barrier before…was it after that? I didn’t notice a difference…’ Her barrier gave her an idea. Green squares of her barrier materialized around her in a very loose pattern. ‘I still have them…so she only sealed my crushing power?’

  Her mind worked on the problem quickly. She didn’t have much time. After the firmation of her barrier, she made them disappear. Her eyes g the ons that still held her under guard. ‘But my barrier doesn’t work on them… So the swords made my barrier useless and my crush is gooo… Is everything else gone?’

  Trial and error ended up being her only options. She gained nothing more from Photine. It made seo Yumi that her oppo wouldn’t give away importaails about what termeasures she made. Making it as discreet as possible, Yumi worked through her known abilities. ‘I fly, or at least hover still and make my barrier, but it has no use against her… My crush and telekinesis is gone pletely… The only one I don’t know is…’ Yumi gnced back up at Photine and her work. It seemed like she was almost finished with whatever she had pnned.

  The shortness oime forced her to bee reckless. ‘I don’t know if this’ll work, but it draws too much attention… I just have to go with it…’ Yumi tightened her hands to prepare for the part. She knew pain was likely the hing she would feel, but she didn’t let it stall her. Her teeth bit down a little on her lip as she prayed.

  A swift motion through the air ignited several of the swords. Shards of metal rained down, but not without attrag Photine’s attention. Her eyes focused on her work, not expeg any more fight from Yumi. However, she was missing from the cage her swords structed. The se looked all too familiar. ‘She figured it out as well…damn, she’s smarter than I thought… Worse, I still don’t know what ability they’re using, so I ’t ralize it…’

  Reag to the defensive he remaining swords disappeared and surfaced around Photine. Her eyes sed the area in search of Yumi. ‘Damnit…where’d she go?’ A bright light signaled Photioo te. Wheurned her gaze up an explosion already went off. Something hit her swords. It blocked the attack, but pelted her with ks of bdes. Jagged edges sliced across her face before she could remove them.

  Blood dripped down her cheeks. Painted in crimson, Photiared through the cloud uerred. She sent neons up into the air cheg for Yumi. They seemed to find nothing and the night didn’t help her.

  Yumi darted around in front of Photine. She wanted something more dired stunning. The cle would hopefully get through her ons’ defense. A motion from her hand drew up green particles, but Yumi suddenly froze. Her eyes widened in shock that ran down her body to start shaking her legs.

  The blood on Photine’s face transformed her appearao Yori. He had ay stare at her. Blood soaked his skin turning his eyes almost all white. A wicked grio produce the white fangs of a beast. He looked ready to cut her down.

  Weights fell down on her arms holding her from moving. Pressure buckled her knees with the shaking only made it worse. She wao turn away. Invisible hands seemed to hold her head from moving. Yumi wao scream, but her mouth cmped shut. ‘…Yori! No! It’s just delusions! They’re not real!’

  A force smmed into her body knog her off her feet. Yumi slid over the cracked earth until her head smmed against a stone n. Pain jumped from her head down to her arm. ‘What just happened?’ Blinking through a stabbing pain in her arm, Yumi gnced down at the wound. Blood poured out of her forearm with a wide gash cutting into her flesh. ‘Blood…so much…from where? I’m not falling ba again?’

  Yumi looked around only to see the empty wastend of Photine’s Field. In the distance, Photiood as she had before. It returo normal, not a nightmare anymore. ‘It was her…’ Yumi pulled herself up feeling the strength returning her body. She could deal with reality.

  Swords appeared all around Yumi once more. They forcefully put themselves in her path destroying the n of rocks behind her. It made her gnce back for a moment. A brief haunting image stirred inside her, remnants of her unease. ‘…focus…she’s pnning something…trying to keep me from moving…’

  Moving her hand up, Yumi stared down in thought. She needed something to turn the fight. The previous tactics weren’t enough against Photine. ‘I o throw her off…something she wouldn’t expect…’ A thought came to her. She lifted her head up to gnce around at the ons. ‘I wonder…she does have great faith i might work…if I get the timing…’

  Wind bsted out from Yumi. A dust cloud kicked up, partially obsg her from view. Making things worse, a bright green light expanded from Yumi shattering all of the ons. Yumi charged through the cloud that she created trailing streams off her ragged clothes.

  It surprised Photine for only a moment as she experiehis before. She sent in more ons to pin Yumi down. However, Yumi raised up her hand with a regur se of her barrier expanding from her palm. Photihinned her eyes at the strange behavior. “Have you fotten it doesn’t work?”

  Yumi gave a bit of a smirk through the barrier at Photine. She otherwise ignored her. The barrier came between her and the sword. It looked a little more opaque than normal, but hovered with the movement of her hand. Particles trailed from the edges. Yumi narrowed her eyes to keep her focus. One of the numerous swords flew directly in front of her.

  The moment froze for a sed as it looked like the sword would stab Yumi ending the fight. However, Photine’s sword shattered when it hit Yumi’s barrier. Pieces bounced off her barrier out of Yumi’s way.

  “Impossible!” Photine shouted in disbelief.

  Yumi charged through Photine’s broken offense. The surprised look on her face crippled her rea leaving the rest of the swords to pass harmlessly by Yumi.

  As she closed with Photihe barrier disappeared. Her hands came up slig through the air creating arcs of energy. They plowed through Photine castio the ground. Blood from her past wounds sprayed the earth.

  Yumi paanding over top of Photine. The st series of moves exhausted her. Still catg her breath, Yumi spoke down to Photine. “Your swords no longer have an effey barrier. And with my remaining abilities...” Yumi’s voice trailed off. Her eyes began to shake suddenly.

  A hand clutched her head as the images came back to her. “…blood…so much…blood…” Blood surrounded everything. Yumi choked on the air as she saw corpses around Photine. “…no…” Photine disappeared from the mountain of corpses. She stepped away not wanting to be anywhere near it. However, a few steps was all her feet allowed her. “…not again…”

  The corpses suddenly jerked. A body carelessly fell to the side rolling down the mound. Deep inside a wave moved through the sea of crimson flesh. It slowly rose up as though something underh pushed up wanting to be free.

  Yumi shook her head slowly. She couldn’t escape them. “…n-n-no…not real…” A blood soaked hand broke through a pile of bodies. It savagely g to the flesh. The hand scraped and pulled ripping flesh free trying to get a hold. “…not again…I ’t…let it…” Another hand breached the surface ed meat. It had a stronger hold.

  It could e out.

  Yumi screamed a bloody cry rattling down to the bone. It made her pant even heavier afterward, but she staggered forward. She was free. She could move. Her eyes fixed ahead at the threat. “…I have to…” The top of a head grew out of the dead mountain. “…end the delusion…before it es me…”

  An awkward smile grew across Yumi’s fabsp; A smile built from self-assuranbsp; It grew to split her face almost. “I must destroy it before it destroys me… It’ll keep ing back…” Yumi gave a rusty nod to herself. “I’ll end the delusions with my hand… Then it’ll be over!”

  Yumi raised her hand up. Green energy swirled above her quickly growing in size. No longer her usual arc, a sphere of tightly packed energy shined across the camp. The force of its presearted to blow out winds from Yumi tossing lighter debris away. “I end it!” she ughed. “I’ll be at peace again!” Yumi threw her hand down at an immobile Photine, no longer seeing her.

  The light engulfed the entire area as it quickly expanded. Photine disappeared from sight. A shadow darted through everything and suddenly the light faded away. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” snapped Chiharu as she spped Yumi.