The return of Haruo improved the overall mood of the group. Tensions still ran high with the uainty focused around Ayumi along with the pressure from Omega. But it started to feel like the group was together again. They had a more focused goal than before. The goal still seemed difficult with some impossible odds against them. If Ayumi proved to be the real Eudokia, getting Yuki back wouldn’t be an easy course.

  All of the s wouldn’t slow them down. Yuki all meant something to each of them. They couldn’t let the fears or uainties of the future weigh them down.

  Their scheduled stop came with the need for Nerio rest from using her powers all day. It took a little bit of effort to find a safe location. Even safe was actually retive, since all they mao get was a cliff with some rocky rowth and a river nearby. Nothing food prote or hiding. They were very exposed, but nothing came to them for a while.

  It was evening with only the moon keeping things lit. Yet Yumi could still see the strahin shape in the distanbsp; Simonides informed her that it was the Omega Spire, the tallest building in the Capital and the easiest ndmark to find. The fact that they could see it meant the Capital was close. ‘Tomorrow we’ll be at the Capital’s doors. So close to the lion’s den. How hard will the fighting be?’

  Everyone spread out into their own groups. The two Atnteans naturally kept to themselves, still not feeling like part of the group. Chiharu disappeared to take the first watch along with Saki. Haruo and Seiji both appeared actually to be asleep her seemed to be overly ed about the dangers. Her brother isoted himself, something that subsciously relieved her mind. While Fumiko seemed dull again, distracted by something.

  Yumi received an internal nudge. She stepped forward with some relubsp; It o happen. Her approach was hardly quiet, but it wasn’t something she tried to do. It had to be apparent. The slightest hint of hesitation would ruin it for her. “Fumiko,” she started, standing immediately behind her. The two women had only a few timeters between them. “I need your head on straight tomorrow. In the past, we’ve been able to get by, but they’ll be throwing everything at us tomorrow. I o know you fight.”

  A bit of a shake went through Fumiko’s body. It was clear her words triggered a rea out of her. She held in the desire to act out.

  The knife was already ied. It woke her up, but she had to keep her focused. She had to twist it. “You’re not the only ohat’s killed someone. They’re out for our lives. Killing is going to be the only way to stay alive here. This isn’t going to be a happily ever after ending. We’re going to get dirty, if you want to proteething yoing to o be willing to do it.” Yumi ched her fists up.

  Fumiko tilted her head back around to gre at Yumi. “Don’t yourself on my at. The day will e when all as receive their sequences. I just hope I’m able to be there when it all es ba you.” The versation was over. Fumiko walked away.

  Yumi turned away. A mier, she was able to walk in her own dire. Once alone, she colpsed to the ground smming her fists into the earth. ‘Why’d it have to turn out like this!?’

  ‘You motivated her. It was necessary to get her back to fighting. She falls bato depression too easily.’

  ‘She was distraught over killing all of those soldiers! She ’t trol her power! It’s reasoo be afraid!’

  ‘Reasonable, when you’re not in a war setting.’

  ‘We’re just teenagers! Not soldiers!’

  ‘You o be soldiers if you pn to survive this. Those out there won’t all aercifully. If someone is uo fun it’s only a liability for the group.’

  ‘Things aren’t just numbers and logibsp; People have emotions, hearts! They ime to deal!

  ‘Your enemy isn’t giving you that luxury. You need her power for tomorrow. This is the most effit way for the results you need.’

  ‘But it isn’t the best way!’

  ‘Then think of another way.’

  Yumi hesitated. It wasn’t the first argument she had with her new voi her mind. Uhe other ohat she no longer heard, which supported her even if it seemed aggressive, the new voily seemed to worsen matters for her. It was right, but nht.

  ‘The reason you did what you did was because you don’t have another pn. If you ’t think up an alternative means to reach yoal then don’t criticize the ones preseo you.’

  ‘This isn’t right!’

  ‘Then bee stronger and find another way. If you don’t want to rely on my opinions then bee strong enough to make your own. Until then all you’re doing is just pretending.’

  Chapter 232 – Strengthening Resolve

  Staggering a little, Fumiko’s emotions still ran high after her frontation with Yumi. It made it difficult for her to focus on where she walked. She also was not paying too much attention to where she walked. The further away from Yumi the better at the moment. She would deal with where she ended up ter. “Damn her! She doesn’t know what she’s talking about! She doesn’t know what it’s like—“ Fumiko tripped over something and fell on her fabsp; “Damn it!”

  “Fumiko?” checked Yori, who she ended up falling on. He helped her to get ba her feet. “You alright?”

  Fumiko batted away his hand, annoyed with everything. “Fine!” She started to stomp away, but Yrabbed her wrist. “What?!”

  The rea turned him a little blue, but it worried him. “What happened? Something’s wrong.”

  “Nothing happened! Let go!”

  “No. It’s not that hard to tell. I’m willing to listen.”

  She stared down at him for a moment. “There’s not much point talking to you about it. Not with your plex.” Fumiko ripped her hand free from his grasp. However, she only got a few steps away before Yori blocked her path. “I’ve got nothing to talk to you about!”

  Yori narrowed his eyes a little, figuring out a few things. “It’s about my sister.” He received no response from Fumiko, but the look in her eyes told him enough. “You’ve got nothing to talk to me about? Try me.”

  Some reluce still prevented her from accepting him. “Right, because you’re not going to side with her ohing.”

  Crossing his arms, he didn’t pn on leaving her aloer this. “Like I said, try me.”

  Fumiko stepped back to where Yori had been. She was still not sure about talking to him about it, but he had been one of the few in the past that was easier to talk to, when things were different. So much had ged since Yori was away. She sat down waiting on him.

  The atmosphere became a little stifled for him. He could see her already judging how he acted and what he would say. Her tinued silenly made it more difficult to get things started. “I’m guessing this has to do with Yumi and the way she’s been ag retly,” he opened. Yori didn’t know where it began, but he noticed the odd rift betweewo orubsp; He hoped this would air out the grievances.

  “That’s putting it lightly.”

  “What did she do?”

  Thinking back to the start of it, Fumiko suddenly cmmed up. “It rivate matter.”

  ‘That’s not expining things.’ He felt things bee signifitly more challenging. It also made him even more curious as to what his sister said or did to Fumiko. He could feel the iy of the emotions ing off Fumiko when he fronted her. Yori wondered if she would not have punched him. “ you expin in a way that doesn’t promise yourself?”

  Fumiko gred at him again. The cssic metaphor of daggers for eyes couldn’t do the look justibsp; Yet she did agree to talk to him. “It started back when we found Saki.”

  Recalling it, Yori tried to piece together everything that might have happened betweewo. “Chiharu and Seiji were fighting, I remember. I remember the two Atnteans discussing who they could be fighting and then…” He remembered Fumiko taking a, but no reason why. It came ba that he saw his sister with her. “Yumi said something to you then, before you helped out.”

  “Yes…” she said as though she had more to say, but refused.

  ‘This is going to be like pullih.’ Yori struggled with the words he o keep things safe. It required more awkward silehan he would have wished. Anything less he felt would have sent Fumiko away. “It was something she said then. She was vague about what she said when we asked. If she said something, it had to have been a pn.”

  “There was no pn.” “Then what? Did she insult you?” He didn’t like having to guess, but it would make a little more seh how angry Fumiko was retly.

  “No.” Fumiko fumed on her emotions thinking about what she said. It whispered in her ears adding fuel. “Your sister’s a maniputive bitch!”

  “I don’t uand, what do you mean?!” He reacted quickly taken back.

  “Your sister took advantage of me so that I would kill those two! She made me murder them! Your sister is a murder, a cold blooded killer!”

  Yori leaned baot really expeg to hear that from Fumiko. He couldn’t say anything for a minute from the shobsp; It still didn’t make a lot of sense. “I-I…Yumi’s…shy and…introverted…” Each word was a struggle for him. He thought back to his sister he saw retly and pared her to the one he remembered.

  “I khis ointless!” Fumiko started to stand up, but Yrabbed her hand.

  “Wait!” It happened so fast. He didn’t know when it happened. He was gone for only a short time. “She’s different from how she used to be.” The words seemed to be enough to at least stop Fumiko. “Ever since I woke in the middle of that battle, I’ve been asking myself where the little sister I remember went. She’s ged so mubsp; I’m not sure what’s happeo her!”

  Fumiko measured out his words and his fabsp; He seemed to be almost desperate. He didn’t uand it anymore than her. “She’s been trying to shoulder everything since you were captured. But I ’t five her for the way she’s ag now!”

  “I don’t know what she said to you, but there has to be a reason for it!” He searched for anything. It felt like everything was slipping away. He just wao hold on to his memories. The sister he knew seemed lost forever, repced with some calg women he did nnize. “Maybe it’s that persona!” He just remembered.

  fused, Fumiko’s faarrowed at his excuses. “Making up excuses for your sister now? She doesn’t get a free pass! Not after what she said!”

  “No! During the fight with the South Gate soldiers, don’t you remember what happeo Yumi?”

  She tried to think back to what happened, but her memory was hazy. Everything stopped for her after her power went out of trol. “The st part of it is a blur.” After killing so many of them, she didn’t feel like talking to anyone. She never found out what happened. She didn’t know how it ended, just simply accepted the fabsp; Her mind didn’t really pay attention to any of the details.

  “You don’t remember us talking to some sed personality inside Yumi?”“What are you talking about? Sed personality? You’re not making any sense.”

  “I think it took over Yumi during the fight so we could win. She wasn’t ag like herself. Saying things that she would never say.”

  “What? Are you saying that this sed personality trols Yumi?”

  It was a struggle for him to keep things sounding sane. He could not expin what was happening to his sister. Things were beyond his trol. “It’s possible. We don’t know what he did to her when he ged her.” Yori’s eyes went a little wide-eyed, being fueled by the idea. “You all have powers that shouldn’t be possible. Not to mention he screwed around with your bodies making you faster, stronger and even more resistant to injury. We don’t know what else he screwed around with.”

  Fumiko backed away a little from Yori’s crazed rant. It seemed too illogical. “I ’t, won’t five her. There are some lines you don’t cross. If you think she’s been trolled, you figure it out.” She stood up doh him. “You won’t get any help from me. I’ll make sure to fight, but it won’t be because she told me to do so.” Fumiko left promptly at the end of her decration.

  Alone, Yori tried to make sense of everything. “What’s going on? My sister…I have to protect her! I have to do something!”

  Across the camp, Chiharu appeared out of the shadows o Seiji. She looked down at him for a moment. A sharp kick from her woke him up. Hardening her expression, she spoke, “We’ve got pany.”

  “Huh? The hell’s the matter with you?” Seiji rubbed his ribs from where she hit him. “There are better ways to wake someone up!”

  “You’re awake. Does it matter now?”

  “Brat…” The rest of it finally caught up to him. He jumped to his feet looking around. “Where are they?” His fists rubbed together looking ready for a fight.

  Chiharu’s face went ft a little at the sight of his eagero fight. “Help with waking the others up. We’re not here to fight.” She stared a little lo him. A different thought came to her. “Save your o restore your lost honor from the st fight for ter when it actually matters.”

  Seiji tilted down to look at her. Some fusion spread over his fabsp; “What? Someone o keep them off our backs while you prepare to leave.”

  “Leave that to someone faster then, she’s already intercepting them.”

  “Saki is?!” The ground suddenly rumbled as though to answer his question. He turned in the dire. Another ee from the unknown. Something about it felt wrong to him. “I ’t keep letting her do everything!” Seiji charged off after Saki, following the vibrations.

  Chiharu’s voice disappeared from his mind, even though she shouted at him. He no longer cared about it. The only thing on his mind was Saki. In his gut, he knew something didn’t sit right. It didn’t make sense, but he had to see.

  Each of the quakes brought him closer until he was on top of it almost. He could see her in the distance along with someone else. “Saki!” Seiji didn’t have a ce to say anything else. He watched as she fell over covered in blood, her body littered with wounds.

  His fists tightened up. He ground his teeth, his anger came up to the surfabsp; Seiji charged into the battle without a sed thought. “You bastard, what did you do to Saki?” Something stopped his fist. A metallic sound rang out. His eyes focused upward. The atmosphere felt very familiar to him. Seiji’s eyes widened when he saw their fabsp; “You bastard! It’s you!”

  as grinned with delight beaming from his eyes. One of his prey appeared before him. “The muscle bound idiot. This is my luight! Tonight, you will have the pleasure of dying!” His lips grew wider as it became a wicked smirk.