Prisoner of the Empire!

Emperor Takahito Minamoto watched from the center of power in the capital city of the Calidor Empire as the underlings scurried about to take care of the mundane affairs while he oversaw the latest events that had taken place in the past few days. He had been the latest in a long line of heirs to the Empire, having fought his way through a line of would-be rivals to the throne for power, with a combination of guile and violence to rid himself of the rest of those who would oppose his rise to power.

Like many before him, he now had several consorts and potential heirs, many who were even now struggling to establish their own fiefdoms, each wanting to stand out to prove themselves either by merit or by force to be the next one worth to ascend the throne. As the years had gone by, the numbers had come and gone, and it was beginning to seem like his rule would go on unabated for the foreseeable future. However, these past few days, events had come back reminding the entire high command that even the highest had to be mindful to the rule of Fate.

"...and we have still not heard any updates regarding the fugitives who escaped from the Temple," the captain of the guards reported.

The Emperor nodded seriously, "And this is the one who was supposed to be prophesized to lead a rebellion against the Empire?"

"We have sent patrols to the far corners and our seers are casting spells of seeing to find and return her before that happens. We do have one lead My Lord," the captain announced. "The others managed to get away, but they left their companion behind. We have her personal belongings and have been interrogating her thoroughly!"

"And what have you learned so far?" the Emperor demanded.

"She has been stubborn, My Lord, resisting all manner of coercion and standard deprivation so far," the captain admitted. He motioned for the Masako to be brought into the interrogation chamber once again. Two additional guards dragged her in, looking significantly worse for wear. She had endured the past few weeks of physical and mental abuse, along with signs of dehydration and malnourishment. The worst part was, even if she had wanted to say anything, it's not like she knew anything to tell them, not that it would have stopped the punishment.

The Emperor nodded as he took a moment to examine the prisoner and her belongings. Even in this state, he could see an undeniable spirit in her eyes... impressive, she's stronger than first impressions would suggest, he thought.  He noted the unusual items; pouches made of materials and workmanship that would have been considered quality work were it found in their land. They were completely devoid of magic however, which meant their world was almost certain one where magic was minimal, if it existed at all. He was about to leave, until he paused as his eyes were drawn to a thin, stiff card, with the girl's picture, and text printed. His eyes widened momentarily. "Stop the interrogation immediately!" he commanded.

Everyone in the room instantly came to attention with surprise. "M-My Lord?"

"I said... release her at once! Have her cleaned up and provided with fresh clothes and have her brought to the Royal antechambers once she's ready."

There was a momentary pause as everyone took a moment to process the order they had just been given. Truthfully, no one was sure they heard the order correctly as that room hadn't been used since... but none dared to ask their Lord to repeat himself. Masako was quickly but carefully unstrapped from the table and stood up and escorted out of the dungeon area as the Emperor watched. It... it couldn't be... he thought, or could it?

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Kenji watched with a trained eye as Akiko swung the shinai with the grace of an unbalanced club. Half the time, it was clear she had never touched a weapon in her life, but every now and then, something in her clicked and her form suddenly shifted, and it was like seeing an expert going through advanced techniques that would have taken years to learn. During those moments, it was almost like sparring with his old Captain once again, but then the moment would pass, the skills would vanish and the clumsy girl would reemerge, often stumbling to the ground in the process. "No, no... you need to find a way to control the spirit within you. If you lose that capability in the middle of battle at the wrong time, it could be fatal!"

"I... I keep telling you, I don't know how I did it!" Akiko exclaimed. "It's like... remembering things I did before, even though I know I never did them. I mean... I never took a day of Kendo in my life; that was always Masako's thing."

"We need to find a way to bring those memories to the forefront, if we are going to have any chance to find a way to defeat the Emperor! I need you to dig deep, and try and find that other life!" Kenji beseeched.

But then what... Akiko wondered. What happens to my life... my identity if Akira's identity comes back? Does that mean I just... become Akira full time... and Akiko just... ceases to be...?

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"...and that's why everyone's always carrying around those crystals when they use magic?" Keiko asked.

"They're not the source of power, young one, but a way to channel the mana around us," the old seer explained. "Magical power can be stored in the form of formula and complex incantations, but those are far beyond the ability for most to memorize, aside only a few truly gifted individuals, which was why I wanted you to see these. These are some of the very simple and basic spells. Each of these crystals correspond to these formulas. What do you see?"

Keiko examined the formula then each crystal carefully. "Those are mathematical models of the crystal molecules, with fractal geometry applied. I'd have to go through the full equation to be sure, but I'm guessing the final shape would..."

The seer nodded, "Correct; each of these crystals represents those formulas. Carrying around those crystals means they don't need to memorize those formulas. Of course, were someone to memorize, or better yet, understand the basis behind them, then they would have the potential to utilize mana without the crystals, or perhaps even better, improvise an enchantment in ways that most couldn't imagine."

"Um... if these formulas are what channel this mana energy as you say, wouldn't playing around with formulas without testing be... I don't know... dangerous?" Keiko warned. "I mean, unless you had a computer handy, playing fractal geometry in your head past a few iterations gets tricky to predict. You could end up with a shape you weren't expecting or even worse, get trapped in an infinite loop recursion."

"That would be up to you, young one," the seer admitted. "I'm just opening the door for you. Where you go from here, is very much up to you."