One for All, All for One

"The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose." --James Baldwin

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The tall gleaming walls in the center room of the fortress were sculpted to represent the seat of power, with symbols of opulence sketched on the walls and ceilings; an extravagance that seemed to fly in the face of the militaristic purpose this weapon was constructed to serve. The reason was that Emperor Minamoto had also wanted this place to represent the strength and wealth he envisioned would show the face of a united Empire. However, the loud sounds of battle and fleeing men outside these walls threatened to bring everything he had worked so hard to achieve to an end.

"I congratulate you for having accomplished everything you have to this point," the Emperor acknowledged. "For years... decades even, no one has even come close to threatening the Empire's way of life. When the prophecy was first discovered, I'll admit I had my doubts when I was first made aware of you and your friends, but clearly, you've vindicated Fate's design."

"You call it what you want... Fate... Prophecy... I don't care...!" Akiko angrily spat. "If your people had just left things alone... you could have kept your stupid Empire and ruled however you wanted!" Her eyes welled up for just a moment as her voice had the slightest tremor.  "I had a wonderful life before your Empire showed up... but you've taken everything from me...!"

The Emperor paused for the briefest of moments, almost taken aback. "I see... So, this could have all been avoided... what a tragedy. Unfortunately for you it seems, Fate just won't be denied," he declared as he brought his saber up to the ready position.

Akiko's eyes glinted with hatred, tempered with caution as the Emperor's saber crackled with dark energy and hummed with an almost hungry, ominous sound. She scanned the Emperor's stance for any sign of weakness, but also examining the crystals that lined the walls and control table. Keiko said those controlled the fortress' flight, she thought. As for the Emperor... how do I beat this guy... Masako warned me not to just charge in and try a direct assault, or he'll slice me apart before I even got close to him. So, I have to try and bait him into committing himself first, parry his initial strike and hope I can counter...

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On the surface, Keiko appeared just as the magical portal closed behind her. In front of her, the rest of the assault force that had teleported into Aetheria were being examined by the main force and several who were being nursed for their injuries. Sergeant Takeda came up to her first, "Keiko, thank heavens you're alright... but where's...?" He trailed off as his eyes met Keiko's as the experienced soldier already suspected the answers, despite not really wanting confirmation.

"Lady Amberbrooke... was needed to make the final enchantments to deal with the Empire's weapon of mass destruction. The spell should give us a few minutes to get clear, but... "

"Don't tell me Akiko..." Kenji dreading the answer.

"She didn't want the Emperor to get away!" Keiko swore with frustration.

"Can we get back there?"

"Without Lady Amberbrooke...?" Keiko shook her head dubiously. "A moving destination portal took everything we had last time, and she coordinated the ritual for the final jump. Without that combined energy, the best we could hope for would be one or two, and it would be extremely risky. And even if we could, who would you send up to help her? Masako said the Emperor is one of the most dangerous duelists in the Empire and armed with a soul sword, and you've seen how deadly she is with hers. Sending just a couple regular soldiers armed with normal swords would barely slow him down."

"We're getting reports from our siege at the capital, and the news is promising, but we're hours away even by wyvern, assuming we can even find Masako in the heat of battle somewhere in the city," Kenji shook his head.

Hours...?! The crystal's going to explode in minutes...! Keiko thought frantically. She thought about going back by herself as a desperate move, possibly bringing Kenji with her, but having just portaled the entire team here, she had nearly spent herself, and no one else had it in them to compute the formula for a moving destination target. She looked helplessly back up at the floating fortress... Akiko-chan... do your best... it's all up to you... 

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Akiko swung her blades furiously as she dodged, keeping on the move, never offering herself as a target. Her dual wakizashi's gave her a slight advantage in speed and offensive flexibility but the Emperor's saber easily bested her in range and power, as several close calls already proved.

"Predictable..." the Emperor dismissed as he casually blocked Akiko's attack combinations. He flicked his wrist, sending a wave of magical energy surging out at Akiko's body.

Shit...! Akiko nearly panicked as she tumbled sideways to dodge the energy wave. Luckily, she had seen a similar attack from Masako's weapon before, or she would have never anticipated it and likely would have been split in half right there and then. But what other nasty surprises does that thing have, she thought, as she took a defensive stance to reset her footwork before lunging forward with an offhand strike that the Emperor once again effortlessly deflected, causing her weapon to strike the magical crystals on the control table behind him as he repositioned.

"I've been told you have the skills of one of my greatest warriors, Captain Akira Fujiwara... so far, I'm not seeing them..." the Emperor mocked, as he swatted Akiko hard across her face with the flat of his weapon, leaving an ugly, red welt on her cheek and a bleeding gash, causing her to stumble back.

He did that on purpose, Akiko realized. He could have easily sliced my jaw open right there and then... he's toying with me... she thought with frustration. If I don't figure something out fast, Masako's prediction's going to come true... Looking again, she shifted and jumped over the Emperor using a magic boost Keiko had taught her, landing against one of the control panels behind him before lunging again with her strong-side blade, leaving the weak-side blade wedged into the crystals on the panel.

"Enough of this..." the Emperor snorted as he advanced, forcing Akiko to back her way against the wall. She watched his approach, took a breath and threw her remaining weapon at him. He scoffed as it flew past him and embedded itself against the opposite wall against one of the control crystals. He held his weapon up against her neck, "Prophecy or not, you never stood a chance against me! Despite all your skills and preparations, you never even came close to threatening me and even your last desperate gamble failed to even come close to striking me!"

"Who said I was aiming at you...?" Akiko retorted with just a hint of smugness.

The Emperor's head jerked slightly back to the panels and for the first time noticed Akiko's weapons embedded into the magical control crystals, locking them in place and preventing their manipulation. With his attention momentarily distracted, Akiko reached into the Emperor's pouch and snatched a crystal she recognized after ducking around his blade and dashing to the other side of the room. The Emperor snarled until he caught a glance out of the window.

"Wha...?! Where are we...?!" the Emperor exclaimed.

"Oh, you didn't check your controls?" Akiko asked. "Maximum speed, west bearing, which starting over Merwindolyn, puts us out past Turuk Bay and out to sea. We should be far enough out before the main crystal detonates," she promised.

The Emperor hurriedly reached for his belt, but at the last second realized the item he was looking for was missing, just before everything went white.

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The Calidor capital city spent the next month struggling with initial recovery with an expected long road ahead. As news of the destruction of Fort Aetheria along with the apparent death of the Emperor and much of his senior officers spread, many of the baronies from across the continent sent representatives, along with a significant number of forces to state their claims and grievances.

Through the process, those who had led the rebellion from the beginning took charge, determined not to fall into the trap of replacing one dictator with another. However, this left a question that had to be discussed in private.

"Are you sure this is what you've both decided?" Kenji asked, as he spoke to Keiko and Masako. They were off to one side in a private room away from the rest of the delegations who were discussing the future of the country. "Our country will be facing challenging times ahead and... we could certainly use strong leaders as the country rebuilds a better future. You both could have a place in that future."

"It... it wouldn't feel the same without Akiko..." Keiko said with a forlorn expression. "Besides... after what happened to her parents... well... someone should tell our folks what happened... maybe help them make sense of it..."

"Do you feel the same?" Kenji confirmed to Masako.

Masako nodded. "I... I really need to try and find myself again and I can't do that here. Everywhere I look, half the time, I'm seeing another reminder that I'm some other person. I have one life to live... and it has to be mine."

Kenji nodded, then handed Keiko a set of crystals. "Should you ever change your minds... both of you will always be welcome, especially now that you've learned how to open a portal from your end."

He stepped back as Keiko pulled out a specific crystal and focused her concentration, opening up a portal. A moment later, Keiko and Masako disappeared. Kenji sighed, then returned to the conference group and made his way to another room. "We did what you asked... are you sure you wanted it that way?"

Akiko nodded, with a subdued expression. She had managed to grab an escape gem from the Emperor that she had suspected he would keep on him at all times in that last moment during the confusion. But afterwards came the hardest part.

With my parents gone, there's nothing left for me back there. But if I let them know that, then they would have insisted on staying here with me... and I couldn't force them to make that choice. They still have their families... loved ones who are going to be overjoyed to see them again. Back home, they still have a chance at the future we all talked about sharing together... college... families... their whole lives ahead of them. That future died for me along with my family. But here, there's a world crying out for someone to guide them, a vacuum that I'm responsible for, whether I meant to or not. It wasn't the life I would have chosen, but sometimes we don't always get to choose our destinies.