Who You Are

Sachi and Kasumi walked through the corridor looking for either Isamu, Itsuki, or an exit.

Sachi opened door after door, only to be met with the same empty darkness or rooms she had already seen. It was as if the doors were rearranging themselves, trapping them in some sort of maze.

Kasumi didn't say anything. Quietly, she reached for the door Sachi had just defeatedly closed, opening it to reveal a grand nursery.

Sachi stared confused. "That wasn't there before though?"

Kasumi walked through the door into the nursery, Sachi following her. 

Kasumi walked over and hopped onto a big armchair, making herself comfortable.

Sachi looked around the nursery. A dainty crib with a cloud mobile suspended above, blankets and pillows sprawled across the floor as if someone had once slept here, shelves of pictures of what Sachi could only assume was Kasumi as a baby and perhaps her mother.

"What room is this?" Sachi asked.

"It's mama's room."

Sachi picked up a picture frame and gazed at the smiling young mother snuggling her child. "Do you know where she is?"

"She said she would be back, so I wait for her here."

"How long ago was that?"

"I don't know."

Sachi's heart twisted. This girl waited for a mother than probably wasn't going to come back. This girl was waiting for a mother she so desperately needed. 

Kasumi lowered her head. "I want to leave... But if I leave then that means I won't see mama anymore..."

"Why's that?"

"They say I have to be good for mama to come visit me again..."

It finally clicked in Sachi's head. The officials were using Kasumi's mother to blackmail her into what choices to make and if she didn't make the choices they wanted, they would abuse her. What Sachi couldn't understand was why these officials needed to use Kasumi as their leader. Clearly Kasumi didn't know what decisions she was really agreeing to, and the officials were perfectly capable of spreading their ruin without her, so what did they need her for? 

No matter how much Sachi thought about it, it didn't make sense. Sachi shook her head. I don't need to make sense of these crazy people.

Sachi began to remove the pictures from their frames and place the pictures in her bag.

The door to the room opened. Sachi snapped her head back in a fright, only to see it was Itsuki.

Sachi sighed in relief. "Itsuki thank goodness it's you."

Itsuki's eyes locked onto Kasumi. Her voice growing stern. "Sachi, what are you doing here with her?"

Sachi stared at Itsuki's eyes, how dark and sharp they had gotten. The aura around Itsuki felt different than her laid back casual self, it was heavy laced with distrust and hate. She didn't seem like the person Sachi knew before. "Itsuki, this is Kasumi. I know you're angry with how the people are treated, but she's not your enemy."

Itsuki bitterly laughed. "Not my enemy!? She's the very source of the enemy. Sachi are you so blind that you can't see evil in front of you?"

"She's not evil!" Sachi snapped back. "She's a child Itsuki! A child in need of help. You don't seriously believe this small child is harmful, do you?"

"My brother is trapped in a dark contract to work until the day he dies without any benefits. My dad is trapped in stone, who knows if he's even still alive. My family back home is struggling to make ends meets to serve the community let alone support ourselves. The people in this city are starving and physically wasting away to follow their already departed souls. And it's all because of her and her entourage!"

"She's being used Itsuki. It's not her that's doing all this!"

Itsuki's rage had fully consumed her. She called upon her earth magic, tearing apart the stones of the floor and walls. 

Kasumi began to silently cry at the sight of her mother's room being destroyed.

The air trembled with tension as the chunks of stone spun faster and faster in the air around Itsuki until with a whirling scream, she hurled them forward in a deadly barrage towards Kasumi. 

Across the room, Kasumi didn't move or react to Itsuki's attack, instead she was just desperately holding onto her mother's pillow, not wanting it to be ruined.

Before the stones could reach her, a burst of wind cut through the dust - sharp, controlled, and powerful.

Sachi stepped in front of Kasumi as she raised the handheld fan Nobu had given her. She stood unmoving, her eyes full of resolve, the fan glowing faintly in her grip, shielding Kasumi with a wall of wind.

Itsuki's eyes narrowed. "And to think I thought you were my friend."

Itsuki gathered more stone. The stone rose from the floor in trembling shards, swirling upward like smoke before fusing together into a massive, jagged pillar - twice her height and wide enough to crush a crowd. Her breath was heavy, her eyes wild. With a shout of rage, she swung the stone pillar down like a hammer - not at Sachi, but at Kasumi.

Sachi leapt in front of her, snapping her fan once more. A wall of wind surged up, howling as it met the oncoming strike. "I am your friend Itsuki! And that's why I must stop you! This is not who you are!" 

Sachi stood her ground and managed to push Itsuki's strike back, but Itsuki reacted quickly, attacking immediately again. Sachi blocked it again, but this time, the wind faltered. Sachi's grip slipped, her balance unsteady. She wasn't ready for the strike. The fan trembled in her hands. The pillar smashed through her wind barrier and crashed into Sachi with bone jarring force.

Sachi flew backward, slamming into the far wall. The fan clattered to the ground beside her, the magic sputtering out in a dying breeze. Sachi groaned, blood spilling at the corner of her mouth, her body unmoving, her consciousness fading. 

Kasumi still didn't run. She held tightly onto her mother's pillow and looked up. Her eyes wet with tears staring at the towering stone and the woman holding it.

Itsuki raised the pillar again, her body tense with rage and magic. She swung the pillar down. But before it hit, Itsuki hesitated. 

She finally saw her.

Really saw her.

Kasumi's small frame. The way she trembled. The thinness of her limbs. The round, terrified face streaked with tears. She wasn't a warrior. She wasn't a corrupted official. She wasn't some evil ruler. She wasn't even a threat.

She was a child. 

Just a child.

Just like her siblings. She's no bigger than Izumi...

Itsuki's breath caught up. Her grip loosened. The pillar hovered in the air, trembling slightly, the magic holding it together flickering at its edges. Her mind raced - flashes of home, of the little ones she'd left behind. 

The rage cracked. The pillar crumbled, stone fragments raining harmlessly to the floor around them. Itsuki fell to her knees - not from exhaustion, but from something deeper. Shame.

Itsuki raised her hands and stared at them as they trembled. Tears forming in her eyes as she looked at the destruction of the room she had caused. "What was I doing...? This is not who I am..."

Itsuki lowered her head to the ground in front of Kasumi. "I'm so sorry..." Itsuki didn't raise her head as her tears began to fall, and her body began to shake.

Kasumi ran over to the corner of the room, picked up a box that had fallen from its place during the chaos, and brought it back over to Itsuki. "Are you hurt?"

Itsuki raised her head to be met with the child holding a first aid box. How blind she was to unleash her hate on someone when she didn't know anything. She gently shook her head. "No, I'm okay, thank you."

Kasumi looked over to the now unconscious Sachi. Itsuki followed her eyes. Her own eyes widening in shock. Itsuki grabbed the first aid box and ran to Sachi's side. "Oh, my goodness Sachi!"

Itsuki knelt beside Sachi, wrapping her wounds up with bandages. "I'm so sorry Sachi. This is all my fault. I was so angry and so stupid."

Sachi didn't hear any of Itsuki's words.

Suddenly, Itsuki and Kasumi heard footsteps approaching.

Kasumi's body began to tremble. Itsuki tensed up, not knowing how to handle whatever was to come.

To their surprise, Isamu came through the door. "There you are! I heard a loud noise and came running. I've been looking everywhere for-" Isamu paused as he saw the destruction of the room. "What in the world happened here?"

Itsuki let out a sigh of relief. "I'll explain later, can you help get Sachi on my back and you grab the kid?"

Isamu looked over at Sachi's unconscious body in horror. He didn't ask questions but quickly ran over to them.

Kasumi grabbed her mother's pillow tight and ran away from Isamu's approaching figure. 

"Hey, come back here. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help." Isamu gently coaxed following the kid.

Kasumi kept extending her distance from Isamu all while to avoid looking in his direction. Itsuki couldn't help but notice the child's behavior. "Isamu, you take Sachi. I'll handle her."

"Oh okay..." Isamu didn't understand why the child was afraid of him, but he listened to his sister's instruction. 

Itsuki calmly walked over the Kasumi who hid behind the deformed crib. "Kasumi, was it? My name is Itsuki and that big guy over there is my brother Isamu. It looks like you know Sachi already."

Kasumi didn't raise her head.

Itsuki continued. "I was pretty scary earlier, wasn't I? I'm sorry for that. It wasn't very nice of me. I promise I won't act like that again."

"Are you lying?" Kasumi's small voice finally spoke.

Itsuki smiled softly. "No, I'm not lying, you have my word. I'm sure you're still scared though, but I need you to trust me right now. I think we should get out of here quickly, what do you say?"

Kasumi raised her head. "What about mama?"

Itsuki was taken aback but continued to gently smile. "How about we go look for her?"

Kasumi's eyes brightened. "Really?"

"Really." Itsuki offered her hand to Kasumi.

Kasumi stared at Itsuki's hand, too scared to grab the hand that once tried to strike her.

Itsuki noticed Kasumi's hesitation. It's not like she could get the child to full on trust her after what she just did, but they needed to get out of there quickly before more people showed up. Itsuki looked around the room and saw a blanket under some of the stone debris. She pulled it out and dusted it off. "Is this blanket important to you?"

Kasumi nodded, clutching the pillow in her arms.

"Would you like to be wrapped in the blanket?"

Kasumi nodded again.

"Come here, I'll wrap you." Itsuki gestured for Kasumi to come close.

Kasumi approached Itsuki, holding tightly onto her mother's pillow. Itsuki gestured for Kasumi to hop on her back, which she did. Itsuki wrapped the blanket around her body and Kasumi's body creating a back carry. "Comfy?"

Kasumi nodded.

Isamu had gotten Sachi on his back. "Ready?"

Itsuki nodded. "Let's find that exit you wanted."