A World of Black & White

Blade against skin, piercing through muscle - and finding its way to the other side.

Still, the demon survived.

Elara shocked herself back to motion and evaded the oncoming strike, backing up to where Arata and his guard were - with her spear seeping blood.

She had aimed for the throat, but Martel had found a way to forfeit his palm. Another attack just brushed off like it was nothing. “It’s not working, the poison. He’s figured out how to beat it.” She grunted through the steep inhale.

She saw the monster unchanged, Arata saw otherwise. “Look.” Martel had dropped his hammer, the handle slick with the ink army’s black blood. And as he lifted it, instead of lifting it one handed with no trouble - both hands pulled it up slow. His breathing was much more laboured, his legs barely moving without a spark of pain running up his leg. “He’s running on fumes… one more big hit and he’ll fall.”

Elara noticed it now, the lack of laughter, the struggle to keep standing - it was like a sign in big neon letters, the end in sight. She took another breath, regaining her composure. “One more…” She muttered, “One more.”

A bullet out the chamber she closed the distance, readying her killshot.

*zzzt*

The sound was familiar, dreaded - enough for all three fighters, Martel included, to halt to attention. It was the system.

The tree line blocked the image in the sky, no face, no name.

*-*-*

No sooner had her head hit the ground, had Mayumi slid beside her. Her assassin backed off casually. He watched from the dark, glowing yellow eyes sneered at her. Blood coloured her cowl red, her hair becoming matted. Mayumi ripped the girl’s shirt enough to see the wound clearly. It was thin, giving the archer hope.

“I’ve gotta turn you over, okay? You’ll be fine, I’ll patch you up.” she told her. And as she turned the girl to her shoulder the sharp whimper filled her with more dread.

The blood refused to stop, and upon seeing the wound on her back, Mayumi struggled to accept the truth… she couldn’t be saved. Frantically she searched for any idea to save her, as the girl cried quietly, whimpering as the pain pulsed.

The sound of it seemed to amuse the shadow in the dark, his low murmur of a chuckle had Mayumi grinding her teeth. “You can’t do anything, you know?” He mocked.

“Why don’t you be quiet?!” Mayumi snapped back, the girl slowly turned to her back, blood still slipping out of her mouth. Her hand shook, raising toward the archer slowly and Mayumi took a hold of it. “Please…” She pleaded. “I don’t want to go…”

It broke Mayumi, tears stinging her eyes. This girl, this pain…

—--

Mayumi was younger, knelt over another bleeding, holding her hand. “You’re gonna be okay! I just need to… ah, stop bleeding! Please!” She screamed. But by that point, the girl’s eyes were vacant…

Her final words would burn their way into Mayumi’s mind forever. “Onee… I’m sorry…”

—--

She bit into her sleeve, it was all she could do to stop the scream. It ripped as she pulled away, tearing a big bit of fabric free and wrapping it around the staff user’s chest. “See, this will stop the bleeding, you’re gonna be fine.” Even with the wrap, blood continued to flow - from the girl, and from the chalice.

Once again, vacant eyes stared back at her, the hand in hers became dead weight… and a single tear rolled down the girl’s face, as her breathing ceased.

Mayumi couldn’t move, shivering as she looked into those eyes again…

“You’re gonna be okay… Izuna…”

*-*-*

Nothing but the breath of the winds could be heard. Mayumi was frozen in place.

Eventually the assassin returned from the shadows, more curious than bloodthirsty.

“A little strange for a killer to mourn an opponent, wouldn’t you say?” He didn’t get a response, he wasn’t expecting one. “Then again, I’m a little lost on exactly who you are, ms archer.” He explained, the knife in his hand spinning in his hand - the point balanced on his fingertip. “The bow would suggest you are a competitor, but I’m willing to bet if I cut you, you won’t bleed.”

Mayumi was visibly becoming more and more angered, yet he continued. “I, Saxon the Switchblade, would be the Knife… well, I suppose you could have figured that one out.” He waved the blade in his hand like it was some stupid toy.

“Onee…” she heard again as she closed the eyes of the staff user, stifling tears.

Saxon sighed seeing it. He wiped away the fresh blood from his knife with the bark of the nearest tree, and watched from a distance - unable to understand what Mayumi was doing. With not a hint of humanity, he spoke monotone. “We are killers. The world has taught us that those that oppose us need to be eliminated, correct? The weak fall to the strong, and the right defeats the wrong.”

“Yeah?” She responded, sharp as the knife in his hand. “What makes you think you’re right?”

The question made him smirk, a shit eating grin, like a twisted jester. “I’m strong. The strong are remembered, and the weak are erased.”

Mayumi slowly raised up, an arrow resting on the draw string - ready for the tension to break, and for blood to shed. Her eyes were filled with rage, narrow and empty. She gently placed her fingers on the string and pulled back - aiming at Saxon, who raised his guard.

“So in your story, I’m the weak, huh?”

His nod along with the smarmy grin was all she needed. Her aim raised to his head, between the eyes. “You want to erase me, assassin?”

“I’d love to see you try.”

Saxon’s posture changed, dipping down like a beast ready to charge. “Oh you’re a fun one.”

*-*-*

“Mageborn Ferula, the Staff has been eliminated.”

The branches moved as if controlled to do so, revealing the image in the sky. A young girl no older than twelve or thirteen, a red x over the top.

Seasoned knights like Agnar. Nomad hunters like Skotta. Even simply trained guards like Elara… they belonged here, and the world would continue to spin regardless of whether they lived or died.

“Magus Academy…” Arata muttered just loud enough that Elara heard. “She’s… she was the one that turned on the main character…”

Ferula, by all accounts, was an academic wonder. Top of her classes, with great skill in magic and theory alike. She was a rival to Magnus Academy’s protagonist, always celebrating her victories and scheming after her defeats. They were the top of their class… not like it mattered.

They were child soldiers, trained to think their lives meant more than a means to an end. The protagonist realised this, Ferula did not.

“She died protecting the system that failed her…” Arata mumbled. “So she ended up here?” His head had dropped, frozen in place thinking that this place was nothing but a farce and yet… another life lost. “Agnar was a knight for a tyrant, loyal to a fault. Skotta was an afterthought in someone else’s legend. They weren’t the heroes… but that doesn’t mean they were the villains.”

Martel began to trudge forward, loud enough that it turned Elara’s head. “Arata, we have to move.” The time revealed a mere ten more minutes, barely enough time to even reach the portal, let alone defeat the hammer wielder in front of them. She pulled Arata close, her hand in his hair. “Like you said, one last shot. We finish this… then we go home.” Once she’d let go she was certain he’d be walking beside her and yet, when she looked he hadn’t taken a step.

His head lifted, and fear was controlling him. “The Sword and the Axe are dead. Now the Staff. That leaves four: you, me, him… and the Knife. Mayumi chased after one of them, and I’d wager everything I own, it was Ferula… now she’s dead.”

“Mayumi shot her, she gave her no option.” Elara assumed.

But Arata shut it down fast, “No matter what that girl did, I can promise you. Mayumi did not kill her… and that means someone else did.”

She could see it in his eyes. He’d worked it out in his head, it was simple enough. Now Mayumi was alone against someone he truly feared.

Martel may have been moving closer slowly, but the sound was silence. “You know him…” Elara said, receiving only a look that answered everything.

She now faced Martel, walking away from her ally as he stuttered.

“Then what are you waiting for, Arata?” She asked…

“Go save your daughter.”