39

Hasu stands tranquilly even as fights erupt around him. He sways with the wind as though he doesn’t have a care in the world. He faces towards Anima, though she can tell that he is not looking at her, not in any real way. She begins to prepare a spell, creating and kneading together vines underneath the grass. He smirks, as though he sees through her and has decided she poses no threat to him.

“Girl, you seem to be the weakest of you three, is that right?” Anima doesn’t let her focus waver as she builds up a larger spell.

“Why would that matter?”

“I suppose it doesn’t. But call it my intellectual curiosity and entertain me.”

“And even if I did tell you, how would you know if it was true?”

“I can see through lies, don’t worry. Though I suppose you’ll just have to take my word for it.” He laughs softly to himself.

“And if I told you that I’m stronger than both of them?”

“I’d be dreadfully disappointed. It would be threefold. First, that you would ask a question rather than say it directly. Second, that it is a lie. And third, that I would much rather fight that swordsman than his weakest companion.”

“If you want to fight Scima so badly, then just go and do it.”

“I would, but a gentleman never leaves a lady on her own. And besides that, my swordsman is too annoying for me to handle.” He moves swiftly, closing the distance between him and Anima. “So I suppose I have no choice but to accompany you.”

“Get back.”

At her response, she lets loose the spell. The vines rip through the dirt and grass as they launch out from the earth. The vines are a powerful mass, hurtling right towards Hasu. He doesn’t turn towards it, just sticks out an arm and grabs it. The vines press into his palm, sending a shuddering force up through to his shoulder. He grits his teeth as he bears the pain. Anima tries to make distance between them. Hasu begins to talk to her, his voice clear and polite.

“It was a good try. But if you wanted an easy victory, then you should have used something quieter. I’m blind, you know. Not that it’ll matter for much longer.”

Hasu, with his hazy gray eyes, stares into Anima’s. Anima feels her entire body tingling as her vision starts to darken.

She opens her eyes to find the world around her still dark. Around her are tall trees, the trunks overwhelmingly wide. Though she stands in a clearing, the thick foliage still makes a canopy large enough to block out the sun. If Hasu is nearby she cannot tell. She can barely see beyond her own fingertips. She begins to summon snakes, hoping that their senses might fare better. She then hears Hasu’s voice.

“You’re no fun, nothing like that swordsman. I had to do so much work to make this place, all because there was nothing I could take from your memory. It’s no fun when there isn’t something there to exploit, you see.”

“What a terrible hobby.”

The snakes slither around the clearing, giving Anima a sense of the space. She begins casting another spell. She can feel it activate, luminescent flowers ought to have shot out in front of her, but nothing changes. Hasu laughs.

“My domain is illusions. None of this is real. The darkness is all in your head. Nothing can brighten it up, so don’t bother.”

Anima feels a powerful blow in her stomach. She quickly summons a snake on her wrist and has it bite right in front of her, but Hasu has already fled. Her head spins as she tries to collect herself. She can barely think straight after taking such a heavy blow. Hasu laughs all around her all the while. She encases herself with vines to rest.

With vines surrounding her, she sits down, leaning against the barrier she made. Anima doubts that she could win, even if she were able to see. She does not know combat, nor does she have an unshakeable will. She feels like she’s going crazy with Hasu’s laughter all around her, filling her head, stopping her from collecting her thoughts properly.

Just as she has recovered enough to try fighting once more, the top of her vine dome gets ripped off. It lets in the sunlight, the canopy of the forest much thinner now. Hasu looks down at her mockingly.

“It seems you were weaker than I thought, so I’ve given myself a handicap. Get up and look around.”

Anima wills the left of the vines near her to shoot out towards Hasu as spines. He weaves past them and grabs Anima by the neck. He squeezes down on her neck, his grip just not tight enough to cut off air. He lifts her, making her bear witness to the new scene before her.

The forest is gone, replaced with only four trees, all much thinner than those that came before them. Her snakes slither around the grass. Bodies bloodied, Anima’s parents, Sion, and Linea are pierced, hanging to the trunks of the trees. Anima is shocked speechless, only starting to stammer out words when Hasu begins to laugh once more.

“You already told me that it’s all fake. W-what could this do to me.” Hasu appears before her.

“Illusions aren’t for creating a fake reality, they’re for making people despair. The despair people feel when they see something terrible, the despair they can’t shake off even though they know it can’t be true, there’s no better entertainment! It’s the most fun thing in the world to watch!” Anima shies back.

“How can you live like that?”

“It’s revenge against this world. A world where I can see all and everybody else can do nothing but despair, what better revenge could there be?”

Hasu begins to move, his fist at the ready. Just as he thrusts his arm forward, he gets knocked to the side. He catches himself as he falls and looks at his attacker. It’s a large deer, snorting at him as it readies another charge. Pryte charges straight ahead, Hasu facing him down. Hasu grabs Pryte by the horns and holds him in place.

“What a pain. Shouldn’t you be too shaken to do anything or something?” Anima looks at him, distress still clear in her face.

“My mother is already dead. And my father, Linea, and Sion wouldn’t die. I already know that it’s all fake. I already told you. I won't let myself be shaken. No matter what, I won’t let this break my spirit.”

She’s quivering as she approaches him. Hasu tries to shake Pryte off and throw him to the ground, but before he can, Anima raises an arm. Dozens of vines shoot out of the ground, wrapping around Hasu’s body. He lets go of Pryte and begins to try and rip the vines off of him. However, Anima shoots them out at too quick a pace for him. It’s overwhelming. With Hasu covered, Anima casts a spell, the vines transmuting slowly to wood, like the roots of a tree. When Hasu finds himself bound in them, he resigns himself.

“I really thought I would win. I really thought you would just give up if I showed you something like that. Hey, isn’t this also blindness? Is there really not a way for me to ‘see?’” He pleads with her earnestly, all the mocking bitterness in his voice gone.

“Of course there is.”

Anima answers him simply. She begins to walk away, unsummoning all the snakes and Pryte. The illusion falls away and she is victorious.