The Shattered Gates (Part 1)

We walk the streets as if it’s completely normal for a rag-tag group of teenaged-looking kids to be carrying weapons and armour. On top of that, Gabi‘s clearly inhuman nature didn’t faze anyone. I sweat nervously as someone bumps into Gabi and apologizes. She smirks.

This illusion really is powerful, huh? I think with a sigh. It’s not like we’re trying to stand out, but I look at all of us and think of how crazy we must seem. “Hey, Gabi?” I ask, “How far away are we from the first pike?”

“Two blocks,” she says. “Eri can tell you when we’re getting close, she should be able to see the upsurge in mana and resonite in the air.”

“To be honest,” Eri begins, “It’s kinda hard to discern anything when I focus on mage-sight, because everyone is covered in your illusion.”

I watch Gabi lock up in her walking. She turns to Eri and smiles apologetically. “Whoops. Didn’t think of that.”

“It’s okay Gabi,” Reiko says, “It’s not a mistake, just a happy accident. I heard that on TV once!”

“Isn’t that quote from that painter?” Ryoka asks.

I shrug as he looks at me. Gabi then beams at Reiko, who grins back. “Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better!” Gabi exclaims.

I can feel Ryoka and Eri sigh at the same time I do, and I can almost hear them think the same thing: Those two don’t mince words, do they?

I blink as Gabi slows down and takes a place by my side, while Reiko turns her attentions to Eri and Ryoka. She says something to the two of them, and they both begin blushing. I giggle at the sight.

“Do you remember what I taught you?” Gabi asks, and I look at her.

Holding my palm out, I concentrate and see a tiny ball of air begin to swirl above it. “A little. It’s kind-of hard to grasp.”

She nods. “It would be. You’ve never cast magic before.” Smiling at me, however, she continues, “And yet, you’re still ahead of me when I started magic. I couldn’t even focus my mana into my hand, much less tap into my resonite.”

“Really?” I ask, staring at the swirling ball of air above my hand. I push a little more into it, and it begins to swirl faster and grow bigger.

“Do you remember what you saw in that memory?” Gabi suddenly asks, and I lose my concentration.

“Y-yeah?”

With a nod, her gaze stays fixed in front of her. “That move Ayumi used, do you still remember how she cast it?”

I think back on the memory that wasn’t my own, and yet it felt so familiar. “It was… Whirlwind Maximum Guard, right?”

“Yes,” Gabi confirms, “That’s right. There’s four levels to any spell: the base, Super, Maximum, and Infinite or Eternal, depending. That’s the third form of that spell. It takes four times as long to charge as the base spell, Whirlwind Guard, which I can tell you about right now.” She finally looks at me with tired eyes, with all of the tragedy of that night contained within. “I wouldn’t recommend trying any of the higher forms before successfully casting the base.”

She cups her hands downward. “Think of the wind forming a wall in front of you. Feel it’s chaos, direct it’s flow, nudge it in place. Wind is the most unruly element as it does not want to be confined. You have to work with that.” She holds her arms out in front of her and then pushes them apart. “Think like the wind; Pretend your pushing it through a funnel. Make it believe that you’re the one freeing it. Free it into a tiny space, and that space is your barrier.”

She closes her eyes for a brief moment. “If you grow proficient enough, you can hold the spell for as long as you keep giving it mana, or you can link it to your resonite and have it react subconsciously, but you should only think of doing those after you’ve gained some experience.” Looking ahead, Gabi smiles. “You can even use it to shield others. You just have to think about putting the barrier around them instead.”

“So, kind-of like this?” I ask. I hold my hands out and think of what she said. Feel the wind, funnel it, mould it to my whims, I think, and then mutter, “Whirlwind Mini Guard.”

Gabi stares as the wind whistles angrily into a small barrier in front of my hands. After a moment, she grins triumphantly and pumps a fist. “I am the best teacher!” she exclaims triumphantly. “And you were able to cast a new, smaller version of the spell. Haha! That’s just weird!”

Wow, I think, Way to make my efforts sound all messed up.

“In any case, I better take point, or else Reiko will lead us all into oblivion.” She laughs nervously and marches up to the front. We both know Gabi’s not actually joking, because it’s a very real possibility. I then watch as Ryoka falls back a little, as if finding respite from a couple of bubbly girls and a half-human demon.

Looking at Ryoka, I bite my lip and step up a bit, matching his pace. He looks at me from the side and keeps looking forward. I sigh. “So, Ryoka,” I begin, “Why do you hate me so much?”

“Hm?” He looks at me fully this time and realizes what I had just asked. He frowns as his cheeks pink and he turns forward, not wanting to meet my curious gaze. “I… I don’t hate you.”

“Well, the last two times we met each other, you tried to kill me, so I’m a little curious.”

Ryoka stumbles slightly, just enough for me to notice. “It wasn’t like that.”

I fold my arms. “It definitely seems that way.”

“You really don’t realize what you look like from outside, do you?” He finally turns to me. “Your aura was oppressive that day I met you. It felt like I was being choked by the same dark force that fractured my resonite. You must understand, Osaki, how I felt in that moment.”

“Huh?”

“I was trying to save you at first, you know,” He started. “Normal people who wander in and touch that orb usually disappear or go mad. When you came in, I thought you were another unfortunate wanderer, but then you actually opened the gate. I knew there was only one way you would have been able to do that, and I thought it was because you were really a demon in disguise, and a powerful one at that. No one in this realm would normally be able to brute force the activation of a Gate, much less the Choral Gate. The moment you touched the orb yourself, it felt like a wave of power crashed into me.” He sighed. “Then, you just had to summon another powerful demon to your side. That sealed the deal for me, in a way.”

“O-oh…”

“And then this Illusion was thrown up. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t figure out what until I saw Gabrielle again—“

“Gabi. She prefers Gabi, now,” I interject. He looks at me for a moment.

“Gabi, then. I saw Gabi running down the halls and the Illusion broke. I was furious. I thought for sure that letting you go was the worst decision, because it seemed like you were just subjugating everyone. And then you blew me up and landed me in the nurse’s office.” He winced. “I’m still a little sore from that, by the way.”

“It was Gabi, but I’m sorry…” I apologize awkwardly.

Ryoka nods. “Miss Maki was there when I woke up. She told me to rest for two days, and then to find you. That RED was working with you to stop whatever was going on. And that you weren’t behind it. At least, not intentionally.”

I sigh. “I’m glad,” I murmur. “That eases my mind at least.”

“That doesn’t mean that you aren’t the Demon Lord, though,” Ryoka says, and I stumble in shock. He turns to me with amusement. “What? Just because you’re nice and human, doesn’t mean you still don’t have that aura around you. It’s almost sickening in it’s intensity. If I weren’t so sensitive to other resonite, I would be ignorant like anyone else. A fractured resonite, though, makes everything a lot more dangerous for me.” He looks at Eri for a moment. “I bet Eri can see your resonite now too.”

“I…” I gulp. “Thanks for telling me.” I watch him continue to stare at Eri for a moment longer, before I grin.

“So,” I begin as we turn a corner, “What do you think of Eri?”

Ryoka responds quickly. “She’s smart, determined, and speaks her mind.” He smiles. “I guess she’s alright.”

“Oh? Alright, he says.” I wag my finger at him. “Are you sure you don’t like her?”

We both watch as she laughs at something Reiko says before chopping Reiko’s head. Reiko holds her head, still laughing, as Eri starts berating her for something. He snaps his head towards me as my words finally register. “W-wait, what?!”

“You’ve been looking at Eri since we started walking.” I smirk. “Is she your type?”

His face goes bright red at the implication. “I, what, no!” He tries to defend himself, but he keeps digging his own grave.

I punch his shoulder as I snicker. “Relax, Ryoka, I’m joking.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he grumbles. “I don’t have time to think about romance.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” I say with a grin.

“Oh! Are we here?” I hear Reiko ask, and we finally catch up to the three of them in front. Turning the corner, I see a soccer field, and in the center, a strange protrusion.

“That’s the pike,” Gabi says, though we all figured as much. “My agents have already vacated since they know we can handle whatever happens here.”

“So what do we do now?” Eri asks. “Should we go take a closer look?”

Gabi nods. “My agents didn’t want to come too close in case they triggered something, so we don’t know for certain what these pikes are, other than a more crude version of the Choral Gate.”

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Ryoka says. “More than it usually does, anyway.” I pout as he glances at me.

“Well, I guess there’s no helping it,” I say, and start walking forward. I can hear Gabi start to splutter objections as I move toward the pike, and Reiko yelling at me to be careful, but I keep moving.

“Wait,” Eri cries, “Ryoka’s right! Yuki, you need to stop!”

I sigh and do as she asks. Turning heel, I place my hands on my hips and look at the four still lagging behind me. “What is it?”

“It looks like Ryoka’s fracture, but in space and time!” Eri yells. “This immediate area around the pike is unstable. Whoever thought this was a good idea was an idiot.” She motions for me to come back. “Let’s regroup and think about what we can do—!”

I freeze as I hear a tearing noise that’s ten times worse than anything I’d ever heard before. The sound of glass shattering in multiple realities sounds completely wrong, and I hear a loud roar and a heavy thump, and a shadow falls over me. With a smile that’s entirely too force, I crane my head up and see a chimeral monstrosity towering over me.

I stutter, “G-good kitty?” It roars it’s rancid breath into my face, and I feel my eyes swirl in my head. “I thought so,” I say in a daze, before I throw my hands out and scream, “Whirlwind Guard— uwaaaah!”

It was a good thing I threw up a barrier at that moment, because the chimera threw one of it’s paws against it and threw me across the field. I yelp as I keep rolling and rolling, before I finally lose momentum and flop helplessly. “Ow.”

“Reiko, distract it! Ryoka, with me!” She pulls her gnarled blade out of it’s sheath and holds it in front of her. “Eri, you try and make it to the pike and heal the rift! If these points remain broken, the Choral Gate will fail and the Nexus will completely shatter!”

“That doesn’t sound very good,” Eri says, starting to run.

“It isn’t,” Gabi yells, and deflects a roar of flame with her own flash of fire. “It means our realms will crash into each other!” She flattens her blade.

Ryoka leaps up on the proffered blade platform and is sprung up. “That means the loss of both worlds!” He begins slashing at the chimera’s skin, but normal thrusts seem to only do so much. It slams it’s paws into the ground and bucks Ryoka off.

As I watch him fall twenty feet, I get to one knee and thrust a hand out. If wind can be used as a barrier, then it can be used as a cushion! I think quickly, and concentrate. Gather the air, force it through a funnel into a false space, and… there!

I yell with all my might, “Air Cushion!” There’s a flash of light, and I watch as dust swirls and Ryoka is caught in a gale of wind. He quickly gains his balance and falls to his feet. He looks at me and nods. I grin back, but pout when he takes another stance and slashes away at the chimera again.

“Well, no good deed, right?” I mutter, and I run to where Eri is trying to sneak around the chimera. We both watch Reiko narrowly avoid a slash of the chimera’s claws with a side flip, and she dashes the opposite direction of us.

She turns and blows a raspberry at the chimera. “Hey! Look at me, I’m a target!”

Eri and I deadpan as the chimera booms in anger and turns to look at Reiko. Eri quickly shakes from her stupor and realizes the opportunity she’s been given. I trail behind her. I hear an odd whistle and widen my eyes as I see the chimera’s tail heading straight for Eri.

“No!” I cry, and throw both hands out. “Whirlwind Super Guard!”

The wind screams as it flattens over Eri and the tail bites on hard air. Venom goes flying, and I hold back a scream as some of it falls on my arm. “Eri, hurry!”

“I don’t know what I’m doing!” Eri yells, panicking. “All I see is a bunch of shorn threads and a huge, gaping hole!”

“Heal it!” Gabi yells as she swings by on a fire whip. “It’s simpler than it looks!”

“Think of it like a surgery!” Ryoka cries. “Stitch the rift back—Super Invocation!— like it’s an open wound!”

“What they said!” Reiko screams as she defends herself from the other snake head.

“I’ll protect you, Eri!” I yell. “Just get it done!”

“O-okay!” Eri exclaims, and stares up at the vague outline of a rift that I could see. I watch from the corner of my eyes as she raises her hands and interacts with something the eye can’t see. Suddenly, the rift blazes a kaleidoscope of colours, and I stare as strands of light start lashing into each other.

“Holy—Whirlwind Guard—Guahh!” I grit my teeth as the first snake head batters me with it’s side. I slide a foot back and feel my bones rattle. “Okay,” I heave, “Not cool.” I stare at the flailing head and try to run my mind as fast as I can.

“If I can confine wind,” I mutter to myself, “Then I can refine it. Slip it into false slivers, raise the pressure, push as hard as I can.” I feel something strange surround me, but there’s not time to worry about that. I need to help Eri and everyone survive. I stare at the snake head as it rears back and prepares to strike. I narrow my eyes, focusing on one of its weak points: it’s eyes.

“I need to focus and time it right,” I growl. “Come on, snakey. Hit me!”

It hisses at me, and with no warning, it flashes forward. Throwing my hands forward in a slicing motion and into abrupt fists, I cry, “Whirlwind Strike Guard!”

The snake head shrieks as it’s eyelid splits in two and it slams into a barrier. I grin viciously. “It worked!” I exclaim. “I can make my defence my offence!”

“Good one, Yuki!” Gabi cries, and I watch as she throws some sort of white-hot spear, and it pierces right through one of the chimera’s legs.

“Nice one!” Reiko yells, and flips onto the snake head she had been battling. “Looks like it’s not your first rodeo after all!” Her voice fades as she’s carried into the sky while she happily stabs away at her snake head. Ryoka only nods before flashing away.

“Whirlwind Super Guard!” I yell, and focus on my resonite. She said I could link it and make it passive for a short time. I have to focus. Follow the trail of mana back, make it a part of my resonite… there! I open my eyes and sweep my hands to the side, and a visible gust of wind starts swirling around me. It’s getting harder to hear anything over the roars of the chimera, and now I have the howl of wind around me. Glancing behind me, I see Eri sweating as her eyes flicker quickly behind her eyelids. I stare up and see the rift closing ever so slowly, the sickening view of multiple realities slowly being hidden once more.

“Yukin, watch out!” I hear Reiko’s voice scream, and I whip my head around. Both snake heads are headed towards me. I blink as I see Reiko hanging on for dear life, her sword lodged into the snake head’s scales. Time seems to slow, and everything dies down for just a second. A soft voice, as gentle as a summer breeze, brushes past me, whispering something. I widen my eyes, and all the sound comes roaring back.

Without a second thought, I throw my arms into a cross and scream with all my might, “Whirlwind Ultimate Cross Slash!”

The wind shrieks, I’m blasted backwards into my own barrier, and the ground splits in two places as twin streams of solid air blaze into the sky. They swing in wide arcs, and then curve sharply, right into the base of the chimera’s tail of snakes.

The barrier caves, and two snake heads bury me in darkness.