What Can I Do?

Something exploded.

The sound reached me as a muffled BOOM, followed by the floor trembling beneath my back. For several seconds, that was about as much information as my brain was willing to process.

I opened my eyes, regretted it almost immediately, then tried again.

Ow.

(You're finally awake... again.)

Don't have anything better to say?

The ceiling slowly came into focus, although it seemed to drift whenever I blinked. My side hurt even more than my head, and taking anything resembling a deep breath sent a sharp pain through my ribs.

I stared upward for another second.

I think I've been unconscious too many times lately.

(You think?)

Shut up for a bit.

Another explosion shook the chamber, and instinct made me turn toward it. My side immediately informed me that instinct was an idiot.

"Ah..."

"Don't move."

The voice beside me was so weak that I almost didn't recognize it.

Meni sat on the floor with one hand held near my wound. A thin layer of water still covered my side, glowing faintly with Orka, but it looked much weaker than her healing normally did. Her face had gone pale, sweat clung to her forehead, and the hand controlling the water trembled every few seconds.

"You look terrible."

Meni slowly looked at me.

"...You were impaled."

"...Right."

Probably should've considered that first.

I tried pushing myself onto one elbow, only for the pain in my side to immediately convince me otherwise. I dropped back down with a quiet groan.

"Nope."

Normally, I expected some kind of comment from her.

This time, Meni simply turned back to the water around my wound.

That worried me more than an insult would've.

Before I could ask how long she'd been healing me, another BOOM rolled through the chamber. Wind swept across the room, carrying dust and bits of stone with it. Meni leaned forward to shield me while I raised an arm over my face, and when the dust finally settled enough to see again, I looked toward the source.

Amachi was fighting Rayne.

And somehow...

Amachi had the advantage.

He crossed the chamber before Rayne could properly prepare, a blast of wind slamming into him hard enough to send him sliding backward. Frost spread across Rayne's arm as he raised his guard, but Amachi was already there.

BAM!

His fist struck the ice and shattered it apart.

Rayne staggered back.

Several spears formed around him almost immediately and shot toward Amachi. One tore across his upper arm while another cut along his ribs, yet he barely reacted. He drove through the attack instead, wind gathering around his fist before it slammed into Rayne's stomach.

BOOM!

Rayne flew backward.

Amachi followed before he'd even landed.

"What the..."

There was no pause between his attacks anymore. No attempt to defend himself either.

Rayne swept one hand sideways and threw a wall of fire between them. Amachi ran straight through it, flames rolling over his shoulder and side without slowing him down.

My stomach tightened.

"Why isn't he dodging?"

Meni watched him through tired eyes.

"Because he doesn't care."

Amachi emerged from the smoke with blood running down his arm and face. The green light around his crimson eyes was brighter than I'd ever seen it, while the wind surrounding him twisted hard enough to tear loose pieces from the already-damaged floor.

Rayne blocked another strike and slid several steps backward, his feet carving lines through the stone. For the first time since we'd met him, he looked like he was struggling just to keep Amachi away.

A thick wall of ice rose between them.

Amachi punched through it.

CRACK!

The wall burst apart, and the wind following his fist caught Rayne before he could recover, throwing him against the far side of the chamber.

I stared at them.

"He's actually beating him."

"...For now."

I glanced toward Meni.

"What does that mean?"

She took a slow breath before answering.

"Zen."

"I know it's Zen."

"No." Her eyes remained on Amachi. "You just know what it looks like."

Another impact shook dust loose from the ceiling as she gathered enough breath to continue.

"Zen comes from intense emotion. The stronger that emotion becomes, the more Orka the body can draw out."

That wasn't exactly what I'd expected.

"Then what's wrong with him?"

"Emotion is only half of it." Meni rested one hand against the floor to support herself. "To properly use Zen, you have to feel that emotion while keeping your mind calm enough to control it."

I looked back toward Amachi.

Calm wasn't exactly the first word that came to mind.

"The emotion gives Zen its power," Meni continued. "The calmness keeps that power stable."

That explained the difference.

The first time I'd seen Amachi use Zen properly, almost none of his movement had been wasted. Everything had been clean and exact, almost like he already knew what his opponent would do before they did it.

This was nothing like that.

Rayne launched another wave of ice across the chamber. Amachi forced himself through it, letting shards cut across his hands and face as he sent a blast of wind straight through Rayne's defense.

BOOOOOOM!

The impact filled the chamber.

Amachi staggered afterward. It only lasted a moment, but I saw his knee almost give out before another violent surge of Orka forced him upright.

Blood ran from his nose.

My eyes moved toward the Orb still clenched in his hand.

"And that?"

Meni's expression tightened.

"It's making his emotions stronger."

I looked between the Orb and Amachi.

"More emotion..."

"More Orka," Meni finished.

Something cold settled in my stomach.

"What's happening to him?"

Meni was quiet for a moment.

"His body is already breaking."

I looked at her.

"What?"

"Too much Orka is moving through him. His body can't keep containing it." Her voice had dropped almost to a whisper. "If he keeps forcing more through..."

I looked back toward Amachi.

Blood had started running from beneath one eye now. His breathing was ragged, his hands shook whenever he stopped moving, and yet each new burst of wind seemed stronger than the last.

"He'll die?"

Meni gave a small nod.

Another explosion rolled through the chamber.

I barely heard it.

Amachi was winning.

And he was killing himself to do it.

There had to be something I could do.

Shift Shot was the first thing that came to mind, but Rayne already understood how I used it, and I could barely move without feeling like my side was being torn open again. Trying to stop Amachi directly was even worse. I could hardly follow him with my eyes, never mind actually catch him.

Zack was still down near the wall, and Meni looked like staying conscious already required most of what she had left.

Then there was me.

Back on the floor.

Again.

What am I supposed to do?

I searched for something anyway. An opening. A trick. Anything that might actually matter.

Nothing came.

If I attacked Rayne, I'd probably get in the way. If I tried grabbing Amachi, he'd be gone before I reached him. Even standing up seemed ambitious considering how much my side hurt.

My eyes lowered.

Useless.

The thought came far too easily.

(Then stay here.)

I went still.

What?

(Don't do anything.)

I looked back toward the fight as Amachi drove Rayne across the chamber again.

(They could destroy each other. And if Rayne survives, he's already shown that he doesn't want to kill you.)

I didn't answer.

Rayne had told us to leave more than once. Even the attack that put me here hadn't been meant for me.

(So stay down. You survive. Even if Rayne is the one left standing, there's a good chance he lets you live.)

I hated how much sense that made.

My body was barely holding together, and I couldn't beat either of them. Getting involved could accomplish nothing except putting me back where I'd just woken up from.

Maybe doing nothing really was the smartest choice.

Amachi and Rayne could finish this themselves.

Even if Rayne survived, maybe—

Amachi stumbled.

His injured leg folded beneath him for a moment, but he forced himself upright and attacked again before Rayne could take advantage.

Blood scattered behind him.

I stared at him.

That idiot.

The same idiot who woke up every morning to train, rushed into fights before anyone else could think, and dragged me into half the trouble we'd gotten ourselves into.

The same idiot I'd originally followed around because Zaw told me to become his friend.

Except somewhere along the way, I actually had.

No.

The other voice stayed quiet.

I can't do that.

(Why?)

I watched Amachi throw himself through another attack.

There wasn't some complicated answer.

He's my friend.

That was it.

I don't want him to die.

For a moment, the only sounds were wind, cracking ice and Amachi's ragged breathing.

Then the other me spoke again.

(Good.)

I frowned.

(Then stop deciding you've already lost.)

My hand tightened against the floor.

(You're hurt. Rayne is stronger than you. You might fail. None of that changes what you just said.)

I stayed quiet.

(So which matters more? Sitting here thinking about how useless you are... or helping your friend?)

I looked across the chamber.

No brilliant solution suddenly appeared. My body still hurt, Rayne was still stronger than me, and Amachi was currently moving fast enough that stepping into that fight sounded like a creative method of suicide.

But none of that changed the answer.

(You don't want him to die.)

The voice remained firm.

(Then act like it.)

I let out a slow breath.

...Fine.

One hand pressed against the floor as I forced myself upward. Pain immediately tore through my side hard enough to make my arm buckle.

Meni grabbed my sleeve.

"You can't fight."

"I know."

I managed to get one knee underneath me and reached for the wall. Across the chamber, Amachi struck Rayne again, another blast of wind filling the air as blood scattered from his injured arm.

Meni watched me pull myself upright. My legs nearly folded the moment I put weight on them, but I held onto the wall until they steadied enough to stand.

I took one unsteady step away from the wall.

Then another.

Amachi was my friend.

I wasn't going to watch him die.

Guess it's my turn to do something stupid.