Demanding Answers

Through her newly provided powers in her Field, she detected the two guards. They laid on the ground knocked out. She didn't want any interruptions, so she made her Field put anyone inside it asleep. She hadn’t expected to find them inside the tent. However, nothing would stop her. Athene stepped within reach of Yori, still unconscious. “You’re going to give me what I want! I don’t care what sort of mental defenses you have. You’re just a normal human.”

Athene touched her hand to the back of Yori’s head. A shaking weakness in her legs threatened her concentration. ‘I don’t need a body, just my mind…’ Her hand firmly held to the back of his skull. Over her hand materialized a black metal glove. It extruded its edge over her wrist and past her elbow. The metal didn’t stop until it wrapped itself around her neck and half over her face as though protecting her. She lost all movement in her body, but she didn’t need it anymore. Glowing shapes of light lit up all over the surface of the all-consuming black. It became the signal for Athene.

She closed her eyes to calm herself down and remove all distractions. The Field she used differed significantly from what she was familiar with using. It had to be. She knew how to deal with the defenses inside Yori’s mind. She didn’t plan to go in unprepared like last time. Because everything she used was new, it made her nervous to keep the entire thing in her mind. ‘You will reveal everything to me this time. I will not have been blinded for nothing!’

Another moment later, the white blindness disappeared into a black void. The void melted away granting Athene sight for the first time in hours. However, she didn’t stand in the room she created last time. Her space wasn’t exactly what she expected. She wanted the truth unfiltered and used her powers to grasp at it. Surrounding her was a massive array of doors and halls in all directions, even above and below. She floated free at the center. “Is this the place? What I actually seek?”

Pieced together from the air, Yori appeared hovering at a ninety-degree angle to Athene. The lack of a sense of direction or even gravity made her uneasy. She waited carefully, measuring her defense. The last time she underestimated his potential. Athene didn’t plan to make the same mistake. Playing cautiously, she backed away a little. “Are you the real one or just another fake?”

Initially, plain and flat in expression, he changed in response to her question. A mischievous grin appeared on his lips. Yori opened his arms gesturing with them as he began to speak. “So the arrogant woman has returned. Didn’t have enough last time?”

“…you again…” Athene narrowed her eyes in his presence. She wished to find a difference between them, but apart from personality they appeared identical, an easy trap. “This won’t be the same as last time!”

“So it would seem. I see you’re protecting your mind this time. Maybe you can learn and see past your own arrogance.”

“Still mocking me. I’ll prove you to be the arrogant one.”

“Oh? If you get past one layer of this labyrinth’s defenses before you collapse from your weakened state then I’ll change my attitude.”

The piercing knowing look in his eyes startled Athene. ‘I’ve blocked the access point into my mind! He shouldn’t know anything about my condition, but that look…’ She couldn’t believe that he managed to already crack through her defenses. Athene staggered back as the avatar of Yori disappeared. ‘How is this possible? Am I really arrogant?’

Precious seconds drained away for Athene. The foreboding place finally snapped her out of her daze. She came with a purpose and it surrounded her. Too many options presented themselves to her. ‘Where do I even begin? I’ve never seen such a complex mind before. Can I do this?’ The doubt that bubbled up inside her came too easily. She hated the feeling. It sapped away her resolve that she had from before. “No, I came for answers! I will have my answers!”

Chapter 139 – Demanding Answers

With renewed interest, Simonides led Vangelis out of the tent and away from the light of the camp. He went over the specifics on location and weaknesses of the targets. Once in the darkness out of sight from the passing patrols, Vangelis leaned over with a very eager grin. Simonides found the man very bothersome and undisciplined. He wasn’t someone suited for military service, but the system was inflexible with those like him. They had to go somewhere, regardless of personality traits.

Simonides cast a cautious gaze to Vangelis to mask his mood. Despite his personal feelings about the man, the man did have talent and intelligence, though crude at times. ‘He’ll serve a couple of purposes. It’ll be a good measure.’

“So what else you got to tell me?” Vangelis asked bluntly. He already started to look bored again. As if the talking drained him of his interest.

“You’re free to pick who you want for your team, but Iole will be one of them.”

Disgust surfaced in Vangelis' face at the mention of the name. “That Ice Queen? She’ll kill my fun!”

“This is a mission, I don’t care if it is fun for you or not. I expect results.”

“Oh you’ll get results,” smirked Vangelis. His eyes slid around his face in thought. He focused back on Simonides after a few seconds. “You just want Iole to keep an eye on me!”

A flicker of surprise came from Simonides’ eyes from the comment. He didn’t expect him to reach the conclusion so quickly. “Think whatever you want, she goes. Find three other MPs for your team and leave immediately.”

“What’s the rush? You that eager to see some rebels killed?” Vangelis’ face darkened with the bloodlust filling his eyes. He raised his hand up towards Simonides. The tension in his hand wound his fist tightly together. “You have to savor these things.”

Simonides hardened his features to keep from cracking his true self through in front of Vangelis. “I expect that they will be coming here to rescue their comrade. They’re the naïve type. So I want you to keep them away until we have what we want.”

Faked sadness and disappointment painted Vangelis’ eyes. “Keep them away? I think you’re underrating me if you think I would lose to a bunch of teenage traitors.”

“Don’t get cocky, Vangelis. They’ve already defeated four MPs.”

“Don’t compare me to those weaklings! I’ll bring you all of their heads!”

“Capturing them is the highest priority for your objectives. Only kill them as a last resort.”

“Tch, you’re no fun.”

The conversation started to come to an end. Simonides turned away to ensure that it carried no further. He already gave him all of the information needed to find them. “I’m not interested in your enjoyment.”

“You’re too soft. Traitors receive death in the end anyway.”

Simonides stopped for a moment, still keeping his back to him. “I’m sending a blood-thirsty killer to deal with a bunch of teenagers. I wonder which one of us really is soft.” He departed the man’s company returning to the light.

Traveling through the light blue moonlit-coated fields, Chiharu ran closer to the encampment. It grew larger the longer time passed. Even as she moved, her eyes scanned everything around her, taking it all in. She calculated angles of attack and weaknesses in the defense. They held the advantage in surprise. Every opportunity needed to be taken.

Chiharu stopped within the shadows of a nearby tree. Ahead of her, the camp stood almost in range. She could see guards patrolling the perimeter. The scale of the camp looked grander up close for her. It brought her a little eagerness for the challenge ahead. ‘That girl’s pretty good when she’s serious… I’ll figure her out eventually…’ Retreating her body into the shadow, Chiharu vanished from sight.

Inside the void, Chiharu hovered in calm control of her actions, unlike the first time she discovered her ability. She knew nothing of what she had during her fight with the Higoshi Clan. Everything she used was from instinct, however after the fight she became determined to master it. She learned the limits and range of the ability in her short training. It turned into an extension of her body and just as natural. The only thing she wished she knew was why it happened, but understood that the weakling was to blame for it. A thought she detested.

From inside the shadow’s void between worlds, she slipped her sight through the multitude of windows. Though faint, the moon provided more than enough shadows over all of the camp. The further in, the lit fires made her progress even easier. It was all far too easy for her. A disappointing challenge presented for her. She wished something from it would give her a reason to try. Nothing tested her limits.

Jumping through shadows between passing patrols, Chiharu brought herself deep within the camp as her base point. Her range didn’t put the entire camp in her reach, but enough to begin her intel gathering. ‘Which one is it?’ She jumped around avoiding the soldiers. ‘They’re all too relaxed… The way they attacked this morning I would have thought they’d be more cautious.’

Even though she didn’t participate in most of the fighting, she watched it all play out. They took no interest in her. The underestimation would be something that she would make them all regret. She planned ahead to understand her enemy.

The longer that she watched through her portals the image of the military became clearer. ‘There’s almost none of them wearing those white uniforms. Most of their military force must be made up of standard soldiers. I would have thought that they would make more use of special types in their military.’ She still had much of the camp left to explore, but she found only ten of them. Three of them were ones that they faced before.

‘Maybe they’re keeping them in another part of the camp. I’ll need to search deeper…’ Chiharu continued her progress, making note of everything. The layout of the camp came together in her mind. She recorded it all down mentally to take back. Even without their leader, her mind spun tactics and strategies for how to sneak in.

However, one thing still eluded her. The brother remained missing. She needed to figure out where they held him. ‘If my shadow could hold someone other than me I could end this easily. I wonder if in time the power will grow…’ Tossing away the distraction, Chiharu narrowed her vision to keep on task. She didn’t need to concern herself with unknowns.

Another few tents explored only revealed more sleeping soldiers through her windows. She started to wonder if he was even in the camp. ‘I haven’t seen any suspicious tents yet. There must be guards with him.’

Chiharu pulled back on her window hopping. She mapped out half of the camp, but most of the tents remained unknown to her still. Her eyes closed as she made a mental image of the camp with all of the tents laid out for her. ‘I’ve already checked all of those,’ she commented, marking off tents. ‘That much still…’

She opened her eyes, taking back all of the windows that surrounded her. The countless exits thanks to all of the light sources gave her almost too many choices. Chiharu turned her head around to look behind her. ‘One of these must hold what I’m searching for…’

Returning to her map, she marked off tents too large for holding a prisoner. She found some consistency in their use of tents. It narrowed down her options further. ‘Only three tents fit with what I have explored. I’ll need to eliminate these first.’ Chiharu took action starting with the closest window to her.

The shadow window gave her almost no vision on the interior of the room, just like the others. It was the reason why she couldn’t mark them off as locations. She didn’t know their contents. Each had their risks, but trusted that she could handle anything. Appearing from the shadows of the desk's leg, Chiharu’s head surfaced with just enough room for her eyes to scan the room.

Most of the room was dark. Only a dim light leaked out to give enough of a shadow to form. The darkness of the tent gave Chiharu the most trouble. However, she clearly saw that it didn’t have the brother. She disappeared and moved on to the next window.

The same results returned to her.

‘Last one…’ Chiharu tapped her hand along her weapons belt. It eased the tension in her left arm a little. She didn’t know why she felt the need for such a self-doubting touch, but it worked. Ahead of her, the last window stood ready for her. Unlike the others, the room was well lit, eliminating good shadows for her. The only shadow she could use had something blocking most of the view. She assumed the light came from above.

Her head poked through the wide shadow scanning the room. The moment she found two collapsed bodies, her eyes narrowed in confusion. ‘Something’s not right…’ She only saw two others in the room, but nothing clear. Their feet were the only thing she could see from the vantage point given. Turning around, she figured out that a chair was the source of the shadow. It made it difficult to get out. However, she understood the layout of the interior better and could take advantage of the other obscured shadows. She picked the window for its cover, but other shadows did exist. The shadows from the bodies blocked all view for her initially, but made sense to her with the new information.

Chiharu pulled back and then jumped. As she surfaced, she got a better view of the body. ‘He looks unconscious…who are the other two I saw?’ The rest presented a lot of risk for her, but she knew she had to go for it. Chiharu slowly surfaced from the shadow taking in the interior. Her view expanded over the body and gave her everything she needed. ‘There he is…and the woman…what’s she doing to him?’

Suddenly, Chiharu lost her grip on the ground. Her arm felt sluggish along with her body soon after. ‘What’s wrong with me? I feel so strange…’ Chiharu tried to focus her mind, but it only faded faster. She staggered out of the shadow disorientated. ‘Is this…those two…’ Her legs failed to give her any support. Chiharu collapsed to the ground. ‘…so tired…damn…’