Flickering Flame

The pain in Stamatia’s shoulder knocked her to one knee. She gritted her teeth tightly, a long forgotten yet still painfully familiar position. The act of appearing submissive, she hated it. She endured it, but couldn’t stand it either. Stamatia promised herself that she would never allow anyone else to face such shame. Yet she found herself back at the beginning.

Calling up flames from her mind, the Field erupted into a wave of screaming fire expanding out from her. The flames burned hotter and taller than before completely surrounding her. She drove away Fumiko, forced to escape. It bought her time.

She sighed a bit as the pain calmed for her. The full release of the Field eased up her mind. Unlike many MP users, she restricted her Field heavily. It required a significant drain on her focus and mental energies to keep it up, but it was necessary. In full release, her Field became a blazing wildfire that filled her entire Field with the exception of her center. It made it almost impossible for anyone to step inside, meaning she couldn’t be of use as a MP.

Fumiko retreated until the fire came to a stop. However, she could see that the fire ended far too abruptly and sharply to actually be the end. She still had little interaction with the powers that Yuki used, but what she saw fit with her basic understanding. ‘This is her limit…the edge of her Field…she can’t touch me here…’ The last strike she thought turned the advantage back to her, but with the Field changing she no longer felt certain. A forty-meter diameter mass of flame seemed a little impossible to just wipe away. ‘I’ll need to figure something else out…’

Chapter 145 – Flickering Flame

Nothing immediately came to her. She didn’t know enough about the properties of the swarm. Using her blue flame hand, she began drawing magic together for a spell. If she needed more information, she would just have to get it the hard way.

Making use of the extra time she had, since her villain made no movements, Fumiko gathered up more than she had previously. The blue flame grew to fill her hand fully. A white raging core flickered at the center through the layers of soft blues. Fumiko glanced over at the thick wall. She doubted much would happen, but she needed to gauge matters.

She threw it into the flames.

It didn’t immediately explode as it had before when connecting with another flame. The ball penetrated the outer layers punching a hole through. Eventually the blast came, the release of energy created a fierce scalding wind. It was as if a closed pot with steamed water opened and the initial touch of it escaping burned the arm, however it had hundred fold the range and ten times the temperature of just boiled water. For Fumiko, the effects felt reduced significantly. She just stood there watching it all.

Before the field automatically sealed up the area, she witnessed a penetration of three meters and a blast radius of at least five meters. Unfortunately, she still had twelve meters even to touch the woman. The defense that Stamatia erected didn’t make much sense to Fumiko. It allowed for little other action. ‘What’s she up to in there? Is this part of a new plan?’

The recovery time that the Field bought her gave her the time to tend to her injury. She managed to keep the bleeding to a minimum with her fire armor acting as a bandage. Since their powers didn’t actually work on themselves, she couldn’t actually use it to seal up the wounds. However, she was thankful that the wounds weren’t as deep as she originally feared.

She flexed her arm testing out her strength and mobility. Most of her arm still functioned as she needed it to, but it was less important to her. She didn’t need the arm for her fight. It was all Field manipulation, mental control. The worst it caused her was infrequent intervals of sharp pain with a general dull burn.

Through her Field, she felt the blast made by Fumiko. The disruption in her flame echoed back to her. It reminded her of the position she knelt in.

Two shadows stood over her in self-entitled superiority staring down in contempt.

She stood back up on her two feet shaking away the image. Her mind pushed it as far back as possible. It surfaced at the worst possible time for her. Stamatia needed to focus on stopping the threat to her hard worked peace. She couldn’t allow anyone to step on what she desperately struggled to achieve.

Laughter echoed in the back of her mind. It drew redness into her ears.

Stamatia tightened her fists, burning the flames brighter around her. The brilliance of their core focused her eyes forward. Drawing strength back to her body, she felt the lingering bits of pain fading. Her mind found focus and sealed the fire in her Field. ‘I have to keep moving forward. I fight to prevent the past from repeating…’

Saving the last bit of fire, Stamatia began gathering it together. She knew with the barrier that she saw previously that numerous attacks had no effect. It left her with only overwhelming power, a battle of wills to determine who held the strongest resolve. Stamatia needed a decisive strike that put control back in her hands. She believed in her power and justice. Her strength came from the countless around her that she bore injustice so that they could know peace again. ‘…a repeating past…’

She saw that Fumiko gathered up another attack with her blue flame. It had only been used a couple of times, but she already understood the dangerousness of it. The power that came from it wasn’t the same as the past flames used. Watching Fumiko build up her flame made her see that she felt the same suddenly. They decided to put it all on the line to crush the other. Stamatia wouldn’t give up. She funneled everything in her flame and stepped closer. She needed all of the strength possible. All of the moments before would undo if she failed. She couldn’t accept it. It would invalidate her existence. ‘I’m right!’

Blood’s familiar taste ran over her lips. The hard stone floor crushed against her face. Echoes rang back to her. ‘I’m right! Otherwise, it was all meaningless! I won’t let it be meaningless! I was saving them! This will protect them!’ A foot leaned on her head. Laughter poured through her ears.

In her effort to build up her resolve to face Fumiko, she unknowingly relived her memories. Painful scars remained both on her body and within. Their shapes carved her heart to the form she held in her hands now.

She had to live out her early childhood during the ending years of the rebellion that threatened to bring down Atlantis. Throughout most of the period of the rebellion, the atmosphere was one of unrest and minor disturbances. However, the rebellion reached a climax while she was a child. A teenage woman deemed a prodigy of the MP arts became their leader and unified their cause in a way no one expected. The result became out right conflict with the military.

Stamatia’s family managed to remain largely unaffected by the rebellion during its active years. Their collapse came to a startling conclusion, one that left ripples throughout the country. Ripples Stamatia felt years later.

They found her when she was eleven. She entered the military academy then. ‘It was only a few years after the conclusion of the rebellion, but the King enforced heavy restrictions on all MPs as a result. They were the cause of the rebellion. So they had to be kept in check.’ Military training was harsh by itself, but Stamatia had to face the other aspect of her. One she couldn’t hide.

Laughter surrounded her, but she couldn’t see their faces. All she could see was the stone that made the courtyard of the academy. A heavy foot kept her head from moving and forced her skin to polish the stone. In the distance, a commanding voice broke through everything. It silenced the laughter. Everyone froze.

“What’s going on here?” demanded the officer. None of them gave an answer. They only stood at attention. He looked down at Stamatia trying to herself up. “Why aren’t you standing at attention? Don’t you know how to respect a superior officer?”

Stamatia fought with her legs to force herself to stand, but the pain bolted up her muscles. She bit through the screaming to keep her voice silent. It took her two more attempts before she managed to bring herself up. The man, one of their instructors, glared down at her. He saw no child before him, only a soldier. It made his eyes unsympathetic and worse filled with disdain.

“Nothing?” he remarked on the silence. The man turned away and began to leave. “Just make sure I don’t see it happen. Dismissed!”

“Yes, sir!” snapped everyone. The cadets began to disperse, most having lost the interest in beating up a MP user. However, one made sure to bump accidentally into her as they passed by.

The force against her was enough to send everything off balance. All of the adrenaline that she mustered to stand for the officer faded. Her pain returned with the scrapping of her broken bone in her leg. She collapsed to the stone panting heavily, her leg already discolored. They all left her alone in the courtyard without enough strength in her voice to call for help. ‘Someone’ll be by eventually… I just have to keep going…’

Nearly an hour later, another MP user found Stamatia passed out. Her untended leg caused havoc within her body. As expected of the MP, she awoke without injury or flaw. All that she felt was the fatigue and the sound of the laughter.

“How are you feeling?” asked the stranger.

She looked up weakly trying to see who helped her. The sun made it difficult for her to make them out, but they sounded older than her. “Yes, thank you. I’ll be fine.”

They helped her back to her feet. “You know if you used your power you can defend yourself. They don’t have the right to treat you like this.”

Stamatia turned her eyes away from the stranger. She already tried as they suggested. ‘I was hurt a lot worse when I fought back…I thought I was going to die…’ The memory impressed a terrible scar on her body. Her hand subconsciously stroked her stomach where they cut her deeply. She pushed away from the stranger and stumbled away. “I’ll be fine.”

“My name is Paian Orestis! You don’t need to be afraid! If we stick together we can look out for each other!”

A bit of shock poured through Stamatia. She turned on her stopped feet to look back. ‘A surname… a noble?!’ The honor of a surname meant the family or individual came highly respected. They were above the commoners, but not because of wealth. Something happened that the King recognized their value to Atlantis.

She couldn’t believe that someone like that helped her and stood before her encouraging. She would have thought that they would back the King’s decree. It made her hesitate. A new thought she didn’t consider surfaced for Stamatia. ‘…is it possible?’

Stamatia thought she found a glimmer of hope. She was too young to do anything about the system. Her only conclusion was to pass through with as little problem as possible. Yet he offered her a different answer. He provided her comfort. He helped many of the younger MP users that suffered from the same prejudice.

And the King destroyed even that piece of hope.

“Paian! Paian!” screamed Stamatia.

“Stop, Stamatia! You can’t go to him!”

“You’ll only be caught!”

Two teens, a little older than her, held her arms to keep her from running into the presentation grounds. There was nothing any of them could do. The King found Paian guilty of conspiring and recruiting insurrectionists. His honor was stripped from him and they left him to die a symbol to the rest.

Stamatia collapsed in tears along with the others that Paian helped. They hid away from everyone on the second floor of one of the training halls. She didn’t understand it. “Why? We’re the same as them!”

“Bastard! Damn King!”

“He’s one of us, too! So why is he treating us like this?”

“All he cares about is keeping Atlantis from collapsing! He doesn’t care what happens to us!”

“Did you hear that they passed more decrees against us MPs?”

“What?! How much more until they’re happy?”

“Do they want all of us to die?”

“No,” replied Stamatia. She wiped away her tears and stood up. It all happened too fast for her, but she came to her answer. ‘Paian…that wasn’t the way…the only way is…’ Stamatia took a few steps away from them with her back to them. “We exist and we’ll keep existing. I’ll take whatever they’ll dish out. The only way is to survive and change them from within. I’ll take it all until they’re tired. So no one else must!”

Night returned to Stamatia, leaving her memories behind. They re-enforced her resolve and flowed into her strength. She charged forward, growing her flame larger. As she reached the range she desired, the ball of wild fire compressed. Her mind forced it into a dense energy. The mental energy she spent made her sweat with fatigue. “This is my answer!”

Fumiko finished her casting at the time that Stamatia launched her attack. The casting forced her to stand still and accept the closer distance. She didn’t know what the clash would be at their distance. However, she knew she couldn’t have any doubt. Her blue flame burned with ribbons of magic spinning around and through it in a multi-latticed pattern. Symbols and characters churned about the swarming mass. “This is my resolve!”

Both women threw their flames at the same time. Not even a second had to pass before the two massive spheres of fire clashed in the middle. The two energies fought and sparked turning into angry flares that whipped out limbs. Each limb wrapped around scraping through like dragons unwilling to give in.

Neither fighter relented in their struggle. Everything came down to their wills. Even with the fires blasting out shockwaves, they didn’t explode. Their masters kept feeding them to keep them alive. The fuel made them glow brighter and rage unrestrained. However, one had to give eventually.

The signal to the end came with a prelude in the form of a quake. Breaking up the earth underneath and cracking out from the epicenter, all those around knew the moment was about to come. A few cracks of light broke out from the collision. The beams seared everything they touched. Smoke rose up prior to the explosion that erupted. It blinded everything in the area while sending gale force winds outward.

Waves of torrents pulsed from the cooling core of fire. Fumiko barely held on against the forces that threatened to cast her aside. The heat baked her skin. She wasn’t certain what results would come from their clash, but it exceeded all of her thoughts. ‘Almost over…’

Fumiko read the blast correctly. It began to calm and the blinding light faded away. The battered, burnt and crushed environment around the crater of their attacks measured the destructive nature. Through the dispersing heat, Stamatia clutched a driven wood pole. Her hand extended for guiding support. “It’s all over!”

Her reaction came too late. Fumiko didn’t even know what happened until it was already done. Error was the only thing that saved her life. A spinning sword of fire disappeared out of range of Stamatia’s Field. However, her face turned white in shock before blood sprayed across her face. The pain hadn’t even reached her brain yet as she looked down to find her arm missing from the upper arm down. Her eyes widened and pupils shrank in horror-filled shock.