***
Matt heavily breaths, the orange light radiating from him as if his armor is yet molten from a forge. Rose has labored breaths as well, her vital wound gaining tinges of red. They stare back at one another, the gap between them a wall keeping them apart. They are impressed by the other’s skills and endurance, but they can’t admire for long. Each feels they have to win at all costs, being pushed on by the instinct to protect themselves and the school. They both believe this battle won’t end until one of them can’t fight any more.
Rose shatters the wall between them by summoning another blizzard of leaves. Determined not to become defenseless again from that, Matt prepares a spell as the leaves gather around her. Rose vanishes behind the storming leaves, which approach and surround him once more. Expecting it, Matt raises his left arm and releases his black magic:
“Aeros Twistor!”
A large, ebon cyclone launches into the blizzard, and the dark wind erases the leaves. Rose correctly assumed Matt would counter another blizzard as she is outside the leaves’ area, out of reach of the cyclone. When Matt sees her, he rides toward her on air balance at high speed and prepares another spell while Rose builds up elemental power before her.
They unleash their charged energies at the same time, right before collision. Matt casts his Blastion spell, and Rose materializes a thick, wooden log to shield her. The black magic explodes through the log, sending smashed timber into the air, separating Matt and Rose as it sends her rolling from its force. After he touches down on the ground, Matt watches Rose kneeling a few yards away, seeing the red wound on her chest.
It takes him a moment to also notice the wooden debris from the log floating in the air, aimed at him like possessed spears. The timber dives at him, and a stupefied Matt has no time to dodge. They land in several parts of his body, piercing him deeply, and the wounds turn into dark red energy, the loss health spraying into the air.
Matt is immobilized by the surprise attack, both arms disabled from using swords or guns and his magic-pulse system greatly disrupted. With low health energy and no strong attacks, he can no longer fight with the skill needed to match Rose, who sprints to him with leaf daggers. Matt can’t believe it. With the last of his strength, he prepares himself for the final blow as he falls to his knees.
Chapter 6
Cracking Down on the Crown
***
Rose’s attack grinds to a stop, her feet dragged into the ground, the blades thrust forward. They reach Matt’s neck, touching for thin cuts. A small trickle of blood drips from the leaves’ sharp edges.
Rose had to halt in her finishing blow because something she didn’t believe could have happened did. Matt demorphed. She is bewildered, her reasoning scrambled by the action. Matt shivers in fear with his eyes shut tight, but when he feels himself still alive, the leaves at his neck, he slowly opens them to look at her.
Rose loses her voice for a moment, but manages to get out, “Why did you demorph? Shadow Core terrorists don’t demorph. They fight to the death.”
Matt answers, not realizing at the moment that’s why he wasn’t a terrorist. “I wanted, my parents, to say good-bye, while I still have a body.”
Rose trembles as many emotions crash and pile up in her. Before demorphing, she drops her weapons between them, also sinking to her knees. By the look on her face, her demorphing, and her body about to breakdown, Matt concludes he was wrong in any suspicions about her.
Tears appear from Rose’s eyes as she says, “Oh, Matt, I’m, what was I…” She lowers her face, unable to look at him. Matt, at first, can’t understand her crying, and reaches out to touch her. She smacks his hand away, yelping, “Please, don’t do that. How could you show pity for, for, ahh, I almost, sniff.” The tears begin to flow.
Matt finally gets it. “Rose,” he slowly says, trying to hold back his own tears, “I am at just as much fault as you. We both screwed up, we, let’s just be thankful it didn’t lead to…”
Rose interrupts him, throwing her arms around him and bitterly weeping. “Oh, Matt! How, how could we, why did we…?” She can’t restrain her emotions anymore, and the tears and sobs pour out of her against him.
Matt feels the same following her outbreak. His tears run down his face, and he whimpers right along with her. They cry without restraint, holding the other tightly, and both apologize and forgive without words. But meanwhile, on one of the rooftops of the cabins, someone has watched them during the confrontation, a sniper’s zoomed-in vision focused on them. Cussing to herself, she takes her left-arm rifle off her target, turns away, and hops off the roof and out-of-sight, as if she had never been there.
***
Some time later, Sean and Dante stroll towards the cabin sites, arriving at the seniors’ plot first. The freshmen’s are on the far opposite side of the clearing, a few minutes away yet. They walk relatively slow, thinking there was no longer need to rush in their actions. It has been about ten minutes since they fought James.
They are both silent the whole way, each one minding to their own thoughts. Dante wonders to what extent James’ talking with Matt and Rose could be, while Sean plans what he’d do later that night. But then, he remembers something he could chat about with Dante. “So, how are your fighting techniques coming along?”
Dante exhales the last smoke of his cigarette, which he drops second-mindedly. “Fine, to a small degree. I’m not as gifted as others when it comes to expansion.”
Sean understands the comment, smirking, and asks, “Well, have you had any progress? Have any of your attacks become more, ah, sophisticated?”
“Maybe. I’m doing some experiments right now, and they seem to indicate my sword-swinging needs some work. My attacks are fast, but they don’t cut deep, and I can’t get past a strong defense, as you may have noticed against James earlier. Therefore, I need to figure out some way to allow my sword to cause greater damage, but without slowing down its speed or building up momentum with air balance.”
Sean tries to follow him, but only some of the details stick. “Wait a minute. All you want is to make your strokes stronger? Why don’t you use both hands as the base for your sword, then?”
Dante admits, “True, that would be the most direct solution. But it does present a big disadvantage. When I do that, the sword becomes heavier, and it makes my reactions to things around me slower. So I need to find some other way to…”
“How good are you with air balancing?”
Dante looks confused when asking, “How is air balance going to help my swordsmanship?”
“A lot, actually! I mean, take me, for example. I use my air balance not only for high agility, but also as a force behind my attacks. Plus, I’ve lately noticed that, by merely concentrating air around me, I can then put it into my attacks. Therefore, I can do harm to my opponent even without having to fly around first!”
Understanding what he is saying, Dante thinks about it. “If what you say is true, then I could use my air balance to be the force behind my sword’s attacks.”
“Yep, that’s what I’m saying!”
Nodding, Dante adds, “And, I’ve even discovered that I can gather air around my blade and then whip it out as gales of wind. But I haven’t thought of a use for that, yet.”
“Hey, I can do that, too! Well, I don’t do it too often, either, but I have it in case I need it. So, think that solves your problem?”
Dante thinks for a moment, running simulations of techniques in his head, before nodding. “Yes, I do believe it does. I’ll have to practice a little, but I think I can put together my swordsmanship and air balance.” He glances at Sean. “Thanks for the tip.”
“Not a problem,” he proudly responds. But he then realizes what he just did. “Oh no! If I’m supposed to avenge myself for you failing me last year, you getting more powerful is a bad thing!”
“Not for me,” Dante smirks, annoying Sean as the freshmen cabins come into view.
***
Meanwhile, in their ca
bin, Matt and Rose take a shower together again. There was no objection or hesitation between them, they just did it, without a word between them. It proves to be just the thing they need to calm themselves and clear their minds. The warm water and vapor relieves their aching bodies, and the other’s touch as they somberly wash each other is a reassurance that they are alive, that there are no secrets between them, and that they are truly sorry and willing to forgive for their paranoia earlier. A few times during their bathing, Rose tightly embraces Matt, pressing her body close against his, and they stay like that for a moment, holding the other compassionately, feeling each other’s hearts beat to the same rhythm, to heal the bond between them almost broken.
During one of the moments of embrace, Matt asks, “Should we tell anyone what happened?”
“No,” Rose responds. “If anybody asks or needs to know, just say we had a practice sparring.”
Matt nods in agreement as their embrace ends and she turns away, letting him scrub down her back with the soapy sponge. He says, “It was an amazing fight, if you look on the bright side. You fought very well, and proved the better by beating me.”
“Thanks. Did you know some of those techniques were ninjutsu?”
“Oh, no. So that’s ninjutsu. Is it really a rare and hard martial art to learn?”
“Usually, unless you are in my family. The Alamence bloodline has all the martial arts built into different members. Therefore, we are perhaps the most specialized Elemental Artists in the nation.”
Matt thinks on it before saying, “So, it’s natural for you to be a ninja, and you pursuing mastership of it isn’t because you were planning on an illegal career.”
Rose, confused by his reference, turns back to face him, allowing him to wash her chest and waist. “Why would you think using ninjutsu points to being a criminal? It doesn’t matter what your power is, what matters is how you use it.”
Matt becomes embarrassed from her rebuke of what he said before he explains, “Well, that’s how I learned about it. I was told ninjutsu was the most successful technique for assassinations.”
Rose wonders two things at once. Why hadn’t she ever told him about her martial art, and how did he learn enough about it to get the wrong idea about her? She knows one of the answers, she never thought anyone would suspect another of killing. They could all kill, really! As the sponge in Matt’s hand goes lower than her waist, causing her to slightly gasp and close her eyes while he washes her sensitive area, she is more concerned of how he got his information when she asks, “Did you say someone told you about ninjutsu?”
“Yeah. James did. James Iroshen. It sounded like he knew what was talking about, and I guess I overreacted to it.”
Matt mentioning James surprises and confuses Rose while the sponge strokes down her legs. Could it have been a creepy coincidence, or something more sinister? “James, huh? That’s strange, I was approached by him today, too, and he told me about that new tactic of the Shadow Core terrorists.”
Matt comes up with the same eerie question Rose has as he straightens up, handing the sponge to Rose. “Why would you think I was from the S.C. just because James gave you some information about them?”
Rose shrugs before taking the sponge and running it across his chest. “He was worried you might be an undercover terrorist, and asked me to interrogate you thoroughly.”
“Yeah, and he feared you were some professional assassin with a mission from Riaquen.” The pieces of the puzzle come together in Matt while Rose works the sponge down his body. James was a boss student. James told him something to suspect Rose, and then James told Rose something to suspect of him. He doesn’t care when the talks had all happened or how. The only thing he thinks matters is why. An answer soon comes to him, which pales his face and expands the width of his eyes. “I can’t believe it.”
“Believe what?” Rose asks, pausing in her scrubbing him and standing to look him in the eye.
“I’ve an idea of what James did to us. He made us so anxious about the other, we had the misconception to fight each other and cause serious injury, or worse. And, I have a guess of why he would do such a thing. He was working for Cain.” The meaning of this conclusion sinks deep into Rose and Matt, a moment passes before Matt suddenly feels weak and embraces Rose first, and another moment goes by as their deep and delicate touch comforts each other.
***
Sean and Dante arrive at Sean’s cabin soon after the freshmen cabins come into view. Sean turns around to Dante and says, “A simple knock on the door should determine if Matt or Rose are here.” He then bangs his fist hard on the front door several times.
A familiar female voice is heard through the door. “Who is it, and what do you want?”
“Ah, hello Rose!” Sean replies. “I’ve got Dante with me, and he was wondering if we could show the place around to him, and, you know, chat a little. Shall we let him in?”
There’s a moment of no response. Sean and Dante exchange glances, curious of why she didn’t respond, but the door soon swings open. Before they can walk forward, Rose grabs them by their coats’ collars and yanks them inside.
As soon as they’re in, Rose slams the door closed, making Sean and Dante jolt further. She walks over to the couch, where Matt sits with his head facing down. They both have only a bath towel wrapped around themselves, and her hair hangs like it was still wet from water.
Sean is stupefied from the strange scene before him. Both Matt and Rose in a towel, and her hair was still wet. What did he just miss is his immediate thought. He asks, “Hey, guys, what’s going on?” Dante is as baffled as him, shown by his raised eyebrows marking confusion.
Rose ignores their questioning looks and says to Matt, “You tell them, I’ll be getting dressed.” She heads upstairs to her bedroom, closing the door behind her, and for an instant Sean and Dante can’t help but look after her.
When they return their attention to Matt, they see him raise his head to them, and they match gazes with him. His eyes glare into them, the violet irises darker and more ferocious than they have ever seen them. They also notice the newfound scars across his neck, but are too surprised by Matt’s fierce look to linger long on them. Before either of them could ask, Matt asks instead, “Sean, James Iroshen is a senior boss student, right?”
Sean answers, “Yes, that’s correct. And, uh, speaking of him…”
Matt cuts him off when he asks, “And Dante, does he have his own vanguards that do dirty work for him?”
Dante nods and replies, “Yes, but not as many as the other boss students. Just a few lackeys and such, or whatever woman he’s currently dating. Why do you need to know that?”
Matt sighs, clasps his fingers together, and says, “I’d better explain, so listen closely. I don’t want to repeat myself.” He tells them about what James told him and Rose and what had happened up to now, leaving out the battle and substituting it with a heated argument.
Sean is shocked and can’t get over it, but Dante begins to understand. He says, “So what do you plan on doing now? I wouldn’t worry about dealing with James anymore, Sean and I took care of him.”
Matt nods before explaining, “I have a hunch that he was acting for Cain, who must have masterminded turning Rose and I against each other. This was probably his attempt at degrading me, he was hoping I would go and do something terrible and get myself into big trouble. Fortunately, Rose and I were able to not go that far. But now, I want to return the favor. If he thinks he can toy and play with other people’s emotions, especially me and Rose’s, I would have him see he is greatly mistaken.”
Sean and Dante understand what he wants to do, and are suddenly eager to cooperate. Sean asks with a smirk as he cracks his knuckles, “So, how are we gonna trash him?”
Matt nods to Sean, but asks Dante, “If you see any of Cain’s henchmen, do you think you could trim them up in regards from me?”
“Of course,” he replies, his golden eyes twinkling.
“And Sean, you’
ve got a knack for conversation, right? How about tarnishing Cain’s name to everyone you can?”
“Oh sure, I can do that,” he replies with a grin. “And besides, now I can defend myself from whoever tries shutting me up!”
“True.” Matt leans back in the couch, but keeps his determination on. “Finally, all of us, you two, your pals, me, and Rose, have to start fighting and winning more battles in my support. I think the best place to do that would be the pit arena at the casino, so we could also win much of the money and take that away from Cain. If he thinks he can outwit and overwhelm me, I’ll prove him wrong. Our demonstrations are going to take the student community by storm, and we’re going to break it upon Cain and his allies.”
Impressed by his plan, Dante says, “Not bad, Matt. I couldn’t have thought of that better myself. Do you mind me asking how you came up with it, with you being new to all this?”
Smirking, Matt replies in a calm tone, “It’s simple, Dante. My parents didn’t just teach me how to fight my battles, but also how to pick them. I took what I’ve recently learned here, and used it to create a strategy for us to teach Cain a very important lesson. The bigger you are, the harder you fall!”
***
“ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!? THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!!” Cain’s fists slam the table before him in his dark-lit room, an infuriated look in his eyes as he glares between the other three in the room, James, the man known as Buster, and a woman. “It’s impossible that Matt Calamos, the Dark Warrior, could have lost that fight!” He begins pacing back and forth, muttering things under his breath as he tries to understand how his plan had gone wrong. He then whirls on the woman, demanding, “Why didn’t you shoot that broad Rose sooner!?”
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