"Beautiful…" Dignitas remarked as he fended off Lorelai's slashes.
In just a short period of time, she had exceeded him in sword prowess, and was quite literally overpowering him with ease. Every slash, stab, and cut she made had unpredictability behind it, leaving even Dignitas unable to see where she would hit next… even with Death's Vision!
A sword style so unpredictable that even a skill Dignitas prided on being able to correctly tell the next move of his opponent, failed to successfully predict?
"Lorelai…"
"What? Come to beg for your life now that you're losing?" She replied in between slashes.
"No. I just want to say… you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life."
A statement that Lorelai believed a person like Dignitas would ever say! This person who rarely ever showed emotion had just said the equivalent of confessing one's love.
"Wh–what are you saying?"
"Nothing, don't mind me. Let's get back to the fight, shall we?" Dignitas shook his head.
The two fell back for a split second to rest their sword-arms, before once again engaging in a close range sword fight.
Lorelai's attacks were always the first to be sent out, but were somehow always narrowly deflected by Dignitas.
This battle had just begun, yet the victor would ultimately be decided by whoever's next strike would hit. That was what Dignitas thought.
***
"Please teach me swordsmanship!"
A young Lorelai, about ten or eleven years in age, could be seen prostrating in front of a middle aged man. Both of them were wearing outfits karate practicers would wear, and young Lorelai's hair was tied in a small ponytail.
"Hoho. That's surprising to hear, coming from you, Lorelai. I thought you gave up the sword the day your mother died. Why the sudden interest?"
"Mother always said my destiny was the sword, like hers. But I stubbornly chose to use the bow, because I believed I could do better with it."
"And the result was?" The man asked, despite already knowing the answer.
"I failed, sir! I lost first place to a student from a household nobody knows! If I were to have used the sword in our battle, then I would've won!"
"You've got the idea, but your heart isn't there, little Lorelai." The man responded. "Do you know why I let you keep using the bow, despite being your swordsmanship teacher?"
"No, sir."
"It is because I saw your passion for the bow. It was pure, fiery, and most of all… real. Do not let the thought of winning get to your head. Now tell me, Lorelai. What weapon do you want to use?"
"I want to use… the bow, sir."
"There's your answer. Whatever weapon you might choose, whatever path you might follow, just remember. As long as your heart is in that same place, you will win your battles."
***
"Yes, that's it. Defeat me with your sword… see your talent in the sword!" Dignitas screamed inwardly.
This whole display of power by Lorelai was simply too exciting for Dignitas to register. She was singlehandedly pushing him back with her sword, and her sword alone! No bow, no arrow! Nothing else.
Perhaps, Dignitas was much too entranced with Lorelai that the thought of using his signature adrenaline rush or even Distortion Slash never entered his mind.
He merely stayed silent as he cheerfully deflected Lorelai's hits one by one.
But that time had to come eventually. Dignitas was getting tired, and the same went for Lorelai.
However, as if there was something pushing her to win, Lorelai never stopped swinging, unlike Dignitas.
One swing. Two swings. Three swings. Four swings. Five swings….
She suddenly stopped.
"What? What happened?" Dignitas asked, confused as to why Lorelai had stopped swinging.
"Follow where my heart is…" Lorelai murmured. "Follow my heart. But where is my heart?"
Ting! She dropped her sword. And with perhaps the biggest switch of the century, she pulled out her bow and nocked an arrow.
"My heart… is in the bow," Lorelai smiled, before letting the bowstring loose.
"What…"
Dignitas wasn't able to register what happened. Why did she switch? Why… why did she pull out her bow and fired an arrow, when she could've ended it with one more swing?
He felt an anger welling up within him. It was weird. This was unlike him, and yet… he felt so angry. Why didn't she just obediently do as she was supposed to do?
"Why did you do it!? Why!? You just had to swing once! That was it! Why didn't you just do as you were destined to do!?!?"
"I don't know what's gotten into your head, Dignitas, but I think I get the idea. What's been happening to me… why you've been trying to tell me to use the sword all this time. You've been trying to get us to do your bidding. And for what? I don't know." She replied, wiping the sweat off her cheek.
"But remember this. People's lives aren't to be molded to how you see fit. We play our own stories, and you don't have the right to control us."
Just then… an unimaginable amount of pressure descended upon the classroom. It was just the classroom, and only it alone that felt this pressure that was out of this world.
The energy felt… foreign. At least that's how Lorelai described it. Amidst all the different things she was feeling right now, that was the only thing she could discern.
Then suddenly, her body began floating in the air, as did everything else in the classroom did. The chairs, tables, books that were left behind, and even the arrows she had fired… they all floated harmlessly, as if the entire classroom had become the outer reaches of space.
She tried to move… she couldn't. She looked. The source of this phenomenon. It was clearly Dignitas Qwerdan. But how? He was in an unconscious state. And most importantly… how was he doing this?
"That is not for you to decide."
A voice that didn't belong to Dignitas. It spoke as if there were multiple people speaking at the same time. Masculine, feminine, child, adult… they all spoke in unison.
"You say you understand… but you never do. You can never comprehend… what is coming. You can never comprehend… how it will come. You will never comprehend… why it came."
"He is doing this for your sake, don't you see? He is doing this for everyone's sake, don't you see? He is doing this for his sake, I see!"
"Ah, but when it comes… it will be difficult. You will not know. They will not know. I will not know. No one will know… except the one above all. He plans, has planned, and will plan everything that has, has been, and will be. Because that is Fa…"
"But I/we/they shall leave him to his devices, and you to your own. When you wake up, you will not remember this. You will simply understand that you defeated him in battle. Such are the cruelties of life, that even the creator has to lose."
"Wait!" Lorelai pleaded.
"Speak, child. For the time I/we/they have left in this world is little."
"What is this? What is happening?"
"What is this? I/we/they could ask the same thing about everything. But to answer your question… this is Dignitas. Yes, this is Dignitas."
"Tell me! Who is Dignitas?!"
"Oh, I/we/they will tell you. But you will not like the answer."
"Tell me! I want to know!"
"Unfortunately, I/we/they have decided against it. Do not fret, child. For you and Dignitas will share many more moments in the years to come. Whether they be good or bad…"
"If you're not gonna tell me, then answer my other question!"
"What is happening? Who knows? Why should we know? How should you know? When will we know? Whose is it to know?"
"As I/we/they have answered, this is Dignitas."