1
Hmmm… Something's definitely wrong here. They both look like they've been… crying? Fena was completely stumped.
Upon returning to the group after being at the mercy of her own fascination with the wonders of the world around her and wandering off, Fena found herself completely lost in the stark mood change that had befallen Lady Ember and Koria. The entire walk to the Academy, the pair had remained completely silent. Not a single word. Not even so much as an exchange of glances.
Instead of holding hands like before, the girls positioned themselves either side of Fena—though neither of them were within arm's reach—leading the way.
Koria's steps were intentful and mature, almost too intentional, as though she were making a concerted effort to behave as "normally" as possible.
Lady Ember's steps were hasty and stilted, like she was playing a game of tug of war with herself, one side fighting to stride out ahead of the group, whilst the other wanted to avoid causing a scene.
Stranded between the pair of them, Fena felt her breath's hastening and her heart thumping away in her chest, tet in spite of being in such a position, she couldn't imagine ever feeling any further away from the two of them than she felt right now. It was terribly lonely.
—Well, they only said they'd help get me here… It's not as though we're actually friends, right? that awful feeling stirred inside of Fena's stomach once again. She punched herself—hard—digging and twisting her knuckles in right where she felt it festering.
Abruptly breaking the silence, Koria finally spoke. "This is where we shall be parting ways," she muttered, plainly looking ahead.
Towering over the trio were a set of ginormous, magnificent shining silver gates that led into a sprawling garden-like area which served as a social space, and on occasion even a training space, for the academy's main building. Hung over the gates were a myriad of flags sporting all sorts of different colours and symbols of which Fena was none the wiser as to what they represented, aside from one in particular that immediately struck her as familiar thanks to the day's events thus far: a red and white flag with streaks of gold and in it's centre, a red phoenix spreading its wings over a fire surrounded by people with their hands raised— the flag of the Ember Clan.
As she continued to observe the flags, another one, a bright green flag with streaks of purple and white, caught her eye. Fena racked her brain, wondering just what about it made it feel so familiar to her, "Ohh I remember," Fena pointed toward the flag. "That looks like that fairy! The one Lady Ember gave to that old man earlier." she said, shamelessly applauding her keen eye with a "Hmph!" as she puffed out her chest.
"The academy's main building is straight ahead. That is where you must register."
Ouch… Well that sucked—I can't leave things like this, right?
Fena's palms clammed up, a chilled sweat made her clothes stick uncomfortably to her back. For a brief moment, Fena wondered whether the pair were actually upset with her. Was it because I wandered off? she thought—Koria never offered to hold her hand, Ruby looked furious, but also deeply upset and neither of them would even so much as look at her… but they'd still stuck to their promise of guiding Fena to the Shinobi Academy.
Giving up on her futile speculations that were only leading her in circles, Fena brushed the fingertips of her shaky right hand over the shaved sides of her head as she asked, "So… Uh… D-did you both have a fight or… something?"
Bingo.
In perfect synchronisation, the pair in question both snapped their necks towards each other, as if to check whether either of them had been foolish enough to give the game away and then winded their necks away from each other in the opposite direction, as though they were blaming one another for making it so obvious.
Lady Ember pulled a sour, stroppy face, folding her arms and narrowing her thin brows out toward the distance whilst tapping her foot against the floor—Fena could practically see the steam blowing out of her ears.
Whereas Koria looked awfully upset, stoic and silent, save for some sniffles, as she gazed wistfully at the ground beneath her, clutching both her hands to her chest.
A cheeky, nervous chuckle escaped Fena's mouth, they remind you of anyone, mom?
Fena sucked in a deep, deep breath. She'd fallen out and made back up with her mother many times—especially in the last few months—but poking her head into someone else's business like this wasn't at all the same. She couldn't shake the image in her head of being some sort of intruder, trespassing upon a sanctified space unseen to the eye but housed within the heart that she'd no right to enter. The thought of interfering any more than she already had done was making her tremble.
She thought really hard about what would be the right thing to say, and when that didn't really work, she tried to think of what her mother might say—she always knew the right thing to say… but right now, she wasn't here.
In spite of that fact, one that made her feel a sudden pang of guilt, Fena's left hand slid down to Bolt's hilt and she refused to be defeated by her own inexperience. "Uh… l-look, I've never really done this before, I don't have any friends and… heck—even my workahlolic mom never seems to listen to me anymore either, so here goes nothing!" she shouted.
"You don't always need to have things figured out before you've even begun trying" is what her mother had always taught her and though that advice was geared toward figuring out how to defeat an opponent in combat, Fena viewed solving this spat as just that—The strongest Shinobi should be able to solve any problem, either with their fists or with their words, Fena told herself.
She stomped her foot onto the ground and lifted Bolt high above her head whilst pointing toward Lady Ember with her free hand, striking an eccentric pose that she'd definitely not practised in the mirror countless times before and shifting between her and Koria as she spoke, "I dunno what the hecks happened with you two but… I really wanna help! Me and my mom, we get into fights like this all the time—actually… I got lost today because we had a fight, and I ran off… W-what I mean is, it's okay to have fights and to get mad at each other, as long as you say sorry in the end and… stuff."
Whilst Lady Ember didn't so much as even flinch, Koria raised her head from the ground and looked toward Fena with a weak smile.
Okay, halfway there, Fena thought—just a little more and she'd get through to Lady Ember for sure. "I can help you, I know I can. I heard your brother's gonna be fighting today—"
Suddenly, Lady Ember shuddered. An icy finger glided across Fena's neck as an overwhelming pressure filled the air. Lady Ember's head slowly turned towards her, eyes stretched to their limits.
"W-well, uhh—oh! Here, how about this…" Fena rested her chin upon the gap between her thumb and pointer finger, pausing for a moment as she frantically attempted to get her thoughts in order, "Let's just call this, 'Facts About Fena'! Here's fact number one, I never was allowed to go to school, so I've never properly graduated. That means I'll be seeded low right? Chances are, you'll get to see me kick his butt and—"
Before Fena could even blink, Lady Ember had stormed right up to her, grabbing a fistful of her clothes and speaking with a venom in her voice that chilled Fena to her core. "Listen to me closely," she hissed. In the centre of her blue eyes, a pure, festering white swelled, slowly engulfing the darkness of her pupils as she leaned in closer and ground her teeth, "If you are matched against my brother, do not fight him—forfeit."
"W-what? W-why? But I'll fail. If I fail, then I can't—"
"I DON'T CARE!" Lady Ember screamed, shoving Fena and sending her crashing into the gates behind her.
Fena gripped Bolt tight, ready to launch her response—but caught herself before she could act—stunned completely still by the tears streaming down Lady Ember's distraught face.
Why? Fena despaired. Why was this girl so hurt? Why was she so angry? Why wouldn't she let her help?
It hurts… She makes me hurt inside, but why? What's wrong with me? Fena's chest felt so hot, yet so cold. It didn't make any sense. None of this was making any sense.
Was her strength really not enough to solve this problem? Lady Ember's father was treating her awfully and so was her brother, her brother was competing today and so was Fena, so the only way to help Lady Ember out was for Fena to show her that she was stronger than her brother, then she would have no reason to not trust in Fena or believe that she could protect her—Fena just couldn't understand where it was that she went wrong.
"I-I truly am sorry for this, Fena," Koria said, unable to hold back her tears. She snatched Lady Ember's arm and yanked at it, "We shall be taking our leave now."
And just like that, the two girls that Fena had hoped to call her friends by the end of the day were gone, leaving her all alone once again.
2
Fena sat slumped against the gates, not moving an inch from where Lady Ember had pushed her. Countless people passed her by, filtering in and out of the venue, walking and talking and laughing—it was all so loud, so frighteningly loud. The sea of faces she was stranded amongst began to all blur together and that feeling, that awful feeling, sunk its teeth into her wavering heart once again.
Fena's eyes clouded, "I haven't changed," she murmured, as she hugged her knees into her chest and buried her head in them. "I'll… I'll never change."
The spectre of her younger self that she thought she'd left strapped to a hospital bed skulked about the halls of her mind, taunting her with a fiendish smile. Fena couldn't be that same girl anymore, otherwise they'd take her mother away from her for good, but no matter how hard she'd tried to forget her, that helpless little girl was, and always would be, just as much a part of her as her own shadow.
Fena cried. She cried and cried and kept on crying. It felt like she'd been crying for hours. She felt as though all she could do was cry. She knew that she had to get up, her dream was supposed to start turning into a reality from this day forward, but Lady Ember… That amazing, stupid, confusing yet special girl had snatched her beating heart right out from her chest, stuffed it full of feelings and thoughts that Fena couldn't even begin to understand and then smashed that same heart into tiny pieces, leaving Fena all alone to pick the pieces back up.
In the depths of her despair, Fena dared to ponder a possibility that would snuff the flickering flames in her scarlet eyes completely. Whilst covering her mouth with her quivering hands, she dared to asked herself, "What if… Mom—could she ever feel that way about me…?"
"—Umm, hey? Are you lost? Oh—n-no, wait a sec, there's no way you'd be lost sittin' right outside the academy on the day of the Ritual, right?" a chirpy voice asked, laughing nervously. "You worried about your match or somethin'? Trust me, I get it. Honestly, I'm pretty terrified myself, but you gotta do what you gotta do, ya know?"
Fena kept her head buried into her thighs. What the heck do you know? she thought, as she held her breath and squeezed her stomach in tight, hoping that the boy would just leave her alone.
Instead, slowly, he shuffled toward her. He'd slide one of his feet forward and the sound of his footwear scuffing at the ground would scrape at Fena's ears, there'd be an awkward silence for a few moments… and then he'd do it again.
Fena tried to compose herself, hold back the tears for just long enough so that she could tell him to go away, but she knew that if she tried, the words would fall right back down her throat.
"I uh… I don't know what it is that you're fighting for, but it's gotta be pretty important to you, right?" the boy said. "Don't worry all that much about what's getting you down right now. You'll probably have other times where you wanna cry and kick and scream, that's normal, ya know? It'll all be okay in the end if you can reach your goal, right?"
Everything will be fine… If I reach my goal? Just as she had done many times before, Fena imagined how her world would look if she finally did achieve her goal. Every day would be filled with never-ending happiness, side by side with her mother, the one person she treasured more than life itself and doing anything and everything she'd ever dreamed of, like going on little adventures and camping outside of the village, getting all muddy whilst searching for cool looking bugs, or going for long walks and not having to ever again worry about special moments being interrupted or birthdays being spent apart.
Inexplicably, everything seemed so clear to her now. It was okay to cry. It was okay to get angry. All the strange and weird feelings she didn't understand right now were okay too, there'd be time to figure all of those things out along the way.
Fena's dream was bigger than her—all that mattered was making it a reality, no matter what.
"Fena," Fena mumbled.
"Feee-what-now?"
Fena's head shot up. She squeezed her eyes shut and shouted, "F-E-N-A, FENA… Was that loud enough for you?!"
Complete Silence. Everything from the chatter of the people around, the sounds of their footwear scuffing at the dirt and the distant bellowing of pious song in praise of The Goddess on her special day, even the smell of the lingering aroma of cooked meat that seemed to follow her even here on the highest mountain of all the mountains in the village, all of it was gone, as though Fena had been trapped in a glass globe, separated from the rest of the world around her.
Her blood ran cold; shivers nipped at her sweaty back. The courage that the boy had just inspired in her seemed to vanish without even a trace. Had he left her too? Why did everyone always find a way to leave her?
"Damn, ya really got a good set of lungs on ya," The boy was absolutely creasing himself, laughing so hysterically he was bending himself out of shape. "I thought… phew, I thought I'd heard it right the first time, but I just had'da make sure we were singin' in the same key, ya know?"
Fena scrunched up her fists tight, thinking that she'd give the boy something he really ought to laugh about. Yet, as Fena scrutinised his image further, her frustrations gradually faded into obscurity.
He was a tall boy, far taller than Fena and such an observation gave rise to an ill-timed query—I wonder if he's taller than Lady Ember?
His hair was short and spiky and mostly blue, aside from a small patch of black hair right at the top of his head. Fena mused to herself that he looked like some sort of weird hairbrush, though she still thought it looked pretty cool. Strapped to his back, in some sort of black case, was what Fena could only assume to be the boy's weapon of choice, as she'd never seen anything quite like it. He wore a flashy, gold kimono that sported a myriad of black and white coloured symbols that looked relatively similar to each other, yet Fena had never seen anything like them before. A small, circular swell at the bottom connected to a thin line that at the top sometimes rounded out into a hook looking shape, or back down into another swell, keeping the two symbols attached. Some were even more intricately designed than that.
"Uh… There somethin' on my face or…?" The boys face scrunched up as he felt about his face.
"You're here to fight right?" Fena bit down hard on her words as tears still streamed from her eyes, "So, why… Why waste your time on someone like me?"
Something about all of this just didn't feel right. This boy was a total stranger to her, he'd no reason at all to try and comfort her or say the nice things he'd said, yet Fena couldn't sense even a hint of malice coming from him, even after he'd laughed the air from his lungs three times over at her.
The tall boy's brown eyes locked on to Fena, "Wow, tough crowd… Well, it sure ain't the first time I've been booed," he sighed. He walked toward Fena, carefully removing his weapon from his back, and plonked himself down on the dirt beside her just outside of arms-reach. "You're kinda right, but kinda wrong. Yeah, I'm here for a reason that's way more important to me than dealin' with some girl I just met crying so much you'd think she'd gotten 'The Sea Serpent's Curse', but that reason would absolutely kill me if she found out I just left you sittin' here on your own like this."
Fena took a moment to consider his words, but then abruptly shuffled away, "Y-you can tell?" she shrieked.
The boy smiled warmly, "Look, this ain't the first time I'm dealin' with a girl who's going through a rebellious phase. Ya kinda remind me of her when she was your age… Though that was a long, long time ago now…" he said, as his words abruptly tapered off and his warm smile faded away. A weak, morose haze clouded his dark brown eyes before he looked away from Fena and toward the ground.
The boy exhaled a deep breath. For a few moments, he just seemed to stew. His thick eyebrows were furrowed until suddenly, he sprung back up to his feet, scraped the dirt from the backside of his black trousers and held both his hands behind his head, "It's probably because you remind me so much of her that I spoke too much, so enough with all that sappy stuff," He turned around toward Fena, extending a hand to her. "C'mon, we both got somewhere to be, don't we? And… if The Goddess wills it, we'll both be facing different opponents our victories will take us a step closer toward our goals! Though her favours about as reliable as pissing in Galeforce's wind to put out a fire."
Fena just didn't quite know what to say. It really did seem like the boy was being honest and open with her, but she struggled to bring herself to trust him. It all didn't make any sense, yet it sort of did at the same time. Though he didn't know her, though he'd never laid eyes on her before a few minutes ago, it felt like he knew her; like he understood her. However, it wasn't Fena that he understood at all—it was somebody else. Did that mean Fena was just a substitute until that person came back?
Ambivalence thrashed about inside of her body. She thumped herself in the stomach where she felt it stirring, then stood up without taking the boy's hand. It'll all be okay, as long as I protect mom, she reminded herself, finding her strength once more. "Galeforce… Sounds like you know that guy?"
The boy's expression hardened. "We've got some unfinished business," he said, looking aimlessly into the distance and clenching his fist. "Enough about me anyways—how's about we go and register? Clocks tickin'!"
3
"I TOLD YA TONTA! THEY'VE ALL GONE MAD! THEY'RE TRYING TO GET INTO OUR MINDS!" shouted a tall girl as she tussled with a boy about half her size.
"No—dammit Nat, I warned you about cameras about a thousand times before we got here, they aren't trying to clone us or get into our minds you idiot, they're just for security!"
Upon entering the grandiose building that served as 'The Origin's Peak Shinobi Academy's Educational Institute', Fena and her accomplice were immediately greeted by the sight of a feisty, strong looking girl and a short, timid looking boy tussling in the main lobby.
"LOOK DAMMIT, THAT'S ME! AND THAT'S YOU! B-BUT I'M ME! AND YOU'RE YOU!" Incredulous, the girl clawed at the shorter boy like a spooked cat in an attempt to reach the security camera that, for whatever reason, was causing her such ire. Yet, the boy wouldn't relent either, surprisingly overpowering the girl and pushing her away from the camera and toward the entrance.
"And I already explained to you that yes—whilst they may look exactly like us, they are NOT us! Oh—" the boy suddenly gasped after accidentally bumping into Fena. "I-I'm sorry! Please ignore us, she just gets way too excited when a bunch of people are around," he said with an awkward laugh and as he did, the rowdy girls furious face lit up.
"Perfect timing… So first they make us face ourselves and question which of us is really the real us, then they send in their lackeys to come finish the job whilst we're all upside down! Well I ain't fooled! I'll kick both yer—agh…"
Before she could finish her sentence, the small boy chopped her across the back of the neck, sapping the crazy girl of her energy and sending her into a gentle slumber.
Woah, this boy really is strong, Fena thought, now watching him closely, paying attention to his every move.
Carefully, he sat the now sleeping girl against the wall next to where he stood, then slumped against it right beside her. "Ugh… I said this was a terrible idea right from the start," he said, taking a moment to catch his breath before rising to his feet again and lifting the girl onto his back. "Uh, I'm real sorry about all that, and about bumping into you… 'Name's Tonta, this little squirt on my back is Natalie, but you best call her 'Nat', cuz if you don't… well, you can probably guess."
Fena looked toward the ground whilst fiddling with Bolt's hilt. She furtively glanced toward her accomplice, who looked just as confused as she was, tilting his head at her with a wide-eyed stare, until his brown eyes seemed to flicker and he cleared his throat, "Ah, don't worry about it man, it was an accident. We're all good over here."
Tonta smiled, "Glad to hear it," Shuffling about as he readjusted his grip on Nat, Fena couldn't help but find that the pair looked absolutely ridiculous. It was like a mouse giving an elephant a piggy back ride. "Soo what about you guys? I'm guessing you're both here for the Ritual right?"
Fena's accomplice scratched the back of his head. An awkward tension filled the space around the small group for a few moments, until he began to speak again, "Right on. Well, this here's Fena, or F-E-N-A if you're me, I guess?"
Fena thumped the boy's side with her elbow, which caused him to belt out a "yeowch!!" loud enough to draw the attention of plenty of other people in the lobby. "Come to think of it, you never actually told me your name earlier. I didn't really care then, but now I wanna know, so tell me," Fena pressed, as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Alright-alright fine—just save all that for whoever your opponent is, sheesh." Rubbing the soreness out of his side where Fena had struck him, the boy took a few moments to collect himself. "Call me Cello."
"Cello?" Tonta repeated with a raised tone. "Best of luck to you both then, especially if one of you ends up facing Nat… You'll be needing it."
"H-huhh… whuzzat? Who's calling for me now…" The group's gaze shifted nervously towards Nat, who seemed to be awakening from her forced nap. As though lightning had just struck her, she zipped to her feet, jumping off of Tonta's back and flashing her big green eyes in every direction before grabbing him, "Y-you IDIOT! We're gonna be late! The heck you do that for?"
"We'd have already registered if you didn't freak out over the camera's."
"W-well…" Nat's lips curled up. She stood on one leg, half-twirling in place whilst looking at the ceiling. "Fine. Sorry for overreacting," she said, before looking toward Fena and Cello. "My bad for what I said, and for bumping into you as well… Here's an idea, after we all kick ass today, how about we meet up again and celebrate! We were talkin' about how the food was supposed to be pretty crazy here whilst we were on the way, right Tonta? Please, can they come?"
"Let's talk about all that after we've won… who knows, you might be looking into the eyes of the person you're about to fight after all," Tonta said, his eyes narrowing particularly upon Fena's person.
Fena returned his gaze. Today had most certainly been a tumultuous day to say the least and at times, it'd felt neverending. When things had gotten tough, she'd ran away, or not been able to find the words to say, crying like the helpless girl that she was in that hospital, the girl she'd sworn that she'd never be again.
Tonta's gaze scared her and though she couldn't really understand why, this time, she refused to run. She refused to cry. This time, she'd find her words and she'd speak them true. She slid her left hand onto Bolt's hilt and looked toward Nat, then back and Tonta, "I won't lose."
Tonta's lips curled into a mischievous grin. Nat flashed her teeth and crashed her fist into her palm, "Ya know what, I kinda like you. Maybe I'll use my challenge on you if my draw ends up being lame. Let's go Tonta."
And with that, the pair walked away toward one of the many registration booths deeper inside of the lobby.
"'Bout time we did the same, you ready?" Cello asked Fena, flashing her a confident smile before the pair filed into a line for a different booth.