Level 1 + Dandelion Mystery
Sublevel 1 + Mind Games
Hikaru was playing the game, and it was a deadly one. This she knew, and this she loved, because of her second half.
We might get to see blood! Nova rejoiced within Hikaru's heart. Oh, Hikaru, don't you feel the adrenaline?
Indeed, she did, but it was not her own. It was Nova's, and Hikaru didn't want it. She was the peaceful one, to some extent. Nova had their bloodthirstiness, and Hikaru had their mercy.
It was Nova's idea to enter the game, but Hikaru had obviously agreed. After all, she was the one who had the physical form, not Nova, so in the end it was her decision.
She waited at the gate, nervous. She had suited up long ago, wearing the tight-fitting, flexible armor, the headset on, the friction gun in its clip at her waist. Hikaru leaned against the pillar at the side of the gate, tapping one foot in impatience and anticipation. Nova, meanwhile, was babbling on.
I wonder who our competitors will be. I hope they're strong, like you and me! Then we'll have a challenge. Oh, Hikaru, I can't wait! Do you think they'd mind if we seperated?
"Nova... we aren't going to seperate. It wouldn't be fair. It would be the two of us against them alone."
Oh, but Hikaru, we're one...
Then they both fell into silence.
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Umi snapped her friction gun into its clip, running the fingers of her other hand through her pale hair nervously. She was excited about being accepted to play the game, but uncertainty was swirled in with the adrenaline. It was, after all, *The Great But Deadly Game* --- it was possible that her death would come about.
But still, the game was such a thrill, she couldn't resist.
Umi flipped her hair back over her shoulder, standing up from the crouched position where she had laced up her boots. She was late getting to the entrance gate.
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As Hikaru and Nova waited at the gate, and as Umi hurried to get there, Fuu hid behind one of the huge pillars that were scattered throughout the room where the entrance gate was. She watched Hikaru closely, and tuned her extra senses to the finest point to pick up the conversation between the braided girl's two selves. The way that Nova spoke frightened her, the desire to hurt and bleed and win discouraged her.
She watched as Umi made her way to the gate, greeted Hikaru. She didn't know about Nova. Umi wasn't cursed with the gifts that Fuu was.
A deep sigh escaped her. Reluctantly, the blond girl stepped out from behind the pillar and made her way to the gate.
When she arrived, Umi smiled in welcome. Introductions were quickly exchanged: "My name's Hikaru, my pre-game points are 120", "I'm Umi, my pre-game points are only 100," "I am Fuu, and my own pre-game points total 150."
Wow! Nova responded gleefully, only for Hikaru to hear, and Fuu, since she was listening in. 150 points? Such strength! Hikaru, we have to fight her! I want to see what color her blood is.
Red, Hikaru replied silently, just like yours and mine.
But such strength...
"Perhaps we should begin," Fuu said, a bit too loudly, as she pressed a button on the earpiece of her headset. The green-tinted visor slid across her eyes, reaching the other side of her face. She pressed the next button, and the little microphone wire slid out, curving around an inch out from her jaw until the microphone hovered just below and before her lips. Hikaru and Umi mimicked her; however, since the eye visor was in color coordination with the colors of their armor, the one across Hikaru's eyes was a pinkish color, and the one over Umi's face was a pale blue, just barely tinted at all.
"I've gotta admit," Umi said slowly, "I'm a little nervous."
"I believe we all are, Umi-san," responded Fuu in a quiet voice. "However, we were accepted to play the game, and now we shall begin."
The three young women, as though having one mind, turned and faced the gate. Each pressed her right hand against one of the three metal plates that were attatched to the bars. There was a hissing sound, a mechanical whirring and clicking, followed by a heavy, drawling sound as the doors of the gate began to swing out.
Now, now, now we begin! Nova rejoiced.
The gates fell into their open places with a heavy, dull -thudd-.
Fuu straightened her posture. "Let us enter, then," she said in a strong voice. She stepped past the gates, Hikaru falling into step behind her, Umi behind Hikaru.
Then they were through, and the gates slammed shut.
The three girls, united only in their rivalry, found themselves standing in a great field of knee-high grass and dandelions whose golden heads peeked up from the green blades in perky inquisition. The yellow-spattered greenery extended as far as the eye could see in all directions, stopping only when it touched the clear, cloudless blue of the sky at the horizon. The wind, warm and summery, swayed the grass and caused the dandelion's heads to bob and sway in the sunshine.
"Look." Umi raised one gloved hand, pointing across the field.
A woman stood, poised and still, amongst the rustling grass. The bright flowers brushed against the creamy white skirt of her long dress, and she was motionless, as though she were a delicately sculpted statue. The only movement about her was the grass and the dandelions, and the only movement of herself was the slight billowings of her loose dress and the gentle swaying of her long blond ponytail.
"Should we go to her?" asked Hikaru, unsure.
Run to her, Nova demanded. Hikaru did not heed her.
"Perhaps..." Fuu fell silent, focused her gaze on the woman, and began to concentrate her mind. She commanded the gifts that lay, momentarily dormant, within her, rising them to the surface of her conciousness and directing them towards the woman.
A warm radiance, the scent of life and goodness became present in Fuu's mind as she mentally examined the woman. She felt the strange, familiar sensation as their minds slipped together, and she realized the woman's purpose.
"She is waiting for us," Fuu announced confidently. "We must go to her."
Umi stared. "How can you be sure?"
The blond girl closed her eyes wearily, seperating her mind from the woman's. "As all people have their gifts, I have mine. I am certain." Then, assuming that her statement would be adequate, Fuu began striding through the rustling dandelions, heading for the woman. Hikaru and Umi glanced at each other hesitantly, then hurried after the other girl.
The woman who was waiting for them stood far off, and the two girls trailing behind Fuu felt as though they weren't getting any closer, for their minds weren't as sharp in the ways of the game as Fuu's was. And hers wasn't understanding through experience --- none of them had had anything to do with the game before. But because of her gifts, Fuu understood the game, whereas her competitors did not.
So even when they were actually only a few strides away from the woman, Hikaru and Umi still felt as though they were a long distance off, their focus clouded by the game's tricky nature.
They stopped directly in front of the tall woman, Umi and Hikaru blinking in surprise, feeling as though they had arrived suddenly. Fuu stared at the woman, whose eyes were closed, and inquired, "What is your name?"
The wind's strength increase, shuddering the grass around their legs violently, then became gentle again as the woman opened her chocolate-colored eyes, revealing the deeply etched wisdom within.
"I am Presea." Her voice was calm, even. She still did not move, except for her mouth as she spoke and her eyes, which passed over each young girl's face in turn. "You have chosen to play the game." It was not a question, but the girls nodded in response anyway.
"Please, Presea," Hikaru began timidly, "why are you out here, waiting for us? What are we supposed to do here?"
Presea finally moved, turning away from the girls and kneeling in the grass. She gently seperated a dandelion stem from the earth, then stood again, holding the yellow flower before her in the loosest and gentlest of grips. "This is the First Level of the game," she announced. "You must pass me before you can move to the next level."
Umi's brow furrowed in perlexion. "Pass you?" she inquired. "How?"
The woman reached out with one slender, graceful hand, delicately tucking the stem of the dandelion into Umi's hair in a gesture of kindness. The bright golden flower stood out against the girl's pale blue hair as Presea said, "I am here to test you, to test your hearts. If you prove yourselves strong, you shall all pass to the next level. However, if even one of you does not pass my tests, all of your places shall be ommitted and your chance to play the game shall be canceled."
"That isn't fair!" Umi insisted. "Why should all of us be disqualified if only one person doesn't pass?"
Presea stared. "Because all of the players must be present in the second level," she said. "It is in that level that the elimination begins."
A quiet sigh escaped Fuu, and she looked up at Presea. "May we begin our tests?"
The woman nodded. "Yes. You shall be first, dear Fuu, as your pre-game points are the greatest."
Not pausing to wonder how Presea knew her name, but rather trusting the woman's wisdom, Fuu nodded in acceptance. "All right."
Presea turned to the side again, raising one arm and pointing at the horizon to Fuu's right. "Can you see that?" she asked.
The blond girl shook her head. "I see nothing but dandelions and grass."
Presea's eyes locked with Fuu's. "No. See with your mind."
The woman's comment confused Hikaru and Umi, who stood off to the side, but Fuu understood and paid the other girls' whisperings no heed. She turned back towards where Presea pointed, focusing her mind as she had when she had slipped into the woman's own mind.
She felt her mind merge with another, and as it did, terror like she had never felt swelled within her heart. Her viridescent eyes widened, her heart sped up, her palms grew cold and clammy in fear. She saw, just barely now, a figure rising, standing, growing to its full height at the point of the horizon, a great black sillhouette against the blue of the sky.
Fuu tore her mind and her eyes away, whirling around the face Presea. "What is it?!" she demanded.
"Not what, but who," the woman responded calmly. "He is one after you for your gifts, for your nature of gentleness. You are pure, and you posess abilities which are unacceptable to him. He wishes to capture you, taint you, rip away your powers of observation. He wishes for you to become yet another average, heartless woman, so that he might not be disturbed by your peacefulness."
Fuu only half-understood, but the terror grew in her as she saw the shadowy figure moving through the dandelions towards her in long strides. He was so far away, but in no time he would be near, for his great steps.
Courage, she reminded herself, you must have courage. Fuu lifted her chin, holding her head high and her back straight, trying, in success, to appear as though she were not afraid, despite the tremors of fear inside.
All too soon, he stood before her. Her eyes met his own amber ones, and wonderment replaced fear. He did not appear evil, or frightening, despite the hostility towards her he seemed to hold in his tan face. His hair was the color of the grass at her knees, long and swept back in a ponytail. Scars traced his features, over the bridge of his nose, along his jaw. He was a bit taller than herself, and although he was not extremely muscular, he was enough so and broad-shouldered enough to intimidate.
He swept a dark gray cloak back over his shoulders, revealing that he wore a loose, dirt-brown shirt and black pants. His gloved hands rested at the sides of his waist as he announced in a voice of authority, "I am Ferio."
Fuu swallowed the lump that was growing in her throat. "You hate me," was her response, rather than the return of her name. Ferio simply nodded. "And... you wish to destroy me, my heart, do you not?"
He laughed. "Not exactly. I wouldn't think to harm such a pretty face as yours." He grinned wryly. "However, your heart is pure and your nature is gentle, and that simply will not do. Nor will those gifts of yours, those mental enhancements." Ferio swept strands of green hair from his eyes, continuing, "I'll admit freely that I hate things like that. I won't allow your peacefulness and your talents to exist in this place." He grinned. "And even if I didn't mind those things personally, I was commanded to do so by those above me. However, since I also hate your nature, I'm glad to perform the task."
"But how would you go about this?" Fuu asked.
"It's simple to remove those talents from your mind," Ferio answered. "It's the changing of your gentle nature that will be tricky." He winked. "And I'm not about to give away my secrets, or you might be able to resist."
She glanced towards Presea for some kind of assistance, but the woman, as well as Hikaru and Umi, was gone. Fuu's heart beat faster. "And... why," she continued, turning to face Ferio again, "do you hate so badly my nature?"
"Because this is a place of chaos, and in chaos, it isn't fair for such peace to exist." He smiled. "Now, if you've had enough of this drawling talk, I'd like to begin."
He raised his hand from beneath his cloak, and she saw for the first time, as he grasped the hilt in both hands, that he carried a long, curved sword. Fuu fought down the fear, releasing her friction gun from its clip and gripping it tightly in her right hand.
Ferio laughed, seeing her weapon. "You think that toy will work against me?"
"It is worth a try." Fuu's thumb pressed the charge button, and she watched the heat meter out of the corner of her eye. The numbers ticked up slowly --- too slowly! --- as Ferio began to move into his attack.
A bit more... --- he was so close now --- just a little more... --- too close!...
Fuu's arm shot up, her fingers hit the trigger, and hot white light exploded from the mouth of the gun, searing Ferio's left hand and causing his attack to falter and miss its target. He swore, shook his hand to rid it of the burning pain, then spun around, all in one movement, to reattack. Fuu leapt away, lost her footing, and crashed to the ground.
Dandelions swayed over her head as Ferio appeared over her, grinning. Fuu's thumb was on the charge button again, but he was already reaching down...
Ferio grabbed Fuu's shoulder in one strong hand, hauling to her feet roughly. She winced, trying not to look him in the eye.
"Don't you realize, sweet Fuu," he taunted, "that you're making your predicament worse?"
"And how would I be doing that?"
He grinned. "Do you honestly think I'd tell you that? It'd give you an advantage."
Fuu brought her arm up, directing her gun towards his face. The mouth of the gun, with the warmth of the built-up heat inside radiating out, hovered an inch away as she inquired, "Tell me, Ferio, what do you think a friction gun can do to human flesh?"
His grin remained. "Burn it away, of course. Those things can generate a lot of heat."
"Well, if you do not put me down, I will press the trigger. I do not think you will enjoy that."
Ferio raised one eyebrow. "Dearest Fuu, do you think I'm stupid?" He grabbed her wrist in the hand that didn't hold her shoulder, beginning to squeeze it in his strong grip as he continued, "I wouldn't suggest that you try to harm me. It's best to simply... give in."
The blond girl's face contorted in pain as he tightened his hold on her wrist. She tried to reach the trigger, but her fingers wouldn't move.
"I will continue to wear you down and build up your fear until you're weak, you know. You will grow tired, and I won't, because I'm stronger than you." He laughed a little. "Dear Fuu, I'm sure you know that. I am stronger."
Fuu's hand trembled; she whimpered, and the gun slipped from her fingers, falling into the grass.
Ferio released her wrist and her shoulder at the same time, flinging her away from himself. She fell to the ground again, this time without the protection of her weapon.
He stood over her, tall and intimidating. "This is the part where I break down your peace," he said menacingly. "Can't you feel it? The gentleness, the calmness, that peace you have with yourself and with the world. It's breaking down."
Fuu curled up in a ball, pressing her hands over her ears, her eyes shut tightly. She refused to listen to him, to his intimidating mind games.
"You can feel it draining away from you. You know that you're becoming all the things you fear: Angry. Fearful. Emotional. Your common sense is draining. You're loosing it, sweet Fuu. You're loosing your mind, yes?"
Desperately trying to fend off his mental attack, Fuu dug deep into her memory, looking for anything --- anything --- to distract her mind from him.
"It won't be long, will it?"
Nursery rhymes. The sing-song stories that her sister had read to her when she was a small child bubbled to the top of her memory. To herself, she began whispering about Peter Peter Pumpkineater, the cat and the fiddle, any other old rhyme that would come to her, anything to block out the painful sound of Ferio's voice.
"I frighten you, Fuu, and that's my greatest strength. I have the ability to shrivel your courage, and when that happens, your peace and your balance begin to fade away, as they're doing now."
Recipies. In a frantic, hushed voice, Fuu began listing the ingredients and procedures for making her mother's apple pie.
"I can hear you trying to resist." Ferio laughed. "It won't work. I'm stronger than your chilidish defenses."
Bake for forty-five minutes... Fuu began to get to her feet, the sensible, methodical list of directions still running through her mind. Ferio watched, one eyebrow raised, until the blond girl stood before him, her jaw set, her eyes burning with a kind of calm anger.
"I have been taunted before," she said in a deadly quiet voice. "I congradulate you, dear Ferio. You are, by far, the best who has even attempted to harm me."
With this, Fuu closed her eyes, concentrating her mind.
Ferio stared at her, not realizing at first. Then, his eyes widened in understanding. "No!"
She paid him no attention.
"Don't you dare---"
Fuu felt the strange click in her mind as her concious merged with Ferio's. The hostility and intimidation that had been generated from him the first time was gone --- now he was frightened, intimidated by her.
It seems I have turned the tables, Fuu "said" within their minds. Don't you see, Ferio? Don't you see who is really the stronger of the two?
He said nothing, but she could see his thoughts. He was afraid of her now, afraid of the fact that she was using her abilities on him.
This is where the road ends, Ferio. You will not take my gifts, nor will you take my peace. My heart is my own, and it shall remain my own.
Fuu slipped out of his mind. His amber eyes were wide, and he trembled. Fuu raised one hand, waving gently. "Sayounara," she said calmly.
Ferio turned away, vanishing in the sunlight.
The girl stared after him for a while, staring at the spot where he had stood. Then she turned and knelt in the grass, picking up her friction gun and putting it back in its clip.
Her earpiece crackled. "Fuu, you okay?"
She pressed the button on the earpiece, turning on her microphone and responding, "I am all right, Hikaru-san. I believe I have passed the test."
She glanced over her shoulder. Presea stood there once again, Umi and Hikaru with her. There was no expression on the woman's face, as before.
"You have, indeed, passed the test, Fuu," said the tall woman. "Your heart and mind proved strong, and you have qualified to reach the next level."
She turned, looking at Hikaru. "Now, it is your turn."
Sublevel 1 + Mind Games
Hikaru was playing the game, and it was a deadly one. This she knew, and this she loved, because of her second half.
We might get to see blood! Nova rejoiced within Hikaru's heart. Oh, Hikaru, don't you feel the adrenaline?
Indeed, she did, but it was not her own. It was Nova's, and Hikaru didn't want it. She was the peaceful one, to some extent. Nova had their bloodthirstiness, and Hikaru had their mercy.
It was Nova's idea to enter the game, but Hikaru had obviously agreed. After all, she was the one who had the physical form, not Nova, so in the end it was her decision.
She waited at the gate, nervous. She had suited up long ago, wearing the tight-fitting, flexible armor, the headset on, the friction gun in its clip at her waist. Hikaru leaned against the pillar at the side of the gate, tapping one foot in impatience and anticipation. Nova, meanwhile, was babbling on.
I wonder who our competitors will be. I hope they're strong, like you and me! Then we'll have a challenge. Oh, Hikaru, I can't wait! Do you think they'd mind if we seperated?
"Nova... we aren't going to seperate. It wouldn't be fair. It would be the two of us against them alone."
Oh, but Hikaru, we're one...
Then they both fell into silence.
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Umi snapped her friction gun into its clip, running the fingers of her other hand through her pale hair nervously. She was excited about being accepted to play the game, but uncertainty was swirled in with the adrenaline. It was, after all, *The Great But Deadly Game* --- it was possible that her death would come about.
But still, the game was such a thrill, she couldn't resist.
Umi flipped her hair back over her shoulder, standing up from the crouched position where she had laced up her boots. She was late getting to the entrance gate.
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As Hikaru and Nova waited at the gate, and as Umi hurried to get there, Fuu hid behind one of the huge pillars that were scattered throughout the room where the entrance gate was. She watched Hikaru closely, and tuned her extra senses to the finest point to pick up the conversation between the braided girl's two selves. The way that Nova spoke frightened her, the desire to hurt and bleed and win discouraged her.
She watched as Umi made her way to the gate, greeted Hikaru. She didn't know about Nova. Umi wasn't cursed with the gifts that Fuu was.
A deep sigh escaped her. Reluctantly, the blond girl stepped out from behind the pillar and made her way to the gate.
When she arrived, Umi smiled in welcome. Introductions were quickly exchanged: "My name's Hikaru, my pre-game points are 120", "I'm Umi, my pre-game points are only 100," "I am Fuu, and my own pre-game points total 150."
Wow! Nova responded gleefully, only for Hikaru to hear, and Fuu, since she was listening in. 150 points? Such strength! Hikaru, we have to fight her! I want to see what color her blood is.
Red, Hikaru replied silently, just like yours and mine.
But such strength...
"Perhaps we should begin," Fuu said, a bit too loudly, as she pressed a button on the earpiece of her headset. The green-tinted visor slid across her eyes, reaching the other side of her face. She pressed the next button, and the little microphone wire slid out, curving around an inch out from her jaw until the microphone hovered just below and before her lips. Hikaru and Umi mimicked her; however, since the eye visor was in color coordination with the colors of their armor, the one across Hikaru's eyes was a pinkish color, and the one over Umi's face was a pale blue, just barely tinted at all.
"I've gotta admit," Umi said slowly, "I'm a little nervous."
"I believe we all are, Umi-san," responded Fuu in a quiet voice. "However, we were accepted to play the game, and now we shall begin."
The three young women, as though having one mind, turned and faced the gate. Each pressed her right hand against one of the three metal plates that were attatched to the bars. There was a hissing sound, a mechanical whirring and clicking, followed by a heavy, drawling sound as the doors of the gate began to swing out.
Now, now, now we begin! Nova rejoiced.
The gates fell into their open places with a heavy, dull -thudd-.
Fuu straightened her posture. "Let us enter, then," she said in a strong voice. She stepped past the gates, Hikaru falling into step behind her, Umi behind Hikaru.
Then they were through, and the gates slammed shut.
The three girls, united only in their rivalry, found themselves standing in a great field of knee-high grass and dandelions whose golden heads peeked up from the green blades in perky inquisition. The yellow-spattered greenery extended as far as the eye could see in all directions, stopping only when it touched the clear, cloudless blue of the sky at the horizon. The wind, warm and summery, swayed the grass and caused the dandelion's heads to bob and sway in the sunshine.
"Look." Umi raised one gloved hand, pointing across the field.
A woman stood, poised and still, amongst the rustling grass. The bright flowers brushed against the creamy white skirt of her long dress, and she was motionless, as though she were a delicately sculpted statue. The only movement about her was the grass and the dandelions, and the only movement of herself was the slight billowings of her loose dress and the gentle swaying of her long blond ponytail.
"Should we go to her?" asked Hikaru, unsure.
Run to her, Nova demanded. Hikaru did not heed her.
"Perhaps..." Fuu fell silent, focused her gaze on the woman, and began to concentrate her mind. She commanded the gifts that lay, momentarily dormant, within her, rising them to the surface of her conciousness and directing them towards the woman.
A warm radiance, the scent of life and goodness became present in Fuu's mind as she mentally examined the woman. She felt the strange, familiar sensation as their minds slipped together, and she realized the woman's purpose.
"She is waiting for us," Fuu announced confidently. "We must go to her."
Umi stared. "How can you be sure?"
The blond girl closed her eyes wearily, seperating her mind from the woman's. "As all people have their gifts, I have mine. I am certain." Then, assuming that her statement would be adequate, Fuu began striding through the rustling dandelions, heading for the woman. Hikaru and Umi glanced at each other hesitantly, then hurried after the other girl.
The woman who was waiting for them stood far off, and the two girls trailing behind Fuu felt as though they weren't getting any closer, for their minds weren't as sharp in the ways of the game as Fuu's was. And hers wasn't understanding through experience --- none of them had had anything to do with the game before. But because of her gifts, Fuu understood the game, whereas her competitors did not.
So even when they were actually only a few strides away from the woman, Hikaru and Umi still felt as though they were a long distance off, their focus clouded by the game's tricky nature.
They stopped directly in front of the tall woman, Umi and Hikaru blinking in surprise, feeling as though they had arrived suddenly. Fuu stared at the woman, whose eyes were closed, and inquired, "What is your name?"
The wind's strength increase, shuddering the grass around their legs violently, then became gentle again as the woman opened her chocolate-colored eyes, revealing the deeply etched wisdom within.
"I am Presea." Her voice was calm, even. She still did not move, except for her mouth as she spoke and her eyes, which passed over each young girl's face in turn. "You have chosen to play the game." It was not a question, but the girls nodded in response anyway.
"Please, Presea," Hikaru began timidly, "why are you out here, waiting for us? What are we supposed to do here?"
Presea finally moved, turning away from the girls and kneeling in the grass. She gently seperated a dandelion stem from the earth, then stood again, holding the yellow flower before her in the loosest and gentlest of grips. "This is the First Level of the game," she announced. "You must pass me before you can move to the next level."
Umi's brow furrowed in perlexion. "Pass you?" she inquired. "How?"
The woman reached out with one slender, graceful hand, delicately tucking the stem of the dandelion into Umi's hair in a gesture of kindness. The bright golden flower stood out against the girl's pale blue hair as Presea said, "I am here to test you, to test your hearts. If you prove yourselves strong, you shall all pass to the next level. However, if even one of you does not pass my tests, all of your places shall be ommitted and your chance to play the game shall be canceled."
"That isn't fair!" Umi insisted. "Why should all of us be disqualified if only one person doesn't pass?"
Presea stared. "Because all of the players must be present in the second level," she said. "It is in that level that the elimination begins."
A quiet sigh escaped Fuu, and she looked up at Presea. "May we begin our tests?"
The woman nodded. "Yes. You shall be first, dear Fuu, as your pre-game points are the greatest."
Not pausing to wonder how Presea knew her name, but rather trusting the woman's wisdom, Fuu nodded in acceptance. "All right."
Presea turned to the side again, raising one arm and pointing at the horizon to Fuu's right. "Can you see that?" she asked.
The blond girl shook her head. "I see nothing but dandelions and grass."
Presea's eyes locked with Fuu's. "No. See with your mind."
The woman's comment confused Hikaru and Umi, who stood off to the side, but Fuu understood and paid the other girls' whisperings no heed. She turned back towards where Presea pointed, focusing her mind as she had when she had slipped into the woman's own mind.
She felt her mind merge with another, and as it did, terror like she had never felt swelled within her heart. Her viridescent eyes widened, her heart sped up, her palms grew cold and clammy in fear. She saw, just barely now, a figure rising, standing, growing to its full height at the point of the horizon, a great black sillhouette against the blue of the sky.
Fuu tore her mind and her eyes away, whirling around the face Presea. "What is it?!" she demanded.
"Not what, but who," the woman responded calmly. "He is one after you for your gifts, for your nature of gentleness. You are pure, and you posess abilities which are unacceptable to him. He wishes to capture you, taint you, rip away your powers of observation. He wishes for you to become yet another average, heartless woman, so that he might not be disturbed by your peacefulness."
Fuu only half-understood, but the terror grew in her as she saw the shadowy figure moving through the dandelions towards her in long strides. He was so far away, but in no time he would be near, for his great steps.
Courage, she reminded herself, you must have courage. Fuu lifted her chin, holding her head high and her back straight, trying, in success, to appear as though she were not afraid, despite the tremors of fear inside.
All too soon, he stood before her. Her eyes met his own amber ones, and wonderment replaced fear. He did not appear evil, or frightening, despite the hostility towards her he seemed to hold in his tan face. His hair was the color of the grass at her knees, long and swept back in a ponytail. Scars traced his features, over the bridge of his nose, along his jaw. He was a bit taller than herself, and although he was not extremely muscular, he was enough so and broad-shouldered enough to intimidate.
He swept a dark gray cloak back over his shoulders, revealing that he wore a loose, dirt-brown shirt and black pants. His gloved hands rested at the sides of his waist as he announced in a voice of authority, "I am Ferio."
Fuu swallowed the lump that was growing in her throat. "You hate me," was her response, rather than the return of her name. Ferio simply nodded. "And... you wish to destroy me, my heart, do you not?"
He laughed. "Not exactly. I wouldn't think to harm such a pretty face as yours." He grinned wryly. "However, your heart is pure and your nature is gentle, and that simply will not do. Nor will those gifts of yours, those mental enhancements." Ferio swept strands of green hair from his eyes, continuing, "I'll admit freely that I hate things like that. I won't allow your peacefulness and your talents to exist in this place." He grinned. "And even if I didn't mind those things personally, I was commanded to do so by those above me. However, since I also hate your nature, I'm glad to perform the task."
"But how would you go about this?" Fuu asked.
"It's simple to remove those talents from your mind," Ferio answered. "It's the changing of your gentle nature that will be tricky." He winked. "And I'm not about to give away my secrets, or you might be able to resist."
She glanced towards Presea for some kind of assistance, but the woman, as well as Hikaru and Umi, was gone. Fuu's heart beat faster. "And... why," she continued, turning to face Ferio again, "do you hate so badly my nature?"
"Because this is a place of chaos, and in chaos, it isn't fair for such peace to exist." He smiled. "Now, if you've had enough of this drawling talk, I'd like to begin."
He raised his hand from beneath his cloak, and she saw for the first time, as he grasped the hilt in both hands, that he carried a long, curved sword. Fuu fought down the fear, releasing her friction gun from its clip and gripping it tightly in her right hand.
Ferio laughed, seeing her weapon. "You think that toy will work against me?"
"It is worth a try." Fuu's thumb pressed the charge button, and she watched the heat meter out of the corner of her eye. The numbers ticked up slowly --- too slowly! --- as Ferio began to move into his attack.
A bit more... --- he was so close now --- just a little more... --- too close!...
Fuu's arm shot up, her fingers hit the trigger, and hot white light exploded from the mouth of the gun, searing Ferio's left hand and causing his attack to falter and miss its target. He swore, shook his hand to rid it of the burning pain, then spun around, all in one movement, to reattack. Fuu leapt away, lost her footing, and crashed to the ground.
Dandelions swayed over her head as Ferio appeared over her, grinning. Fuu's thumb was on the charge button again, but he was already reaching down...
Ferio grabbed Fuu's shoulder in one strong hand, hauling to her feet roughly. She winced, trying not to look him in the eye.
"Don't you realize, sweet Fuu," he taunted, "that you're making your predicament worse?"
"And how would I be doing that?"
He grinned. "Do you honestly think I'd tell you that? It'd give you an advantage."
Fuu brought her arm up, directing her gun towards his face. The mouth of the gun, with the warmth of the built-up heat inside radiating out, hovered an inch away as she inquired, "Tell me, Ferio, what do you think a friction gun can do to human flesh?"
His grin remained. "Burn it away, of course. Those things can generate a lot of heat."
"Well, if you do not put me down, I will press the trigger. I do not think you will enjoy that."
Ferio raised one eyebrow. "Dearest Fuu, do you think I'm stupid?" He grabbed her wrist in the hand that didn't hold her shoulder, beginning to squeeze it in his strong grip as he continued, "I wouldn't suggest that you try to harm me. It's best to simply... give in."
The blond girl's face contorted in pain as he tightened his hold on her wrist. She tried to reach the trigger, but her fingers wouldn't move.
"I will continue to wear you down and build up your fear until you're weak, you know. You will grow tired, and I won't, because I'm stronger than you." He laughed a little. "Dear Fuu, I'm sure you know that. I am stronger."
Fuu's hand trembled; she whimpered, and the gun slipped from her fingers, falling into the grass.
Ferio released her wrist and her shoulder at the same time, flinging her away from himself. She fell to the ground again, this time without the protection of her weapon.
He stood over her, tall and intimidating. "This is the part where I break down your peace," he said menacingly. "Can't you feel it? The gentleness, the calmness, that peace you have with yourself and with the world. It's breaking down."
Fuu curled up in a ball, pressing her hands over her ears, her eyes shut tightly. She refused to listen to him, to his intimidating mind games.
"You can feel it draining away from you. You know that you're becoming all the things you fear: Angry. Fearful. Emotional. Your common sense is draining. You're loosing it, sweet Fuu. You're loosing your mind, yes?"
Desperately trying to fend off his mental attack, Fuu dug deep into her memory, looking for anything --- anything --- to distract her mind from him.
"It won't be long, will it?"
Nursery rhymes. The sing-song stories that her sister had read to her when she was a small child bubbled to the top of her memory. To herself, she began whispering about Peter Peter Pumpkineater, the cat and the fiddle, any other old rhyme that would come to her, anything to block out the painful sound of Ferio's voice.
"I frighten you, Fuu, and that's my greatest strength. I have the ability to shrivel your courage, and when that happens, your peace and your balance begin to fade away, as they're doing now."
Recipies. In a frantic, hushed voice, Fuu began listing the ingredients and procedures for making her mother's apple pie.
"I can hear you trying to resist." Ferio laughed. "It won't work. I'm stronger than your chilidish defenses."
Bake for forty-five minutes... Fuu began to get to her feet, the sensible, methodical list of directions still running through her mind. Ferio watched, one eyebrow raised, until the blond girl stood before him, her jaw set, her eyes burning with a kind of calm anger.
"I have been taunted before," she said in a deadly quiet voice. "I congradulate you, dear Ferio. You are, by far, the best who has even attempted to harm me."
With this, Fuu closed her eyes, concentrating her mind.
Ferio stared at her, not realizing at first. Then, his eyes widened in understanding. "No!"
She paid him no attention.
"Don't you dare---"
Fuu felt the strange click in her mind as her concious merged with Ferio's. The hostility and intimidation that had been generated from him the first time was gone --- now he was frightened, intimidated by her.
It seems I have turned the tables, Fuu "said" within their minds. Don't you see, Ferio? Don't you see who is really the stronger of the two?
He said nothing, but she could see his thoughts. He was afraid of her now, afraid of the fact that she was using her abilities on him.
This is where the road ends, Ferio. You will not take my gifts, nor will you take my peace. My heart is my own, and it shall remain my own.
Fuu slipped out of his mind. His amber eyes were wide, and he trembled. Fuu raised one hand, waving gently. "Sayounara," she said calmly.
Ferio turned away, vanishing in the sunlight.
The girl stared after him for a while, staring at the spot where he had stood. Then she turned and knelt in the grass, picking up her friction gun and putting it back in its clip.
Her earpiece crackled. "Fuu, you okay?"
She pressed the button on the earpiece, turning on her microphone and responding, "I am all right, Hikaru-san. I believe I have passed the test."
She glanced over her shoulder. Presea stood there once again, Umi and Hikaru with her. There was no expression on the woman's face, as before.
"You have, indeed, passed the test, Fuu," said the tall woman. "Your heart and mind proved strong, and you have qualified to reach the next level."
She turned, looking at Hikaru. "Now, it is your turn."
