Chapter 2
Hello everyone, don't mind me…just rewriting the chapters to better fit my own progress in writing. Seriously, I look at some of the really old chapters and I just want curl up and cry, lol.
Enjoy
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
She felt herself being thrown to the floor again, her knees banging painfully on the smooth surface, however, she did not relinquish her mental struggles against the psychic helmet. She continued to pull at it uselessly, desperately, in an attempt to detach it from her mind.
"Stop that!" Asch snarled at her, withdrawing his sword.
"You wouldn't be saying that if you knew what it was like to wear this you pathetic excuse for a man!" She yelled at him, still on her knees and trying with all her might to unlatch the helm. Why wouldn't it budge, and give her some sliver of hope that it wouldn't end here?
Her vision was hazy from the crystal that covered her eyes and her hands began to sweat as she tore at it, making the task that much more difficult.
'Stop this struggling… and all will be made clear…' the voice chimed slyly in her head.
"Get out! Get out, get out, get out!" she screamed over and over to dull the voice. They were the only words that seemed to make sense.
'You cannot fight forever…' the voice chimed in again, trying to win her over. It made her shake with revulsion.
"I'd rather burn alive than do anything for you!" the replica yelled while clasping her eyes shut tightly. She tried to focus on the mental struggle for now… since her body didn't seem to be listening anymore.
"No replica can resist the fonon essence helmet for long," Asch said in a steady tone, and she could tell he was simply watching this happen. "You won't last another two minutes before you drop into unconsciousness from exhaustion… she'll take you then..." he finished in a low voice.
"No she wont…I may be just a replica, but I have essence of my own…" the replica hissed to the marble floor below her. "No matter how faint…"
The girl dropped her hands from then mask and concentrated on her mind, channeling all her power and spirit into silencing the dreadful woman's voice within her – everything she had…all her presence. She began to build a mental wall between her and the intruder, throwing all of her mental ability into separating the two of them…rejecting what was not ever supposed to be there… blocking out that voice. She could hear the angry voice of the woman, hissing in the background, but it no longer affected her – she knew what she had to do.
If this didn't work, her life was gone – not just over – gone.
Non-existent.
Never.
"Stop her Asch!" a voice shrieked from the door and they both turned to see the lady of the castle huffing like she had run a long distance… she probably had. Had she come because she knew she was failing at her own game?
"Yeah… why don't you kill me?" the younger girl spat at him in an echoing voice. "At least then I'll be free from this hell-hole I don't deserve to be drowned in!"
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Asch's P.o.v.
Asch stared at the panting girl in front of him as her demonic orange eyes seared their rage into his own. Thin strands of her black hair clung to her face from the sweat, giving her an odd wild look, like an animal…no control. He was curious how long she'd last in a world that didn't tolerate differences.
"I'm not going to stop her," he decided suddenly in a sharp tone. "If she can get that thing off, then so be it. I'm not going to spend my time training a mindless puppet again," he said, his voice coming out in a cold tone regardless of his reluctance to help the replica.
The girl glanced up from the floor and gave him a look of suspicious surprise, showing him that she indeed thought he was suddenly on her side.
He noticed this and turned his gaze fully back to her. "Don't read anything into that," he stated, indicating his earlier comment was not to protect her. "I doubt replicas are much more than mindless, witless puppets anyway… and I know someone like you won't be able to change my mind."
The wild girl before him clenched her teeth in anger and the blond in the doorway smirked slightly in agreement. He made sure not to look at her, feeling that annoying guilt rise up at the back of him mind…it never went away.
"Don't forget…" the woman in the doorway said in a mocking soft tone, "You still have to get the mask off!" she ended in a laughing shriek that made the fourteen year old cringe and Asch grit his teeth together.
"I'll be waiting for you later," she said to Asch as she moved with a lady's grace from the room and banged the door like a child behind her. Her heels clicked away down the hall.
Once they were alone in the room again, they both fell back into silence while they concentrated on what was to come. Whatever it was…it was going to be a pain.
Asch watched the crazy girl. She was in a much calmer state now that she knew she wouldn't be totally brain washed. He could see her eyes clearly through the crystal, meaning that she was in control of herself now. If the lady had won, the glass would have been totally clouded over and that would be the end of this replicas visible life. She would have been enveloped in a deathly sleep while her body was put to combat.
"Take it off. We're done with this for now," Asch told her, but not moving in any way to help.
The girl lifted her arms, though they were shaking, and used the last remainder of her strength to shove the helm off her head.
It clattered to the ground.
She was shaking from head to toe now, her arms barely able to keep her from falling forward… he supposed she was fighting from slipping into unconsciousness. Her breathing was ragged, like she had just remembered that breathing was necessary to sustain life.
He observed her for barely a moment, finding her appearance hard to put a finger on.
Wild? Disheveled? That's all he could think of.
But it didn't matter anyway. He hated what she had done.
"Get up," he ordered.
The girl looked up at him, obviously appalled by his lack of care.
"Why do you care if I ever get up or not?" she asked quietly, her hair falling in front of her eyes. Her hands clenched on the floor in front of her, and he assumed that if he was close enough he'd be the victim of a very hard thump on the head.
"I don't," he countered quickly, "But pushing yourself is the only way to get stronger and I still have orders to train you. I don't want to waste any more time than I have to with a dreck like you…" Asch told her, shifting on his feet.
It had been a while since he had used that word…
"What makes you think I'll ever fight for you?" she asked, though she began to shakily push herself to her feet.
"What choice do you have? Oh wait…your other choice is death."
"Sounds nice…I mean in comparison to being with you."
He sent her a nasty glare that she was willing enough to return.
"Regardless…" he gritted through his teeth in restraint while turning his head aside. "You'll get no more acceptance in this world than the debatable sliver you have here."
The little fourteen year old clutched at her heart, her whole body shaking more than it previously was. It was obvious she was coming to some conclusion she didn't like either way. Either way was fine with him.
"It wasn't my choice to be a replica…" she told him, even her voice jerked with fear.
"Do you expect me to feel sorry for you?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow like he had just discovered something unexpectedly humorous. He had already been though all this with another certain red-head.
"No! Never!" she yelled angrily. "It's just that, more than anything, I need to make the most of it…"she paused for a moment.
Asch didn't respond at first, his eyes no more accepting then the helmet beside her.
"Just to be accepted…that's it!"
'That sounds too familiar…'
Asch shook his head. "How could a replica be anything more?" he hissed fiercely. "That goal could take a lifetime!"
Though…it had already proven to be possible.
"Then can I start by getting your acceptance?" she asked boldly.
"That will never happen," he replied without even hesitating to think… but then he paused for a moment. "But it's better than running around the castle making a fool of yourself."
If she was working towards something that only he could approve of…it would keep her in line.
The girl had stopped shaking now and her eyes were wild with desperation… like she had finally come to a decision that fit all of her standards and didn't involve dying.
"I will listen to you. I won't get in the way…" she promised while clenching her hands into balls. He got the feeling that she wasn't one for obeying anyone, anywhere.
"I'm not going easy on you. We're going to meet everyday right here, rain or shine," he stated sternly, having no idea why he suddenly wanted to train her. Probably because he had trained mindless fools for the past three years who didn't know what to do when an arrow was aimed at them. They could follow orders but they couldn't think for themselves. Maybe this girl had more potential than that.
"Now, you need a weapon…" he said. "I'm going to give you a different kind of weapon, based on fonons rather than steel."
The girl seemed confused but agreed reluctantly.
He walked up to her, standing right in front of her in only three strides. She jumped from the closeness but held her ground. Asch had to giver her credit, most people jumped out of the way when they saw him coming.
She was a small girl, smaller than girls should have been at that age. She only reached the center of his chest, and he didn't think she'd be growing any time soon. Even if she did, it wouldn't be enough to be considered 'tall'.
He bit his thumb and then reached down and grabbed her arm.
The girl yelped and tried to pull away but he held her firmly, "You said you would listen" he reminded her harshly.
The girl pursed her lips and then moved closer to him again as he pressed his bleeding thumb to the middle of her small hand. Then he stepped back a stride and reached out his hand, his face concentrated, like he was attempting to grab smoke.
The tiny girl was silent, looking like she was trying very hard to trust him. Then suddenly she jumped as an onyx sword appeared in her pale hand. He wanted to chuckle, knowing that was the last thing she was probably expecting.
Then she suddenly realized just how heavy it was and the tip slammed the marble floor. Asch winced as the sword screeched and clenched his teeth together.
"How did you-"
"Fonons," he said, cutting her off. "It works a little bit like the Fonon Essence helmet, except the fonons don't strike against you, rather they protect me from harm. Usually this is used for soldiers in battle so they don't turn on their commander…" the crimson haired man stated, looking her purposely in the eye for a moment.
She scowled.
"That looks a bit too heavy though. I doubt you'll ever build up enough strength to wield it properly."
The tiny girl opened her mouth in what appeared to be a protest for a moment before seemingly deciding against it and staying silent, the scowl still etched on her face.
He dismissed the weapon, knowing that for a girl of her size it was next to useless.
"Let's try this…" he murmured, though he was talking mostly to himself.
He walked back over, grabbing her arm just as roughly as the first time and succeeding in making her eyes narrow angrily. He ignored her and proceeded to mark four lines of blood up and down each side of both arms. When he stepped back and reached his hand out the next time, she readied herself.
Asch clenched his hand and the weapons materialized on her forearms. It was four blades in total that ran down smoothly along her arm, the points of the blades coming to an end a short distance beyond her finger tips. The hilts of her blades appeared right in front of her hands, to which she jerked to grab in a hurry. Belts held the weapon in places anyway though, so it wouldn't have mattered if she had grabbed them or not.
It seemed like she was resisting from looking at him, but he heard her clearly when she spoke. "I think I can use these…"
He nodded. "I've split the weight of the previous weapon into the four separate blades. It's not lighter but it's more balanced."
Furrowing her eyebrows, she nodded in response.
"I'm going to start off by teaching you the basic attacks, we'll work up from there…" Asch stated, gesturing to a couple of wooden posts bordering the side if the training room.
'This is going to be a long few weeks…'
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
"How did the little wretch do with her training, my general?" The lady of the castle asked later that night when Asch went to see her, as was common for him.
"How can replicas do anything?" he told her reluctantly to keep her in a decent mood. Any sliver of something that she didn't want to hear and she didn't say so nice.
The replica had done decently, though it was painfully obvious that she had never held any weapon of any sort in her life. He found that odd, considering most street walkers carried something to defend themselves with. Perhaps this girl was a runner, instead?
He had worked her hard…harder than he would have worked any of his own soldiers at least. She fell down a lot, she tripped repeatedly or missed him entirely. He didn't see talent, but he did potential at least.
They didn't get along and argued more than he would have liked, but for the most part she was willing to go along with what he asked over her…though he subtly made her trip sometimes just so he could scold her about it. He wondered if she caught on to that?
"I still cannot believe she got that helmet off," the golden haired woman hissed, and it seemed to be directed at him, rather than herself. "It is unheard of for a replica to break free of the Fonon Essence helmet!" she drawled dramatically, pacing back and forth now.
"The girl is strange," Asch agreed, watching the woman walk back and forth. "She is smaller and weaker than any of the other replicas you have ever controlled…but maybe there is something else…" he trailed off, his eyes narrowing.
"Yes, that is unfortunate, isn't it?" the blond smiled deviously with her words as she came towards him. "But I have a new plan, General…"
Asch watched and waited silently. The look in her eye was not one he ever cared to see.
"I want you to work her hard…" she whispered. "I want you to work her so hard she'll be wishing for death… for release…" she continued, tilting her head slightly. "Until she begs for you to let her go, until she is so exhausted that she can't even sleep!" she finished with a triumphant hiss.
"Why?" Asch asked reluctantly, feeling for the first time like his new pupil didn't stand a chance, no matter how hard she struggled to stay afloat.
For some reason unknown to him, he felt useless…even though he knew exactly why this woman was doing this.
"I will have her… she will obey me… in time…"
She couldn't lose, and most of all…to just a replica.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Asch left her room a good hour later. Winding his was through the complicated halls and looking out the windows at the night sky as he passed them. Finally, with a small shake of his head, he entered his room and strode over to the balcony to clear his mind.
The courtyard was empty, not even insects made themselves known. The bright moon reflected off the fountain water, trickling down the side like it had always done. The white lilies floated peacefully on the surface with no wind to disturb their flow. It was a comfortable night…but he felt restless.
A dull thumping pulled him away from the vision of the courtyard and he stopped moving and scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. It wasn't coming from outside but rather, inside, deeper in the castle. He narrowed his eyes. Everyone should have been asleep by now.
Asch removed himself from his room quietly and proceeded to follow the hollow sound down the hallway…though he already had suspicions about who it was. Not once had anything ever been out of place for the entire time that he'd been in this castle…until today.
The thumping grew louder, making him pressed his lips together in irritation. His feet eventually led him to the training room door. It was cracked open just slightly.
'What the hell is she doing in there?' he wondered as pushed it open a sliver of an inch more.
Yup. It was the replica alright
She was training, her weapons coming forward and back in the very movement they had been practicing that day. Each time her silver weapons came into contact with the wood, it made a very-hard-to-ignore thumping noise. Was she purposely trying to wake everyone up?
When he saw the sweat run weakly down the side of her face, he reconsidered. Maybe she really did…just want to get stronger and prove herself?
Words rung in his head with every strike of her doubled-blades.
'Until she begs for you to let her go, until she is so exhausted that she can't even sleep!'
He narrowed his eyes to the floor. This training was useless now. She was just urging her unavoidable fate to be here quicker by tiring herself out.
'This training is pointless…' he thought bitterly. 'It changes nothing. Things will go back to the way they were before she got here.'
But his emerald eyes continued to linger curiously on the girl, watching the desperation in her movements and the wild anger in her eyes that drove her.
But it had to mean nothing to him.
He was going to train her…as was his duty…until the second trial of her will. It didn't matter if she failed or not. It didn't mean anything to him.
It couldn't. She needed to be gone. He needed her gone so that he could know that it wasn't a sign to him that she showed up. It had always been this way, after every replica they had ever tried to control.
Placing his gloved hand on the door, he purposely pushed it open hard enough so that it banged against the stone wall behind it, distracting her from her task.
The replica froze in mid-strike, her whole body coming to a jerky halt as her orange eyes trailed wearily over her shoulder to see who had caught her.
"You know, I said rain or shine. I didn't say night," he stated sarcastically while striding over to her. "Are you trying to wake the whole castle?"
The black haired girl flinched in surprise. "Was I that loud?" she asked, her voice came out in a whisper, as if she could make up for all the previous noise somehow.
"Loud enough for me to locate you from the other side of the castle balcony. You better hope everyone else has their door shut," he snapped coldly.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
She let out a shaky breath, trying to calm herself as she lowered her weapons to her side. Then she turned to face him slightly.
"I'm…I'm sorry," she said reluctantly. "I didn't mean to… it's just that I can't get this thrust to come out right…and sounds different than when you do it," she sighed truthfully, though she didn't particularly like sharing her thoughts with her heartless new master.
"Show me," he commanded her then, catching her off guard.
She turned away from him slightly. "I thought I made too much noise?" she reminded him bitterly.
"Everyone's asleep," he stated frostily, coming to stand beside her in an almost threatening manner that actually had her considering whether or not she should listen.
"You didn't have to make such a big deal out of it then…" she muttered in irritation, though she quickly readied herself to strike the post when she heard his own sword begin to slide out of the sheath.
Just as she was about to push against her hilt and thrust her weapon forward though, his voice rang out.
"Stop—" he paused for a moment as she glanced at him incredulously. His face was cautious.
"That's wrong…" he told her.
"But I haven't even…done…it…" she reluctantly fell silent, seeing the glare she was getting from him.
Then suddenly while she was inwardly grumbling, he was beside her, touching her, positioning her, moving her feet, adjusting her hands, replacing them. She stood still all the while; trying to concentrate on what he was doing, trying to calculate everything. Her mind seemed hazy though and her cheeks burned involuntarily from the closeness.
'Do replicas not have personal space?' she wondered briefly.
"Pay attention," he told her lowly, and she realized he must have seen her eyes on the floor. Her head snapped up and she transfixed her eyes on the post instead.
"Now…" he murmured, coming in behind her and placing his hands on top of hers. "Strike the middle of the post. I will guide you." his voice rolled over her shoulder, making her shiver. She was sure it was fear.
Regardless, she concentrated on what she was supposed to do. She grasped the hilts so tightly that her knuckles turned white, but when she tried to strike forward, his firm hands held hers back easily. She looked over her shoulder indignantly at him. He looked down at her, his expression hard.
"No…" he said in a hushed voice. "Pull back before you attack. It will give you more power."
She slowly pulled her eyes away from him and turned back around to the post.
This time, she pulled her hand back, guided by his, and there was no resistance as she shot it forward with all her might. All her frustrations aimed at the post.
Her blades crashed and dug deep into the wood, making her jerk to a stop and making the thumping noise she had made before seem amateurish.
"Whoa…" she muttered under her breath and turned around to look at Asch.
He had a hardened look on his face, his green eyes contemplating. For a moment, she was struck with bitter sympathy.
He seemed lonely.
"Was that wrong?" she asked, disheartened and confused by his reaction. Was he that hard to please?
"No…" he told her, pulling away. "It's the best I've seen from you today…"
A tiny smile crept onto her face, regardless of her attempt to stay serious.
'Maybe he's…not so bad…maybe…' she thought reluctantly.
"It's late, you should get to your room…" he told her briskly while turning away. "We'll meet here again in the morning."
The girl watched him, his crimson hair spilling down his back, his wide shoulders, his strong muscles, the way he stood. He was obviously very powerful and respected. He was built for survival. But as she gazed at the edge his face carefully, somehow a different feeling came to her. He was strong… he put on a strong front… but in his eyes, there was a blankness that confused her.
He seemed lost.
He began to walk away, taking her silence for an agreement she supposed.
"Uhm… Master…?" she said oddly, letting the new word roll off her tongue.
He turned around to look at her questioningly over his shoulder, his green eyes lit up by the bright moon outside.
"I'm… stuck…"
She was sure she saw the edge of his mouth twitch upward.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
--Chapter has been rewritten--
Hey, hoped you enjoyed the chapter. I'm so glad I finally got the chance to fix it up a little because it really was a piece of work, compared to the later chapters, hehe. Um…well for the new people who are just taking a peek, I know it's very different right now but if you keep reading, you'll surely understand. I promise!
Kazink