Limbo


"Beta test…failure? Test subject…terminated? What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that person's probably…ya know…"

"No. No no no. This can't be happening…"

"Hey, let's not jump to conclusions. There's no name or picture. For all we know, it could be someone else."

"Who else could it possibly be?! Who else mysteriously went missing around the same time?!"

"I dunno…but still…"

"Are you saying I came all the way here…for nothing?"

Yomi's eyes fluttered open.

"A dream?" she murmured, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. No, that's not it. I remember now…

The break-in was, for the most part, a success. She'd managed to download most of the database's information, send it over to Tokoha, and get out. Having extra pairs of eyes on the lookout was a godsend, and she was grateful.

But what Yomi didn't expect was the information they had on Project Miracle. It was sparse, and certainly not all they had on the large-scale project, but it was still overwhelming on its own.

"Apparently there's a Beta test and an Alpha test," Kon said from the computer's speakers. "The Alpha test is what they're working on right now, but the Beta test…well you'll have to see for yourself."

"What do you…there's a lot of blank spaces."

"The file's heavily encrypted. It was hard enough getting this out. But look down at the project notes."

"Huh?" Yomi's eyes scanned the page and down to the end. "Failure? Test subject too volatile…the imbalanced amounts of Imagnum were too much for him? Terminated…wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

Yomi flung her blanket to the side and moved sluggishly out of bed. I refuse to believe that Kuro's gone. He can't be gone…can he?

But as she gto herself ready for the day, all Yomi could think about were the similarities between the test subject and her best friend. Brown hair. Around the same age. The experiment was terminated around the same time he was reported missing. She shook her head and stepped out of her room, where a Dog Trainer waited.

"Morning ceremony in ten," she told her.

※◎◎◎※

"Weakness is a sin!" the trainees yelled with vigor. Arms were outstretched and fists were clenched in the harsh glow. "Weakness is a sin!"

But Yomi's head wasn't quite in it. It never was to begin with, but this time she didn't even bother putting up a facade, with her head rolling off to who knows where. That earned her a smack over the head.

"Weakness is a sin!" she yelled, with what strength in her lungs she did have.

Another slap.

"Weakness is a sin!"

"Mediocre at best. But adequate. Now keep it up, you've still got another fifteen minutes!" the Dog Trainer said, before making another round.

How did we even get into this mess?

"Ow! Ow! Let go of me, you jerk!"

Ever since United Sanctuary began expanding, the winner-loser culture it encouraged began to spread like a plague through card shops across Japan. Even now, when anyone so much as mentioned the word 'tournament,' smug, self-righteous players like the one holding her by the hair at that moment would flock over like flies.

"So a little birdie told me you two want to take your chances at Regionals?"

"What's it to you?" Yomi spat, only to wince when he tightened his grip.

"P-please, just leave us alone…" Kuro begged. He was always the pacifist, rarely solving things with violence or anger.

"Alright." Then Yomi was flung to the ground with a grunt.

"Yomi!"

"But since I'm feeling particularly charitable today, I'll just see if you're actually up to the challenge."

"What?"

"You heard me. Now get your cards out."

"But…but I'm not even ready yet…I just put my finishing touches on my deck."

"No time like the present. Or do you not care what happens to your little girlfriend here?"

"I…fine."

"Good. Stand up! Vanguard!"

"Stand up! The Vanguard!"

"Cray Elementals? Ha! You couldn't pick a real clan to play?"

"That's…! That's not…"

"Kuro, don't listen to him! He's just saying that to get you off your game! You can win this!"

But he couldn't. He'd lost horribly, and perhaps, that was what started it all. Yomi cheering just a little too loudly.

"Wait, what?"

"I'm going to train at one of United Sanctuary's training centers," Kuro said firmly. "If I don' t get stronger, those guys will never leave us alone."

"But…there are other ways! You don't have to do this! We can get stronger together! I promise. Give me just a little longer and I'll master Genesis for sure! I just opened a few packs and got more copies of Angelica! Please, just don't go! I've heard horrible things about those places and—"

"Yomi. It'll be fine. I'll come back even stronger than before. Let me do this one thing."

"But you're the only reason I ever started playing…"

"And I'll be the reason you keep playing, 'kay? We'll win nationals, maybe even the Global Grand Prix as soon as I'm out. So get even stronger, alright?"

"…fine. Okay. But promise you'll always call!"

"I will, don't worry!"

"Yomi! Hey, earth to Yomi!" she blinked, then turned around to see Miho and Ayame next to her, with the rest of the room dispersed out into the corridors outside.

"Oh…hey…"

"W-what's wrong?" Ayame asked. "You've been shouting and raising your fist even after the ceremony was over."

"We're worried about you. You sure you're holding up okay?" Miho added.

"I…" Yomi bit her lip. "I don't know."

"W-well, do you want to talk about it?" Ayame asked.

"Not really, no," Yomi declined, shaking her head. "I…I just need some time on my own."

"Well, if you need anything!" Miho called after her as she walked out. "We're here…"

Ayame turned to Miho. "I think we should do something."

"Well, what can we do?" Miho frowned. "I mean, I'd be pretty bummed if my best friend were possibly dead. Give her some time."

"But he might not be dead!" Ayame said.

"You too?" Miho asked. "Come on, Ayame. The chances are low. And besides, he definitely isn't here. We'd have to somehow get out, and that could take ages of work."

"Y-Yomi could request to leave. We can always leave if we want to."

"Sure, and leave all of us here behind. I dare her to."

"T-that's not what I meant! Maybe…maybe you won't have to return to the orphanage. Maybe we can sort things out."

"Easy for you to say. And what about you? Why can't you just leave?"

"I…" Ayame looked down to her feet. "I can't. I'd just be sent back here, and things would be even worse than they are now."

※◎◎◎※

"Then let's hold a surprise party for her!" Taiki beamed.

"W-what?"

"Taiki, I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

"Course it is!" he chirped. "I mean, she's obviously in a rut, so why not throw one and cheer her up? You're a beta, so you've got access to a whole bunch of cool stores in the upper levels! Then Ayame and I can get to collecting snacks and drinks. Ooh! We could a grab a movie too!"

"Sounds fun," Ayame smiled faintly.

"Right?"

"Hold on," Miho said. "You can't be serious, that's a lot of credits!"

"You barely spend on anything," Taiki stared at her.

"Well, I only spend on valuable things."

"This is valuable."

"You don't get to decide that!"

"Come on," he pouted. "What's a little charity to you, huh?"

She put her hands up. "Fine. We'll do it. I'll pitch in."

"Great!" he grinned. "You won't regret it. We're gonna have so much fun!"

※◎◎◎※

"From what you've told me, there's a…possibility—"

"So it's true then."

"There's a possibility," Tokoha emphasized through the phone line. "That yes, Kuroki Miyazaki is out of the picture. But you can't give up hope yet. And besides, you've found out other stuff as well. All these other components of Project Miracle are plenty to go off of."

Yomi brushed a stroke of black from the side of her head. "Yeah. I guess so. What're you going to do with all this?"

"Well, before we can do anything with this, we have to understand it, first."

"It mentions…PSYQualia a lot. Do you know what that is?"

A momentary silence.

"Tokoha?"

"Sorry. I had to think for a bit. Right. From what I've heard, apparently it's some sort of ability that gives you heightened fighting abilities, among other things."

"Do these other things include whisking someone else to a psychic mind party?"

She heard a snort on the other line.

"Uh…I mean, I suppose so. The mechanics are a little complicated, but yes. Mental linking is something wielders can do. But putting that aside, it's amazing, even a little terrifying, that they can replicate these abilities in normal fighters."

"But?"

"But according to reports, there are certain…side-effects. Addiction to the power, dementia, hallucinations, the works. You don't want to get on this…imagnum, or whatever this substance is."

"Imagnum," Yomi repeated, remembering the word from the report on the test subject. "What is that?"

"All it says here is 'crystallized imagination,' collected from any one of the vessels of the Creators. A lot of the information is encrypted, and it's difficult to sort through the big picture."

"So I've heard."

"You've had a lot on your plate," Tokoha said finally. "Take a breather. Alone, with those new friends of yours, doesn't matter. But take it easy, alright?"

"Yeah. Good luck on your end," Yomi said. Then after a thought, she added, "You have friends of your own, don't you?"

"Plenty," Tokoha said. She could almost imagine the nostalgic smile on her face. "But none quite like my two teammates."

"How are they?"

"Well, you know Shion. He's funding your, our little crusade."

"And the other?"

There was a pause. "He's…complicated."

"What isn't complicated these days?" Yomi murmured, earning a low chuckle from the other side.

"We'll keep in touch," Tokoha said. "Stay well."

"Yeah. You too."

The scarab clicked cold as Yomi hung up and stuffed it into her pocket. I hate this. I hate all of it.

The doors to her room slid open as she stepped out into the hallway. She had some semblance of where to go, yet at the same time, didn't. She was in a strange midway between the two states of knowing and not knowing, and really, she just let her legs take her wherever instinct led her, like a wandering fish in the sea, or a bird taking a leisurely soar through the sky. There was no real endpoint for her. At least, not an intentional one.

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled when she bumped into another person. "I didn't mean to— oh, you."

The grumpy Dog Trainer stared at her through silver lenses. "Watch where you're going next time."

Yomi nodded, before she could trudge past him he stopped her. Did he sense that something was wrong? Why would he even care?

"Have you lost all your bite already?"

"I'm just not in the mood."

"That's a first." He looked her up and down, then to the side, almost like he couldn't believe he was still here. "Look, if you're losing morale, know that you can always quit."

"Quit?" she widened her eyes. She couldn't quit yet, not…but then again, what exactly was she doing here?

"That's one option," he confirmed. "The other is that you think, think long and hard about why you're here. And remember that as you keep fighting on."

He must think I'm here to be stronger, Yomi realized. Yet, this was a side of him she'd never seen before. Never so…sympathetic. What happened?

He gave a tip of the hat, before he went on his way, most likely to supervise another batch of trainees, leaving Yomi standing in the middle of the corridor to think on the words they'd just exchanged.

"Why I'm here…" she murmured. That's right…it was always for Kuro. Vanguard, this, all of it. If he's still out there, then… She clenched her fist as sadness burned into determination. Then I'll find him. And if not…I'll get to the bottom of this. I'll fight for something different. None of all this crap we have to take just to be strong. I'll change it.

Because that was all she could do.

So she walked, she jogged, through the corridors and across the halls, up stairs and past people. There was one place she had to be, one place where she was surrounded by the people who'd helped her, kept her company through all of what happened at The Center. The ones she could actually fight with, fight for, and once all was said and done, they'd come out together.

"Y-Yomi!" Ayame squeaked as she pushed the canteen doors open. Bags of chips and candy were bundled on the table where they sat, along with a couple of movie cases and a board game. The three of her friends at the table stared at her in shock, like they'd been caught red-handed committing a heinous crime.

"You're not supposed to be here!" Taiki screeched.

"Uh…hi?" Miho said awkwardly.

Yomi blinked, not quite expecting this. Truth be told, she wasn't quite sure what she was expecting herself. Finally, she gathered herself and regarded them with a renewed positivity. "Uh, hey. What're you guys doing?"

The three looked at each other before smiling awkwardly themselves. "We were gonna throw you a surprise party."

"Oh."

"Well now it's not quite a surprise anymore, so I guess it's just a party," Taiki said.

"We were just worried about you," Ayame mumbled. "I-It's not like you to be so down."

Yomi sat down with a giggle. "Thanks guys, really."

"So…"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Yomi answered. "I'm fine now. So we're going to do our best from now on, alright?"

"Our best?" Ayame echoed.

"Yup," Yomi said. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I can't let all this dark, shady stuff keep happening."

"I-I'll help," Ayame said.

"Aye aye, cap'n," Taiki grinned.

Yomi looked at Miho. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but…"

"I know," Miho cut her off. "But I was there with you. I want to look up to United Sanctuary, but I know that they're not the great heroes that I think they are. So I want to get at the truth too."

Yomi nodded. "That's right. The truth."

"Well, this party ain't gonna plan itself," Taiki said, holding up the two movie cases. "So are we watching The Revengers or The Dragwizard of Cray?"

"That's not fair! Why are they all Shadow Paladin films?!" Miho objected, earning laughs from the other two girls. "No, seriously! Why not something else?"

The argument continued even well after lunch period was over. Between the two siblings, picking one movie was an impossible feat. Hell, in the end, they decided to just binge an entire marathon's worth of movies.

Yomi smiled at the thought of spending the entire night having fun, just feeling…normal. Yet at the same time she struggled to shrug off an eerie feeling of premonition. Like there was something she was missing. She frowned.

United Sanctuary…what else are you hiding?

※◎◎◎※

"Heat Element, Bwah attacks the vanguard."

"N-no guard…damage check, no trigger."

"That's game."

The clicks of heels rattled like hooves as the two combatants looked up to see their Chief descend down blue-lit stairs. One got to his knees, while the other looked on expectantly, waiting for the purple-maned man's response.

"Another victory," he said. "Your training's coming along well."

"It's still not enough," the boy said, bronze hair flecked with streaks of white. His gray eyes had a screened flame to them as he spoke. "I need more of a challenge if I'm going to succeed."

"And I agree," Chief Kanzaki concurred. "We'll be moving you up to the highest tier starting tomorrow. You'll be acquainted with our best. Training with them."

"And then I can make a miracle happen."

"You won't just make a miracle happen, Kuroki," Kanzaki corrected. "You'll be a miracle. You aren't like the other boy. You have determination. You have a goal. And that's why you'll be perfect."

He nodded. "I'll be perfect."

Just a little more, Yomi. And then I'll save the world.


Sorry for the really short chapter. I honestly wasn't sure how to go about this chapter, so I chose this. Hope it worked and entertained~