Chapter 10

Ready Enough

Mireille stepped back to judge the teenagers' handstands. The freshmen have been at it, including backward rolls, since the previous day when training started, challenging each other to who could be the first to handstand without using a wall or tree for support. They started from handstands for three seconds, to five seconds, then to fifteen at the most. At this point it was the best they could do. With everything that's happened—barely arriving in the Cantabrians, the change of time zones, and "Trials"—too much would already be overwhelming.

"Let's limit handstands to fifteen seconds," said Kirika. "Your body has yet to get used to this intense training . . ."

The younger girls' faces strained red at the effort to maintain control and not keel over.

"Straight arms," demanded Mireille quickly before they could topple over. "Land on your feet—."

They kept their arms straight, but that didn't change the fact that they had yet to improve on their landing; they nearly slammed on their backs. It took a lot of muscle control and strength. Riki and Audriane crashed onto their backs, laying there, wincing.

Mireille stared at them, holding her chin in thought. Then, she said, "Kirika, handstand." When her partner did as asked, Mireille pushed her over. On instinct, Kirika tucked her chin and rolled. "Just like that. It's important to recover from a handstand—with a simple roll. Look at your stomachs, bend those elbows, and roll with legs tucked to your chest."

"A moment, Barbie," huffed Riki, wincing, whistling through her teeth.

"Still. We're missing something, some transition from handstand to . . . pain angels," said Mireille dryly.

"So sore," groaned Audriane.

"Because you aren't used to this constant activity," said Mireille. "Stretch more."

"I strive for the Olympics," said Riki with a sarcastic salute.

"Get some water before the midday heat gets to you."

At the sound of break, the girls began walking away almost immediately. "Finally, water," said Audriane.

"While you're at it, grab that bucket, and head to the spring," said Mireille after them.

Riki and Audriane drooped in despair and glared at Noir, but wheeled around without further protest.

Mireille shook her head. "We're getting nowhere. Not fast enough."

Kirika watched the children disappear into the woods. "There are three things they need to learn to survive: how to shoot, how to get back up from a blow, and how to run. Their gasping—their endurance—concerns me."

"Experience. That's all it really narrows down to," said Mireille, as if with realization. "In this world, you're never ready. Only ready enough. I hate to say this, and I really, really hate that damn woman—but I guess we gotta talk to Shirihime about it."

….

"I really, really HATE that being thirsty means walking a mile to get to our water!" grunted Riki, swinging the bucket between herself and Audriane, who gripped the other side of the thin handle. "No offense to the homeless, but at least hobos sleep safely on the streets where no one cares about them—but us, we had to be blessed by GOD Himself to hide in the forest like Mowgli!"

Getting caught in her rant caused Riki to trip and stagger, burdening Audriane with the bucket. After useless bickering, they continued to limp back toward the Etxarren.

"We have water. We have lake. They just messing with us," said Audriane distractedly, refraining from throttling her partner.

She scanned the stretch of trees above. It was amazing how thick, and then how suddenly vast and open the mountains could be.

It didn't take long, however, for Riki's complaints to get annoying. Audriane had wanted to agree with her, but couldn't help but glare from the corner of her eye, insulted that her classmate didn't realize where she stood in their training, how lucky she was progressing. Audriane, on the other hand, in Mireille's words, had to "get used to things". Initially, it was ironic. If anything—watching Riki complain, watching her back-talk, watching her nearly shoot Mireille—it was Riki who needed to get used to things. Audriane was at least trying to improve, while Riki was too focused on sass, and it wasn't bringing them anywhere.

Their new life was hell . . . and yet, at least Riki had something to keep her going: a strength that Mireille recognized, a compliment that Riki should have graciously noticed by now. And what did Audriane have? She was bilingual and studious. But would that save her life?

Riki's current temper tantrum pulled Audriane back to their new world. With a sudden burst of envy, Audriane pulled the bucket from Riki's hands and heaved it onto her head with great strain to balance it. She marched forward, ignoring Riki's cries from behind: "Hey, you're gonna spill that!"

"Pull your weight," snapped Audriane.

Riki fell quiet. "Hey, you ok?"

After all that Audriane wanted to force out brutal words, but they surprisingly came out soft. "Of course not."

Riki said nothing. All that training has barely given them anything to bond over, other than competitive handstands and spotting rolls. She still didn't know how to communicate with her so-called partner.

Raising her hands defensively, Riki fell back a few steps to let Audriane march ahead. This only made something snap inside Audriane, but she still said nothing. It stayed like this all the way till they spotted Mireille and Kirika by the pond. The sight of their mentors dipping their feet in the water like royalty only worsened their mood.

"Someone should slave your asses," said Riki, as Audriane dropped the bucket to the ground.

Mireille looked up. "Bring it inside to the kitchen."

Riki moved to take the bucket this time, but Audriane beat her to it without a word. As she slipped inside the Etxarren, Noir looked at Riki standing there, arms crossed.

"You need to think about your weaknesses," blurted Mireille. "Boost your stamina and strategy, but reduce your attitude."

Riki pointed at Audriane inside, eyes wide. "Coach her on attitude, not me!"

The moment Audriane returned, Mireille added without explanation, "And you, on your gun accuracy and physical strength."

"Huh?" said Audriane.

"Let's go," said Mireille. "Enough physical stuff. Now it's time to end the day with some leisure target practice. You're gonna keep rotating after every three rounds: one shoots, while the other does handstands. Got that?"

Audriane rubbed her arms, strained from carrying that heavy bucket. She regretted not sharing the weight with Riki.

"Carrying that bucket does you some good weight-lifting," said Kirika, as if to comfort the girls, as if to admit that Mireille was being a hard-ass.

"Told you," said Audriane to Riki.

"And the handstands," said Mireille. "Rotating you through target practice and handstands is a great way to simultaneously train you on aiming, coordination, and body-building. Handstands—always a fast, simple way to work on every muscle in your body. Your gun will suddenly feel lighter, and your accuracy will speed up."

Riki chuckled, hands on her hips. "At least you finally sound like you know what you're doing."

"Eventually you won't need a wall for support on your handstands," said Kirika.

"We start balancing away from wall," said Audriane. She was intent on moving on from doing handstands. After all, handstands wouldn't keep them alive. Whatever kept them focused on something else, though.

…..

Instead of just rolling out of a handstand, they learned how to cartwheel out of it, too. Aside from that, every evening Mireille taught them how to garden. When they had first arrived, that garden half a mile away off the dirt path showed strange signs of daily care. Even Noir didn't know what to say about it, their best guess that Sir Asher had someone prepare the Etxarren for their arrival. Since then, Mireille—from what she could recall growing up in Corsica and from an uncle who taught her everything—attempted to teach them a thing or two about making their own veggies, juice, and wine.

It was one of few chances for Riki and Audriane to exchange little conversation. Every day of training exhausted them to the point that bed time was earlier than their times in Tokyo, so they rarely spoke to each other when getting ready for bed. In their free time, they explored their surroundings far from the Etxarren, sometimes one girl more than the other, and often separately.

As the girls sat on their knees, gardening, poking under leaves, Audriane spoke out of nowhere.

"After a bit," she said, "you grateful for being out here."

Riki paused, looking at her. "Huh?"

"After all that hell, I glad here, far, far away from mankind. Out here, I stronger."

Her Japanese was getting better, Riki noted, but her English . . . maybe more. ' Riki grumbled, "Yeah, for you, it's great."

"I mean, it distracting," emphasized Audriane. "It gives me purpose."

"As long as you don't forget who put us in this situation, how many people got killed." Riki's mind dulled at the thought of all the bodies and bloodshed, of friends and strangers . . . so far away, yet always there in their dreams.

Expecting Riki's usual sting, Audriane said nothing. It was topics like these where she allowed Riki to vent. She had every right to.

"Soldats, Asher, Noir, trials," said Riki, throwing down a pile of dirt. "Those two never explained what it all means, not once! The more I think about it, the more it sounds like some recruitment for the frikkin' Mafia."

Audriane couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes. Almost." She frowned thoughtfully. "Why do you never say their names?"

"What, those two?"

"Exactly."

"What does it matter? I didn't even realize I never did."

Audriane shrugged, not sure where she was going with it herself. All she could think about was what Kirika—the Basques—said about "that which has a name, exists". It fascinated her, for some reason. But she remained silent, and resumed to pat new mulch around their plants.

"Anyway," continued Riki, raking at weeds, "don't you find it weird that they don't know what they're doing? Ya know, like, training us? And not knowing a simple thing like who prepared the Etxarren for us? They barely know anything about this Asher guy. If anything, it sounds like they're . . ."

"Confused, too," finished Audriane, locking eyes with Riki. "You feel it too, then? You hate to admit it? That they not bad, they victims too—?"

"Hold it there," said Riki. "They may have saved us from the school, and are training us to protect ourselves—but they aren't victims. If they were, they wouldn't be doing this to us. Keeping us here. Preparing us for something worse. Some damn Trials. Our lives are at stake here—so no, I do not consider them victims because they are contributing to these trials. They're enablers."

Riki threw her gardening tools to the ground, scowling Audriane. "And it sickens me that you're going with it, instead of finding a way out here. It's the only reason why you and I are not friends yet. We back each other up, but we aren't friends."

Such cold eyes. From a stranger. And yet it was like a punch to Audriane's heart. They have trained together and survived together, but that was it. Such raw, intense emotions from the lab partner who helped her escape the school . . .

"So why you not gone?" burst Audriane. "Why you still here with me?"

Riki said nothing, her eyes wilting with emotion.

"You feel it too, then? A dark pull? Curiosity?"

"What the hell you talking about?"

"I need to know. I wonder . . . what happened to them . . . what would happen to them if we leave?"

"Should we . . . care?"

Something burned inside Audriane. "You just as bad as them!" To distract herself, her eyes drifted absent-mindedly toward the dirt trail barely visible through the thick trees crowning the garden.

Riki's faced contorted in disgust, but she followed Audriane's gaze, just in time for them both to see someone standing there, watching them. They burst to their feet, adrenaline spiking, not having detected the figure before.

It was Shirihime.

"I hate her," hissed Riki, clenching the handle of her cultivator.

They glared at Shirihime, who turned and walked away. Speechless, the girls shot their attention back toward the Etxarren wondering if there were any signs of Mireille and Kirika waving their guns in the air. No one. They looked back at Shirihime in her stroll.

"Such villainous nonchalance," growled Riki, her skin crawling with the urge to throw her cultivator all the way into the back of Shirihime's head. Every sore muscle remembered what that woman put her through from their last encounter. In ways, she hated Shirihime more than Mireille.

Through the trees separating them from the dirt trail, they detected speckles of movement at the slightest breeze. It was a beautiful day, and yet Shirihime's passing presence seemed to violate this day . . .

"What do we do?" asked Audriane, eyes darting back toward the Etxarren. "Where are Mireille and Kirika? Should we alert them?"

Riki kept looking back where Shirihime disappeared, squinting for any sight of her in case she was lurking nearby. She turned her whole body around in circles for any signs, for any Knights.

"We follow," said Audriane.

Riki didn't have to say anything to agree as she raced after Shirihime; Audriane followed. But as they got closer and closer from behind, they saw her cut through the trees, out into the open. She was heading toward the lake, not Etxarren.

"I not get her," said Audriane.

"Those . . . assholes," whispered Riki, glaring back at the Etxarren.

….

"Didn't you hear her say she'd return to check up on your training?" retorted Mireille, pouring water from a pitcher.

"Don't pour that water so casually!" roared Riki, gesticulating wildly. "I don't like her! The way she looks at us like pawn! The way she tossed me around like dirt!"

"She is Asher's right-hand woman, from what she boastfully claimed," said Mireille. "She relays back to him your progress. Lucky for you, she wasn't here to challenge you. Apparently, she is also responsible for replenishing our ammunition."

The children glared.

"Where do you think your ammo comes from? How else do we train you?" said Mireille, cocking an eyebrow.

Riki froze. "Wait . . . so, they're nearby? Asher. Is he located nearby? I mean, that woman just ambled here and back! We should track her back to where they keep all the ammo, and give them some hellfire!"

Just like that, Riki's fists were curled and raised, as if she was ready for a victorious finale.

"Steady, kid," said Mireille, exhaling. "Don't make it sound so easy. You're untrained children against a powerful force. Don't just assume you're in an action movie."

"Maybe if you told us everything we'd have a better understanding of what we're up against!"

"When the time comes. You're not ready. It's memory overload for you, and honestly, too much for you to handle. Stick to the basics, that's all that matters."

"So you agree with me?" asked Riki, questioning their mentors' expressions, wondering for a second if what Audriane said was true about them. "You agree that we could take down the very people leashing us all, the ones responsible for all those deaths?"

It was the first time Mireille heard Riki acknowledge her and Kirika in that light. She wondered where it came from, how much the children have figured it out. It wasn't that hard to figure out, and yet it was. Then again, it took the students this long to realize that Shirihime delivered their ammo, so who knows what they knew and didn't.

"If they're close enough to deliver in person, then that must mean Asher is somewhere! C'mon, this is basic math even I understand!" said Riki, looking Mireille particularly in the eye.

Mireille composed herself. "If you intend to take him out yourself, that would be great. We'd all be rid of him and the likes of him—but only if you're willing to accept the risks. Do you understand?"

Audriane grimaced at Mireille, then Riki. She was not ready. She wanted to live. She would not leave Etxarren until she was fully trained and fit for combat, for survival.

Mireille waited reluctantly to see if Riki figured out anything else—but Riki said nothing, furthering not just Mireille's curiosity but suspicions.

"Riki," said Audriane, "we not ready."

"Mireille said so herself, that shooting is easy, you just gotta point and pull the trigger," said Riki.

"No, we not ready!"

"We're ready enough, right? Dammit, why do you want to stay here so bad, what's keeping you here!"

Watching them argue, Noir immediately knew they weren't ready. They weren't even sure if the children were partner material—Noir material. Mireille and Kirika shared a silent moment reading each other's eyes, in which Mireille saw a tentative glow in Kirika's eyes. It was gone when they heard Riki stomp upstairs and slam the door. For some reason, it threw everyone off guard. Of all the tantrums she had thrown, this was not usual.

Audriane said to herself, "I stay because I not an idiot." She nodded to their mentors. "I talk to her."

She rushed up the stairs. They heard her click the door to their bedroom behind her.

"Can't tell who's the stronger one in the pair," said Mireille.