A Game of Fate

Chapter 4

Goddess Nozomi

Although figuring out a little more about that caretaker was strange, Honoka had to move on. These goddesses were getting really stubborn with answering her questions so the quicker she got through this, the less she had to wait to find out what was going on. She headed to the next shrine and entered through its door. It was the same as the others, but this one had an aura that set it differently from the previous ones. She walked through the building until she made it to the throne where the goddess was waiting for her.

"Hello."

"Hello there. By you coming here only means that you've managed to beat the others before me."

"That's correct."

"Wow, this is quite the momentous occasion. No one has ever made it this far. I'm so happy."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You didn't know? In order to see all of the goddesses, you have to beat each one first in a specific order. It's kind of common sense at this point."

"Well, I didn't know that."

"That's good because I've been longing for a challenger to come my way. If you would follow me, we can get this thing started." The girl stood up from her chair and did the usual procedure by having Honoka follow her into the back.

Once they were there, Honoka immediately felt sick to the stomach. There was something about this place that made her feel so uncomfortable. The room was very dark as if it's never been used before.

"So, is this the place?" Honoka's voice was a little shaky.

"This is it. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Toujou Nozomi and I am one of the descendants of the Goddess Muse."

"I'm Kousaka Honoka."

"Honoka? That's a very cute name. Anyway, you are challenging me in order to pass through the mountain, yes?" She looked at Honoka and saw her nodding her head. "Here's the game. We will stand on opposite sides of the room. All you have to do is cross the line in the middle of the room. I, on the other hand, am trying to stop you. You get it?"

"That's it?"

"Yep, nothing hard about it, right?"

"I guess. It's just that it seems a little weird to have such an easy challenge this far up the mountain."

"Oh, I wouldn't underestimate people that you don't even know. There are many amazing people in this world, and you haven't even seen the top three goddesses." Nozomi gave Honoka a menacing look that immediately caused Honoka to regret saying that. "Are you ready to begin?"

"S-Sure."

"Alright, let's take our positions." The two of them went to the opposite sides of the room and prepared for the game. "If you ever decide to forfeit, just call it out and I will stop the game. But you'll end up forfeiting no matter what," she said under breath.

At that moment, Honoka was confused. Why would she even think about calling quits? She's made it this far so she couldn't just give up like some kind of loser. Her record was at stake so she wasn't going to lose this or any other game she played. She took a deep breath and yelled out that she was ready. Without wasting time, Nozomi called the game and things immediately kicked off.

Honoka charged towards the line as quickly as she could while Nozomi was just standing at her original spot. Honoka couldn't help but think that something was up, but she didn't have time to think about it. She was getting closer to the line which the closer she would be to figuring out what was going on around her.

"Game over!" Honoka leapt towards the line at full force.

"Hehe, you're so quaint," Nozomi said under her breath. Then, she suddenly raised her hand and out came a powerful gust of wind that knocked Honoka's body back to her original starting point. Once she regained herself, she looked up in confusion.

"What the heck was that?" She looked back at Nozomi, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"I told you not to underestimate your opponent. There are many things you don't know about this world."

"Shut up!" Honoka returned to her feet, charged up yet again, and ran towards the line with everything she had. However, it wasn't going to be any easier from this point on.

Nozomi raised her hand again and a stone wall suddenly appeared in front of Honoka's path. She nearly rammed her entire face into it at the speed she was going. Once she figured out that her forward path was blocked, she turned right and headed that way just to make a sharp turn back towards the line. That's when another strange thing happened. When she took a step closer to the line, it felt as if she was sinking into the ground. That's when she looked down to see the ground swallowing up her leg. She tried pulling out as hard as she could, but it seemed impossible.

"Come on. The line is right there. Pull it together Honoka!"

"I'm sorry, but there's no way that you're winning this." At that moment, Nozomi shot that same blast of wind at her and knocked her back to the starting position. However, she stayed on the offensive this time.

When Honoka tried to run towards the line again, she immediately felt an invisible wall around her. She tried punching it to see if it would break, but nothing happened. She looked around frantically, but nothing was able to help her out. That's when something else happened. Honoka immediately started to feel light-headed. She was unaware of it, but the air inside that small area was disappearing before her. She started to cough and eventually fall to her knees in pain. She could barely see as air was no longer available to her.

"Was this what she meant by forfeit?" Her mind and body continued to give out until she thought of one last opportunity. She threw up her arms and started to wave it as frantically as she could. Only a few seconds after that, air returned and Honoka was able to recover from that near-death experience.

"That is a loss, sweety. It was quite entertaining though." Nozomi turned around and headed back into the shrine.

"Wait!" Honoka's voice managed to return and allowed her to scream at the girl. "What does this mean?" None of this was making sense… This girl, this game, what just happened; she couldn't even explain it to herself in her head.

"What does what mean?"

"I forfeited. What happens now?"

"Hm, well, I'm not like the other girls so I will make you a deal. I will give you a second chance since I could tell there is something different about you, and plus, I really like you. However, when you leave this building, you will forget everything you've seen or remembered about this incursion between us. When you're ready, you may come back and challenge me again. I expect better results next time. Bye bye." She exited through the door and left Honoka to leave on her own.

As she made her way to the exit, she was baffled by what she just went through. Not only did she lose, but for the first time in her life, she felt as though there was no way she could beat this girl. There didn't seem to be anything she could do against her. It seemed as if she had magic or something. Everything that happened didn't seem real or possible. All of these thoughts were running through her head until she made it outside of the shrine. That's when Honoka's memory of this incursion suddenly vanished from existence.

"Wait, what just happened? Where am I?" Honoka looked around like a little kid who was lost in a crowd of people. It wasn't until she saw that she was standing at a shrine that she realized where she was. "Oh yeah, I'm supposed to challenge the next goddess." Honoka was about to walk into the shrine again, but a voice stopped her before she could.

"I wouldn't do that if I were. You need some time to rest. Come with me."

Honoka turned around and saw who it was who was talking to her. It wasn't the caretaker this time, surprisingly. It was some other girl. Honoka watched the strange girl head into one of the shrines and immediately followed behind her.

"Who are you? Why are you in here? I thought only goddesses and challengers were allowed in shrines."

"You're such a silly girl. I am a goddess."

End of Chapter 4