A Game of Fate

Chapter 6

The Top Three

"What did you say?" Honoka turned around as soon as she said those words, but the caretaker disappeared into thin air. "What the heck was that? What did she mean by that? Gosh, I'm so confused." Honoka smacked her hands against her head and closed her eyes. "Alright, let's just calm down. All that matters is that I managed to make it passed that goddess." Honoka was about to take a step forward when one last thing came to her mind. "Wait, my record has been ruined. Ugh, this sucks!"

She didn't have a lot of time to think it over. As she thought about it, her eyes wandered towards the top of the mountain where there were two girls standing in the middle of the staircase. This sight immediately made her silence her mind and walk towards them. As she neared the two of them, a chill was sent down her spine. It was another eerie feeling, but only this one felt stranger and scarier.

"H-Hello."

"Mmm. This is quite interesting, don't you think?"

"Yes. I don't think I've ever seen anyone up here aside from us. I think this calls for a special occasion."

"Um, excuse me, but… Are you two goddesses?"

The two of them gave Honoka a look of humor and then laughed.

"Hahaha, this girl is too much. Are we goddesses? Is that even a question at this point?"

"What is your name?"

"Kousaka Honoka, and I have come here to challenge the goddesses."

"I already knew that. Why else would you be up here if not for that reason?"

Honoka fear from before immediately turned to disgust. The way these two girls were talking to her was so condescending. It was almost a pain to stand there and listen to them. However, she was already this far. She couldn't just go back now. The end was near so she was going to go all of the way without any more failure.

"Umi-chan, there's no need for that attitude. We're supposed to welcome our guest with open arms. After all, she is our very first guest to ever make it this far. We were about to have some tea together. I ask that you join us. Come along Umi-chan." The girl turned around and headed to the nearby shrine. Honoka waited a few seconds before following.

Once she made it inside of the shrine, she could tell that things were completely different. There was a kotatsu in the middle of the large room. The two girls took their seat and started to pour the tea. That only lasted a few seconds before they looked at Honoka.

"Are you going to join us?"

"Uh… Yeah, I'll join you guys." Honoka quickly walked to the kotatsu and sat down silently. All she could do was look around with confusion. These girls were totally different from the other ones in that they seemed nice and threatening at the same time. It was the weirdest combination.

"So, what brings you here today, aside from the obvious?"

Honoka was about to open her mouth, but the other girl stuck her foot before she could say anything.

"This girl is interested in finding out the truth of Muse and her special descendants."

"Come on Umi-chan, don't be so rude. How about we start out with some introductions? I am Ayase Eli and I am one of the descendants of the Goddess Muse. It's an honor to meet you." She waited a few seconds and looked at the other girl, but she could tell that she wasn't budging so she bumped her with her elbow which forced a response out of her.

"Ow!"

"Introduce yourself."

"Alright, jeez. I told you not to hit me like that. Ugh! I am Sonoda Umi and I am one of the descendants of the Goddess Muse."

"Um, if you don't mind me asking… Why are you two together?"

"What do you mean?"

"Pretty much all of the goddesses were secluded to just their shrine. Now, I'm seeing two different people conversing as if this was their normal lives."

"Well, it kind of is. Up here, we don't get to do a lot of things so talking with each other is the best thing we can do."

"So no one else has made it this far?"

"Nope. We goddesses all have special talents and the ones below us manage to keep the people where they belong. To see someone make up this far is quite the spectacle. You must have talents yourself."

"Uh, not really."

"Of course she doesn't. There is no one more special than us goddesses."

"Oh, Umi-chan, you're being so childish. I apologize for her behavior. She doesn't normally act like this. I guess she doesn't like strangers."

"No, I like strangers. It's just that I see through this girl. She's guided by blind ambition. It should be obvious, even to you."

"Even if that's true, let's not talk bad about this girl. We should be praising her for making it this far."

"Whatever."

"Wow, you are such a buzz kill today. Anyway, let's keep on talking. Is there anything on your mind that we can answer?"

"Yeah, there is. I know a little bit about the story of Muse and she created 8 descendants. I've only met seven of you. Where is the eighth goddess?" Honoka looked at the two of them and the two of them were looking at each other. She didn't realize that she had asked an interesting question that they were a little on-edge about.

"Well, that's something I can't really explain. Umi-chan doesn't even know about that."

"That's true. My knowledge stops there. I know nothing about the eighth goddess except that she has incredible powers way beyond any of us. If you think you can beat her, you've got it all wrong. Eli-chan and I have been keeping the balance from afar while the other goddesses just live their lives. All I can say to you know is that you are way in over your head."

"I will have to agree with Umi-chan on this. None of us have ever seen or heard from this girl. Her life is pretty much a mystery to all of us."

"You know, I can't figure out you two at all."

"What do you mean?"

"When I got up here, I felt a chill go down my spine as a sense of fear filled the air. Now that I'm talking with you now, it's as if we're friends."

"Well, Umi-chan and I do our best to make sure that we come off as friendly, but in reality, we're only buttering you up."

"Huh? How does that work?"

"There's a reason why the two of us stand before the top goddess. Our abilities are unlike anything you've ever seen."

"But I went against Nozomi and managed to beat her."

"Haha, don't even make me laugh. That girl is weak. Since you've made it this far, you know about her weakness. It's completely stupid. There's a reason she's down there. She's strong, but she's not smart."

"Well, what about the twin goddesses?"

"Haha, you have a straight shot to my funny bone, don't you? Those two are weak as well. It's the fact that they work as a team that makes them weak. Put one in a corner and you've guaranteed yourself the victory. Try talking about another one of those low life goddesses and I'll give the perfect reason as to why Eli-chan and I are up here."

"I-I'm sorry." Honoka finally realized that she was overstepping her boundaries. This one goddess was finally revealing her true colors while the other one was staying on the sideline.

"You will be sorry. How about we quit with the formalities and get this show on the road?"

"A-Alright, name the game."

"Haha, that's so cute. You think you're going against me."

"Am I not?"

"Of course not. You have to beat the goddesses from bottom to top and I am the second goddess. Eli-chan will be the one you challenge."

At that moment, Honoka stood up and backed up a bit. At the same time, Eli stood up and had a smile on her face.

"Did you overlook me? That's kind of rude, don't you think?" She cracked her knuckles and continued to walk closer to Honoka. "I am the third goddess and you will be challenging me. Umi-chan, if you would be so kind as to clear the kotatsu, I would really appreciate it."

"Of course."

Umi quickly cleaned up the room and made her way to the top floor of the shrine. Once she was off the first floor, the room suddenly lit up with holograms all over the place. All Honoka could do was watch the spectacle happening around her.

"I hope you're ready because I've been raring to go ever since I saw you walk out of Nozomi-chan's shrine. I would suggest you take these."

Honoka looked down and saw Eli handing her a small box. She took the box and opened it up to see four small syringes inside of the box.

"What are these?"

"These will help you. You'll figure out what they do when the time comes. Now, I will explain the rules of the game."

"Okay."

"As you may already know, we like to keep the games simple. All you need to do is knock me to the ground. You may use any tactic you wish. You may use up as much time as you see fit, but once the syringes run out and you're unable to continue, you lose. My condition is simple. You may never set foot on this mountain ever again. Is that understood?"

"I think so. Then if I win, you will answer my questions."

"Sorry, but that won't happen. If you win, by some stroke of luck, you will have to challenge Umi-chan and then the top goddess. There will be no break for you after this. That's just the way it works. If you don't accept, you can head down the mountain right now and never ever come back again."

"Fine. I accept."

"Alright then."

"Good luck Eli-chan. I hope you're not too rusty."

"Don't worry about that. I've been waiting so long to fight someone. Let us begin."

End of Chapter 6