Contradicting Worlds

"Yesterday, you fought with your squad leaders and you put up a good performance but then it isn"t enough. Your energy is there, yes, and I have no doubt that you know your powers very well. But what I need for your is synchronization. When you are around your teammates you are hesitant, like you are afraid to hurt them. I am not saying that it isn"t good but you have to know that in fighting, you have to know the risks so you have to know not just your abilities but your teammates as well so that you may know when to keep distance with them when in combat. I want you to watch each other"s backs, I want you to let it all out, do not hesitate, fight like your life depend on it--which is true--, I want you to fight the warriors with all that you have got. Remember what they did to us, they aren"t our friends, they aren"t our enemies either, they are the tyrants who kill our family, friends and enemies and who try to control us. Unleash the beast inside you. Let your roar be louder than any other roars. Save the helpless! Kill the savages!" The room exploded with cheers, growls, howls and roars. I feel my veins pulsating, my blood running like a river, giving life to my body, my heart pumping wildly and I can"t wait to unleash my own beast, unfurl my own wings and roar louder than the thunder. They raise their fists in the air then pound it on their chest just above where their heart probably lies. I can feel my own pride radiating through my body and I grin at them, they grew louder. They are finally awake. WE are awake, ready to cause havoc in our wake.

After a few minutes of cheering and screaming, we finally settle down. Once the noise dies down, I take over again.

"If yesterday you fought with your leaders, now you will encounter different levels or stages," they coo and I clear my throat. "There are 10 levels in total, one person each level, I arrange them randomly to avoid any motifs. Each level you will get to fight with one your own except that these people are special. I trained them personally yesterday. Each group will be given a red tag, all you need to do is place the red tag on your opponent then your group is safe for the game, if your opponent gets a hold of one of your member then you will have 5 minutes to place the red tag on your rival, if you fail to stick it after your 5 minutes then your group will be out. This is the last group standing combat wherein the last group will have to fight me." A series of "oh" and "whoo" echo around the room. "All of you, get ready for the first stage, even though this is only a practice to test your skills and loyalties you have to fight like your life depends on this. Remember this, if one of you dies then your group dies, it means, one dies then your whole group is out of the game." They clap and chatter then they scatter. I flick my fingers then our surroundings change from being a gymnasium into a forest.

What they are seeing or experiencing right now is just an illusion from Aida but even I am convinced with her, it looks so real. Aida is just about the age of The Director. She is a fierce woman and she acts like she knows what she"s doing. She has grey-ish hair that will not extend over the nape of her neck, her eyes look old but still holds some sharpness in them. Her eyes narrow as she watches the trainees and I can"t tell if she is scrutinizing my way of teaching or she"s simply watching.

I return my gaze towards them and observe. Their knees are bend, some are looking around while some are feeling their weapons around their body readying themselves for the attack. A few heartbeats pa.s.s and still, nothing happened, they begin to relax and they exchange confused glances. I look at my right then gesture for Leenah to start.

She gives me a toothy grin then she disappears. She doesn"t have the same power as Nikki, she is a camouflage. She can blend anywhere especially in waters and forests. Her hair is her a.s.set, she never cut it so it grew up until it touches the ground so that it can cover her whole body so her camouflage is even better. Her eyes can change colours too depending on what she needs. She is a lean and tall woman, she is younger than me but she thinks maturely. That"s why she was the easiest to teach.

They begin to look bored after a few minutes has pa.s.sed. "Hey!" I snap my attention to the girl who"s wearing her hair down and is now glaring at me. My eyebrows shot upward. "How---" then she was flying in the air. Her back hit the nearest tree, she slides down on her b.u.t.t and she grunted while washing the drowsiness away. Gasps erupted in the air and they look around, expecting to see their opponent then a yelp pierce in the open when another girl was being dragged backwards by the hair. They shoot behind the girl but then the screaming stopped and their weapons stab the wind.

"What are you doing? You are giving your opponent an easy chase! Scatter!" I shout when they are cl.u.s.tering at the heart of the forest. "Watch your backs but do not give her an easy prey! MOVE!" they run, scattering, some hid behind trees, some climb but most of them continue to run.

I watch as they turn, run and attack. Time ticks by but not even one can place a red tag on Leenah. 1 group is down then another scream, another 5-minute run. 30 minutes have pa.s.sed then a hand shot thru the air.

"I did it! I place the red tag!" A girl no more than my age is waving her hand and is squealing like crazy.

I nod, "What group are you?"

"Blue Team."

"Blue Team! Safe!" They cheer and patted the girl on her back. "Resume the game!" The game lasted for an hour and a half. By the end of it, 2 groups have been out for the rest of the game. After the game, I gave them new instructions for the second one. "The 2 groups can still play in this part but no bearing for the two of them. Same concept, red tag, 5 minutes, but this time you will be blindfolded and only one each group can see, she"ll guide your team when to move, where to attack etc. Now I want you to pick your guide base on her skills, not on her ability. GO!" they move quickly and soon we start round 2.

Level 2 lasted longer than the level 1 and another set of the group were out. Level 3 and 4 take a shorter time and all of them pa.s.sed. But when it comes to the mid-level, they struggle pretty badly but they immediately get the tactic on how to overcome Aikah, unfortunately, only 3 groups can continue fighting. I can see their fatigue but they don"t give up. I kinda admire them for their determination. But when we reached the 8th level, we had to put all 8 groups on the platform again because no one made it through the 7th level.

On the 10th level, 3 groups remain standing, the sun is kissing the horizon already and I am sure by the time we are finished, all lights would be out.

When the 10th round was finished, 2 groups are still breathing and hanging on so we had to do a rematch. After all of it, the remaining group still looks eager to fight me. Adrenaline surges in my blood and I know in theirs too. "You are the last group standing and as I said earlier you will be in combat with me. But I just want you to pick your representative, fair is fair right?" they grunted but they follow.

A woman who is older than me steps into view. She has muscles while I am lean, she is tall while I am small, she is tanned--not that it is important but yeah, she"s tanned. She bared her teeth while I am licking my lips, weighing down the pros and cons of the situation. I think I regret my decision. Well, it is too late to back down now.

I stretch my limbs then get my crossbow. Ghad! I miss this. I asked the director if I could have my beloved weapons--because that includes the knife Mica gave me--back and thankfully and surprisingly she let me.

I came face to face with my new opponent and now I got a better view of her features. She has green eyes, her nose has a slight b.u.mp on its bridge and her lips are pale but it kind of matches her tan skin. When she smiles--snarl is the better description actually but let"s just settle with a smile--her full teeth show and it"s unlike any other teeth because they look like fangs.

We bow then back away from each other. Our surroundings shifted and once again we are back in my home--the forest. She didn"t take her attention off of me though. She"s attentive, I like her already.

We eye each other for a few more seconds then I sprint towards my right. I watch her watch me, she stands there, confusion washing over her expression but she catches up to me pretty quickly. For a tall woman, she makes a pretty slow runner. I double up my pace and she"s practically lagging behind. "Hey! If you can"t keep up with me in terms of running, you better tap out now or else..." I shrug. I know that it isn"t the best idea to aggravate your rival like that but hey, she needs to put up a challenge.

A loud growl erupted behind me, I look back to see her standing but I didn"t bother to change my pace. I"ve seen so many people do that, and when that happens, I tell you one thing, you have to run. So I did. If this forest is just like the forest I have always known then I am getting near the lake. The safest part of this.

I slow down when I see the trees shaking slightly, it"s hard to see them move because it is so subtle but I see it. They sway to the sides like they are dancing to the rhythm of the wind.

I stop for a second to catch my breath, I expect to see the girl behind me but she"s nowhere in sight. I whirl around searching for her prints but I found nothing, I hear nothing except the soft rustles of leaves.

I close my eyes to concentrate and to calm my nerves. I took a deep breath before tightening my muscles and focusing on what"s about to come. I sharpen my senses then I bend down just a second away from an arrow that flew past me. I upright myself then look to the side to find a glaring woman, she"s holding her bow in her left hand. "You could"ve killed me," I retort.

She hisses and I don"t think that"s a good sign since the earth starts to crumble beneath me. I curse under my breath as realization dawns on me. She is under Ciara, and apparently, I am standing on the epicentre of her earthquake.

HOLY--

The lake is not my best place to hide now so I run forward. Just keep running. "Running away from me?" the creepiest sound I have ever heard in my entire life booms around the forest.

"No," I gritted my teeth. "I am not running from you. I am running away from your freaking earthquake."

"Oh really?" she said in a creepy-sing-freaking-song voice.

"Yes," I hissed.

"You can"t out-run my quake little girl," she laughs and chills run down my spine. Fudge, I need to not listen to her or else I"ll turn mad within seconds. "It will swallow you whole." and she fudging laugh again.

Then I stop running, I hold my ground as the quake grew stronger and stronger. I, again, close my eyes, her laughing is still ringing in my ears or...it"s ringing around the forest.

My eyes flew open. I get my crossbow on my back, loaded it with my arrow, then I turn around and release it just it time when my rival came into view to shot me with another arrow. Our arrows meet in the middle, mine, splitting hers in two and whooshing to her face. But I am faster, I get in front of her and I stop my own arrow before it stuck on her throat.

She stared at me, wide-eyed but before she could even react, I have my knife in hand from my thigh, and I slam the b.u.t.t of it on her head, hard enough to make her grunt but not hard enough to make her unconscious.

She sways to the side, holding her head, I knee her into the gut and she stumbles backwards. She rolls but when she regains her balance, her hands came to contact with the ground and she looks at me triumphantly.

"Oh no, you won"t." I run towards her then kick her on her shoulder, making her stumble backwards once more. She stands up just in time for my kick to greet her but before my limb gets in contact with her face, her hand came in the middle, stopping my leg, she shoves my leg and I fall to my side but she lowers herself, slipping her leg under me, making me fall on my back instead, knocking the breath out of me.

She almost sits on top of me but I slipped under her before sending a kick on her back. We stay in that little dance of ours, taking and giving punches and kicks, gaining and losing the upper hand, neither of us wants to stop the fight unless victory come upon. We push and pull, our steps getting more and more precise and accurate in the run of time then suddenly she made a mistake.

"You know what?" she said, breathing heavily. "I never understand why The Director gave you the power to train us. Much more when she decided to go with your plan when in fact we didn"t even know if this will work."

"Maybe because she trusted me more than she trusts you."

"No.," she said through gritted teeth. "I think it"s because she pities you." She spats. "She pities you for losing a child. For losing the people you cared the most. For losing your friend and your dearest little sister. You know, Elisa and Chelssey..."

The rest of her rant went blurry. Everything in the forest went blurry except what she said. Maybe she pities you. For losing a child. Little sister. Elisa and Chelssey. My family.

Then once again I am sitting under the tree, all filthy and surrounded by dirt but I didn"t care because all I care about is Chelss body in my arms, limp and lifeless. I remember I didn"t cry because crying won"t bring her back. It won"t bring them back.

Blood covers us both, her eyes were closed, it isn"t hard to confuse myself that she"s just sleeping. I remember wishing that she was just sleeping, that tomorrow she will wake up and she will hug me tight then tell me that it"s alright, she will tell me that we will change the world in all our might. Then she will smile to me than say "El, I wish we weren"t exiles so we could wear pretty clothes and eat tasteful bread." I wish it too Chelss. And I really wish that this woman before me didn"t bring it up because right now my blood is boiling up to its limit. I can feel my power taking me into its grasps and I don"t bother fighting against it. I let it consume me. I let myself reach the euphoria of having this kind of ability. Of having fear as my a.s.set to slay.

My mind came into focus again, and she is kneeling down to touch the ground then she makes another big mistake. She looks at me in the eye. And the bomb. Has. Dropped.

I want her to feel what Chelssey and I felt that day when we were running away from our own doom. I want her to see it, and to feel the fear we felt. I want her to regret fighting against me. I want her to know that she needs to learn how to pick up a fight. I want her to bleed just as how I bled for Chelssey that day. I want her to be torture like how my brain gets torture every single day from memory. I want her to be lifeless beneath my feet. I want her to be dead.

Then I gasp awake or rather I gasp to take back myself into reality again. As I look around me, I realize that we aren"t inside Aida"s illusion anymore, we are back inside the platform. I see people gathering around us, some of them covering their mouth, some of them looks at me terrified then a person scream then another and another.

"What--what"s happening?" I said, not quite recognizing my voice. I begin to walk towards them but they back away from me like I am a monster. My feet came in contact with something and I stumble into a sitting position. That"s when I see it.

The woman"s body lying on the cold ground. One hand is covering her throat like she"s preventing something from coming out of there while the other is gripping her stomach. She gasps for air but she seems like she isn"t getting enough oxygen. Her wide eyes told me that she terrified of whatever is happening on her. She"s screaming but no sounds come out from her mouth. She mouths help to me but I just shake my head in disbelief. What have I"ve done?

Ila went to her then starts speaking to her but she just shook her head and her eyes start to water. She points a finger to me and Ila glares at me. "What did you do to her?"

"I didn"t---I don"t---I"m--I--"

"WHAT?"

"I don"t know!" I shout to her. I look at the woman again. I will myself to stop whatever"s happening inside her head because it is my doing. It doesn"t help. She"s still gasping, writhing and crying for help. Then our eyes lock. Get out. I told her in my mind. I don"t know exactly what I am doing or what I am telling her to get out from. All I know is that she needs to get a hold of herself but she can"t do that because she"s stuck in her mind.

She takes a mouthful of air. She stopped screaming, writhing and crying. She seems like she finally knows where she is. She doesn"t seem like dying anymore.

I try to stand up just to get myself away from here and to breathe fresh air but the world starts spinning and before I know it, I am falling again, in the depth of my despair.