Artemia: Journey To The Thirtieth Floor

38. The Illusion General

"Fuyumi, we have to return to the camp."

"Ah, Kai..." I murmured the moment I saw Enkai standing near the woods, staring deep into my soul.

I turned to look at Scylla to say goodbye, but she was no longer in the vicinity. Tea monsters were nowhere to be found as well. It was as if they had never been there at all! My brows furrowed as I pondered if I was hallucinating or whether everything was as it seemed. But I was certain that they were all here just a few seconds ago! I mean, it was with their assistance that I learned Fuyumi's techniques!

"Fuyumi," Enkai called my name once again, this time more firm. "We have to go back to the camp as soon as possible. There are several tasks that need to be completed. Yuki was also worried about you."

"All right," I said as I followed him.

For some reason, he's behaving coldly towards me now, which is in contrast to how he was previously. I am pretty sure that he is aware that I'm not the Fuyumi they remember from their childhood. To be honest, I have no reason to be upset since I just borrowed this body from someone else. They're meant to be grieving for Fuyumi right now, but they can't since I'm here in her body.

I sighed and chose to follow Enkai's lead instead. Even so, I was befuddled and upset because it was not like I was given a choice. And then I began to wonder how he had tracked me down in this location. He wouldn't be able to simply track me down since I made it a point not to leave any traces. Ah, maybe I should refrain from thinking about things that don't even make sense. Right, I should just focus on achieving my goal!

"Your name is Ivory, am I right?" Kai asked as he turned his gaze back to me, the stern face he had had before still lingering in his eyes.

"Yes," I said. My voice was soft because I was worried Kai would be upset by anything I said.

"Unlike you, our Fuyumi was distant..." he trailed off as he drew miniature images out of the water with his fingers. "Even though we were aware of her affection for us, she never invited us into her world. There has always been a barrier separating us. The only person she allowed inside was Yuki, but she also had her limits. And then you began treating Yuki as a sister, which made her feel overjoyed by this development and continues to assume that you are, in reality, our Fuyumi."

"Aren't you mad at me?" I asked the question in the most careful way I could.

"For what?"

"You know, for taking over Fuyumi's body at a time when you're meant to be grieving her death."

"We've already wept enough tears for Fuyumi's death, so please don't concern yourself with such mundane things anymore. The mountain she made will serve as a lasting memorial to her and her courage for all time. But since we are the only ones who have lived our whole lives with Fuyumi means that this will remain a well-kept secret between ourselves. No one else should be aware of this situation. Is that clear?"

I smiled and nodded. "I swear I'll keep this a secret."

Enkai gave me a kind grin and tousled my hair, something Dylan has always loved doing. I smiled as I looked down at my feet, finally feeling at ease after everything that happened. We proceeded towards the camp with a little grin on our faces. The dark mood that had persisted before has finally dissipated! Heh, what a peculiar turn of events. I'm not sure how Kasai would respond, though...

In any case, we made it to the camp! I was expecting to see the warriors forming a line in front of the princess, but there was no one in sight! It seemed as though everyone had already left the camp to complete their assignments, which was strange. Because Enkai would have raced back here if we were running late, I don't believe we're late for the orientation. But I was worried that there must have been some sort of emergency, and they have already gone towards their positions. Oh, gosh. I messed up immediately!

"Kai, what's going on?"

"Princess Yuki has already sent the squads to their destinations. It's possible that something happened while we were away. If that is indeed the case, then we shall join them on the battlefield! Yuki and Kasai are most likely still in their respective jobs at this point."

I nodded and followed Kai when I saw him running in a certain route. Because everyone has been deployed, we must be up against a few generals and their henchmen. We were gone for a long, but they didn't leave anybody in the camp aside from Old Aiya to keep the barrier up. Ah, now I'm beginning to get worried...

"Ivory, take a deep breath. You are way too nervous. It's as if I can hear what you're thinking," Enkai pointed out, chuckling as he held my hand to help me calm down.

"Sorry..."

Because of embarrassment, I could feel the heat rising on my face. What did Kai even bring it up?! What a jerk! I tried to push all of my thoughts to the back of my mind so that I could concentrate only on the goal. I am not sure whether I would be of any service to them, but I would have to keep up with the big three...Yuki, Kasai, and Enkai. I refuse to be seen as a disgrace, you know!

When we arrived at our meeting location, we saw Yuki and Kasai lying in the bushes. I quickly examined the area to see what was going on, only to be greeted with a stench that I was kind of familiar with. I instantly covered both my nose with my hands, as well as Enkai's nose. He immediately realized what was going on and dragged me behind a tree to conceal it. Based on his response, I'm going to assume he understands who our opponent is.

Enkai shot me a baffled look. "How did you smell it?" he asked in hushed tones while looking around.

"The odor was very strong..."

"Ivory, there was no smell at all."

I blinked twice, confused because I knew that there was something. "That's impossible. It was really stinky!"

"I did not smell anything at all. But that's beside the point. We have to find a way to get those two to wake up. They're most likely having hallucinations right now. When they wake up, they're going to start fighting with us."

"Please allow me to handle this."

Enkai looked at me with a raised brow, waiting for me to finish what I must do. I gave him a sly grin as I took my rightful seat. Yuki's mind and mine are intertwined and will remain so indefinitely. So I'll personally wake her up by delving deep into her mind and provoking memories. I have to somehow find a way to stop the hallucinations that are going on inside her head. As for Kasai, I'll leave him in the care of his twin brother.

As soon as I walked inside Yuki's head, I saw absolutely nothing. Whoa, it's precisely the same as mine! The princess was nowhere to be seen, so I sighed and nonchalantly strolled about within her head in search of her. When I heard frantic footsteps, I understood that she was trying to flee from an unknown foe. If I had to guess, I'd say it's someone Yuki despises. Because if she had gone up against the kings in this place, she would have triumphed.

Shit...

"Yuki!" I shouted her name when I saw her with her katana up in the air.

She looked at me with a horrified expression on her face. "Ivory..."

"Yes, I am here. Everything will be fine, I'm sure of it. Relax and take a deep breath."

"No, everything is not fine. I had just finished my battle with Hiro. Then I woke up and realized I had fallen asleep. By the time I awoke, I had already been pitted against my father!" she cried as she kept holding onto my shoulders firmly. Ivory, I'm already on the verge of dying here! My father is planning to murder me! Please..."

I kissed her on the forehead and ran my fingers through her hair to help her relax. I am pretty sure that this was residual trauma from her father's harsh treatment of her when she was a child. I clenched my teeth as I continued to help Yuki in trying to calm down, enraged by the possibility that she had been abused by her father. Yuki was gradually getting better, but I caught a glimpse of a familiar shape in the distance.

Leon...

Yuki cried harder than ever because of the presence we felt. I clenched my teeth as I stared at Leon in frustration. Even though I am fully aware that this is not Leon and that this person is Hiro or a hallucination he made, I couldn't resist the impulse to murder him. Yuki's morale has deteriorated, which was most likely a side effect of the curse and Leon's treatment. I gently laid Yuki on the ground as I took her katanas from her.

This individual is unmistakably Hiro, and he is on a mission to assassinate Yuki, the princess. Because of my unexpected arrival, he's probably a little taken aback, but I'll make certain that I pulverize him before he has a chance to return to his original body. Since the one in front of me is his awareness, I can simply shatter him into pieces with ease. After all, this is Yuki's state of mind. I'm completely free to use her abilities right now.

"Perish..." I muttered while pointing the katana at him.

Hiro was even more astonished when a powerful blizzard hit him out of nowhere. I grinned and took advantage of the situation while he was still surprised. I immediately froze his whole body down to its very core in the blink of an eye before he had time to recover. I grinned at Yuki as I prepared to s***h through the whole statue with his katana.

"Goodbye. We'll meet again on the surface."

"Asshole-!"

He immediately disappeared before I could destroy him. I sighed, and quickly Yuki in waking up. She has to recover as soon as possible since Hiro is most likely still out there, waiting for an opportunity to exact vengeance. I'm not sure we'd be able to finish him while also keeping an eye on Yuki while she's in this state.

"Please! Yuki!" I cried her name while trying to wake her from her deep slumber. "We don't have any time!"

My eyes widened when I suddenly felt myself being dragged out of Yuki's consciousness. I continued yelling her name, hoping that she would snap out of it before getting dragged out. As I began to sense myself returning to Fuyumi's body, I cautiously opened my eyes...only to be confronted with a sword pointing at my neck. Ah, was it all useless, after all?

I smiled as I looked up, not surprised to find Enkai aiming his sword at my neck. Of course, Hiro was making his way up into our heads as well while we were unconscious. But since I was within Yuki's head, I was exempt from being manipulated. I laughed as I slowly rose to my feet with the blade in my hand. My hand was already swollen and bleeding, but that didn't bother me.

Sorry for getting your body injured, Fuyumi...

It was obvious that Enkai didn't want to injure Fuyumi, so I assumed that he would come to his senses later on. I have to figure out who Enkai is thinking about inside his thoughts to influence him into believing that I wasn't someone he should be afraid of. I really don't want to do that to him, but I'm powerless to stop it. I'm certain that Yuki and Kasai will track me down shortly, which will very certainly be the end of me...

"Can you tell me who I am?"

"You destroyed everything, Orca. You annihilated the village, and now...Scylla and Charybdis are all alone. I will never forgive you."

Then there's no way out of this situation. He will never forgive me if he believes I am Orca in his mind, and I will never ask him to do so. But this does not imply that I will put myself in harm's way to make him feel a little better. That is exactly why I chose to run for my life! I've tracked down Hiro's location, and all that remains is for me to bring the three of them there.

Regardless of who they see, that person will serve as the one inside their hallucinations. That is, at least, what I believe. We'll see how things turn out in a few minutes. When I realized that Hiro was about to greet me with a stink bomb, I leaped into the air as quickly as I could. When Yuki and the twins came charging towards Hiro, I used the ice plumes in the air as a foothold to get a grip on the ground.

"f**k, that was close..." I murmured as I silently jumped towards a tree in the distance.

Hiro is currently dealing with the three of them, and I'm up here casting as many enchantment spells as I can to support the three from afar. I took great care to ensure that I was completely hidden because I would hate it if they turned their attention back towards me. For the time being, I'll just have to keep a close eye on things because I'm concerned that more enemies will arrive.

And I may have actually jinxed it...

I felt the presence of two gigantic beings, both of which bothered me too much. Those aren't something I can just ignore, especially now that Yuki, Kai, and Sai are not in a state where they can fight properly. This is a serious problem! Before it's too late, I need to get moving and do something...