The Dream Shifter

Chapter 226

Opening her eyes, Fumiko smirked a little. It pleased her to see that her gamble paid off. The blue flame that she found before during her awakening resurfaced. She merged it with her arm. The heat and magic coming off it felt much stronger than before. "This is everything that I hoped for and more… I'd suggest a defense! If you don't want to get hurt too badly!"

"Huh?" Stamatia barely had a moment to react as Fumiko sprinted towards her faster than she thought possible for a human, even one with MP powers. She summoned up flames for her defense, but it did nothing. Fumiko's blue flame blew them away with a single blast. The rest became a blur to her eyes. She could not follow her speed as she already appeared behind her.

Stamatia turned her head in shock. "Imposs—" Pain snapped off her voice. Her flame armor along her shoulder and arm vanished. Blood sprayed up into the air left from a wide claw mark that left five individual slashed from her shoulder down her arm. Her eyelids grew wide as her pupils shrank in surprise.

The pain in her shoulder knocked her to one knee. She gritted her teeth tightly, a long forgotten yet still painfully familiar position. The act of appearing submissive, she hated it. She endured it, but could not stand it either. Stamatia promised herself that she would never allow anyone else to face such shame. Yet she found herself back at the beginning.

Calling up flames from her mind, the field erupted into a wave of screaming fire expanding out from her. The flames burned hotter and taller than before completely surround her. She drove away Fumiko, forced to escape. It bought her time.

She sighed a bit as the pain calmed for her. The full release of the field eased up her mind. Unlike many MP users, she restricted her field heavily. It required a significant drain on her focus and mental energies to keep it up, but it was necessary. In full release, her field became a blazing wildfire that filled her entire field with the exception of her center. It made it almost impossible for anyone to step inside, meaning she could not be of use as a MP.

Fumiko retreated until the fire came to a stop. However, she could see that the fire ended far too abruptly and sharply to actually be the end. She still had little interaction with the powers that Yuki used, but what she saw fit with her basic it understand. 'This is her limit…the edge of her field…she can't touch me here…' The last strike she thought turned the advantage back to her, but with the field changing she no longer felt certain. A forty-meter diameter mass of flame seemed a little impossible to just wipe away. 'I'll need to figure something else out…'

Nothing immediately came to her. She did not know enough about the properties of the mass. Using her blue flame hand, she began drawing magic together for a spell. If she needed more information, she would just have to get it the hard way.

Making use of the extra time she had, since her opponent made not movements, Fumiko gathered up more than she had previously. The blue flame grew to fill her hand fully. A white raging core flickered at the center through the layers of soft blues. Fumiko glanced over at the thick wall. She doubted much would happen, but she needed to gauge matters.

She threw it into the flames.

It did not immediately explode as it had before when connecting with another flame. The ball penetrated the outer layers punching a hole through. Eventually the blast came, the release of energy created a fierce scalding wind. It was as if a closed pot with steamed water had just opened and the initial touch of it escaping burned the arm, however it had hundred fold the range and ten times the temperature of just boiled water. For Fumiko, the effects felt reduced significantly. She just stood there watching it all.

Before the field automatically sealed up the area, she witness a penetration of three meters and blast radius of at least five meters. Unfortunately, she still had twelve meters even to touch the woman. The defense that Stamatia erected did not make much sense to Fumiko. It allowed for little other action. 'What's she up to in here? Is this part of a new plan?'

The recovery time that the field bought her gave her the time to tend to her injury. She managed keep the bleeding to a minimum with her fire armor acting as a bandage. Since their powers did not actually work on themselves, she could not actually use it to seal up the wounds. However, she was thankful that the wounds were not as deep as she originally feared.

She flexed her arm testing out her strength and mobility. Most of her arm still functioned as she needed it to, but it was less important to her. She did not need the arm for her fight. It was all field manipulation, mental control. The worst it caused her was infrequent intervals of sharp pain with a general dull burn.

Through her field, she felt the blast made by Fumiko. The disruption in her flame echoed back to her. It reminded her of the position she knelt in.

Two shadows stood over her in self-entitled superiority staring down in contempt.

She stood back up on her two feet shaking away the image. Her mind pushed it as far back as possible. It surfaced at the worst possible time for her. Stamatia needed to focus on stopping the threat to her hard worked peace. She could not allow anyone to step on what she desperately struggled to achieve.

Laughter echoed in the back of her mind. It drew redness into her ears.

Stamatia tightened her fists, burning the flames brighter around her. The brilliance of their core focused her eyes forward. Drawing strength back to her body, she felt the lingering bits of pain fading. Her mind found focus and sealed the fire in her field. 'I have to keep moving forward. I fight to prevent the past from repeating…'

Saving the last bit of fire, Stamatia began gathering it together. She knew with the barrier that she saw previously that numerous attacks had no effect. It left her with only overwhelming power, a battle of wills to determine who held the strongest resolve. Stamatia needed a decisive strike that put control back in her hands. She believed in her power and justice. Her strength came from the countless around her that she bore injustice so that they could know peace again. '…a repeating past…'

She saw that Fumiko gathered up another attack with her blue flame. It only had been used a couple of times, but she already understood the dangerousness of it. The power that came from it was not the same as the past flames used. Watching Fumiko build up her flame made her see that she felt the same suddenly. They decided to put it all on the line to crush the other. Stamatia would not give up. She funneled everything in her flame and stepped closer. She needed all of the strength possible. All of the moments before would undo if she failed. She could not accept it. It would invalidate her existence. 'I'm right!'

Blood's familiar taste ran over her lips. The hard stone floor crushed against her face. Echoes rang back to her. 'I'm right! Otherwise, it was all meaningless! I won't let it be meaningless! I was saving them! This will protect them!' A foot leaned on her head. Laughter poured through her ears.

In her effort to build up her resolve to face Fumiko, she unknowingly relived her memories. Painful scars remained both on her body and within. Their shapes carved her heart to the form she held in her hands now.

She had to live out her early childhood during the ending years of the rebellion that threatened to bring down Atlantis. Throughout most of the period of the rebellion, the atmosphere was one of unrest and minor disturbances. However, the rebellion reached a c****x while she was a child. A teenage woman deemed a prodigy of the MP arts became their leader and unified their cause in a way no one expected. The result became out right conflict with the military.

Stamatia's family managed to remain largely unaffected by the rebellion during its active years. Their collapse came to a startling conclusion, one that left ripples throughout the country. Ripples Stamatia felt years later.

They found her when she was eleven. She entered the military academy then. 'It was only a few years after the conclusion to the rebellion, but the King enforced heavy restrictions on all MPs as a result. They were the cause of the rebellion. So they had to be kept in check.' Military training was harsh by itself, but Stamatia had to face the other aspect of her. One she could not hide.

Laughter surrounded her, but she could not see their faces. All she could see was the stone that made the courtyard of the academy. A heavy foot kept her head from moving and forced her skin to polish the stone. In the distance, a commanding voice broke through everything. It silenced the laughter. Everyone froze.

"What's going on here?" demanded the officer. None of them gave an answer. They only stood at attention. He looked down at Stamatia trying to herself up. "Why aren't you standing at attention? Don't know you how to respect a superior officer?"

Stamatia fought with her legs to force herself to stand, but the pain bolted up her muscles. She bit through the screaming to keep her voice silent. It took her two more attempts before she managed to bring herself up. The man, one of their instructors, glared down at her. He saw no child before him only a soldier. It made his eyes unsympathetic and worse filled with distain.

"Nothing?" he remarked on the silence. The man turned away began to leave. "Just make sure I don't see it happen. Dismissed!"

"Yes, sir!" snapped everyone. The cadets began to disperse, most having lost the interest in beating up a MP user. However, one made sure to bump accidentally into her as they passed by.

The force against her was enough to send everything off balance. All of the adrenaline that she mustered to stand for the officer faded. Her pain returned to with the scrapping of her broken bone in her leg. She collapsed to the stone panting heavily, her leg already discolored. They all left her alone in the courtyard without enough strength in her voice to call for help. 'Someone'll be by eventually… I just have to keep going…'

Nearly an hour later, another MP user found Stamatia passed out. Her untended leg caused havoc within her body. As expected of the MP, she awoke without injury or flaw. All that she felt was the fatigue and the sound of the laughter.

"How are you feeling?" asked the stranger.

She looked up weakly trying to see who helped her. The sun made it difficult for her to make them out, but they sounded older than her. "Yes, thank you. I'll be fine."

They helped her back to her feet. "You know if you used your power you can defend yourself. They don't have the right to treat you like this."

Stamatia turned her eyes away from the stranger. She already tried as they suggested. 'I was hurt a lot worse when I fought back…I thought I was going to die…' The memory impressed a terrible scar on her body. Her hand subconsciously stroked her stomach where they cut her deeply. She pushed away from the stranger and stumbled away. "I'll be fine."

"My name is Paian Orestis! You don't need to be afraid! If we stick together we can look out for each other!"

A bit of shock poured through Stamatia. She turned on her stopped feet to look back. 'A surname… a noble?' The honor of a surname meant the family or individual came highly respected. They were above the commoners, but not because of wealth. Something happened that the King recognized their value to Atlantis.