The Dream Shifter

Chapter 224

The woman cornered her. She knew she came in needing to fight back. In small doses, she found it acceptable. But she already saw what the woman could do with her power. She was barely able to hold her back. 'If I don't do something…but I…' Fumiko looked down at her hand considering her flame. Flashbacks of the village blew through her. Snippets of the out of control fire that nearly burned down the village collided with her.

She shook her head hoping to remove the past. It already held her back from helping out her friends when they were attacked the last time. It paralyzed her. Nothing happened. She desperately wanted to help them, but her could not risk it. Fumiko did not want to let it happen again. '…what am I supposed…to do…'

Her hand held open staring back at her face, tilted down gazing. The rational part of the mind told her what she needed to do. It already knew and kept yelling at her. Yet, it did not matter help how much she understood her situation. She could not stop the shaking. In fact, she had already tried before. 'I can't use my fire…not like before… This is the limit that I can do…' She thought that her fire magic might counter the woman's fire, but it failed her on all attempts. She could only channel it.

Doubt sapped her magic.

Her hesitation repeated the cycle anew. The enemy could see weakness in Fumiko and took advantage. Columns of flames and walls of fire sprouted up. Fumiko could only run away and block with her staff. She could not even feel that she maintained a stalemate. Her body only grew worse with each dodge and deflection. The numbness spread deeper into her arms.

Fumiko did not know how much longer that she could last. All of the running around tired her out. Her breathing quickly became haggard. When she was trying not to be hit by the fire, she was bent over recovering. 'She doesn't stop…coming…'

A blast of fire knocked Fumiko off the ground, still trying to recover. The flames quickly went out as she collapsed to the ground. Fumiko hit the ground dazed. She did not see the woman's approach until she was already almost on top of her.

The woman aimed her hand down at Fumiko. "At this range, it won't matter. My flame will be at its strongest." In response to the woman, a new flame burst up, but held back from attacking. It hovered an imposing meter away from Fumiko. "Accept your fate. Resist and I'll kill you now for disrupting the peace of Atlantis!"

She did not doubt the woman's words. Fumiko stared at the inferno that looked eager to taste her flesh. Surrender turned into a consideration for her. She did not know what options she had. '…what would happen to me? They think I'm just another one like Yuki…' Her mind divided on her.

Consideration filled part of her and fear the other. She wanted an answer. She could not let herself use her flame. The risk was too much. It could hurt everyone, even her friends. However, Chiharu and the others were in struggling to rescue Yori. 'I promised myself that I'd get serious. I failed them before… I needed to be part of the team for them.' The thought of trying to convince herself made her want to laugh at herself. It proved how far her resolve carried her.

She watched Yumi sway between doubt and certainty, but come out ahead. When it mattered, she knew Yumi would act. 'But none of them came as close as I did… I thought with this magic I could protect her. …yet now it scares me so much!' The screaming echoed in her mind. It had stayed in her ear always ringing without end since the previous night. Sometimes it was softer and other times crushingly loud. Regardless, it remained with her, always a reminder. She did not want to hear another one. 'I wish I was deaf…so I didn't have to hear it anymore…'

Suddenly, a flash of a familiar image went through Fumiko mind. It made her eyes widen in shock. 'Kimiko!' Her body flinched thinking about her little sister. '…I failed…' Chiharu appeared to her at the end of her thought. Fumiko jerked forward realizing her mistake. She slammed her hand into the fire that threatened her, startling the woman. 'I failed you Kimiko, but if I did nothing again I'd fail her too. I'd be repeating my mistake! The one mistake that I wish I could undo, but never can! I won't make that same mistake again!'

Suddenly, a flash of a familiar image went through Fumiko mind. It made her eyes widen in shock. 'Kimiko!' Her body flinched thinking about her little sister. '…I failed…' Chiharu appeared to her at the end of her thought. Fumiko jerked forward realizing her mistake. She slammed her hand into the fire that threatened her, startling the woman. 'I failed you Kimiko, but if I did nothing again I'd fail her too. I'd be repeating my mistake! The one mistake that I wish I could undo, but never can! I won't make that same mistake again!'

The woman's certainty wavered a bit in the face of Fumiko. She did not understand what happened between the seconds. 'Before she was only avoiding me, not being aggressive…yet now…those eyes…she…' Fumiko's expression changed completely and the look in her eyes was no longer a passive one. Before it seemed that she had almost a self-loathing internal attack focused purely on only Fumiko. The woman could tell that she was not in the fight.

Something happened to change it all. The hesitation and regret disappeared from her eyes. They became strong and fierce backed by something deep and unshakable. She could see that the fight was about to alter. It would no longer be the same battle. 'What happened?'

Fumiko's hand warmed from touching a stranger's flame. Her resistance blasted bits of fire around her creating flaming rain that fell to her side. The pressure slammed into her as it tried to force through her, but it no longer felt as strong. She arm felt lighter than before and the shaking disappeared. Even her breathing came under control. 'I won't allow it to happen again!'

Building her determination into strength, Fumiko pressed her hand into the fires. She channeled threads of her own magic into her hand creating a flaming aura that encompassed her hand down to her wrist. Magic streamed down her shoulder keeping it powered. Symbols and geometry shapes, the building blocks for magic circles began to form in the errant threads around her entire arm. It slowly glowed white and crawled over her skin.

It took her by surprise to see the appearance of something new. 'What's going on?' She did not plan for it to take on such a form. Her arm still felt like it channeled magic, but it did not have the same feeling. She did not understand it. However, she went with it. Fumiko knew that she needed to use everything she had to deal with her opponent.

Using her new strength to stand, Fumiko ran her hand through the stream of fire lighting her arm up. She pushed too quickly and it spread out with a life of its own to coat her arm. Fumiko refused to hesitate, sensing that everything would be fine.

When it seemed that the woman's fire would engulf Fumiko an explosion of light and fire erupted from her arm. All of the flames disappeared, snuffed out by the greater inferno underneath. Raging in the wind, Fumiko's entire left arm was consumed, but not simply as though surrounded. It flickered with a transparency and volume that said it ran completely through.

Fumiko lifted her hand up to examine the transformation. 'What is this? This has never happened before… Is this an evolution of my power?' The meaning of it did not completely sink into her, but she knew she had to press her advantage.

She clinched her staff tightly in her right hand and charged forward. A wall of flames broke through the earth to stop her. Responding to her need, her flame hand came forward quickly spinning a flame and launching it at the obstacle. Fumiko sprinted through the fires as they collided and exploded. She trailed crackling embers off her clothes. Her staff closed with the woman swinging wide at a shocked figure.

As cliché as it sounds, it ended in a flash. No reacting, it was all just instinct. The surprise caught the woman off guard. Even though it ended quickly, instinct also saved her. After the staff finished, it snapped her out of her paralysis. Flames summoned from the ground washed up to force Fumiko back and allow the woman a chance to recover.

The Atlantean looked down at her flame armor feeling something different about it. A long gash stretched the entire length of her abdomen. Her exposed skin showed in the gap, but no wound. Even if not wounded, it still shocked her. 'She cut through my flames? Is her field actually stronger?' She touched her hand to exposed part of her armor and ran her fingers across taking it all in. The s***h sealed up behind her hand until closed and restored.

She pulled her head back up to look at the tall woman that opposed her. "Do you really think your cause is good? You people don't even consider what your actions do to everyone else. Do you?"

Fumiko paused a little surprised that she started talking to her. She did not think that it would do much good with their language barrier. 'It's not like I don't know. I've probably thought about it more than the rest.' None of the doubts would help her accomplish her goal. She knew what she had to do.

"No answer? Silence won't absolve you!"

A sigh escaped Fumiko's lips. It was pointless, but if it satisfied her. "There's no point to talking about it with the language barrier."

"Yes, I know about that. Rumors were that your group didn't speak Atlantean Greek. Which is why I've included a language law."

"That's right, I speak Japanese. So of course there's going to be a barrier between us." Fumiko spoke casually with the woman not noticing their conversation.

"Japanese, what's an Atlantean doing speaking Japanese?"

"Because I'm Japanese, not Atlantean, of course." She motioned with her hand dismissing the answer as something blatant. Another few seconds passed before Fumiko snapped back to the woman. "Wait you can understand me?"

"Yes, I've removed the language barrier."

It took a little bit longer for all of it to settle in for Fumiko. Their whole conversation sank into her. She immediately went on the defensive feeling oddly vulnerable. "So what did you want? Going so far as to allow us to understand each other."

The woman tightened up her hands. Her flames on her body responded burned brighter and larger. "What I want…What I want is to stop your rebellion! Stop before you make anyone else suffer!"

'Oddly emotional for a soldier…' thought Fumiko. She had little knowledge of Atlantis other than what Ayumi allowed them to know. Much like Yori, she had many questions about the world that Ayumi came from. She knew well enough to know that they had different cultures and values. Their intrusion to those not involved could be seen in many different lights. Fumiko wondered if the woman's conclusion was simply her own or one others came to as well. "I don't know a lot about Atlantis, but I guess what Yuki's doing might be seen as such. But right now I'm only here to rescue a friend."

She narrowed her expression a little taking in Fumiko's words. It took only a moment to think about it. "You're talking about the prisoner. If that's the reason you're here then that's even more of a reason why I must stop you! I won't allow you to do anything to interfere with the Captain!"

"I'd be more surprised if you did just let me by. I pretty much already assumed us to be at an impasse." Fumiko altered her stance getting the feeling that their fight would resume soon.

Fire sprouted up around the woman awaiting a command. "Agreed. Second Lieutenant Stamatia will be the one to stop you!" She motioned her hand around in front to pull the fire in by her arm.

"That's pretty formal, introducing yourself. Very well, Fumiko Terauchi is the one that defeated you!" Fumiko brought her arm of fire up to bare while preparing her staff. 'Knowing my enemy's name…she seems pretty determined for some reason. I have mine as well… I can't lose!' In preparation, she began calling her magic. Threads drew down her shoulder intertwining along her arm as they gathered in her staff.