The Dream Shifter

Chapter 185

Yuki silently cursed his misfortune. Everything happened so quickly that he still did not understand what occurred. Off balance, they forced him to play to their pace. He barely had the chance to see where Yumi went, keeping ahead of the thunderous stone. 'Damn! I can't find Yumi and the others are getting further away from me! If I could just get a second to think straight!' His field remained down not having a chance to concentrate. Soon he found himself standing almost too far out of sight of his friends with a young man in his way. "Move," demanded Yuki not realizing the language barrier that existed. Even still, he managed an expression that weighed equal to his words.

Antipas brought up further walls between them and the rest of the party completely isolating the two. He had no words for Yuki other than the actions that he made. A clear sign made as his answer to Yuki's order.

Spinning around his head side to side, Seiji tried to take in everything that happened around him. The scene kept changing so fast for him that he had no time to figure things out. Worse now, half of them disappeared from his sight. "Where the hell's everyone?! What's going on here?" Not thinking much longer than to speak, Seiji turned on his feet towards the strange purplish wall that separated him from the others. He rammed his fist into the wall making it ring out as a wailing bellow. Resisting his first punch only made him force his other fist to come up. The second felt like he made an impact.

A third and final set of shadows appeared behind Seiji's back. "That last team is yours Miltiades," spoke Simonides, facing the remaining soldiers made up of Miltiades, Abeiron and the remaining Blacks. A small and light appearing man, Miltiades had a little age behind him that came in experience. He had a patience method that Simonides thought worked to match his opponent. "Your target is the rough appearing teen. The only thing he has displayed so far is a surprising strength that is enough to take any normal person down in a single punch. It is best to remain distanced from him and keep him off balance so that he can't connect."

Rippling at Miltiades' feet signaled his readiness to begin. The wall of purple back to disappear as Antipas drew Yuki away and Miltiades acted in the same instant. Covering up the grass, a debris filled ground with random tossed junk, metal, wood and rock all working to be a complete blanket over the desperate blades of grass that fought to poke through. Aside from looking like a breeding ground for disease and tetanus, the appearance gave off an almost benign mood. However, serenity lasted for only a second as a large log jutted out of the ground at an angle to Seiji.

Managing to dodge the attempt made against him, Seiji leapt away moving closer to the Atlantean. A few more rose up making Seiji evade them to keep from being clipped by jagged edges on untrimmed logs. After the series of attacks (in his mind), Seiji had enough of the games. He had a target in front of him and made straight for the man. Sprinting forward with his fists raised, Seiji locked onto the young man with blind rage. He saw the soldier starting to retreat from him, but he stayed his course knowing that he eventually would catch up. However, when he felt that he came into range a wide trunk burst through the ground in front of him making him collide with it.

Simonides watched from his vantage point of the drawn battle lines. Each target was forced out from the others. "They're divided now. If they stayed too close together it would only serve weaken Photine, Antipas and Miltiades." While rarely ever used in more than a single MP user, battles that involved more than one MP user on the same side required different tactics in battle. They could not be placed near together or they would end up hurting their comrades in battle. So any time two or more were fielded in a battle they divided out keeping their fields from intersecting. As a MP user, they understood this well, but he still emphasis the need to keep apart as none of them experienced real combat with another MP or group of them. The last time a MP uprising happened was before their births.

"Now draw out their powers. I must know everything about them if they are to be stopped." Glancing down at the now smaller groups left behind of regular Blacks and the remaining intruders, Simonides judged each of them. "In desperation anything you're trying to hide will be forced out. Let's see if there are anymore MPs hiding in your group." The plan progressed into the next stage. He waited in anticipation of what came next.

A heavy atmosphere pervaded the plains of a late Atlantean morning. The sense of imminent danger almost felt like it created an audible deep thud across the entire battlefield. Lines already drew up with Yuki, Yumi and Seiji isolated from the others. Surrounded by soldiers, with no intention of being merciful, forced their friends to face their immediate problem. No aid would be coming.

While the others stood on edge with unease about their situation, Chiharu glanced around lazily noting all of the soldiers. 'All of these soldiers are just normal humans. The special ones divided up the weaklings. A standard divide and conquer tactic, but the enemy doesn't understand the capabilities of those that they've surrounded.' She had seen enough of Saki's strength to know that the soldiers stood no chance. A sense of annoyance for taken as weak enough to be deal by a few soldiers went buried by her, not wishing to admit to it. "This is boring," Chiharu lightly commented, "There's not anyone strong enough to hold my interest." She stepped away from the circle before vanishing from sight.

Saki and Fumiko turned around only just realizing what she said. They were too late. Once five a moment before, they became four. Abandoned, Saki clinched her fist in frustration. "This isn't about fighting strong opponents!" Slight movement from one soldier slammed her hair trigger, which she carried. In an instant, the man laid on the ground and Saki back at her spot. She laid into all of them with a fierce stare making them hesitate.

Arching through the air with dust trailing from the ends of her cloths, Yumi sped away uncontrollably. Her mind did not notice when she reached the edge of the field generated by the woman and the weapons that attacked her disappeared. Even without the force, she still careened away from everyone. The cold blistering wind beat against her skin chilling her. '…so cold…' Her eyes refused to open. 'What's happening to me?' Yumi fought to move, but found herself weighed down. 'Why do I feel so numb?'

Sailing in the sky had to end, gravity saw to that fact. Cast like a forgotten doll, Yumi slammed into the grass sparking a green flash briefly before bouncing back into the air. Left behind from the impact, dirt and grass broke into the air from the force. A second bounce soon came with a smaller cloud of debris along with two flashes of green. Her body still had speed to it and the ground gave her rotation. Flipping carelessly across the earth, Yumi left sparks and dirt clouds in her wake. Finally, her body slid along the ground losing enough momentum making it impossible to return to the air. Scrapping along the grass threw up green sparks all around her carving out a lengthy path of destruction.

Still having to run under her own strength, Photine could not help her own surprise at the scene. Had she had not watched everything with her eyes she never would have believed it. 'I figured I caught her by surprise, but I shouldn't have knocked her back with that much force. Even the most skilled Meso Prosecho couldn't have survived such a fall!' While reeling through her disbelief, part of her mind worked through all of the details. She knew that a normal human would have died, yet what she saw told her that Yumi remained very much alive. A worrisome fact, that Photine struggled to explain.

Replaying through the fall, Photine noted something strange. She remembered the flashes of green light that appeared every time Yumi collided with the ground. 'The barrier she created was colored green as well. It looks similar…' When her weapons attacked her after shattering the barrier something blocked them from getting through. '…I saw a green light then as well… Was that an automatic defensive law in her field? Could that be the light I saw?' The distance between them closed quickly, Yumi's body starting to return to clarity in her sight. 'Is that how she survived? Using the barrier to dampen the blow?'

Wind carved stone pillars and dried cracked earth swallowed up the grass around Yumi. Thick streams of dust blew through filling the air with a tan haze. No movement came from Yumi the longer that Photine closed. She continued to play cautious as the strength of the child remained unknown to them. Rushing in for the kill could have triggered a trap. The fight had to be smart. 'Is she unable to move perhaps?' Still air and silence left her questioning what she saw and wondering if the first strike succeeded more than she hoped.

Her numb feeling from before felt as though it had managed to increase twofold, something that she still struggled to figure out. Only her mind seemed to be functioning at a normal speed. Her sight blurred and slowly failed to give her any clue to her surroundings or condition. Movement from her body lost all connection. 'Is this another dream?' questioned Yumi.

If she dreamed, she knew that something more would be happening. Nothing seemed to be occurring to her. All was still. 'What's wrong with me? What happened?' Yumi rolled through her mind remembering the desperation that she felt only a minute before. The tugging she felt before no longer weighed on her. She sought out what happened in the last instance before she felt numb. 'It happened so fast… Something…someone?' A vague imagine of a woman crossed her vision briefly.

'A woman? She…attacked me…attacked?' Pieces began to fall into place for Yumi. She recalled the force of something breaking through and the shattering. Weapons came for her with such force that she thought she should have died or maybe she had. 'Am I dying? I can't felt anything because I'm on the verge of death?' Fearful confusions built up for Yumi as she wanted to know why she felt so numb.

That fear caused her to stir and ignite life back into her body. It took her a few seconds to understand that she needed to fear no more. Her eyes finally opened once more giving her a gaze at the blue sky. Yumi laid on her back in the dried dirt. Her clothes appeared dirty, but unharmed as did her body. Pulling herself up quickly in surprise, Yumi examined her body not certain why she had no injuries from what happened. A glance away from her took in deeply how far away her friends stood. The distance she covered and her condition quickly became clear to her. 'I was thrown more than five hundred meters? How is this possible?' Still confused, Yumi slowly started to stand up, not realizing the danger that closed upon her.

Through the haze Photine took sight of Yumi recovering. Her eyes widened a bit finally getting a look at Yumi. 'Unharmed? Can her defenses be that perfectly time to have protected her? I must be careful…' She made her approach with caution knowing that Yumi still breathed and appeared uninjured by her attack made her prepare her next strike.

Out of the air of the brisk dirt-filled wind spun in increasingly tighter spirals. More dirt pulled in making it denser until it seemed to become solid. Forming a short cylinder shape first, the wind grew in form building out until the shape became clear. A wide bladed sword, a meter in length, solidified from the dirt. Cast away particles fell from the sword revealing well polished steel and an edge that nearly hummed. Accompanying the sword, another sword materialized quickly, but took on a different shape than the last. This weapon had a visible serrated edge and thin. Its length came up only to two-thirds of the other. Both hovered in the air gleaming with eagerness. 'Let's test that barrier…'

Yumi still tried to get her footing and balance back that she did not notice the weapons prepared for her. The weapons launched through the air with tremendous speed. A slight jab in her side like someone trying to her attention knocked into her. It pulled her eyes away and towards the two swords. Having to take the time to process what she saw delayed her reactions. Fear snapped into place forcing her eyes closed. In a reactionary move, her hands came out in front of her crossing over as a futile effort to protect her body.

A loud pounding clang reverberated around her to crushing effect. Yumi felt the weapons pierce her for a moment in tune with the impact. She staggered back reflexively responding. However, as the seconds slipped on she realized that she remained unharmed. Cautiously opening her eyes she saw the weapons rattling against a pale green wall standing between them. 'What's going on? Why'd they stop?'

'Fast reaction, but something feels off…' thought Photine. Watching Yumi made her question some of the things she took for granted from another MP user. 'If it's as strong as before it'll take more than that to break. Need to find the right amount of force…' A flick of her eyes summoned four more weapons ranging from rapiers to pikes.

Rattling on her barrier, the two swords began to sound like chainsaws pressed against a brick wall trying to cut through. Rising to a discordant symphony, Yumi thought that the noise could not become any worse. Photine's four newly created weapons joined the assault. Sound turned to utter chaos made amplified by the dome. Yumi felt the sound waves creaking through her bones making her knees shake. 'Make it stop! I can't take it any longer!'

'Then do something about it!' shouted a voice within Yumi's mind.

She turned around in her mind trying to face the direction of the voice. However, nowhere that she looked could the person be found. The space remained empty. 'Am I hearing things?' Gripping pressure slammed into Yumi's chest suddenly making her weaken further. She knew that she could resist no more.

'Stop closing your eyes!'

'Who are you?'

'Face your reality!'

'My reality?'

Taken in by distraction, the barrier holding back the weapons weakened. The blades of the weapons broke through so fast that the sound of the wall cracking did not make it to her in time. Slowed down only by passing through the crumbling the green field, the weapons disappeared in a streaking flash through Yumi too fast for her eyes to follow.

Yumi staggered back not completely sure what happened. She thought everything had passed and nothing wrong happened, but a feeling inside her told her otherwise. Looking down at her body she caught the delayed release of thin trails of blood arcing through the air in the wake of the weapons. Small shallow wounds opened up on both of her shoulders, outer sides of both upper thighs and sides of her waist. Yumi bit through the sudden pain she felt, though not deep the feeling of being injured was not familiar to her. 'It hurts…so much…'