The Dream Shifter

Chapter 218

Inside the camp, Athene stumbled out of the medical tent. She woke up recently and waited for the doctor to leave. They refused to allow her to leave, but she had something more important to do. She tripped over the cords that held up a tent. The fall threw dirt up into her mouth and rubbed over her face. She tightened her hands in the grass. 'Damn you…taking my sight!' Athene staggered around the camp until she made it to the tent she desired. Her powers confirmed it for her when her sight could not.

Using her powers, a new tent flap appeared in the back of the tent. Directed by the new laws she made in her field, Athene guided herself to the tent. Her hand pushed through the tent separating the flaps. She knew he was near. "I'll have my answers, Yori Mizuno!"

Through her newly provided powers in her field, she detected the two guards. They laid on the ground knocked out. She did not want any interruptions, so she made her field put anyone inside it asleep. She had not expected to find them inside the tent. However, nothing would stop her. Athene stepped within reach of Yori, still unconscious. "You're going to give me what I want! I don't care what sort mental defenses you have. You're just a normal human."

Athene touched her hand to the back of Yori's head. A shaking weakness in her legs threatened her concentration. 'I don't need a body, just my mind…' Her hand firmly held to the back of his skull. Over her hand materialized a black metal glove. It extruded its edge over her wrist and past her elbow. The metal did not stop until it wrapped itself around her neck and half over her face as though protecting her. She lost all movement in her body, but she did not need it anymore. Glowing shapes of light lit up all over the surface of the all-consuming black. It became the signal for Athene.

She closed her eyes to calm herself down and remove all distractions. The field she used differed significantly from what she was familiar with using. It had to be. She knew to deal with the defenses inside Yori's mind. She did not plan to go in unprepared like last time. Because everything she used was new, it made her nervous to keep the entire thing in her mind. 'You will reveal everything to me this time. I will not have been blinded for nothing!'

Another moment later, the white blindness disappeared into a black void. The void melted away granting Athene sight for the first time in hours. However, she did not stand in the room she created last time. Her space was not exactly what she expected. She wanted the truth unfiltered and used her powers to grasp at it. Surrounding her was a massive array of doors and halls in all directions, even above and below. She floated free at the center. "Is this the place? What I actually seek?"

Pieced together from the air, Yori appeared hovering at a ninety-degree angle to Athene. The lack of a sense of direction or even gravity made her uneasy. She waited carefully measuring her defense. The last time she underestimated his potential. Athene did not plan to make the same mistake. Playing cautiously, she backed away a little. "Are you the real one or just another fake?"

Initially, plain and flat in expression, he changed in response to her question. A mischievous grin appeared on his lips. Yori opened his arms gesturing with them as he began to speak. "So the arrogate woman has returned. Didn't have enough last time?"

"…you again…" Athene narrowed her eyes in his presence. She wished to find a difference between them, but apart from personality they appeared identical, an easy trap. "This won't be the same as last time!"

"So it would seem. I see you're protecting your mind this time. Maybe you can learn and see past your own arrogance."

"Still mocking me. I'll prove you to be the arrogant one."

"Oh? If you get past one layer of this labyrinth's defenses before you collapse from your weakened state then I'll change my attitude."

The piercing knowing look in his eyes startled Athene. 'I've blocked access point into my mind! He shouldn't know anything about my condition, but that look…' She could not believe that he managed to already c***k through her defenses. Athene staggered back as the avatar of Yori disappeared. 'How is this possible? Am I really arrogant?'

Precious seconds drained away for Athene. The foreboding the place finally snapped her out of her daze. She came with a purpose and it surrounded her. Too many options presented themselves to her. 'Where do I even begin? I've never seen such a complex mind before. Can I do this?' The doubt that bubbled up inside her came too easily. She hated the feeling. It sapped away her resolve that she had from before. "No, I came for answers! I will have my answers!"

With renewed interest, Simonides led Vangelis out of the tent and away from the light of the camp. He went over the specifics on location and weaknesses of the targets. Once in the darkness out of sight from the passing patrols, Vangelis leaned over with a very eager grin. Simonides found the man very bothersome and undisciplined. He was not someone suited for military service, but the system was inflexible with those like him. They had to go somewhere, regardless of personality traits.

Simonides cast a cautious gaze to Vangelis to mask his mood. Despite his personal feelings about the man, the man did have talent and intelligence, though crude at times. 'He'll serve a couple of purposes. It'll be a good measure.'

"So what else you got to tell me?" Vangelis asked bluntly. He already started to look bored again. All of the talking drained him of his interest.

"You're free to pick who you want for you team, but Iole will be one of them."

Disgust surfaced in Vangelis face at the mention of the name. "That Ice Queen? She'll kill my fun!"

"This is a mission, I don't care about if it is fun for you or not. I expect results."

"Oh you'll get results," smirked Vangelis. His eyes slid around his face in thought. He focused back on Simonides after a few seconds. "You just want Iole to keep an eye on me!"

A flicker of surprise came from Simonides' eyes from the comment. He did not expect him to reach the conclusion so quickly. "Think whatever you want, she goes. Find three other MPs for your team and leave immediately."

"What's the rush? You that eager to see some rebels killed?" Vangelis' face darkened with the bloodlust filling his eyes. He raised his hand up towards Simonides. The tension in his hand wound his fist tightly together. "You have to savor these things."

Simonides hardened his features to keep from cracking his true self through in front of Vangelis. "I expect that they will be coming here to rescue their comrade. They're the naïve type. So I want you to keep them away until we have what we want."

Faked sadness and disappointment painted Vangelis' eyes. "Keep them away? I think you're underrating me if you think I would lose to a bunch of teenage traitors."

"Don't get cocky, Vangelis. They've already defeated four MPs."

"Don't compare me to those weaklings! I'll bring you all of their heads!"

"Capturing them is highest priority for your objectives. Only kill them as a last resort."

"Tch, you're no fun."

The conversation started to come to an end. Simonides turned away to ensure that it carried no further. He already gave him all of the information need to find them anymore talking was pointless. "I'm not interested in your enjoyment."

"You're too soft. Traitors receive death in the end anyway."

Simonides stopped for a moment, still keeping his back to him. "I'm sending a blood-thirsty killer to deal with a bunch of teenagers. I wonder which one of us really is soft." He departed the man's company returning to the light.

Traveling through the light blue moonlit-coated fields, Chiharu ran closer to the encampment. It grew larger the longer time passed. Even as she moved, her eyes scanned everything around her taking it all in. She calculated angles of attack and weaknesses in the defense. They held the advantage in surprise. Every opportunity needed to be taken.

Chiharu stopped within the shadows of a nearby tree. Ahead of her, the camp stood almost in range. She could see guards patrolling the perimeter. The scale of the camp looked grander up close for her. It brought her a little eagerness for the challenge ahead. 'That girl's pretty good when she's serious… I'll figure her out eventually…' Retreating her body into the shadow, Chiharu vanished from sight.

Inside the void, Chiharu hovered in calm control of her actions, unlike the first time she discovered her ability. She knew nothing of what she had during her fight with the Higoshi Clan. Everything she used was from instinct, however after the fight she became determined to master it. She learned the limits and range of the ability in her short training. It turned into an extension of her body and just as natural. The only thing she wished she knew was why it happened, but understood that the weakling was to blame for it. A thought she detested.

From inside the shadow's void between worlds, she slipped her sight through the multitude of windows. Though faint, the moon provided more than enough shadows over all of the camp. The further in, the lit fires made her progress even easier. It was all far too easy for her. A disappointing challenge presented for her. She wished something from it would give her a reason to try. Nothing tested her limits.

Jumping through shadows between passing patrols, Chiharu brought herself deep within the camp as her base point. Her range did not put the entire camp in her reach, but enough to begin her intel gathering. 'Which one is it?' She jumped around avoiding the soldiers. 'They're all too relaxed… The way they attacked this morning I would have thought they'd be more cautious.'

Even though she did not participate in most of the fighting, she watched it all play out. They took no interest in her. The underestimation would be something that she would make them all regret. She planned ahead to understand her enemy.

The longer that she watched through her portals the image of the military became clearer. 'There's almost none of them wearing those white uniforms. Most of their military force must be made up of standard soldiers. I would have thought that they would make more use of special types in their military.' She still had much of the camp left to explore, but she found only ten of them. Three of them were ones that they faced before.

'Maybe they're keeping them in another part of the camp. I'll need to search deeper…' Chiharu continued her progress, making note of everything. The layout of the camp came together in her mind. She recorded it all down mentally to take back. Even without their leader, her mind spun tactics and strategies for how to sneak in.

However, one thing still eluded her. The brother remained missing. She needed to figure out where they held him. 'If my Shadow Prism could hold someone other than me I could end this easily. I wonder if in time the power will grow…' Tossing away the distraction, Chiharu narrowed her vision to keep on task. She did not need to concern herself with unknowns.

Another few tents explored only revealed more sleeping soldiers through her windows. She started to wonder if he was even in the camp. 'I haven't seen any suspicious tents yet. There must be guards with him.'