Her eyes opened abruptly, leaning as if to move, but when she felt her body restrained, she noticed several needles in her body and a small screen counting her heartbeat, one hundred and fifty per minute.
Before she could do anything, her chest was pushed back onto the bed. Her eyes hovered over the male figure in front of her.
"You just woke up and already want to escape from here?"
He asked, with a short but gentle smile. The redhead touched her hand to her head, feeling the sensation of needles piercing her skull, making her sink into the comfortable mattress.
"Faller..."
"I am very pleased that you recognized me, my friend. But now you must rest."
His hand rested reassuringly on hers, squeezing. The touch, although firm, was pleasant to her, and she returned the squeeze.
One of her eyes opened to question him.
"How long have I been here, Faller?"
"I suppose you have been here for two days, Ferinish. Your body was very fragile. What happened for you to end up in this situation?"
"It is nothing, Faller. Sorry for causing trouble to everyone."
She turned her back, letting go of her friend's hand.
Recognizing the difficulty of making the woman in front of him express what she felt, Faller moved his chair to sit closer to her, placing his sword against the wall. His hand moved slowly, as if signaling his next gesture to her.
"I understand the difficulty of revealing feelings, but whatever it is, I will be waiting for your words. In your own time."
Surprisingly, when he brushed her hair, she did not make any movement against the gesture. She trusted him.
***
In a dark place, snakes emerged from the ceiling and dropped the man's body, who reached into his own mouth to pull out yet another serpent. His head turned in every direction, his touch detecting every corner around him.
"From what I sense, she destroyed the place she lived in. Foolish."
"Did you call me foolish?"
In an instant, a single eye appeared in a crack, its thin pupils piercing the man's body.
"If you are truly brave, repeat what you said."
"Foolish."
That eye narrowed, like a predator despising its prey.
"You should consider yourself lucky I did not kill you. You still need me to recover that damned knowledge you are so desperate for."
"We stand on equal ground, Medusa. Hidden on this island, you hold the ancient archives of the Old Society so I may obtain a new kind of knowledge, far from what I was ever capable of. Yet under my hands, it can become ancient weaponry that our world has never seen. And with this knowledge, I can grant you the freedom you have desired for centuries, just be patient. You have lived so many centuries imprisoned and now you cannot wait a little longer? Spare me your misery."
"You speak too much, human. You should speak less and focus more on what you need to do."
"I could, but I am in no hurry..."
Before entering the crack, the man sounded thoughtful, lowering his head and leaning on his cane.
"No. I think that for their sake, I should be in a hurry."
He then disappeared into the darkness of that place.
***
Between the shadows of the trees, the exchange of blows between sword and hardened fists was endless. Elisa stepped back, exhausted, but with the feeling that she could do much more. Shaphira positioned her hands forward, taking a deep breath. The cold wind carried away their sweat, but despite their clothes, they still felt protected from the surrounding chill.
"Can you still fight?"
Shaphira asked, adjusting her posture. Elisa gripped her sword even tighter, imbuing it with blood.
"Our goal is to reach exhaustion in every sense. We will not stop now."
Without hesitation, the general advanced, launching a kick into the air. Shaphira dodged, wrapping Elisa's leg with her tail and throwing her against a rock. Elisa managed to stop the impact by landing on her feet, but the Renkai Creature was already one step away.
With her dodge, Shaphira ended up striking the rock, which shattered into fragments. With a sequence of physical blows, Elisa used her blood to cushion each impact.
But without intention, Elisa stepped on one of the fragments, piercing her foot. Shaphira did not notice, taking advantage of the moment to become more aggressive. Using her own mistake as a trap, Elisa turned the blood from her foot into a spike that rose and cut the neck of the Pillar of Unification.
With her hand pressed where the cut was, Shaphira smiled, adrenaline flowing through her body.
"You are impressive, my sister, but you will not defeat me."
She charged with full strength.
"It has been a long time since we last fought, Shaphira. Now you will see how strong I have become."
She charged with full strength as well.
***
A good amount of time had passed. The training had not gone as planned.
On one side, Shaphira writhed in her demonic form, trying to regain consciousness. She roared in agony, as if begging for help.
On the other, Elisa vomited blood into the forest, her eyes releasing that red liquid, the nails of her hands and feet dripping red ink, and every orifice of her body feeling like her own flesh was betraying her.
Throughout the fight, they believed their paternal figure had gone mad, that the man they once trusted had lost all sanity.
But they could not have been more wrong. And now they paid dearly for the damn stubbornness of trying to prove they could fight past their own exhaustion.
Suddenly, they heard hurried footsteps approaching them, followed by the sound of an animal being killed.
Elisa felt her hair being grabbed and her mouth forced open, making her swallow something with the taste of iron. She had no strength to think or move, she could only surrender.
"You need this. Drink it all."
It was the voice of the one making her act that way. Neutral, yet comforting.
For Shaphira, the sensation of a familiar touch, firm but delicate enough, made her calm down more and more. Her claws receded and her body returned to the most human state it could achieve.
With a quiet sigh, both women felt their hair being caressed, like a reward for how strong they had been.
And then, the neutral voice commanded:
"Rest, my girls."