[TRIAL INITIATED – Ember of Violet]
[Subject: Celina Melby]
Everyone had watched Melissa's trial, the way she grieved... refused to fight.
It was pathetic.
Since the beginning, I idolized her for stepping up as leader in this hellhole game. But, she lost my respect after refusing to fight the illusion. It made me sick.
Power without action. It wasn't possible.
My fingers gripped my daggers: two fang-shaped black curved blades with jaded cuts along their edges. Before being forced into this game, I never held a knife. Let alone a dagger, yet, they felt comfortable. Almost familiar.
It was weird, but I summed it up to the system's doing. Now, I have to face molten goo monster in an attempt to fight my past?
No thanks...
I found myself smiling towards the monster as my violet trial engulfed the sky. Is this my chance to right the wrongs of that day?
What am I thinking? I did nothing wrong that day.
Suddenly...
A wall of flames surrounded Isaac, then me. We were in seperate circles but I could hear him mutter,
"They're going to kill me..."
I shrugged, it wasn't my problem. The flames cackled after three minutes, I just stood there. Nothing came out of the ember.
"Is it broken?" I called out, confused.
But, no-one answered.
I took a few steps forward, standing in the center of the circle.
That's when it hit me...
A wave of violet light. Everything blurred as I blinked repeatedly, wiping my eyes.
I was no longer in the burning village. No longer in the flaming circle.
I recognized it almost immediately, my old school.
Out of everyone on our squad, I was the youngest. Being, eighteen years old. But, I didn't tell them that. Who knows when they could be my enemies.
The hallway was endless. Everything was stained purple, the lockers were scorched, melted like they had been blowtorched.
Violet flames engulfed the ceiling tiles,
"It's different than I remember..." I scoffed, walking past and tipping a flipped-over chair.
Sirens wailed in the distance, but they didn't echo. Not like they should've, more faded in and out.
My fingers twitched toward the hilts at my waist. I was already ready. Ready to lunge, to kill anything at the slightest movement. That's my job as the group's frontline rogue. To dance.
My class "Skirmisher". Subclass, "Phantom Dancer" and I play it well.
But no one came. Only eerie silence like something terrible was waiting.
I took a step forward and heard it.... the sound I'd tried to forget.
*BANG*
A gunshot came from the far end of the hall. Screams followed but my heart didn't race. It never did anymore. I vowed to never be afraid again on this day.
Yet, my hands trembled.
I didn't realize my blades disappeared.
I took a single step. Then another.
"Celina?" a voice called out, scared, sobbing. A teenage girl kicked the door down from the classroom on the left and halted in front of me.
I froze.
She looked exactly like me.
Not the me I was now. Not the me who spent hours training in self defense. Not the Phantom Dancer, dagger-spinning frontliner Celina. A little younger, maybe fifteen or sixteen.
Just… the scared sophmore. The one who kicked down the door and ran while her classmates screamed; sacrificing their lives. For my own.
"I can't stay here," she whispered. "I'm so scared..."
I looked at her. She looked at me.
"That's your cue," I muttered to myself, reaching for a blade. "Get it over with."
But my blade didn't appear.
[System locked]
The Hell? Everyone else had their systems.
I huffed, frowning. "Why?"
[Notice: Emotional conflict detected. System access temporarily suspended.]
"Oh you've gotta be—"
*BANG*
A bullet ripped through the hallway again. The lights flickered. The younger me flinched, ducking, whimpering.
"You're pathetic," I snapped.
She looked up. "I was just a kid."
"Exactly why we got people killed."
"I ran because I didn't know what to do."
I laughed, mocking.
"You could have fought. Look at me now... I run into the danger. I charge towards it without a second thought. And guess what? I'm still alive."
She looked down, her voice steady.
"You think that makes you a hero?"
That stopped me.
I didn't answer. Because I didn't know how.
Maybe not... but I'm not a victim either.
Flames shot from the end of the hallway. Burnt tiles fell from the ceiling, crumbling against the polished tiles.
Another figure walked out of the fire at the far end.
Another me.
But this one… wasn't scared.
This one was drenched in blood. Her blades dripped as she smiled carefree.
She moved like a predator, her eyes darting side to side. But she was relaxed like she knew she could kill anything... anyone.
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice cautious.
She tilted her head, eyes glaring.
"I'm who you had to become."
Scared-Celina backed away.
"I don't want this…" she murmured. "I didn't want any of this…"
"But we needed it," the smiling one hissed. "She made us strong. She made us fast. She made us feared!"
I reached for my blades again, but they refused.
[SYSTEM BLOCKED: EMBER OF VIOLET— RECONCILE OR PERISH]
A classroom door burst open as flames broke the door. Gunfire, smoke, tens of screams.
I clenched my jaw. "I'm done watching."
"You never did watch," said the version of me covered in blood. "You rushed in. You made a choice."
I turned to Scared-Celina.
"Would you do it again?" I asked, pointing.
She shook her head, whimpering.
"I just wanted to survive."
"Then you're why I fight," I said.
"And you?" I turned to the grinning killer.
She smirked. "Every single time, I'm the only reason we're alive."
"Then you're not my enemy either," I replied flatly, walking towards her.
She blinked.
"I'm not ashamed of being afraid," I said. "I'm ashamed I pretended I wasn't."
"I'm not done growing," I said, louder. "I'm not done bleeding. And I'm not scared of being scared anymore."
The dagger in my hand finally appeared. Just one.
I spun it once between my fingers and lowered my stance.
"Let's dance."
Both versions of me charged at once, fear and fury, hesitation and aggression. Past and future versus the present.
I didn't dodge, I didn't need to. I just danced as the hall way clashed with sparks of violet blades.
A single blade was all I needed, spinning wildly as light of burning lockers reflected off the blade. Future me's style was wild, more brutal but precise, trained from countless imagined battles. I felt the deaths of hundreds forged into her blades.
She swung high. I rolled low.
Our legs clashed but hers were faster, forcing me to the floor. I rolled again, twisting into a spin, slicing low across past me's thigh. That was a mistake...
My back was turned towards the real threat. Future me grinned like a lunatic as rolled off the nearest wall and missile launched her feet into my back, launching me through the nearest locker. Metal crunched, piercing my ears as I hit shoulder-first.
"You're too inexperienced. You're still weak," she taunted, twirling both daggers in a blur. "I earned this strength. Bled for it, fought for it... killed for it."
"I'm not trying to beat you," I gasped, pushing myself off the locker. "I'm trying to become better than you."
"You're not even close," she spat, readying her stance.
She lunged, bloodlust glaring through her eyes.
Until... she hesitated.
I felt it too. Danger. Death.
She came to a complete stop, hesitating.
A door creaked open at the far end of the hallway as a shadowy outline came into sight.
The figure walked through fire, covered by smoke as they kicked debris. They were tall, a rifle slung loosely over his shoulder.
The shooter.
He was older than I remember. Greyer, mid fifties. But... unmistakable.
My future self turned barely, just enough to recognize him. Her grip tightened.
"You…" she hissed, blood spat to the floor.
She didn't give him time to speak. Her reflexes were too fast. She turned, cocked her arm back and flung the dagger in less than a second.
But... I was already behind her.
Her blade pierced the shooter with a satisfied grin as my blade sliced upward in a perfect arc. "All that strength..." I whispered, mocking. "And you still left yourself wide open."
I buried the dagger deep into her back, her blood dripping across my hands. I quickly looked around for a surprise attack. My past self must have ran a long time ago.
Future self turned her head, not in pain, but in relief.
"You finally did it," she whispered. Her body dissolved into ash and violet embers.
Everything blurred, distorting around me as the school vanished. There I was... laying in the middle of the firey circle.
[EMBER OF VIOLET — 4/5 SOURCES EXTINGUISHED]
[NEW ABILITY ACQUIRED — Phantom Copy - Cast an after-image for 5 seconds. The copy copies your movements.]
I stood in the flaming circle, my back pressed against the ash. My dagger tightly in my hand.
"I don't have to outrun my fear anymore," I whispered, staring at the falling violet embers. "I'm strong enough to move with it."
I sat up, looking towards Eli and the others. Eli waved, smirking. Laef gave a thumbs up. But, Melissa wasn't looking at me, she was looking towards the flaming circle Isaac had entered. The blue ember trial... shouting.
Everyone turned, Isaac was face-first sprawled across the ash, motionless. His arms were out, entire body soaked as water sizzled across the burning ash.
And he wasn't breathing.