Rising Shards

I thought Aira brought us back home out of the void at first. We went from the edge of the lake by the campsite to a rainy city street. It made me think of Litus Empirica during the void storm, it was desolate and empty too. That day the city was cast in the orange hues like a tornado, but this was more of the deep dark blues, the kind of weather I should be cozied up with a game console in hand listening to the rain, not being out in it. Lightning flashed, giving me a glimpse of my surroundings.

All the buildings had triangular windows that puffed out like someone was blowing on them from the inside, and all the cars on the street looked like they were made out of blocks. Maybe were in a somehow even dumber version of our world, a little pocket of a strange city. I guess I should have been used to this kind of crap in the void, but I was unsettled by it. This place felt more desolate than the real city in a way I couldn’t place. It felt like standing in an elevator that just made a weird clunky grinding noise, like everything was about to drop out from under me.

Ahead of me, Chickadee, Caeda, and P.D. stood over Syval, who was groveling on the ground.

”Oh, good, the gang’s all here,” Chickadee said.

”Leave Syval alone, now,” I said.

Chickadee wasn’t impressed by my tone. I’d kicked her ass before, so she didn’t scare me even with her whole devil boost. We had a numbers advantage too, even with Syval looking beat. Aira was no slouch in a fight and Marms stood her ground right beside me.

”He’s the one who started it,” Caeda said. ”We were just sparring, then him and Aira butted in and tried to attack us.”

”That’s!” Aira said. ”We didn’t…”

”It was dark, alright!” Syval said. ”We thought you were doing villain stuff.”

”You’re the real villains,” Caeda said.

”Alright, so it’s a big misunderstanding,” I said. ”Then you all can stop fighting and we can get back to camp. Where the hell even are we, anyways?”

”A couple of miles from camp,” Caeda said. ”They gave us some space to let our devil sides out when we needed it.”

”Didn’t kicking everyone’s asses for like a full day get the devil out of you?” I asked.

”Nah, that didn’t really help us at all with it,” Caeda said. ”It’s like this urge to fight. To give into a violent, unrelenting desire that begs you for more. You would know, wouldn’t you?”

”Huh?” I said.

My heart felt like it was a rock skidded across the lake nearby.

”You really wanna tell her?” Chickadee asked. ”Well, I guess she knows, but it’s kind of fun watching her try to hide it.”

”What do you mean?” I said. 

She didn’t know, did she? How could she?

”Don’t act dumb,” Chickadee said. ”We know what you did. What all three of you did.”

While still on the ground, Syval crab walked to us, laughing nervously. ”Whatever could you mean?”

”You left a pretty easy to follow trail,” Caeda said. ”And we could sense it when we fought you even if we didn’t know.”

I had a few options. I could just cut the middleman and start fighting, that was clearly what the devils wanted. I could try and talk my way out of this. I didn’t know what they knew exactly, and even if they did know, I didn’t have to admit it. Maybe I could be so tactical with my words that they’d relent like I was in some verbal debate visual novel.

”You, uh,” I stammered. ”S-suck?”

Damn, I really wasn’t bringing my best work to this situation.

”I mean! What are you even talking about?” I said. ”Like, come on.”

”You stole it,” P.D. said. I wondered if she had some weather power like Zates because I swore the thunder clapped right after she spoke like she called it in for dramatic effect.

”I didn’t steal anything,” I lied.

”You took Dose 8,” P.D. said.

OK, so they knew.

”I don’t even know what that is,” I said.

”And then these two have powers that are going berserk, I dunno what they took in Octa’s lab,” Chickadee said, nodding to Aira and Syval. She smirked at Marms. ”You know you hang out with thieves, right?”

”If Kalei says she didn’t take it, I’m inclined to believe her,” Marmalade said. She didn’t have to back up my lie at all.

”You should think about, uh, rethinking that,” Caeda said.

”Whatever,” I said. ”So you think we took something, we didn’t. Are you gonna fight us or something? We’re probably not even supposed to, so I could probably bing the teachers on this and get you all in trouble.” I pointed to my wristband, the power blocker/tracker/communicator deal.

Threatening to tattle on them basically was probably the least cool retort I could bust out, but I was getting desperate. It landed with a wet thud, like I threw a soggy piece of paper in this rain, and only Aira and Syval really reacted.

”Kalei!” Syval snapped.

”Why do you keep bringing yours?” Aira hissed.

”What, my wristband?” I asked. ”I didn’t think I’d be zapped over to hellville five minutes ago, sorry I didn’t think about getting tracked or whatever when I decided to help you! Anyways, whatever, I’m just gonna call it, this blows.”

”I don’t think that’ll work,” Chickadee said as I reached for my wrist.

P.D. pressed something on her own wristband, one that looked like a different brand of tech than mine. A wave of energy came out of it, shutting off my own.

”The hell? Are you just a robot under that mask and can control...computers?” I asked. ”And that’s why you hate me so much, because I’m awesome at video games, and, uh, like something with how NPCs in games are like...robot...” I coughed. ”Robotic...brains...that I keep beating, and that makes you mad, because...robot...”

”I see what you’re going for, but maybe stop while you’re ahead,” Marms said.

”I’m just off my game today,” I said.

”Are you ever really on your game anymore?” Chickadee asked.

”God, what the hell is your problem with me?” I asked.

”Before? You’re on the enemy team, and I’m playing to win,” Chickadee said. ”But now?”

”Octa pulled us all through hell, and you took her work like it was nothing,” Caeda said. ”And disrespect to her is disrespect to us.”

”Fine, that’s you two,” I said. I glared at the third member of their group. ”Why do you hate me? Is it because of Nikki? Be real with me. Because I’m over it, so hating me for having a crush on Nikki is so stupid.”

P.D. remained still.

”I don’t hate you,” P.D. said.

”What?” I said.

”I said I don’t hate you,” P.D. said.

”Then...why?” I asked.

”Now you’re wasting our time,” Chickadee said. ”Let’s just get to it, we won’t tell Octa, not yet, if you do a favor for us.”

”And what’s that?” I asked.

”Give us a fight. Not like that crap back there, I want you at your best. The devil in you is craving it, isn’t she?” Chickadee asked.

I felt a tendril of something in my mind. Something that very much wanted to answer.

”Syval and Aira are pretty strong, probably helped by whatever they stole, but it’s not the same,” Caeda said. ”The three of us are craving a real fight with someone like us.”

Talking failed, and I didn’t really want to run. I hated to admit it, but a part of me did crave this.

”Fine,” I said. ”There’s a problem, though. I don’t know how to, er, let it out.”

”What?” Caeda said. ”Just fight.”

”No, I mean,” I said. ”Don’t you like, change, when you go full tilt?”

”She does,” Chickadee said, pointing at P.D. ”Can you tell Kalei how to do this so we can get to the point already?”

”If she hasn’t mastered any other form yet, then she needs the right trigger,” P.D. said.

”So she just needs some help letting her loose?” Chickadee asked. ”Caeda and I have it then, right?”

”Huh?” Caeda said.

”Let’s do the usual,” Chickadee said. ”To, hm...” She looked around at my friends, settling on Marmalade. ”Her.”

”Oh! That,” Caeda said. ”I can do that.”

Cadea didn’t do anything, though. She just stood there. Chickadee rushed past me, and it felt like a split second took an hour as she headbutted Marms right in her gut, her horns piercing into her.