The Martial Unity

The Psycher gazed at the sleeping form of Amare.

“The Martial Soul.”

Rui’s eyes lit up with hope.

“That is why she needs to discover from within the depths of her prison,” the Psycher continued. “On the slim chance that she can achieve Enlightenment of Self within the depths of her prison, she will gain the power to break out of her mental prison.”

His eyes deepened.

“The Enlightenment of Self is a state of metacognition,” the psycher explained. “A state of awareness of one’s thought process and understanding the patterns behind them. This causes the conscious mind to become extraordinarily neurologically attuned to the subconscious mind and vice versa. Which, in turn, allows for astronomical neuroconductivity and exponentially greater cognitive flux across the entirety of the brain, including between the cerebral cortex which isolated in her case.”

Rui understood the rationale. “The neuroloelectric flux of the Martial Soul state of mind will break the prison by force. Then…”

His eyes lit up with life, “…she can return. She can return from her prison.”

He gazed at Amare with hope.

But the Psycher was quick to dampen his spirits. “Do you think it will be that easy? Attaining Enlightenment of Self is extraordinarily difficult even in ordinary cases. In her case, she has yet to uncompress and decrypt the cryptographically compressed file of memories embedded in her mind. That is why I had her placed in the Gen Temple. On top of that…”

His expression grew severe, “…she is drowned in darkness. Maintaining her sanity under those circumstances is extraordinarily difficult by itself. Achieving Enlightenment of Self in those circumstances is even more difficult.”

And yet, Rui’s newfound hope didn’t waver.

“She can do it.”

His eyes closed.

“I have faith that she can do it.”

In the depths of the eternal, infinite darkness of her prison, Amare simply floated about listlessly.

Her eyes were lifeless.

Her body was limp.

Centuries had passed since she first entered the darkness.

She had fought.

She had struggled.

She had run.

She had tried everything that she could think of. Nothing worked.

She was powerless.

“Is that it then?” Esil asked her. “Are you just going to give up?”

Amare stirred at her words with darkened eyes.

“Are you just going to remain trapped in this place for centuries. Millennia. Eons?”

Amare’s dark eyes slowly shifted to Esil.

“…Do I have a choice?”

Her tone was uncharacteristically devoid of brightness.

And yet, Esil smiled with a hint of hope. “What if I told you did?”

BADUMP

For the first time in a long time, Amare could feel her own heart beating.

Almost as if it had nudged at her. Reminding her that no matter what, she was alive.

That there was still hope.

The tiniest ember of light returned to her amber eyes as she turned towards Esil slowly.

“You said…” Amare whispered. “…You said I was trapped here forever.”

Esil’s pitch-black eyes bore deep into Amare’s.

“I was wrong.”

Her tone grew stronger. “I just heard from an old, old friend of mine.”

Her smile grew refreshed. “He told me. He told me that there is a way for you to get out of this place.”

Amare’s stirred as a hint of life returned to her expression. “…Way? What way?”

Her eyes darkened once more. “I… I’ve tried everything.”

“No… not quite yet,” Esil replied with a composed tone. “Not quite everything.”

Amare frowned. “What haven’t I—”

“The Sage Realm.”

Esil’s tone was intense.

Her pitch-black eyes gazed deep into Amare’s eyes. “If you break through to the Sage Realm. You can break out of this place.”

Amare’s eyes widened. “What…?”

“It’s the truth,” Esil confirmed. “If you can achieve Enlightenment of Self, you will gain the power to escape this prison—”

She paused as copious tears began falling from Amare’s eyes.

For the first time in a long time, the faintest spark of hope lit up in her eyes.

And yet, the sheer unfathomable difficulty of this task was not lost on her. “Achieving Enlightenment of Self…?” Amare murmured as she gazed around the infinite darkness in all directions. “…in here?”

She felt like she would lose her sanity long before she gained enlightenment.

Esil reached out, brushing her cheeks with her hand.

A smile appeared on her face.

“Do not lose hope.”

Her tone was gentle.

Warm.

“Do not forget about what awaits you on the outside.”

A flood of memories of old flowed into Amare’s mind from Esil.

Memories of her warm life in the Gen Temple.

Memories of her beloved family.

Memories of her grandmother.

Memories of him.

BADUMP

Her heart beat stronger.

With vigor.

With life.

“Are you going to lose hope and allow yourself to drown in despair or…” Esil asked with a soft tone as a smile emerged on her face, “…are you going to do everything in your power to achieve Enlightenment of Self and return to the world and to him?”

Amare’s eyes bloomed with the bright light and life that was characteristic to her. Her will flared.

As did hope.

For the first time in centuries, she saw the light at the very end of the darkness.

She saw a path forward.

A path outward.

She would do everything in her power to return to the world.

To return to Rui.

“I… I have so much to tell him.”

That she was grateful.

That what had happened was not his fault.

That she loved him.

Esil smiled with approval. “Good. But achieving Enlightenment of Self in these circumstances is going to be almost impossible. What do you plan to do?”

Amare sat down cross-legged, closing her eyes.

“Everything is Martial Art.”

As was this.

The faintest sliver of hope was all it took.

That was all it took for her indomitable brightness to find a path.

“Pratyahara.”

Withdrawal of senses.

It was a state of mind where the mind was withdrawn from sensory input.

In Genism, it was believed to be a path to Nirvana.

Its only downside was that it drove Martial Artists to insanity when practiced for extended periods of time.

It took an exceptionally powerful Martial Drive to practice for even merely months on end.

Amare intended to practice it for years, decades, centuries, and even millennia on end if needed.

“I will return.”

Her tone was one of will and hope.

“I will return no matter what.”