The Beginning Ch. 23-24

That didn't mean I could always think up a way to avoid/parry/deflect each and every attack in time. That's where the voice's inputs really came into play, though he didn't pitch in as much as I'd expected. I had no doubt that he could have helped me avoid being hit at all, but I respected the fact that he was trying to not be overly intrusive, and letting me learn by doing.

My first four matches were against Tier 4 and Tier 3 Wielders, none of whom were all that much of a challenge. From my fifth match on, things steadily got harder. I was actually up against a Tier 2 Wielder earlier that morning, and if the voice hadn't pitched in and helped me identify a complex spell that used Earth, Water, and Air together to unleash a sticky sandstorm, I'd definitely have been blinded and lost the match.

As it was, I only won because the voice walked me through enclosing myself in a cube of Air to avoid not only the sandstorm, but my opponent's Rattlesnake's attack. Their surprise at my seeing through their tactics was what allowed me to launch a sneak attack of my own, encasing both of them in ice and stone vices, which allowed me to hold my sword up to my opponent's throat, forcing her to surrender.

I had no illusions about the fact that I'd won through a combination of luck and support, though I was definitely learning to read and react better with every match.

"Six more days!" I exclaimed, as I met Rayka outside the Training Room. "Also, you were magnificent!"

"Thank you," she said, as I pulled her into a congratulatory hug. "He almost had me, not gonna lie. A little longer, and the outcome might have been very different.

"But enough about me! How did your battle go?"

I filled her in on the details as we took out time walking to Training Room 1, both of us anxious to see who we were up against after lunch.

"Thank the voice for me, please," she said, as we walked into Training Room 1. "He really pulled through for you on that one."

"Tell her she is welcome. I am only doing what I must."

"He says you're welcome," I conveyed to her, and she just smiled in response.

That was when we noticed who our next opponents were.

The smile dropped straight off her face, and I could feel the blood drain out of mine.

"We knew this might happen," she murmured. "I just never expected it to happen so soon."

"It doesn't matter," I stated firmly, as I reread what the board said. "We made a promise to each other. It's time to keep it."

"Give me your all?" she asked, turning around from where our names were listed on opposing sides for the next battle.

"Only if you will," I responded, looking at her with a grim smile.

She merely nodded, and I knew that she would come at me with everything she had, and I would do the same. That was what the respect I had for her demanded. That was what our love demanded.

"When we walk in there after lunch," she said, a challenge shining in her eyes, "you will not be the other half of my soul. You will be an opponent. You, the voice, your Gifts; use everything at your disposal to try and beat me."

"I promise," I agreed, solemnly. "And no matter what happens, we'll be alright."

"We will."

"Will we?" I wondered, as we headed out to grab lunch.

We ate in silence, neither of us having much to say. I knew that my earlier bravado was starting to fade, and I was beginning to dread the upcoming match. Not only because Rayka was a formidable opponent, but because I honestly didn't know what sort of impact us going up against each other would have on our relationship.

There was also the fact that both of us couldn't win, and that as the rules stood, only the victor would make it onto Vaishnavi's squad.

"Worry about all of that later," the voice consoled me, as Rayka left to meditate before our match. "From what I have seen, the only way she will hold what happens against you is if you do not 'give her your all', as you would say."

"I know that," I said, making my way back into the Academy building. "That doesn't mean it's an easy thing to do. Would you actually mind leaving me alone for a bit?"

"I will be here, should you need me."

"Thanks."

I just walked around the Academy, eventually making my way to Training Room 946 a little while before our match was to begin. Nobody else was in there yet, so I walked to the middle of the arena, just standing there and taking it all in.

"I see you had the same idea," Rayka called out, and I turned around to see her entering the room as well.

"I don't know what to say to you," I confessed, as she walked over to me. "Only one of us can make it through this match. The other one will automatically be disqualified from joining Vaishnavi's squad."

"Is that what you're really worried about?" she asked, cradling my head in her hands and forcing me to look into her eyes.

"No," I admitted, sighing heavily. "I'm worried about us. What would you think of me if I was to lose to you? How could you ever be with somebody who can't defend you?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she exclaimed, taking a step back, holding her right index finger up in a chastising pose, a stern and annoyed expression on her face. "First off, I will win. Secondly, if you did somehow, miraculously win— because it would take a miracle for you to beat me— would you ever look at me differently?"

"Never!" I protested, reaching for her and clasping her shoulders.

"Then why would you think that I would feel any differently?" she asked, relaxing and allowing me to pull her in closer. "I love you, Chris. I've loved you from when you could hardly Wield, and I will love you as you continue to grow."

She placed her right palm on my cheek softly, just brushing her thumb across my cheekbone.

"I know that you will grow to be one of the strongest Wielders ever," she continued. "Just because you aren't now, doesn't mean you never will be. And as far as protecting me goes, I can take care of myself just fine."

"I know," I admitted, leaning into her palm. "I still worry that I'm not good enough for you."

"Chris Michaelson," she said sharply, tugging my head down towards her, "if you ever think that the amount of Power you can access makes you unworthy of my love, I will kick your ass to Paris and back. Are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" I affirmed.

She pulled me into a deep kiss, and I relaxed further as her lips showed me what her words couldn't.

"We're going to start soon," she whispered, as she broke away. "Come at me with everything you have."

"Yes ma'am," I repeated, softer this time.

I gave her another quick peck, before both of us walked to opposite sides of the arena, waiting for the referee and any onlookers to come in, so the match could begin. We didn't have to wait much longer, though I was surprised at who the referee was.

"Ronald!" I exclaimed, as he walked into the arena. "I didn't know you were one of the referees!"

"I'm not;" he replied, smiling, "but I couldn't pass up the chance to see the two of you go at each other."

"You mean pass up the chance to see me trounce your star pupil!" Rayka interjected, a cheeky grin on her face.

"Don't overestimate yourself!" I shot back. "You haven't even seen me at full power, yet."

"Bring it!" she dared me, settling into a ready stance.

"No point in waiting, I see," Ronald said, chuckling. "Very well, let's begin!"

Rayka wasted no time at all, rushing towards me as soon as Ronald had finished speaking. She augmented herself as she ran, disappearing from view from one second to the next. Unfortunately for her, I'd seen her pull the same move on an opponent a day or two ago, so I responded by ratcheting my own augmentation up till we were at the same level. Surprisingly, she'd only gone up to about 50% for her, which was slightly lower for myself.

"You used quite a bit of Power in that previous match, didn't you?" I asked, drawing my sword as we synced up, letting her know that I was right there with her.

Her only response was to smile grimly, before disappearing from view. With a start, I realized that she'd used that move on purpose, baiting me into matching her augmentation, and letting my guard down in the process. She could switch augmentations faster than I could, so as soon as she saw me sync up, she pushed herself up higher.

Before I had the chance to try to match her again, I could feel her crash into me hard enough to crack my ribs, and send me flying across the arena. Right into Tesoro's arms. Wings? Flappers? Flippers!

If anybody ever tells you that Adélie penguins are cute and fluffy and nonviolent, send them Rayka's way. Because Tesoro was cute and fluffy, yes, but also downright lethal.

As I crashed into him, he wrapped his flippers around me, using his astounding strength to crush my arms, popping a shoulder out of its socket and breaking a few ribs. My groan of pain was punctuated with a bloody cough, as one of my broken ribs pierced a lung. I knew that if I didn't act fast, that was it. Rayka would have won before the match had even started.

Like I was ever going to go down that easily.

Concentrating through the pain, I pushed some Power into my arms, fighting back against Tesoro's crushing hug. I wasn't trying to get him to let me go; I just needed enough room to reach for a spell. Any spell, really.

He seemed to pick up on what I was doing and started pecking at me, each movement of his head opening a gash across my scalp. I could see Rayka rushing in to stop me as well, and I could feel the desperation running wild through my body.

That couldn't be it.

Not that easily.

I had to fight back.

I had to.

"You are more powerful than you realize. Give in to that power. Give in to your Power."

Fueled by desperation as I was, I didn't even think as I obeyed what the voice said. I lifted all the limits I'd placed on myself, letting my magic flood my body. I felt something shift as I did, almost like a new pathway had opened up in my brain. My Aura Vision kicked in without me activating it, and I could see a glowing white cord running between Rayka and Tesoro.

"I wondered when this would happen. You may now interlace your spells with the Spirit element."

"The what?"

"I shall answer your questions at a later time. For now, focus on that white cord. I want you to imagine a blade of white cutting through the cord."

Blood was flowing freely down my face, my thoughts slowly becoming harder to grasp.

"What will that do?" I asked the voice, fighting to focus.

"It will temporarily sever her connection to her Companion. Do not worry, the severance will wear off within a few hours."

"Are you absolutely certain? I've destroyed Companions before. I can't do that to Rayka!"

"Trust me."

Rayka had closed in now, and was pulling her fist back to land the finishing blow.

"If I do this and if Tesoro is gone forever, I'll never forgive you! I will hunt you down, wherever you are, and I will end you."

"Trust me."

Seeing no other option, I did just that. I pushed the last of my clarity into a single image: A thin white blade cutting through the white cord between Rayka and Tesoro.

The pressure around me disappeared instantly, Rayka's blow missing me as I fell limply to the ground. She tripped over me, the impact knocking both of us out of our augmented states. The sudden change in velocity sent her flying, and she crashed into the wall behind me.

Taking full advantage of the brief reprieve, I healed myself up, surprised to see that I had access to more Power than earlier that day. A quick look at my pool showed me that it had definitely grown a little deeper, although quite a bit of it was empty, and I filed that away for later exploration.

I jumped to my feet, drawing my sword as I saw Rayka get to hers.

"I don't know what you did," she called to me, as we squared off, "but I can't feel Tesoro as strongly anymore. The connection is still there, but it's like we're on a call and I'm going through a tunnel. There's... interference."

"I told you it would not be permanent."

"Thank you, but we still have to win."

"I shall not help you with this battle any longer. Your partner had an unfair advantage before. You are more even now, and I too am curious to see the fated lovers battle."

"Are you going to stand around all day?" Rayka taunted me, drawing two of her many daggers and settling into her ready stance.

I rushed her in response, swinging my sword at her with a two-handed grip. She switched her grip on her daggers, placing them flat against her forearms and crossing her arms to block my blow.

As I felt my sword connect with her guard, I actually let go of it, bending low and keeping my momentum going, turning the remainder of my swing into a low sweep at her legs. Realizing what I was going for, she actually let our impact push her backwards into a somersault, which she repeated twice, putting some distance between us.

Not about to be outdone, I completely ignored my sword as it clanged to the ground beside me, rising from the sweep into a half-crouch. Drawing my bow, I tossed all the arrows in my quiver into the air with a flick of my wrist, activating an Air spell I'd embedded in all of the shafts. The spell worked as intended, and they came raining down around me, forming a perimeter of projectiles that I could reach and launch.

The thing about Rayka was that she didn't have just one approach to a battle. Her daggers allowed her to engage opponents at a distance and also get up close and personal, if necessary. She had more spells than I could count in her repertoire, and could use them better than I could even dream of at that particular time.

My solution? Engage her from a distance.

While she might have thought that she was throwing me off by putting some distance between us, she was actually doing me a favor, and I was going to make sure she felt my gratitude. Taking aim, I started shooting a stream of arrows at her, my stance and placement ensuring that I could follow along as she dodged and weaved her way across the arena.

I could tell that my move had surprised her by how long I'd managed to keep her on the defensive, forcing her to dodge and not have the time to retaliate. Or, well, that's what I thought, before reaching for another arrow and grasping nothing but air. A quick glance confirmed that I'd indeed run out of arrows. The smirk on Rayka's face told me that that was exactly what she'd been waiting for.

As she rushed towards me, I grabbed my sword and ran, making a beeline for the largest concentration of arrows, all of which were embedded in the wall circling the arena. Assuming that she was predicting my move, Rayka augmented her speed again, rushing to the arrows and gathering them all up in her hands, waving them cheekily at me.

That's when I activated the spells embedded in my arrowheads.

All of them.

It was a Hail Mary maneuver, and I knew it. If it worked, Rayka would be overwhelmed, and I'd win. If it didn't, I'd just have exhausted all my Power in one shot.

As I took in the maelstrom of Earth, Fire, Air, and Water spells that she was surrounded by, I was sure that I'd done it. As the spells petered out, the whoop of victory that I was about to let out died in my throat.

Where Rayka was just moments ago, stood a rectangular block of granite. It was scorched and scored and battered, and pieces of it had been blown away. It crumbled right in front of my eyes, revealing Rayka standing there, unhurt, but visibly fatigued.

"Fuck me," I murmured, awestruck and a little lovestruck.

"Looks like we're both drained dry thanks to that move," she called, before taking a deep breath and settling into another ready stance. "Now, come show me what you got!"

The peal of laughter that burst out of me surprised me just as much as it did her. She looked at me askance, before bursting into laughter herself. That's when I heard the cheers of the crowd, and realized that the stands had filled since we'd started battling. While nowhere close to full, we definitely had a huge audience.

Drawing my quarterstaff, I raised both my weapons towards them. "Are you not entertained?" I shouted, before breaking into a wide grin.

I was having fun.

Turning to face Rayka again, I bowed deeply to her as the crowd cheered us on. She did the same, and both of us rushed towards each other, weapons drawn and ready to fight.

Though my magic was completely tapped out, I could still use IntelliPattern and Battle Sense, and I activated both of them as Rayka and I clashed in the middle of the arena. Her Gift allowed her to control any weapon she held for a further five (initially three) seconds after she let them go, and honestly, I needed to use both of those Gifts in tandem to stave off her attacks.

Thanks to her Gift, it was almost like Rayka had multiple arms; at one point, there were as many as eight daggers slashing at me simultaneously. Like me with my arrows, I knew that she would eventually run out of spare daggers. If I could hold her off till then, I knew I could win.

I could feel her desperation ramp up as we neared that point, and I let the seed of hope take root in my mind. That was my mistake.

I predicted that two daggers would slash at me from the left and the right, and I used my sword and staff to bat them away. I miscalculated my reach with my sword, however, and the dagger on my left managed to weave around to slice the back of my hand deeply, forcing me to drop my sword. As pain shot through my left hand, the same thing happened with my right.

She'd disarmed me in one move.

As I scrambled to try and pick either weapon up, Rayka tackled me to the ground, one leg on my chest, keeping me down as she brought her last two daggers to my neck.

"Yield!" she exclaimed.

"I yield!" I declared, tapping the ground three times to signal my defeat.

I was done, and both of us knew it.

She just rolled off me, dropping to the ground with a dull thud.

"Thank you," she said, turning her face towards me.

"You earned it," I replied, smiling weakly back at her.

"Not for that," she scoffed, exhaling noisily. "I'm thanking you for not holding back even though you love me. I know we said we wouldn't, but I also know that you're not from here. I was honestly concerned that you wouldn't give me everything you had, even after you promised to."

"I didn't know if I would, either," I admitted, as a couple of Healers rushed in to check up on both of us. "But as soon as we began, I realized that I had to because I love you. Anything less than my best, and I'd just be insulting both of us and our relationship. I just had to trust that this really wouldn't drive us apart."

"All this has done, Chris," she said, reaching for my hand, "is reaffirm my adoration and my respect for you. I love you more today than I did yesterday, and that statement will hold true for every single day of the rest of our lives."

"I love you too," I responded, smiling and squeezing her hand weakly.

***

A few hours later, we were healed, home, and in bed.

"The voice said something to me, earlier," I told her, my gaze fixed on the ceiling, stroking her hair as she rested her head on my shoulder. "He called us 'the fated lovers'. I brushed it away in the moment because I was more focused on our fight."

"But you think there's more to it?"

"It was the way he said it, you know? Like he knew more than he was letting on."

"But you don't think he'll tell you, do you?" she asked, shifting so both her hands were on my chest, her chin resting on them.