A Meeting With the Storm

  When Blade and Severance first arrived back in the Origin Realm, they quickly had to hide themselves, as Xuria’s guards were patrolling every street in Central City. Unfortunately, they were headed to the heart of the city, back to the Arena.

  ?“Master, I must ask why we are going back here of all places,”

  Severance asked as they walked. Just by looking around, she could see the fear and distress in the people's eyes, not directed at them, but due to the much tighter regulations that were made after Blade’s public appearance and stunt. Yet, just as it was feared, it was likewise talked about widely, not being able to walk past a table without hearing rumors or stories about the event.

  ?Blade had become an infamous celebrity over the course of the two days, and now had to hide just to walk normally. He was lucky he only had one goal, getting to the Arena, as he finally answered Severance.

  ?“When I took the authorities, I asked one thing from Raiden. Wait on me for three days. I would personally prefer going and meeting up with Aisha, but I will keep a promise I made,”

  Blade said as he continued on the roof of the city. He was carrying on him an invisibility cloak. In his mind, anyone using Mora would probably see him, but that was only if they focused on where he was. That is why he made sure to keep his momentum and continue. Yet, it was not easy either. It felt like guards were everywhere, and it made moving a hassle.

  ?After overcoming all the obstacles, they eventually reached the Arena, which was closed off to all. Blade knew he had made a scene, but he doubted it was enough to make them close the Arena and keep such tight security around it. What was happening?

  ?He climbed the highest point he could find, a tall pillar connected to an equally tall building. From there, he could view the scenes that happened within, and there he saw multiple guards looking around the Arena and guarding a giant hole.

  ?Now that he thought about it, he had heard nothing about the punishment Raiden would have received if the Overseer took her in. From the display at the Arena, he could guess she wasn’t afraid of publicly humiliating or hurting Raiden, so any punishment should be part of the rumors.

  ?From the gathered information, the conclusion he came to was that she must have rebelled. Had he caused this change of mind, or was he nothing more than the last push? Either way, it meant that the Overseer had lost a powerful force, and the thought of having Raiden free was a good one.

  ?Now the question was how to get close to the hole without alarming everyone. Due to his promise, he had arrived before he had fully healed, so a fight, no matter how easy, could prove much more challenging and potentially ruin his chances of recovery. He remembered back to asking Severance why Aira couldn’t heal him, to which she responded

  ?“Rapid destruction, followed by immediate recovery might prove disastrous if done too much. It could cause irreversible scars.”

  ?But the answer didn’t make full sense to Blade, causing him to continue asking.

  ?“What about regeneration then?”

  ?“Regeneration works by repairing the damage caused to one’s vessel. But you’re only repairing the functionality. The damage will persist, and without any resting period, it may prove as nothing more than a scare tactic. Of course, there are levels and exceptions as with all things, but my advice is if they look healthy, they are healthy. Remember that in battles.”

  ?Blade had made a mental note of that, as it was useful advice. Yet, it didn’t solve his current issue. Luckily, he soon found a way to make them move.

  ?Making Severance transform into a bow, he held it tightly, before creating a copy of Raiden’s sword, which he had finally come up with a name for. Yet this time, he made it take the form of an arrow.

  ?“Caliburn II

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  ?Caliburn was the name he had given the blade. Yet the II stood for the new form it took, now in the shape of a slim and narrow drill with the hand guard now creeping up the drill to connect at the tip. The drill was a similar size to an arrow. If Caliburn was the sword, then Caliburn II was the arrow.

  ?Yet the process was by no means smooth. Normally, it would already be a strain just creating anything of this level, then forming it differently added to that strain. Under normal circumstances, it would feel like pushing a hot iron rod through one’s veins, yet Blade was already damaged. So now it feels far worse.

  ?He did contemplate making it hollow, but in that case, he would get none of the benefits that came from the sword, meaning he might as well just have created a normal arrow. At least it would be easier from here as he would have it in his library, cutting the forming time, and have it in his vault, making it far easier to create copies of.

  ?Aiming and shooting the arrow was the easiest part. The destination he had set was clear. Watching the arrow fly through the grand castle, and home to the Overseer. The effect of the arrow was immediate as it froze a large part of the castle, then went to break it with lightning before burning the area. It caused just the distraction needed, as all the guards either turned or ran to the scene.

  ?Taking advantage of the commotion, he passed the guards and went into the hole in the Arena. Turning Severance back to a sword and using her to slow his descent.

  ?It took some time for Blade’s eyes to adjust to the dark. When they did, Blade managed to see the blood dripping on the ground. And following it with his eyes, he saw Raiden, lying there in a pool of her own blood.

  ?His first thought was wondering if she had been here the whole two days. The scene was everything but a pretty one, with her hair sprawled around her similar to a macabre halo. Blood was running from her mouth, and there were deep scars and bruises across her skin. Looking at the ground, he noted how its roughness could very well be the reason for it.

  ?Walking up to her lying body, he saw how her eyes were simultaneously more alive than before, yet now nearly dead.

  ?“You... came...”

  ?As the words reached him, Blade stopped right in front of her body, answering her question.

  ?“Yes. Did you believe I wouldn’t come?”

  ?Raiden blinked slowly, needing a second for his words to register before she replied.

  ?“I don’t really know... maybe I feared not living that far... or maybe I simply betrayed myself, one time too many...”

  ?“You speak as if you are already dead. Yet you are not dead, you’re here in front of me.”

  ?His words made her blink before her eyes drifted to him. An almost questioning look.

  ?“Is that so? You are right though, I have partially given up. Is that wrong? To see myself as dead?”

  ?It made Blade pause, yet it reminded him of one thing he had questioned for a while now. A question that had plagued the humans on his own world too, but on a different scale.

  ?“What is death to you?”

  ?“Death?” she repeated before answering.

  ?“Death is unique... I guess it’s one of the few things that remain constant, even for Origins. Nobody ever truly worries about their lifespan, yet a death by another is very much possible.”

  ?“And in your eyes?”

  ?“In mine, is death just another to take account for. Like everything else in this world, it exists, yet you never truly imagine it before it faces you.”

  ?After hearing this, Blade crouched down and helped lift her head and let her sit up straight against a stalagmite.

  ?“Hey Raiden, can you tell me about yourself? Why are you doing this?”

  ?Raiden let herself be helped without a word, but at his questions, she answered

  ?“Why do you care? My past will not redeem my actions. Believing so is nothing more than immature, and a wishful belief that a tragic past can make up for one’s wrongs. In other words, a way for people to deflect their own wrongdoings.”

  ?It made Blade stop and think. Deflecting your own wrongs using your past as a shield. A way to avoid the consequences of your own actions, to make up for them.

  ?“You are right, but I believe you aren’t an enemy.”

  ?“It’s stupidity.”

  ?“Don’t interrupt me, please.” Blade countered. Only when she nodded did he continue.

  ?“I don’t know you, you don’t know me. We have fought four times now, yet never properly introduced each other. I know it’s naive, but throughout it all, I never felt like you wanted any of this.”

  ?Raiden was silent at his words, simply staring at him until he finished.

  ?“And on what basis do you draw these conclusions?”

  ?Blade smiled, knowing he had caught her interest.

  ?“You had no problem with letting me go both the second and third time we fought. Even the third time, you seemed to be going crazy. You made sure none of the debris would hit the audience in our last fight in the Arena, and actively avoided any other participant in our fight. You also spared everyone who had fought you prior to me. You really don’t seem to like killing.”

  ?She looked at him, before letting out a sigh. She seemed both bothered and strangely calm by the fact that someone figured her out.

  ?“It’s not that I hate killing, I simply prefer not to... When I was little, I was adopted by someone who might like no other. My real family getting fame by relation. One thing you will quickly learn here is that nobody can truly be defined as good or evil. There are exceptions, but those are rare. I became someone who killed multiple, yet chose to hide that when I came here.”

  ?"Came here?" It was the word that made him question the most, and made him ask.

  ?“Came here? Do you mean?”

  ?She sighed, nodding as she completed his question.

  ?“Yes, I am not from the Origin Realm.”