CHAPTER X24: TO REMEMBER, DREADING

  It was inevitable. Kazuki gazed across the living room floor. Kazuki hated it. Yuki was swelling up with tears.

  Kazuki thought of stretching his hand out to stop her… But… as Kazuki did, he felt the weight and strength in his arm fail.

  It wasn’t there… The strength faltered, and Kazuki’s left arm fell by his side.

  Year: 4920. The year was ticking down to the incident…

  Kazuki glared at his sister, still holding onto a broken building block crafted perfectly into one of Anagora’s hovering apartment blocks.

  A clear slap imprint clung to her cheek. Yuki’s bright, sparkling blue eyes met Kazuki’s mix of blue and gold. Dark. Darker.

  "It took us years to make that," Kazuki said. "And you just... broke it?" It wasn’t that it was broken. It was the fact that Victoria helped.

  The memories stung, for no one was there to share them with Kazuki.

  Kazuki glanced to one side, looking at the litany of broken structures. Yuki whimpered and stuttered back, "I—I just thought—thought I could help! I—"

  "Shut up..." Kazuki snorted, taking a step back. “Just shut up.” So long had these memories clung. Most of it was intact, but many sections were destroyed because of Yuki’s impetuousness.

  Looking back at the long, massive table on which the mini-scale of Anagora was built, Kazuki could clearly, vividly remember each moment. Noah… Victoria, Kazuki, and the three, plus Karl, just added on whenever they were around.

  As if it replayed in his mind, Kazuki saw Victoria’s hands gently place the finishing touches… All along the parts Yuki ruined.

  Kazuki turned around.

  Kazuki met face-to-face with his father. Father glared. Oh. Good… Kazuki stared into his father’s blank red eyes.

  Maybe if he was lucky… The strike would be hard. Kazuki’s gold eye glanced at the jagged edges on the table to his left.

  Good fall. Enough force… Lethal, Kazuki found his silver lining.

  "What is the meaning of this?" Yamagata interrogated Kazuki. Both siblings remained silent.

  The result was already set in stone.

  Yamagata raised his hand. He slammed it across Kazuki’s cheek.

  It was weak. What a shame…

  Kazuki stood there, silently, absorbing the pain, then walked past his father. Karl was leaning against the wall, watching the whole thing. Karl tapped him on the shoulder as he crossed paths. "Not going to say sorry?" Karl asked.

  "Start the shuttle.”

  It was a quiet trip. He needed to clear his mind, away from the stench of his family's insufferable antics. Arriving at the training complex, Kazuki sat down in the barracks, peering out a window into the training yard.

  “So…?” The pink-haired pigment of Kazuki’s mind asked. Kazuki turned to the fleeting memories of Victoria. “You know it’s just some building blocks, right?”

  Kazuki slumped down against a pillar. “You know why I did that.” Kazuki felt a strange pair of eyes hanging onto him, but he didn’t care. Fuck it all, Kazuki thought. He grumbled away the numbness.

  “She’s your sister, right?” Victoria asked. “Well, your cousin, but still family.”

  “Pathetic welp…” Kazuki replied. Yuki was just another extension of his parents’ incompetence. She got the life Kazuki could only dream of – especially now.

  A voice struck out from the bunk-beds.

  "Alright, who the fuck keeps talking to themselves? What's got you here?" Václavos asked, hanging from his bunkbed and peering down at Kazuki. "Oho! Don't mind me! I'm just skipping it."

  “Shut up,” Kazuki bit off.

  “Pah, don’t worry, we all talk to ourselves… right?” Václavos scratched the top of his blonde head.

  "It's physical resistance training. You should be down there,” Kazuki remarked. Kazuki noted Nihara in the yard, sparring with the others. "You'll never beat her."

  Kazuki turned to Victoria, only to find that the hallucination was… gone. For now, at least.

  It always returned.

  Václavos shrugged, slowly sliding off the bed as he rolled onto the concrete floor below. "Don't matter! I've got my sniper, and it doesn't matter how good you are in CQC if you just end up getting shot, right?”

  Kazuki decided it was not worth the effort to argue. Still, another person stepped into the barracks. Svenn? Kazuki glanced over, seeing the middle-aged operative.

  "What are you two doing here?" Svenn asked, walking over with a scolding tone. "You're supposed to be down there!"

  "Yeah, Kaz!" Václavos shifted the blame whilst chuckling.

  Svenn picked up Václavos by the collar. "I was speaking to you!”

  With that, the two were thrown into sparring. They didn’t face each other, though… They had to be punished, and punished they were. A stranger stood opposite them. Apparently, it was a freelance trainer brought in by the She-Wolf.

  No weak spots, Kazuki thought. Her armour was rugged, even more so than the Initiates. "Who are you?"

  The woman placed a hand to her chest. "Svetez Aya, your punishment for insolence is to fight me, now, do you need a count?" A snide glare hung from her eyes.

  Václavos and Kazuki were armed to the teeth. But this was an operative. Skilled, it seemed too. 'So uh, we take her together, right?' Václavos pondered.

  'Yeah. Cover me.'

  Kazuki stepped forward, whilst Václavos stepped to the side, readying his sniper rifle. The commotion of the rising fight had caught some attention, glares and eyes peered past the arena shields.

  Kazuki’s eyes slowly dragged up, noting silhouettes in the darkness of the rafters above.

  "Keep your eyes on your prey!" Svetez whizzed forward. Kazuki narrowly ducked beneath a knife jab, swirling into a cut as the tip of the blade grazed Kazuki’s cheek.

  First blow. First blood to Svetez Aya.

  Reeling back into the fight, Kazuki took out his pistol, setting the charges to stun whilst unleashing a torrent of sizzling bolts forward.

  Kazuki felt his blood trickle down his cheek. It was a sensation he hated. A sensation he will endure.

  Svetez raised her shield, weaving out of the sniper bolts sent down by Václavos. Any momentum Svetez gained was sliced in twine by his bolts. Pressing her foot on the pedal, she danced to the side before diving right in, ensuring Václavos couldn't get another shot upon each clash with Kazuki.

  Steel rang against steel. Kazuki narrowly blocked her assault before firing a dozen stun bolts into her armour.

  "Non-lethal stuns?!" Svetez sneered. "Fight, boy, as you mean it, because everyone else will!”

  Good advice. Perhaps Kazuki would heed it.

  But not now. Not today. Not whilst death still stung in Kaz’s mind.

  As the drop of blood continued down his cheek, he felt the sensation of an iron hovering by his nostrils. The thoughts came in once more... Victoria's dying body, upon the canvas of a burning station.

  Yet strangely enough, Kazuki found power within it. Pressing forward, Kazuki bashed his shield against Svetez, throwing her back before weaving to the side. The operative dove forward but crossed right into the path of Václavos' muzzle.

  BANG. A Bolt crashed into Svetez. That single bolt summoned blood, gushing through the air.

  But this time, Kazuki froze. Splatters of red flung through the air – steeling the boy’s mind as it slowed…

  Kazuki’s eyes were dead set on the blood.

  The voices and explosions rocked through Kazuki's head once more. No. Not again... Swinging around from the pain, Kazuki glanced at Svetez’s blade, rebounding towards Kazuki.

  A gash was primed at Kazuki’s head… His neck. Kazuki closed his eyes… Poetry, he thought.

  Not to be, however, as Václavos interposed.

  Throwing Kazuki aside, Václavos activated his shield. Springing to action, Václavos parried the initial strike. The throw kicked Kazuki’s mind back to life, grinding the gears of hate.

  Shit... Shit! Kazuki coughed up slightly, scrambling for his knife before standing up.

  Blood trickled from Kazuki’s neck. Nominal wound. But the sting of iron was unable to propel Kazuki forward.

  Death was not an option… But neither was killing. This wasn't just a regular spar. Kazuki saw the anxious looks of the initiates outside the shield.

  By this point, the spar would be over with any of them. First blood.

  It had been split. Yet this operative continued. Because… Kazuki knew, in combat, there were no rules.

  Clashing forward, Kazuki took a shield bash for Václavos. "Keep your fucking head in the game, Kaz!" Václavos shrieked, dragging himself upwards. "Just immobilise her, she isn’t following our rules!"

  "Immobilise?!" Svetez scoffed. "I survived the Nasserite Veteran Riots! They shoved all of us down into the underground, boy!”

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Svetez jousted back into the fight, but the ongoing fusillade of bolts from both combatants stymied her advance. Kazuki kept firing, hoping one of his electrified bolts would stun her, but it was wishful thinking. The operative weathered the storm. Each bolt was met with a rising laugh.

  When both ran out of bolts, Svetez broke into a sprint. Bashing Kazuki aside, she thrust towards Václavos.

  ”Shit!” Václavos shoved his sniper forward, pulling out two pistols before dumping plasma.

  Bolts pinged off her armour, and Kazuki charged in – but he was too late… Too late… Better never than late.

  Kazuki saw blood gushing out from Václavos’ sides. Nihara tried to jump over the shielded arena, and Svenn’s warnings rang true.

  This galaxy was cruel, and if he wants to win, he'll have to adapt to it. So be it. Kazuki rushed in, flicking the electricity off and blasting away at Svetez. Bolts instantly careened into her.

  The full fury of Kazuki's arsenal fell on her. His mind refused to work, refusing to think; only victory was on the edge of his consciousness. No rhyme. No reason. No method of actualisation. The idea must be done.

  And Kazuki went forth, sweating over crunching concrete to achieve it.

  Kazuki reached close, pinning her until he unleashed a blast from his WRIST-SHOT. Pink plasma blanketed Svetez, frying her shields and blasting her into the arena shielding... Did he win? Václavos! Kazuki glanced down.

  Václavos was bleeding across the floor. He held his wound, however. Giving a small thumbs up, he stimmed himself.

  "I'm good, I'm good!" Václavos staggered up. Svetez was leaning against the shields, smiling... "Do you fucking yield, Svetez?! Huh?! That hurt, you know!"

  "There’s a lot more hurt where that came from, little boys!” Svetez jeered.

  Just then, a silent ballet dancer floated to the ground. Concrete carved upon her landing.

  Freyja Beamont raised her knives, pointing them at the two operatives. "Good, you have shown your dedication. Now, it’s time to begin your education.”

  Václavos rose to his feet, but it was never going to be enough. Václavos was thrown across the ring before Kazuki could even take note. Adrenaline died, and Kazuki found himself not invigorated, but dreading.

  Kazuki could not pull the trigger.

  Luckily enough, Kazuki had friends in low places. Gunfire rattled the shield projector, slashing the walls. The most experienced of the initiates rushed in, clamouring for a slice of the pie. Freyja glanced around, amused. Cyrus. Nihara. Kiera and everyone else joined in.

  Their muzzles raised at the She-Wolf. If it were just this simple…

  Nihara rushed to the side, helping Václavos up. "Get up. You're embarrassing me," she muttered in her monotone voice.

  Fifty to one, the She-Wolf stepped up. She switched her blades out for two batons, grinning arrogantly at the initiates.

  Kazuki slinked to the back. He remained uninjured, yet uncommitted… Why must he kill? Why must he be here?! Why did his parents abandon him…?

  The rage and anger swelled up, mixing in with the guilt of his reality. Victoria didn't deserve her fate. Why must so many die?

  Then, the flickering images of everyone the Commissioner blazed into Kazuki’s perfect memory reared their heads up… A form of torture it was, but one the Commissioner paid dearly for.

  Videos. Footage. Recovery Efforts. The Explosions. The falling debris.

  Death. None deserved it, but it happened anyway. They died anyway. What justice is there in that?

  None... Kazuki froze.

  But that was just the galaxy he lived in. Watching the unfolding battle, Kazuki helped Nihara drag Václavos to the side.

  "What are you doing, Kazuki? Get in there!" Nihara barked.

  "No..." Kazuki softly replied. "I can't."

  "Can't kill?! You're not killing her!" Václavos jeered. "Just fight till the She-Wolf's fucking happy or something or whatever. Nihara can carry me herself!”

  Oh. The instant bro-code kicked in. Kazuki nodded and released his grip, allowing Václavos to suddenly crash onto the floor before Nihara could pull her weight in once again.

  Stepping forth, Kazuki stood on the edge of the onslaught.

  The She-Wolf barrelled forward, crashing many into the shields. Many fell, and barely any remained. However, those left were the best that the Initiate had to offer. Cyrus, Kiera and a few others.

  "Finally got your bearings straight?" Kiera asked with a smile. "Let's get after her, then!"

  Brushing forward, the five survivors crashed into Freyja's shields, slicing away at all angles. Yet it was not enough. Despite their best efforts, it wasn't enough. The She-Wolf was too strong, too fast. Kicking the weak ones away, Freyja threw Cyrus into Kiera.

  Kiera’s body rolled towards Kazuki, and she grunted. “Kaz… go get here, you son of a bitch…” She coughed for a moment before tapping Kazuki’s boot into the fight.

  And Kazuki was alone, thinking hard. Victory? How could he? Against the She-Wolf? No way. Kazuki remained planted. The She-Wolf changed her weapons, scurrying across the field of unconscious and battered initiates.

  The monster drew two long knives, draped by chains along her arms. Her dark purple hair flowed with the howling, harsh steel winds of the Sub-Levels.

  "What? It's just us now, isn't that nice?" asked the She-Wolf. You must act, little Prince, for all their sakes… Come on… act, now!”

  Kazuki’s hands faltered, and his dagger fell to the ground. Kazuki stepped backwards.

  The She-Wolf crackled forward, kicking his blade back between his legs. “Fight… me, little Prince. Come on, fight!”

  Bursting forward, she cut through the air faster than Kazuki's golden eye could see. A knife's length away from beheading him, Kazuki's senses highlighted a figure…

  A moment of adrenaline urged Kazuki forward. Pick UP the blade! Fight!

  But that was not to be his story; the little boy died five years ago… On that damned station.

  The surreal realisation relaxed Kazuki.

  Yet this was not to be Kazuki’s grave. The figure highlighted in the back of Kaz’s mind refuted the move.

  It crashed down, throwing Kazuki backwards. Blades clashed against steel, then stopped. The sizzling of an energy sword burned through the air. Kazuki glanced up, kicking himself backwards across the grimy concrete floor.

  It was the Archreaper, Hartius Juun, First of the Seven Mercenaries. The Executioner’s Blade hung high, blocking Freyja’s entire assault avenue.

  The She-Wolf glared at the giant, almost twice her size. "You have gone beyond what I have consented," he said calmly, though the radiance of absolute terror shuddered into every man and woman in the training yard. "They have proven themselves... adequate. Do not exceed your purview, She-Wolf.”

  A snarl and a glare met within the training halls.

  Meekly, the She-Wolf stepped away. Dread. Fear. Those emotions hung not from Kazuki – but the She-Wolf.

  "Yes, sir," Freyja barked, before turning and walking back across the hall of injured initiates.

  Even now, even after their years of training, it wasn't enough. Maybe it'll never be enough, Kazuki thought.

  They’ll see, however. Soon enough. Freyja grabbed onto Svetez's collar before dragging her off.

  "Let me at them!" Svetez bellowed.

  "Quiet, mutt," Freyja sneered, silencing her subordinate in a single phrase.

  The air of tension across the field slowly came to a halt. Drones hovered around with stretchers for the injured. Hartius remained rooted in the centre of the yard.

  Slowly, the giant turned around. Kazuki stared into the gates of death itself. The Death Hazard hummed loudly for Kazuki to hear… It was as if whispers and knowledge burned across Kazuki’s mind.

  Then, the impossible: the murmurs were snuffed out – forgotten.

  Hartius' eyes were masked by a flimsy blindfold. "You failed, little one," he said. "Act. The She-Wolf made her point. And you failed. When will you learn that this galaxy requires blood? When will you learn that you can only change your blood in the game, little Prince/”

  "Sir... I..." Kazuki stuttered. "I can't kill... Not just her... I just can't... fathom it." The idea of killing another struck a chord in Kazuki's mind. Once more, the sight of blood rinsed through his mind and across his hands.

  No matter how much he wiped it away, the blood never disappeared. And in his mind, it kept dripping – forever onward.

  Even as Victoria’s hallucination clung on in the distance, it kept dripping. Victoria clung to Hartius.

  Hartius then glanced backwards… Could he see her?

  "Maybe," Hartius replied.

  "Huh?" Kazuki gawked up at the giant, frozen in place.

  The Archreaper looked down in pity. "Time. Fathom it, little Prince. All will suffer, once more, and forever to come." With that, the First of the Seven Mercenaries rappelled upwards.

  Kazuki was once more alone, unable to move. This was his destiny, wasn’t it? To die here… with not a speck to remember him, powerless… And with the vices that led to all his suffering remaining intact.

  No… A voice called in Kazuki’s mind. Victoria was standing in front of him, hands on his shoulders. “No. It won’t end for you like that,” she murmured. “We’ll get back at them, Kazu.”

  Svenn walked up from behind; the sound of his footsteps was light, but steady. He placed a hand on Kazuki's shoulders. "Let's get something to eat, you must be starving after all of this, right?"

  Kazuki shook his head. "No appetite," he stated. Kazuki walked away, avoiding the glares and hallucinations.

  Kazuki had failed…

  Someone tapped his shoulder…

  “Svenn…”

  “Hey.” Kiera’s voice turned to a grumble. Oh. “I’m not that old, am I? You good, Kaz? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “Yeah,” Kazuki lied, his feelings dragging down his mind. He needed them not. Kazuki ate away the defects. But lies hurt… Why does he lie? “I just need some rest.”

  A sombre face of worry clung to Kiera’s head, piercing Kazuki’s armour.

  Kiera weakly glanced to the side, then nodded. “Don’t worry about it, Kazuki, we’ll get her next time, we've got time on our hands!”

  When will this end? The pain of a searing headache rose across Kazuki's mind.

  Václavos joined in, still helping Nihara up. “Yeah! Hey, Kazuki, you ain’t mind if we uhh… borrowed a bit of money from you?”

  Kazuki grumbled. If he were to die, it would be better to die with friends close by. “You want to go out again, right? Blank cheque, don’t worry.”

  “Fuck yeah,” Kiera remarked. “We’ll bankrupt you one day, Kazuki.”

  Kazuki snidely remarked, “Compound interest says otherwise.”

  Kiera rolled her eyes and pretended to push glasses up his nose. Raising a single finger, he mimicked Kazuki’s voice in mockery: “Compound interest says otherwise… Shut up! We don’t even know what that is!”

  “Can we invite the others?” Václavos asked.

  Kazuki paused… Tens of street rats roaming the surface? Interesting. Amazing, even. Absolutely – Kazuki nodded.

  Václavos fist-bumped the air, accidentally knocking into Nihara. She grunted in frustration before punching Václavos straight in the liver. Pooh… Václavos returned the pain with a chuckle.

  Despite it all, things seemed good, for once… in Kazuki’s life.

  “You know this can’t end well,” Kazuki chuckled hoarsely. And then – it all began again.

  Pain and headaches roared in Kazuki’s mind. He grabbed his head with one hand, tightening his grasp.

  He felt reality shake around him, a thousand memories blipping throughout the database. A corrupted memory bank ensued, spouting out reels of pain, agony, blood…

  Kazuki saw his dying body being cut open across an operating table.

  Then it was the river of blood he woke up beside in a burning compound.

  And finally, alas, it was the graveyard – the sea of bodies he had filled.

  Kazuki was made to remember… the nightmares began, as Kazuki stayed motionless.

  Kazuki saw the nice faces of all his friends, contorted and broken… bleeding, cracked apart.

  They were not real. They were not real… Kazuki chanted it to himself, yet the mantra did nothing to ward away the insanity.

  They were all melting away, transforming with steel and blood.

  Even as each cry and death played out again and again, Kazuki dared not move.

  He dared not challenge the status quo.

  After the barrage of pain, Kazuki saw Victoria, rising from the sea of corpses and blood… “You failed to save me… what makes you think you’ll save her?” she asked. Blood trickled from her neck, and blood covered Kazuki’s hands.

  Victoria’s face was dead, no spark within her. Victoria had risen from the grave, all to warn him, to tell him he failed…

  It was enough torment for him to feel satisfied.

  Kazuki bit his tongue.

  Opening his eyes, Kazuki saw the confines of his private quarters – 4925. History will not change for him. Everything was where it was left... The only difference was a blanket, haphazardly thrown on him.

  Ugh… Did Archius or Eliza do that? Kazuki placed a hand to his forehead, feeling the aching pain of sleep wreak havoc on his psyche.

  Eliza? Kazuki looked up. She had her mouth wide open, sleeping in Kazuki's bed. She was slightly snoring, with Synthia resting on Eliza's hair...

  “Just a bad memory…” Kazuki uttered to himself. Just a bad memory… Because Kazuki knew, full well to himself, he was not prepared to face the She-Wolf. “Another nightmare…”

  He failed long ago, and he will fail again.

  Blood trickled out of Kazuki’s mouth, along with steam.

  Kazuki's instincts slammed his fist down on the alarm clock a second before it went off. That's enough rest for him, then. Kazuki rose to his feet. Then, Kazuki staggered away, drowning out the memories and guilt with thoughts on what to do…

  Offence is the best defence, Kazuki knew he must not fail – not again.