Rising Shards

After 09 lost, I figured this whole thing would be a clean sweep for the devil team. I kind of hoped Kitty would decide to wrap this up, because even she was getting bored of how one sided this was even after she bragged it’d be like this. She kept saying something about a tournament which did not sound very fun to me.

The Matora sisters put up one of the better efforts against the Althea sisters, but still couldn’t best them. I made a mental note to maybe bring the Matora sisters along with my befriending the devils efforts, as maybe they could find common ground with them with the having a twin thing.

”They’ve been talking for a while,” Marmalade said.

”Huh?” I said.

Marmalade nodded to the corner where Kalei and Aira were chatting. The two looked a bit dour.

”I wonder what about...” Oka said. ”Them chatting isn’t weird, but...”

”Something happened during that void storm,” Lillia said. ”Kalei’s been acting strange since it. Something happened with her, Aira, and probably Syval.”

”We maybe can’t jump to conclusions,” Oka said.

”I’m not jumping to conclusions, I walked very carefully to these conclusions,” Lillia said. ”They’re not even conclusions, they’re theories based on what we know.”

”That’s true, I guess,” Oka said.

”Do you think it’s something bad?” I asked.

Lillia shrugged. ”Potentially, but it could also be something completely benign. Maybe Syval and Aira started dating and asked Kalei for advice. But that wouldn’t explain Kalei being so out of it this week, would it?”

”Maybe she caught a cold from being out in the storm,” Oka said. ”And Aira...also has that cold?”

”Hm,” Marmalade said.

”We should try talking to them as soon as possible,” Lillia said. ”I know we haven’t been able to get a hold of Aira or Syval, but Aira can’t avoid us here. And with enough pressure, I think we can get Kalei to talk.”

”Next up!” Kitty said. ”Oka and Lillia against Sai and Chickadee!”

That put a pin in Lillia’s plan for now. I could wander around during the fight to check on Kalei, but I pictured myself going over there, getting snapped at by Kalei, and missing Oka’s fight entirely. Like with the devil befriending scheme, there would be better times on this trip for socializing.

Ko high fived Lillia on the way in.

”You can do it, Oka!” I yelled.

Both Oka and Lillia wore serious expressions when they stood across their opponents. Chickadee had talked a big game about this directly to Oka right after the talent show, and I knew Oka had been thinking about this encounter since then. I saw Lillia looking determined pretty regularly, but if I was up against both her and Oka ready to win, I would not be as relaxed as Chickadee was.

I couldn’t read Sai as well. They hadn’t had any one on one encounters yet, and in their team bouts stayed in the back. I wasn’t entirely sure what their powers even were yet. Though I supposed with these devils being supposedly so strong, maybe they had more than just one main power like we did.

”I’ve been waiting to show this one off,” Oka said. She conjured a vine in each hand, throwing one to Lillia and whipping the other at the ground. The one on the ground spread out, making an array on the ring. Lillia blew into her vine like she was filling a balloon.

”Oh frick,” I said.

”What?” Marmalade asked.

”I saw them practice this one,” I said, instinctively stepping backwards. I couldn’t get too far back on the boards around the ring, but I still didn’t want to be in the blast radius.

The array of plants looked like about eight squares with X’s in their center. In the center of each X, a bulbous plant grew.

”It’s over,” Oka said.

”Pfft,” Chickadee said. ”What do you mean? You made...a garden? With weird plant balloons?” She took a step forward.

”I wouldn’t do that,” Oka said. ”It’d be easier if you just called it now.”

Chickadee laughed. ”I think you’re the one who needs to do that.” She made a few illusions of herself. It took me a second to realize why that power made me feel uneasy; it reminded me of Jeans’ powers. The group of Chickadees kept approaching.

”Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Oka said.

”Whatever,” Chickadee said. ”In about two seconds you’re gonna—” Just as Chickadee stepped into the array, all of the bulbous plants burst, filled with Lilila’s fire breath. I screamed as they all blew up, knocking Chickadee into the air, sending her careening into the water.

I don’t know if everyone in our class cheered, but it sure sounded like it with us getting our first win against the devils. I know I screamed so loud I almost went hoarse. Oka blew me a kiss amidst all the noise.

”Wait,” Lillia said. ”Where’s Sai?”

”Didn’t we knock them into the water, too?” Oka asked.

I didn’t see them anywhere. The cheering turned to murmurs as everyone looked around the ring. I squinted, standing on my tip toes as I tried to see any sign of Sai. I blinked, lifting up my sunglasses. I thought I saw a shadow from a cloud above us, until I realized that none of the clouds directly above would leave something like that.

”The...!” I said, pointing before I could articulate it. ”The shadow! Oka!”

Oka whirled, turning around just in time to see Sai rising up from the ground, having concealed themselves in the shadows. With them came a wave of energy that looked like an arc made of darkness, swooping at both Oka and Lillia. The single strike was strong enough for Sai to win with just that.

”Wow!” Kitty said. ”Coolest fight so far, but the devils take this!”

Oka kept sighing when she rejoined us.

“That was humiliating,” Oka said.

“I thought you did great,” I said. ”You were one of the only people to take any of them out! You got the fire balloon to work!”

”We still lost,” Oka said.

”You beat Chickadee though!” I said. ”She was the one who was all cocky about beating you.”

”That’s true,” Oka said. ”Thanks for trying to let us know about Sai’s shadow, too.”

”If I was just a second sooner...” I said.

”Shush with that,” Oka said. ”Would cool and relatable Zeta Faleur beat herself up about that?”

”Probably not,” I said. ”So awesome and good-at-fighting Oka shouldn’t beat herself up either.”

”Heh,” Oka said. ”Fine.”

”OK, who’s left?” Kitty asked. ”Pretty much everyone has gone, right?”