Manifest War: The Weapons Within

The sun hid behind the clouds while a crisp afternoon breeze flowed across a large, open air arena. The cool wind caught the hair of a young girl standing near the center, blowing her long, silver bangs gently.

Once she brushed her hair away from her face, the girl sent a red eyed glare towards a man standing across from her in the arena. The two stared at each other with near deadly intent, patiently waiting for someone to make the first move.

“Are you ready, Lady Carmen?” The man asked with a slight smirk as he assumed a combat stance, spreading his feet apart with immaculate poise while holding his fists upwards.

“Pfft, I should be asking you that, Graymoor.” Carmen quickly replied, assuming a stance of her own. The moment the sun came back into view, she darted forward with impressive speed.

Graymoor threw a swift punch directed at her face, not holding much force back. Carmen ducked and dodged the precise jabs with incredibly nimble movements, keeping him from connecting any blows.

She leapt up and kicked Graymoor in the chest, however he was able to quickly block her foot with his muscular forearms, covering and protecting his upper body. After her hit landed, she gracefully back flipped onto the ground before immediately dashing towards Graymoor.

Carmen unloaded a rapid flurry of punches onto him with seemingly inhuman speed. Despite her quickness, he effortlessly parried and eluded her swift attacks, reading every single one of Carmen’s movements.

Once her last hit connected, he feinted the attack, causing Carmen to miss and overextend herself. Graymoor wasted no time in grabbing her arm and forcefully flipped her into the air. In an instant, Carmen landed directly onto her back, making a loud thud in the process.

“Darn, you got me… again…” she said while panting heavily and looking at the partly cloudy sky.

“You’ve still got a ways to go young miss, but you’re getting better though.”

Graymoor responded with a cheeky smile and chuckle, holding out his hand to help her up. She reached out to take it, but just before doing so, Carmen aimed her palm at him.

She exerted her Core Energy outward and sent Graymoor flying up towards the sky with great force. Having let his guard down, Graymoor fell victim to Carmen’s gravity manipulation abilities, effortlessly tossing his weightless body into the air.

Carmen laughed as she saw Graymoor fall face flat onto the ground, defeated by her cunning tactics. However, seconds later, Carmen realized that she was still laying on her back. Curiously, Graymoor continued to hold his hand out to assist her.

“Wait… What??? I just threw you into the ceiling?” She remarked, looking incredibly confused.

“Oh, did you now? Sure it wasn’t just in your head?” Graymoor replied with a slight chuckle.

Carmen, still perplexed, stared closely and noticed that his eyes were glowing a faint blue color before turning back to normal. She reluctantly took his hand and stood up, still not understanding what had just happened.

'What was that just now? I swear I caught him off guard, I'm sure of it.'

Carmen tried to piece together the previous events as Graymoor walked towards a nearby bench, grabbing a fresh towel. Before she could ask him about what he did, a guest as well as a few guards walked into the arena.

The guest had short silver hair with her bangs completely covering her right eye. She had vivid crimson colored eyes, smooth skin, and body proportions molded by gods. Her lacy blue and white dress trailed behind her as she approached, silently flowing along the glossy tile.

It was clear that she was someone of great importance, especially considering how quickly Graymoor dropped to one knee once her presence was known. She stopped in front of him as he began to speak.

“Your Majesty, what brings you here today?” He loudly asked with curiosity, bowing his head deeply.

“Oh no real reason, I just finished a walk in the garden and was passing by.” She replied, turning her attention towards Carmen and smiling.

“Azhane! You missed it, I totally had Graymoor on the ropes this time. I think I can beat him next time for sure!” Carmen excitedly exclaimed as she rushed over.

“Oh my, is that right? I knew it was only a matter of time before my baby sister could take down someone of Graymoor’s caliber.” Azhane lightly chuckled, playfully glancing over at Graymoor as he got to his feet.

“Yup! Thanks to him, I think I’m fully ready to head out on my journey tomorrow. So excited!”

Carmen's demeanor was that of a child eager to explore a toy store, filled to the brim with gleeful anticipation.

“Good, good. I can see that you’re really excited to travel and all, but always be careful and wary of everyone. I know how reckless you can get sometimes.” Azhane said with a slight hint of worry. Carmen nodded to the response and reassured Azhane that she would take everything seriously.

“Well, I better get going. I have a ton of paperwork to get caught up on. Don't exhaust yourself too much.”

Azhane smiled as she reached her hand forward, brushing Carmen’s bangs away from her face.

“I won’t, I’m probably going to turn in early tonight anyways. I want to be well rested for tomorrow.” Carmen replied.

“Yes, good idea. You’ll need all the rest you can get. Alright then, I’ll see you in the morning.”

Azhane warmly smiled before glancing over at Graymoor.

“Graymoor, could you escort me to the library? I have a few journals to pick up before heading back to my office.” She asked, prompting Graymoor to firmly nod and agree. He grabbed his uniform jacket and quickly followed her towards the doorway.

Azhane and Graymoor arrived at the library and as they stepped inside, Azhane dismissed the guards, leaving them alone. He followed her up to the second floor of Castle de Belouis' massive four story library, chock full of thousands of books from all eras and genres. She stopped a couple rows down and tried reaching for a book that was just a bit too high for her.

Graymoor quickly reached above her and easily obtained it, not having anywhere near as much trouble as she did. He handed Azhane the blue colored journal and as she took it from him, her soft hand gently glided across his. She smiled and thanked him for the help, playfully commenting on his height compared to hers.

They grabbed a few more books before heading to her office on the upper floors of the castle. She took a seat at her desk and sighed, as though exhausted from a long day.

“Is everything alright your Majesty?” Graymoor asked in a worried tone.

“Yes, I’m just a little tired from all this paperwork. I’ve been on the throne for almost a year, but I’m still not used to this amount of work. No idea how my parents were able to do this for so long. It’s tough.”

Azhane leaned back in her chair and stared up at the ceiling.

“Ah I see…” Graymoor softly responded, not sure that he could relate to Her Majesty's current situation.

“And then, Carmen leaving tomorrow for her awakening journey has me quite stressed as well. She’s never really been out of the confines of this castle, so I’m not too sure how she’ll handle all the dangers of Alaira.” She added with a worried sigh.

“For whatever reason, Father wouldn’t let her experience the outside world like the rest of us and I fear that decision could blow up in our faces.”

Azhane buried her face into her hands and stared down at the papers on her desk, clearly feeling bothered by her thoughts.

“Your feelings are completely understandable but, I feel as though you should let the young miss figure things out on her own, Your Majesty. She’s smart enough and skilled enough to make it through anything thrown at her. You just need to trust her.” Graymoor chimed in with a matter of fact tone.

"I wouldn't have been able to grow as much as I have, let alone achieve the 2nd rank of the Six if I hadn't been allowed to figure things out on my own. Finding your own way is how you can accomplish greater things, Your Majesty." He added, his deep voice echoing across the room. Azhane sighed again but eventually agreed with his words, despite feeling mother-like worry for her baby sister.

“You’re right. I’ll trust that everything goes fine and I’ll let her figure things out on her own. Discovering herself is how she’ll become awakened, so I’ve no right to interfere in that process because of my worry.” She replied, finally calming herself.

“Thank you Graymoor, I feel a bit better now.” Azhane smiled as he bowed his head, accepting her thanks with limitless gratitude.

A carnal cold enveloped the room, darkness was all around with only a faint trim of the horizon being visible. What was this strange land, void of any signs of life?

Suddenly, in a rapid moment, time sped up and the darkness lifted enough to reveal an ancient, sandstone colored ruin. It was bathed in the light of a purple-colored moon, gleaming eerily with a haunting disposition. The ruins seemed thousands of years old, not having any familiar markings to provide information of their origin.

Carmen entered into the inner chamber and saw a massive pool of dark, ink-like water sitting in the center. Above the pool was an open sky light that allowed the purple moon to light up the surface of this murky water.

When she approached the somewhat enticing pool, faint chanting began. This dialect and language was clearly not from the modern era, unfamiliar in both cadence and sound. The strange tones became louder and louder, reverberating against the walls of this mysterious chamber.

Carmen eventually gazed towards the center of the pool and saw shadowy figures emerging from the dark waters, formless and dripping with ink as they glided their way towards her. Frozen from fear, she was unable to move while the figures enveloped her. They enticed and encouraged Carmen to walk into the pool, guiding her body closer.

As Carmen stepped her feet in, the cold she previously felt quickly dissipated and the inky water now felt searingly hot to the touch. The further she stepped, the louder the chanting got, so much so that Carmen began to understand them.

“Come to us. Come to us. COME TO US!”

With a forceful jolt, Carmen awoke from a deep slumber, dripping with sweat and gripping her chest.

“What was that dream just now??” She fearfully inquired, looking around her dark room. The nightmare she experienced felt so real and oddly familiar, as though she had been there before. After collecting herself, Carmen laid back down on her pillow and stared at the ceiling before falling asleep again.