Chapter 6: The Moon Comes Out of the Shadows.

  "Any luck over there, princess?" Kendall said through the group phone call he was in with Taiyo and Lyra.

  "She's not here... And stop calling me princess!" Lyra replied. "What about you Taiyo?"

  "Nope. That obnoxious fox is slyer than I could have imagined..." he said through gritted teeth.

  "What about Fiamma? Did she find anything?" Kendall asked.

  "Hold on let me ask..." Taiyo closed his eyes and focused his power on Fiamma's consciousness, reaching into the depths of her mind. 'Hey Fia, did you find her yet?'

  'From what you've told me about her appearance, she is as sneaky as her mask looks. Tch, dumb fox making my job harder. The second I see her, I'll incinerate her and her annoying ice,' Fiamma's voice sounded through Tai's mind as almost a growl.

  'Couldn't have said it better myself.'

  "Fiamma hasn't found her either," Taiyo spoke out loud to Lyra and Kendall. "What a nuisance. Why isn't she around when I actually want to see her?"

  "Well, let's keep looking then. We can't give up yet," Kendall yawned.

  "No, we don't have time for that. Tomorrow is Monday and that means we'll have to try again on the weekend. My mom would kill me if I wasn't paying attention at school," Lyra said.

  "Why do parents and schools have to complicate things so much..." Taiyo groaned. He punched the brick wall next to him as hard as he could. Even though he and Fiamma were extremely far away from each other, they simultaneously winced in pain. Bystanders stared at both of them as they both cursed out loud.

  'What the heck was that Tai?! You know I feel the same pain you do!' she said in a hushed tone in her mind.

  'Yeah yeah, whatever that's my bad. Don't overreact.'

  'God, you're getting on my nerves.'

  'Let's head back home, Lyra and Kendall have already tapped out for the day anyway.'

  'Alright then.'

  "I'll see you guys at school tomorrow then. Hopefully, she just shows up when we're there," Taiyo said as he headed back to his apartment.

  "See you, bro!" Kendall said.

  "Okay, then Tai. See you tomorrow. If you try to do anything indecent with Fiamma I'll discipline you myself! A man should never try anything with a la-"

  Taiyo hung up on Lyra and laughed. "Like I would do anything. Relationships are just a pain and a lot of unwanted effort."

  "You know I'm right here right?" Fiamma said as she appeared next to him in a torrent of fire. "What if I actually wanted to... you know..."

  "Yeah right, get real. You aren’t sly, I know you feel the same. And just say the word date."

  "Let a girl be coy, jerk. Lyra taught me the way human girls act and it's incredibly hard to grasp. I see now that it has no effect on you. I should've known since I also find it quite dumb."

  "See this is why those two are bad influences. You're like the version of me if I had never been exposed to the world."

  "Okay, whatever. Can we just go inside now? I see you’ve already headed home earlier than all of us. We've been talking at this door for no reason."

  "No, I was in charge of patrolling the apartment complex just in case she showed up. But yeah, let's go inside."

  Taiyo went to open the door and noticed it was unlocked. Not thinking much of it he pulled the door open and with a loud creak resounding through the hallway, the woman they were looking for was standing right in front of them,bathed in the . She had on the same fox spirit mask from before but this time she wore a tight black dress instead of her cloak.

  "Hellooo" she sang, leaning on her sheathed katana like a cane. He couldn’t see her face but he could tell the massive grin she had just from her tone of voice. “Missed me?”

  "Nice patrolling, idiot," Fiamma frowned, turning her head towards the young man.

  A burst of flames exploded from where Taiyo and Fiamma stood. The raging torrent swirled around them both in an instant. Smoke swirled into the air making the air impossible to see through. With a flash of light, in an instant, Tai was standing right in front of the masked woman with his clawed and outstretched hands wrapped in white fire aimed steadily inches from her throat. Taiyo's eyes had become just like Fiamma's with his white irises staring deep into her entire being while his black sclera reflected all other light besides his own. He had an insane look in his eyes but his face was strangely calm. He let out a breath and steam released from his mouth as he sighed.

  "Any sudden movement and I'll kill you where you stand," he said. His voice sounded distorted as if there was a filter that it had to fight through to reach anyone else’s ears.

  A high-pitched bell rang out in the silence and right as he blinked she was now standing on the sofa across the room from him, out of his reach.

  "I knew it wouldn't be that easy... So troublesome," Taiyo sighed.

  "If you can land one hit on me I'll answer just one of your questions. How does that sound?"

  "You'll regret that deal, you know. Do you wanna change it before you get hurt?" Taiyo asked.

  "I'm happy that you're worrying for me," The lady took off her mask and smiled. Tai couldn't help but notice how pretty she was with her long obsidian black hair and sharp eagle-like eyes of the same color.

  "You remind me of a big sister for some reason. Weird," Tai said.

  The woman's face immediately saddened at his words. She let out a small chuckle as she looked up, her eyes glossy with tears.

  "You have no idea how happy that makes me... Shame you don't remember anything..."

  Tai disappeared where he stood. The room became dead silent as smoke swirled around chaotically. The woman's eyes widened as she gasped. She leapt back at the last second right before Taiyo's fist came crashing down on the very place she stood just a moment ago. A pillar of fire erupted where he landed and scorched the ceiling above, completely shattering and incinerating the couch in the process.

  "He's fast..."

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Taiyo disappeared again and reappeared right in front of her before she even got the chance to land from her last jump. He thrust his fist at her face but she managed to twist her body midair and did a spin kick that sent Taiyo straight upwards. Hidden steel wires erupted from all around the room. Each had different things attached to them from chairs to full-on knives. Using the momentum of her spin she thrust her arm upwards and dragged everything up towards Tai.

  The wires caught on fire with everything they were attached to and fell down to the ground in smoldering heaps of rubble. Taiyo had his shoes welded to the ceiling where he stood upside-down with his arms hanging down towards the ground as Selene knelt down. An unknown fury boiled up within the woman as she saw his position. It was suddenly like a switch had flipped within her for a moment and it took all of her willpower to subdue her rage so quickly.

  "You're a swift one. Too bad I've got you cornered," Taiyo said.

  "I wouldn't say that Master Tai. Something's off about all of this..." Fiamma said, her voice coming out of every single one of the flames around him.

  "What do you mean? We're so much stronger. We've even got her on the defensive."

  "No. The dumb fox is toying with us. She hasn't drawn her sword this entire fight. And the only magic she used was her stupid bell to reposition herself." Fiamma growled.

  Tai’s eyes opened wide as he turned his attention back to her. Looking at the woman’s waist, he realized it was true. Her sword still sat neatly in its sheath. He turned his head back and groaned. "Ugh. Do you know how much effort it's going to take to fight you now? I'll obliterate you if you don't take this seriously."

  "My my. You've become quite lazy over the years," she laughed. "Where's the fun in a fight if you show your trump card at the beginning of the fight?"

  "I'm not lazy. I'm actually just quite motivated to do nothing," Taiyo said. "And don't act like you know me."

  "Preach," Fiamma agreed.

  The woman laughed. "You really are the best! Entertain me some more, Sun!"

  It all happened in less than a second of real time. She drew her sword the sound of the metal leaving the sheathe ringing out, her gorgeous obsidian hair turned a phantom shade of white, multiple bells rang in quick succession, and she finally disappeared. The smoke in the room immediately parted and dissipated as she moved around at high speeds.

  A beautiful white flash of light cut through the air. Taiyo melted off his shoes and fell to the floor to avoid the slash yet the blade still grazed his leg.

  “She’s too fast to react!” he shouted out. “Fiamma!”

  “Right!” Fierce fire burned around him as if trying to shield him, his own reaction speed was so slow so he had to rely on the inhuman abilities of his partner.

  His eyes darted around the room to find where she had reappeared to find her taking a low sword stance. The area around her was sparkling white with an eerie fog surrounding her.

  "T-That stance..." Taiyo mumbled.

  "Sixth Stance: Tears of the Blood Moon."

  Taiyo clutched his heart and gasped as he fell onto one knee. He was sweating bullets as he panted heavily. His head throbbed furiously as disjointed images cascaded through his mind.

  "TAI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET UP!" Fiamma yelled at the top of her lungs. The fire around the room lunged at the woman, trying its best to attack her like some kind of wild animal lunging on its prey, yet the haze around her immediately destroyed all attempts the moment the fire came into contact with the mist.

  "I-I can't..." he said winded.

  "She hasn't done anything yet! Just move!"

  Fiamma took control and shot flames from under Tai's feet, sending him high into the air as he just avoided the slash of the sharp blade.

  "Do something idiot! Or w-we'll die!" Fiamma's voice shook.

  "Leave me alone! I'm trying my best!" Taiyo yelled back.

  "Then try harder! I want to live!"

  "AND YOU THINK I DON'T WANT TO LIVE?!"

  "IF YOU WANT TO LIVE THEN DON'T BE AN IDIOT AND MOVE!"

  Tai's form blurred as his speed increased even faster than before. His fire spiraled around him in a beautiful white heat. He bounced off the walls as he didn't show any signs of slowing down.

  "Sorry about that. I don't know why but when I saw her do that weird stance it just unlocked a memory I didn't know I had..."

  "Don't apologize. That isn't like you."

  "How would you know?"

  "Because I wouldn't have apologized."

  Taiyo seared the walls as he ricocheted around the small apartment. He focused all of his fire into one fist, deciding he would end it right then in there with one decisive blow. He thrust his fist with all of his force as the woman slowly raised her sword to parry the blow. Taiyo smiled as he dispersed all of the flames he gathered on his fist. He proceeded to feint the blow and did a spin move to position himself behind her. He recollected the scattered flames on his other hand and jabbed with full force into her back. She was sent flying but stopped all of her momentum by stabbing her katana into the wall. Taiyo fell over and would have nearly collapsed and passed out if Fiamma hadn't caught him, rematerializing in an instant.

  "That's one hit, moon freak," Taiyo grinned while panting. Fiamma laughed and slung Taiyo’s arm over her shoulders.

  "We sure got you, fox. Now answer one of our questions," Fiamma breathed heavily. Her eyes were hazy and unfocused as if she was looking straight through the fox woman. She struggled to even stand.

  "You guys are pretty bold for people who I can kill in a second," she laughed.

  "Yeah, but you don't seem like a coward and you look like a woman of your word, so I'm not worried," Taiyo said as he clutched his chest and Fiamma winced as he did. Her eyes momentarily rolled back into her head for a second until she suddenly snapped back to the present moment. They couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason, but it seemed their connection had only grown stronger as they both felt the pain in a new form of waves.

  "Haha fair enough. Okay, hit me. What's your one question?" She asked. "Do you need time to think about it?"

  "No, I already got it. What is magic? How does it work and how many more people out there have magic that's like Fiamma?"

  "That's three questions."

  "They all fall under one category so they're basically one question," Fiamma said.

  "You guys are really pushing it. But, I'll answer because I like your attitude."

  Fiamma and Taiyo both helped each other over to the wall where they leaned against it and sat down. They were both exhausted and were having problems just breathing and staying conscious as they panted, trying their best to catch their breath.

  "Woah there you two gotta breathe. I can't tell information to corpses now can I?" the woman smiled.

  "Crack... another...joke...and I'll... melt you..." Fiamma coughed out blood. The after-effects of the battle were just starting to set in on her and Tai.

  "I'll make it quick cause you guys might drop dead on me." she started laughing again. "Any way you wanted to know about magic right? Well, there's a lot I can tell you but let's give the short version okay? Firstly, magic users in this world are called Chikarai, individuals who are born with their own one-of-a-kind ability. They are able to draw on the energy present in them known as mana that replenishes the more rest the user gets. A person's magic will always be different from other Chikarai. While Chikarai may have similarities, no two people have identical magic but spells can be imitated and revised. Say I cloak my sword in a layer of jagged ice and attack with that. That move can't be done by anyone else exactly but you can always come around and cloak a sword in fire. We are using different magic but you copied the spell itself if that makes sense. And finally, your question about if anyone else has similar magic to you when it comes to creating entire personalities and people like you did with your fire magic is a big no. No one else has been recorded to have magic that has a mind and form of its own."

  The lady bent down and got face-to-face with her. She moved the messy strands of hair out of Fiamma's face as she struggled to stay awake yet trying her best to avoid eye-contact. The fox stared deep into her eyes.

  "I'm sure our scientist would love to study your fire. We've never seen anything like this before..."

  "I have a name you know," Fiamma spat at the woman's face but it froze before it even got the chance to touch her.

  "You're cute. Everyone would love you," she smiled.

  "And I'd probably hate all of them."

  "Wait personalities? Plural? Are you saying I could create more people?" Taiyo asked.

  "In theory. I'm not like our head scientist but by going off of the basic rules of the Chikarai and magic, you could have an infinite amount of personalities and people in you if you had an insane amount of mana control and an equally high mana capacity."

  "That's very interesting..."

  Fiamma turned her head to Taiyo, her breathing worsening. Having to take control of him did a number on her. She whispered something yet it was incoherent as Tai’s ears rang violently and Fiamma slurred her words. She violently shook and heaved before her eyes rolled into her head as her body went limp in his arms.

  “That’s not good.” The Fox shook her head.

  “Fia?! You moron that’s not funny! Wake up!”