~ Chapter 26 ~

I growled as I came crashing down yet again, wondering if the training mat had my faceimprinted into it at this point.

My body was nearing its exhaustion point, my limbs feeling as if they were turning to lead, but I told myself I had to keep going—to soak up every bit of information and training that I could, because after today there would be no more time for it. My crash-coarse in surviving hadn’t been nearly long enough, but it would have to do in the days ahead.

I still didn’t know what to expect when we reached the Conscious’s headquarters—but I knew not to expect them to welcome me to train to defend myself against them.

“You’re overthinking it. You have to be decisive when you’re trying to throw someone off their guard.” Satsuya’s voice was quiet, instructive yet not overbearing, as Eve’s had become on a few occasions. “Actually, that stems to the Conscious as a whole. If you’re not decisive around them, they’ll eat you alive.” I shifted onto my side and sat up, groaning, certain I probably had at least a dozen gigantic, ugly bruises by now.

Satsuya stood before me, his expression pinched. Eve was off to the side, leaning against the wall, watching our progress (and probably laughing internally when it became obvious that I was nervous facing the other Uni, at least partially thanks to her earlier teasing).

I remained on the ground, hand held up for a moment of pause. “So, when you say...decisive, you mean...confident, right?” I took deep breaths between words, wondering how long I could honestly keep going, want to or not.

“I mean both.” Satsuya crossed his arms, head cocked as he considered me. “At the Conscious, recruits are taught to think quickly and act quickly. There’s no room for hesitation—in anything. So if you’re to be around them, you have to learn to do the same. Or at least try.” He shook his head. “I mean, you are trying, Ivy—and you’re doing well, really. It’s just that there’s so much to worry about.” He held his shoulders tense, rigid, carrying that invisible weight that only grew by the second.

I set my jaw, squaring my own shoulders. “I know that. I know I’m not going to be able to learn how to defend myself—or run away—in a few days. But I’d like to know more about the Uni at the Conscious. I might be able to think of ways to deflect them.”

Satsuya and the others had told me some about the Conscious, but mostly about its past, what it stood for. I thought of the Uni who appeared when the bar was attacked: the man with the ability to become a shadow, to move that shadow, to seemingly melt into the floor; the other man with the ‘mirror’ ability that allowed him to step into (and drag other things into) some sort of pocket dimension. These were things I had only heard about in comic books, things my grandmother would have said came from ‘sci-fi’ stories, whatever those were. If faced with those Uni again, I might be able to think of a way to escape based on what I knew about them, but what if it was a Uni whose ability I knew nothing about?

I wanted to say I would be useless in that situation, but I couldn’t forget that when the bar was attacked, I had rushed in to attack the shadow Uni, using my surroundings (a chair, in this case) to my advantage.

The attack hadn’t done much, but I had been able to make a snap decision then.

Why was it so hard now?

Because now I know I’m going into a den of lions, not defending myself against one lion I’m sure the heroes will subdue.

There were no heroes coming for the Conscious, obviously—or the terrifying organization would no longer exist. I would soon be surrounded by people who hated me, who wanted to do me harm. And though I was glad to have Satsuya and my other friends, I didn’t feel safe, per se.

All I could do now was arm myself with information, and hope I could use it to my advantage.

Satsuya’s expression darkened. “Unfortunately, I’ve been gone from the Conscious so long, I don’t know much about its current members. You, Eve?”

“Nope.” I turned to look at Eve, who sighed, her mouth transforming into a grim slash of frustration. “Being locked up for years means you don’t have much of a social life, you know? I saw a few random Uni on my way out, but none whose abilities I’m familiar with. The only thing I know for certain is that Wars is obviously still chief, and that clown Base is still running around. He used to visit me—until I gave him the worst black eye you’ve ever seen. I think Wars kept him away after that.” She snorted, rolling her eyes before she looked to the floor, as if pulled far away. “I’m positive Sparrow is still there, too.”

Sparrow—the Uni I had seen in Satsuya’s memories, who had called Wars out for his actions. For some reason, I couldn’t picture him clearly in my mind, nor could I hear his voice clearly. He existed somewhere in the vacuum of my thoughts, but I couldn’t grasp that piece of memory tightly enough. Whenever I thought of him, however, I received the distinct impression I knew him from somewhere...the same impression I had when I met Wars.

A shiver traveled up my spine as Satsuya said, “I doubt Base will mess with us—and it’s not like this kind of training will be useful against him anyway. Sparrow I’m not worried about. But Wars...” the sound of the name drew my attention back to Satsuya, whose brow knit, “the real danger is speaking with him. He’s physically powerful, certainly, but his chief ability is Command.”

A ‘chief ability’ hidden beneath physical power?

He sounded oddly like Satsuya, though I hated to compare them.

What was ‘Command’, though?

“Wars is aptly named,” Satsuya continued, shoulders sagging just a hint beneath the unseen weight he carried. “A ‘war’ is foreign to us now in all but concept, but I’m sure you’ve heard of the chain of command. It’s still used by the Law. Wars’s main power makes use of it, too. Basically, whenever someone swears loyalty to him, they forfeit the right to disobey his commands. Like an old soldier, if commands are disobeyed, the person performing the disobedience is marked a ‘traitor’, and they’re punished accordingly.”

I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat, overwhelmed by the idea of this power. I had always equated the strongest Uni with physical strength, with the ability to shoulder buildings or punch through walls, but here Satsuya was telling me that ability was nothing compared to the power to bend someone’s will.

“So...as long as I don’t swear loyalty, I’m f-fine, right?” Nervous laughter left my lips, because of course I would never do something as stupid as swear loyalty to Wars. Not even a chatterbox like me was that stupid.

“Not exactly, Ivy.” It was Eve who spoke next, voice quieter than I had ever heard it. She came over, crouching to my level, her expression serious. “Wars’s power of Command is strong. Anything you say yes to, anything you agree to, will give him some sort of power over you. That’s why Soul said not to speak to him.”

Great—talking.

My biggest weakness.

How was I, the girl who spat out words without meaning to, supposed to keep myself from talking to a Uni whose main power was using your words against you?

Maybe I would be lucky, and the sight of him would render me speechless, so I couldn’t make some foolish mistake.

That sounded like a lot to ask for, though...

Wait a minute!

“Does—does that mean you’re under his command, Satsuya?” My mind reeled, and I was on my feet before I knew it, forced into standing by the racing of my pulse.

If that was the case, then—

Then we were all doomed, weren’t we?

“No. No, I’m not.” Satsuya held out a hand to steady me as I wobbled in relief. “Do you think he would have demanded I make a decision if I was? Wars’s power...well...like everything else, it has no effect on me...” He didn’t look at me when he said it, but I sensed no joy in those words, no relief, even though relief should have been there.

Right.

You can’t die.

There really is nothing that can harm you, is there?

The thought tugged at me, a sharp pull of profound sadness, even if, in this instance, it was a good thing. I hadn’t talked to Satsuya about his most terrifying ability, not sure how you broached the subject of someone’s unwanted immortality, though I would surely ask him about it eventually.

“I can’t say the same as Soul when it comes to Wars.” Eve, too, stood to her feet, brushing her many braids over her shoulder. “Everyone swears allegiance when they join the Conscious—including me. And it never goes away. I’m still under his Command.” She placed her hands on her hips, head cocked haughtily. “But I don’t care. Let him torture me. My brother is already gone. There’s nothing else he can take from me.” The shine in her eyes said she was fearful this wasn’t true, but I didn’t want to shake her confidence.

Still, it terrified me, knowing Wars could hurt her so easily.

There had to be a way to nullify that Command, to break it.

I wondered if I could find it while I was at Conscious headquarters...?

Wait—no, Ivy, are you insane? That’s asking for trouble.

But what else could I do? I wasn’t a Uni, so it wasn’t as if I would be helping Satsuya, and I could only write so much at one time. Maybe being a Typpe would have its advantages. Maybe they wouldn’t expect much from me, and that would allow me to slip into places undetected—like in so many stories where the maid or the poor villager saved the day, simply because no one thought they had the power to change anything.

If it meant I could find some way to save Eve—and maybe other Conscious members who had regrets, but no choice to act on them—then it would be worth a bit of danger, wouldn’t it?

I could use my environment and my status as Typpe to throw my aggressors off guard, just like Satsuya and Eve were trying to teach me to do. Just as I had done back in the bar.

“Ivy.”

My name barely had time to register before I was forced back, center of gravity thrown off as Satsuya shoved me. He lunged forward, arm sweeping out—

—and I caught myself, weight shifting from one leg to the other to propel me towards him. I ducked, hands raised, touching the bottom of his sweeping arm just enough to force it upwards as I passed underneath and on to my escape.

I ran to the doorway before I turned back to find both Satsuya and Eve beaming at me (well, one was grinning, and the other looked proud, but you know what I mean).

“That’s decisiveness, Ivy.” Satsuya said, following me to the door, where he patted my arm in a gesture of praise.

Behind him, Eve waggled her eyebrows at the display, completely ruining it and stealing my ability to say ‘thanks’.

I had a feeling Satsuya was aware of my unspoken word, though.

Just as I was aware that ‘decisiveness’ would come with ‘courage’ and ‘confidence’ and all manner of other things—and that I was ready for it.

I was on the road to becoming a new Ivy.