February 17th, 2485 - Frontier Space, a Nameless Planetoid - Training Room 3

Clerica ducked. She rolled between Dei’s legs, stood, spun on her heel and slammed a roundhouse kick into Dei’s kidney. Dei gasped, tried to turn, and was met with a fist to the throat. Choking, Dei collapsed to the ground, her eyes closing. The red strings snapped, one by one. The crowd booed.

‘Damn it! She’s floored—I can’t move her body at all!’

Scriptura’s voice echoed around the illusion—there was no sign of them anywhere, from the blue sandstone pillars to the lavish bedroom with its cyan décor, to the blue sands beyond the balcony—the duo of Scriptura and Salvatia were utterly invisible. Clerica stood, in the centre of the balcony, and pushed her long black hair out of her eyes. The sunlight hit her eyes, reflecting and refracting light like diamonds imbued with the qualities of pure fury.

‘Think you can enter the story and finish her off?’ Salvatia’s voice echoed.

‘I’m ranked seventh in close-quarters combat effectiveness’, Scriptura replied. ‘You thank I stand a chance against Clerica, a rank two?’

‘Well I’m rank one!’ Salvatia cackled. ‘Just hold her in place and I’ll beat her to a pulp!’

‘Sounds like a plan’, Scriptura replied.

‘There’s just one small issue with that’, Clerica interrupted.

‘What’s that?’ Salvatia giggled. ‘Are you planning to swing wildly at us with that ungainly Mystik Art? You can’t use what you can’t control.’

‘I couldn’t have said it better myself’, Clerica growled. ‘You’ve lost control of your play’s key players!’

‘Now!’ Dei cried, from where she lay, sprawled out on the floor.

Clerica jumped.

‘Shock them, Mjölnir!’ Dei growled.

A wave of lightning, perfectly circular, spread out from Dei’s right hand, which lay limp and unmoving on the ground, and rippled across the balcony. The illusion warped, waved and shattered, a million pieces of glass in which images of domed buildings and high towers could be seen, spilled out across the floor of training room 3. They were back in reality. Clerica landed. Smoke rose from the ground, and for a moment, her vision was obscured—then, slowly, it began to clear. The referee was very slim, wore large glasses and had a mop of orange hair on her head. She coughed, and announced, ‘Sisters Dei and Scriptura are eliminated!’ Dei lay sprawled out on the floor, unconscious, a smile on her lips, while Scriptura lay on her back, her body stiff, occasionally convulsing involuntarily. The sound of slow, dry clapping filled Clerica’s ears, as the smoke from Dei’s attack cleared.

‘Very clever!’ Sister Salvatia drawled, as she dropped her hands at her sides. ‘So Dei didn’t need to be able to move her body to use her Mystik Art? I would never have guessed she was so advanced!’

‘Scriptura’s ‘Gleipnir’ can cut off a person’s ability to draw out their Mystik Art—so, as soon as Scriptura’s talons were out of Dei, even if Dei was on the verge of passing out and incapable of moving, all she needed to do was activate her Mystik Art to take you down’, Clerica replied.

‘You managed to break my concentration, and my illusion—yet I’m still standing.’

‘You have the number one score for reflexes as well as close-quarters combat, so I’m not surprised.’

‘Hey, ref’!’ Salvatia called. ‘That ditsy girl—what was her name … Grace—she helped Clerica figure out my Mystik Art! That’s cheating, right? Don’t I win by default?’

‘She did not directly aid in the battle, as far as I’m concerned, so no, I’ll let it slide’, the referee replied with a shrug.

‘I did say to use everything at your disposal’, the Holy Mother said. ‘I also reminded you that your Sisters are your allies.’

Salvatia gritted her teeth, her brows furrowing and a nasty expression forming on her face. Then, her eyebrows raised, and a sickening smile spread across her lips.

‘How does this end, Clerica?’ she giggled. ‘I think we both know why you haven’t used your Mystk Art yet: you can’t control it one bit!’

Clerica glared at Salvatia, but said nothing. She was right … the last few days of practice hadn’t been completely fruitless, but Clerica’s control over her Mystik Art was tenuous at best.

‘You’re worried that you’ll kill me by accident, aren’t you?!’ Salvatia cackled. ‘So I win! I’m faster, and stronger than you! Either you bring out your trump card and risk murdering me, or I knock you out of the ring right here and now!’

‘I’m picking the first option’, Clerica replied, calmly.

‘What?’

‘Dei’s sacrifice—I won’t let it be in vain. Your death is worth the risk.’

Clerica stepped towards Salvatia, and the short woman took a step back, eyes wide with concern.

‘You aren’t serious—’

‘—I took every punch Dei threw at me, and I had to crush her like a bug so we could win’, Clerica snarled. ‘If that’s what I’m willing to do to my friends, what do you think I could do to my enemies?’

Salvatia took another step back, shaking her head faintly, as Clerica took a step forwards.

‘You’re bluffing.’

‘You wish.’

Clerica took in a deep breath, stood upright and clenched both of her fists tightly, glaring at Salvatia with murderous intent.

‘Crush her, Hanno!’ she called.

A low growl echoed around the arena, and a rush of fiery red light erupted from behind Clerica. A gorilla, its body a shimmering mass of molten crimson, slammed it’s fists into the ground behind it’s raven-haired master.

‘Test me, Salvatia … I dare you…!’ Clerica growled, and the gorilla threw back its head, beat it’s chest with its enormous arms and let out a horrifying howl.

‘W—why…?!’ Salvaita gasped, beginning to hyperventilate.

‘I’ve found my purpose’, Clerica replied.

Salvatia swallowed, closed her eyes, then turned to the referee and at the top of her lungs yelled, ‘I give! I give!’

The referee nodded, adjusting her glasses so they wouldn’t fall.

‘I acknowledge that, but the outcome will depend on whether Sister Clerica can call back her Mystik Art before it kills you’, she replied, calmly.

Clerica was losing control. She could feel it. The gorilla clawed at the ground, eyes latched onto Salvatia, who was whimpering and backing away slowly.

‘Clerica!’ Grace called, immediately grabbing her friend’s attention. ‘Remember our promise! This is your power, not anyone else’s!’

Clerica grimaced, growled, and then roared, and as she did, the gorilla began to shrink, red Mystik energy spilling from the beast, like water from a punctured cup, until it disintegrated into nothing. Clerica fell back on her haunches, exhausted. She offered a weak smile to Grace. She hadn’t learned to control the beast just yet, but she could call it back, at least. Grace beamed a wide smile back at her.

‘Team Clerica and Dei is victorious!’ the referee called, as the crowd roared with excitement.

July 5th, 2486 - Frontier Space, a Nameless Planetoid – Chapel

Time passed, and the bond between the three girls grew stronger, until that fated day arrived—when Clerica was required to fulfil her duties to Ulgara: her mission was to capture the Princess Abiona Var Oostabar Gan Kuji the third, and failure was not an option … yet fail she did, on the winding streets of Ravens’ Crater on the planet Bungirba, and so the young woman would have to return empty handed…

*

‘Sister Clerica, you have failed in your mission. There can be no greater shame.’

Clerica bowed her head. It wasn’t out of choice; she simply couldn’t raise her eyes from the ground. The invisible pressure on her back was too great. Her large eyes of aquamarine watered, the dam holding back her tears threatening to burst at any moment. The Holy Mother stood before her, looking down at her with fiery brown eyes. All of the sisters were gathered there, in the great chapel. Clerica knew that some revelled in her despair.

‘We are each given but one purpose in life, by the divine, all knowing Ulgara’, the Holy Mother continued. ‘Each has our part to play in this cosmic journey … and you have failed yours. If this too is the will of Ulgara, then so be it. You are to be stripped of your robe, and confined to your room for three years, no less. I will convene with Ulgara … a successor must be chosen, and the child of Finlay Var Oostabar Gan Kuji must be rediscovered. Remove your robe, and be gone from my sight.’

Clerica struggled to her feet, her eyes still glued to the cold stone floor. Slowly, her hands numb, she placed them on her shoulders, and slipped the robe from her body.

*

She wore white, and sat in the darkness of her room, on the stone slab that was her bed. She stared at the door, and tried hard to think of anything other than the solitary three years that awaited her … and what would become of her when those three years were up. She had failed in the purpose given to her by Ulgara.

‘Clerica!’

The voice came from beyond the door. It was high pitched, a whisper in intention alone. The door creaked open, just a crack. Wide grey eyes blinked through the crack, and above them, one eye of green and another of blue stared in.

‘We had some leftovers… I was too full to finish it, and even though you’re only allowed two meals a day, we didn’t want it to go to waste’, Grace said.

‘Does the Holy Mother know you’re here?’ Clerica asked in a shaky voice.

‘Just take the damn bread’, Dei replied.

The bread was cold and would normally have been unappetising. To Clerica, it was the best meal she had ever had. She had failed in her purpose to Ulgara … but she would remain true to herself, and the purpose which she had found of herself.