21;9 A body, only a feast for the soul

The clashing of swords can be heard all through the manor gardens, the swords shred through the falling leaves of the chilly autumn air. Rayen and Neon clash in the middle garden as the leaves swirl around them from the impact of the clash.

“I’m surprised you’re already starting to keep up Rayen, for being here for almost half a year, it’s an unreal feat and especially from a child. Maybe you’re ready for the next level of training”, Neon says as her eyes glow a golden yellow. She instantly vanishes and reappears behind Rayen and grapples her from behind, restraining her wrists and preventing her from moving.

“You have to rely on your complexes in order to get yourself out of seemingly impossible situations”, Neon says as she tightens her grip on Rayen. She tries with all her might, trying to run forward but Neon’s grip doesn’t loosen up. Neon throws her onto the ground with massive force and points her dagger at Rayen’s neck, “Checkmate”, Neon says with a confident smile on her face before she gets up from her stance.

Rayen slowly gets back up as she brushes herself off, “Hey that’s not fair, how could I even fight you like that”, She frustratingly says to Neon. “Don’t be so foolish, I see the Complex in your other eye. You don’t need to pretend you don’t have it”, Neon says while drawing her sword towards her.

A rush of confusion flows over Rayen’s face as her hand brushes around her eye, “But I don’t know what you’re talking about. What do you mean by Complexes?!”, Rayen perplexingly asks Neon. Neon gets a wave of shock as she hears this from Rayen, “What you never knew?! Well I guess now is a better time if any to teach you about it”, Neon says to her as she resheaths her sword.

The ruined gardens of the dark castle are left to nature, left to grow out of control as the dense piles of autumn leaves pile around the dead flower beds. Nexie is focused on her training as she sparrs with Rodoxa, she easily blocks Nexie’s various punches as Nexie tries harder to break her guard. Sky is resting, lying down in a large pile of leaves as she stares into the midday sun.

“So what do you think of that Neon girl Nexie, the one protecting Rayen, seems like quite the pushover right? We should just go there and take her now, all this waiting is making me bored to deeeath!”, Sky says as she stretches out on the leaves.

Nexie drops her guard as she turns to face Sky, “Now you more than anyone should know that we can’t do that. If we tried to get anywhere close to her town Iris would easily take all of us out”, Nexie says before going back to her sparring, “Oh come on Nexie, you’re always afraid to do anything fun.”, Sky says as she leans against the wall of the castle. Almost instantly Nexie turns back to Sky with an annoyed glare on her face.

“How about you be my guest and you can come back and tell me how it went”, Nexie says before being swept away with tons of force by Rodoxa. The force of the swipe causes her to be flung across the castle garden before landing in the brush, “Maybe that does seem like a good idea. Since Nexie is so opposed to the idea we can just go ourselves and I’m sure hearing that we did all the work would go down very well in the report”, Rodoxa says while looking over to Nexie with disappointment, “You’re such a bitch Rodoxa”, Nexie blurts out while she brushes the leaves out of her hair.

In the blink of an eye Rodoxa appears in front of Nexie as her eyes glow a vibrant green, “I’m sorry, I’m a “what” now? Maybe it would be in your best interest to rephrase that rude mouth of yours, I tend to be very accident prone when someone decides to pinch my nerves”, Rodoxa says as she pulls Nexie’s chin up to force her eyes to meet her own.

Nexie gives Rodoxa a vengeful glare before she jerks her head away from Rodoxa’s grip, “Nevermind her Sky, let's have a day on the town, this little stick in the mud doesn’t need to join us”, Rodoxa says as she slowly walks away from Nexie.

Rayen’s face starts to glow with excitement from Neon’s explanation of her complexes, “ohhh so that’s what all that stuff was that I was doing?! That’s sooo cool! So if I just concentrate my energy into my left eye I should be able to…”, Rayen says as time begins to freeze around her.

She looks around as the falling leaves look as if they’re frozen like ice in the air, “It looks pretty cool right? I never get sick of seeing the world like this”, Neon says to Rayen, “Wha-wait?! How are you moving too?!”, Rayen quickly blurts out in shock.

“Oh yes, please excuse me. I never took the time to explain. Although you casted a spell to stop time, anyone who is equal to or stronger than the caster can also cast a spell to stop time to move within your frozen space. The Omega Complex can be the most useful tool in your arsenal, but it can also work against you just as easily”, Neon says as she waves her hand in the central fountain causing the water to pool up and freeze in the air.

She lifts a large scoop of water out of the fountain and holds it in front of her as it wiggles in the air from the stopped time, “However if they are more powerful than you…”, Neon says while she freezes Rayen in time, “If they are more powerful they can stop you in your tracks!”, she says while grabbing onto Rayen’s shoulder, “Checkmate, once again. You really need to keep your guard up”, Neon says as she looks into Rayen’s blank eyes. Suddenly Neon notices Rayen’s eyes darting around with slight movement, her hand sweeps over to Neon’s arm with lightning speed, “What?!” Neon shouts out before releasing a spatial burst with her other hand sending Rayen flying onto the grass behind her.

The both of them resume the time around them, Neon wipes the sweat from her brow as she takes deep breaths, “wooo, okay I think it’s time we take a break. The Omega Complex really wears me out any time I use it”, Neon says as she mists her face off at the fountain. Seemingly showing no signs of exhaustion at all Rayen jumps back to her feet, “So are there any other cool things you can teach me Neon?”, Rayen asks with excitement while she runs towards her. Neon slowly makes her way back up to her feet while she holds onto her forehead as if she’s in pain.

“No no, the training is dismissed for now. Go ahead and do whatever for a few hours or so”, Neon says while grunting through the pain as she goes inside the manor. Rayen’s face begins to brighten up even more after Neon closes the door, “Oh wow I can’t wait to see what I could learn next!”, She says as her excitement builds even more.

During the same time in the day Sky and Rodoxa are making their way to the town entrance from one of the many trading roads that spider out of the city, Sky freezes right outside of the transition to the high quality of the paved city bricks on the road.

“Now what’s the big problem Sky? Just move over into town, what’s wrong, Nexie got your tongue, haha!”, Rodoxa mutters as she continues forward. Slowly Sky follows her step by step, "Alright, if you say so Rodoxa", Sky says as she steps off the dirt trail onto the bricks. They flawlessly blend into the crowds of the dense city center as they weave through the various people, "Ah yes, let's go to the bar. It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve had a good drink”, Rodoxa says as she drags Sky into the bar. As soon as the bar door swings open the air is filled with the mixture of dozens of excited drunken voices and clanking glasses.

Rodoxa hops onto the empty stool next to the bar while Sky slowly sits onto the one next to her, “Welcome to the Troubles Past Bar ladies, what’s your pick of poison today?”, the burly bartender says while pouring out drinks for the other patrons. “Just give me the strongest thing you have”, Rodoxa quickly says as she leans forward onto the bar, “You sound like quite the daredevil little missy, and how about your little friend?”, he says while looking over to Sky.

She looks at him nervously with an unsure look on her face, “Umm you can just get me some beer, I don’t care what type”, Sky says quietly as she sits back with her arms crossed. The bottle on the shelf clink together as the bartender reaches for an old dusty bottle on the top shelf. He throws up a mug from below the shelf of drinks and pours it full of beer and slides it over to Sky before placing the other bottle down next to Rodoxa, “It’s been quite awhile since I used this old ale, just a few shots should be enough to knock a full grown man on his ass for hours. I’ll go a little easier on you though”, he says while pouring a small shot of the ale.

Before he can hand over the shot she swipes the bottle out of his hands and downs the whole thing within seconds, “Weak as always, I wish I could feel the effects of alcohol”, Rodoxa says before she hands off the empty bottle to the bartender. “I’m sorry, my friend tend to be a bit bullheaded”, Sky says while she takes a few small sips of her beer, “Alright, if you say you’re alright, I’m not gonna gonna say I didn’t warn you though”, he says as he walks back to the drinks behind the bar.

“Why did you have to act like that? We need to lay low or Iris will find us Rodoxa”, Sky nervously says to Rodoxa under her breath, “Oh please, do you really think I’m that stupid? She won’t attack us unless we actually hurt Xenon. You should know this with how long we’ve known her”, Rodoxa says while she leans forward on the bar.

Outside the ever crumbling abandoned town Negative lays on the hill of an open field, the beautiful mixture of golden yellow and crimson red colored leaves fill the trees around her, “So how’s it going today, mister voice in my head? You sure don’t seem to be quite as deadly as you once illusioned to be”, She says while she gazes upon the leaves blowing in the wind. “Just you wait and see, you will never see my takeover coming. One day you will lose sudden control over everything”, the voice in Negative’s head says to her.

“Wow, how scary. I’m just shaking with fear in my boots. How about you try something else more convincing that you haven’t told me at least ten thousand times”, Negative smugly says to the voice as she pulls herself up from the grass.

“Although I would have to call you my only friend right now. It’s not like there’s anyone else I’ve been able to talk to since god knows how much time has passed. Maybe you should tell me more about yourself, do you have any hobbies? What are your plans for the future, do you have a favorite food? Hell you’ve never even told me what your name is. For a being forever inside my conscience you sure don’t say much except your usual nagging”, Negative continues saying as she walks back to the abandoned town.

She leans up against the well in the center of the town, “Now tell me who you really are, I know you’re not actually made by Nexie”, Negative says to the voice inside her in a more serious tone, “It doesn’t matter who I am. In time you will have to worry about who you are”, the voice says to her in a menacing tone. “Well that doesn’t sound too bad because I’ll never let that happen in the first place, my little friend”, Negative says as she looks up to the sky.

Blue is sitting outside on the opposite side of the manor garden with Ali, he’s caught in a trancelike meditation as he tries to focus his power into an aura. A brisk wind blows through the air as he focuses his eyebrows scrunch up, suddenly he lets in a massive breath as he opens his eyes.

“Darn, I wish I could be as cool as Rayen is. She always looks so powerful all the time, I just wish I could be someone special”, Blue says to Ali while he falls forward supporting his body with his arms. He looks up to Ali with a clear feeling of anguish in his eyes, Her ears perk up as their eyes meet.

“Don’t worry about it Blue, you’re still so young. I’ve known Neon for quite a long time, and in fact I even owe her my life. Although that’s a story for another time. Speaking of time it’s getting late and chilly, we might as well call it for today”, Ali says as she helps Blue to his feet, their feet shuffle over the crunching leaves as they head into the warmth of the manor who’s grand hall is flanked with large roaring fireplaces on both sides of the room.

Ruby stacks on freshly cut logs onto the steady fires while kindling the fire with her own steady stream of flames, “It’s about time you two came back in, I was starting to think that the both of you were gonna camp out there. Anyways dinner should be ready any time now, Neon took the liberty to prepare it for you cause you were busy”, Ruby says to the pair over the soft crackling of the fireplaces, “Oh wow I was focusing on training for so long I didn’t realize how hungry I was”, Blue says with a bashful grin as he runs into the kitchen.

Rodoxa has spent her time at the bar downing every drink given to her without issue while Sky babies her single mug of beer, countless glasses sit piled in front of Rodoxa as she has shown no signs of being drunk, even after dozens of glasses of alcohol, “Alright, I guess it’s time to go I’m getting bored”, Rodoxa says as she jumps up from her stool.

“Wait just a minute! You have to pay your tab missy!”, the bartender yells across the room to the pair. Rodoxa takes a moment to eye out a single gold coin on a table. With quick finesse she slips her hand into her side pocket and rummages around for a moment, then out of nowhere her fist is field with dozens of shiny golden coins that have a flawless look to any real one.

She tosses all the coins in her hand onto the bar with many of them crashing onto the ground, “There that should be enough, do as you please with any extra. Let’s get going Sky, these places just bore me to death”, Rodoxa says with a dull straight face while walking out of the bar. The bartender stands dumbfounded and confused from the seemingly nice random gesture before scrambling to pick up all the coins scattered all over the ground.

The days seem to begin to flow by faster than before, the seemingly impossible hurdles of the beginning of training start to smooth out into easy daily drills for both Rayen and Blue. The days quickly spill into many months as they seem to flash by. From training in the heavy winter snow, into the brisk chilly mornings of spring, and slogging through the overwhelming heat of the summer sun.

Rayen bursts out of the manor door in the early morning of a beautiful summer day, the light of the sun resonates off of Rayen’s smooth glistening skin, “Blue come on we need to get going today, we’re late for training!”, Rayen shouts out while frantically warming up in the front garden.

Blue growly stumbles out of the doors, “Alright, alright. It feels like you never get worn out, you just get more full of energy each day”, Blue says as he sits down in the nearby grass as he cleans his sword. Suddenly Rayen excitedly zips over to Blue, “Well yeah, training is always really fun! The more time we don’t train in the day is the more time we can’t catch up!”, Rayen says while Blue gets back to his feet and sheaths his sword, “Well, I guess if you want a little warm up I can give it to you”, Blue says while he cracks his fingers as he does a few warm up stretches.

In the blink of an eye Rayen charges over to Blue, he just barely dodges her lightning fast punch while he counters with a spatial burst that launches her across the garden. Her eye glows yellow as she’s tumbling through the air and she instantly appears behind Blue smacking him right into the ground. The pair continue to exchange blows all across the garden and with one huge hit Blue is sent flying to the far side of the manor. He quickly pulls himself up as he hears Rayen closing in on him.

“Frost!!”, he shouts as he accidentally sends out a massive ice shard hurling towards Rayen. The chilly force of the large shard freezes the grass around it, and just before it reaches Rayen she charges up a large plasma shot to vaporize the ice right in its place, “ohh cool!”, Rayen shouts while standing at the edge of a burning crater.

Blue sits at the other end of the charred ground, “HEY! Watch where you aim that stuff! You nearly took my head off”, Blue yells from across the manor as he stumbles back to his feet, “Oh sorry, I just get excited sometimes”, Rayen nervously says while she dusts herself off.

The front doors of the manor creek open as Neon slumps out of the doorway in her nightgown, “What is going on out here you two? The sun has hardly even come up”, Neon says to the pair in a sleepy daze.

Rayen wipes the smeared dirt off her face while trying desperately to cover up her huge crater in the ground, “I swear that it was Blue who wanted to train so much, right, right? He for sure caused this kinda big crater too...”, She says with a bashful grin while walking towards the manor, “Hey don’t push the blame onto me! You were the one who pushed me right out of bed”, Blue shouts out while chasing after Rayen.

Neon gazes upon the two with an unappealing glare, “It doesn’t really matter who did it, I just can’t handle my house blowing up before I had breakfast. Now let’s go in, Ali should have breakfast made soon”, Neon says while Blue enters the manor with Rayen following closely behind him.

Before Rayen can make it past the door she feels a sudden shape laser cut her hair out of nowhere, her eyes instantly shift towards a shadowy figure in the distance. In an instant they’re right in front of the group.

“Negative?! But why now?”, Rayen says in shock as her eyes glow brightly. Negative stands in place emotionless, half of her face looks almost as if it’s burnt red by a strange blotch-like mark over her right eye, “There you are, I should have known you would have come back to this place. No matter, I think you would be better off with us than with them”, Negative says as Neon gazes at her in confusion, “Us, who- who is us?”, Rayen asks as she backs up into the manor while chills run through her body.