Left, right, left, left, right, left… He kept dodging the spatial rifts, replying in kind, constantly moving the invisible minefield in front of him, stopping her from getting closer. Sometimes, she would find a gap, getting close enough to graze him and he would snap her back, forcing their domains to clash in an aurora of colors.

And in some rare cases, she would pull him in, forcing him into a dance he would break out of. The crowds would cheer and gasp, but he could barely hear them. The arena was designed for this. A show of power, a demonstration of strength she organized to kill two birds with one stone. It was much bigger than the one they fought in previously. A perfect way for them to improve. A source of motivation and entertainment.

Seven days. Seven days of nonstop work, focus, and then this. She was changing things here, she was preparing for something. Ever since Valerie came she’d become more involved, less cooped up in her work, moving to change how Henosis operated, making it less… centralized. It meant less pressure on her, which was good in itself, but Slava didn’t like what it implied.

He’d carefully examined what Valerie had brought. A record of all of Expance's cloning reports. Most of the contents were censored, but some things could still be inferred. For instance, the progress of the experiments, their subsequent successes, and the eventual bottleneck. There was one thing that worried him though and that was the implied purpose of the program. The clones weren't those of normal people, they were clones of their people, clones of Awakened.

“You aren't focussed,” she suddenly said, removing her blade from his neck. He indeed wasn't, but she was also playing dumb because she could no doubt read him like a book. “But you aren't either,” he frowned, revealing a set of chains wrapped around her body. “Do you have something you want to say?” She vanished before his eyes, a strange circular object taking her place. Seeing this, his eyes widened and he pushed his hands forward. The object that was initially getting wider began shrinking at a rapid rate.

“I did, actually.” He swiftly caught her blade from behind. She was preparing, she wanted to know, to see for herself. “What are you doing?” At that moment, the world seemed to stop as he turned to face her. Their gazes locked, shocking the audience who watched with bated breath. To the naked eye, nothing was happening, but every awakened in the arena could witness the storm, of probabilities, cause, and effect. It was marvelous, awe-inspiring, and frightening.

“I'm training,” she finally said through gritted teeth, vanishing again. Slava could no longer track her. He scoured the familiar arena. It was a modern copy of the one she used to constantly simulate. It had vines permeating its walls, something Serena insisted on implementing.

“Don't bullshit me,” his voice thundered, reverberating with a shockwave that forced her out of her subspace. “Don't play dumb with me.” Rushing toward her, he unexpectedly smashed her into the ground. Sasha didn't react. She wasn't retaliating but he still couldn't move her. She was thinking… or hesitating? He didn't know.

“We came to an agreement,” she finally exclaimed, disappearing before his eyes. Before he could see where she went, he was grabbed from behind, a rift appearing in front of them. The world shifted, disorienting him and forcing him to close his eyes. When he reopened them, Slava found himself in a misty plain. One which was foreign, yet one which he recognized.

“You…” Sasha's voice echoed around him. Even though he could hear it, he knew it wasn't her. He could see her suit's hue through the fog. Two figures materialized from the haze.

“It's been a while, Alex…” Her smile was deadly, he could feel Sasha's emotions when she looked at it. From confusion to disbelief, shock, anger and then she familiarly disappeared. At the same time, he saw the figure beyond it also vanish. He smiled; this was new.

As she reappeared before him, her illusion did the same in front of the other ghastly form. Her blade stiffly slid past him. She couldn't move properly, her actions were hindered. She could freely move the space, yet it would always twist out of control when reaching him.

“Wait! Alex, listen to me!” they kept sweeping through the other two misty figures, their fights intertwining. Valerie… he thought, throwing Sasha onto the ground. She wore a pained expression, but he knew it wasn’t from the pain of her back hitting the floor. As cracks spread across it, he glanced at the illusion. Tears were dripping from under her blindfold. The past Sasha’s anger flooded into her actions. “You dare come back to me with this?” She slowly walked towards Valerie who was struggling to her feet. At the same time, Slava tumbled through her, smashing into the wall. “I feel insulted, is that why you betrayed me?” He got up just in time to avoid the flying scythe. “Pathetic.” Extending his arm, he tried to grab it, but as soon as he did, it vanished.

“You want to talk about betrayal?” He rushed back into the fog. “How about we talk about you betraying everything we stood for? The country, your beliefs, its people…” As they exchanged blows, Valerie seemed to be standing before Sasha. Mass… A series M exosuit, was it a new gamma series? In that brief moment of distraction, his opponent managed to kick him into another wall, shaking the entire ghostly arena. “Beliefs? What beliefs? Those of my uncle? Those of the country who hunt my people? Or maybe yours who are stained with naivety and the blood of my kin?” Slava couldn't concentrate and it was starting to piss him off. Another one of her stupid mind games.

“Please enlighten me, Val! From your oh-so-righteous pedestal,” she said, ripping a part of her suit off. Like a signal, those words made all present crack. The illusions broke down and they met in the center, creating a shockwave that fissured the space itself. Slava was irritated, but Sasha's reaction turned his anger into fury. She looked angrier than him. What was she playing at? They fed off each other, getting more brutal with each blow, each strike… the fissures worsening…. Until Sasha's weapon burst into a blinding light, stunning them both.

When Slava regained his sight, the cracks were healing and Sasha disturbingly stared at what he could only guess was Arissa. “No, you're right,” he finally heard her say. “I got carried away,” she snapped her fingers. What could be so important for her to step in? Did she just want to stop them from incurring more damage or…

“You’ve changed... What happened to you?” The scenery had shifted. In front of the hazy Sasha lay a bruised and battered Valerie. Her suit was almost unrecognizable, wearing an expression of genuine fear. As the present Sasha appeared next to him with renewed vigor, the illusion's stiff demeanor shook. At the pitiful sight of her former lover, she finally relaxed her shoulders.

“Leave now before I do something I might regret.” Valerie's eyes were flashing with pain, sorrow, helplessness… She was suffering visibly reliving memories she'd desperately tried to forget, but when she saw Sasha turn around, she desperately reached her hand out.

“No… wait, Sasha… please…” Sasha didn’t seem to care for her pleas, or maybe she forced herself not to care. “Wait!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, finally making her stop. “Let’s make a deal…” She struggled to her feet. “Haha… You… Do you really think you have something to offer me?” Slowly turning back, she approached her. Their faces almost touched, but Valerie didn't flinch.

A simple smile. A simple broken smile is all it took for a look of realization to flash across Sasha’s face. Slava knew that look and when his eyes and fist met hers, a flow of information flooded through. Scenes of endless reports, branded by Expance, the AITF… Some he could barely even understand. Visions of torture and pain, ecstasy in the eyes of the tormenters, a dimming light melding into numbing darkness.

“If I changed, you’ve become an entirely different person.” Sasha’s disgusted words brought him back as he retreated from his opponent’s assault. It moved on its own, his body was used to her movements, he didn’t even have to think anymore.

“Alright, I’ll help you find your brother, but….” It took her some time, but she eventually brought her hand up to her chin. “You'll have to show me where you’ve been and what you’ve found. Then I might consider it.” Not waiting for an answer she turned her back to her. The last thing Slava saw was an odd, almost unnatural, expression of relief wash over Valerie.

“No.” He punctually said, smashing Sasha into the wall so hard that the space finally shattered once and for all. The arena around them was filled with cracks and as the fog dissipated, the crowd gasped in awe. Sasha lay immobilized gritting her teeth as golden chains materialized around her body. Every time a part of her body began melding into its surroundings, the chains tightened, forcing it to regain its colors.

“Oh no you don’t. You might be quick but I’m quicker.” She tried again but to no avail. “The same trick won't work on me twice.” He pushed her further into the wall. Her expression was stone cold. This wouldn’t lead anywhere. “I’ll do it.” She froze and he released his grip. “Don’t be stupid.” He started to walk away, before turning his head. “Use your head.” He smiled, bringing his finger up to his temple.

His provocation triggered something in Sasha because she screamed and the restraints holding her down soon burst into purple rays of light. Slava simply smiled, calmly closing his eyes. “That’s more like it.” When he reopened them, he was met with her panting figure, cracks gradually vanishing from her skin. She’d broken his momentum. Feeling this, he planted the scythe he was now holding onto the ground. If only she could control it, her emotions would one day get the better of her. His expression grew grim as he passed through the gate of the Colosseum. He would have to make it quick.