Livid was a light way to describe the emotions of the fiery red-haired Jihyo staring down Nayeon and company, raging with her loud voice, “Who the hell do you think you just ran into?”

A raging …

Nayeon’s reaction to Jihyo would have been a hearty laughter if it hadn’t been for her surprising self-control. That certainly would have sent Jihyo over the edge. Park Jihyo, the self-proclaimed heaven-sent “savior” of Cliffside Academy, was well known for her reputation in town. Her father had donated almost a fortune to the academy to ensure his daughter received nothing but the best treatment. Jihyo didn’t really need any help though, since she was quite the formidable fighter. This wasn’t the first time Nayeon had run up against Jihyo, seeing as they had run into each other multiple times in the past.

Nayeon was ready to engage Jihyo in a little more than just a light conversation, only to have Mina quickly shoving herself into the conflict. Raising her hands to try to de-escalate the situation, she spoke softly, “Alright let’s calm down everyone, we don’t have to be rash about this.”

Jihyo quickly used her arm to muscle Mina out of the way, nearly tossing her to the ground before moving closer to Nayeon. Nayeon had seen this type of behavior before from Jihyo, so this came as no surprise that her body language came off as overly aggressive, something the two girls behind Jihyo were unfamiliar with as one of them interjected, “Jihyo… it’s okay I don’t think they meant to…”

Jihyo turned to her two companions, stamping her foot on the ground in frustration as she pointed at the tall girl shouting, “Quiet Tzuyu!”

Tzuyu shrunk back at Jihyo’s aggressive gesture, bowing in deference as she motioned at the shorter girl to back off. Redirecting her attention to Nayeon, Jihyo moved even closer, bringing her face within inches of Nayeon’s. The look on Jihyo’s face brought Nayeon back to the memories of their first meeting. Even then, Jihyo exuded the same cocky demeanor and aggressive tendencies as she did now, shouting out loud, “I’m not letting these amateurs get away with trying to injure us before the Rite!”

Nayeon could only scoff as it was Jeongyeon’s turn to step in to try and defuse the situation, walking forward to trying to separate the two. She spoke at a lower than usual volume, almost whispering, “Look, we didn’t mean t-”

Nayeon loudly interrupted before Jeongyeon could finish her thought, “Speak for yourself Jeong. You know what, I didn’t mean it when I first ran into you guys, but now that I realized it was you, I don’t feel sorry. And you pushed my friend over there.” Immediately focusing her stare back at Jihyo, Nayeon spoke at a low growl, “This has had it out for us since day one. I’m tired of you treating us and your own friends like this.”

Jihyo and Nayeon maintained the duel of gazes for what felt like hours, when in reality only thirty seconds had passed. Nayeon’s smirk settled into a neutral position, lightly chuckling before she looked up at her rival. It was uncommon for Jihyo to be found at any volume softer than a loud yell, outside of her being in a fury. Jihyo’s knuckles clenched white-hot at the silent challenge that Nayeon was sending her. She eventually let the words slowly slip out of , whispering, “Lets settle this then. A Duel. Three on three. Right here. Right now. We win, you’ll admit fault. You win, we leave here like nothing happened.”

Nayeon looked back at a smirking Jeongyeon, quickly taking a glance at her partner in crime before looking over at Mina. She quickly mouthed “trust me” to the red-haired girl, waiting for the slightly confused Mina to respond. Mina mouthed back, “I’m with you.”

Nayeon turned back to Jihyo, a cocky smile emerging as she yelled back, “You’re on.”

I’ve been waiting for this for years.

 

---

 

The trio stood in a circle, as they adjusted their robes before the fight began. Jeongyeon straightened her sleeves slightly as she looked at Nayeon, asking, “You’ve got a plan?”

Nayeon laughed as she readjusted her belt. She looked at Jeongyeon before responding, “Kick ? Beat Jihyo into submission? I don’t know really I didn’t think that far ahead.”

Jeongyeon could only shake her head at Nayeon’s impulsive decision making. She snapped, “And you call me the reckless one! You know very well this won’t be easy.”

Nayeon shrugged at Jeongyeon before shaking her arms out to loosen up her sleeves. Thinking out loud, she said, “I didn’t say it would be easy. Right Mina?”

Mina stood contemplating something, waiting a few moments before responding, “So, wait, why are we fighting them again?”

Nayeon and Jeongyeon responded almost simultaneously, “Pride. Glory. We’ll fill you in afterwards.”

The trio shared a quick laugh as their opponents began plans of their own.

 

---

 

Chaeyoung looked at her leader with a curious gaze. In the past year of training with Jihyo, this was the first time she’d seen her lose any semblance of composure. She quickly asked Jihyo, “Strategy? Do you want me to do anything specific?”

Jihyo was deep in thought, focused on the battle ahead as she responded curtly, “Chaeyoung. Just do your thing. I’ll hold off the two channelers with Tzuyu.”

Tzuyu nodded as she quickly ran through the possibilities in her head. She asked Jihyo, “What do you want me to use?”

Remaining in thought, Jihyo quickly motioned for the team to get into position as she whispered to Tzuyu, “Give me your strongest physical barriers. I’ll need them to block that firebrand. And remember, don’t show them any more than we need to.”

The three prepared themselves to fight a quick battle. Jihyo knew that they were stronger, faster and smarter than these orphaned kids. They were more prepared. They had to be.

 

---

 

“Same rules as two days from now. First group to have a knockout loses. Any attack that would count as a killing blow, counts as a loss. That’s neck, head or heart.”
 

“Don’t regret this. We don’t go easy on anyone. Even weak ones like you.”

 

Nayeon could only chuckle to herself as she reminisced to their first meeting. Jihyo had beaten both Nayeon and Jeongyeon in a two on one fight resoundingly, and she hadn’t forgotten. It was embarrassing to say the least, but this time the fight was a little more even.

She’ll regret saying that.

The citizens around East Square had cleared out upon their announcement of the duel. In a place with very few laws outside of “You shall not kill” or “Thievery is punished by exile”, duels were often the way to settle disputes without involving the local garrisons. Cliffside was one of few locations that had a joint garrison with the cities of Manavis and Vitus, boasting a fifty-man defense battalion.

Nayeon, Jeongyeon and Mina stood on one side of the nearly 180-foot square, dressed in their tattered prayer robes adorned with patchwork stitching. Though their outfits weren’t elegant in any way, the three girls wore their robes with pride, knowing that their work saved many kids from death. Their opponents in Jihyo, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu stood mirroring their stances, clothed in pure white uniforms. These uniforms were the pride of Cliffside Academy; with jackets with long flowing tails that reached to their knees and a form fitting dress that gave ample room for their legs to move nimbly, they were the perfect outfit for any form of combat. In the silence of the square, only the sounds of their own breaths bridging the space between them.

Jihyo looked over at her team, whispering, “On my count guys. Chaeyoung, you ready?”

Chaeyoung nodded, turning to Tzuyu and giving her a thumbs-up before looking forward. The three trained students mentally began to count down from ten all the way to zero before beginning their attack.

“Ready or not here I come!”

Cutting the tension short with her battle cry, Jeongyeon rocketed forward with a kick of her feet, closing the 80-foot gap between her and Chaeyoung in under 2 seconds. As she came within striking distance, Chaeyoung’s form flickered before reappearing 20 feet to Jeongyeon’s left. Jeongyeon had almost no time to react to Jihyo’s counter attack, blocking Jihyo’s newly channeled club with her right arm. She held her ground under the intense pressure of Jihyo’s strength, shouting back to her teammates, “Alright, I went in! If you could back me up I’d appreciate it right about now!”

Nayeon spared no time in quickly removing the concealed steel hilts at her hip from their holsters, channeling the aether through them to form two blunt-edged swords. She rushed forward to try and assist Jeongyeon, only to find herself face to face with Chaeyoung. The girl sported brown shoulder length hair more fitting to the pure white uniform in contrast to Jihyo’s longer red hair. A slight smirk in her eyes, she playfully gave Nayeon a light wave, trying to feel out her new opponent. Chaeyoung held an ornate hilt in her hand, likely a family heirloom or a custom-made piece that was slowly channeling into a curved dagger.

Not one to waste time on words, Nayeon quickly swung her sword at Chaeyoung, only to realize that she had vanished. Nayeon felt a shove from behind her, throwing her off balance onto the ground as she saw Chaeyoung appear midair; her dagger was ready to deliver a finishing blow to Nayeon’s chest.

Tall girl must be a Magus. Shoot!

Immediately as Chaeyoung disappeared, Mina quickly materialized five shards of ice before shooting them forward to intercept the attack. Chaeyoung’s head turned just in time to see the five shards flying towards her. The speed of the projectiles stopped Chaeyoung from finishing her attack on Nayeon, immediately turning her arms to block the incoming attack. She felt the ice collide with her body, sending her flying backwards. Tzuyu had barely managed to form a barrier blocking the brunt of Mina’s attack, all the while maintaining a barrier on Jihyo. She shouted over to Chaeyoung, “I can’t give you much more support for those so don’t get hit again! Jihyo needs the barrier more than you right now!”

The fight between Jihyo and Jeongyeon had intensified as they traded blows between Jeongyeon’s fists and Jihyo’s large club. Nayeon quickly used the opening to rush towards Jihyo, calling out to Mina, “Keep up the support! I’m going to help Jeong! You can keep Chaeyoung occupied even through her weird teleportation skill! It has a time delay!”

Nayeon shot forward into the air with a light push of aether through her foot, swords drawn as she leapt into Jeongyeon’s fight. Jeongyeon held her ground under the weight of Jihyo’s large club, pressing back harder as she saw Nayeon leap to attack Jihyo. Stopping her attack on Jeongyeon, Jihyo quickly readjusted her position to face Nayeon as the two orphans prepared themselves to strike. Jihyo rested her club on the ground, re-channeling the aether into the weapon and lengthening it ever so slightly as she taunted Nayeon and Jeongyeon, “Try it. You can’t beat me when I have a Magus in my back pocket.”

She’s a tank. Throw her off balance.

Swords ready for combat, Nayeon charged to close the roughly forty-foot gap between her and Jihyo. Jihyo prepared to defend against the attack; she shifted her body back and entered a combat stance with her club raised horizontally. What Jihyo wasn’t prepared for was Jeongyeon dashing towards her, sending three consecutive bursts of fire with her punches. The fire struck Jihyo directly, though the brunt of the damage was mitigated by Tzuyu’s barrier, sending her staggering backwards. Nayeon capitalized on her staggered foe, channeling a burst of aether into her feet as she leapt forward and kicked Jihyo’s club out of her hands. Landing a few feet away from Jihyo, Nayeon turned to face her disarmed opponent with a growing smirk on her face. With a laugh, she taunted Jihyo, “Let’s do this right. You and me right now. Send your back pocket to have those two duke it out.”

Jihyo let out a sigh, before pulling a second hilt from her belt and charging at Nayeon without a word. Her disarmed weapon had faded back into aether, or so Nayeon had thought. The hilt on the ground suddenly flew past Nayeon’s head, landing in Jihyo’s hand as the angered fighter channeled the two hilts into a pair of war hammers. Nayeon quickly reacted and engaged Jihyo with her swords swinging. Her swords quickly danced across the war hammers, barely deflecting the heavy blows that Jihyo began to deliver. Jihyo’s motions were almost rhythmic as the hammers swung at all different angles like a flurry of hail. Nayeon danced between attacks, blocking those that she could as she felt her own rhythm build up before back hopping twice to get out of Jihyo’s range. Dashing back in, she engaged in her own dance of attacks; her blade’s spinning strikes moved at speeds that resembled a storm of cherry blossom petals. Their battle trances were nearly identical in pace and style, though the two would never admit that they fought with nearly the same styles. Even amongst the chaos of the other fights occurring, the two couldn’t see anything beyond their desire to beat each other.

“Jeongyeon, I could use some help here! I think she’s planning to try and end this soon!”

Across the square, Mina had been quietly fending off Chaeyoung with a constant barrage of icicles. Chaeyoung’s ability to move faster than the eye could perceive didn’t faze Mina, as she had the rare ability to sense the motion of aether. She couldn’t see where the aether was moving, but she could feel it just enough to guide her to where Chaeyoung was moving. Chaeyoung’s offense had slowly turned to defense as she was barely dodging the icicles coming her way, re-channeling her dagger into a steel fan to better fend off the icicles she couldn’t dodge. She called out for Tzuyu, yelling, “I need two barriers in front of me sequentially two seconds apart!”

Tzuyu quickly turned her attention away from Nayeon and Jihyo’s skirmish, seeing that her abilities were of no use there as she yelled to Chaeyoung, “Got it! Go now!”

Chaeyoung quickly channeled the aether around her, using it to deceive the eye as she quickly dashed further than she had before. She hadn’t even begun to show the limits of her ability to avoid detection in this fight, closing the distance between herself and Mina to 20 feet before reappearing briefly. Chaeyoung had tunnel-visioned too hard on finishing the fight to notice that Mina’s calls for help hadn’t fallen on deaf ears, as a wave of fire suddenly scorched past Chaeyoung’s head. Turning her head away from the sudden scorching heat, the fire obscured Mina from view for just a moment, only for Jeongyeon to appear through the fires and quickly deliver a fiery strike to a surprised Chaeyoung. Though the blow was dampened by Tzuyu’s barriers, Chaeyoung still whistled through the air, landing just a few feet away from Nayeon and Jihyo’s fight.

Tzuyu quickly rushed over to assess her friend’s condition, feeling for breathing sounds. Chaeyoung lay still, in pain, but conscious. Tzuyu called out, “Stop! I think Chaeyoung’s down…”

Nayeon heard the call to stop, hopping back to disengage her fight with Jihyo, only to be blindsided by a kick to the chest. Tumbling backwards and thrown off balance, both of her weapons slipped out of her hands, landing far away from her. Nayeon rolled to a stop slightly dazed, feeling the hit in her head as what felt like cobwebs began to cloud her eyes.

“I’m not losing this fight. Not here, not now!”

Nayeon refocused her vision as she regained her composure, watching Jihyo drop her left war hammer and re-channel her remaining war hammer into the large club from before. Staggered from the blow, she had little time to react as Jihyo leapt forward with a vicious fervor to close the distance and bring her hammer down over Nayeon’s head.

I don’t have time to react.

Nayeon’s hilts had both landed behind Jihyo, and there was no way she could react in time to pick them up. Jeongyeon and Mina were both too far away to assist. What could she do? Time seemed to slow as she realized that even though her friends had won, she was about to lose this fight. Again.

I don’t want to lose this time.

The singular thought echoed once, before repeating in her mind like an anthem. It raged in her mind, reverberating through her body before the words morphed into her resolve.

I won’t lose this time.

Nayeon yelled out as she felt the aether in the air change with her surge of determination. She moved her hands above her head, feeling the aether move with her hands. The quick swipe of her hands created a large sheet of metal over her head, intercepting Jihyo’s attack. Jihyo looked shocked as she stepped back, whispering, “But… you’re… how did you do that? You’re just a channeler!”

“Cease!”

A familiar voice echoed through the square as everyone quickly turned to bow to the owner of the voice.

“Headmaster Ye-eun! Salute!”

Chaeyoung, Tzuyu and Jihyo all halted and turned to salute Ye-eun, clothed in a fully adorned officer’s garb, covered in tassels and decorum. She walked past the three Academy students before stopping in front of Nayeon. Ye-eun’s eyes trailed over Nayeon’s dusted form, observing her for a few seconds before she crouched down to meet Nayeon’s gaze.

“Was that your first time feeling the aether with more than your hands?”

Nayeon’s mind was still racing with the emotions of battle, as she barely remembered the feeling of conjuring that metal plate, coming up with just a short response, “I… think so. I was trained as a channeler, so I don’t know what that was.”

Ye-eun responded without hesitation, “You’re an arcanist. Like my student Chaeyoung. Sunye can train you more. Oh and please send her my regards. I’ll be collecting my students now, so thank you for providing them time to spar.”

Did… did that just happen?

Nayeon remained stunned by the Headmaster’s personal appearance. Though she never had a positive opinion of Cliffside Academy, everyone in town respected Headmaster Ye-eun. The fact that Ye-eun was here thanking her of all people gave Nayeon starry stunned eyes, not to mention the shocked Mina and Jeongyeon quietly observing in the background.

Giving Nayeon a slight bow, Ye-eun turned to leave, motioning for Tzuyu, Chaeyoung and Jihyo to leave. The three students quickly collected themselves and followed behind Ye-eun as she departed. As they walked through the streets, Jihyo began to raise her voice, saying, “Headmaster those three ran int-”

Ye-eun stopped in the middle of the road, turning to face Jihyo with a stern gaze. She interjected, “Jihyo, I watched that fight from beginning to end. You will have another chance to redeem yourself at the Rite. You would do well to learn some restraint Jihyo.”

Jihyo quieted down, feeling the indignance set in as she turned away from her headmaster in silence. Echoes of her childhood flooded back to memory. The way Nayeon laughed. The way she played with Jeongyeon.

She’s still better than me.

I hate her.

 

 

---

 

Sunye lay resting in the comfort of her personal sanctuary, basking in the glow of the crescent moon. The reflection of the moon on the koi pond lined up perfectly with her window tonight. There was just enough light to see that someone had walked through the sanctuary gate, piquing her interest enough to rise from her quarters, and enter the sanctuary garden. It was a quick realization who had arrived as she found herself in the embrace of an old friend. Returning the embrace with a smile, the two pulled apart before Sunye said, “Yen. It’s been far too long.”

Ye-eun looked back at Sunye, returning the smile as she chuckled, “I could say the same to you Sun.”

Pointing to the nearby stone benches, Sunye sat down reminiscing about the years that had gone by. The years had started to blend together since they had last spoken, but that didn’t matter. It was like no time had passed, even in the silence of the moonlit night. Starting off the conversation, Sunye quietly said, “So what brings you here today? It’s been forever since you’ve visited. Is it about our students and their little…”

Ye-eun quickly finished Sunye’s sentence, prompting a laugh from her friend as she quipped, “Clash? Yeah, I wanted to come congratulate you on their training. They’re a great group. I’ll be excited to see them match up against my own kids.”

The look on Sunye’s face was one of gratitude and amusement as she responded in kind, “Your students were no slouches either from what I hear. I think my students are still feeling their bruises.”

Ye-eun looked stoically off into the distance as she thought about her students. She was proud of them, yet they were still so lacking. Maybe she was being hard on them. It was hard to not see a little bit of her and Sunye in them though. She looked back at Sunye before mustering up a smile to say, “They’re raw. Much like yours are. But that’s why we’re trying to send them off aren’t we?”

Sunye felt a nagging feeling at as she thought back to the letter on her desk she had received two days ago. She changed the subject to the letter as she said, “Are we doing the right thing?”

Ye-eun looked confused, saying, “What do you mean?”

Sunye spoke with more urgency as she asked, “Did you not see the warning letter?”

Ye-eun sighed as she shook her head, responding with hesitation, “After five different warning letters in the past ten years, you’re gonna have to forgive me if for having trouble believing this one.”

Sunye knew about Ye-eun’s skepticism already. There was a reason they hadn’t spoken in quite a few years, but that didn’t stop her from pressing the issue, again adding some more emphasis to her words as she said, “I don’t know Yen. Something isn’t right this time. Haven’t you felt it in the air?”

Ye-eun looked at her friend’s eyes carefully. It was sometimes frightening how good Sunye was at reading her. That look always told Ye-eun that Sunye meant business. Averting her eyes from Sunye’s, she spoke softly, underscoring the fear in her voice, “I don’t want this one to be right.”

Sunye placed her hand on Ye-eun’s. Years of separation could create a distance between friends. All it took was one gesture to erase the scars of time and the wounds of words once said. Softly, she gave Ye-eun’s hand a light squeeze. Without words, Sunye asked Ye-eun with the lightest of gestures, “Look at me.”

Looking straight into Ye-eun’s eyes, she said, “I’m ready to face it if you are. Whatever it is.”

Ye-eun focused her mind on Sunye’s hands. She was always the strong one. Sunye had been the one to vouch for her to head the school. In her heart, she always wanted to believed that Sunye had picked wrong, and that she was relinquishing the responsibility of being a leader, when in reality Sunye never wanted that life. Looking back at her friend with worry still echoing deep in her words, she said, “I’m just not sure we’re enough.”

Sunye smiled, saying the words that Ye-eun needed to hear.

“It’ll be enough.”

 

---

A/N: So, updating for me is always a crapshoot. I'll be trying for 2-3 weeks at most, but since I'm still getting used to this writing thing, please bear with me as I get up and running!

 

No preview for this chapter, but I'll be likely uploading the first bit of lore for this story!