Book 16-6.2: Rumble

"Oh, wait! You're Lilibeth Lawson! The Mira-hi girl!" Lance Hiller said, smacking his fist on his palm. "You're auditioning for The Last Warrior?"

Yuriko nodded absently while her Anima perception spread out to cover them. The man Lance was speaking with looked awestruck at her, and his eyes were practically stripping her clothes off. Not that she could blame him for the impulse considering she was dressed rather provocatively, and especially since it was a conscious choice and the expected result. Her Mien could latch more easily to observers when they were beset with lust, and the more threads, the faster she could accumulate Quintessence and Ambrosia. 

A quick analysis of his body language told her that he really wasn't lying and the only reason he recognised her was because of the commercial she'd been featured heavily in. How could he forget her? He told her that he knew of her real identity since she had unexpectedly exposed her power the first day she arrived here. That wasn't the sort of thing to forget, especially since it's only been a Season. 

And what of Soundwave and Lightfoot? Did they forget her, too? That couldn't be natural, and she abruptly recalled that she submitted something to the Protectorate, which, now that she knew better, was basically the government branch of the Altered Human military. Their mandate was posted on a site in the Network and there was nothing stopping the Astorian Republic from using Protectorate members in acts of war, either against external threats or even from within. Their rules were rather stringent and if not for the fact that Yuriko didn't care about Astorian laws, she'd be more leery of interacting with them. 

'I wonder if there's some kind of Altered power that enforced contracts,' she thought idly. Anything of the sort would require allowing her Anima to accept the bindings, otherwise, it would have to overpower her defences. She was sure she'd detect anything of the sort, and was quite confident with fighting it off, especially since both of her selves would be able to contribute to that struggle. Still, Damien's memories warned of such things, especially of inadvertently allowing influence of that sort inside her without contest. It was harder to root things out of her Anima than to repel them in the first place. 

Lance Hiller's amnesia couldn't be natural. So it was either intentional on the Protectorate's part, considering that he was a vigilante just a short while before she met him as Weavemaster, or it was a hostile act by a third party. 

Yuriko smiled at Lance blandly and said, "We've met briefly before I took the Mira-hi contract. A cold weather fashion shoot. I'm surprised you forgot about me." She pressed him a bit and noted that he flinched slightly and frowned. 

"Did I? I must have been too preoccupied. You were with Pixel Fairy then, right?"

"I am now, but not then. I was referred to the job by an arts professor at Trinity University." 

"I see… I apologise that I didn't remember that we've met before. I can only blame my busy schedule."

"It's alright," Yuriko said, "It was just a bit jarring. Anyway, I have to return to the audition hall now. Nice to see you again." 

"Yes, it was." 

As she crossed the hall with Scarlett in tow, she couldn't help but overhear Lance's companion berating him. "How could you forget someone who looked like that, man! Shame on you!" 

"I know, I…I'm feeling a bit dizzy. Excuse me." 

She glanced back at him with some concern, but all he did was stagger a bit as he stood up, steadied himself, then headed out to the opposite hallway. 

"What was that about?" Scarlett whispered. "So he doesn't remember you, is that important?" She gave Yuriko a sideways glance, "You haven't become a super narcissist have you?" 

Yuriko chuckled and shook her head. "No, it's not that. We met under unusual circumstances and his forgetting about me is more than a bit suspicious." 

"Does it involve…Altered?" Scarlett whispered so softly that her voice could barely be heard. 

"Yes." 

"Oh…" Scarlett scuffed her feet nervously, then shook herself. "I guess that would be unusual." 

"Either way, I think I need to get to the bottom of this."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Scarlett asked pointedly. "You're busy enough as it is." 

"Hmmm, you're right," Yuriko said, but she imprinted the need into her memory palace. When she had spare time, she'd look into the mystery. 

Before they arrived back at the audition hall, the hour was up for the battle. 

"You seem distracted, my love," Gwendith whispered in her ear. 

Yuriko shrugged. "There 's something strange going on in Astoria." 

"Where your incarnation is?" Gwendith hummed. "But anything happening there shouldn't affect your true body, right?" 

"Yes, but I can't help but pay attention when something interesting's happening and nothing much is occurring here."

"Hmmm, well, focus on the now. What do you hope to accomplish with the battle anyway? You could have easily wiped the ground with them." 

"That's true, but didn't you gain some insight?"

"I did."

"Then indulging in this is more than worth it." 

The circle that Gwendith and Alyssa battled in was a mess. The ground was churned to mud, and some points still had icicles stuck on the ground. The two women Debated the Truth, as they called the clashing of Ennoias, in an attempt to overcome the other's control. Yuriko had watched everything from several hundred paces above the ground and had been there from the start. She wondered why they never bothered looking up, but then, try as she might, she never really got back into that habit after her Anima perception gave her an omniscient point of view from within her reach. 

The Debate was an interesting method to train, she thought, though if the Truths were unequal, then it would not be training but torture. She wasn't sure that if she used her Colligia against an Ennoia she would even be able to hold back. After all, the levels of Ennoias were determined by insight and knowledge. She may try to operate at a lower level, but something would eventually seep through. It would be a good way for her lovers to practice, though. 

She reached with her Animakinesis and flattened the ground. She strode towards the centre, then called out, "We may begin. Feel free to start, I will match your level." 

She saw the five of them stiffen and she couldn't help but chuckle. In truth, fighting five weaker Ancients in Actualisation wasn't much of a challenge if she went all out, so she might as well enjoy herself and see if she could learn something from them. Damien was a fine source of training and knowledge, but most of what he knew was three thousand years out of date. He also wasn't the most sociable of Ancients and while he knew about other groups, he stuck mostly to himself, or the few Ancient God-Monarchs on his level. The memories she held were mostly composed of his fighting journey and held little beyond theories, training, combat styles, and a little of the mysteries hidden within the layers of reality. Other than the Empress and her Progenitor, Damien didn't really interact with other Ancients beyond picking a fight. 

She quickly identified the five Ancients arrayed against her. Alyssa was a short woman, Glenn was the giant who was more than two paces high. Wyllan was the one who spoke to her earlier, Anya was the one with the huge sword that could match Fri'Avgi in size. The last one should be Zanji. All five of them wore bulky armour that was practically covered in runescript lines. She also recognised some of the lines as they mirrored some of Eli'Theria's enchantment. The armour, whatever they called it—Ashigaru, Damien's memories provided—it strengthened their Anima by a little bit. Nothing quite like the Colossus though, but at the very least, the Ashigaru had the advantage of being person-sized. 

She frowned as part of her consciousness strands examined the memory. Ashigaru armour, at least the one Damien knew, didn't enhance Anima. In fact…she and the others had Ashigaru armour, found in the Siderious. It was quite evident that the Conclaves had continued to improve their Animatechnology. 

Anya, the woman with a sword that was taller than she was, stepped forward. She drew the massive weapon and held it in a middle guard—weapon held angled up while held in the centreline of the body. How heavy was that weapon, Yuriko wondered, and how did Anya compensate for the weight? Anima perception covered the entirety of the battlefield and she had her answer soon enough. The weapon was not an Anima Telum, but it was made from more than steel. The blade was midnight black, and there was a red jewel in the middle of the crossguard. There were runescript lines along both the guard and the base of the blade.

"I am Anya Levy," the woman reintroduced herself. "I am honoured to cross blades with you." 

Yuriko held a smile since she wasn't holding a sword. She did feel a resonance between herself and Anya and realised that they touched upon the same Ennoia, albeit probably at different points.

"Well met. As you wish, I will match blades with you." Her Animakinesis reached into her hip satchel and she retrieved her Arclight Sword. The old weapon was an arming sword, and it looked especially puny against Anya's weapon. She held it casually by her side and hadn't taken a stance. She tilted her head slightly to her right, and gestured, "You may begin." 

The Ashigaru's helm had a full face plate so Yuriko couldn't see the other woman's expression. She had no thread connecting the two of them, or if there was, it was too recent and too weak to convey emotion. She also couldn't see the other woman's muscles through the armour and the only thing Yuriko could use to read the swordswoman was her stance and the way the wind pressed against her armour. There was also the odd resonance between holders of the Truth of Swords. 

She felt Anya touch her Ennoia and allow it to guide her. Yuriko's insight into swords was a touch deeper, but it was close enough that relying on it completely would either end in a draw or defeat. All things being equal, her Swordtruth involved light or flying weapons while Anya's involved forceful and deadly application of her weapon. 

Now, Yuriko smiled widely. They were close to equals with the sword, which meant that this was a proper challenge and not a one-sided beatdown. Still, being the higher ascended, she waited for Anya to make the first move, and a minute of staring and sizing each other up must have been enough for the swordswoman to decide her approach. 

And Yuriko didn't know if she should have expected something else, but Anya advanced directly. She whipped the massive sword back and forward as though it weighed only as much as a longsword and struck with a vertical cut. Yuriko, her weapon held on her right hand by the side, parried with a rising angled cut, and both blades intersected then bounced back from the hit. Yuriko gracefully circled to her right, aiming to thrust the arming sword to reduce the difference in reach, but Anya reversed her sword's momentum and turned the deflected blade into a horizontal strike. This time, Yuriko countered with a vertical slash and knocked the weapon towards the ground. She moved to step on the blade, but Anya pulled back expertly and as soon as Yuriko's boot missed the blade, she reversed momentum into a stop thrust. 

Yuriko's parry forced the blade off, and she used the rebound to slide closer. Anya retreated enough to keep her within her massive sword's effective reach, then slashed diagonally up. 

Yuriko dodged the blow, the wind of the sword's passing made her hair flutter. She was enjoying the fight, but she was not facing just one Ancient. 

Bang bang!

Zanji had positioned himself so that Anya wasn't in the way, then shot two bullets at Yuriko. She dodged one but had to parry the second since Anya forced a stab. 

The moment the bullet touched the Arclight Sword's edge, it exploded into a billowing ball of flame.