The Dimension Breaking Sword

"Art of the Sleep Queen: Heaven's Sword."

The world around them completely stopped, and the air around the Headmaster was distorted, converging onto an invisible line that ran directly through Headmaster's motionless body. Miya was the only object able to move, flying closer to Krewe for a better look, unaware what was happening.

"Headmaster?"

Nobody answered, and Headmaster looked as if he'd been cut in half by the world itself. Miya could tell… that he was indeed dead.

'It's a dream. I should stop worrying so much.'

After closing her eyes briefly, Miya released herself from the dream world. The room was silent, and Bo just stood in the middle of the room, looking at the ground. Miya thought to herself, looking at Bo as he stared at the ground without a single movement.

'He wasn't fighting my sleeping self?'

Bo made no reaction to whatever he was looking at. He just stood, intently staring at it, and finally, Miya looked down, her face contorting as she flinched, mortified at the sight.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Scattered about the room was an inhumane amount of blood, the source being the motionless corpse of Headmaster Krewe, split in two without a single error. Miya's hellish screech filled the room, and Bo's attention darted to her, following the sudden noise. He made no reaction to Krewe's body.

"Congratulations. You've passed the first day."

Miya reached for her face, and as she looked upon her hand, she noticed that Krewe's blood covered her entire upper body, her hair saturated by it. She whimpered, her strength failing her as she fell to her knee's horrified at herself and what she'd done

"M-M-Mis--ter… Krewe...."

Bo knelt down to Mr. Krewe's corpse, examining the cut Miya'd made in the dreamworld.

"It seems like you've gotten the hang of the dreamworld a bit, and by the look of it, you also used a spoken reaction."

"What does that mean?! Headmaster is dead!"

"You used words to enhance your powers, allowing you to use abilities you wouldn't be able to use otherwise."

As Miya sat on her legs, weeping and shaking uncontrollably, Bo came closer to her, crouching down in front of her, and getting her attention.

"In a sense, yes. You did kill him, but he's not dead, although that sounds silly."

A red mass of energy engulfed the Headmaster's body. Miya and Bo stood in audience of the occurrence, tears trailing down Miya's face.

As the energy intensified, a voice came through, energetic and familiar.

"Connngratulations, Miss Miya! You've passed the dreamworld control part of your training! Bravo! Bravo!!!"

Headmaster's cut had completely healed itself, and Headmaster stood as if nothing had happened, blood still staining what was left of his clothes. Miya couldn't find words to say in response to his return.

"Why the long face?"

Miya looked toward him, frozen with confusion and relief.

"I-I thought you were dead."

"I was…I used Pheonix before you killed me, th--."

Headmaster coughed as Miya made impact with his chest, crying tears of relief as she hugged him. He stood awkwardly, avoiding touching her.

"Umm…Did it really scare you that much? I've only known you for a few days, dear."

"Yes…Yes it did."

Bo stood and watched as Miya embraced him. Headmaster was clearly embarrassed, and it shown on his face. He quickly pushed her away, and Miya continued to wipe tears from her eyes.

"Umm… Right! I just remembered! Bo has to go do something with his…umm…dad or something. You two can go home now, Bo!"

Bo stood there, blankly staring at Krewe until finally deciding to leave, pulling Miya with him. Headmaster yelled as they exited the room.

"We'll work on swordmanship and hand-to-hand combat next week! Refine the points I've taught you until then."

...

Miya lie in bed, hugging her pillow as she looked at the wall, thinking.

'Am I really going to be ok being a mercenary?'

Her eyes became somber, but suddenly she rose from her bed and walked toward the desk in her room, an empty notebook lying upon it. She grabbed a pencil but hesitated, her mind hung up on what she'd done to the Headmaster.

Although he was ok in the end, It didn't sit right with her, bugging her as she failed to write.

'Why am I sitting here, again?'

She slowly placed her pencil down, lying her head against the open notebook. Despite how much she wanted to, she didn't fall asleep, not even feeling the urge as she sat there in the dark. For a while, she'd catch herself glaring at the clock, watching the hand tick lightly as precisely each time, and it hypnotized her for a bit, never truly distracting her from her restless state.

CREAK

The hinges of the door squealed as she sat there, looking blankly toward the wall beyond it. Miss Boudreaux slowly entered, her eyes illuminating the dark room.

"Having trouble sleeping?"

She approached Miya as she sat there, silent, kneeling against the desk directly beside where Miya sat. Their eyes met, and Boudreaux spoke softly, understanding what Miya was feeling.

"You're conflicted? Bo told me what'd happened-- what the Headmaster planned to happen, and it must've been for this... For this exact conversation."

"It... was a test?"

"Not just one of combat ability but of resolve. It's a sad business... being a mercenary and all, and what you felt is just a taste of the feelings that mercenaries go through, and I know... You can't understand completely because of how you've lost your memories, but now is the time to make the decision for yourself, because I won't make it for yo-- nobody... will make Miya's decision for Miya."

Miya looked away, uncertainty stopping her from making a definite answer, but she tried, speaking her mind.

"I... It's the only way I'm going to be able to do anything about this curse. I want to know more about myself, who I was before a few days ago... I just feel like... like I'll be sacrificing myself over something insignificant... Was my life before really worth my sanity-- my humanity, at that."

Boudreaux ran her hand through Miya's hair, unaffected by it's spell, and she continued to speak, her words resonating with Miya.

"You are who you make yourself... Does your understanding of yourself have to be about the curse, or do you want to learn about you to better your future-- better other's futures. That can be in any way that you deem necessary. What Bo and Krewe wanted to teach you wasn't how to use your powers. Its a lot more in-depth than that, more so than someone would immediately understand... They wanted to teach you choice. They revealed the gross truth of what you were so determined to pursue, but ultimately, It's your decision... Do you want to be a mercenary?"

Miya stopped, and it was quiet for a minute before she opened her mouth to respond.