Precision Fault

I didn't even aim the rifle at her left arm this time, I only thought about it, and before it went up, she dodged in the opposite direction.

One of two things were happening right now. Either The Masked Girl can read my movements, or she can predict the future.

Either way, this would be troublesome to land a hit on her.

Alexia pushed her way out of The Masked Girl's grasp and summoned another golden saber, wiping blood that was dripping from her shoulder away from her arm, and turning toward me.

That turn toward me was a signal for one thing, and a true way to test what this girl was capable of.

Her ability was to add limbs to her own body... or, so I thought. It seemed useless in the grand scheme of things, but she has good strand control too if she enhanced the speed of the rock with golden strands. What trick did she have...

I didn't raise the rifle again, but I put my finger on the trigger and her body was primed.

Maybe it really is the position of the gun that she was preparing for.

I rose it again to shoot it, and right as I pulled the trigger, the kick from the shot hit me in the shoulder and bruised me.

While the bullet was flying to The Masked Girl, Alexia used her ability to enlarge it into the size of a boulder, to which it collided with The Masked Girl before she could dodge or react.

I thought the fight was over, seeing that a boulder just hit her at over 700 feet a second... but purple strands were colliding with the enlarged bullet, and it eventually was shot off into the sky, far away from our current position.

The mask slid off of her face and out came wavy, dark purple hair, and bright blue eyes... reminiscent of Sky's own eyes.

"Did you figure it out yet?" She asked me. Her voice was slightly distorted, but down to the roots, I could hear Sky's expression in it as well. She was mimicking him?

"Cynthia...?" Alexia muttered. She seemed to know this girl, but I was still left in the dark.

"You've gotten so big, Alexia. What about Shike? Belle? Buusu? Mitra and Myth?" The girl named Cynthia asked.

"Mitra and Myth were killed... Illya killed them... why are you doing this? Why did you join Quake?" Alexia asked.

"For that reason alone, don't you know? We were abandoned in The First Trial, if we weren't directly related to Sky, we died to that girl. Why do I get to live above everybody else? I wasn't powerful... not until I got Mom's eyes. Now, I'm worth something to somebody. I joined Quake for one reason. To kill Illya, and reunite with my brother," Cynthia said.

"That doesn't make any sense, why would you join an organization meant to kill Sky if you wanted to reunite with him? How inconsistent..." I said out loud, despising this girl in front of me.

"Sorry... did you think that Quake would win?" Cynthia asked us.

What kind of shit is this?! This girl... wasn't even really loyal to Quake?

"Illya is one of us... I won't let you kill her," Alexia said. She was adamant, knowing that Illya killed her friends, but she still accepted Sky's decision to keep her alive. It was more torture than killing her, but even I had things to say about letting her live.

"And you, Carl?" Cynthia asked me. It stunned me that she knew my name.

"I don't like it any more than you do... but Illya is the only reason we've made it so far as of right now. Why we were able to plan ahead, to keep our lives against your people... I can't ignore what she's done to make her actions right," I told Cynthia.

Right as I closed my eyes to refocus on Cynthia, I caught her wrist as she tried to grab onto my face.

"You might discover my true, Pure-Blooded Asterio intentions when you discover that I will kill anybody in my way. My brother deserves to know the truth," Cynthia said. I pushed her wrist back and primed my gun.

I pulled the trigger without thinking and before the bullet landed, I watched it turn into dust because of her ability.

"This doesn't make any sense! You can reunite with Sky if you stop attacking us, so why are you doing this? It doesn't make any sense that your hatred for Illya would intersect with us!" I yelled out, holding a knife on my hip to get ready for her next attack.

"Intersect with you...? I'm curious, do you think it doesn't? If that plague infects you, you are just as bad. Bystanders are no better than the offenders, would you not agree?" Cynthia asked me.

"You ask me that... as you attacked Zealous within a group that means to do as much damage to civilians as possible?" I asked her. Now, her inconsistent logic is starting to piss me off.

"Damage to civilians? We were told not to touch the people inside this mountain," Cynthia tapped her boot onto the ground beneath her and smiled.

"Told...? Who told you? Who gave you those directions?" Alexia asked. I couldn't move, as I was shocked at her knowledge of our efforts to hide civilians.

"Who gave me those directions? You're looking at her, I advised Quake to leave the citizens alone, which is why today was the day we attacked. It was when you started to move everybody, is it not?" Cynthia asked us.

…

What?

"You're the Leader of Quake? But... how?" I asked. I thought Quake was a well-established group, how did you ascend to leadership already?" I asked her again.

"You've seen sabers, no?" She briefly asked, summoning a golden one in her hands, and showing off the blade.

"All those tiny strings that make up the saber shape itself... it's organized, a method in the madness, but the organization of the saber changes as you use it. When you swing it, it tries to rapidly organize itself, and when it can't organize itself, the saber turns off. Quake is like a Saber. We are one organization... but by all means, we are not leaders to each other. We work together, to fulfill our own separate goals," Cynthia told me.