When dirt means Life

Dima scowled at Sochi. What did she mean by give her a weapon? Dima looked up again and saw the statues multiplying. She pulled a dagger from her boots and threw towards Sochi. "That should do, I cannot give you my guns," she said, hissing and taking up a fighting stance. Sochi picked up the dagger and looked around her. She saw for the first time a banner hanging in the middle of the hall. It read:

ADHERE TO THIS IF YOU WISH TO LEAVE

ABANDON ALL HOPE ONCE YOU ENTER

ALL HUMANS ARE EQUAL

DIRT MEANS LIFE

Sochi looked at Dima. She hadn't seen what she had seen. "Mistress, mistress," she called out, trying to get her attention. Dima, thinking Sochi was calling for her aid ignored her and charged towards the statues. When she realised her weapons were not making dents on them, she ran back towards Sochi. "Sochi, I have a plan for us to escape, all I need is for you to obey me," Dima said, with her voice trembling. She took one look at Sochi and pushed her towards the statues, then set up a fire boundary around herself. "Dima, Dima, help me," Sochi shouted. The statues were already advancing on her from all sides. Sochi realising that Dima's plan must had been to sacrifice her and shield herself out of, stopped shouting and decided to face anything coming head on. The banner had said to abandon all hope, she might as well do that. All human are equal, that she was yet to understand. But the last part, the dirt means life, Sochi was thinking about it when the first statue struck. Sochi ducked and fell down. As she fell, dust and dirt were thrown into the air. When the statue made to stump her under foot, Sochi stabbed it with her dagger. She did not expect it to have any effect as she had seen Dima fight without any changes but it did. Her dagger made a dent in the statue's leg causing it to limp in pain. Sochi nodded in understanding, dirt means life meant that the dirt could give her an advantage against her enemies. She immediately formed a game plan, always carry dirt in her hand. 

While Sochi was fighting for her life, Dima found a way to sneak out through a back door that seemed to lead out. She was not going to take any chances at trying to fight those things again. Entering the door, it closed behind her leaving her in a dark corridor. Dima, once again, lit up a fire to guide her out of the corridor. At the end of the corridor was a door which did not want to open regardless of how long she hit it or whatever she tried on it. She was about to leave when a voice asked her, "Did you pass the test, human?" Dima looked around, she did not see the person speaking but it seemed she had to answer, "I did," she responded. "And how did you defeat the king's knights?" "Why, my slave girl was my offering" Dima said, looking around to find the speaker when she felt a sharp pain on her right shoulder. "Ouch!" she winced, turning to check and there was blood. Before she could turn again to speak, she felt the chill, inside her bone. It felt as if her life was draining out of her, and with that, Dima collapsed. 

Sochi was tired. The more she fought, the more it felt like the statues were growing. Abandon all hope, and of a truth, she did not have any hope remaining. Sochi knelt down as the dagger went into the belly of the statue standing before her. The last thing she saw was the statues carrying her out of the arena.

The light was too bright, she felt. She raised her hand to cover her eyes. Her hands! she had hands now. Sochi pushed her self up from the bed to properly examine herself. For someone that came out of a fight, she was too clean. She looked around her, the room looked like a hospital, one of those private rooms that Dima and her family were always given when they were admitted. Did the Mintasomo's find her and bring her here? Sochi doubted it, they wouldn't give her private room, or was it as gratitude that their daughter came back alive? The door opened and in walked two men. They looked very pristine in their suits and didn't look anything like doctors. The men dropped their briefcases and approached her on the bed. "Hello, we are from the Monitoring team of the government and we have some questions for you. Are you able to confirm that you were present at the new hana sites?" Sochi, confused, looked at them slowly. "Can you understand what we are saying?" The second man asked, Sochi nodded. "Were you at the site of the hana explosion?" "No," Sochi said for the first time. She could feel her throat scorching, and pointed towards the water. The second man levitated the water towards her, guiding it into her hands. "Thanks," she muttered and drank. "Do you remember what happened to your mistress, the lady of fire?" "What happened to her?" Sochi asked, "last I remember, she left before anything hurt her." The men shared a strange look between themselves. "Would you like to see her?" Sochi, angry that she had left her to die but curious know what happened to her, nodded. 

The squeaking of the wheel chair she was placed on was too loud and she looked like the opposite of the Dima Sochi knew. She was battered, like someone who had been beaten and bruised thrice over. "The doctors say she may never walk again." One of the men said in a definite tone. Sochi felt it, the guilt creeping in. She had come out of the situation unharmed it seemed in comparison with what she saw Dima going through. "Your owners have signed you over to the war squad, you will report as soon as you are discharged. Your uniform and everything will be provided." And with that the men left her. It was all sudden, but that was life, Sochi thought, always sudden. Her life had never been easy, loosing her whole family in the war with the aliens and gaining no powers even though she was exposed to the radiation that gave a lot of people their powers. She turned and went back to her room. As she sat on her bed, she saw a screen pop up in front of her. 

TIME TO TRAIN!!!

Click 'yes' to accept, click 'no' to reject

And truly there were two buttons, one for a yes and one for a no. Sochi did not understand what it was. She tried touching the no button and it clicked but then another notification popped up:

This is a one time opportunity to train and level up

Do you still want to decline?

Sochi thought about it, she had never had any opportunity to train or increase her level in life and this one opportunity she was about to let slip. Sochi closed her eyes and clicked on yes. When she opened her eyes, she saw a new notification screen in front of her:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Your training is about to start. 

There was a loading sign and after that, she saw a list of tasks which ranged from arm rotations, clap togethers to push ups. "This is so simply," she said, smiling to herself. Who knew a training could be so easy, but then again, she did not know what she was training for. Maybe it was the war squad training her. That meant she had to really do it with zest. With that in mind, Sochi decided to do double of the listed tasks so it could be more efficient and she would get double of the experience. 

When a nurse walked in, she quickly stopped exercising. She did not know how it would look to be exercising in the hospital ward. After going through the note tapped to her bed, the nurse nodded and smiled at her. "How are you feeling? Don't hesitate to notify us of any changes," Sochi nodded shyly. She was not used to someone caring for her this month. As soon as the nurse left, a notification popped up in front of her. 

SPECIAL EVENT WINDOW OPEN

Want to participate?

Sochi was torn, should she say yes or no? She was about to click no when a notification popped up, 

THIS IS A ONE TIME EVENT AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO EARN AND CULTIVATE HANA

Cultivate hana? Sochi clicked yes so fast excited about the opportunity but when the event started, she almost regretted her choice. It was a weird set up with different creatures around the room. A notification popped up

You have been gifted with the hands of Indri, a goddess that harnesses and manipulates hana, but these creatures also want what you want, the hana and would happily take the hands of Indri.

Protect the hands and harness the hana.

The notification window was yet to close when the first creature leaped at Sochi. Sochi yelped, and leaped out of the way. One way or the other, she had to get out of this place with her new hands secure especially now she knew what they were.