Deep in the silent tomb of space, a singular vessel floated aimlessly into oblivion. It was a round steel ball of sorts, with no apparent form of locomotion. Its insides, however, were curious enough to trip a scanner.

  One small frigate loomed overhead, its metallic hull bearing the symbol of the Consortium. They always did love shaping their vessels like large gaudy blades. But when the floodlights of the vessel illuminated the drifting orb, there was no apparent response. Whatever lay in there must have been dead.

  That's what the Consortium beleived.

  A thin claw grasped onto the orb, pulling it into a tiny hanger bay designed for salvage and flagrant scalping. Never subtle in their actions, the Consortium was quick to send a squad of Daregen to pry open the pod and plunder its goods. Their scanners seemed rather convinced it was filled with rhodium or some vaguely precious metal immune to corrosion.

  Or at least, that's what it wanted them to think.

  The pod was cut open easily enough, as the lumbering beasts pulled apart its plating to reveal its insides for all to see. There was, in fact, a precious metal alloy in there. They just weren't expecting it to smile at them in a tangle of twitching limbs and gnashing teeth.

  "Ivy." The monster whispered before extending its long claw towards one of the Daregen, crushing both its helmet and its skull in one brief yet merciless action.

  ____________________________

  Yrix was rather quick in her step, waiting for nothing as she forged a path towards the arena she spoke of. She was so impatient, in fact, that she tore through every object in her way to save time. Lila felt almost sick to her stomach seeing such raw anticipation. She still felt it was her fault such events were transpiring.

  Yrix pointed up towards a towering chalice of sorts, covered in gold plating. "This is where you will settle this. Goddy, I know. But that's our Consortium. The tradition is rather simple." Her voice clicked as if she had a tongue. "Drink deep from war. Swill in glorious blood. And be whole."

  "Will this be a lethal engagement?" Lila called out to Yrix with as much Psionic force as her voice could muster.

  "That's up to them." Yrix shrugged. "Now then. I'll get things ready."

  Yrix left the girls at the entrance of the chalice, its gaping maw of a door looming over their frail bodies. It was an intentional moment of privacy for her students. They did have a lot to say.

  "We can still talk our way out of this Ivy, please," Lila spoke up, finding her courage thanks to the warm presence of Lunae. "It's not too late."

  Unbeknownst to the students, Rena was aching to chime in. She didn't even give Ivy a chance to refuse before storming into the conversation.

  "Don't waste your time, Lila. This Tesselation bitch made up her mind years ago. To even consider you her equal is like bathing in acid." Rena snarled, pointing at Ivy with an accusatory finger.

  "Excuse me?" Ivy placed a hand on her hip.

  Sonera didn't seem thrilled by the conversation. She just wanted to stand up for Lila, plain and simple. Ivy didn't particularly deserve any special wrath.

  Rena focused her index finger on Ivy's brooch. "You heard me. I know what you are. At first, I thought you were just an accessory. Stooping to your level isn't exactly my prerogative."

  "My level? You-." Ivy huffed.

  "Judgement. Disdain. Summing up one's existence to where they're from. That's you, not me. But the way you wear that brooch. You're not just from Callisto. You aren't under Algernon's thumb. You chose to wear that to the first trial. And you chose to wear it now."

  "I do," Ivy admitted.

  "Wait, but you have the power to take it off, right?" Lila pleaded. "I saw you make it from thin air."

  Ivy silenced her with a wave of her hand. "I choose to keep it on."

  Every student, save Sonera, had their eyes fixed on Ivy like never before. She had finally outted herself. Not just as an agitated victim, but as a willing component of Tesselation.

  Mina and Dina rolled their eyes aggressively. Lunae seemed confused. And Alia, who knew what Ivy was the first time she laid eyes on her, smiled gleefully.

  "Do you..." Rena clenched her fists. "Have any idea. Any idea at all what your people have done?"

  "I do. He's my father."

  Rena couldn't control her body when it lunged at Ivy. Sonera was the one to stop her, pushing her back with a firm hand and one of her icey glares. The heiress, on the other hand, just squinted in morbid amusement.

  "You bitch!" Rena screamed, clawing at Ivy just out of arm's reach. "And you have the audacity to boast about it?"

  Ivy grabbed her pendant, allowing herself to fully express herself. She was done hiding.

  "I do. And should I not? Is there a sermon I missed? You've all hated me the moment I woke in this place. And for what? My family hurt you. My family is better than yours. I could buy wherever you came from. So what!

  I'm from Castillo. I'm the judgmental rich brat with perfect genes. Sonera is the fascist Martian with a cold-blooded murder wish. Lila is a primitive dunce from Earth who could breed with a cow. Lunae is a lying alien from god knows where, and you, Rena, clearly must be from somewhere my family has controlled.

  We are what we are." Ivy finished. "And there's no way around it."

  The air fell silent. Rena knew what she wanted to say, but refused to give Ivy that luxury. She eventually fell apart.

  "Io." Rena sighed. "Earth facilitated its terraforming. It worked. Too well. When your father took notice of the radium beneath the soft soil, well...Earth didn't stop him."

  "He took it from you. You weren't strong enough to protect yourselves." Ivy shrugged.

  "He slaughtered us!" Rena cried. "There wasn't even an attempt to buy us out or push us away. I know Lila's seen it, the evil money-grubbing oil driller who kicks out the cute little animals. That kind of character? Your father isn't that. He didn't even care to shroud his evil for a second. He sent his machines and killed every colonist he could."

  "Yet you survived."

  "On a flotilla! Do you have any idea what life is like there? The things you have to do to yourself to survive?" Rena continued.

  Lila reached out to her friend, shocked by the history that she had frankly never heard of before. Earth was, after all, firmly under a censorship law thanks to its cooperation with entities like Tesselation.

  "Your people were weak," Ivy spoke plainly. "And so you lived weak. Died weak. My father doesn't roll over the strong."

  As if to prove her point, Sonera looked at Rena with complete disengagement. She knew Rena was going to ask for her support. And she wanted her to know how little she cared.

  "I can't beleive you." Rena frowned, clutching Lila's hand once it was offered. "Yrix was right. It's all just a game. Morals mean nothing compared to violence."

  To Ivy's credit, some things were true. Martians like Sonera were, often times, complicit with the iron fist of facism. Not long ago, she had killed her own friend for betraying her family in support of Rena's ideals. But still, that didn't make Lila any less restless, as she tried to pull away from Rena. She had already begun to disagree with her friend, refusing to beleive that Yrix could ever be correct.

  Rena stared at Ivy with sheer hate. "Well then, I hope Sonera humiliates you, Ivy. I hope to God she shows you the Martian you've made her out to be. I hope your precious superiority is shattered into pieces. Because you know what? Your right. People are what they are. And you, you worthless lab-grown slut, are just as flawed as the rest of us."

  Ivy turned to Lila. She wasn't quite sure why she would bother to do that. She didn't care what Rena had to say. But for some unknowable reason, she wanted to know what was on Lila's mind. She hated herself for that.

  Using her Psionic gaze, Ivy called out to Lila. "Do it then. Tell me you hate me."

  Ivy was infuriated by what she saw. Behind all that fear and dismay, Lila felt nothing but sadness. She was worried, even, for what could happen to Ivy. Because for all their differences, the two had some kind of understanding. Perhaps one day, they could ask Yrix why.

  - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  Yrix was a thorough artist, arranging seats with lit-up artifices all around the arena. It was a colosseum of sorts, recognizable in its almost Roman Gladiator-esque build. The girls could already tell what it was, exactly what Yrix said it was for.

  "It's a church to them," Rena whispered to Lila, still believing she harbored similar feelings. "The place they use to settle their matters and commune with their belief system."

  Lila begrudgingly played along, her thoughts lingering on Sonera and Ivy. "Might makes right, was it?"

  "I hope that's what Ivy really believes in. So she can feel like she shouldn't be alive if she loses. And that's assuming Sonera won't just kill her out of blind rage."

  Lila couldn't hold back her feelings. "I hope no one dies. I hope they call it off."

  The silent judgment of every other student, save Lunae, could be felt latching onto Lila's back. She took a seat on a human-sized bench, shifting closer to Lunae in the process. It would have been a lot more embarrassing if she still didn't have a migraine over the dueling affair.

  "Sonera will be fine," Lunae assured her.

  "And Ivy?" Lila frowned, biting back at Lunae's Psionic connection. "I put her in this spot. If I just kept my distance."

  Lunae wanted to comment on Ivy's decisions, how she put herself in that place. But somehow the hypocrisy of it all stayed her tongue. She really had no right telling someone to cast aside their feelings and be more honest. Not when she herself had failed to calm Sonera due to her own dishonesty.

  Yrix raised her voice, standing on the highest podium decorated with the Consortium's symbols. "Contendors, make your way to the vomitoria."

  There wasn't much of an audience that day, just the students. But that was well within Yrix's expectations. She almost wished she could stay there all day. Let her students sort themselves out the way her people had for so many years. If they were supposed to be Psions, it would be better if they started acting like one.

  - - - - - - - - - -

  Ivy stood alone, silence filling the empty tunnel as she waited for Yrix's signal. Some part of her felt like she should be shaking, terrified of the fight ahead. If she failed, it would be, at the very least, rather embarrassing. But felt a responsibility to her family, even while trapped under Yrix's thumb. If she could win, perhaps she would finally be seen as more than an accessory to her father. An ironic thought considering what Rena beleived.

  "Right then," Ivy spoke to herself in a vain attempt to keep her adrenaline running as her heels began to quiver. "Pretend they're watching."

  The light of the empty collesium enveloped her as Yrix opened the doorway, allowing Ivy to step onto the sandy surface. The whole arrangement was, for the most part, designed with larger Consortium members in mind, leaving Ivy as nothing but a spec compared to her surroundings. But eventually, after a rather awkward walk, she found herself deep enough into the arena to spot Sonera.

  *She wasn't alone.*

  Lunae whispered into Sonera's ear intently, assuring her things would be alright. Sonera frankly didn't need that confidence boost, but it was the thought that counted. She had someone supporting her.

  "You can do it." Lunae's voice brushed against Sonera's cranium like a warm breeze. "We beleive in you."

  Rena entered the conversation, her Psionic trace far more grating and unnerving. "Kill that stupid bitch."

  Sonera herself seemed rather at home in the collesium, tapping her boots on the ground with anticipiation. While she had never been in such a gawdy arena before, she was still well acquainted with the art of dueling. After all, she was always an impulsive one. Fighting a girl her age for reasons entirely unavoidable was just another Tuesday.

  Both girls saw fit to wear their preferred attire, with Ivy donning her white Tesselation dress and Sonera sticking with Yrix's uniform. It wasn't at all a practical arrangement. But as girls, they didn't care.

  "On my mark." Yrix raised her hand, staring at the two girls as they stood silently at the center of the arena. "Be ready."

  The wait felt like a thousand years for Lila. She wanted to faint. She wanted to run away. But all she could do was sit still and let that numb feeling in her heart arch into her bones. Apparently, getting tossed through walls by a Daregen was preferable to girl drama.

  "Begin!" Yrix tried not to cheer so loudly, her excited voice seeping through her formal tone.

  Neither Ivy nor Sonera saw fit to rush at the other. They were smarter than that. During their time fighting against the Vesper, they had each taken good measure of each other's skill. One reckless move could spell the end.

  "Tsk." Ivy rolled her eyes, circling around the arena as she summoned a silver baton, gripping it tightly with her delicate fingers.

  She had no intention of killing Sonera. Beating her half to death would suffice. But more importantly, winning the duel would finally send Lila away for good.

  Sonera had an even simpler thought process. Her friend was in need. And she wanted something to punch.

  *Martians, am I right?*

  Yrix seemed to understand the strategy, waiting patiently for the first strike. She herself had fought in countless tournaments and festivals, taking a similar approach. It wasn't at all a coincidence then that her students, whom she had awakened with her signature imprint, were behaving in a similar manner.

  It was rather wise not to tell them how much of an effect she had on their minds. Even for Yrix, restraint had a spot to fill in the Psionic playbook. That, of course, didn't stop her from feeling proud.

  "My little Psions." Yrix snickered to herself. "Already so feral. So thoughtful."

  Ivy was the first to act, shifting two fingers on her free hand upwards to summon an energized hexagon beneath Sonera. That was easy enough to dodge, but it sent a message. Sonera couldn't wait around forever.

  As if to prove that point, Sonera unveiled a radiant colt from behind her back, firing a single shot at Ivy's head. The heiress blocked the attack with a flick of her wrist and followed up with an encirclement of diamond projections that came flying towards Sonera silumtanously.

  Using her experience as a dancer for the Bratva, Sonera stood on one foot, allowing each diamond to wizz past her as she spun around. It was a challenge accepted. Summoning another colt, Sonera concentrated on firing a total of six shots at Ivy before her powers would expire, fanning the hammer on her weapon to increase its rate of fire.

  Realizing she would waste a considerable amount of energy deflecting each shot, Ivy decided to show her own skills, arching her back to be level with the floor, and raising her left leg as a fiery shot sailed over the top of her head. She spun around and jumped, maintaining her elegant posture as the projectiles continued to narrowly avoid her.

  "Five." Ivy counted, realizing that even Sonera's strongest construct would obey the laws of the firearm she had retrieved from her memory.

  On the sixth bullet, Ivy pointed her baton forward, allowing the bullet to become enveloped in her Psionic grasp. Maintaining the firebolt's momentum, she spun it around herself, conducting its course with the tip of her baton before letting it finally slingshot back towards Sonera.

  The redirection was as accurate as it was blindingly swift. Not even Sonera could dodge that. She fell backwards, her arm set ablaze as a searing pain washed over her.

  "Got you." Ivy smiled.

  Sonera didn't register the pain, performing a whip back before dissapearing into a puff of sparks. Ivy hardly had the time to gloat before Sonera appeared behind her, striking at her with the same arm that was still on fire. The heiress spun around, blocking the attack just in time. It was a sloppy defense, however.

  "Ah!" Ivy yelped, the impact of the attack reverberating through her wrist as she was flung backwards.

  After such a quick exchange, Lila felt herself practically hyperventilating. Her heart was beating faster and faster. The sensation of relentless guilt threatened to suffocate her. It didn't matter how ridiculous Ivy's demand had been; it all could have been avoided if she had just left her alone.

  Ivy held onto her baton tightly as she slid across the sand. She knew better than anyone how quickly Sonera would push her advantage. And sure enough, the second she looked up, the girl was there with a sword in hand, swinging it down at her like a barbarian.

  Ivy was quick to catch the blade's edge with her heels, whipping it around before tossing her baton at Sonera. The blunt end of the baton struck Sonera in the face, but without time to recover her weapon, the girl was quick to catch it with her free hand.

  Ivy was foolish enough to try and pull her weapon back using her Psionic grasp, giving Sonera the open oppurtunity to let herself be taken. Using Ivy's grasp against her, Sonera's elbow jutted outwards, allowing her to strike the heiress in the jaw.

  Ivy couldn't even describe the pain if she had the chance. But her adrenaline kept her steady, allowing her to push Sonera off with a Psionic wave. Her enemy didn't fall very far, however, giving her only a second to recover before Sonera came right back with another sword.

  At that point, Lunae began to feel sick as well. She leaned against Lila's quivering shoulders, her breath becoming more uneasy by the second. The two girls comforted each other as best they could. But it was pointless. Two strangers they had met mere days ago were at each other's throats, and it made them feel like the world was falling apart.

  Ivy composed herself just in time, parrying and reposting Sonera's slash as she assumed the stance of a fencer. During her time on Callisto, she had more than enough time to observe humanity's history of weapons and martial arts. More importantly, her father's modifications gave her the clarity to replicate that skill. She was just as much of a mimic as her mother in that sense.

  Sonera may have been stronger on the offensive, but Ivy's form and speed began to overwhelm her. It was only when the heiress made the mistake of attacking with her free hand did the tables began to turn. It did hurt like hell, having her blade reposted by Ivy's baton and an outstretched finger dig into her neck like a saw blade. But it didn't hurt enough.

  Sonera grabbed onto the heiress's arm, pulling her closer before twisting it around into a rear arm lock. Ivy could barely begin to scream before Sonera kicked her in the back, snapping her arm right off its socket.

  Something snapped within Ivy. She was losing. She was feeling more pain than she ever had in her entire life. It was more then enough to make her forget who she was.

  "Get off!" Ivy wailed, her voice becoming unusually raspy.

  Using her broken arm, the heiress managed to throw Sonera over her shoulder, slamming her onto the sandy ground before kicking her away with immense force. She had never proven herself to be much of a brute, and after her brief episode of rage, she felt overwhelmed by both shock and pain.

  "What?" Lila gasped.

  She had watched Ivy, a frail girl, manage to toss her opponent away like she were the towering Vesper. Such strength didn't last long, however, as Ivy fell to her knees. Her eyes were glowing red.

  With a painful snap, Ivy's arm locked itself back into place. It would have been rather impressive if she hadn't felt like throwing up.

  "Ugh!" Ivy winced, her eyes darting around as she began to panic. "Help..."

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  She didn't know who she was calling out for. What she did know, however, was that Sonera was still coming for her, blade in hand. Ivy had to force herself onto her feet, trembling all the while.

  "Not yet," Ivy growled.

  She snapped her fingers, summoning a long silver staff into her left hand, its round tips decorated with her family sigil.

  "Most impressive." Yrix chortled. "Less than a week, and look what they've become. If only Perin could see this now. If only the Emperor could see this now. He'd be shaking the whole Aerie with his excitement."

  Sonera readied herself with another blade, combining its strength with a ring of knives that hovered above her head. She knew the fight was far from over. And frankly, she was content with that fact.

  Ivy, on the other hand, seemed enraged. The very idea of losing was pernicious to her. And so she would continue to fight.

  Another standoff ensued, as the girls circled each other. They were like sharks in the water. And Yrix could smell blood.

  Ivy threw her left elbow outwards, holding her staff tightly as she lunged at Sonera with a burst of Psionic speed. Her heels hitched onto the sand, carrying her momentum as she advanced with a series of consecutive attacks. Simple thrusts and swipes were easy enough for Sonera to simply back away from, but she could easily predict how quickly that would change.

  Ivy's voice squeaked as she put a greater amount of effort into her next maneuver. Brandishing the staff with both hands, she twirled it around like a toy, letting it slip through her fingers as it spun around through the air like a whirlwind.

  Lila could have sworn she saw a similar trick in baseball, a comparison that would have surely resulted in her getting slapped.

  Even Rena was somewhat impressed, scoffing at the amount of effort Ivy was putting into the fight.

  Sonera knew better than to contest the rotating staff; its speed and strength kept afloat as Ivy used a Psionic push to direct it towards her enemy. Instead, she found a brief moment to escape into a flash of sparks, reappearing behind Ivy with her blade held high.

  "There." Ivy's eyes glowed red briefly.

  She performed a backwards side kick, extending her right leg as far as her flexibility would allow.

  *It hit.*

  Sonera had anticipated her own slopiness, raising a single hand to try to catch Ivy's heel. The effort was hardly worth it, as the back of her own hand smashed into her mouth. Psionic sparks fizzled before dissapearing entirely as Sonera fell to the ground.

  She nearly performed a backflip in that moment, her legs having been swept upwards as blood seeped out of her teeth. It hurt as much as one would expect. But Sonera had suffered far worse.

  During her time with her old drop trooper friends, she would often ask them to show her the ropes on grappling and CQC. They always held back, up until she begged them not to. For months on end, she would find herself smashed against the floor or a wall, and on one occasion, her leg was shattered by the butt end of a shotgun.

  Sonera knew full well she was a skinny, delicate creature. She didn't have the privilege of a heroine in the old movies she watched, who could grapple stronger, taller men to the floor with their thighs. That wasn't how things worked. She was, instead, well acquainted with the real world, where girls like her could be tossed aside like a pillow.

  "Sonera!" Lunae screamed before cupping her hand over her mouth.

  She didn't really know why she felt the need to worry so much. Sonera had, in fact, saved her life, but she could take care of herself. Something else was driving her fear. A motivation she couldn't even announce to herself.

  "She'll get up," Lila reassured the girl. "Watch."

  To Lunae's relief, Sonera did pick herself off the floor, pushing Ivy backwards with a rather irritated blast of Psionic energy. It would take a lot more than that to kill her. But in truth, that sort of outcome wasn't on Ivy's mind. All she cared about was the glare she shot at Rena, which practically screamed, "I'm better than you".

  "Fucking slut." Rena cursed. "You've already lost and you can't even see it."

  In Rena's mind, she had observed a most crucially satisfying detail. Life in the flotilla was, to put it mildly, even worse than what she described to Ivy. She witnessed a lot of fights in that hellhole, mostly between men. And when it came to the victors, one detail stood out above the rest.

  "Thank you," Lunae whispered into Lila's mind. "For being here with me."

  "Oh?" Lila shrugged, unsure of what to say. "It's not a big deal, Sonera is our..."

  "You want to say friend."

  Lila looked down at her feet. "I wish I had those here. But after all this, I think it's a bit more depressing than that."

  Sonera laced her fingers around Lila's wrist, grabbing it tightly. "We've only just met Lila. But sometimes...people can see a potential connection early on. And that's not even talking about how we are Psions now. Sonera stood up for you. And now...you are here, comforting me when you are in no state to manage yourself."

  "Oh," Lila's eyes lit up with excitement. "I uhh..."

  "You can call me your friend, Lila." Lunae winked.

  "Thank you. I honestly didn't see that coming."

  "And yet, I sense more fear in you."

  "I thought we kinda agreed silently not to peep into each other's brains."

  Lunae couldn't help it. She never could. It was in her nature to peer into the minds of others, and she hated that about herself. And yet, in a cruel twist of irony, she kept doing it to try and prove she wasn't the type of person she beleived she could be.

  "Lila...Ivy hates you." Lunae sighed. "Why do you pity her?"

  "It's not pity!" Lila yelped, her passion escaping her lips as her pigtails jumped into the air. "I just...I don't even know. I feel something, like I understand her plight. You and Sonera had my back so early on. But what about her? Where is her early game friendship? How many of Yrix's games does she have to play till she gets her free win card?"

  "Your friendship didn't come free, Lila." Lunae tilted her head with a disappointed squint. "You were a kind and gentle person to us."

  Lila shrugged and took a deep breath. "I know...I just. I'll ask Yrix about it."

  "About what?"

  "Why, I'm convinced we're all missing something about Ivy."

  Inside the arena, Ivy and Sonera were at it again, smashing their weapons against each other with alarming force. The heiress appeared more adept at remotely handling her staff from a distance, combining it with her baton for an occasional mix-up. But as if to ruin her plans, Sonera seemed far more composed. She was barely even winded.

  "Just...give up already." Ivy huffed, destroying Sonera's construct with her baton.

  The heiress held her staff like a javelin, hurling it right into her opponent's chest. But in a matter of seconds, Sonera was back on her feet. Ivy was panting at that point, losing her focus. It was a problem of hers she was well aware of for years. And in her mind, it was one of the primary reasons her father looked down on her.

  Even as a child, she would always pant after a successful dance routine. She would yawn after playing her instruments. And she would even fall asleep after reading for too long. It was all so imperfect.

  *That infuriated her.*

  Sonera eyed her opponent suspiciously before unveiling another revolver. This time, Ivy barely even deflected it, stumbling backwards as her breath became heavy. She could beat Sonera all she wanted in a formal sparring match. But she couldn't seem to knock the girl down for long.

  "Just...fall." Ivy pleaded with herself, dancing through a volley of Sonera's ringed blades before throwing a violent punch.

  Her eyes flickered red again before she screamed out in pain. The attack had landed. And her wrist was nearly broken.

  "Ivy!" Lila cried, unable to contain her fear.

  Rena was quick to shoot her a judgmental glare. Lila had no right to take sympathy on that girl. But she did.

  Ivy fell to her knees, clutching her right hand. She had punched far too hard and was unprepared for her own strength. Her vision began to blur. And to make matters worse, she could clearly make out Sonera, who was picking herself off the floor again.

  Sonera wasn't exactly unharmed. Her Psionic power was spent, and a red stain could be seen soaking into her vest. But as far as she was concerned, it was still a flea bite. She was the kind of person to keep crawling her way back into the fight until she was dead.

  Clenching her fist, Sonera knocked against her own heart two times before recomposing herself. She was standing proudly, walking almost leisurely towards Ivy. Without a weapon or a plan, she maintained her pace. She would beat that heiress with her bare fists if she had to.

  "Ah, yes," Yrix squirmed with excitement. "The best part. When a Psion is all out of tricks."

  Ivy barely picked herself up before swinging her staff. It broke against Sonera's forearm, probably shattering a bone or three. But she kept coming. Realizing both her weapons were gone and that she lacked the strength to create more, Ivy panicked.

  She wasn't exactly helpless, however. Scraping togethor her best attempt at an axe kick, Ivy's heel came crashing down onto Sonera, causing the girl to stumble backwards. But without the stamina to continue her assault, Ivy was left wide open for a trade.

  "Ah!" Ivy whailed as a gloved fist struck her in the forehead.

  She felt unberably whoozy in that moment, her feet trembling as she wandered to the side. It was rather humiliating for her to come to terms with losing. But she refused to give up.

  Grabbing a fistful of sand, she clouded Sonera's vision before striking her with the side of her open palm, before following it up with a flurry kick. Every attack connected, both on Sonera's ribs and her neck. The pain was so immense, in fact, that she actually released a small grunt. That was the first sound she had made in what felt like years to Ivy. But noise only really meant that Sonera was losing it. She fought like a feral animal, grabbing onto Ivy's extended leg before pulling her off her feet.

  Ivy came sailing towards Sonera, her journey coming to a brief halt thanks to Sonera's elbow. With the breath knocked out of her, all she could do was try and wrestle with Sonera's arms to avoid a follow-up. Never in all her life had she considered fighting in such a way, a fact that became readily apparent once Sonera rammed her with her own skull.

  "Gah!" Ivy gasped, kicking Sonera off as she scrambled to gain some distance.

  But it was already too late. Her opponent had reached an unavoidable state of bloodlust. Removing her own shoe, Sonera chucked it at Ivy, causing her to raise her arms in defense and hesitate. With a flying kick, Sonera then closed the distance and landed a clean blow onto Ivy's skull.

  The heiress was thoroughly stunned; the last of her efforts focused on trying to keep herself from falling over. Sonera was certain of what she would do next. Taking advantage of her extended window, she dashed over to the heiress's side and, after wrapping an arm around her back, lifted Ivy by her thigh before slamming her onto the ground.

  Sonera finally took a breath, realizing Ivy had been utterly floored by her maneuver. It was the same trick Three had used on her countless times, only he tended to end his little escapades with a feint, dangling Sonera by her legs inches away from the floor. He was nice like that. Sonera was not.

  Ivy coughed loudly, the air having abandoned her lungs as her trembling limbs managed to get her into a standing position. She wanted to keep fighting. But frankly, it was already over. She just couldn't admit defeat.

  "No..." Ivy whimpered, stumbling around aimlessly. "I can't...not like this."

  Ivy wasn't terribly upset that Sonera was a better warrior. She had admitted long ago that Martians were talented assassins. No, what Ivy really wanted to rip herself apart over was the expectations she had failed to meet. If her father were there, standing in Yrix's place, he would judge her. Perhaps he already had.

  "Is this...why?" Ivy cried, tears welling up in her eyes.

  Another punch rocked her on the side of her nose, causing her to nearly fall over. Her arms were dangling uselessly at that point. And her face, cut and bruised, was awash with fear and sorrow.

  She felt lost, clinging to her consciousness. Slowly but surely, the void was taking over. That, she felt, was why she was an accessory. She wasn't strong enough. She wasn't perfect enough. Ivy was a failure. Perhaps the eighteenth daughter would have bested Sonera.

  Back to the drawing board.

  "Please..." Ivy pleaded to herself, as if she could guilt herself into being stronger.

  One final jab to her forehead recoiled her neck towards the sky, as a pained expression took over her face. She almost looked guilty before it all faded to black. Ivy wandered about for another brief moment, her body lazily pretending it was still awake, before she finally crumpled to the floor in a pathetic heap.

  "YES!" Rena screamed, watching the heiress fall face-first onto the sand with one arm draped over the other. "KILL HER SONERA!"

  Lila burst into tears, overwhelmed by the sudden realization that Ivy was about to die. Even Lunae, who frankly had little sympathy for Ivy, felt a sense of second hand embarrassment. The heiress fought valiantly, or at least she would have if she hadn't forced herself into the fight to begin with.

  It was almost too pathetic in a sense. Having a bully proudly croak about the cruelty of the world before begging herself not to be weak. Yet still, Lunae resonated with her friend's words. She didn't wish for Ivy to die.

  Sonera looked down at her pitiful prey. She clenched her fist with unyielding rage. And with a flash of radiant energy, she hurled a gleaming knife towards the enemy with all her might.

  The attack bounced off a purple barrier, pitifully clanking against the golden podium that Yrix stood on.

  "Hmph." The Arch-Flayer mused, looking down at Sonera's blade. "Amusing."

  The crowd, however small, fell silent. Sonera had just attempted to murder her captor. And she wasn't done.

  "You," Sonera growled like a wild animal, looking up at Yrix with vengeful fury. "I promise you. Right here. Right now. I will kill you. Someday. You will die."

  Yrix nodded. "Good. Get stronger. And try."

  Sonera cursed in a foreign language before falling to her knees. Despite her victory, she felt no pride or sense of accomplishment. She was tired and injured. And she wanted Three.

  Lunae was the first to move down into the arena as she used her Psionic energy to greatly amplify her movement, skipping on thin air like they were steps. Frantically rushing to Sonera's side, she was just in time to embrace the girl before she slumped over. She wasn't typically insecure about her abilities. But in that moment, she felt like cursing at herself for being unable to heal the girl she felt unusually attatched to.

  All she wanted was to prove something wrong. That she was a shepherd, not just another reaper. Those feelings, unbeknownst to Sonera and the rest of the girls, had nothing to do with Yrix.

  "It's okay, Sonera." Lunae's soothing voice crept into the girl's mind, dousing her rage with thoughts of sleep and restraint. "You did it. It's over."

  Lila felt the urge to do something similar. It only felt fair. If Sonera had someone to comfort her, then why couldn't Ivy? The thing she said held no weight when compared to the bloodsport Yrix was promoting. Or at the very least, that's what Lila beleived. Every other girl, especially Rena, seemed perfectly content with the results. In their mind, Ivy deserved to be put in her place.

  But as Ivy's body stirred, Lila felt herself hesitate. She couldn't move. All she was able to manage was a weak outstretched hand before Rena's voice sent it shriveling back to its owner.

  "Ugh." Ivy moaned, opening her eyes as her entire body began to twitch.

  "Stupid cunt." Rena fumed, furious at Sonera for having mercy. "I should go down there. But no. She needs to think about how pathetic she really is."

  Moreover, Yrix wouldn't allow Ivy to be attacked. That fact was plastered all over her Psionic trace, which the girls could never ignore. As the victor, Sonera had the right to choose who would be spared. And so Ivy would live. Or at the very least, she wouldn't be killed by her peers. The jury was always up on whether or not Yrix would terminate a lost cause.

  It was all terribly overwhelming for the heiress, having to ruminate over her pain and failure. Her body could do nothing more than scrape her face off the floor and roll her onto her back. And her eyes, now a tame shade of blue, were engulfed in tears. She cried loudly.

  No one came to help.

  Slamming her fists into the sand, Ivy did her best to contain her feelings, assuming a fetal position as she tried to hide. It didn't work, and frankly, she didn't want it to. Everyone else could assume she was upset over losing a fight as the prim and proper heiress with an ego. But the reality was far more depressing. She wished she could tell them all and explain her actions. But that would require humiliation she could never be prepared for.

  No one could know. And so isolation was the only path. Or at least, it would have been, if she hadn't been so stupid the day before.

  She hugged that stupid girl.

  Ivy could feel Lila's pity burning its way into her skull. And so, with one last feeble effort, she began to claw her way back towards the dark tunnel from whence she came. She was tired, injured, humiliated, and frankly done with her own existence. And yet, some pitiful shard of her mind, the one she wished Sonera had gouged out with her fiery blade, yearned for Lila to pick her off the floor.

  She remembered the way that primitive girl struck her in the face. The way she folded pathetically against her attack. But more importantly, she remembered when Lila stopped. She saw something in Ivy for the briefest of moments.

  She saw the truth.

  __________________________

  Once the dust had settled, Ivy was firmly nestled in the underbelly of the Consortium's holy chalice, ignoring Yrix's commands to return to their living quarters. Using her senses, she knew for certain that Lila and her friends were gone. But something else was still in there with her. And it was rather upset.

  "Ivy," Yrix called out to the heiress, the sound of her crushing footsteps drawing closer and closer.

  Ivy whinced, still unable to pick herself up. She was terrified of what Yrix could do to her. At that point, it wasn't even worth begging. She would die like all the pathetic failures that had come before her.

  "You..." Yrix reached down, clasping her large, spindly hands around Ivy's head, covering her face completely.

  Ivy squealed in fright.

  "Fought well." Yrix finished.

  The Arch-Flayer rubbed the heiress's head like she were a pet, before lifting her up into her arms with ease.

  "I'm proud."

  "What?" Ivy grimaced. "B-but."

  "Sonera is my best student. You challenged her. You made her hatred towards me stronger. That is the kind of preformance I expect."

  How painfully ironic that Yrix gave Ivy more praise than her own father. That fact was not lost on her at all. It still felt strange, however, having the cruel, murderous alien care for her.

  Yrix carried the heiress out of the arena and back towards the big house, all the while using her powers to remotely tend to Ivy's wounds. It felt like she had bugs crawling all over her skin. She would have even puked if not for the fact that it was an immensely soothing sensation. Her cuts, bruises, and even dislocated bones were all being repaired at once.

  "How?" Ivy's eyes lit up with amazement.

  She still felt miserable. But it was hard not to wonder.

  Yrix chuckled. "Almost a century of training. The art is...not exactly a popular one among my people."

  "Why not?" Ivy fidgeted with her dangling legs.

  "Because it comes from the Infestare. Only they can excel in the healing arts, at least when it comes to Psionic-adjescent power. Many of them strive, and few succeed. But if you were to do the math, only a handful of people alive who don't belong to their hive can even come close to performing a Psionic repair."

  Ivy gasped, "That means you-."

  "Ssshh." Yrix placed a finger on her lips. "I wouldn't talk about that with anyone."

  "My father knows about them. He warned me." Ivy argued as she pushed Yrix away with a weak hand. "Yrix..."

  "You know nothing of how dangerous they are. But let's just say...they don't call me Arch-Flayer for nothing."

  __________________

  One hour ago

  Lunae had given Yrix quite possibly the sternest of looks when the Arch-Flayer offered to assist Sonera after the girl failed to stand. It was right after the duel had ended, when the timid student's mask began to slip. She was showing courage and even a little bit of rage towards the most frightening person on the planet.

  "Very well then." Yrix shrugged as Lunae stood in her way. "There's Tanix gel on my podium. In case someone without my level of talent ever supervises an event here."

  "You'd let me help her?" Lunae squinted, shrinking at the thought of Yrix showing some kind of mercy.

  "She won. You think I'll allow her to be felled by a mesely infection? Grab the gel. Make haste before I lose my patience."

  Lunae's Psionic voice slipped into the Arch-Flayer's mind with a tinge of heated annoyance, causing Yrix to clench her fist for the briefest of moments. "You didn't even ask why I won't let you touch her."

  "You want to prove yourself. But you can't heal her directly. Not yet, at least. Pathetic as that may be, I do acknowledge your efforts. Let us hope, for your sake, that you put that same amount of effort towards your next combat trial." Yrix growled, practically shoving Lunae backwards with her own voice.

  The Arch-Flayer wasn't foolish enough to underestimate her most cowardly student. She remembered where she found her. And she could feel the poisonous aftertaste that lingered in the girl's mind. She was, after all, a relic of the Infestare.

  Lunae looked up towards the first-tier row of the chalice, realizing it was almost comedically too large for her to climb on her own, not with Sonera in tow.

  "There's a lift, silly." Yrix laughed.

  "I see it." Lunae huffed.

  If Yrix really wanted to, she could have splattered the girl right then and there using nothing but a single flick of her wrist. But she stayed her hand, allowing the insolence of her students to continue. It was pointless and, frankly, too easy for her to make them all cry like children.

  Lunae used her Psionic grasp to levitate Sonera into the air, as the girl audibly whinced in pain. It wouldn't be a long trip to the lift and towards the gel. But it was still more than enough for Sonera's wounds to begin to ache.

  "Hold on just a bit longer, I'll get you fixed up." Lunae smiled, her voice seeping into Sonera's mind in an attempt to calm her down.

  It worked a little too well.

  Sonera felt herself slump over in Lunae's embrace, her eyes fading to black as she released a guttural sigh. It was all going to plan. Lunae finally had the moment she was waiting for firmly in her grasp.

  She hesitated.

  It would have been so effortless. She had Sonera resting on the side of the lift, its furnished metallic walls providing the girls all the privacy they needed. And most importantly, Yrix was gone. She had given Lunae her blessing to complete a task, which was delightfully vague.

  All Lunae had to do was press her head against Sonera's and link their minds. Then she could finally access all of her deepest secrets and learn once and for all how she ticked. It was a morbid ambition. But one she held nonetheless.

  Ever since she encountered Sonera in that pit, she had been dying to know how her savior operated. The desire was full all tense in its purpose, devouring her from the inside. But that was the way the world spun for Lunae. Her people weren't exactly known for their restraint.

  Her childhood, her family, her relationship with Three- all could be Lunae's if she were to only plug herself in. Sonera was unconscious, helpless. If she really wanted, Lunae could devour her memories and leave her empty. That would surely impress Yrix.

  But she had chosen another route.

  Lunae stood there, her hands silently twitching as the lift continued its smooth ascension. Her eye was throbbing, causing her eyelids to fidget and shudder. But finally, after a deep breath, she settled her mind.

  "Maybe..." Lunae pondered to herself.

  The girl looked down at her vest, still largely untouched by her Psionic influence. It was Yrix's intention to make it delightfully conservative, albeit still visibly feminine. Lunae would alter that.

  She unbuttoned a segment of her collar, widening the amount of skin she had on display. An exposed collarbone wouldn't be enough for Sonera, but displaying cleavage was far too blunt. Lunae decided to untuck her vest from her skirt, using her power to tear at the fabric, essentially shortening its length.

  "There." She smiled to herself.

  She tugged on her own skirt, pulling it down a few centimeters to ensure her navel and midriff were on display. It was a subtle tactic. But she was confident it would work.

  - - - - - - - -

  "Sonera," Lunae leaned down and whispered, all the while ensuring her right eye was covered by her blue bangs. "Wake up."

  Sonera rose with a startle. It had only been a few minutes since she had blacked out. The first thing she could sense was the overwhelming scent of Lunae's hair, which wafted right onto her face. She blinked furiously before looking down at her damp wounds. They had been treated well enough by means unknown to her.

  "Lunae?" Sonera muttered, her eyes widening as soon as she realized how closely the girl was looming over her.

  Her head was resting on something soft and warm. It didn't take long for Sonera to realize that she was, in fact, being provided a lap pillow. Her face didn't exactly turn red in that moment, but her brief hesitation as her eyes scurried around told Lunae all she needed to know.

  She was trapped.

  "Are you okay?" Lunae smiled, her smooth lips curving upwards as she spoke. "That was quite the battle."

  Sonera didn't respond for a moment. When she had finally come to her senses, she gave only a slight nod. It seemed to Lunae that her friend was just a little distracted.

  Good.

  Lunae spoke with both her mind and her lips, allowing both to overwhelm Sonera in tandem, causing the girl to shrivel up and flinch.

  "I..."

  Lunae placed a finger on Sonera's lips, allowing her own expression to be covered by her well-endowed bosom. All Sonera could see was the girl's reptilian eyes staring into her soul. They were beckoning for reasons unknown.

  Sonera liked to think she was good at silently observing people, as she had so many times during her escapades on Mars. But what she saw within Lunae's gaze was indescribable, her black irises inundated with a cold shade of blue.

  Nothing.

  She saw nothing. Not a flicker of life or desire. Just a void of inescapable hunger.

  "Ssssh." Lunae tilted her head, allowing her other hand to support Sonera's head from behind. "You've done enough, let's go home."

  Sonera helped herself up, staying silent as per Lunae's request. On the walk home, she made sure to keep herself in the lead. There was clearly something on her mind.

  Lunae smiled, content with her work. And for the first time since Yrix had taken her, she allowed herself to speak alone in her own Psionic mindscape. It was her favorite thing to do when a good plot had been hatched.

  "She looked." Lunae giggled.

  A second Lunae, identical to the first, responded mere inches from her face. "At what?"

  "My pale stomach. So smooth and delicate. Just a couple of glances. She must like it."

  "Was she afraid?"

  "Of getting caught? Of course. She liked it more than our chest. It was a sheepish glance. Just a hint of lust."

  "Then she's vulnerable."

  "I know. We'll tame her soon enough."

  ___________________________

  Having tended to her student's wounds, Yrix set Ivy down on the cafeteria table before rudely abandoning her. It was a blunt but transparent gesture. Ivy would have to salvage what was left of her strength and make her way to her assigned bunk lest she face Yrix's wrath.

  She didn't want to go. She didn't want to risk running into Lila. Perhaps, if she were quiet enough, she could slip onto the top bunk without that girl noticing her.

  God forbid Lila say something to her.

  The plan worked out well enough. She was always rather adept at the art of tiptoeing around people she didn't like. It was her go-to tactic back when human servants actually worked in her manor.

  "Finally," Ivy whispered, looking up at her bunk in the pitch black dark of the room.

  All the girls had gone to bed, knowing full well how foolish it was to waste sleep when Yrix could throw them into another blender the next day. Rena most of all slept like a newborn, content as could be with Ivy's fate. Such observations came to Ivy rather easily, her eyes scanning the dark corners of the room with unequal efficiency.

  She barely even glanced at Lila, however, who was sleeping soundly at the bottom of the bunk.

  Ivy was fairly certain Sonera had noticed her; however, her glowing cat-like eyes were always alert whenever someone approached. But she was confident the Martian wouldn't make a peep about it. Neither of them was afraid of the other. And neither of them felt like conversationists at the moment. Their fight, after all, really wasn't that personal.

  "Now...sleep...please." Ivy thought to herself as she clambered into bed.

  It was officially three days since she had last slept, rendering the heiress completely exhausted. But who could blame her? All she ever saw when she shut her eyes was her mother's blank expression staring back at her.

  This time, however, she feared something even worse. Something she could control even less than her freakish nightmares. It was the Psionic trace of the girl she loathed the most.

  That stupid girl, Lila.

  The moment Ivy shut her eyes, she could feel the Earthling's presence beneath her, her memories seeping into her brain. She tried to fight it. She fought against them harder than she fought against Sonera. But just like in that arena, Ivy was weak.

  She dozed off to sleep, her mind enveloped by Lila's dreams.

  The connection was formed.