Orie was finally on the offensive. His wind blasts weren't doing much damage but they were strong enough to throw his opponent off balance and disorganize her attacks. He was able to close the distance bit by bit with each successful blast and every one of them hit.

  Before Natsumi could tell what was going on, Orie was standing directly under her.

  "White" orie said with a smile as he looked at her from below, then he spun his staff and struck the floor with it. Natsumi immediately turned to guard against it but no wind came from Orie's direction, it came from above and pushed her down.

  As Natsumi struggled to stand up, Orie began walking towards her and spoke.

  "I wondered why my prayers weren't working on you"

  "It would stop you for a brief moment then she'd take care of the rest by will power"

  "After this encounter, I think I finally figured it out"

  "The reason why my prayers don't work and who you are"

  "You are Natsumi"

  "You are not a spirit that is possessing her"

  "You are not an alternate ego"

  "You are her innermost desires"

  "The embodiment of her true thoughts"

  "The face she had hidden from the world"

  "The real Natsumi"

  Natsumi quickly shot a snowflake at Orie but he just brushed it off with his staff.

  "You're tired, aren't you?" Orie said as he brushed off a few more as he continued walking towards her. She shot another one but he simply just caught it.

  She could barely keep herself standing, everything she threw at him was brushed aside. The man in front of her was no longer looking the same. Her rage had turned into fear.

  "How are we the first..."

  "How are we first to run out?"

  "I'm sure we had more than he did"

  "I'm sure we were stronger"

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "So how is it like this?"

  "How is he standing when our body is about to give out?"

  "How is he even still alive?!!"

  It was at this moment Natsumi realized. At the moment Orie broke through her defenses and gave her a hug.

  "So this is what we saw"

  "This is the man that was worth the distraction" she said to herself as she closed her teary eyes.

  Orie kissed Natsumi on her forehead and let her fall to the floor. There was a calm smile on his face, not because he had won the fight but for a whole different victory. He had won back the heart of the woman he loved and there was no greater victory than that.

  "AND THE WINNER OF THIS SEMIFINAL MATCH OF THE NEW WORLD TOURNAMENT IS..."

  "ORIE... ADDISON!!!"

  What can one do in the realization that the the breaking of one's mind was of one's own doing. Fueled by the fear of the destruction she would cause, Natsumi locked away her desires, she locked away her pain, she locked away her rage, her true self. Living on as one with no grief, as if all was well. Always running home as though it was heaven even though it was hell. Making the excuse that all will be sorted out in time and going on with life when within, she was dying.

  "I miss Namida" Natsumi said with tears in her eyes as she laid tired on the arena floor.

  "Please come back"

  "Please..."

  "So that this hell..."

  "Can be a bit more bearable"

  The cheers from the crowd was loud but Orie could not hear any of it. He was long past his limit and could barely stand. The medics rushed Natsumi out of the scene while he took slow steps out of the arena. His consciousness faded with each step and soon, he could barely see or hear anything. The sound of his heartbeat was the loudest thing he could hear and all he could see was blurry.

  He missed a step at the edge of the arena but as he was about fall, he was caught by someone..

  "Nwanne'm"(my brother) a familiar voice said to him

  "You don't look so good" the voice said again

  "Let's get you some help before you join our mama"

  "Oh..." Orie said in realization

  "Moses" he said as he looked up to see the face of his brother, a face that was a lot like his own.

  "Ellie porter here"

  "Another match has ended in a way that no one expected"

  "Of course majority of the crowd is angry at the way the balance of the tournament is being messed with"

  "More and more people have stopped claiming that the matches were rigged and are now simply wishing for the fall of our beloved contestant.

  "Hold on..."

  "Who is that guy taking Orie out the arena?"

  "You don wake?"(are you awake). Orie woke up to same voice heard before fell unconscious. He was now sure that his brother had travelled to come see him and he was a bit happy about it even though there was a catch.

  His brother wasn't the only one that came to see him, Shiro was there too and so was Victor, Mia, Ellie and basically everyone that he was close to. He looked at everyone with a plastered smile on his face then met Moses with a blank stare.

  "Wetin you dey do here?"(what are you doing here) Orie said in a tone that expressed discomfort.

  "Nwanne calm down" Moses replied.

  "I didn't come to drag you home" he added.

  "Things are being handled smoothly so you don't have to worry"

  "I just came to tell you when you should make yourself available and to remind you what you have to do"

  "Alright tell me" Orie quickly asked but Moses told him that it was not time for that yet.

  "We came here to take you to the stadium"

  "Your girl's final match is about to start"

  The others were talking to each other but orie paid no attention to them. He was preoccupied with the thought of how much time had passed and was wondering if Natsumi was okay.