Aetheral Space

They awoke without eyes, or noses, or mouths. They had to borrow all of these things.

Eyes adjusted to the light without their input. A nose took in a long breath without their permission. Words trickled out of a mouth without their say-so.

"What happened?" the voice that was not theirs asked.

A high voice, the voice of a child. Interesting. Were they children, then? Was that the role they occupied? The body they'd been given was small, too. It would make sense.

They received more sound through their newly-gifted ears. A reply to the question. Yes, they knew this. Call-and-response. The basis of human conversation. The fog of birth was clearing. Pathways of thought were becoming clear.

But yes, the reply. They had to parse and appraise.

"We think it worked," an older voice, a woman's voice, said soothingly. "The burn knocked you out cold, and you'll be off your feet for a few days… but we think you've managed it, Yakob."

Yakob? Were they Yakob? Was that their name? No. Yakob was the name of the body that they occupied. Yakob was the name of their creator. Yes. They knew this.

"It's noisy in here," Yakob mumbled.

Noisy? Could Yakob hear them? Yes. That seemed to be the case. Noisy, though. Did that mean they were multiple people? Yes. They were two, with Yakob making three. As the fog cleared, the distinction between individuals was becoming obvious.

It is?

It is. See?

I understand. Yes. I see what you mean. Why are you talking like that?

Like what?

The emphasis. It's unnecessary. We're lights of the mind. Our intentions are conveyed through thought. You don't have to worry about things like emphasis or intonation.

You're funny.

I am?

If we speak the same and act the same, this is no different from a monologue. If we talk different, then that's proof we exist.

Differently.

What?

You said it wrong. You meant 'if we talk differently'.

Haha. You're funny.

I am?

You are.

I see. I'll keep that in mind. By the way… who are you?

Me? There's some stuff about that here… I guess I'm Attack?

Oh. That makes sense.

It does?

It does. After all, I'm Defense.

AETHERAL SPACE 15.10

"Attack and Defense"

Click.

Click.

Click.

Serena's footsteps echoed throughout the tunnels as she descended. In the distance behind her, she could hear the sounds of her friends retreating, slowly fading away. That was good, though. That was the right decision.

After all, she didn't want them to so much as hear this.

The Black Blur wasn't a complicated thing. It was an Aether Awakening, just another Aether Awakening, but one that had taken its existing ability into overdrive. The original person had possessed the ability to lace their movements and actions with cognitohazards -- essentially mind viruses -- that debilitated their opponents.

Once they'd died -- and their Aether had gotten back up -- that had been taken to the next level. Everything about the Black Blur carried those viruses now. Every noise it made. Every move it made. Even its appearance was deadly to behold.

That was why what Serena was doing was very silly indeed. She was marching down there with open eyes, sword in hand, to slay the monster.

In a way, it made sense. Okay, it didn't make that much sense, but it was the only option Serena had. Clearly, whoever was behind all of this -- probably the AWL -- had posted the Black Blur as a guard for something important. If their captors didn't want Serena finding something, that just made her want to find it more… and if that monster was going to stand in her way, she'd just cut it down.

And besides… she had a hunch. A hunch that just might save her.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Serena emerged from the tunnel, and out into a larger cave. There wasn't much there. Some more rocks, some rusty old equipment, and the entrance to another tunnel that went further down into the earth.

And, of course, there was the Black Blur.

There was no grand entrance. No warping of reality as it made its presence known. It just stood there, like it had been waiting for her. Perhaps it had, or perhaps it hadn't -- perhaps it didn't even know she existed.

Looking at it gave no clue, because there was nothing to look at: just a blot in space like a burn-mark on your eyeballs, a shapeless hostility that hurt to behold. As Serena stared at it, she could already feel it -- a tingling in her skull, like spiders were beginning to hatch in there. This wasn't new.

It was like what had happened back then had just resumed.

It noticed her.

"█̷͙͖̖͖̰͙̜͚̥̞̹͈͑́̀̽̀̊̆͒̎͝█̵̨̧̧̢̛̟̩̋͗͜█̵̝̇̉͗?̸̡̹̙̮̞̺͔̪̣͉̥̗̀̃̿̍͋̃̀̉̿̇̈͗̐͘͝ ̴̧̘͓̱̭̘̝̱̯̜͚͕̠̑̅̏̎̏̓̎͒̉̕͘█̶̬̊̇̂̆́̎́͜█̴̡̛͛̃̓̐̌́͘͝'̵̧̨̬̞̤͋͐͑█̸̺͍̪́̍̅̈̄̇̔̀͆̄̔̿͊̈͘ ̵̛̣̳̻̀̅̌̈́͛̍͂̉̊̃̔͠͝█̵̨͔͛̐̽͐█̸̫̪̦̲̻̫͙̠̙̖̥̱͓̙͚͗͌͗█̵̧̘̭͓̉̌͑̇͐͗!̴̛̦̫̽̒̒͝"

Serena had no way of knowing if what it did next was an attack, but she responded as if it was. With a swing of her stone sword, she deflected an indistinct whipping motion -- and immediately afterwards, she hurled the weapon across the room. She'd had no choice: the sword had become wrong.

It looked rough. It felt blinding. It sounded foul. It smelt deafening. Somehow, just by coming in contact with it for a second, the sword had been infected by the Black Blur's curse. If it weren't for Serena's ability, allowing her to generate new weaponry, the fight might have been over there and then.

Serena's ability… that was the wrong way to think about it, though, wasn't it?

She stomped down on the ground, ejecting a new spear that she caught out of the air. With a wind-stirring twirl, she pointed it dead-on at the obfuscated mass. A strained smirk spread across her lips.

Serena's ability and Serena herself… there wasn't a distinction between them.

I've been thinking.

Thinking? I've been doing that too!

Don't be sarcastic. I'm being serious.

What's sarcasm?

I know that you know what sarcasm is. You learned about it at the same time as me. We've got the same eyes and the same ears. Don't play dumb.

Oh, right, sarcasm. Yeah, that's not really my thing. Anyway, what were you thinking about?

Attack.

Yeah?

No, I mean the name. Why are you called Attack, and I'm called Defense?

Do you want to swap? We can swap, if you want.

No. I just mean… why those names? 'Yakob'. 'Cottian'. Those are normal names. 'Attack' and 'Defense' aren't normal names.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Well… I guess that's because that's what we are.

How do you mean?

Huh? It's like you said, though. We have the same eyes and the same ears. How can I know something that you don't?

…

Defense?

I guess… we have the same eyes and the same ears, but we don't have the same heart. So even though we see the same things and hear the same things, we don't understand the same things.

Aw, that's nice.

Explain it to me. I don't get it.

Well… first, there was Yakob, right? Yakob can make swords, and he can make shields, but his swords aren't as good as mine and his shields aren't as good as yours. So…

What, so we just exist to shore up his weaknesses? That kind of pisses me off.

Don't swear.

'Piss' isn't a swear.

It is.

It's marginal.

We came from the same place. If I know something's a swear, then you know something's a swear.

We have different hearts, though. We just agreed on that. So it doesn't matter what brain we came out of.

Who said anything about a brain?

Huh?

Yakob is asleep right now. His brain is sleeping right now. How are we talking to each other?

Well…

Yeah?

…

Defense?

Explain it to me. I don't get it.

Of course. It's the big sister's job to explain things to her little brother. We're still talking because we don't come from inside the brain.

…

We come from inside the mind -- and a mind has light.

Serena ran along the wall.

Contaminated swords littered the ground, their images slowly decomposing to become new sun-spots, like melting sugar treats. Serena tore her gaze away from them: they weren't as bad as the Black Blur itself, but just looking at them was still enough to beckon a migraine. She had to focus the consciousness she could still muster on the Blur.

The Aether Awakening remained in the center of the room below. It hadn't moved since the beginning of the fight -- if this even was a fight. All the same, at this point Serena was nearly sure that it was attacking her. Those whips of movement lacerated the walls with visual tumours and kept her at a distance, fast enough that Serena couldn't afford to look away -- even as she continued to stare in the poison.

She was certain of it now: this wasn't as bad as it had been during the interrogation, during their time with the GID.

Had the Blur gotten weaker, lost its potency? No, she couldn't imagine that. The only other thing she could think of…

…was that they had a resistance to it now.

A bitter feeling tugged at her heart. Why couldn't this have come about before this monster had shredded Yakob's mind apart? Only… perhaps that was what was needed. Theirs had been a relatively unique situation. What other body could come back for round two after having its mind disintegrated?

Serena kicked off the wall, darting towards the Blur with a dagger of stray metals in her hand. Even if she couldn't perceive it, this thing definitely had a physical form. If she could stab it, it could bleed. If it could bleed, it could die.

Only, it saw her coming.

"█̷̡̥̝͈̯̖͖̓̈͂͂̿̋█̷̡̩̫̠̯̱͂̓█̴̼͈̼͚̼̯͖͑̄͋̒͋̄̈́̔͘█̴̣̥̼̝̪̋͋͋!̵̨̨̠̤͔̺̔͂̆̕ ̴̡̦̫̜͍̝͚̣͇̊͛̅͒͛͒̚͝█̷̮̮͕͕̫̰̼̦͓̰̳̈͝█̵̫͈̯̜͍͉̠͍͈͙̻̪͍͐͂̄́͘̚͠͝͠█̴̢̟̱̬͇̿̑̓█̷̧̨̛̠̬̮͙̳͎͍͓͖̣͕͛̉͐̃͒̅̔͘͜͝͝ ̷̧̭̳͓̣͊̒̾̋͋̈̐̑͘█̷̤̎͋͝█̶̠͎̘͓͙̪̑̅͒̏̈́̒̇́̃̈̿͜!̵̛̞̫̻͈͍́̐́̉̈́̈́̽̽͑̉͌ ̷̣͈̻̤͚̳̲̲͇̤̱̪̐͋̌̓̓̐́̀̑̃̉̄͘͜͜͝͝█̶̛͔͔̏̄̔͑͊͗̅͜͠█̶͓̺͔̿͂́̉̆̐̉͊̏̈́͋̿͛͒͝█̵̢͙̻̱̜̆́̓█̵͓̞̞̖̦͉͋͋̾̇̾͛͗͂ ̶̼̤͖̻̜͚̩̲́̀█̵̧̧͇̹͚͙̲̈́̎͛́̂́̌̃̓̓̕͜█̵̢̩̹̘͇̫̗̗̪̙̳̳̀̈́̑̍͗̕█̴̢̡̙̬͕̗̺̜̭̗͗̏͛͋͠█̵̨̛͙̋̄͛̆̍͝ ̵̧̆̆̌̌́͒̌̔̍͌̚█̴̳̻̳͚̜̪̣͈̀̀̀̐͛̀̓̔̽̿̎͠͝█̵̛͉̲̳̫̤̄̀̄̏̇̐͒́̌̽͆͊͜͝█̸̞̥͒̓͊͌̆̒̀͂̕█̵͎͕̜͙̤̖͖͖͎̣͎̠͒̏̒̋̏̐͘͜ͅ ̴̢͓̪͎͍̋̑͂̃͌͂͛̽́͠ͅ█̴̘̳̤̟̪̲̼̜̟̠̅̽█̴̨̼͍̟̫̮͎͙͖̲̹̞̐̌̀̑̌̓̃̈̓̆͘̕̕!"

It screech-howl-roared, the echoing sound like retaliatory knives in Serena's ears. Immediately, she was knocked down to the ground, her dagger flying from her grip and thudding against the wall. She tried to get up, but an involuntary spasm twisted her legs, bringing her right back down again before the Blur.

She strained to turn her head up towards it -- she couldn't afford to let it move unseen -- even as she felt bloody tears of protest slip out from behind her eyes.

This resistance… it could only do so much. Back then, she realized, Yakob had been destroyed by just the passive effects of this thing existing. It hadn't actually been attacking them.

Now, Serena realized, now this was it. Now it was definitely fighting her. Now it was definitely killing her.

This time, she managed to witness it prepare to attack. An extension of form like a tendril, slowly rising into the air, slowly aiming for the point right between her eyeballs. She could perceive and understand its intent at last. It didn't want to corrode her now -- it wanted to delete her.

Had she gotten cocky? Was this stupidity she'd displayed something that could be written off as mere arrogance? Or… was this something she'd thought she deserved…?

For letting Yakob take the pain for her last time…?

If there was any consolation, it was that she maybe hadn't doomed Bruno as well. She'd carried his sleeping mind into this stupid fight, but she hadn't doomed him. When the Blur had destroyed Yakob, the resistance they'd developed had been enough to withstand it for a time. Once it destroyed Serena, maybe the resistance would be enough to let Bruno finish this thing off.

Or, at least, escape.

Serena del Sed closed her eyes.

"Sorry, Bruno…"

The Black Blur lunged for her.

I'm still thinking about our names.

Oh yeah?

Attack and Defense. Who picked them? I didn't pick mine. Did you pick yours? Did Yakob pick them?

I don't think anyone picked them. It's just what we are. A sword doesn't need anyone to tell it it's a sword, and a shield doesn't need anyone to tell it it's a shield.

I don't like them.

You don't like your name, or mine?

I don't like either of them. They're not names at all: they're functions. I'm not Defense. I do more stuff than that. I think and feel. I'm not a shield, and you're not a sword.

…

Attack? Are you still there?

Yeah. I'm still here. You think we should be called something else, then?

I do. We have that right.

Okay. What should we be called, then?

I…

…

…

…

Defense? Are you still there?

Can… can you pick for me? I'm not sure. It's scary.

Sure. I'll be called Serena.

That was quick.

It's a nice name. It means I'm tranquil -- like a monk or something! And I like the way it ends with 'a', so it's like you're singing when you say it.

Okay. You're Serena, then. Who am I?

You're Bruno.

Why Bruno?

It sounds funny.

You shouldn't pick names for other people because you think they're funny. This is a serious thing, you know. I mean it.

Fine, fine, sorry, I was just kidding, you can be --

I'm Bruno.

Oh?

You already picked it, right? So it's fine. Yeah.

I'm Bruno.

The Black Blur lunged for her --

PERFECT PARRY!

-- and was caught inches away from his face.

"Hands off my sister," Bruno snarled.

His hand reached out, forming a barrier, and her hand reached out, folding it into a sword. To tell the truth, both of them were expecting the fight to continue on into a true dance now that they were united… but that wasn't the case. Once Bruno and Serena seized hold of the world-thin sword…

…all it took was a single slash to part the fog.

They'd become stronger than this thing a long time ago.

A corpse stood in front of them. Inhumanly tall, inhumanly thin, and inhumanly pale. Hair of grey wheat hung from its head, covering its face, and a faded 'β' mark decorated the back of its spider-like hand. Slowly, a thin red line opened up across its bare chest, the two segments of the Awakening's body slowly but surely sliding apart.

It looked down at the wound.

"T̷h̵a̸n̷k̷s̵,̸" it said.

And then, without another word, it fell back on the ground and shattered into dust.