Industrial District Training

She nods, spinning the blade in her hand, thinking. Then she fanishes, her Bringers Light launching her in all directions, a chaotic, confusing burst of light and sound as she weaves a web around her.

"Our last lesson for today... To see what you're truly made of."

From behind, first, an elbow to the small of the back, to upset her balance. Then a kick to the stomach to launch her into the air.

"Nana-bai ikazuchinotsurugi, Dai go shisei: Kaminari shōtotsu!"

From all sides, she rushes in, one after the other, testing Muika's defenses to their limits as she crashes into her from all sides, her Reiatsu tracing behind her in a lightning-like display of energy, traces and trails of power following her every movement.

The last blow would be from above, aimed to send Muika crashing to the roof once more before she'd land nearby in a crouch, ports and flaps opening all over her body, venting steam in a thick cloud around herself.

"That was... a bit much. I seem to have damaged my chassis..."

Before Muika could even muster a reply, Rei had launched herself forward. Upon the first two blows, Muika's knees were shaking. She refused to collapse as she forced herself to stay standing, using the arm Rei hadn't hit to bring it up in defense.

She was fast, too fast for Muika to keep up with. Her mind raced with thoughts, thoughts about what to do, thoughts of how she could get out of this with minimal damage, thoughts of how to possibly go on the offensive, and finally, thoughts wishing she were somewhere else at the moment.

Her eyes clamped shut and she clenched her teeth as she felt the blow to her stomach, kicking her off her balance. She tried to jump then, escape using her own speed with her eyes still clamped shut.

Muika's attempt wasn't fully successful, for she'd been struck when she'd attempted to move, throwing off her balance once more and sending her crashing down onto the roof.

It hurt. It hurt a lot, but she had to sit up. Slowly, with a bit of trouble, she brought herself up into a sitting position. Her thoughts a jumbled mess of wishing she were somewhere else, how it was embarrassing how many hit's she'd just taken, how she probably looked a beat up mess, again how she wished she were somewhere else...

Upon opening her eyes, they widened with a mixture of shock and confusion. This wasn't the roof...

She knew this place, it was the Punishment Room of Bell's Viper...

The various tables covered in yet unused syringes, knives, scalpels, saws, nails, and various other methods of torture. A metal table sat in the middle of the gore drenched room, messy with the blood of it's last subject.

The confusion and shock began morphing into pure terror, that fear overshadowing any pain Muika had felt only moments before as her body began to tremble in fear.

How was she here?

Why was she here?

She'd escaped...

She'd escaped so why...?

"..A...Ahh..." Something between a moan and a whimper attempted to escape her as her eyes slowly continued to shift about the room, her fear growing every time her eyes swept over the area. "A...Aah..."

The silence lasted for only a few seconds before a scream rang through the room. It was pure, primal terror that cut through the air as she repeated at various moments out loud, questioning why she was back here, that she'd thought she'd finally escaped, that she shouldn't be back, that this was wrong.

This wasn't right.

She shouldn't be here.

She couldn't be here.

Right?

...

Well.

This was...

... Hard to describe.

Visual data suggests that they'd moved somewhere else. A... torture chamber?

Think. An ability? Teleportation? No... Temperature, atmosphere, all other sensors read as normal... no walls, just the roof...

Illusion.

This is an illusion of some sort.

"MUIKA!"

She shouts, running toward where she'd gone.

"MUIKA, ARE YOU THERE!?"

She continued to scream, her hands moving up to clamp onto her hair at the sides of her hair. She was terrified and confused. She'd been so sure she'd escaped this hell, so sure she'd gotten away from here after so many years, so sure she'd finally taken her freedom back...

But...

She didn't even notice Rei calling for her, didn't even notice Rei appear a few feet away from her. Despair consumed her entire being, her hands clenched tightly around locks of hair, some strands ripping out as her tears fell uncontrollably.

She continued to scream about how this wasn't right, how she'd gotten away from here. She repeated over and over through her screams.

Well that's not good.

That's not good at all.

Rei continues to run, moving toward where she hears Rei's voice, until she finally reaches it, reaching out to grab her by her shirt, slapping her across her face. Lightly, for her, but still rather hard.

"Muika! Snap out of it! it's just an illusion, your illusion! You need to calm down!"

Her screaming was cut short with a yelp as there was a sudden impact against the side of her face.

"Ah..." Her eyes still wide with fear, she slowly turned her head to face Rei.

How was Rei here?

Without noticing, the surrounding illusion began to fade around them as Muika's mind began to work out what was going on, albeit slowly working it out due to shock.

"H...How....W-what?" She muttered confusedly.

Her screams may have stopped, but that didn't stop her body from trembling any less. Shock and confusion cloaked her expression as she took in Rei's words.

Illusion?

Her Illusion?

How was that possible? Muika had never had an ability like that. She'd only ever had her blade...that was it...

She hadn't returned though, that room had been a fake...

Through her shock, at that realization relief overcame her features as fresh tears surfaced. Turning her head down from Rei she covered it with her hands to muffle any noises her crying might make.

She looks at Muika as she cries, still holding her, eyes narrowing a little in sadness before she holds her close, hugging her, patting her back.

"It's alright... It's alright, you're safe..."

She felt Rei take her into her arms and pat her back, trying to comfort her as she returned to reality.

"I'm really...n-not back there?" She muttered, "That wasn't...that wasn't real...right?"

While she had a grip on the situation at hand, she just wanted more confirmation, just wanted to be sure that this was reality and what she'd just seen was the illusion.

She nods, still holding her for a short while before awkwardly stepping back, nodding to her again. "You're here. I promise. That was nothing but a figment... something you should learn to control."

She crosses her arms, looking at her, a look somewhere between sadness and interest in her eyes.

"Perhaps... Yes, perhaps you could use it. Not that... particular vision, but... others. Illusion, misdirection, can be a useful and powerful weapon, if used correctly."

She couldn't exactly understand.

Some new ability was just being thrown at her out of nowhere and now she had to learn to control it? That along with everything that'd just occurred, it was a lot to take in...

All she wanted now was to be lying in bed and resting. The mental stress and the pain she felt from earlier was starting to weigh her down.

Muika let out a deep, shuddering breath, still not looking up to meet Rei's eyes even after she'd spoken. She didn't know what she could say to respond to the girl, not wanting to deny her words nor wanting to promote them just yet.

Rei wasn't wrong, even through all the shock and jumbled thoughts Muika knew that in the back of her mind even if it still was a lot to take in. If she wasn't careful this could happen again, these...illusions going out of control only to bring her down and drive her insane.

Watching Muika for a time, Rei finally decides that it was perhaps wise to stop for the day, a hand lifting up to brush a strand of alabaster hair from her face. "Would you like to stay at my home for the night? It would be no imposition, and it would be convenient if we are to train tomorrow... And I must admit, I am rarely graced with company overnight. Especially company which I may be entirely truthful with."

Just when Muika was about to reply, she gave a gasp, suddenly remembering. "Shit, Iyuki!"

She sat up straight, wincing slightly from earlier pain. "Damn....It's been hours by now." She said, more to herself than Rei, "He's probably freaking out right about now...Ah, sorry." She apologized, turning her eyes to Rei. "Iyuki is...well, we had an agreement to...mm..." She wasn't sure how to explain this, but she needed to tell Rei at least something.

"We'd agreed to guard one another due to certain circumstances." She said, watching her words carefully. "Usually I would have been back home hours ago...he's probably frantic..."

The most obvious solution would be to call him, but she had no idea what his number was and she didn't even own a phone to begin with...and some guard she'd be if she went off and did her own thing for who knows how long...

"How about we meet up sometime tomorrow or the day after? Whatever's good. I can't just leave him unguarded for a night, it's my responsibility to keep him out of any danger." Now that he was involved. "Once I smooth things over with him things should be alright, okay?"

She nods, looking down at Muika... still battered and shocked from their fight.

Then she leans down, lifting her into her arms, holding her easily and comfortably.

"Which way?"

"Uh." She wasn't exactly used to or comfortable with being carried but it was quicker this way, plus she would likely take forever to get back in her current state with her injuries. This time, she'd need to put up with it. "Head out of the city and....into the forest on the south end, some ways into the woods there's a small shack...that's where I live..."

"Understood."

She vanishes, taking off into the night, bourne upon her Bringers Light off to the south.

>>> LOCATION CHANGE AND SHIT.