Ch 1.36: Reunion
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma cast her gaze to the side as Brink walked off, leaving ina speechless and alone in the center of the ring. “Prisma,” she said, meaning to continue her sentence, but the words wouldn''te out. Even after everything, ina was entranced by the girl. Carline was cute and had a great body, Tira was sexy and cool, even Ranlit was prettier than most girls in ina’s vige, but Prisma had that long, tinum blonde hair, that fair, unblemished skin, and those enchanting blue eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Congrattions on winning your first match. Let’s get this over with.” Prisma raised her rapier, eyes meeting ina’s once more. “Start?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wha— no!” ina said, throwing her hands into the air. “Can we talk?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and lowering her weapon before opening them again. “ina, we need to do this and move on. It’s for your—” She squinted, then her eyes widened as she blushed and went to cover her chest with her hands. “Are you not wearing a bra?”
<span style="font-weight:400">ina covered her own torso with one arm as she stared Prisma down. “Don’t change the subject!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma bit her lip, looking away from ina once more. “Listen, ina… I said I was sorry, and I really meant it. I dragged you into a world you weren’t ready for, and you got eaten alive.”
<span style="font-weight:400">ina’s knuckles turned white as she gripped the rapier’s hilt. “Are you serious? You say that like I got eaten by wild animals, like <i><span style="font-weight:400">you </i><span style="font-weight:400">weren’t the one that ate me!” She sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes with her free hand,pletely ignoring her attempts to keep her semnce of modesty. “You did<i><span style="font-weight:400"> horrible </i><span style="font-weight:400">things to me. Why? I know you weren’t just messing with me at first. I know you actually wanted to be friends, so why did you do it?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma stared at the dirt, grip on her weapon weakening as the tip fell to the ground. “I’m d you won your duel with Waine, more than d. I felt awful after what we did to you, and…” She clutched her chest, shaking her head. “I didn’t want to do it. Please believe that.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then why?” ina said, stomping her foot into the sand. “Do you know how scared I was? When he started walking towards me—”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma’s head shot back towards ina. “I would never let him touch you. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Never</i><span style="font-weight:400">.” Her eyes were cold, the normally gentle blue irises boring into ina like icy daggers. “Come on. We’ll get in trouble if we don’t spar. Start!” Prisma raised her sword again, turning sideways, torso falling forward over her hips as she red.
<span style="font-weight:400">ina huffed, falling into her stance as well. “Fine, have it your way. But when we’re done, I want answers. Start!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma moved, her sword a snake darting towards ina. ina swatted it away, jumping back as she did. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What the hell! </i><span style="font-weight:400">It wasn’t any faster than Brink’s, and there shouldn’t have been a reason for it to seem so <i><span style="font-weight:400">ominous, </i><span style="font-weight:400">but Prisma’s de was something else, striking terror in ina as it raced after her. [Fear Response] took care of some of that sensation, but the feeling was too overpowering to be suppressed entirely. It was all she could do to retreat and bat the weapon away from her.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Point,” Prisma said, falling out of her stance and walking back to her starting position.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What? You never hit me!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Your foot.”
<span style="font-weight:400">ina looked down, seeing her back leg sticking out over the white line. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I backed up that far?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The rings weren’t huge, but she’d had a good few steps from where she started to the edge. Against Brink, she hadn’t even thought about the line at all, each point having been over before it was even close to mattering.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Start,” Prisma said.
<span style="font-weight:400">ina stepped back into the ring. She was still faster than Prisma, stronger too, surely. She just couldn’t get caught off guard again. “Start!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma’s arm wasing at her again. That’s what her sword was, not a tool, but an extension of her body, spearing towards ina. She dodged, stepping aside and going to attack Prisma’s wrist, the same trick Brink had done on her.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Point,” Prisma said at the same instant her de tip struck ina’s breast. She even managed to twist her hand so that her sword’s guard caught ina’s de, but even if ina had connected, it would have been toote. She was having trouble reconciling what happened in her mind. The de had beening at her, and she had tried to dodge, but it just <i><span style="font-weight:400">followed</i><span style="font-weight:400"> her, started moving with her dodge before ina had evenmitted to the movement fully herself. “Start.”
<span style="font-weight:400">No time to figure anything out. There was clearly a skill gap that wasrger than ina had realized was possible, but she just had to do her best. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can’t lose to her. I’m going to win, and she’s going to talk!</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">“Start,” ina said, herself on the move this time. She dashed in, swinging her sword towards her opponent’s before Prisma had time to strike, knocking the damned thing out of Prisma’s hand and tapping her on the stomach. “Point.” Prisma stared down at the weapon on her shirt in disbelief before bending over and grabbing her weapon again as ina backed up. “Start.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Start,” Prisma said. ina was already rushing again. She’d found her in, her one way to win. Prisma had a lifetime of training on her side, but she still wouldn’t be a match for ina’s newfound physical abilities. ina struck towards Prisma’s weapon again, going to knock it out of her hand just like before.
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma’s de twirled around ina’s as they collided, her wrist twisting as ina tried to push her sword out of her hand again. ina could only watch as the point of the weapon swirled around hers, creeping towards her. She tried to pull back, knock the sword the other direction, but the force of her swing was too strong. Her attack carried through, hitting nothing as Prisma tilted her hand forward, striking ina on the finger.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Point, and match.” Prisma drew her sword back and sheathed it on her belt, turning around. “You’re good, a natural even. If you had the training I’ve had, you’d probably be the best in our ss. But you’re too predictable. Even when you disarmed me I knew what you were doing, I just didn’t expect the amount of force you could put out.”
<span style="font-weight:400">ina threw her sword into the sand, holding back the water in her eyes as she stared at the back of Prisma’s stupid tinum blonde hair. “I don’t want fencing advice, Prisma!” She stormed over, grabbing Prisma by the shoulder and spinning her around.
<span style="font-weight:400">Tears. They were falling down Prisma’s eyes as she stared back in shock, only visible for a moment before she pushed ina’s hand off and turned away again. “Just— Just leave me alone!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“But why? I’m not a dud! I understood back then, but why now? I have an aspect! I’m good with it, so why am I not good enough for you?” Prisma stood there, back turned, as tears started streaming down ina’s face too. She didn’t care about her thin shirt anymore. People could stare at her chest, stare at her outburst, stare at whatever. Right now, the only thing she cared about was answers. “I thought we were going to be friends… More than friends, maybe. Was I wrong?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes.” Prisma looked back, face red and puffed, but the tears dried. “Friends, we could have been, if things were different, but we never could have been more than that, no matter what happened. I apologize if I led you to believe otherwise.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Those words hung over the sand, pushing at ina so much that she started to step back backwards. “Oh…” For all Prisma was, ina could tell she still wasn’t a liar, that she meant every word. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We never could have been like that, no matter what.</i><span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">“ina, please leave. People are starting to stare, and I don’t want any more trouble with Waine.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Right.” ina grabbed her training sword off the ground. “One more thing… I— I need to know. That night, after you took that portrait of me—”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Don’t. Just leave.”
<span style="font-weight:400">A deep pain in ina’s chest pushed back at her, unmitigated by her skill, making her feel like she was going to vomit. She couldn''t leave though, not yet. She needed to know why Prisma took thatst picture, why she said thatst thing. “Prisma, you called me…”
<span style="font-weight:400">But the pain only grew, mounting an unbearable attack on the core of her soul. She ran away, stomach lurching as she ignored the crowd watching her.