Runaway Angel

9. You kill, you get killed.

INOYA 

"3!" Yukitaro yelled. I pounced on my prey: the dog. Out of pure instinct, I tugged the longer feathers of my wings and used them as... swords?

The creature dashes to rip me apart, his claws at the ready. It pounced at me. With a fluid movement, I managed to avoid its jagged claws. My body moved on its own. It sliced the dog's front paws. 

That did not stop it. The beast lunged and snapped at me with its razor-sharp teeth. My body dodged it and attacked from behind. With that, the dog was decapitated. 

The battle was over. I looked back at the dog's head. Something ached inside me. My eyes teared up. "No..." I croaked. I knelt beside the head and cried. I did not have the intention of killing it. 

I sat there and mumbled "No, no, no... " Yukitaro rushed towards me. He had a hand placed on my back. "Are you hurt? Is everything okay?" His tone was filled with worry. I was about to reply when I heard something disturbing. It creeped the hell out of me. The high-pitched laughter. I looked around. There was no other human else except us and Ishimi. It grew fainter. 

"Close your eyes and hold your breath. This will only take a minute." Yukitaro urged. I did as I was told. He placed a cool water blob on my face. I appeared to have a cut above my left eye. 

Ishimi helped me up. "How did you" There was a pause. He looked to and fro at the dead beast and me. "You have swords?" He asked, looking for some evidence on me. "It was my instincts. I feel like I've done something similar before. I can't remember." I moaned, holding my 'feather swords'.

Yukitaro held me by both shoulders. He stared into my eyes, and I stared into his. Those impenetrable eyes look hard to read. He gave me a reassuring smile. He helped me stuff those 'swords' back into my wing. 

Ishimi took a stance, his feet shoulder length apart. "What are you-" Yukitaro started. Ishimi willed a disk of mud to rise around us. The ground we stood on was floating. A square piece of land {along with grass if you were wondering ; ) } bobbing up and down. Ishimi commanded it to move forward. I can say, it was a smooth ride. 

We rode for hours and the sun was going down. The landscape kept changing from grasslands to deserts to river deltas. We were going through a village, the Earthen kingdom in sight. That is when Ishimi suddenly fell to his knees. The floating platform crumbled to dust. We found ourselves buried.

Ishimi was half-conscious. I wiggled out of the rubble. Yukitaro hauled a half-asleep Ishimi. "We'll rest at that inn." He pointed. 

I took everyone's bags while Yukitaro had a hard time carrying sluggish Ishimi. The inn was made of wood. It had a tiny indoor garden. It was a lovely place to stay. "Three bedrooms please" Yukitaro panted.

We were given adjacent rooms. My room had a door connecting Yukitaro and me. We laid Ishimi on his bed. He looked like someone beat the life out of him. the poor guy. 

I tugged my door handle. Yukitaro looked over at me. "If anything's bothering you, don't hesitate to tell us." His eyes showed an anxious look. "I will." I smiled. 

My room was pretty small: It had a two-person bed, a table with two chairs, and a big window with some creepers on the window pane. A few candles flickered light. I put my bag on the table. Ishimi had brought it while falling down with an extra dress inside. I changed into fresh clothes and hopped into bed. I couldn't sleep. I just laid there, dazed. 

I looked into a mirror on my bedside table. My bangs have grown out, my eyes look the same as the child in my dreams. With my waist-length hair untied, I laid back in bed.

I heard a door open. My eyes opened and I saw a room overflowing with sunlight with window walls. I saw a cleaner and younger me in a bed with her eyes closed. 

Dupli-me had the glowing figure by her side, her hand above the other me's face, pouring white light from those hands. Ishimi was by her side.

 Some kind of purple smoke was being sucked out of sleeping me. "It has been done." The lighted figure said with exhaustion. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with a cloth Ishimi had offered. 

"Your majesty, I'll take care of her. The war will start soon. You need to take necessary measures." Ishimi rushed. The glowing lady's face was covered by a veil. She slowly slipped out of the room, her gown following her. The door closed gently behind her. 

Ishimi grinned and turned his face away from the real me. He chuckled for a while, took a deep breath, and laughed. He kept laughing like a psychopath. It turned high-pitched. It turned into the female voice I was always feared. 

He, or was it she, spoke. "I'll haunt you till you die kiddo." The female voice came from Ishimi's mouth. He said it with an eerie smile. "No, go away." I tried to sound confident. It was no use. He gradually came closer and closer to me. My other self seemed to know nothing. I screamed for help. No one could hear me except the Ishimi monster. 

"Say your prayers, stupid girl." The female's voice echoed. "Shut up. Go away, please," I begged.  Ishimi's kind hand knocked me down. He raised a knife and-