Who are you?

Part 26

Shiori woke up groggily. It took a few moments for everything to come back to her. She was in the field training with Akira. She was a bit tired but nowhere near her limit.

The ravens were flying in her field one by one, and she had to dodge them while also identifying which raven it was. For the sake of exercise, she simply referred to them by a number.

The ravens were careful to fly in her zone in a way she was sure to dodge. They didn't want to accidentally hit her, but they kept her on her feet. One moment everything was going well and the next she lost control.

As she was sensing for the information in her zone, and processing the information, her attention turned towards herself for a second. Her seal, to be more exact. She could feel the tight energy, held back by the seal and ready to burst.

But for a second, she felt something else—another energy trying to hide its presence in the much larger one. It felt ancient and sentient, foreign yet familiar as if it was meant to be there.

She tried to focus on the energy to get a better read. She stopped moving in the outside world and focused solely on the energy, trying to chase it. She tried to corner it, wrap her senses around it, trap it, and then bam.

There was an explosion of energy, and she was thrown out of herself. She was barely conscious enough to notice Akira holding her, shaking her, and everything went dark.

She could remember a few lucid moments of Akira taking her to her room, giving her some sort of medicine, checking on her, and staying by her bedside. She could vaguely remember a hand running through her hair and a gentle hum.

Her body was too out of it to show any reactions, and her mind wasn't lucid enough to grasp anything besides the fleeting moments; then, she fell asleep one last time.

And now she was awake. It was dark outside. She couldn't reliably tell the time without looking out since she didn't have a watch, but it was clearly well into the night.

She wasn't allowed to venture out at this hour, and she didn't want to cause any disturbances, so she decided to stay in the room. She felt a bit hungry since she had only had breakfast that day.

She went to her backpack quietly and found the scroll she was looking for. She had some dried meat that should do the trick. She unsealed the food from the scroll and went to the table to eat.

She was a bit groggy and didn't want to do anything else besides finish the food and go back to sleep, so she ate in silence. That is when she heard it—the sounds of murmuring.

It felt distant but was unmistakable. It sounded like a person in pain, but there were clearly multiple people. She tried to focus on the sounds, which were coming from multiple directions.

Her heart rate increased due to the possibility of danger, but the voice in her head warned her against going out and checking the sound. She was supposed to stay in but didn't want to cause problems.

She also didn't want to involve herself in things she shouldn't. While it was against her medic instincts to leave people in pain, she also had respect for people's boundaries.

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She would not leave her room. She finished her food and went to her futon to lie down. Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine.

There was a presence—something large and dangerous. She froze in place. It was behind her but not inside the room. There was a wall between them, but she felt as if the presence was looking into her soul.

She didn't dare move a muscle or look back to see what the presence was. She stayed put, ready to bolt but hoping she would be left alone. After what seemed like forever, the presence left.