Accessory Wars

Chapter 13-Felisa

            I went home that night thinking about Kami's sisters. Did they still speak with Kami? Did their parents forbid it? How old were they now? It made me think of my older sister, the eldest of my three sibling triad, who left home at seventeen. I never heard from her again. I wanted to believe she was alive and well, living her life free of our parents. A part of me knew she was dead. Maybe not physically but I watched her turn into an empty shell growing up. Although between the drugs and toxic relationships, I wouldn't be surprised if she were truly gone from this world.

Friday arrived and I woke up expecting to feel different. Aside from the slight giddiness at Kami and I's mutual friendship, I felt the same. I went to class, eating my usual meager lunch of beans and rice afterwards. Then I went to the gym to meet up with Kami. As I stepped out of the bathroom, I froze as Ken walked by. He shot me a glare. I turned my gaze away and hurried to the locker room to deposit my things.

Our day of training started out with target practice, where I made almost every shot. I missed a couple when my thoughts drifted too far. From there, Kami and I met up with Garreld and Silene. They offered to coach us when we left practice yesterday and both of us agreed it would be good to have experienced fighters teach us. I voiced my concerns about not wanting to fight and Garreld offered to teach us defensive moves instead. At first I wanted to decline but then I remembered the incident the other day with the three men. Some self-defense would be good to learn.

"Now the key to defense is to allow your Accessory to take control when needed. They can sense far more than you can alone," Garreld instructed. "Felisa, right now, you can detect others with your senses: sight, sound, smell, touch. As an Accessory, Kami has access to those same senses. She can tap into your sensory system and focus on a different sense than you are. For example, you might be looking at your opponent for an opening while Kami's listening for anyone sneaking up behind you. She also has a sixth sense of reading energy."

"How does she do that?" I asked.

"Since I'm currently made of energy, I can feel the energy around me. It's a bit like closing your eyes and seeing the world through a veil of static," Kami explained. I nodded and motioned to Garreld Kami had answered the question.

"Some Accessories come with gear to help aid their awareness as well," Garreld noted. He tapped his temple and I put a hand on the side of my head gear. "That visor is for more than just shooting. Kami should be able to tell you."

"I know it reads my vitals, like pulse and blood pressure," I remarked.

"That's fairly typical."

"I can record visual and auditory input, mark opponents as threats or allies, see the emotional state of other people and..." I jumped as the visor pulled up all sorts of tabs and I recognized them as internet pages. "I can browse the web! Well, so long as there's service or Wifi."

I lifted up the visor, watching the information disappear, and put it back over my eyes. "Can I control what's on it?" I asked.

"Of course!"

I thought of closing the internet tabs and they lowered from my view. Kami let me fiddle with the different functions for a minute before she reminded me we were training with Garreld and Seline. I snapped back to attention.

Our first bit of training had me stand with my eyes shut. Garreld had me rely on Kami to defend. When my arms suddenly shot up to block the incoming staff, I let out a small scream. It took me off guard. We repeated the exercise several times, building my trust with each blocked strike. We then switched to me holding the umbrella and repeated the process. By the time Kami blocked the sixth incoming staff with the umbrella, I started feeling a lot safer.