The Past Returns...

The past few months had been tedious for Terumi, both in body and in mind. There was so much going on in the world at large, and as if that was not enough, she had her own personal issues to deal with. Come to think of it, that was what adult life was all about, wasn’t it? Worrying about all sorts of things and being powerless to solve ninety percent of them. Some people often said that worry was not helpful and ought to be done without, but Terumi felt the issues she often thought about were very legit. For one, and that one was arguably her biggest anxiety: the world was at war. There were those that hoped that the declarations of war proclaimed by the two countries of Bellum and Pergrande would only involve them, and not spread to other places, but Terumi knew that politics was stickier than that. For one, both countries were large and powerful. There was no way they would not have allies, and these allies would want to support them directly or indirectly. Also, there were those others that would want to use the war for their own selfish purposes: aiming to claim more lands, obtain wealth through various means, and so on. Eventually, the two warring nations would not be the only ones that would feel the brunt of the war. There was a very slim chance that this would not be a Great Ishgar War.

Terumi did not want to be really involved in the battles that would follow, but she was afraid that there would be little choice left for her. She thought about Nita for a while; she wondered how her friend was holding up in these times. From their interactions, she knew that the blonde mage was Pergrandian, and even though she was not familiar with the details of Nita’s fleeing her homeland, she knew that it was because of her magic. Magic was outlawed in Pergrande, and that stand alone made Terumi wonder what sort of place it was. She liked seeing different places, but she had never considered trying to see what Pergrande looked like. Her friend, Nita, still seemed to have some love for her homeland, and it had worried Terumi a lot of times that Nita might support her country in this war. In her opinion, it was highly hypocritical to use the power of magic when one outrightly denounced it, but the truth of war was that it was never about who was right or who was wrong. True, the intentions may look that way in the beginning, but when things got rough and nasty, what mattered was who was left. “War is not about who’s right; what matters is who’s left.” She scoffed lightly, though a sad, wistful smile crossed her face. Her dad had liked that pun.

Whether she liked it or not, she was sure that she would play a role in the Bello-Pergrandian war. That meant that she would find herself up against various warriors with different abilities, and from the little she knew about Pergrande’s forces, they were no pushovers. Also, they were backed up by the tough and hardy folk of Iceberg. Terumi knew that Bellum and Fiore (which had sided Bellum) had powerful mages, but the plain truth was that at this point, it was impossible to say who would come out on top in this fight. She had never liked the stories about war; her father hardly every glorified it. Rather, he had told her more about its horrors, the casualties and the horrors inflicted on its survivors. She had thought it was a bit of a grisly thing for him to do, but he told her that it was a thing never to be relished, even if it seemed to have good intentions at the start. It always ended with people doing what they could never be proud of, all for the sake of victory. In war, victory’s demanded price was often very steep.

Thinking about the war brought her to dwell on her powers. Or perhaps putting it in a singular term would be more appropriate? She had a control of fire that very few could outdo, but therein was her major flaw: fire was all she had. At first, she hadn’t thought of it as an issue, because her flames had different capabilities, and she was hardly ever short of a solution with them. Then, the powerful being known as Medeia had come and singlehandedly shattered all the faith she put in her magic. It was not that she was not proud of the Allfire Magic; she had come a long way in mastering it, and she recognized its might, but if she ever found herself up against a Slayer who could consume fire, much like Medeia had done, how would she cope? She still recalled their fight vividly; no, it was more like Medeia had been toying with her. She didn’t know which had been more humiliating: the fact that the perverted angel was virtually immune to everything she threw at her, or the threat of being tied to a post in nothing but her underwear. She was so relieved when Medeia had let her off easy; the woman had actually treated her a lot more tenderly than she had expected, causing her to view the dark mage in a kinder light. Still, she could not forget the cause of their fight, and the realization that such an event might still present itself in the future. Medeia was not really like other dark mages she had met, but she did share their indifference to lives and having their own way even if it meant widespread destruction. If she had to face Medeia again in the future, or someone like her, she needed to be stronger than she already was, and that involved having a more versatile power. It was ironic that even though she was also a Fire Eater, though not a Slayer mage, it had taken another person who could eat her element to show her where she was sorely lacking.

All the events of previous times had taken Terumi back to her workshop, where she had been working feverishly on crafting inventions that could assist her in combat and give her that much needed adaptability that her magic lacked. After all, like her father often had said, “knowledge is power”, and any thing that one knew about could be applied to yield desirable results. Her intelligence and affinity towards technology could be used to help her get stronger, and perhaps she would focus a little more on that, until she could discover a new power… if she had such potential.

She really missed her father.

All work and no play made Terumi a dull girl. Working hard and thinking about depressing thoughts was beginning to have a noticeable effect on her mood. She had taken a few missions here and there to get herself out of the workshop, but she herself had noticed that Senka had been a little grumpier than normal, and even people had noticed. She was surprised, though, when most people did not address their issue with her as being because of her crankiness. They were talking about the colors of her suit! “It’s too dark”, “you look more like the night-prowler type”, “if you want to be a beacon of hope or something, shouldn’t you try for lighter colors?” It was like they had all shared a script or something, but perhaps they had a point. Maybe she needed to go back to the drawing board and revise her costume. For a superhero, public image was almost as important as the ideals they fought to uphold. Almost as, but never as important.

Eventually, the petite Midijin girl in her tinker’s corner decided that what she needed was a vacation. A little rest and relaxation would put her back in perspective, rejuvenate her spirits and give her the time to think about her direction. Besides, since most individuals preferred to go holidaying in the summer, there would not be too many people about at the holiday spots. Hopefully. She wasn’t looking out for fun, though, just something relaxing and soothing.

Hot springs were soothing.

The truth was, Terumi almost always felt hot. Still, there was a lot of appeal in basking in those special springs that did a lot of good to both mind and soul. She had thought of many places that she could go to, but most of them got ruled out almost immediately. She had heard that Sabertooth had its own hot springs and even a beach but being so close to her guild would only remind her of work, and she might end up picking a mission or doing something else related to her job, and that would defeat the purpose of her vacation. The best option, from the looks of it, was “Spa Town”. That sounded like a good idea: she would take three or four days off and enjoy cuisines and traditions that reminded her of her people. As much as possible, she would put out of her mind the fact that she was a mage and the responsibilities that came with it, and in a resort, there was likely to be less crime, as people were there to just enjoy themselves and spend their money. Her superhero career could do with the break.

”Alright, Terumi-chan, let’s do this and come back a better version of yourself…”

---

”I think our surveillance is finally paying off,” a figure concealed in a dark blue cape stated, the pleasure evident in their feminine voice. It was obviously a woman, even though her features were concealed by the hooded garb. On her face was a porcelain mask with wavy blue designs, reminiscent of a Midijin kappa demon. On her back, the cape bore three thick horizontal lines set one above the other; however, the lines at the top and the bottom were broken in two halves, while the line between them was unbroken.  ”I really didn’t expect us to be this fortunate, but wherever she’s going means that she will be more or less separated from her guild, right? And with the information we gained of recent, who would have thought that she would have such a glaring weakpoint?” The woman chuckled. ”It’s exciting, isn’t it?”

”There is nothing exciting about your depravity,” was the curt response, the tone bearing some emotion of anger. This one was a man, from the build and the voice, and while, like the woman, he wore a cape and a mask, there were some notable differences. First, his mask had orange fiery designs, and the horned mask resembled some sort of Midijin oni. Secondly, his cape was tattered and plain, of a dull brown color. It had no lines or symbols on it. ”’Depravity’ you say,” the woman sneered. ”From what I hear, that girl is Evil Incarnate; her hands were soiled in blood right from birth…” Now it was the man’s voice that took on a condescending tome. ”’From what you hear’? You don’t even know the details, and you would jump to such conclusions? Against someone you barely know, that’s just…”

The woman raised a hand. ”Like I want to hear any family history,” she said dismissively. ”I don’t even need to know whether it’s true or not. It’s those with power who create the rules, who rewrite history. I’m only interested in getting the power I need, and Izanami-sama will give it to me if I do this.” Her voice took on a note of mock sympathy. ”I can understand why this would eat you up inside, anyway. Wonder how you must be feeling right now.”

”Terumi will do the right thing, and put me down, if she has to.”

”But we all know you can’t stay down. Besides, I’m dying to see the expression on her face when she sees what she’s up against.”

”It would do me a lot of good, if you actually did die right now.” His words were not sarcastic. He meant them with all his heart.

The woman only laughed. ”She should be arriving here today. We’ll give her tonight to have a good time. Oh, tomorrow is going to be very interesting.”

This holiday was turning out to be the best decision she had made of recent. Even though Terumi was not the definition of an extrovert, she found the wandering around in Hosenka town to be enjoyable. She was not surprised that the entire town was set up like one big tourist attraction, because it was. The hot springs alone were enough to attract visitors, but having a town built around that resource of nature, complete with shops and sights and bars and bazaars, was enough to give people a reason to part with their money to have a good and peaceful time.

It was the fact that Hosenka’s architectural design drew heavily from Midijin culture, and that she could express herself more traditionally, that was the crowning glory of this place, as far as Terumi was concerned. She could easily dress up in a kimono, with geta sandals on her feet, and not have many people stare at this “foreigner”. Her dad used to say that it was always good to connect to one’s roots, especially when they were in diaspora, and Terumi liked to do so because she enjoyed the experience. There were quite a number of people in Hosenka who were fluent in Midijin, and with such people she conversed without using the Fioran basic language.

She had awoken at daybreak but had stayed in bed till the sun was fully risen above the horizon. After a cold bath and a light breakfast, she had dressed up and gone window-shopping. There were so many shops that expectedly sold all sorts of tourist souvenirs and trinkets. Terumi often thought that souvenirs were not really valuable, because their utility was usually very limited. She understood, however, that the actual worth of the souvenir lay in the memories behind it. Remembering a fond moment just by looking at an article sitting on the mantelpiece was a beautiful feeling. Perhaps it would have been better if she had come to this place in the company of friends, but she did not have many of such, yet. This holiday was for her to get some “me-time” anyway. There would be other opportunities to make beautiful memories with loved ones later.

Most, if not all the money she had budgeted on her window-shopping project was spent on edibles. Terumi had a giant appetite (no puns intended, being a half titan) and often felt like munching on something as she went about. People often wondered at the amounts of food she could wolf down at a sitting, but the young woman had eventually grown a level of thick skin to that subject. Besides, if she was going to go all out at a meal, she preferred to do it in the comfort and secrecy of her home. She still got very self-conscious, after all, when she suddenly became the subject of attention on an awkward topic.

By the time she was done walking almost the entire length and breadth of Hosenka town, the sun was already dipping towards the west. Her itinerary for the day would end with a dip in the renowned spa to unknot her muscles, and she was sure that sleep would be very sweet and soothing afterwards. When she returned to the hotel where she was lodged, it was twilight. She noticed a “beauty therapy and wellness” center on the hotel grounds, and decided to check it out. There were many treatments that boasted of all sorts of health benefits, and while she thought of most of them as spurious, she decided to go for one or two of them. Originally, she had considered having a full body massage, but on getting to see the male massage therapist, who had an obviously chiseled body (even though he wasn’t dressed in form fitting clothes) and the realization that she might have to go completely naked for the massage, a furiously blushing Terumi quickly opted for a scalp and foot massage, even when she was informed that she could have a female massage therapist if she preferred.

Feeling relieved of a lot of tension, Terumi headed for the spa. The massages had done wonders to her mind and body; a lot of the pent-up stress from her fight with Medeia and even the destruction of Felidae City had been worked out of her system by expert hands. During the scalp massage, Terumi had wondered, with no little amount of amusement, what would happen if her hair was to go up in flames, as it usually did when she was “fired up”. Her flaming hair was not usually dangerous and did not burn anyone or anything unless she expressly wished it to, but it would have been a big shock to the therapist. Since Terumi was not really a fan of expensive practical jokes, or even most practical jokes for that matter, she had not bothered to ignite her hair.

Some moments later, after a bath to wash off the sweat, dust and grime of the day, Terumi eased herself into the onsen with an audible sigh. It really felt so good, despite the fact that she often felt hot and stuffy at the normal room temperature. Maybe it was the minerals in the water, or maybe the humid feeling she often felt was all in her mind. Whichever it was did not matter, anyway; she planned on soaking in here for as long as possible and enjoying the relaxing bath to the fullest. She met two women already in the spa; greetings were cordially exchanged as she settled in. Not too long after, another woman joined them. Terumi was not mostly a part of the conversation, but she responded as pleasantly as possible when addressed, and tried not to act or seem aloof in their presence.

Then there was a loud crash.

As one, the four women looked up, confusion and wariness on their faces as they looked towards the source of the noise. Terumi remembered that she had stashed her Yasakani no Tama in her room before going for the hot spring bath, because many people said it looked like a recording device. Perhaps she needed to give it a less obvious design. She had considered upgrading its shell with stealth modules, but that would only cause more confusion as people would bump into a small object they couldn’t see. Perhaps that would be her next assignment: create a version of the Tama that she could carry anywhere and everywhere, without raising suspicion from anyone. As the women conversed in low tones, trying to guess what was going on, there were raised voices, followed by another crash. Somehow, Terumi knew it meant trouble. This was frustrating. Even when she was supposed to be on a holiday, danger still sought her out.

Terumi rose to her feet from her sitting position. First thing was to get her robe, then she could venture forth and find out exactly what was going on… Another crash, but this time, it was much closer, and the women in the women's section of the onsen screamed as a body came flying through the walls and landing unconsciously on the ground. Instinctively, Terumi wrapped her arms around her chest and dropped back into the water. The person who had broken through the wall was a guard, from his uniform, and he had been beaten out of his senses. Then, the perpetrators of the villainous act revealed themselves, chuckling ominously as they stepped into the ladies' section.

Four men. Three of them looked like riffraff, what with their weird hairdos, dyed hair, and tattoos. The fourth looked like he was operating under bad influence, and he looked like a minor.

”Well, hello, ladies,” a muscular shirtless rough said, a cigarette pinched between his yellow teeth. Tattoos flowed across his chest. ”We just want to have a little good time, like you gals are.”

”That’s right,” another said. He had a pot belly, which, coupled with the fact that he was on the short side, reminded Terumi of the rounded underside of a ceramic pot. ”So long as you don’t act unreasonably like the guards here, we’ll all enjoy ourselves.”

The third, who was the tallest and most muscular, and reminded Terumi of an orc said nothing; he just poked at the minor and pushed him further towards the hot spring.

The four women, Terumi included, huddled together, trying to move as far away from the men as possible. ”Somebody help us!” one of them cried out, as the cigarette smoking thug leaped into the hot spring, clothes and all. ”Come on now, you’re being unreasonable.” He gestured at the guard. ”I don’t need to tell you what happens to people that are unreasonable, do I?” He looked over his shoulder and barked: ”Hiro! Now’s the time to make you into a man. Choose one of these pretty ladies for yourself.” The boy looked at the women, then at the tattooed thug who was grinning lecherously at the frightened women. He looked nervous. ”They look scared, aniki. I think we’re harassing them…”

The one Hiro referred to as “aniki” turned on him with a growl. ”You’d better get rid of that wimpy behavior if…”

Terumi spoke in a low tone, now that the thugs seemed distracted with the boy they had brought here. ”I’m going to raise up some steam, and once I do, you all make for the doors and escape. Don’t worry about them coming after you; I’ll hold them back. Just make sure you bring back the cops.” The other three women exchanged glances, then nodded. ”Alright. On the count of three…”

The ”aniki” was still giving Hiro a lecture on how men took whatever they wanted, and some similar nonsense, when Terumi stepped away from the women and suddenly increased her body temperature, creating a miniature Bakuhatsu around herself. The instantly evaporated water blanketed the area in a thick layer of fog, and as the men looked around them bewildered, Terumi noted with satisfaction that the other three women were smart enough to take advantage for the situation and flee the area. Her Tengan informed her that the silent orc, despite the concealing mist, reached out to grab one of the women who came a little close to him in her flight. ”He has some sort of extrasensory perception? He must be a mage, then…” Terumi considered, as she pointed towards him. "Sunfire Tech: Kagerō!" A wall of flames leaped up between the muscled man and the fleeing woman, causing him to back away in surprise. She further manipulated the wall to hinder any of the others from chasing after the women, as she made a move of her own.

"Where did I put my robe? Where...? Dang!"

She realized that one of the women had taken her robe along with her. All that was left were the towels. Since Terumi was not big of body, she hoped that the towel would wrap around her well enough... but what did she expect? At least, she had found one large enough to cover her modesty. She secured the towel just as the vapors cleared enough to reveal to the men that the women had escaped... all except one. Terumi could have run away with the others, but she feared that if she had done so, the men would only pursue them, and she would have to face off against them in likely more populated areas. It was better to hold them here, limiting collateral damage to this place and detaining them until the law enforcement arrived.

In a flash of memory, she remembered Medeia, and her legs felt weak. What if one of these hoodlums was as powerful as the dark mage? She gritted her teeth. What mattered was detaining them long enough for someone powerful enough to subdue them. Come to think of it, there was no one strong enough to challenge Medeia back in Oak Town. If today was a similar case as back then... She didn't need to be told that she had to get stronger.

"Fufufufu... what's this? It seems the shorty couldn't get away..." The cigarette smoker jumped out of the pool, chuckling ominously. "And she has a good looking body, too... fufufufu..." The three men closed in on her; three, because Hiro did not move from where he was. "Aniki, I think we should stop..." Hiro said weakly. "Shut your hole, insect!" the boss snapped. He turned back to Terumi, who was trying as much as possible to look dangerous and in control. From the amused expressions on the men's faces, she had an idea of how well that was playing out. "Hahahaha... check out that pout. This one's a cutie, alright," the portly one said. "Say, I got an idea that could work for all of us," the boss said. "How about you come with us, and we won't hurt anyone here or damage anything. We're very powerful mages, you know, and that's why no one has been able to stand up to us. You seem like the heroic sort, letting the other gals escape while you stayed back to hold us... which won't work, given our powers. So, it's a win-win situation: we won't cause anymore trouble, and I guarantee you this night will be the best of your life." He stepped closer to her. "And don't worry about clothes; what you're putting on is pretty enough... perhaps a little too much, even." He reached out and held the hem of her towel with two fingers. "What do you say, shorty?"

Terumi slapped him hard across the face. It might as well have been a Vulcan slogging him anyway, because the force of the blow sent him flying clean out of the women's section. Everyone else in the room stared after their boss, the shock written on their faces. Normally, Terumi might not have had the physical strength to send a full grown man, who was almost twice her weight, flying with a single punch, but she had instantly activated her Restricted Voidfire Tech to the Fourth Level. From experience, at the level of "Muspel March", human sized opponents were no match for such insane strength, unless they boasted of power levels higher than her own. The mere fact that they couldn't react to her blow, and the way their leader was flung away, gave Terumi a big helping of hope. She might probably be able to defeat them.

"You punks just spoilt a really good vacation for me. Understandably, I'm not delighted, but I'm feeling a bit generous. So, turn yourselves in, and I won't have to slap each of you into next month. What do you say?"

The three roughs, as well as Terumi, turned to look at the doors of the ladies' section, as the tattooed ruffian stormed back in. He looked more annoyed than injured. "Get that bitch!" he roared.

Great! Just when she thought things were looking up. On the flip side, it was another thing she could tick off on her bucket list: defeat three or four opponents, while clad in only a towel.

She needed to find a way to identify each of their abilities; until she did so, she didn’t want to go all out and give them the opportunity to figure out her powers. If she could help it, she hoped to one-shot each of them, taking them out of the fight as quickly as possible, though that strategy meant that she needed to know just how much of a beating each of these men could take. They were a bunch of lowlife scumbags, in her opinion, but Terumi was not a fan of murder, unless it absolutely could not be helped.

The “orc” faced brute was the first to attack, charging at her with the obvious intention of grappling her. That action hinted at either of two possibilities: one, he was very sure of his physical strength, and had considered that he would be able to match her in a bare knuckled brawl. The other possibility was that he was an idiot, and had quickly forgotten that she had just slapped someone into the next room only moments ago. She would go with option one. It would not do to underestimate her opponents, and this was a lesson she had learned from watching others take her for granted. She ducked around him as he tried to wrap her up in a bear hug, with one hand holding her towel in place, just in case a stroke of bad luck happened.  Well, it couldn’t really be called “bad luck”, because it was normal for vigorous activity to make things wrapped around the body come undone. But if she was using her hands to secure her dignity, she might have to fight with her legs. Fortunately for her, the orc guy seemed slower than she was, so she had the advantage in a physical fight, as long as she could avoid him. Powering up her Restricted Voidfire Tech to the fifth level, Muspel Rumble, she kicked the orc in the back, sending him staggering forward. Staggering?! That meant that he was also very strong, or he was as heavy as a ton of bricks. Maybe she would have to go all out with these guys.

Belatedly, she realized that the thug with the pot belly had sneaked into her blind spot, but her Tengan revealed that he was hurrying in close, perhaps to pull a sneaky sucker punch. She turned to rebuff him, but he suddenly moved faster than she expected, closing the distance between them in a flash. She braced for an attack as she readied one of her own, but to her uttermost surprise, all he did was yank at her towel. In hindsight, it was deplorable, but it had merit: stripping her would likely force her to focus on covering her nakedness, and be unable to fight. His perverted plan would not work, however, if she was crazy enough to fight in the nude, or the towel did not come off. Well, she definitely was not the former, but her hand, which was securing the towel, was still doing its job. Terumi stared at him, her expression a mixture of shock, revulsion and indignation, but she looked quite comical, because, for some reason, her cheeks were puffed out. The thug laughed. ”It’s that cute pout again...”

Terumi exhaled a torrid stream of flames over his head. That explained the puffed cheeks.

”Yeeeeoooowww!!!”

With the cry of surprise and pain, the rough dove into the hot springs. Terumi almost laughed. It was so satisfying to see that stupid, pervy grin wiped off his face. But the gusto with which he had escaped into the water was indicative of the fact that the fight was not gone out of him yet. He would be back, and he would definitely want some comeuppance. Maybe it was time to get serious herself, and hit them with spells a little higher than on the rung of almost “nerfed out”.

”What are you meatheads doing?” the thug leader snarled. ”She’s just one stupid bimbo, and you can’t even knock her out?!”

”Why don’t you speak for yourself, since you’re such a big shot? You’ve only been hiding behind your lackeys so far.”

The boss ignored the slight and turned to the Hiro boy. ”I don’t see you doing anything, you little fart.”

Hiro held up his hands. ”Sorry, aniki. You know I’m useless in a fight...”

The tattooed thug muttered something under his breath, before he was interrupted by someone bellowing in a fit of rage. ”You singed off my beard, you stupid skank!” the short thug ranted, as flames began to burn around his hands. ”He also uses Fire magic? How unlucky for him, I suppose...” Terumi thought, although she couldn’t help remembering that Medeia was also a “Fire magic” user, and yet, it had not ended too well for Terumi. If, however, all he could use was fire, then he would be almost completely unable to harm her, much like she had been unable to deal with the dark mage.  What gave Medeia the advantage was the fact that she had other powers apart from fire. So, that was what Terumi needed to do: obtain a power that did not strictly rely on fire.

The ruffian was still raging as he waded out of the pool. ”You think you can use fire, huh? I’ll show you fire. First, I’m going to burn that towel off you, then I’ll burn you some more until you beg me for mercy. Thankfully, Hiro here has some strong healing spells, so I doubt death will be an option of escape for you.”

”Heh, Figaro is pissed. I think I’ll sit back and enjoy this.”

So, the short, flabby one was “Figaro”. Terumi honestly thought the name did not fit him... at least, not with his current occupation of societal nuisance. She found herself thinking of her friend Nita, and how the young woman had the ability to get on annoying people’s nerves with such adroitness that it often looked like a talent. Nita would probably pick the name “Figaro” and use it to destroy him, while keeping that innocent, oblivious expression on her face. Terumi wouldn’t bother trying; she would probably give a very weak one-liner that would cause her no small degree of embarrassment. She was better off sticking with her own style, which was a more taciturn way of kicking ass.

”You know, I was thinking about burning off that pretty hair of yours, but then I figured that wouldn’t give me anything to grip when I’m...” he made some thrusting movements with his hips.

”Ugh! You’re just a bag of hot wind. Why not try it, if you think you can?”

He paused and looked at the boss, seemingly surprised that he had not managed to get a desired effect on her with his words. Terumi almost smirked. Nita would have destroyed someone like him even before they began fighting. And it was a sound ploy, really: Nita had the advantage of being calm minded, while her opponent would be frothing at the mouth. Irate people were easier to read, more reckless, and they made more mistakes...

Figaro pointed his fist at her, and an impressive wave of fire surged forth towards her. If she was just anybody else, and unable to dodge his attack, he probably would have made good on his threats. But Yamadera Terumi was not just anybody. She made no attempts to defend herself, but as the fire got close, she simply opened her mouth and swallowed the entire burning wave. That stopped Figaro short.

”Your fire is a bit bland, if you ask me. Maybe it’s because I’ve come across such garden-variety flames so many time, they are no longer interesting.”

”So, you’re a Slayer, huh?” Terumi did not bother to correct him. ”Let’s see if you can eat this, then! Lightning-Fire Surge Impact!”

Interesting. From the name, and the looks, this spell was a fire attack augmented with lightning. This would make it impossible for a Fire Slayer type to consume, unless they were lucky enough to also have lightning as an added element. But Terumi was not a Slayer, was she? Once again, she made no move until the attack got close, then she devoured it just as easily as the first time.

The thugs stared in confused surprise.

”This one has a sharper taste,” Terumi commented, daintily dabbing at her lower lip with a finger. Then she looked at their shocked faces and looked puzzled herself. ”What? Did I get the taste wrong?”

”Stop playing with me!” Figaro screamed, as he fired off a blast of dark purple flame. For the third time, Terumi ate it. ”This one has a disagreeable taste, if you ask me, but only because I’m not a fan of bitter stuff.”

”She can eat all kinds of fire?!” Figaro exclaimed incredulously.

”And I can do more,” Terumi declared, her voice taking on a rather imperious tone. ”I think we’ve fooled around enough.”

The flames of Figaro, that wreathed his hands, changed from dark purple to mint green, and the man screeched in pain as he fell to his knees. ”Your fire is mine now, and as I’m sure you have tortured people with this flame for your pleasure, I want you to experience what they feel. Maybe you will have a change of heart after this ordeal.”

Figaro leaped into the spring again, but this time, the fire burned underwater. For a while, nobody spoke, as they watched the thug struggle with the flames that were once his. Then, Terumi snapped her fingers, and the fire exploded, knocking him out of the water and into the nearest wall. Figaro stayed where he was and did not get up.

”You psychopathic bitch! I thought you were one of the good guys...”

”And that is why you would take me for granted?” Terumi interjected with an aloof inquiry. Then her expression softened slightly. ”If I wanted to torture him, as he would have loved to do to me, he would still be screaming by now. I could easily have destroyed his hands if I wanted, but like you said, I’m ‘one of the good guys’. Learn a lesson today, ‘aniki’: the ‘good guys’ are not weak.”

While Terumi had burned Figaro to punish him alright, she had adjusted the flames to cause more pain than tissue damage, and while her final attack on him seemed like a savage coup de grace, it was actually out of mercy, as she couldn’t bear to hear his screams anymore. She still remembered what it was like to plead for release while undergoing torture, and to be denied.

”I won’t ask you to give yourselves up anymore after this. Your final warning.”

”Die, bitch!” was what she got as a reply, as the tattooed thug boss lunged at her, his tattoos glowing fiercely. ”Unlike Figaro, I have a force field that makes me impervious to damage.” He threw a well-executed right hook at her face, but Terumi backed away from it. ”A shield, you say?” She pointed two fingers at his chest. ”Sunfire Tech: Senkō!” There was a flash of light, and the boss keeled over, his chest smoldering. Terumi realized with her Tengan that she had actually injured his internal organs with her piercing spell, having overestimated his shield spell. Goodness, that would not do! She was not trying to kill anyone. ”Don’t give me the idea that you’re that tough, idiot,” she murmured, as she cast her Exorcist Flames on him, healing him of critical injuries. However, she left him weak enough to be easily subdued. Who knew whether he would jump up and start fighting again, once he was restored?

”You strong. Give me good fight!” the orc issued his challenge, as he loomed over her. This guy was probably following the others because he was in it for the fights, and had thought the thug boss was powerful. Well yes, the rough was strong in his own right, but Terumi had his mistletoe dart in her arsenal. As for this guy, he could probably take a beating, so beat him she would.

”Final Restricted Voidfire Tech: Muspel Might!”

As the pale blue flames danced around her body, the orc looking thug gave a war cry (or was it a shout of glee), and pounced. Terumi shifted her body out of the way, and punched him square in the temple with enough force to release a shock wave. Then she skipped away, just in case he might want to attempt a grapple. The orc instead made a chortling sound, but a line of spittle dribbled out from his slightly ajar mouth, and he fell flat on his face. Terumi first made sure that none of her defeated foes had any debilitating injuries, then she turned to face the last one.

Hiro.

He had been in a state of bewilderment, but when he noticed that Terumi was watching him, he gulped and forced a smile. ”Uh... has anyone told you how amazing you are, Onee-chan?” Terumi raised an eyebrow, but she was obviously amused.  ”Go ahead, please.” She abruptly held up her hand to stop him. ”Though, if you think that will bribe me enough to let you off the hook, you’re joking.”

He cringed. ”You’re not going to hit me, are you?”

”No. I’ll just tell you that your choice of friends need a big overhaul, and then I’ll turn you in along with them.”

”But...  but I didn’t do anything!” he protested.

Terumi shook her head. ”Joining in with their company is enough. It doesn’t matter if you were a passive player, or you even didn’t like what they were doing.” Her voice was stern, reproving, as she walked over to him. ”The mere fact that you were with them while they were being criminals would be enough to tell anyone that you gave them a level of your own approval.”

He hung his head. ”I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

Terumi sighed quietly, and a demure, indulgent smile played across her lips. ”You don’t seem like a bad kid,” she said, patting his head, despite the fact that she had to reach up to do it; the boy was quite tall. ”But you must understand that you always have a choice, and association is very important. It could build you up or destroy you.”

”Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry.”

”Well, then... I hope you’ve learned your lesson.”

The sound of footsteps caused her to look over her shoulder. The local law enforcement had arrived. ”Don’t worry, Hiro-kun; I’ll try to put in a good word for you.”

---

”Well, wasn’t that enlightening?” The masked figure in dark blue looked up from the ball of water that floated before her, the altercation between Terumi and the onsen wreckers playing within it.  She waved lazily and the ball scattered into droplets. ”I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

The man in the ragged brown cape did not reply. Honestly, he would have loved to snidely reply how she had said something similar last night, but he held his peace. Any day that he did not have to face Terumi was peace enough for him, though he knew that their battle was both soon and evident. The woman looked at him. ”Cat got your tongue, Enma? You should be happy; I’m giving you a chance to see your precious Terumi again. Must you be bothered about the details?” The man responded by rising to his feet and walking out.

She laughed. After tomorrow, she would give Izanami her prize. And Izanami would reward her with true power. That was all that mattered.

It was the last day of her self-appointed holiday. Terumi had hoped that she would enjoy a couple of days without any action or guild missions, but it would seem that a hero's life was quite the hectic one. She couldn't turn a blind eye to the troubles of others, for she believed that as long as she could do something about it, it was her responsibility. That was why she had fought off those hooligans that had crashed into the hot springs yesterday night. It was amusing how, when she had introduced herself as "Senka", some of the people present expressed different states of unbelief. She had had to let them know that heroes were just the same as other normal people, except that they had some serious responsibilities to shoulder. Most had expected Terumi to already be in her hero outfit... Was there a way she could design a system that would allow her to summon her suit on herself, much like a requip sort of spell? When she got back home, that would be a project worth looking into. She had to admit, she liked the appreciation given to her by the spa staff and other denizens of Hosenka; after all, everyone liked to feel loved and accepted. Still, she had come to the conclusion long ago that even if there was no thanks attached, she would always seek to do the right thing, and defend the innocent. There were days when her best intentions would be misconstrued and turned in another direction, but as long as she was true to her creed and to herself, that was okay.

Today was a day she would do a bit of more shopping and sight seeing. Perhaps she could buy some ingredients peculiar to Midi so that she could prepare some indigenous dishes later on. Likely, they would be quite expensive. Perhaps she could save her money, and look for alternatives to these ingredients which she could use in her cooking... but much of the time, the taste wasn't the same. Terumi picked up her purse and went outside, in a very jolly mood. She would probably make spur of the moment decisions, as usual, when buying stuff. She was however unaware that she was being monitored...

---

"The time has finally come. I've been looking forward to this, Enma. Haven't you?" The woman in the kappa mask and blue hood dispelled the sphere of water with which she had been using to divine Terumi's position. The man in the ragged, dull brown cloak did not reply. He had been very quiet of recent, no doubt due to the discomfort he experienced of what he was about to do. "These are your orders: you must toy with her mind. Incite her to fight you, but do not reveal your identity yet. I'm guessing she will find out sooner or later. Oh, what fun that would be! Remember that we are not trying to kill her, because, if the situation gets desperate, who knows what she, or you, can do? So, she must not die, but I want this event to be as excruciating for her as possible." The woman giggled. "You can do it, Enma. I'll be cheering you on."

---

Despite the fact that window shopping in Hosenka was fun, Terumi, for the umpteenth time that day, thought of the markets of Motor City. However, there had been a reason she had not chosen that technologically advanced city for her vacation, because she would probably work throughout the break. She was here to relax... a concept that did not seem to wish to oblige her in this certain period. Terumi's head snapped up, and she looked around, as a loud crash startled her out of her thoughts. She spied a copious amount of smoke billowing upwards, not too far from her location. Trouble again, she was sure of it. Without wasting a moment, Terumi activated her Tengan and ran towards the source of the smoke.

It was a fire, quite powerful, and definitely created by magic. Well, if it was thus generated, then she could eat it. She had often wondered why she could not swallow natural sources of fire, but at least, she had her own means of dealing with such, and magically induced flames were actually more dangerous, so she preferred that those were the types she could ingest. First, she reached out with her sensory power, to identify in there were any casualties. From what she could gather, no one was injured, but there were people trapped in the burning building, who were in dire need of saving. She ran over to the raging conflagration, grabbed the flames with her bare hands, and stuffed them into her mouth. In a matter of seconds, she had wolfed them all down, eliminating the hazard the fire caused. Then she entered the building to get the trapped people out. Fire damage affected the integrity of materials, so there was still risk of injury or death, until everyone was safely out of the building. Fortunately, with some help from firefighters, all those in the building were safely evacuated. As more people began returning to assess the damage, Terumi felt uneasy. Why would someone just start a fire like this? It might have been an accident, but from eye witnesses, it most certainly was not. According to them, someone just walked out and lobbed a fireball at a building. A malefactor, no doubt, but what was his purpose?

"Hellfire Tech: Shōnetsu Jigoku!"

She heard the voice; the words were spoken in Midijin, and it was definitely a fire-type spell, at least from the meaning of those words. "Shōnetsu Jigoku" meant "Burning Hell". But what worried her the most was that the wordings with which the spell had been framed was very similar to the way she classified her spells. She usually mentioned "Sunfire" or "Voidfire", and "Tech" (for "technique") always came after. There were very few people that named their spells that way, and as far as Terumi knew, she was currently the only one alive who did so.

She turned to face the villain, casting a spell to quickly counter his attack, before any more collateral damage could be caused: "Voidfire Tech: Psyfire Burst!" Her nebulous flames collided with his almost black flames, burning into them (despite the fact that this was also fire) and cancelling them out. And she saw her enemy.

He was roughly six feet tall, but she couldn't say much about his physical features, because his entire body was covered in a drab brown cloak that had tattered edges. His hands could not be seen, and on his face, he wore a porcelain mask of a raging fire demon. Terumi had assumed he was male, because of his shoulder width, and depth of voice. "Who are you?" she asked. "Why are you trying to destroy this place?"

"All you need to know is that nobody is safe, until I am dead. So, you'd better kill me fast, hero," came the reply.

"I don't understand you," Terumi stated, exasperation evident in her voice. "Why would you want to harm others if all you're interested in is dying? We could always find the real cause of whatever your issue is, and we could find a solution where nobody gets hurt, and everyone is satisfied."

"And if all I want to do is destroy everything around me?"

"Then I'll have to stop you."

"That's right, hero. You do just that."

Great, she was up against another Fire type mage. This would be the third she would be facing in such a short time. Fire was a very popular element, and there were many who wielded it, or wanted to. The truth was that Terumi had not really taken note of this prior to this time; it was not until she had been checkmated by Medeia, that she had become aware of just how reliant on the element she was, and just how many mages could use fire. This guy was one of them, and from the intensity of flames she had eaten some minutes ago, he was no pushover. Still, she had to test the extent of his abilities.

"Sunfire Tech: Firefly Bombs!"

The villain tilted his head. "Is there a reason you don't use Midijin terms to name your spells?" he asked, as he ignored the balls of fire that streaked towards him. Just as they were about to collide with him, he seemed to inhale deeply from behind his mask, and her Firefly Bombs melded into one large fireball, which was sucked up behind the mask.

"Ack! Another Slayer type?"

She couldn't afford to let him dominate the match the same way Medeia had done, making her feel so weak and useless. "Final Restricted Voidfire Tech: Muspel Might!" She would try to focus more on physical attacks, but that meant that she needed to work on her speed, if she wanted to have the advantage in close quarter combat. With her Restricted Voidfire Techs, she did not have to worry if her strength would be enough. It almost always was. She charged. The villain stretched out a gloved hand towards her. "Hellfire Tech: Tekidan!" About ten brightly glowing spheres appeared between the masked mage and Terumi. She was not sure what the effect of the magic was meant to be, but from its name, it was likely going to be a bomb-related power. Did that mean he did not want her to get too close? The balls were floating about, creating an obstacle course of sorts, but she did her best to avoid them. The villain made an impatient sound in his throat.

"Katsu!"

All at once, the glowing balls exploded violently, swallowing up Terumi and the area around her in a raging fireball. However, within that same heartbeat, Terumi flickered into focus, right in front of the villain, and drove a solid fist right into his mask. The blow sent him flying a good fifty meters or so away, smashing him into a wall afar off with enough force to leave a crater in it. Terumi walked towards him, her hair already burning with green flame. She made a gesture, and the fires burning behind her, by virtue of the villain's "Tekidan", turned mint green and then faded out. The villain fell to one knee, his head bowed, as the porcelain mask that hid his face fell in bits and pieces to the ground.

"It's over, evil doer. Just surrender and..."

"I really did not want us to meet in these circumstances, Terumi," the malefactor said, as he raised his head. Terumi was going to ask him how he knew her name. Heck, there was a lot she wanted to ask him, because he seemed to know much about her. Apart from knowing who she was, his spells seemed related to hers, at least in appellation, even if the fact that they both used fire was ruled out. When she looked at what was hidden behind the mask, however, all the color drained from her face.

Her eyes widened in her pale face. "This... this is not possible. You can't be..."

"But I am, Terumi. No matter how much it seems unreal, it is not."

"There's something so lovely about family reunions, isn't there?" The woman in the blue robe stood atop a small building, looking down at them. "That expression is so priceless."

Terumi's teeth clenched, a feeling of sudden anger welling up inside her. Someone was playing a really dirty joke on her that was out of taste. She didn't know who this new woman was, but it seemed she was in cahoots with this man who had caused her no small degree of shock. The man that she knew as Yamadera Hijiri.

Her father.

She shook her head. "I won't let you deceive me. My father is dead."

The masked woman chuckled. "Is he? He looks alive and well to me."

"No..." Terumi shook her head more violently, tears surging to her eyes. "I buried him with these two hands. There's no way he could be my father!" She screamed, her emotions starting to get the better of her.

"Oh my!" The woman said in mock distress. "Your darling daughter just denied you, Enma. This is so heartbreaking. What are you going to do now?"

Terumi looked up sharply. "My father's name was not 'Enma'. See?" The woman only shrugged indifferently. "We all get new names when we come back from the dead." Terumi frowned. What was this woman saying? Had her father truly been resurrected somehow? And did that mean that this woman too had died and returned somehow?

"It's disgusting, you know, seeing you acting like some sort of superhero who wants to save the world," the woman continued, her voice heavy with vitriol. "A monster like yourself, such a wanton criminal, after all the evil things you did, you now dare to claim you're fighting in the name of justice?!!"

Terumi was utterly confused. "Evil things? Me? No. That's can't be possible."

"But it is, you little devil. And I'm not surprised you have so conveniently forgotten, you who came into this world with a grievous sin. You have sinned and murdered your way throughout life, and now you're pretending to be a champion of justice. Trash like you deserves the worst possible death."

"If this is some sort of mind game, you had better stop it," Terumi warned, her eyes flashing. "I don't know who you are, and I have no idea where you got your allegations from, but whatever you're planning won't work." Fire flared out from her body. "I've had enough of all this nonsense. I'm taking you both down."

"I thought you would be unreasonable," the woman said, nodding, "so I decided to take some precautions. Let's test that sense of justice of yours." So saying, a blade of water whipped out from somewhere within her cloak, and sliced through the wall of the house on which she stood, revealing about seven people, bound and gagged, in the building. "You seem to have that annoying sixth sense, so I made sure you were distracted with 'daddy', while I gathered these people for the show."

"No!"

"Enma, roast them!"

The man who was supposed to be her father rose jerkily to his feet, his face filled with sorrow and horror, but yet, he stretched forth his hand towards the hostages. Instantly, Terumi activated her Meteor spell, putting herself between Enma and the hostages. "Sunfire Tech: Landmine!" The magic circles appeared, but not where anyone expected. For the woman in the blue cloak found herself standing right in the middle of a particularly big one.

"What the $@%#?!!"

A powerful explosion blasted her off the roof, just as Enma released a powerful stream of purple fire. "Kioku no Honō!" Terumi frowned. That fire had a strange name. She had two flames with similar names, and those flames were very powerful, and quite abnormal. One was the "Flame of Rebuke", which used the weight of her sufferings to inflict pain on her targets. The other was the "Flame of Ruin", which increased her destructive potential but also could drive her crazy. This fire had been called the "Flame of Remembrance". She wondered what its effect was meant to be. Whichever the case, she could not allow it to harm the hostages. Terumi drew in the incoming flames and ate them quickly, just in time to notice that another spell was being cast by Enma. "Hellfire Tech: Kagerō!" The Heat Haze was a technique that had both offensive and defensive properties. It could creep along the ground and flare up when it had gotten to its target or met an obstruction. Terumi knew what was planned for her. She couldn't eat two fire attacks from different locations. So, one was meant to distract her, while the other would consume the hostages.

She stomped on the creeping Heat Haze as it approached, while she focused on swallowing the next Flame of Remembrance that came at her. The wall of fire exploded all around her, engulfing her in painful flames, but she focused on eating the purple flames. Her body was more resistant to fire than many other people, so she would bear with the pain for as long as she had to. "Hellfire Tech: Daikagerō!"

This time, the Heat Haze exploded under Terumi with a lot more intensity, and the girl screamed in agony, overwhelmed by the terrifying heat of the flames. But still, she stood, defending the hostages with her body until either Enma got tired, or she fell. Eventually, Enma stopped, and prepared for a third attack, but Terumi was done. She sank to her knees, her eyes glazed over, and then she fell on her side.

"Damned bitch!" the blue cloaked woman stormed, as she dropped to the ground beside Enma. "I'll keep those hostages until she wakes up, and then torture them, just for... Huh?!"

The room in which the hostages were incarcerated was empty. Enma's flames had not gotten to them, otherwise, the room should have been scorched. However, Terumi had used her body to protect them from the flames, but still, they were nowhere to be found. "Where did the hostages go?" Enma did not reply. He had an idea of what had happened, though. Terumi must have used a transportation spell to get them out of there, which was why she had used her body to stall for time, while she cast the spell. Otherwise, she could have avoided his techniques or tried fighting back with spells of her own.

"Well played, Terumi..."

The woman crouched beside Terumi and yanked her head up by her hair. "Stupid bitch is out cold... or is it hot?" She laughed at her weak pun as she let go of her head. "At least, she's still alive. Pick her up, Enma. We're leaving. This is where the fun starts."

As Enma obeyed, he silently prayed that the Flames of Remembrance had done the work they were intended to...

She languished in what seemed like a feverish nightmare. At first, nothing made sense. There were voices, whisperings, fleeting shadows that faded out of focus whenever she turned towards them. The lighting was barely visible... or was it even there? All Terumi was aware of was that she was in some sort of limbo, where her senses revealed to her that she was probably still alive, but were too confused to identify anything. She couldn't even tell if her eyes were open or not. However, she would not panic, for fear would only serve to jumble her sense of perception even more. No, she would calm herself, and try to make sense out of this mess.

It seemed, after a while, that she was slowly getting aware of a distinct buzzing. It seemed to be a sort of background noise, but it had a certain peculiarity to it. For whenever she tried to shut it out, she realized that the hushed voices seemed to diminish. That meant that this "buzzing" was some sort of medium; much like light was the means by which things were rendered visible, this phenomenon somehow gave clarity to the voiceless whispers. As she got more familiar with it, she couldn't quite tell if it was a deep humming sound as much as it was some sort of sustained vibration. The voices were steadily getting clearer, and she realized that they seemed to be the audio versions of the replaying of certain events, though without any visuals to go by, it was all still pretty much confusing. By now, the buzzing had graduated into a thin whine of almost supersonic proportions, and she noticed it was getting steadily brighter.

And the visions came.

The first one was of a tall man with long black hair and a light stubble for a beard. In one arm, he cradled a sleeping baby with a shock of mint green hair on their head, while the other held a fire ball, which he used as a light. He was in a hurry, like he was fleeing from something. There were sounds coming from behind, a telltale sign that he was being pursued. At length, he emerged from a tunnel into open air, and looked immensely relieved. In barely a whisper, which she still somehow heard quite clearly, the man said: "Voidfire Tech: Enpo!" A flash of fire exploded around him, engulfing him and the sleeping infant. When it receded, they were gone.

Visibility faded, then brightened again. This time, she saw a young girl with green hair discussing extensively with two adults. Although their voices seemed muted, she knew what they were talking about, because, somewhere in her reasoning, she knew that this had happened to her. No doubt she was experiencing some memories which she had lived through, memories which had somehow been forgotten. She knew that she suffered from amnesia, but she had never found out what the cause of it was. Was this the effect of the "Flame of Remembrance" in her body, a fire that had the power to dig up that which was lost to time?

She remembered now. They had been discussing magic. She remembered these people now. They were responsible for her love of science and flair for technology. She had spent her formative years here, and she felt disturbed that such an important phase of her life could have been forgotten, unless she had been robbed of it by accident, magic or technology. They had not really been a guild, though they had similar operations. They had been called the Machine Faction, and they had lived on the right side of the law, their major objective being to find the connection between magic and machinery, thaumaturgy and technology.

She remembered when she started learning about magic, when she discovered that the blood of a mage ran through her veins. It had been a very exciting season for her, and she had chosen to learn a complicated magic, majorly because it was very connected with the workings of natural systems. That magic had been dubbed by some as "the religion of Science", because it was said to be fueled by the caster's beliefs in the concepts of Physics' fundamental forces:

The Arc of Force.

She was surprised by this memory; so there was even a magic she had mastered prior to learning the Allfire Magic. If that was so, was the only reason she had never used it because she had forgotten all about it? This would mean that, having regained these memories, she could use this "Arc of Force"? The memories came and went, each leaving an imprint of remembrance on her soul, as she watched herself grow up and master a magic that governed the manipulation of the four fundamental forces of nature: the "Strong Force", which governed attraction and repulsion between atoms and molecules; the "Weak Force" which governed concepts involving radiation (ethernano fit into this category); "Electromagnetism", which governed charges, electron flow, magnetism and related concepts; and "Gravity", the one force that rebelled against the Standard Model and influenced almost every known object in the universe. She had found it amusing how people had considered an explanation of her magic to be akin to a science class, but it was the understanding of that science that gave her magic its power.

And she remembered how her memory was lost.

Memories were lost, and her fear of darkness was gained.

She remembered the day the Giants ransacked the Machine Faction, and there was a brutal war. She remembered the darkness that crawled around her feet as she had tried to get to have an audience with Bragga of the Giants. She remembered how it had smothered her, how it had invaded her body and soul and left her fractured and with a phobia. She remembered that someone had done something to her within that darkness (that lasted for, if she made a guess, based on various calculations, two weeks). Something had been taken from her; with these memories restored, she realized that her former body had been more robust than it currently was. She also remembered the point where her amnesia had stopped: the day that her Allfire magic was "mysteriously" activated, and the entire land around was decimated, like the ground-zero of a mighty bomb. That had been the crime she was aware of, what made her fear her anger and her fire enough to seek to actively control them. Her father had come to save her from the darkness, but he was fatally injured, and she had gone berserk. It was a wonder that she hadn't killed him herself (and a great mercy, too, for she would have never forgiven herself), and they had spoken a little, before he had passed on and she had buried him in the destroyed village... the village that had belonged to the Machine Faction, the village that had been occupied by the Giants, the village that was now a field of ash.

That was where her journey down the path of fire had begun.

With a start, Terumi opened her eyes.

"The hero of Fiore finally awakens," the masked woman said, her tone condescending. Behind her, Hijiri, or rather, Enma, stood silent, his face obscured by a new mask. "In a while, Izanami-sama will be coming for your soul, but before then, I will have my revenge on you. After all, the deal was to bring you in alive. Nobody said in what state you ought to be. Now, how can I make you really suffer?"

Terumi tried to move, but discovered that she had been strapped to an operating table of sorts. Looking around, she saw that she was in an old, decrepit laboratory that had seen better days. But the place looked all too familiar. She recognized it now: this was the exact place she had been in, when her father had rescued her, but at the cost of his life. But if Hijiri was dead, who was this Enma?

"Who are you? Why are you doing this to me? What have I..." Terumi was savagely interrupted by the woman striking her hard across the face. "Shut your trap, bitch! It galls me that you can be spared the guilt of your actions, all in the name of amnesia," she snapped. Then there was a thoughtful pause. "Hmmm... this might just work. Why don't we have a little truth session? You see, Enma must obey my every command, thanks to the powers that resurrected him. That means that if I ask him to tell the truth, he will. So, let's do it. Enma, you are going to answer my questions simply. No 'but's, nothing else. Got that?" There was a pause, then the reply came: "Yes." The woman shook her head. "That won't do. Address me as 'my lady'."

"Yes, my lady."

She chuckled with glee. "Wonderful. Such an obedient dog. Now, here are the rules of the game: I will reveal your sins, one by one, and Enma will reveal whether I'm telling the truth or not. So, let's begin: tell us, Enma, where are we?"

"The Machine Faction's former settlement."

"Destroyed by the Giants, at the first, right?"

"Yes, my lady."

"But this village was later, and more completely destroyed, wasn't it? Care to tell us what destroyed it?"

"Fire."

"But the big question is: whose fire?"

There was silence for a bit. "Hers," Enma said finally, pointing at Terumi. "Do you see?" the woman said. "But that's not all, is it? There were men, women and children in the village, and her fire burnt them all to death. Is that a lie, Enma?" Another pause. "No, my lady." She gripped Terumi's chin roughly. "You can try to fool everyone else in Fiore, but I know you're nothing but a murderer."

"I... but... I don't remember anything..." Terumi stammered weakly.

"Of course you don't." The woman let go of her face. "But that's not the only naughty thing you've done, is it? Tell us, Enma, who was ultimately responsible for my death?"

"Quiloth injected you with a sample of..."

"No, you fool!" she shrieked, cutting him off. Then she regained her composure. "I was rendered invalid because of a particular condition, the condition that Quiloth tried to heal. And that condition was caused by fire... again. Tell me, Enma, whose fire was it?" Terumi looked from the woman to Enma, who was pointing at her. "You have bloody hands, Terumi. You were responsible for my death!" So saying, she pulled off her mask to reveal her face. Half of it had been disfigured by fire, with her eye and the right side of her lips extensively damaged, but from the undamaged parts, she seemed to be older than Terumi by about five years, and was also Midijin. "Look upon your works and despair," she hissed as she brought her face close to Terumi's. The Midijin girl squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away. The woman laughed and straightened, returning her mask over her face. "You robbed me of my life and my name. I don't remember what I was called when I was alive. Now, I am Suija. But Izanami-sama will give me back my life."

She paced around the operating table. "Let's finally talk about your biggest sin. You killed the woman that gave birth to you. True or false, Enma?" Even with his features hidden, Enma looked weighed down. "It is true... my lady." Suija's voice was almost triumphant. "Tell me, then, Yamadera Terumi, or is it Senka, do you, who are guilty of matricide, have any right to be a hero?"

Terumi's head swam. Were all these things really true? She looked at Enma, but she could not tell what his expression was, because of the mask. "Is this true? You never told me about this..." she said quietly. Enma moved to speak, but Suija quickly interrupted him. "That will be all, Enma. You are not permitted to speak anymore. I hope you enjoy hearing your daughter scream, because that's what we have next on the agenda."

Suija gestured, and Enma placed a long box in her hand. "I have nothing but revulsion for you, and all I want is to see you suffer. In this box here is the serum that I was injected with, in the hopes that the injuries you inflicted on me would be healed. However, I died a very excruciating, protracted death. So, while we are waiting for Izanami-sama, I will make you suffer just as much as I suffered. I will do everything to strip your sanctimonious behavior from you, before Izanami comes and strips away your life. A fitting end, that the mother whom you killed would require your own life at her hand." She withdrew a filled syringe from the box.

Now, Terumi was utterly confused. Something was not right with that revelation. Terumi was half-giant, she knew that much, at least that was what her father had told her. Who then was this Izanami? Had her titan mother returned from the dead to enact revenge? Hijiri had not spent much time in his daughter's life, as he had always been out at work, but the stories he had told her didn't seem to match with this vengeful 'Izanami'. Something was not being told; Terumi was sure that she wasn't getting the entire truth. And if her mother had been a Giant, and Hijiri had had no problems with her, why did Giants destroy the Machine Faction, to which Hijiri was affiliated?

First, she had to escape. Oddly, her fire did not seem to be able to ignite even a spark. "Don't bother trying to escape. That table to which you're fastened was carved out of a very unique, alien material. It can strengthen, or inhibit any of the elements of the Eight Trigrams of anyone connected to it, and I have currently calibrated it to restrict fire in all its forms, be it natural or even conceptual. Unlucky for you."

Unceremoniously, and without any tenderness, Suija jammed the needle into Terumi's lower arm and inserted all its contents. The head of the syringe was very oddly shaped; in fact, judging by the head alone, the contraption could not be called a syringe. Its head looked more like a branding tool, but fortunately, it wasn't heated. However, it did leave a strange "patch" on her lower arm: two curving lines, one above the other, so that it resembled a circle, save that the circumference was not complete, but broken at two opposite ends. Within this broken circumference were two dots that sat beside each other horizontally. It reminded Terumi of the Midijin symbolic representation of "Fire" on the Eight Trigrams, except that the original representation was supposed to be all straight lines and not curves. She glanced at the patch, then up at Suija, who was standing over her. "The irony of the whole thing is that one of the items that was strangely preserved by your flames, on the day you destroyed this village and the Giants, was this poison. I wonder why. Oh, here's another twist: your dear father was the one who unwittingly proffered this as your punishment, while we await Izanami-sama's coming. You know, I strongly considered profaning your body repeatedly via other means, but knowing how corrupt and depraved your evil mind is, you would probably have enjoyed it. Fortunately for all of us, even self-proclaimed sadists balk at the thought of true pain. Hmmm, maybe after I’m satisfied with hearing your cries, we’ll revisit my previous plans for you. There are, after all, quite a number of people here that would like to ‘do’ you. And when we’re through with some sessions of public debasement, we’ll see if you can still have the dignity to look me in the eye and call yourself a hero." Terumi was horrified that someone she barely knew could hate her that much. If Enma was telling the truth, which was likely, seeing as he could only act on Suija’s orders, then when had she burned someone else so badly, and yet had no recollection of it? Or, perhaps this whole thing was just a farce, a set up to make her feel guilty for crimes she did not commit. Regardless, what could not be denied was the intense hatred Suija felt towards her. And what about Enma? It seemed that he would have been on her side, had whatever power controlling him given him the freedom of will. Why had he convinced Suija, "unwittingly", to use this syringe? Was something special about it? Or was he also just acting so that she would believe him more? It all wasn’t making sense.

Terumi didn't know how soon the effects of this poison would kick in, but she knew she had to get out of this place fast, before this Izanami came, or Suija continued with her other ideas. She had to think and focus. If she remembered about the Arc of Force, surely she could use it once again, right? The power was very versatile, and it was not completely reliant on only one element, as her Allfire magic was. She tried to concentrate, but her lower arm was beginning to itch. "Don't worry, if you are at the point of death, Enma can always heal you with his Exorcist Flames. They're very effective, so we  can be as brutal as  we want..." Suija was saying, but Terumi wasn't listening to her anymore. Her arm felt like it was on fire now. She clenched and unclenched, trying to focus, but the pain began to radiate from her arm throughout her body. To make matters worse, she was starting to feel enervated, like something was burning up her reserves of magic. Even though everything was not working out well for her, she refused to make a sound. She did not want to give Suija any satisfaction whatsoever, though if this woman was not here, she would have been screaming at the top of her lungs by now. This pain was intense, like her body was been torn apart, put back together and torn apart again. Also, her blood seemed like it was boiling, literally. But it was not the worst she had felt. The anguish within the darkness, a terror that Medeia had reminded her of, was a lot more gruesome than this. She would not hide the fact that she was in pain, so that Suija would be busy enjoying her torture, and thus be most unguarded at this point. Now was the best time to try using her Arc of Force. There was a great possibility that it would be a botched try, but she did not want to wait until the pain wore away, because Izanami might arrive before then, or Suija might continue with her degenerate plans.

It was all about the Four Fundamental Forces. They were the key to doing this.

Despite being in pain, she noticed her Yasakani no Tama, slashed up and looking pretty much damaged, lying in a corner. The core within still glowed, albeit weakly. Power. She needed power. Weakly, she stretched her hand towards it. At first, nothing happened... then the sphere quivered, then shot to the ceiling. Oops... wrong direction of gravity. Enma and Suija started, turning to look at the Tama, which unfolded to expose the core. "What on...?!!" The Tama struck Suija in the face and knocked her over, as it flew over to Terumi's outstretched hand. Since the core was an energy source, absorbing it by manipulating weak forces might increase her magic pool, and grant her body a little more strength. As her fingers touched the warm surface of the Tama's core, she felt energy instantly flow into her body, and the mark on her lower arm began to glow brightly. Enma just stood there, unmoving, obviously taking advantage of the fact that he had not been ordered to do nothing. But Suija was not down completely. "What are you doing, fool? Stop her?"

Enma looked at Suija, then turned to face Terumi, and hurled a huge ball of flame at her. Terumi focused on manipulating the Strong Force, creating a hardened film of air and ethernano that coated her body just before the fireball struck. The resultant explosion engulfed the operating table, but the force field that protected her held fast. Come to think of it, her bindings were made of matter, right? In spite of the pain, she focused on the restraints on her left arm. The molecules that held together pulled apart, and with a snap, her arm was free. Suija screamed in rage as six tentacles of water burst out from within her cloak, their ends tapered into wicked spikes. ”She’s not supposed to be able to use her fire!” It was time for a little more gravity, Terumi thought, as she gestured, raising her palm to face towards Suija. There was a ripple of air, and not only Suija, but everything else that was not Terumi was struck by a powerful gravitational force, flinging everything away from her and into the walls.

Somewhere outside, an alarm started blaring.

Although the pain still raged throughout her body, Terumi could feel that somehow, she had absorbed the powers and abilities of her Tama. She tried sitting up, and she yanked the restraints on her right arm out of its position. Interesting; she had not used the Strong Force to do that. The doors suddenly opened, and a group of military looking people, clad in anti-mage garb, poured in. This Izanami seemed to have a lot of influence, if she could get her underlings equipped with such state-of-the-art gear. Still, Terumi knew the weak point of such equipment. They came with armor that could dampen spells, but if she used the spells to lob physical objects at them, their tools could not help them much. There was a lot of loose material in the decrepit lab that Terumi began flinging at them, keeping them at arm’s length. She noticed Enma charging up a spell.

”Kioku no Honō!”

The Flame of Remembrance packed quite a punch, but it also seemed to possess the ability to remind people of their memories, or even the memories of the caster of the spell. To others, Enma might be trying to attack her, but Terumi saw what was actually going on: he was trying to help her, despite the limits placed on his willpower. Terumi kicked out her feet, uprooting the restraints that held her legs down, and jumped straight into the purple flames. As she swallowed them, she activated her Meteor technique and blitzed past her assailants and into the corridor beyond. She would have liked to instantly teleport herself out of this place, but teleportation worked well when one's head was clear, and hers was far from it. As she ran headlong, she wondered what it was that Enma wanted to show her with this Flame of Remembrance. And as she ran, she focused her gravity on a point above her, which caused the roof to cave in behind her. While she could manage the pain, which felt like her body was struggling to pull itself apart and she was holding it together through sheer force of will, fighting Enma one on one had not been a walk in the park. It was very likely that Suija would be equal to, or in the very best case scenario, a little lower than Enma in power levels. Trying to fight was very stupid, because she was not at her best. Escape was the only way...

Terumi gasped as a lance of water punched clean through her side.

She couldn't understand it; she still had her Strong Force shield up. ”I thought that might be powerful enough to tear you in two, a voice came from behind her, as another spike of water impaled her through the shoulder and lifted her off the ground. ”Good thing  you're like a cockroach: resilient, but also very annoying. Izanami-sama would be highly upset if I were to kill you. But I can maim you, can't I?” The water turned Terumi around to face Suija. ”I want to see your face as I do this...” Another tendril of water extended from Suija's cloak and bored clean through Terumi's left thigh. She bit back a cry. ”Enma, prepare your healing flames; I think we can move on to the next session. The first was extremely underwhelming. Say, what exactly was in that poison, anyway?”

Terumi heard the answer that Enma gave, and both Suija and herself froze. Was this why she felt like she was being torn into pieces? It might then mean that giving over to the instincts of her body might be her only way out of here. Still, there was the risk of being completely uncontrollable, but Terumi saw that there were no "innocents" here. Also, if they were actually at the Machine Faction's destroyed village, that meant that she had somehow been transported almost to the other side of Fiore, a feat achievable by a  powerful teleportation spell. That was actually good news. They were somewhere in the Mysterious Canyons, and there were no humans about. A good enough place for her to go on a rampage. If this was her ticket out of here, she would take it. For a moment, she feared that she might be unable to return back to who she was before, but her fear of what Suija wanted to do to her made her accept that the risk was worth it. She felt like she had been holding her body together, but now she let it all go.

Terumi was back in the limbo, that buzzing limbo, but now she knew what she was after. She focused on the sound until it brought the visions, and then she let them sweep her away, oblivious to what was going on around her body.

This was Hijiri's memory. This was the day he died.

Terumi saw how he had returned to get her out of there. He had tried to convince her best friend, Lexia, not to come along, but the young woman could not be dissuaded. They had managed to evade the Giants and sneak into the facility where she had been held. She saw how they had found her, tortured to near death, and had set her free from that sphere of darkness. So, it was this "Quiloth" that was responsible for those... She saw how Hijiri had used his Exorcist Flames to heal her, but she had ended up eating them unconsciously, proving to him that she had inherited a powerful ancestral bloodline. He had given her her first flames to eat. She saw how her father and Lexia had defeated both Quiloth and the woman now known as Suija, despite the fact that Lexia was no fighter, but Suija had played the victim card to curry their pity, before lodging some material similar to that of the table she had been bound on, into Hijiri's back. She saw how they still managed to overcome them, and even managed to beat Quiloth into handing over a serum that had been formulated from Terumi's body. Being the Machine Faction's chief medic, Lexia had seen its potential in being able to restore her body, and hoped to use it after they had escaped. She saw how the flames she had eaten had set her hair on fire, even though she was not yet awake. Suija, who had still been skulking around, had noticed it too, and had done something, something that activated a fragment of that strange "Eight Trigrams" that was lodged in her father's body. She saw how it had excited Terumi's flames to frightening proportions, and there the memory faded.

Terumi could only remember the moments after. She had awoken in a field of ash. Nothing had remained of the building they had been in, and the other buildings had been all but destroyed. All about her, the bones of Giants and some humans littered the area. She had found herself beside her father and Lexia, who had both been seriously wounded. Hijiri had told her that no matter how it looked, what had happened here had not been her fault. He had then told her that she had been blessed with fire, and she could nurture it to become a formidable force. Then he had died. She remembered crying over Lexia, when she saw the seriousness of her friend's injuries, and blaming herself for all that had happened, because she had been too weak. She had  blamed her father for bringing Lexia along, but her friend had told her sternly that it was her choice. She had asked Lexia why she had come, since she wasn't cut out to fight, but her friend had replied with words that Terumi would never forget: "If you don't try to protect someone, just because you're weak, how will you ever save anybody?" Those words had eventually set her on the path to becoming one of Fiore's greatest heroes.

---

"I swear, Enma, you will pay for this!" Suija was beside herself with rage, but Enma couldn't be bothered, and she knew it. The only way she could hurt him was by harming Terumi, and now the girl had escaped. "Save your strength for Izanami's displeasure," he replied. She could almost hear the smugness in his tone. She turned on him, raised an arm to strike, but restrained herself. Nothing she did to him would bother him. In fact, it would only give him more pleasure to see that she was torn up over this. "When next I get my hands on your daughter, I will do unspeakable things to her. And I'll make sure you watch. Maybe you'll get to participate, too..."

Enma was not flustered. "Good luck with that." He peered into the footprint that was a little longer than he was tall. "I  want to think I've evened the odds a little." "And you think she'll be willing to put down her dear father?" Enma shrugged. "You got her unexpectedly, this time. Next time, however, I doubt such sentiments will hold her back from doing what is right." Behind his mask, he smiled. "I will enjoy watching..."

"Silence!"

Enma complied, but he couldn't have been more pleased with how today had turned out. The thing about a Yamadera was that you could catch them the first time with their pants down, but they always made up for it on the next occasion.

And then he would finally be free. His Terumi would save him, just like he had saved her.