Chapter 13: Who Are You?
『"Who are you?"』
The word hung in the air like a death sentence.
Expelled.
Around them, the crowd had gone silent. Whatever entertainment they’d been expecting had crossed a line none of them were comfortable with. The atmosphere had shifted from excited spectacle to something darker and more uncertain.
"Alright folks, pack it up! Nothing to see here!" Sophia yelled, clapping her hands in a way that implied she’d done crowd control before. "¡Vámonos!"
The crowd began to disperse reluctantly, students filing out in small clusters while casting glances back over their shoulders. One voice called out while people cleared: "So is that a draw? ’Cause I put down good money for a draw. Anyone?"
No one answered him.
Meanwhile, Amara stayed on the floor, Ethan’s hand still supporting her head, and stared at the mysterious fencer who’d tried to kill her.
Who are you? she thought.
She tried to sit up, pushing against the floor with her good arm, but pain lanced through her immediately, radiating from her injured arm and ribs.
"Ow..." She flinched, gripping Ethan’s arm for support.
Ethan turned to Sophia, who was almost finished clearing the hall. "How bad is it?"
Right. Before all of this chaos, everyone had been at the university for something. Sophia was a third-year med student with actual medical training.
Sophia crouched in front of them, blonde hair tied back with a band before examining Amara—checking pupils, testing range of motion, examining the laceration on her arm with clinical precision. In less than a minute, she stood up.
"Laceration to the right arm, deep but clean. Multiple contusions across her ribs and back. Probable concussion based on pupil dilation." She met Ethan’s eyes. "She needs a hospital, man."
"And we’ve got the best," Ethan said, already shifting to lift Amara. He scooped her up easily, cradling her. "I’m heading to the Sun Branch’s Alpha Beam platform." He gestured toward the mysterious fencer with his head, since his hands were occupied. "You guys do something about that."
Hiro walked up to the groaning figure on the ground, stopped, and paced nervously for a moment, then walked up again and stopped. His hands fluttered uselessly at his sides. "Raj, you do it."
Raj shrugged, not really overthinking it. He walked over and poked her arm twice experimentally. Then he tried to lift her.
Immediately, her fencing blade materialized in her grip with a flash of red light.
The decorative swords hanging on the walls began to rattle and clatter, red electricity crackling around them.
Then she swung her blade at Raj in one quick, desperate motion.
BOOM!
The blade collided with his forearm, which he’d raised just in time, and barely penetrated an inch into his skin before stopping completely.
His flesh rippled with green energy where the blade made contact, and the metal simply wouldn’t go deeper.
"Looks like she’s conscious, guys," Raj said casually, like someone hadn’t just tried to carve through his arm.
"Ya think!?" Hiro yelped.
All those rattling blades suddenly tore free from the walls and flew at them like missiles, dozens of swords moving with lethal intent, each one crackling with red electricity.
Then the red glow was replaced by soft yellow light.
On Sophia’s head materialized the Helmet of Victory—an elegant golden headwear with a wing design on both side. Her eyes glowed the same golden color, and her hand raised instinctively.
The swords froze mid-flight, suspended in the air by telekinetic force. A control that didn’t last long as the yellow glow flickered, then disappeared entirely.
The swords clattered to the ground harmlessly, and the mysterious fencer groaned once more before collapsing completely. That last attack had drained whatever she had left.
"Huh..." Sophia stared at her hands. "Tight," she muttered, almost sounding excited. "I fucking did that."
She cleared her throat and dusted off her attire. "I’ll go get Amara’s stuff," She said, already heading toward the changing room where Amara had left her uniform and Ethan’s jacket.
Raj lifted the unconscious fencer onto his shoulder like a sack of grain and followed the others toward the Alpha Beam platform.
"Good thing she passed out on her own," he commented.
"Right?" Hiro responded, still looking a bit traumatized. "I was not prepared to knock a girl out. Like, morally? Ethically? I do not want to get cancelled."
Sophia sighed as they walked. "Where are the fucking instructors or supervisors in this place? Isn’t someone supposed to be monitoring the training facilities?"
None of them had an answer.
***
Amara could hear the faint humming sound of electronics before she opened her eyes.
The room came into focus slowly, sterile and clean, all white surfaces and soft blue lighting.
What looked like robotic appendages extended from the ceiling, emitting precise laser beams that worked on her injured arm. Another device swept a ray of light across her entire body, scanning and analyzing.
To her right, sitting in a chair like he’d been there for a while, was Ethan.
"Hey." His voice was calm and soothing. "You’re okay."
"Where am I?" Amara tried to sit up even as the machine continued stitching her skin back together.
"Back at the Institute. Medical wing, we call it the Restoration Center." Ethan leaned forward. "You’ve been out for about forty minutes."
"Forty minutes." Amara processed this. "And you’ve been here the whole time?"
Something shifted in his expression when he answered, "Where else would I be?"
The simplicity of the statement made her pulse quicken. But she had no idea what to do with that, so she shifted her gaze to the room around her and studied it.
This must have been one of those places with the best state-of-the-art medical technology that money could buy. One of the few perks of being an Institute agent, she supposed.
Although calling it a "perk" felt far-fetched. Because that also meant you had to get hurt badly in the first place to really appreciate the wonders of instantaneous healing.
She unplugged the monitoring sensors attached to her skin and swung her legs off the medical bed.
"You sure you should be standing?" Ethan asked, half-rising from his chair.
"I’m good." And honestly? She was good. The technology was that incredible. Her arm showed no sign of the deep laceration. Her ribs didn’t ache. Even the headache from her probable concussion had vanished completely.
Amara was more interested in finding out why, in less than twenty-four hours, she’d almost been murdered twice. She stood up, no longer in her fencing uniform but wearing a standard hospital gown, and scanned the room for her clothes. Then she remembered she’d left everything at The Machine.
"I brought you a change of clothes," Ethan said, gesturing toward the chair beside him. "They’re on the chair."
Amara turned and saw them. Black jeans, a deep purple fitted top, and a leather jacket. Her style exactly. Down to the shade of purple.
How did he—?
"Thanks." She grabbed the clothes and turned to look at Ethan expectantly.
"Can you..."
"Sure." Ethan swallowed visibly and turned around, facing the wall with intense focus.
Amara lowered the hospital gown, letting it pool on the floor around her feet. She was completely naked beneath it.
Even with his back turned, she could feel the tension radiating from Ethan across the room, the careful stillness of someone actively trying not to think about the situation.
She dressed quickly. Clipped her bra, pulled on underwear, jeans, top, jacket. Although, the thought that all the clothes he’d brought were exactly her size was definitely something worth examining later, but she didn’t dwell on it now.
"I’m ready." She pulled her white locs out from beneath the collar of her jacket, letting them fall freely down her back.
Ethan turned around and gestured toward the door. "Shall we?"
They stepped out of the medical room together and immediately encountered Hiro, Sophia, and Raj, who still had the unconscious woman draped over his shoulder. The sight definitely attracted stares from passing Institute personnel.
An Institute agent walking past did a double-take, then kept walking. Apparently this was normal enough not to intervene.
"Why is she here?" Ethan asked, one eyebrow raised as he gestured at the unconscious fencer.
"You told us to handle it," Hiro responded defensively.
Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "I meant take her to the disciplinary action committee and brief them on what happened."
"Oh." Raj’s expression indicated this distinction had not occurred to him.
"Actually, this is good," Amara stepped forward, her voice demanding. "Because I need to know what the hell is going on. And she’s going to tell me."
"Then you’ll need proper facilities." The Director’s voice came from behind them.
They all turned to find him approaching, distinguished cane clicking softly against the polished floor as his steel-gray eyes took in the scene.
"I was informed of the incident at The Machine," he continued, gesturing for them to follow. "This way."
He led them through corridors to an interrogation room.
Within, were four corners connected by pure white walls and a one way glass. A single chair bolted to the floor at the center. And cameras at strategic angles, capturing everything.
The Director watched from outside the room, through the glass as Ethan and Raj carried the fencer inside and set her in the chair.
The moment she made contact with it, restraints emerged, metal cuffs that locked around her wrists and ankles with soft clicks.
Not just any normal cuffs but suppression cuffs, designed to dampen Awakener abilities. Whatever connection she had to her power were cut off completely.
Ethan reached forward and carefully removed her fencing mask, revealing features that made him go very still.
Long red hair pulled back in a high ponytail. She had sharp features and a pale skin dotted with freckles across her nose and cheeks.
"Beatrice," Ethan said quietly.
"Another one of your exes?" Amara asked with a grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
"God, no," He said immediately, almost violently. "She’s... it’s complicated."
"Can we acknowledge that this entire situation is complicated?" Hiro added from where he stood near the door.
Everyone else just shrugged. What else was there to say?
Eventually, Beatrice began regaining consciousness. Her eyelids fluttered, and when she finally opened her eyes, revealing vivid red irises that seemed to glow even without active power, she took in the white room, the suppression cuffs, and the five figures standing before her.
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SOPHIA DELGADO | The Helmet
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Spirit Weapon: Halohelm (Helmet of Victory)
Rank: Dream Walker (Newly Awakened)
Ascendant Sigil: ▮ (1 Bar - Left Temple)
Abilities Unlocked:
┣ Telepathy
┣ Telekinesis
┣ ??? [LOCKED]
Status: Exhausted, Protective, Ready to Throw Hands
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RAJ PATEL | The Breastplate
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Spirit Weapon: Juggernaut Shell (Breastplate of Conviction)
Rank: Dream Walker (Newly Awakened)
Ascendant Sigil: ▮ (1 Bar - Chest)
Abilities Unlocked:
┣ Strength Amplification
┣ Regeneration
┣ Hardening
┣ ??? [LOCKED]
Status: Confused But Helpful, Carrying Unconscious Attacker Like Groceries
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