The Anima [completed]

34.

The leather hilt slid easily into the palm of my hand. On instinct, I slashed the dagger out behind me and tore through clothes and skin. I spun on my heel and watched with amazement as Ly's blood poured heavily from a slice of the upper bicep. It didn't heal; it just kept on bleeding. It had worked; her powers were shut off. Not waiting for her shock to register, I sliced forwards again, aiming for her guts.

Ly dodged the blade easily and elbowed me in the stomach. The blade slid from my hands, clattering on the floor. Ly's eyes widened as the dagger slid towards her. Her confidence dropped her guard. I punched forwards, my fist striking her throat first and then her stomach. She staggered backwards and gasped, her windpipe struggling to take in air. I brought my guard up and prepared for a fight. But this other version of me had a different idea.

Ly dropped her guard completely and reached for the discarded dagger. She slid onto her knees and picked up the dagger in one fluid motion. I raced forwards and before she could stand kicked her in the face. Ly fell backwards with a screech, her head hitting the tiles on the way down. I raced forwards and threw myself upon her. Straddling her hips, I threw down my fists onto her face with all the force I could muster, again and again and again. With the adrenaline burning, I couldn't stop myself. Over and over I stuck her face, and over and over she let me. Her nose cracked under my fists, a tooth dislodged and her cheeks began to swell. After what felt like minutes, but was only a few seconds, I slowed my punches.

Beneath me, Ly began to laugh.

"You stupid, stupid girl." Blood sprayed onto my face as she began to laugh once more, a deep cackling that sent a nauseating sensation to my stomach.

I looked down, suddenly aware that her eyes had been drawn to my stomach, and realised my mistake. I had left my stomach open and had fallen directly into her trap. The nausea wasn't from her laughter; it was from the black dagger that was lodged into my abdomen.

Everything I had learnt in school and in training screamed at me to leave it in my body, that taking it out was suicide. But I could not let Ly win, I could not let her destroy the world as she saw fit. I braced myself, holding onto the hilt of the blade as I closed my eyes. Ly continued to screech with laughter from beneath me, but I shut it out. With a great sigh and a heave of my chest, I pulled the dagger from my stomach.

I screamed as the pain tore through my stomach, blood gushing from the wound onto Ly's face. But the blood on her hands wasn't mine; it was the blood of all the innocents she would kill, the blood of my friends, the blood of my family. I began to loop an image over and over again in my delirium; with this blade she killed my sister, with this blade she killed Alvar, with this blade she killed Beast, with this blade she would kill my sister. The image darkened, throbbing at the forefront of my brain until it was all I could see, all I could feel. In one swift motion, and a scream that tore through my throat, I raised the dagger above my head and drove it into the centre of my doppelgängers chest.

Blood spluttered from her open lips as Ly coughed. I collapsed backwards, a whimpering cry escaping as I clutched my stomach. Whatever she had hit, it was vital.

Ly's hands grasped the dagger hilt, and I expected her to pull it out. Instead, she laughed and pushed it in further, all the while staring straight into my eyes. She smiled, her teeth stained with her own blood.

"You can't stop it. One way or another, the humans are going to find out. But if you beat The Anima to the chase, you can control how it happens, who dies and who lives."

"I will not let millions die... to fulfil some fantasy prophecy you think will solve the galaxy's issues."

I shuddered, out of breath, and pulled myself away from her body. I took off my shirt and pressed the material into the wound. I had to keep myself from screaming. It felt pointless, having an argument with a dying woman, but I felt compelled to defend my beliefs.