A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

Paris awoke on an open field, seeing small clouds gliding through the blue sky. Tall grass rising about a foot off the ground covered her view, forcing her to get up from the warm soil beneath her.

The land seemed to stretch for miles, with nothing else in sight except millions of grass fibers perching from the ground. It took her a second to take in the view, slowly remembering memories from when she was just a little girl.

She turned around, seeing a woman in her late 30's wielding a katana by her left side. The blade was sealed in a silver holster, carried by a black string wrapped around her waist. The woman wore white kimono robes, filtered with pink leaves off the cherry blossom trees. She had brown hair rolled over her shoulder, presenting a bright smile to Paris as they locked eyes.

Her face finally reached the depths of Paris's memory, filling her with overflowing emotions she couldn't control, on the verge of tears, exasperated. She reached by her side, making sure her sword was there with her, quickly realizing it wasn't.

This took her by surprise, provoking the woman to initiate the conversation, "Hi Paris. It's been awhile, hasn't it?" She said with her eyes gleaming a delightfully brownish tint, awaiting a frustrated response.

Paris looked at her, trying her best not to show her anger, "You abandoned me!.. How can you even speak, so calmly!"

"I did what I had to… I wanted what's best for you, your safety was more important to me than my life."

This woman was the one who trained Paris all her life, mastering the art of wielding a blade. Paris's parents abandoned her once they realized her curse of suffering pain, not wanting to be responsible for raising such a child.

She was crushed, put in an orphanage until a mysterious woman named Rosetta happily adopted Paris despite her magic curse. She gave Paris a blade, training her every day for years until two years before the entrance exam, disappearing without a single goodbye or explanation.

Her leave was not her choice, but a decision she was forced to make. She met Abbadon Sylver, who promised her Paris's guarantee of entering Princewood, and the power she lacked to surpass those around her. Rosetta agreed, giving her life for his schematic experiments and for Paris's success in the future.

Rosetta explained the situation to Paris as quick as she could while they were still in the field of grass, causing Paris to somehow forgive her, dropping to her knees in reflection of the past years.

"All this time… You did this for my sake?.. But why… Why for me.." Paris deemed an explanation.

"Because you were destined to be the law of causality. I saw it the moment I met you, the moment I saw what your magic was, there wasn't a single doubt in my mind. The sword that you found in your room, was mine, passed down to me by one of the greatest sword makers I knew. Consider it a gift, from me."

Bewildered, Paris couldn't believe the words entering her brain, taking a moment to process all this information.

"All of this… I still have so many questions... where are we now?"

"We are in a simple illusion. Created by the memories in your head, and by the corrupted version of me that's on the verge of killing you as you lie on the ground. You have to decide if you wish to go back, or stay in this lovely training field with me."

Paris's eyes widened, unsure of what to do or how to go back.

"How do I go back? Please Rosetta! My friends, they need me!" A frown creeped up on her, bringing back memories of the past few months she had with them.

She didn't respond, only fading away into the shallow gusts of wind that circled the grass below her. As she saw Rosetta disappear, the sword she carried fell on the ground, prompting Paris to sprint towards it in suspicion.

However, a sharp pain stopped her in her tracks as she saw her stomach gashed by nothing, opening up a small wound as if something was slicing her. The pain was tolerable, but it still slowed her down quite drastically. Paris g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain as she finally grabbed the sword, followed by another small sliced wound in her upper t.h.i.g.h, and another on her lower calf.

The pain was starting to truly get to her, forcing her to let out an uncontrolled scream of agony, trying her best to figure out what to do. Small cuts started to appear all over her body, once again from thin air.

Ideas quickly rushed into her head, stopped by the silver holster covering the blade inside.

She needed the blade to do the only thing she could, killing herself. She noticed the Holster had a small, circular inning on one of the sides, resembling that it could fit a few drops of liquid or a small ruby.

Considering her lack of any jewelry, she pressed the holster gently by the wound in her stomach, filling it with a few drops of her blood. Luckily, this action released the locked seal, withdrawing a beautiful red blade from within.

The blade was stained with a blood-red tint, followed by a carving that read "What Causes, Must Effect."

The handle was wrapped in a black leather sheath, with a small red trinket resembling a rose that dangled off the edge, reminding Paris of Rosetta's love she had for her.

As more and more sharp wounds began to form, Paris angled the blade towards her heart, hesitant for a moment before shutting her eyes in fear and piercing herself as quick as she could.

She felt no pain as the katana pierced her skin, only a rush of air filling her lungs, springing her up from the cold ground and gasping, inhaling a large mass of air, "SUUUUUUGGGHH!"

Instantly glaring up at the woman standing on top of her, waving a dark blade around her face.

"Oh no! I was having so much fun testing my blade on your skin! Such a shame you awoke so fast."

Paris, unsure of how to act looked down to see all her wounds still there, seeming to be inflicted by the woman in front of her.

She quickly leaped back, realizing her katana was back at her hip, with the seal finally broken. Her face warped into animosity, looking at the woman that caused her such pain.

It was Rosetta, except she seemed so different, so disturbingly awful. The blade she carried was pitch black, grasped by a monstrous hand covered in dark miasma sprouting from every fiber that held the blade.

Her face was twisted into a malicious grin, masked by completely black eyes with a small white dot centered to resemble a pupil.

Paris began to reach for her blade, releasing it from the seal that trapped it for such a long time. As soon as a mere inch of the blade was released, Paris could feel a tremendous amount of energy forging through her, forcefully shutting the blade back into the seal by her waist, sending a massive surge of energy that sliced the air like butter.

This force caused Rosetta to whiplash her blade in front of her, blocking the energy emitted that dashed her way, wiping away her smile vigorously.

Even Paris was on edge from how much power the blade released, especially from just barely even showing it. Nonetheless, she continued to pull out her blade from the holster quite slowly, hearing the sharp edge brush against the border so smoothly.

The Blade seemed to be the same one she held in the field, with the same carving towards the bottom of the blade.

The red tint vibrated off the light in the chamber, dazzling a deadly glow against the dark blade Rosetta wielded. As Paris held tightly to the handle, she could feel immense energy throbbing through her arms, an amount she couldn't even dare to withstand.

The only thing running through her mind was her law, the law of causality, and the glowing wall Rosetta was standing in front of. Paris swung her sword through the air horizontally with perfection, testing what the outcome of the cause would be.

To her surprise, the swing caused a fierce surge of energy to fly across the chamber, slicing Rosetta in half instantaneously, and marking a thin line across all the rocky walls in the direction Paris swung at. The chamber they were in trembled with rage, sending a few rocks to fall from the ceiling.

Paris's eyes widened, had she killed this dark version of her master so easily? She began to take a step forward, interrupted by small, pitch black flames emerging from her split body, quickly assembling Rosetta back into one piece.

The smile she had was horrific, knowing she can't die that easily, specifically by the hands of a 16 year old girl. Without hesitation, she melted into the shadows of the chamber, disappearing from Paris's view.

Paris was vigilant, gripping her blade tightly by her side, ready to strike at any moment. She repressed her breathing, closed her eyes, and stood motionless until she felt the need to break open.

A few moments passed, and a large shadow moved swiftly towards her from behind. With her eyes closed, she couldn't see it but the feeling was undisguisable.

The shadow leaped into the formation of Rosetta within a second, ready to murder Paris from behind.

Instead, the shadow stabbed nothing but air, being the outcome of a swift dodge. The only blade that hit was Paris's, dead center of Rosetta's c.h.e.s.t, leaving her motionless in fear.

However, that fear was quickly erasing, growing on Paris's face instead as Rosetta was unaffected by the stab, slowly sliding out of it in a dark fog around the point of impact.

Rosetta swung her sword again, prompting Paris to dodge once more, confused on what to do for victory.

Minutes went by that seemed like hours of constant clashing of blades surging through the chamber between two fabulous swordswoman. Paris would always land a hit, followed by a quick retreat due to her extraordinary agility training.

Each time the hit would be masked by darkness, quickly healing the lost portion of flesh that was struck. Over time, Paris would get hit as well, leaving her a walking ragdoll with dozens of small cuts and bruises, losing more and more blood every minute.

Her Vision was starting to diminish, as well as her balance and control, leaving space for taking more unnecessary attacks from Rosetta. Paris's combat focus was deteriorating every swing she either blocked or threw, accidentally slashing the top of her own foot with her own blade.

Although pain was pulsing through her entire body from previous wounds, she noticed that there was no pain where her own sword just landed. Instead, Rosetta seemed to finally appear to take some sort of unrecoverable damage at the exact same location she pierced her own.

Rosetta leaped back in a limp, seeing dark blood spill from the wound on her foot while Paris remained untouched.

It seemed to make sense, although Paris had to verify one more time that her assumption was true by sliding the edge of her blade across her wrist horizontally, seeing her skin fold open with no pain, and instantly closing back up.

Meanwhile, the darkness that covered Rosetta's arm seemed to wedge open a bit, spilling her dark blood on the ground and over her white robes. She seemed furious, quickly realizing Paris figured out her weakness, letting out a monstrous scream of agony that shook the small rocks on the ground.

Paris noticed Rosetta approaching at full speed to deliver one last blow of corruption. Without a single hesitation, Paris lifted her sword across her own neck, "I'm sorry. Master." Slicing through her own neck at lightning speed in a swift manner, leaving the sound of the blade echoing through the chamber.

In mid air, Rosetta collapsed to the floor, spilling blood through her neck, slowly starting to evaporate into the air from the wound. Paris looked down at her, noticing her beautiful eyes staring back, dropping to her knees to say her final thoughts as her neck slowly closed back up from the slash.

"Master, If you can still hear me. Thank you. For everything you did for me. Thanks to you, I've met some of the best friends I've ever had, and I'm sure they feel the same. I will make sure that I, the law of causality, will maintain my place in this world, and carry out my destiny with you looking over my shoulder…"

Paris could feel the tears coming, but held them back as best as she could, seeing her master's body fully disappear into thin air in relief.

The wall behind her crumbled into pieces, emitting the energy it had within into her soul, partially healing a few wounds, and giving her enough strength to leave.

As she got up, she noticed the surrounding environment was enclosed by layers of rock, unsure of what direction someone else might be.

So, Like anyone else in that situation, she decided to use some of the remaining energy she had left to demolish everything around her. Before she did, she noticed the small trinket that was left underneath Rosetta's body with her demise, picking it up with a delightful smirk, and attaching it to the bottom of her blade before giving it a good squeeze next to her heart.

The trinket swung freely by two linked chains, easily clipping to the handle of her blade. Paris took stance with her knees slightly bent, eyes closed, and an immense focus on her breathing, feeling the concentration surge through her body.

Although she's never cast a spell before, she could hear Rosetta's voice in the calm wind of the surrounding whispering to her, "Lacerate….Lacerate…"

As her focus reached its peak, her eyes flew open, glowing brightly in the depths of the chamber. She fiercely swung her sword so crisply through the air, releasing all the energy she had left to deliver this blow, "Lacerate!"

The gusts of magic and wind sent flying by the speed of her attack demolished hundreds of feet of rock in the direction of the swing, collapsing the ceiling above and sending her falling through the ground below, awaiting a slow descend into the depths of the unknown.