Enestos

"Well, Kaitlyn, how about we make a deal?" There was a thick silence as Kaitlyn pondered his abrupt statement. The mood and lighting were both relatively dark due to the cloud cover. The wind arose again, more fiercely than the gust before it.

"I'm listening."

Hazel took a deep breath: "I… I'll… work for you, if you let me live. I'll do whatever you say, I'll even lay my life down for you. If you let me live… I swear on my life—which I know you could take ever so easily—that I will help you find whoever killed that man." He nodded to the corpse.

The proposal was a disgustingly risky gamble on his part, Kaitlyn knew that, Hazel himself knew it. If she refused, he was dead. If she accepted there was no guarantee she wouldn't kill him once he'd fulfilled his purpose.

I've still got to try, I can't throw my life away this easily… not when I could use it to save someone else's. I haven't done anything to make the world better, I don't even know who I am, but I want to try.

"What makes you think you're even remotely competent enough to work for me? Let alone with me?" The words hit him like a slap. Hazel had always considered himself in the higher bracket in terms of physical fitness, and close to the the top in terms of mental acuity… at least as long as he could remember. Yet, here, facing off against this girl only a couple years older than him… he was helpless.

No amount of brains would help him escape an inevitable fate.

Hazel steeled himself with a breath, "f*** me," he whispered, already knowing what he had to do. It's time to throw the dice.

"I'll beat you, right here, right now. If I win, you spare me."

Again, another gamble on his part. There was no telling Kaitlyn would accept. What reason did she have? He'd already proven himself weaker than her in terms of combat ability. Her effort and time would simply be wasted.

Hazel crouched into a fighting stance, a spark of determination lit within his gut. In the small span encapsulating the time he remembered, no martial arts training or remnants of any fight came to him. But his body fell into the stance naturally… as if he'd had to fight before, a lot.

Kaitlyn simply raised her sickles in response. The wind was reaching a painful volume of force, slamming into his back with each of its breaths.

Time seemed to slow as Kaitlyn was somehow at his side, her left sickle latching onto his wrist and slicing into and around the his forearm as she twirled. Hazel let out a curse. He was completely outmatched… the battle was entirely in her favor.

No… I've got to live.

The blades cut into his quads and blood splattered onto the sand, drying quickly in the warm… no, that's not right… why am I shivering? It had gotten cold, almost freezing. The sun had been covered by the dense cover for so long the temperature had dropped drastically.

I've got to live. He repeated.

The attacks were almost to fast for him to even be able to react. Her foot slammed into his shoulder, she could've killed me already… she's giving me a chance, she's purposely holding back.

Hazel grit his teeth. She likes to attack from the right… so I should go the opposite of her blades trajectory and attack, no? Sure enough, a vicious swipe came from the right, aimed towards his back. was soon. Time slowed again… but so did his body with it.

Twirl left!

His knew what to do now. He focused all of his energy into his core. Hazel was literally spinning for his life, so he had to make it worth it. He felt the slipstream created by the swing as he spun. The attack barely missed his upper back by a millimeter.

Kaitlyn faltered, Hazel could tell his dodge had surprised her.

He could feel himself loosing control, acting completely on instinct. She's doubting herself now! This is my chance! His mind—his self—entered an odd state, he could see but he couldn't move, he could think but not act.

Hazel's body moved on its own, he was in the backseat now. Someone else was driving. Is it… me? My memories, experiences? He—they—followed through with the spin, bringing their arm around and slamming their fist into Kaitlyn's side.

"Agh!" She let out a pained grunt and lashed out at his arm.

It's almost as if I'm watching a movie, I'm acting… but not of my own volition. I can feel the pain, yet the full force of the feeling is almost being… held back?

Kaitlyn sped up, it's was getting harder for Hazel to even sense her, his only means of doing so being sound and the air distortion caused by her movements. Wait a minute… am I back in control?

Hazel froze and tried clenching his fist. I am! So… did that sensation occur because I couldn't have executed the attack on my own? I don't have full mastery of this body yet, I, me, have only been in it for a couple years. But he, he's been in it for much longer. Suddenly, the pain that had been reduced hit him like a truck. He stung and bled from cuts all over his body. His back, chest, legs, and arms, all of them seemed to be in high alert mode.

Crap!

Another series of assaults was coming, he just… knew. Right shoulder! The thought popped into his head out of nowhere.

Hazel tried to duck, fear filled his mind as he realized he was too slow. A kick slammed into his upper back, forcing him to his knees with a cough. The next landed perfectly on the side of his head, knocking him to the ground.

Gleaming metal filled Hazel's blurry vision. It hurts. I don't want to die. He could feel the sharp sting of metal right above his heart. All she had to do was finish the job. Just plunge the sickle through the crack between his ribs and it would be over. I'm for real dead this time, there's no way I make it out of this alive.

He gave up. It was… a perplexing feeling, a feeling of profound acceptance; he couldn't do anything so save himself, which meant he couldn't do anything to save anyone else.

I'm so stupid! So d*mn stupid! Here I went off like I was the bomb, 'ooh I'm gonna save everyone, I'm gonna be a better person, blah blah blah,' and now my arrogance and pride got me killed. I got me killed. I acted like a protagonist with plot armor. Plot armor doesn't exist in the real world. I'm not going to be saved, I got here because I chose to. I made the mistake of a lifetime.

Hazel's vision grew blurry with bitter tears, blurry with blood, and turbid with his own delusions. I'm such a child. Finally, Hazel welcomed unconsciousness.