Dueling

"Your powers come from those that believe in you and how fervently they do so." The seemingly unassuming and homeless looking man stated as he sat on a small barrel next to the church entrance. "Right now you're new here, so you only have one that believes in you and that one is me, but trust in how much I believe in you."

"But, what can my powers do?" Yuki questioned.

"You force that belief together and make it real." the hermit explained. "If you want it to be a sword, it can be a sword. If you want it to be a shield, it can be that too. You need only will it."

"Aren't you a god?" Yuki asked.

"Yes, I'm the one that brought you to this place." The rugged man said.

"Then why don't you go and deal with the overlord? Why rip me from my world and bring me here to deal with this?" Yuki fumed.

"This realm had many gods." The disguised god stated. "Now there are only two. We are not allowed to interfere in the world directly, but rather through avatars that enact our will. You're my avatar. The one you must defeat is the other god's avatar and he's been slowly destroying the other gods to take control of the world."

"So, he's coming for you?" Yuki's angry mood calmed as she accepted the explanation.

The deity nodded his head before pointing at a large city behind her and continued, "Do you see that city? It's the last city in the realm that isn't under his control. You must defend it and push outward retaking the world."

"How am I supposed to get that city on my side?" Yuki, being a stranger to that world, wondered without knowing any social norms or ideologies the people adhered to.

"It's already been sorted." The god assured her. "But you must hurry. There's currently a rebellion in the city. A small group is moving to dethrone and execute the king. You must hurry and save him. Let him know that you're my avatar, he will believe you and, in turn, throw the full support of the city behind you and your efforts."

"I don't..." Yuki started before the deity interrupted her.

"You must go now or all is lost." The deity stood slowly. "I must go as well. Gods don't have unlimited power and it took a lot to summon you here. Truthfully, it took nearly all of my power and now I have to rest to replenish my strength. It'll take longer than usual since my supports have been so greatly diminished and will be even more-so when they start giving you their faith. Once I have enough energy, I promise that I will find you. Go now, save the king, save the world."

With that, the homeless looking man faded into smoke and dissipated into nothing. Frustrated at her new found situation and the severe lack of direction, Yuki turned and looked to the city. It wasn't far to the city walls and the main castle sat atop a hill in the center of the city. The young woman broke out in a full sprint. As Yuki approached the medieval city with fresh purpose given to her by her summoner, she could see several small pillars of smoke rising from different places in the city. Behind her, the small one room church she had been summoned to faded into smoke just as the deity did. After only a few moments of running, she reached the outer walls of the city and passed through the grand gated entrance.

No guards defended the walls and she took note that the city was largely devoid of people. The main street was long and wide and led straight to the castle. Passing piles of burning rubble from destroyed wagons and carts, Yuki began to hear roaring from a crowd. She closed in on the angry rioters outside the castle walls where they had mounted a siege. Most looked like farmers or peasants. Very few looked like actual warriors or soldiers. Yuki slowed her gait to a walk as she approached the siege line and, taking shelter next to a building, began spying on the group to see who was leading them. Just past the troops, she spied, that the rebellion had mustered a battering ram and were close to breaking through the gates.

Realizing she had precious little time, she ran up and began to shout, "Stop! You must stop immediately and go home!"

A group of them paused and turned to look at the girl before an armored knight pushed his way through the crowd to confront her.

"I suggest you leave my battlefield little girl." The heavily armored soldier said as he towered over the girl. "Do like the others and either join in or hide in your home until this is over."

Yuki, standing much shorter than the man, was definitely intimidated, but knew that she had to press forward.

As the soldier turned to walk back toward the other rioters, Yuki responded, "I can't let you continue."

The soldier stopped dead in his tracks. After letting out a sigh, he turned and drew his sword. He stared the young girl down, but Yuki didn't lose the little nerve that she had. She was told what her power was, but the deity left out how to actually use her ability.

"I said that you're disrupting our battle." The knight angrily growled. "If you don't leave now, I will remove you."

Yuki stood firm against the intimidation that poured from the knight.

Realizing that the girl had no intention of leaving, the knight raised his sword and said, "What a waste of a fool."

As he swung his sword down toward the girl, the words of the god reverberated in her head, "You need only will it."

Yuki crouched down and raised her left hand reflexively to protect herself. With all her willpower, she pushed and a shield of pure golden light appeared on her arm. The knight's sword connected with the shield of pure light and shattered. Bits of metal rained down around her. Stunned, the knight's eyes grew wide. Yuki climbed to her feet and looked down at the pieces. Realizing what had happened, the then looked down to her hand. There, a glowing golden sword grew from nothing.

The others in the rebellion noticed and the attack on the castle ceased as they looked on the situation unfolding before them. They knew what her sword and shield meant. The god who had long stayed out of the conflict began to move and his avatar had arrived. Realizing he was losing his grip on the men, the soldier, in a fit of rage, kicked at Yuki. Just before his kick connected, brilliant golden armor formed around her body. As his foot connected, the power enveloping her ripped his foot apart. He screamed and fell over.

Blood poured from where his leg used to be as he writhed on the ground screaming. Shocked, she looked down at the man who had become a shell of his former self. All the others looked at the girl and down at the soldier as he pulled a knife while he choked down the pain.

"The golden one will die like all the others before him!" he screamed as he lunged at her.

He stabbed the knife into her golden chest plate and it too shattered into nothing, along with his hand. Yuki instinctively stepped away from the man and swung the sword to defend herself, not understanding the power contained in her. Thought it was a halfhearted swing, the sword easily cleaved the man in two, leaving a deep score in the ground under him. The attack of the castle had fully ceased and everyone was in shock at the repercussions of the girl's arrival.

"Go home to your families!" Yuki called out to the masses understanding that she had to maintain order. "I will go and find the king. I don't know what I can do, but I will do all I can."

Yuki inwardly struggled to grasp what had happened, but outwardly pressed forward trying to maintain her calm demeanor. She began to walk through the crowd toward the castle's gate. As she marched through the crowd, the closest removed themselves a few steps from her path, and all knelt as she passed. The gate was massive, standing ten times her height. She stood at its precipice for a few moments with no sign of those inside opening.

"Let me in!" she thundered at the closed portcullis.

Moments passed before a shaky voice from inside the castle walls called out, "Go away! I'm under orders not to open the gate for anyone!"

"I must speak to the king." Yuki called out to the voice.

"I said go away!" the voice squeaked again.

Yuki let out a sigh as she considered what to do. A thought flashed into her mind of how the knight's attacks and armor broke upon her. With that, she slashed her golden sword into the massive gates. As the sword cut in, Yuki shivered, snapping back to reality.

"Miss?" The barista said. "Are you okay?"

Yuki had been sitting in the café, swimming through the memories of her past life, as she stared off into the distance and her coffee grew cold.

"I'm sorry, what?" Yuki said after shaking her head slightly to regain her composure.

"Pathetic red eye." the man uttered to himself before continuing, "You're unsettling the other customers. You need to leave."

The girl, having been back longer than anyone else in the support group was well away of the way they were viewed by the public. Rather than fight or argue, Yuki picked up her coffee and left the café. Out on the sidewalk, Yuki smiled thinking back to the time she spent with Ichiro the night before. From there, she began to skip down the street.