THE RIFT BETWEEN US

Riosae brought them to a large hall on the first floor. The room was bare except for a long stretch of red carpet that lined the middle of the hall. Large windows flooded the room with morning sunlight. The musk of pond water filled the air.

"Okay, we'll test your ability."

She snapped her fingers, and from the air materialized a dummy made of wood and straw. It had a blank face, wore a plain red shirt, and sported two cartoonishly large hands. She patted the dummy's shoulder and grinned.

"This here's Humpty, and he'll be your target. Don't worry about breaking him, he'll reform from pretty much anything. What I want to see is your fusion at full-strength. So go ahead and combine, and unleash the most powerful attack you can manage!"

Milo raised his hand.

"Won't that damage your castle? Lucianna has a lot of power."

"An enchantment protects this place. It would literally take much more power than I think you two can manage right now to break these walls. If that happened, my girls are ready to fix up the place pretty quick."

"That's reassuring, I guess."

Lucianna tapped the button on her shoulder, and her arm folded in, allowing room for Milo. In a flash, they fused, and immense power rolled off of her.

"Okay, just attack the dummy with all I got, right?"

"Yup! Go for it!"

Riosae ducked out of the way, giving Lucianna a clear shot.

"All right! Here goes nothing!"

She raised her right hand and pointed her palm facing the dummy. The tremendous energy surging through Milo made him think of the rumbling that accompanied a monster tornado seeking to demolish all in its path. Lucianna narrowed her eyes on the dummy, and with a shout, a beam of energy burst forward.

The dummy exploded in purple flames, its silly hands flailing as her energy greedily devoured its wooden frame. In only a few moments, the dummy's form reduced to a pile of ashes.

(So powerful!)

(Thank you, darling~)

Riosae crossed her arms, stroking her chin with one hand.

"Are you sure that was…your max power?"

Lucianna raised an eyebrow.

"Well…uh…yeah! I think so."

"Huh. Well, no matter. Let's try again."

Riosae snapped her fingers, and the ashes rose and swirled until the dummy had fully reformed.

"Okay, this time there'll be no mistaking it! One hundred percent power!"

Energy pumped from her core and rushed through Milo, pooling in her palm. The energy slowly rose and formed into a spinning disk of light. Lucianna's cloak and hair flapped in the back draft caused by the disk's rotation.

(This energy is kind of scary!)

(It's the energy I'll use to protect you, darling!)

She chucked the disk, and it soared unerringly, slicing clean through the dummy. The disk exploded, gusts of pent up energy shredding the dummy into sawdust and scraps. Lucianna clenched her fist, a wide grin on her face.

"How about that?"

Riosae slapped her own face. Her brows furrowed as she rubbed her temple.

"There's just…Okay. I have some thoughts. Why don't you two separate?"

Lucianna cocked her head back.

"You know how to separate, right?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely! That's…amateur stuff."

Riosae smirked.

"That so? Then why are you still fused?"

(Do you know how to separate, Milo?)

(I know even less about this than you…)

"Hey. No whispering."

Lucianna and Milo both gaped at her.

"Y-you can hear us?"

"Not exactly. But call it a sixth sense. I can feel when certain frequencies and energies change in the air, and it happens every time you look at each other, as if you're communicating telepathically."

She sighed, snapping her fingers, and the dummy reformed once more.

"Now, this time, give it all you have, or I'm going to grope the both of you until you're raw!"

Lucianna squinted at her.

"What kind of threat is that?"

(A damn good one! I don't want her groping me!)

(Oh, brother…)

Riosae jutted her chin out, looking down her nose at them, her tail swishing behind her.

"What's wrong? Can't do it?"

"Of course I can, just watch!"

(Actually, Lucianna…)

"Here I go!"

And as soon as the energy started flowing into Milo, there was a flash, and they separated, Milo landing face-first on the stone floor.

"M-Milo!"

Riosae's smile withered, and she shook her head with a sigh. With a snap of her fingers, the dummy faded out of existence. She strode over to them, her eyes scrutinizing them as she chewed on her bottom lip.

"Hmmm…you seemed to last longer than when you faced me. But I sensed the same strain from back then. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

Milo sat up, brushing the dust off his face, and nodded.

"Actually, now that you mention it…It's hard to describe, but whenever we get to that point, it almost feels like…I'm being pushed out by her energy, and I'm to hold on, but my hands are sweaty and tired."

Lucianna stared at him.

"Is that true? I had no idea…"

Riosae grunted.

"Interesting. So the barrier between you could be more literal than I originally thought. But…for you two to communicate with your minds…can you do that outside of fusion?"

"Here recently, yes. But we have to be listening for it. It's a bit of a struggle."

Riosae stroked her chin. Her eyes drifted to the ceiling and her tail twitched.

"There's a missing link to your ability. And it's the link you two must find within yourselves."

"Eh? What kind of mumbo jumbo is that?"

She smacked Lucianna's ass with her tail, and Lucianna yelped.

"Listen to your elder. I can sense the limitless power within you, Lucianna. Certainly a worthy heir to the Pirate Queen name. But…without a way to channel that power, you're like a baby. Defenseless."

Lucianna scowled but hung her head.

Riosae's eyes snapped to Milo.

"And you…you claim to want to be useful, but what do you offer in this exchange?"

His brows knitted together, and he tilted his head.

"What do you mean? Without our fusion, Lucianna can't use her power."

"Yes, but I'm talking about while you're fused. Do you think your role becomes that of a spectator?"

"Oh. Uh. I guess I never really thought of it. I was always just astounded by the amount of power flowing from Luci…"

"Hmph. If I'm not mistaken, you possess one gem of power in your wrist. Is this true?"

"Y-yes. It used to be hers…"

"I don't care about how it got there. That's your problem. What I want you to realize is that, when you fuse with her, you aren't just becoming her hand, her arm, or a cute accessory. You are becoming her gem of power. She focuses the power she contains through you."

"Okay, and? Then I just have to focus my power through him like I normally would in the past, right? We just have to do it more until we get used to it!"

"That sounded way too suggestive…"

Riosae sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes.

"That logic would track if Milo weren't a living thing! But guess what? He's a person! Not a tool or gemstone."

She pointed one of her claws at Milo.

"My guess is that unless Milo actively learns to help you channel your power from his side, you will never progress further than you are now."

Milo's eyes widened, and he deflated a bit.

(Have I been…holding Lucianna back?)

"Of course not!"

"You said that out loud."

"Oh, okay. So we missed that detail! He just has to put in a little more effort and we'll be good to go! We'll be done with this training in no time."

Riosae laughed, clutching her stomach as she doubled over.

"Are you serious? You think he's going to get a hang of it, just like that? Please. We'll be training for a bit. Maybe a few weeks, maybe a few years."

"Y-years?!"

Riosae glared down at Milo, and he dropped his head. She turned and looked out the nearest window, her tail curling behind her.

"If you don't think you can do it, then you can leave. I won't stop you. But it's clear to me, as someone who's never seen or experienced this power before, that the thing holding you back is each other. Until you two work past whatever barrier you put between yourselves, you'll never manage much more than a few minutes of that fusion."

She turned to them, her golden eyes hard as she regarded them.

"To come together is one thing, but to become united is another matter entirely."

Milo balled his hands into fists, gritting his teeth.

(What the hell do I do now?)

***

They took a break for breakfast, after which Riosae dismissed them for the day.

"Seeing as your training will require more mental preparation than physical, I must rethink some of my lesson plans. I will summon you when I'm ready to continue. Until then, feel free to wander the temple. If you'd like, you may view my collection. It's quite the experience."

Milo remembered what Krol had said regarding Riosae's collection: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it."

(What exactly does her collection contain? Do I even want to know?)

He walked with Lucianna for a short while, but eventually she turned to him.

"Hey, I'm going to go check on Faith quick. I'll see you soon."

And she left him there, alone. He exhaled through his nose.

(I guess it's not a surprise that I would be the one to hold her back. If I keep this up, then I'll be letting everyone down. But…the barrier Riosae mentioned…what does she mean?)

A couple of fairies whizzed by his head, giggling playfully as they circled him.

"Hey, mister! Do you want to see the Mistress's collection? You look like someone who'd enjoy it!"

Milo cocked a brow.

"What does that mean, exactly?"

The second fairy punched the first in the shoulder.

"Oh! I mean you look like you have great tastes!"

They both buzzed around him, chanting in unison.

"Come with us! Come with us!"

Grunting, he finally caved in. The fairies cheered gleefully and tugged on his hands, leading him off.

They pulled him along to a back acre of the castle grounds, where a large section sat by itself, completely separate from the rest of the structure. It was a long, rectangular building, sporting tinted windows, and only a single door. Milo puckered his lips.

"This doesn't look sketchy at all…"

"There are a few sketches in Mistress's collection! But she prefers…more memorable pieces!"

They approached the door, and another pair of fairies appeared, opening the door for him as his guides continued to pull him toward the dark doorway.

"H-hey, wait a second—"

The two fairies that had opened the door flew in behind him and gave him a push, causing Milo to stumble forward into the darkness. The fairies giggled behind him.

"Enjoy your stay!"

The door slammed shut, cutting off all the light from the outside except for the little that eked through the tinted windows. Milo slapped his hands on the cold stone floor, trying to find his place. He took a deep breath, and a cloying scent of pumpkin and vanilla made his head spin.

"What is this room? This scent…"

"Ah. Welcome, little Milo…"

He froze, the muscles in his shoulders seizing and aching with tension. His eyes darted around in the darkness, until he finally caught sight of it: the silhouette of a woman seated upon a bed, illuminated by a candelabra behind her. Sweat beaded on the back of his palms as he gulped.

"Riosae? Is that you?"

Flames encircled the bed, and he shielded his eyes, the heat baking his skin.

After a moment, the heat faded. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

A ring of candles had formed around the bed. Their flames danced and swayed back and forth, their smoke exuding that same pumpkin and vanilla perfume he had smelled before. His eyes drifted to the bed, and his mouth fell open.

Lucianna leaned forward, wearing only a lace robe that left very little to Milo's imagination. A lump formed in his throat that he couldn't swallow. "L-Lucianna?"

She lifted her hand, curling a finger, attempting to reel him in.

"Come to me, darling."