Ash and Azure

Gerda grabbed Agatha in her arms and jumped five meters away from where they were standing. The fire swept past, and a fiery fox flew out of the pipe at tremendous speed. It was enraged. Gerda became worried, and Agatha was also on guard. The fiery fox, sensing the scent, rushed towards Gerda and Agatha with incredible speed. Gerda instinctively arched her back, ran her hand around her body, and swung it. The fiery fox flew to the side and crashed into the rocks. The flames around it began to fade and soon went out completely. Instead of a fox, a young man lay on the ground.

The young man lay on his back, covered in sand, and barely breathing.

It was Shi, who had lost control of himself.

Gerda, sensing danger even after throwing Shi back, released Agatha and, keeping her distance, approached the young man.

Agatha ran up to Shi, covered him with the clothes she was holding, and checked his pulse.

His pulse was stable. Gerda was worried about Agatha.

— Get out of here and take him with you! — she said.

— But what about you? — Agatha asked.

— It's okay... — Gerda replied with a smile.

She took Agatha and Shi by the hands, and they disappeared in an instant.

Gerda looked at her hands and felt a power unknown to her until now. At that moment, a hand in a heavy glove reached out from the void behind her. Gerda instinctively disappeared from that spot and reappeared five meters away. The hand immediately appeared in front of her face. Gerda disappeared again and reappeared in another place.

— Ho-ho-ho, why are you running away? — a voice echoed.

— Who are you? — Gerda asked.

— Oh, you've already forgotten? Not surprising, — the voice replied.

A girl in heavy camouflage emerged from the void where the hand had appeared. It was Yanus. She looked at Gerda with a smile. Behind Yanus stood Reiyza, El, Arazlo, and Tiro. Tiro held a "Hax" device in her hands, which allowed her to determine the exact location of any creature on Earth within a radius of 300 kilometers. Gerda took a couple of steps back. Yanus waved her hand, indicating that there was nowhere to run.

— You can't escape from here! — she said.

— We'll see about that, — Gerda replied confidently.

A shiver ran through Gerda's body; her body was burning from the inside, but she tried not to show it and held herself confidently.

Gerda disappeared.

— Behind us! — Tiro shouted.

Reiyza spun around and punched Gerda in the stomach. The girl, spitting blood, flew back towards the rock.

— But she was taller, — Yanus said, embarrassed.

— Weakling, that's all. We can defeat her at any height, — El said dejectedly.

— Maybe we should play with her? — Arazlo suggested.

— Well, let's play! L-E-T-'-S- P-L-A-Y! — El exclaimed excitedly.

Her third personality, Kanku ho Capitsu, awakened. The name Kanku translates as "cruelty." She was cruel and knew no mercy.

Exclaiming "Let's play!", Kanku headed towards Gerda. The girl was lying on the ground and twitching. Kanku grabbed her by the hood of her cloak and, easily lifting her, threw her towards the fences. Breaking a couple of boards along the way, Gerda grabbed onto a broken board with one hand.

— Look, she's a strange one, though! — Arazlo said in surprise, watching what was happening.

— Your death will not be in vain! — Kanku said with a smirk, looking at Gerda.

— Don't say that, she's just blossoming! — Tiro got angry.

Gerda's body was burning from the inside, her whole body ached after the blows. She couldn't do anything.

She had a choice: wait for the right moment or die. She didn't know what these girls wanted, but after the word "death," she decided to hold on to the last.

Kanku looked at Gerda with a smirk and contempt and slowly approached her. She stepped on Gerda's fingers. The girl was at her limit.

Gerda couldn't stand it and screamed in pain.

— Scream louder, you must cry and scream, you must! — Kanku encouraged her.

Kanku pressed harder on Gerda's fingers, and the girl, losing her last strength, unclenched her hand. She was already losing consciousness, but since Kanku was still holding her fingers, Gerda hung over the bottomless pit.

Gerda fell silent and lost consciousness. Kanku sighed and removed her foot. Gerda began to fall down into the deep pit.

Kanku turned around. Her personality changed to Lianmin.

El's second personality, Lianmin, was kind and sweet. She didn't like violence and always tried to find a peaceful solution to problems, but sometimes she acted foolishly.

— I did it, clap for me! — Lianmin exclaimed joyfully.

Clap-clap.

— Ooh, I love you! Clap-clap — the sound of clapping came from the pit. — What's that? — Lianmin asked.

— What do you mean? — Yanus asked back.

— I heard clapping, from there, — Lianmin turned around and pointed her finger at the pit.

Clapping was heard again, this time the others heard it too. Lianmin listened anxiously as the clapping approached.

The clapping was very close now. Worried cat ears appeared from the edge of the cliff, followed by a halo connecting them. The next thing the girls saw stunned them. Gerda's eyes had changed: her pupils had taken on a horizontal shape, and pyramidal patterns had appeared around them. Her face was calm; she was not moaning in pain or grimacing. The shape of her tail had also changed; it became more tense.

Gerda hovered in the air, a halo connecting her ears shone above her head.

Lianmin and the others did not expect such a turn of events and were shocked.

Lianmin, frightened, changed her personality to Kanku and resolutely attacked Gerda.

Gerda slowly raised her hand and abruptly lowered it. A powerful gravitational force pressed Kanku to the ground.