CHAPTER 11

Mindie is sure her mom almost put her in the ground

Some days, Chiaki held her training sessions with Mindie bright and early in the morning. They’d have something small to eat at home beforehand, and Mindie would get a heartier breakfast from the cafeteria afterwards as it approached her first class of the day. The Lumisphere’s practice rooms were normally empty around this time, so they could go without worrying about being interrupted.

It wasn’t luminescence training though; it was simple martial arts training.

“Concentrate.” Chiaki blocked each of Mindie’s punches and kicks with routine motion. “Your mind and body must be in harmony. The more they are, the stronger your luminescent state.”

But of course, Mindie already knew this. Most of Chiaki’s sessions consisted of just more physical and mental workouts, much to her growing annoyance. Her mom was sounding like a broken record. She’d expected her to hold back on lumi-oriented training while she was still in high school (which she did), but nothing had really changed since she entered university. Maybe this was the reason why she felt as if her progress was slow.

“I get it, Mom. I’ve been doing this since high school.” Mindie threw one more wild, whirling kick before creating some space between them in respite. “Besides, all I need to do is knock out any Shades before my time limit runs out. I’m already pretty good at that.”

“Like when that Shade attacked you in the art building and Ci-chan had to save you?”

There was no arguing that point.

“There’s no reason for you to put on airs around me, Midori-chan. I know you’ve been working hard, and that you’re frustrated that your luminescent state still seems to break more easily than you think it should.” Chiaki approached and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Just keep at it. Consistent improvement is what we’re aiming for.”

Perhaps there’s a reflex when children are with their parents. When not quite adults (and sometimes when they already are), they subconsciously act defiant in the face of not getting their way. In Mindie’s case, this took the form of scorning that reassuring hand in a sharp shrug and turning away to pout.

“Though it’s not like I’m doing much improvement if you’re not even training me to use my luminescence.”

And a parent’s response to such defiance often varied. In Chiaki’s case, it took the form of a disapproving scowl and a purple glow that radiated from her body. This was followed by three glowing swords the size of her arm taking form and floating over her head.

“But oh well. At least my body and mind are in good shape, right? Maybe I don’t even need both.” Mindie started to turn back around to face her mother, ready to drive home her point. “Pike does just fine when he goes lumi, and he’s a freaking couch potato—ohhh!”

She quickly ducked out of the way as three swords shot past her like missiles. They were locked onto her though, and they swerved back around continuously trying to pierce through her. Forget missiles. They were like oversized wasps after their nest had been kicked. Bewildered, Mindie evaded them until they relented for a moment.

“Mom?! What are you—?!” She threw herself to the side as one came back for another shot at her.

Chiaki continued to command these glowing projectiles. There was a certain tone in her voice—one akin to having that same smile she gave Ryan and Erika when concluding the bathroom door debacle. “What’s wrong? You wanted to be trained using your luminescence, right?”

“Take it easy! You’re gonna kill me at this rate—” One of the glowing projectiles darted towards her and hit its mark on her wrist, jettisoning her backwards and pinning her to the wall. “AGH!”

Mindie half-hung there with her wrist held over her head, her weight steadied precariously by the tips of her toes which only barely reached the floor below. She struggled in panic, instinctively trying to pull her wrist free from the ethereal purple stake. While it left no gash in her arm, the pain felt as real as a knife’s.

“How long are you going to stay like that? When you’re not using your luminescence, I can play you like a puppet.”

The purple effigy of light stalked towards her, her projectiles freely swarming around her as if she were the hive. The tone in her voice shifted from disingenuous and seeped into the territory of malice. “Luminescence and chaos are two sides of the same coin. It abhors me to imagine what would become of my own daughter… after I’ve thrown one of these swords through her defenseless skull.”

As she left that threat hanging in the air, glowing missiles darting towards her daughter once more. Mindie finally went luminescent. Her perception of the world simplified, and her focus on her mother became clearer.

With her free hand, she grabbed the sword that pinned her and crushed it with the sheer will of her glowing grip—dropping out of the way not a moment before the rest of the flying swords stuck themselves like oversized darts against the wall before vanishing.

“It took you far too long to get your wits about you.” A new set of swords appeared and circled around Chiaki. “Has it not yet become second nature to call on your luminescence when faced with this kind of threat?”

With minor flicks in her fingers and wrists, she sent the fresh handful of swords soaring towards Mindie, harassing her and nicking her along her body. Mindie tried to evade or smack the glowing swords away, but it proved difficult. Her command over luminescence was limited to maintaining the basic protective aura around her body and enhancing her movements.

Without a way to extend it into form like her mom, Ciara, or even Pike could, she may as well have been blocking actual sharpened swords with her bare hands. Although she wouldn’t scar or spill blood in this state, each strike made her wince as if she felt the inflictions on her physical body. They made her head throb and her concentration falter. Her luminescent energy was shaved off bit by bit, and yellow aura surrounding her waned extremely quickly.

Finally, all swords at Chiaki’s command plunged at her in a simultaneous strike, slicing clean through her and shattering her luminescence. Mindie dropped to the floor, her eyes losing their glow and returning to their normal green.

As she scrambled to sit upright, a bright, purple sword hovered in front of her nose. In a bout of shock, all she could do was stare helplessly at it as it threatened to impale her between the eyes.

Chiaki walked over to the glowing object and took hold of it where it floated, herself encased in a bright aura that made it harder to see her in detail. But her wily daughter could sense the cold expression exuding from her. After her point was made clear, Chiaki phased back to normal. Her eyes returned to their natural green and her purple aura faded.

“If I were a Shade, what would’ve happened to you next?”

The appropriate responses were too easy for Mindie to put into words without sounding stupid. Between being consumed and forced to become a Shade herself, or having her entire existence destroyed on the spot, neither scenario was one to look forward to. She scooted back and propped herself up against the wall of the practice court, hugging her knees and sulking.

“You’re a ruthless mentor, you know that?”

“You want to be the brightest Star in the world, Midori-chan.” Chiaki took a seat next to her. “You can’t do that if I go easy on you.”

Mindie pouted. “Maybe. But you had me scared for a moment. I thought my own mom was willing to put me in the ground.”

Chiaki showed a warm smile. “Never.”

She reached up her hands and gently pulled her daughter’s head into an embrace, cradling her against her cheek. Mindie closed her eyes and relished this moment of levity in comfortable silence. No matter how tough she was, Chiaki was still her mother. And she took that role seriously. Part of that role was to be a teacher, and this reflected well when she was being a Tour coach.

“When you have luminescence, you need to understand the responsibility that entails. The price of having the power to directly engage chaos is an Achilles heel: if we allow chaos to consume us, our very existence is forfeit. Luminescents who become Shades are a threat that needs to be dealt with—decisively.”

Mindie let her eyes drift open slightly, casting its gaze towards the ground in a fit of shame. “You don’t have to remind me…”

She knew the consequences like the answer to an exam, but that was all it had been to her so far. Some part of her still thought of being luminescent—being a Star—as a game. To rack up points during the Halo Tour and outclass her peers to show off how good she was. Even now, it still hadn’t fully clicked that there was more to it.

Being a Star was considered a profession for a reason. In the hasty pursuit of her dream, Mindie would need to rely on these brief moments of clarity to remind herself of that for a long while yet.

“One more round.” Chiaki gave her a loving little kiss on her head of copper-brown hair. Then she pulled back and flashed a smug grin once she held her daughter’s gaze. “You can still move around a bit without your lumi, right?”