“OH, no… Your burns are awful…”
After neutralizing the Flame Cerberus’s Fire Breaths, Yuffie frowned as she scrutinized Lyle’s injuries. The gash on his shoulder accompanied the burns on his back caused by the monster’s attack.
“It’ll take me about three hours to heal this… I’m so sorry, this is all my fault…”
She was on the verge of tears. She’d gotten lost and headed in the direction of the sound coming from the rescue whistle, where she found Lyle cornered by the Flame Cerberus.
I have to help him!
That was her only thought when she ran over to him, then the beast unleashed its breath attack. Out of instinct, Yuffie tried to block it by using water magic, but Lyle ended up burned while shielding her from the flames before she could. She was stressed, feeling guilty over his injuries, and anxious to heal his burns quickly.
With a serious look on his face, he asked, “Are you absolutely positive you’re not a cross-dressing boy…?”
“No, I’m not!” she shrieked back at him.
“Graaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrr!!”
The Flame Cerberus let out a blood-chilling roar. The area turned red, the ground heated up, and dust rose in the air. Flames burned in its blood-red eyes and raged like a storm. Its scream shook the earth, rocking through the space like thunder, seemingly reaching the ends of the Kingdom itself.
The beast was enraged at having its attack blocked. The fact that Yuffie didn’t pay any attention to it only added fuel to the fire. Its fury turned into flames, engulfing its entire body, and it became a demonic fiend covered in hellfire. The Flame Cerebrus roared again and tried to unleash another Fire Breath, but Yuffie only shushed it calmly.
“Please be quiet.” She then raised a hand in its direction and chanted. “Roaring Flame Bullet.”
In an instant, the color red engulfed the world. The roar of the flames tore through the area. Countless fireballs rushed out from her palm, mingling to form a huge bonfire dancing wildly in the air. The scorching hot bullets formed by the gathering of thousands of flames spiraled toward the Flame Cerberus, like a fire dragon biting its prey and tearing it apart—a direct hit.
“Grrraaaaaaaaarrr…?!”
Unable to fight back, all the monster could do was rattle out its final death cry as her spell reduced it to ash. Only a black shadow remained, proof of its existence.
Lyle was speechless. Women couldn’t use offensive magic, but Yuffie had done just that. Her very existence easily overturned this bit of common sense, leaving him shocked, to the point of being unable to comprehend what he’d just seen.
“Okay, now I can take my time healing you… Oh, shoot, but my healing magic takes too long. I won’t make it in the time limit… Ugggh, if only I’d practiced more…”
Yuffie herself didn’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation at all. She was simply her usual flustered self. In fact, during the seven years she spent devoting herself to training in attack magic, she’d taken on countless monsters. That probably explained why she’d ignored the Flame Cerberus. Her attitude only deepened Lyle’s confusion.
“That’s…impossible…”
His voice shook as he finally managed to speak. He looked her straight in the eye and asked with a serious expression, “How in the hell can you use offensive magic?!”
“Huh?”
…
……
…………
“Uh-oh.”
Shoot, shoot, shoot! I was so focused on his injuries that I completely forgot…
Yuffie finally, finally realized how serious this was. She had unleashed an offensive spell like she was swatting a fly—and Lyle had seen her do it.
“You’re definitely a cross-dressing boy, aren’t you? You have to be!”
“N-N-N-No, I’m not!”
That was the one thing she absolutely, positively had to deny!
“Then what did you just use?! Because I saw you casting fire magic and water magic! Not to mention both of those spells were advanced… Actually, I’m pretty sure they go beyond advanced! So answer me! Why are you able to use attack magic?!” Lyle grabbed Yuffie by the shoulders as he questioned her. Confusion, doubt, and awe flashed in his eyes, like he was facing something completely unknown to him.
“Um… Well…” She didn’t understand why he was yelling at her, but intuition told her that if she revealed the truth, things would get complicated. “Um, well, um… You see…that just now was…sleight of hand!”
She decided to try and dodge the question.
“There’s no way you can instantly kill a Flame Cerberus, a B-rank monster, with sleight of hand!”
“Urk…”
He shot down her lie in a second, leaving her at a loss for words.
“Wait a minute. I just remembered something. You said you defeated a Black Wolf the day before the entrance ceremony, didn’t you?”
“Eeek! I-I think you have the wrong person?”
“No, I definitely heard you then. After seeing the power of your magic just now, I can see how you managed that too. You really are amazing.”
“D-Do you think so? Now you’re making me blush…”
“Ha. I knew it.”
“Ack! You tricked me!”
She had never been praised before, so Yuffie couldn’t help being overcome with joy at his words. Now, she couldn’t hide the truth anymore.
What do I do, what do I do, what do I do…? Uuuuuuuuunnnggghhh… She didn’t know how to explain the situation. Her mind went blank, and sweat drenched her like a waterfall when…
“Professor! This way!”
She heard other students far away. The teachers must have arrived after hearing the rescue whistle. Resolve flashed in Yuffie’s eyes. In a moment, she overcame her panic and reached a state of enlightenment. She turned to Lyle and said with a calm expression.
“Please keep what you saw just now a secret.”
“No, that’s imp—”
“Please? Pleeeaase?”
Lyle nodded vigorously, unable to say no to the pressure she put on him. Her awkward wink, meant to look cool, only made Yuffie look even creepier.
She jumped to her feet and cast a wind magic spell behind her back. Wind Kick!
A wave of wind engulfed her as the magic warped the wind around her body to move at high speed. Escape—Yuffie concluded that this was her best course of action for now.
“Hey, will you wait a— Ah, jeez, you’re fast!”
She flew off with the speed of a shooting star. There was no way Lyle could stop her, so he could only stand there in shock.
💠🌸💠
✦ ✦ ✦
I messed up, I messed up, I messed up…
Yuffie covered her face as she escaped at lightning speed, entrusting herself to the wind magic. Anxiety and fear filled her heart, shaking her. Once Lyle was entirely out of sight, she dispelled the wind magic and planted her feet on the ground.
“Haaa… Haaa…”
With her pounding heart and shallow breath, she realized the potential consequences of her actions. He had seen her attack magic—that fact slithered over her like a dark shadow.
Okay, yes, it’s weird that I can use attack magic since only men are supposed to. But…
A small part of her had thought there were exceptions to the rule. Take eggs, for example. An egg usually has one yolk inside, but sometimes there are two. So if she could use it, then it must not be set in stone. Yuffie’s low self-esteem made her think that, which explained why she never really thought too deeply about why she could use offensive magic, and also why she never told anyone about it.
However, after Lyle’s furious questioning earlier, she came up with a possibility.
Maybe it is a big deal for me to be able to use offensive magic…?
So big that her very existence broke society’s rules.
“No, no, no, no, no way, no way? That can’t be, it’s impossible…!”
Though she tried to deny it, Yuffie noticed her voice trembling slightly. The shocked expression on Lyle’s face when he saw her using attack magic, and how on edge he’d been when he questioned her, denied the “impossible.”
“But…what if…”
What if her ability to use offensive magic, despite being a woman, was something that became important? She started fantasizing then:
She opens the imposing door, and there’s the principal, sitting at a large desk with a stern look in his eyes. Also in the room are the school’s top teachers, all lined up. Everyone’s looking at Yuffie as if they want to shoot her dead.
“Yuffie Abisus. There’s something I have to ask you.”
The principal’s voice is low and weighty as he starts bombarding her with probing questions.
“How did you learn offensive magic? Who taught you?”
Each question cut like a blade.
“…Um, I kind of…taught myself…?”
“You think this is a laughing matter?!”
BANG! (The sound of a fist slams down on a desk.)
“Eeek?!”
A trial follows, where she’s questioned about hiding her ability to use attack magic. As she stands at the hearing, the dainty Yuffie is assailed by a barrage of questions. The gazes of the people sitting in the gallery pierce her. She’s exhausted by the interrogation and can only stammer her replies.
CLANG! CLANG! (The sound of the judge’s gavel crashing down.)
“Yuffie Abisus, I hereby sentence you to 890 years in prison!”
A de facto death sentence.
CRASH! (The sound of her being tossed in jail.)
She’s thrown into the cell, and cold iron shackles are fastened to her hands and feet.
“Ngggh, where did I go wrong…?” she mutters as she bites into moldy bread, but no one answers.