The Red Hand

Kana, Mika, Naomi, and Yumi were shopping together in downtown Kyoto. Fall had begun to turn into winter and it wouldn't be much longer until snow began to fall. The recent Libra attacks had them nervous, but they weren't about to just sit at home and hide until they were taken care of. Kana needed to pick up some extra school supplies, and Yumi, surprisingly, wanted to learn more about the technology of this world. So Kana recommended she get a smartphone to start with. She'd originally wanted to get something like Kana's AR system. However, that would require special implants, a process that neither Akagi nor Yumi trusted. Akagi herself couldn't actually undergo the surgery since her body was little more than an illusion, and Yumi feared being put to sleep by people she didn't know.

As such, Yumi was taken to a store that sold older-generation smartphones. Even in this era of VR and AR, plenty of people still used these devices. Mostly because they were uncomfortable with implants or had something that prevented them from undergoing the surgery.

"So this is the little box that allows me to talk with people even if they are so far away." Yumi marveled at the device as they four sat in a nearby park. It was a relatively simple model with minimal bells and whistles.

"Pfff." Mika laughed. "When you say something like that Yumi, it makes you sound like an old lady." Yumi's reaction was akin to an elderly grandparent being given a phone for the first time.

"Well excuse me that my world didn't have such things." She puffed out her cheeks. "We had magic that could do many of the things this device does, so it's not that I'm completely in the dark."

"Kinda funny to think the person who only a few months ago was made from code is so enthralled by a smartphone." Naomi chuckled. "Ah...." She realized what she just said. "I'm sorry I hope that wasn't offensive." Yumi's status as a former NPC was still a raw topic, and Naomi was afraid she might have just stepped on a landmine.

"It's fine." Yumi sighed. "It's not like you're wrong. Up until recently, I was little more than a game character from your perspective, so...." Yumi and most of the others were still coming to grips with their past and the fact that their world was little more than an illusion. What troubled them most of all was the revelation that all their memories from before the game went live were fake and implanted as part of their backstory/character creation. This hit Yumi especially hard as most of her memories with her family technically never happened. What little time she spent with them before she was made priestess were precious to her, so the revelation was quite depressing.

Some took it better than others, with many arguing that it didn't matter that memories were implanted since they felt real to them. Yumi didn't really know how to take it, she'd spent two real years with her family before her village was destroyed, so it wasn't as if all her memories of her family were fake.

"It really is a messed up situation." Kana shook her head. "What were those people thinking when they created you, only to deny that you were anything more than a program." Kana was a supporter of AI rights, though barring FWO, no example had ever been shown where true AI existed. There was some buzz on social media about Akagi bringing NPCs into the real world, but people mostly avoided the topic. The company that made FWO was already defunct and the ex-devs claimed it was impossible that the NPCs were actually alive. Something that nearly caused Akagi to go hunting for them out of anger.

"I doubt it was just because of the de-vel-e-pors." Yumi still didn't have a complete grasp on all words, especially when they shouldn't have existed in FWO. "Most likely, when the game was overlaid with the other world, that probably gave us all our own sense of self." Naomi and Mika had been told some of the basics about what caused the whole FWO incident. Though, they were unaware that Mizumi was anything more than a maid in Akagi's estate.

"On one hand, I'm grateful, as cruel as that might be to say." Yumi gave a wry smile. "Without the whole affair, I wouldn't even exist, and I wouldn't have met my Lord. Though because of that, so many people from this world had to die."

The three knew how she felt about Akagi and so chose not to comment.

{Onee-chan, I hope you understand just how much you mean to Yumi.} (Kana)

"On the other, if I never existed, I wouldn't have to go through so much pain." Yumi's face darkened. "So it's really hard to sort out my feelings, but I'm here now, and nothing can change the past." As she stared at the phone she found herself wishing she had such a device when she was at her village. At least then, she'd have something to remind her of her family since that world had no method of taking photos.

"And I wouldn't want it any other way." Kana smiled. "I don't care that you used to be part of a game. To me, you're my second sister!" Her statement caused Yumi to laugh. "You're much nicer and don't pick on me, so I'd say you might even be an improvement." Kana snickered.

"I appreciate the sentiment." Yumi smiled. She'd lost her only sister when Kyojaro killed her all those years ago. She missed the girl everyday and always wished to see her again.

"Don't forget you're also our friend." Naomi chimed in.

"Yeah, we like having you around too." Mika smiled.

"Thank you.... really." All of their kindness made Yumi cry just a little bit. "I never had any friends back home, but I'm glad to have met you three." Yumi's role as the village priestess left her with little time to act as someone her age. As a result, she had no friends and only really spent time with adults and those much older than her.

Kana got Yumi some tissues and it took a moment for her to calm down.

"Sorry about that. I don't know what came over me." Yumi was slightly embarrassed at the fact that she'd cried.

"You don't need to be sorry for being happy. Onee-chan told me you went through a lot, so it's understandable." Akagi had given most of Yumi's backstory to the girls. Though she left out more important details out of respect for Yumi's privacy.

"Can I ask you something? About your time in FWO?" Kana looked at her.

"Sure, though depending on what you ask I might not be able to answer." Yumi was sworn to a level of secrecy and would never divulge information Akagi told her not to.

"What was Onee-chan really like in FWO?" Kana had tried to get more information about Akagi prior to her logout. She'd asked Hishya a similar question, but what she'd gotten wasn't very helpful. Akagi herself was often vauge and evasive on the subject, something that annoyed Kana but she never pressed her sister on the subject.

"I would like to say that she's the same now as she was then." Yumi looked away. "But that's not the case."

Seeing Yumi's look and the tone of her voice, the three girls leaned in.

"My Lord, she's been struggling ever since we came to this world." Yumi sighed. "She's not had the easiest time adjusting to some... issues..."

"Struggling?" Kana had an idea of what she meant but wasn't completely sure.

"On Altarus, my Lord was much more sure of herself." Yumi thought for a moment.

(Altarus was the name of FWO's game world.)

"She seems pretty sure of herself now." Naomi tilted her head in confusion.

Yumi shook her head. "Before we came to this world, she thought she'd finally figured out who and what she was. She was confident that she'd cast aside all doubts about what she wanted to do with her life and the discovery of her true personality was something she celebrated." Yumi continued. "However, since we came to this world, my Lord has been plagued by insecurity. She's begun to question just what and who she is." Kana saw this the other night when Akagi had a partial breakdown over the thought that she was an impostor that took the original Rishia's place.

"But, why is she even having these doubts?" Mika asked. "She seems to be really happy with her powers and new body so..."

"She is. Don't get me wrong, it's not the powers or her new form that has caused this anxiety." Yumi gave a wry smile. "It's her own mind that's causing this."

"It's because she's not sure that she was actually human to begin with. Isn't it?" Kana interjected.

Yumi nodded in confirmation. "Yes, that's exactly right. And no matter how much I tell her it doesn't matter, she still frets over it."

"What are you talking about Kana?" Naomi was confused again.

"Yeah? How could your sister not have been human? Our world doesn't have other things, right?" Mika asked.

Unsure if she should reveal this information, Kana waffled back and forth for a minute before figuring she should just be honest with her friends.

"Onee-chan thinks that, for whatever reason, she was actually something other than a human born into a human body." Kana nervously explained.

"But, isn't that crazy?" Mika retorted. "I get having your body changed by the game, even if that is insane, but your sister couldn't be anything other than human. This world isn't a game or an anime, until FWO we didn't have anything other than humans." Mika tried to refute the idea that Akagi was anything but human.

"Yeah," Naomi agreed. "My family had stories about Yokai, but those were little more than stories. Nothing but humans exist in this world, so your sister couldn't be anything but human, Kana."

"I would be inclined to agree with you...." Kana took a deep breath. "If that wasn't for one particular incident."

"Incident?" (Mika x Naomi)

"The day Onee-chan was taken to the mental hospital. When I found her that morning, she was lying on her bed writhing in pain. She spoke in that strange Demon language, and her left eye turned orange like it did in her battle against Hishya." Kana revealed something that not even Yumi knew.

"What?!?" (Mika, Yumi, and Naomi)

"Wait, wait, wait." Naomi stopped her. "You must be joking right?" She looked at Kana who just shook her head.

"I was the only person who saw it, so I guess it's possible that my eight-year-old mind just made it up, but then how would I recognize Onee-chan's Demon language?" Kana shrugged.

"I was never told any of this?!?" Yumi was equally parts angry and confused.

"Onee-chan herself might not even remember it, Yumi." Kana continued. "She was basically out of her mind, so she might have just blocked it out of her memory. Though now that I think about it, she didn't question me when I said about her eye being orange. So perhaps she does remember?" Kana sighed.

"Does that mean Akagi really is some kind of Demon?" Mika asked pensively.

"I have no idea, and from what Yumi told us, even Onee-chan doesn't know. But I think chances are high that there's more to her than meets the eye." Kana looked up to the sky, her mind filled with many questions about her sister. But before should ponder the question of Akagi's humanity any more, someone called her name.

"Ka-na?" A weak voice called out from behind her, causing Kana to spin around and gaze upon the horrible sight before her.

"Kaori?!?" Kana exclaimed as the young girl collapsed face-first onto the pavement. Her clothes were torn and her entire body was covered in burns, cuts, and bruises.

"Kaori!" Kana screamed as she ran over to the collapsed girl.