Juniper Kima III

Something was wrong.

I knew it the instant I planted my foot onto the arena’s glass floor. I knew as the feeling of chill dread strung itself through my spine and anticipation paralyzed me.

Something was very wrong.

I checked the tattoo on my arm. The glistening black ink read ‘3’—as it should. A wave of panic surged and my finger tapped against the side of my leg. I’d done that—no, she’d done that. Juniper Kima Prime had begun this habit as early as high school. And so, I did it too.

With a clenched jaw and restless fingers, I forced myself to take the first steps on my way to the center of the arena. Across the field, duplicates of Juniper Kima Prime—each one labeled 1-20 with a tattoo on their arms, stepped forward. Each of their faces, except for the Prime’s, were impassive, uncaring, and unfeeling. Juniper Kima Prime, however, stood tall and proud. This was to be her grand moment of victory over herself—well, herselves.

I–she–I, it was confusing, didn’t want to die though. And that was the problem. The duplicates weren’t supposed to not want to die. I mean, we weren’t supposed to want to die, either—we weren’t supposed to feel anything. How does 3 know she’s not supposed to feel anything? And yet, I got the whole package: terror, anticipation, nervousness, anxiety, and a laughter buried deep inside, finding humor in the irony of this twisted situation. Every ounce of willpower was poured into keeping my face impassive as I marched toward what would inevitably be my end.

Sweat beaded on my forehead as the announcer read off the details of the match.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” The smooth voice started, echoing through the arena. “Our final graduating student! Top of her class and valedictorian, Juniper Kima is top rated to get a massive scholarship from Yrintri University for use of Cloronic Magic! Tonight, we watch her spectacularly overcome herself and try for the record time in the Trial of the Self!”

Juniper Kima Prime—well, all of us, really—was a tall woman who loomed over the rest of us—uh—her. She stared up at the crowd with all the confidence I seemed to lack. She was good and so was I, but if she didn’t kill me, she would lose all opportunities for scholarship. But, I didn’t want to die! I sighed, letting my teeth chatter. Maybe. I thought. Maybe I can strike a deal. Juniper was a kind enough person. Maybe she’d work with me and we could make a plan or something. My head began to spin as she scanned the cheering crowd, waving at what would probably be Ellarie, my—sigh—her girlfriend. A wave of nausea crept into my throat.

“As the preparation completes,” the announcer continued, wrapping up the speech. “Let’s all count down together!” I stumbled briefly, my vision vanishing for just a moment as my mind slipped into a brief second of unconsciousness. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice.

“THREE!” The jumbled crowd erupted, the glass floor beneath me vibrated. I wasn’t ready. It was happening too fast—

“TWO!” I caught myself hyperventilating. The result of panic, my mind told me. My fingers stopped tapping, curling instead into nervous fists. Did I run?

“ONE!” Juniper Kima Prime assumed a battle stance as every other one did as well. Only I stood there, paralyzed with fear. I had to run! I—

“GO!” The entire crowd thundered at once.

Juniper Prime whipped a dart from her sleeve, launching it at number 20. Colored liquid—Clorone—drained from transparent flasks, coursing into Juniper Prime before mid-air, the dart multiplied once, twice, three times. Eight darts rained down on 19 and 20, reducing them to a pile of empty husks.

And I just stood there like an idiot.

Junipers 13, 16, and 5 all reached down in unison, planting hands onto the clear floor, pulling the liquid from their own flasks. A partial replica of the floor, taking the shape of a sword and a shield, emerged from its surface, while 15, 2, 7, and 10 rushed her.

And still I stood, eyes wide.

The rest of the Junipers sprang into action, some pulling bows from the crystalline floor, others pulling and throwing their own darts while I watched in trembling panic. Move. Move. MOVE! I pushed the thoughts through my mind, begging for something to happen. It wasn’t until 2 and 7 were sliced apart that I took the first step backward. 15 and 10 continued to swing their blades, blocking attacks as I took another step.

Overhead, the announcer boomed, the meaning of the words distant as my feet continued their retreat, faster and faster; the mild shuffle ignited into the flight of life.

Remember the training. The thought floated through my head as I ran, ducking behind a pillar, shoulders heaving and chest pounding. Everything was distant, the echoes of arrows crashing into walls and blades meeting felt miles away as the world crashed around me. On the other side of the pillar, “I” was there, almost as emotionless as the clones, as she cut down the rest of the Junipers.

The tinkling of shattered class sounded behind the pillar, shards scattering on either side of me, reflecting the powerful spotlights overhead. Clones screaming in pain and Juniper Prime’s battle cries burst in the distance. “Okay, Juniper.” I told myself. “Okay. Okay. Okay. Breathe. I can figure this out.” I forced my eyes shut, tuning in only to the quiet thumping of bodies on the floor, sucking in a full breath, and holding it.

There couldn’t be many left to fight, I thought, releasing the breath.

“It won’t be too hard.” I pulled air into my lungs again. “I’ve got this.”

She’ll be coming after me next. My heart skipped a beat and my breath escaped. She’s going to kill me.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. I just need to talk to her and maybe she’ll reconsider.”

She won’t graduate if she doesn’t. She doesn’t have a choice. Clones aren’t supposed to survive.

“I’m sure they’ll work something out. I’m an anomaly. They’ll let me live. I have to talk to her.”

But what if she doesn’t?

I fidgeted with the colored flasks, testing the tubes attached to me. They were secure.

But what if she doesn’t?

My finger tapped against the side of my leg. “She has to.”

What would I do?

My head spun. What would I do? It didn’t take long to come to the answer. I sighed, forcing myself to breathe again. In. Out. The sounds of the battle behind me began to dwindle. Only the sound of a single blade clattering against another resounded as even the crowds seemed to hold their breaths. Only the announcer spoke through the piercing quiet.

Closing my eyes one more time, I ran my fingers against the smooth glass beneath me, the extra perspiration rendering them slick. “This is it, I guess,” I told myself and pulled from the flasks. A frigid energy zipped into my veins, sending goosebumps up my arms and into my neck. I relished the sensation before sending it coursing into the ground, twisting it into the shape of a short sword and a shield—our specialty.

Tuning into my surroundings, I stood and forced myself into motion.

“Number three seems to have snapped out of it!” The announcer overhead said, an air of excitement in his voice. “Even with this oddity Juniper is in place to complete the trial in record time. But, the execution will need to be perfect!”

Shifting around the pillar, the frigid tendrils of terror pulsing through my blood and the heat of fury driving it into action, I let out a wicked scream. Juniper Prime, finishing off the last of the other clones with a flurry, turned, taken aback. “What?” I saw her mouth to herself, eyes twisted up in confusion.

The announcer spoke, voice incredulous, the meaning of the words lost on me. Juniper Prime shook her head, raising her own blade in defense and hiding behind a shield.

So I, the last of the clones, rushed her, still bellowing, my shield and blade forward and pointed at Juniper. “I won’t die!” My entire weight rammed into her shield, the momentum of it taking her off balance. She’d need two steps to stabilize herself. The clash and crunch of hardened glass echoed as she took those two steps. Still, she struck. Her attack precise, but I twisted away in time, the point of her blade whizzing past my face.

 I knew her. I knew how she had trained and I could counter it. Yes, she knew how I fought, but she would underestimate me. I didn’t need to kill her. I just needed to win. Push her out of the arena, calling it a forfeit. So, I swung. It was a wild strike. Something from our training that we hadn’t quite mastered. She moved the shield to stop the attack, but had turned just too late. The sharp edge of the glass took her in the arm. A drop of blood welled at the edge of the cut, rolling off and splattering onto the transparent glass below.

“What’s happening?” Juniper Prime asked, raising her shield again to block an overhead blow. “Did something happen?” She asked as the invigorating chill flowed through me again, bursting from my foot into the ground. A low wall appeared behind Juniper Prime.

Heart pounding and blade swinging, I drove her back into the wall, causing the woman to stumble and fall backward. Just a little farther, I thought to myself as I pushed ahead.

“I.. I don’t want to die!” I said, swiping down, purposefully letting it clang harmlessly onto the ground. “I don’t know why I don’t, but I don’t!” I swiped again as she crawled backward.

A wave of goosebumps rose on her body and I stepped to the side. A shaft of glass shot forward from behind me. I cucked and continued the forward march. Prime scrambled back, her eyes wild, too focused. “But, you’re supposed—” She paused, eyes narrowing as I advanced. The glass sword screeched against the floor, chips and pieces exploding outward. She shook her head. “I mean, you’re not supposed to want—” She cut her own sentence short.

I stared her down; now I loomed over her. Each step I took was careful and precise. “I don’t care.” The terror that had guided me shifted into fury. CRASH! A crack blew across the blade, nearly splitting the tip. “I don’t know WHY I’m like this, but I. Won’t. Let. You. Kill me!” Each word accentuated with each blow. The last one scratched Prime’s thigh.

She continued to flee.

“I don’t know why this happened either.” She said, goosebumps spreading across her skin. “Let’s get this figured out.”

I lunged, throwing the sword into the ground right in front of her. The crack burst as the glass snapped loudly. “Then let’s talk.” I said, the anger slowly bleeding from my soul, condensing into a dewy sorrow.

“Okay, we’ll talk.” She raised her hands, dropping both her blade and shield. I didn’t. They clattered to the ground to her side. Her goosebumps hadn’t yet vanished. She kept her hands high in the air as the announcer once again shared information with the crowd. She took a step forward.

Every muscle in my body tensed and filled instantly with the frigid energy. “Let go of your Clorone.”

She sighed, taking another step forward. “I will if you do.”

“I don’t—” My brows furrowed.

“Want to die, I know. You’ve—"

“No!” I said. “Well, yes, but I don’t want to kill you either.”

Her eyes narrowed as she took another step. “Then, let go of your—”

I pushed some of the Clorone into the ground. A barrier erupted between us. “No. How can I know—”

“That I won’t kill you?” She asked.

I scanned the familiar face, each expression somehow alien. The features on my rounded face subtly shifting into positions never made in front of a mirror. “That you won’t kill me.”

I watched as the goosebumps fled from her and a shade of panic rushed through me, launching me backward and shoving my own Clorone into the ground. She did the same. I molded the energy once again as a wall erupted between us, wide and long, separating us once again. I panted, waiting for something to happen. My heart was pounding, muscles taught, ready to spring. Beyond the wall, silence lurked. Even the announcer had gone silent as the whole arena watched, waiting for a victor. I waited, silently filling myself with the dregs of my Clorone.

I should check what’s happening. I thought to myself, forcing myself to breathe.

“No. If she sees me, she could—”

But she’s not. My mind told me.

I hesitated, waiting for an attack that never came. Shoulders heaved as I watched the wall. I scanned the periphery, waiting, prepared. But still, nothing.

Except for a gasp. It was a collective gasp. The entire crowd sang out in surprise as the announcer returned to fulfilling his job. Even he stuttered as he spoke. “W-well, in a bizarre turn of events—I don’t even know what to say about it.” He said over the crowd.

I turned around, watching as the crowd hushed again. “A surprising twist for sure. Juniper Kima, after a stunning display in the first half and a powerful, evocative ending. I can’t believe it, folks. She just walked off the stage!”

I blinked, releasing all the icy chill into the ground, a small ring of little mounds forming around me. “What?” I mouthed to myself as the crowd began to murmur again.

“What?” I mouthed a second time, head spinning.

It wasn’t long, however, until I was swept off the field by a series of judges and arena workers. Surely, they’d want to poke and prod, analyze and dissect to see what had happened to me. Terror filled me as I met up with Juniper Kima Prime afterward, her cuts already cleaned and bandaged. Neither of us could look each other in the eye as reporters choked our path out of the arena.

It wasn’t until we finally went for her celebration—well, consolation dinner with mom, dad, and Ellarie, that the first bits of conversation began. “So.” Juniper Prime started. “Tell me about yourself—I mean, you know—wow, this is weird.”

And for the first time since entering that arena, I let out a laugh. The laugh that had been building since I first came to be. I let the laugh just be what I wanted it to be–well, until I realized everyone was looking at me. Juniper hid behind the curtains of hair and I felt my cheeks swell with red as I did the same.

The conversation continued much the same with awkward statements being made and me stealing glances to Ellarie, who just wasn’t sure what to do with me, but it was the beginning of something new. Something weird. But, soon–I hoped–something right.