Luna was pissed. More so than usual. While everyone had received coordinates or directions on where to go, hers had just been an exercise routine and the recipe for a protein shake.
"What kind of fucking idiot makes instructions !"
she snarled, kicking a stone across the clearing hard enough to embed it into a tree trunk. Birds scattered into the sky. She didn’t care.
She reread the scrawled message on the back of the paper for the fifth time, as if it might suddenly reveal some hidden meaning:
Five sets of forty. No breaks. Then sprint. Then blend the shake. Drink it cold. Only then will the path open.
That was it. No signature. No seal. No magic glyphs. Just words that could’ve been ripped from a gym coach’s clipboard.
she muttered. Her ears twitched with agitation. Her tail twitched incessantly as she felt like she was back in P.E for some reason.
She scanned the forest again. Still nothing. No glowing trails. No puzzles. No monsters lurking in the shadows. Just a peaceful clearing with chirping birds and a single moss-covered boulder that looked vaguely like it might be smirking at her.
"Don’t look at me like that."
The boulder said nothing. Obviously. But she narrowed her eyes anyway before throwing her jacket down on the ground and stretching her arms out.
"Fine. Whatever. I’ll play your little game."
She started the first set with controlled fury. Squats. Pushups. Lunges. Sit-ups. Burpees. Forty each. Legs burning. Arms shaking. But she refused to slow down. Her breathing became sharp. Focused. Rhythmic.
Sweat beaded down her back by the second round. The air seemed to grow heavier. She kept going.
By the third round her mind quieted. The sounds of the forest fell away. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears like war drums. Her muscles screamed for mercy. She gave them none.
Fourth set. Her vision blurred. Her knees wobbled. She bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood.
Fifth set. Something shifted.
The ground pulsed. A deep vibration rolled through the soil like something ancient had stirred beneath her. She dropped into the last pushup, grit her teeth, and finished with a low growl.
She collapsed backward, gasping, staring at the canopy above. A single leaf drifted down onto her chest, as if to mock her.
The pulsing she felt was gone, the vibration was like a myth as she realized that she was just going crazy from overexertion.
Luna sat up with a groan, wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. Her body ached in every place that had muscles, and a few that probably didn’t. Her arms hung uselessly at her sides while she glared at the spot on the ground where she’d collapsed. There was no magic circle. No hidden mechanism. No glowing runes appeared in response to her suffering.
"Seriously. What the hell,"
she muttered, staggering toward the crate she’d noticed earlier. She had hoped it might vanish or change. Maybe turn into a portal or explode dramatically. It remained exactly the same.
With a bitter sigh, she knelt and opened it. The contents were as expected. Protein powder. Almond milk. Frozen berries. A blender bottle filled with ice.
She dumped the ingredients into the bottle. As soon as she twisted the cap and started shaking, the bottle grew cold. Really cold. Ice bloomed across the plastic like frost in a winter storm.
She took a breath, unscrewed the cap, and drank.
The chill hit her like a punch. It rolled down her throat like liquid snow, spreading through her chest, her limbs, her head. Her vision whited out.
And then it all stopped.
The air around her changed.
Gone was the tranquil forest where she put herself through hell. Now she was in an arena made of stone and gold.
Luna’s breath caught in her throat as her eyes adjusted to the light. The forest was gone. So was the crate. The mossy clearing, the birds, the trees — everything had been replaced by gleaming stone pillars and golden walls that shimmered faintly in the sunlight. The ground beneath her feet was smooth, patterned with concentric rings that pulsed with a faint light. Above her, the sky stretched out in a dome of pale gold. She blinked, but the vision held.
She stood at the center of what felt like a ritual space. No doorways. No shadows to duck into. Just open air and a silence so complete it felt manufactured.
Her head turned sharply toward the sound, muscles tensing instinctively.
Across the arena, a figure approached with steady steps. Luna’s stomach twisted. The figure was familiar. Same height. Same posture. Same twitching ears and long tail.
The other Luna came to a stop just inside the edge of the glowing circle. Her expression was calm, unreadable. She was dressed for war, with a sleeveless top that showed the hardened muscle of her arms. Faint scars crossed her skin like old brushstrokes. Her version of Kogetsukiba rested across her back, secured by a worn leather strap. The axe looked older somehow. More used. Still deadly.
"About time," the other Luna said, voice flat. She looked Luna over like a sergeant inspecting a recruit. "You took longer than I expected."
Luna stared at her, jaw clenched.
"A mirror. A challenge. A truth."
"Don’t talk like a fortune cookie."
The other Luna tilted her head, as if amused, then slowly reached back and unslung Kogetsukiba from her shoulder. The weapon made a low hum as it came free. She held it in one hand with lazy confidence.
"You ready for a beating Bunny?"
The other Luna laughed coldly as with a soft snap, Kogetsukiba split in two, becoming two large battle axes.
Luna growled as she reached into her own inventory to pull out her own Kogetsukiba.
"Don’t steal my line bitch! I’mma kick your ass!"
"I’d like to see you try!"
Luna was taking beating yourself up over something to an entirely new level.