(Discrimination alert: Major curse words.)
"NADA!"
She screamed, painfully, seeing someone who was truly the other half of her, being tortured the same way she had seen Ms. Avry being hung up in the ceiling. But only here, she was stuck with her limbs in ice, which was casted using her own elemental magic.
"You son of b*tch!"
Aefia kicked Silence at the stomach while falling out of her grip and running towards her cousin.
"What the f*ck did you do to her?!"
She shouted while falling to her knees in front of her cousin. Using her bare hands to scan the ice for a breaking point, despite knowing that ice casted by magic was one of the most strongest and unbreakable. She slammed her bandaged fist into a jagged icicle.
Her vision blurred, not because of the pain, but because of the sight that she couldn't endure. Her back bent forward and her hands flew to her face, as she trembled in rage and sorrow.
I hate this d*mn competition! Why did either of use join this?! Why did she have to join it?!
"How is the gift? Isn't it splendid?" Silence walked over to where her hunched position sat while trying to hold back her screams and tears, with widened eyes peaking through the gaps of her fingers.
"I thought you would like it, but you seem to be having a hard time expecting even a pin from your enemy... I know... I am generous."
"Generous your rotten brain..."
The woman clasped her hands behind her, while offering a sinister smile. "Tell me one thing kid... Why did you have to investigate this competition secretly just because some other Guardians decided to help you? Or are you just trying to get the fun of being as powerful as you have read in your novels back on Earth?"
"Just shut your mouth! Or go back to your mom's womb!" Aefia shouted while turning she head sideways and clenching the hilt of the stolen sword tightly. In front of her, Nada steered by a bit, as if fighting her consciousness and trying to not die. Her fingers moved, trembled or just shook for a few seconds.
Finally, a wire snapped inside Aefia's mind as she took hold of Nada's hand and used the tip of the sword to stab the palm. Sorry... But I need to wake you if I can... I promise to have you recovered when I return you to the competition and after I kill this Guardian... You know I am a person of my words.
The blade sliced through the centre of her hand, and caused her to scream into consciousness. Her eyes jolted awake as she sat up and looked forward, forming a single icicle faced towards Aefia in front of her. But her movements stopped short as she glanced at the familiar face of her cousin, but only that she looked very different from the last time.
"You learned to shapeshift to drain me of my mind..." Nada spoke with confidence as she slammed it down into Aefia's side, watching as the icicle drain the blood from her body. "My cousin doesn't have silver hair at the ends and she definitely doesn't walk around looking that regal of an appearance!" She shouted while holding the sharp icicle again.
"Look at the irony! One doesn't identify the other... Speak about actually saving her... When she is the one dying..." Silence walked to the front and carressing her own face at her hand. "Let's end these two at the same time... One is already empty of magic to begin with."
A shock went through Nada's mind as she stared down at Aefia who was holding the side that was leaking her blood.
"Wait... Then who is she?" She asked while moving closer to the cave walls and glancing with a scared face, as her ice sickles tied her to place, anchoring both her arms and both her ankles.
Aefia lifted her face from the ground and offered a smile. "I look different because of over consuming my magic... And I may have lost my element in the meantime..." She spoke while removing her hand from the bomber jacket, and standing on her knees. "But I have come to try my best and release you from this greedy Guardian's hands."
"Wait! You are bleeding! And you are exhausted." Nada spoke while trying to get up along with her. She watched as Aefia took off her jacket, revealing a hoodie and a knee length dress, the one she had been wearing since the train. "Don't worry... I have learned to survive injuries." Aefia replied while straightening her back, then turning towards the woman standing behind her.
She had a hostile expression, however, she has her eyes narrowed and her smile calm.
"Aefia! Just sit down for a second! You have so many injuries and I can't explain how you are able to be such a wreckage and a fighter at the same time!" Nada pleaded while standing up, despite the bruises at her hands, but no blood was drawn. "I am older... So you better listen... And I will find a way to get both of us out of this."
"Don't be delusional like the duchess... I have been doing this for a long time now... I am practically injured everyday..." She spoke while pulling the sleeves of her hoodie up to her elbow and loosening her grasp against the sword and letting it fall. "And... Most certainly don't raise your voice over the Imperial Princess and judge her decisions... Have I made myself clear?" She asked while pulling off the locket at her neck and pocketing it.
"You better not die..." Nada whispered while recoiling back to a sitting position, suffering the same tiredness Aefia did ever since the Guardian had been stealing her power. But in truth, all of them knew that the Guardian was feeding on their power, to grow her own army of monsters.
"Your choice for power... Is amazing... You seem to understand alchemy very well, because you stole my fire first, and now you are taking Nada's ice."
"A compliment for an enemy... Well that is expensive coming from you... Princess Seraphina. What are you plotting? A simple conversation doesn't take that much preparation you know..." Silence spoke with a calm tone as she stepped closer.
"You are right about that... A 'simple' conversation doesn't take that much preparation. But try guessing what else does? You definitely know that if I were wearing sleeves... It will be impossible for you to do something." She sternly replied while using her fingers to trace the seam of the cut at her neck. "And I am definitely not plotting anything that would be bad for you. I am not a type of person to make my enemy suffer before they have fun... Let the joy stay as it is... Because that way... Both sides can enjoy it."
"Speak what you have to speak." Silence added with a stern face as she stood like a strict parent in one place. "What is it that you want? I can't give you your element back... So you better have a good and hard time explaining yourself."
Aefia dropped her hands to her sides as if eager to share the idea. "Oh yes..." She started speaking with a childish happiness illuminating on her face. "I have a negotiable offer for you... And you will definitely enjoy it."
Her hands clasped behind her, while she signaled hand gestures to Nada from behind. Her cousin's face distorted with concern as she brought her hand to her mouth as if trying to stuff away her scream and sadness.
"What is that negotiation that I would like? And don't think you are fooling me with your hidden gestures... You think you are steps ahead... But you are using beginner level tricks with me." Silence spoke while folding her hands in front of her.
"Why don't you free Nada? ... And in return you can have me. It will be a good trade don't you think? Confiscating the knowledge of the competition from overflowing and reaching the participants' ears?"
Both sides turned silent, both of the people behind and in front of the girl were with widened eyes, except Aefia in the centre of it all.
"How does that sound? It is supposed to be promising because I am already depleted and elemental-less... So you have an easy time dealing with me... Because I am injured and drained and exhausted, so I won't be able to fight back."
A smile returned to the woman's face, as she clapped her hands softly with calm eyes. "Bravo... For your confidence and bravery... But what was the point in turning yourself in to just save your cousin? Have your head injuries turned you into a crazy person? I have never seen this version of you before... I like it."
"And you will never be able to steal a chance again unless you trap me. Now that I have no magic, I have all rights to become a normal princess reigning the empire... Although I still don't have a crown... But I will ask for it soon if I get out of here."
"And in return... What do you want me to do?"
"Just trap me. Like I said... I will switch places with Nada... But she gets to run free and do whatever she wants and you won't touch her, not even her element. When you release her, I will get ten seconds with her." Aefia's faced turned sinister. "And... I will give you the access to the person with the healing element too. You know you have a major need it... We both know that..."
"Oh yes... I have been meaning to catch them for a long time." Silence answered while clapping her hand, causing the ice sickles to snap around Nada's limbs. "I have been always curious why I have never managed to get my hand on them... Until just now... I just realized you have been behind it. Anyways... You have your ten seconds."
Aefia rushed over to grab the bomber on the floor and then sprinted towards Nada. She hung it over her shoulders and then gave her a huge hug, until the last few seconds. "Take care... Don't get yourself strangled in between more troubles... And don't make me regret this." She spoke while stepping back, as the sickles came to trap her own wrist.
"You had your moment..." Silence spoke while watching the way the trapped Aefia was shivering due to the cold. "Now I just came to realize... You have no use for me..."
Aefia's eyes turned shocked, as it left her seconds to find out what it meant. A sharp icicle slammed through her abdomen, and came out the other way, covered in her own blood. Her hands shook, due to the pain, as her eyes stayed locked towards the icicle in front of her, and her head looling forward. Blood fell to the ground, from her mouth and her wounds. But with the last amount of energy that she could bargain, the only thing she said was,
"Run... Nada."
***
The heavy blizzard was too harsh to walk in, and eventually, she happened to reach a dead end, at the edge of a cliff that meant no returning. With her weak body, the wind has the ability to blow her away, but it wasn't the thing that bothered her the most. "There is no point anymore young girl... I have killed that girl and I will kill you. And then I will consume both of your powers to become one of the Aethalgard Heirs."
"And what does that have to do with me?" Nada added sternly as a response.
"Because both you and your cousin's powers allow me to become one of the most powerful Guardians. To have control over both ice and fire is a chance that no one gets, and only the strongest of them all can do that." Silence replied while walking towards her place at the edge of the cliff.
"Now... Looks like you have reached a dead end, what are you going to do next? You are as doomed as your idiot cousin."
Nada offered a scoff, as she clenched the bomber jacket tightly against her own frame.
"Are you even sure she is dead?" She asked with confidence. "Because there is a particular thing that Aefia can do that the illusions she create can't... And that is being silent and mysterious."
"How is that even possible?" Silence narrowed her eyes at the girl.
"Because Aefia has been training herselfethods of assassination since the age of eight. In fact... She is right behind you... Now." Nada replied while pointing towards the back of the Guardian.
Questioned, she turned around, faced with a familiar figure wearing knee-length dress and the zipper hoodie. But she had a mask at her face, that she gradually removed to reveal her pale face, showing no signs of any injuries. Just the two cuts at her rib and her abdomen, which was just a gnash against her skin.
"Did you really think... I was that dumb?" Aefia asked while holding the sheep mask right in front go her face.
"I heard that people only wear masks that matched their personalities... I figured that a sheep matches mine..." She spoke while smiling, not even flinching to the cold around her.
"Well I can already tell... You are the perfect representation to a wolf hidden beneath a sheep's skin. I can't say that you found your match... Did you steal that?" The woman replied while furrowing her brows out of anger.
"I did... And I was questioning something mentally at the same time... What is this Aethalgard Heir thing? I seem to have a memory of it... But I can't recall anything surrounding it... Because it seems too... Distinct... Like thousands of years ago." Aefia spoke while folding she arms.
She is who I think she is... Silence thought to herself. Nevermind... Too late to back up now. I need to do something that will permanently send her away... What if I tried to push away the cousin... Or maybe try stealing the locket so she falls into a panic attack?
"Hey?! Aren't you going to speak?"
Aefia lost her patience and snapped, as if irritated with the long wait.
"If you are thinking about the locket... You won't find it around me... I don't even have it on me." She smiled while sticking her tongue out in a playful manner.