Reconcile

Whiteday. The dazzling shine of the sun crept inside the room. It was only a matter of time before the light found its way on two opposite beds; one empty and one occupied by Frill.

The light touched her eyes and she frowned and turned away. The sun had been waking her up ever since that day. She opened her eyes, disappointed by the fact and to herself. She couldn’t let this go on, not when everyone else was moving forward.

Frill climbed out of bed and dressed—surprisingly enough—for work. It wasn’t determination that made her do it, more like force of habit. She was surprised by how easy it was to put on her maid clothes. Her eyes fixated on the opposite bed, untouched for a long time. There was nothing about it.

Nothing to think about.

She opened her Spatiera and pulled a small crystal orb. A formation of Liona’s Art signature preserved in meiyal. It symbolized Liona’s trust in her.

Frill began to concentrate, forming the Meiyal Art in her mind. The Art to open Liona’s Spatiera. With her late sister’s crystalized Art signature in hand, she could open it once and retrieve whatever was left inside, otherwise, they would be stuck there in nothingness for eternity.

Her hand shook. She couldn’t do it.

Frill sighed and placed the crystal back into her own Spatiera, turning her attention to today’s duties.

She opened the door out of her room and found Lady Katherine waiting outside.

“Oh, hi,” the Lady began. “I was just about to knock.” She held a tray of food enough for two. “Breakfast? I mean…late breakfast?”

“Were you standing outside the whole time?” Frill looked at the tray. She recognized the ingredients, but could barely make out the way it was cooked from the steam building up under the glass covers. It, and the Lady’s smiling response, intrigued her. She took the tray from Katherine with a practiced motion, leaving the Lady no chance to react. “Yes, let’s eat at the courtyard.”

Frill placed the tray on a center table in the middle of the courtyard. The arrangement of layering leaves and flowers coordinated a symmetric theme around the humble patio. The floor was marble and the roof bore the Cross Irista's emblem—two crossed swords with a golden flower on their intersection.

The patio was wide enough for a couple of tables, and a few pillowed chairs that whispered tales of comfort and security just by looking at them. Frill had never indulged herself with its seductions. With all the work the Princess did on a daily basis, the maid deserved none of the relaxation the place had to offer.

This was the first time she excused herself that luxury. She sat across the table where Katherine chose to sit and waited as the Lady proudly presented their breakfast.

Powerful scents struck and tickled Frill’s nose as steam puffed out. Colorful mixes of meat, vegetables, and sauces enticed her eyes with an avaricious display. Frill swallowed hard to prevent her mouth from watering.

Katherine set the table with amazing skill, placing plates and utensils across the table for Frill.

“Here you go,” she said as she handed her a bowl of rice. Frill took it absentmindedly. She was proud of her own skill and the flavors of her food, but the strange attracting scent of Katherine’s cuisine made her stomach beg and her mouth anxious.

“Well then,” Katherine began, taking Frill’s attention off the air. She placed both hands together and smiled. “Time to eat!”

Frill wondered at the act and the Lady stared back at her with expectations, subtly moving her hands to pass the message. She mimicked the action reluctantly. “Time to eat.”

The maid had no idea how to start, so she observed Katherine for instructions. The Lady picked up a pair of sticks, grabbed a piece of meat with it, and dripped the excess sauce on the rice before eating it. She followed it with the flavored rice. Just like that, Katherine’s face was the definition of heaven.

Frill followed her example and quickly discovered the difficulty of using the sticks. The meat slipped so easily and the effort was making her hungrier by the second.

“Those are called chopsticks. Be gentle,” Katherine advised. She showed how to properly hold the chopsticks and demonstrated slowly how to use it. “The more strength you apply the easier they’ll slip away.”

On Frill’s third try, although not perfectly, she was able take a piece of meat. The explosion of flavors was otherworldly. She quickly followed up with a helping of rice which—to her surprise—stuck effortlessly with the sticks. The sensation of harmony was beyond words.

“You should teach me,” Frill almost demanded. “I’ve never tasted anything like this.”

“I pulled out all the stops on this one. You know…to make up for last time,” Katherine said.

“I already said it was fine.” The insistent apologizing was getting on her nerves, but she decided to channel her annoyance on something more productive. “You’re just acting out your duty as Lady of the Void. I understand. But if you still insist on apologizing, then teach me all your recipes and we’ll call it quits.”

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“Sure! Thanks.” Katherine made an apologetic smile. “I’ll teach you everything I learned from Earth. It’ll be just like the old times.”

Frill and Katherine had always been cooking buddies. While Katherine made the effort to let Kristel and the Veli sisters know everything she learned both from her training as a Lady of the Void and as a Seeker, Frill had had special lessons in cooking.

That had been the case until Katherine left Brymeia.

“Hopefully you’ll be staying now.” Frill muttered, but the silence around them made it easy for Katherine to hear.

“It depends,” said the Lady. “I tied myself to Frein. Where he goes, I go.”

Those words made a clear realization in Frill’s mind. She smiled. “I see. I’m happy for you.” Frill also knew the other side of what it meant, but she had not the heart to console the Lady. Rather, she promised to herself to be there for Katherine when Frein finally leaves.

They continued their meal, trading expressions of satisfaction with each mouthful.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a burden lately,” Frill started after they had done eating, sipping from her warm tea.

“You should take your time,” Katherine replied. “It’s only natural.”

Frill said nothing and simply stared at the movements of her tea, her thoughts of the voice, her visions of Liona’s past, and her future plans were mists that needed clearing and swords that needed sharpening.

“Kristel told me you have sixty-seven marks now,” began the Lady, her voice probing.

“Yes.”

“Can you show me? All of them. I’ll know.”

Frill respected Katherine as a senior in the Meiyal Arts discipline—a sort of mentor, but not exactly—and trusted her like an elder sister. Her very title, the Lady of the Void, held the highest status one not of royalty could have and well-known by all throughout Brymeia. What was more, it was impossible to hide anything from her, not from her Heart’s Will, one of the Ten Blessings of Brymeia.

So, Frill obeyed, revealing all of her marks, unsealed or sealed. All two-hundred of them. Floating gems of light pierced by streaks of lightning beginning from the core of her left eye, flowing to her back. Each activated mark sparked while the rest remained dormant.

“So, you really have her marks, too.” Katherine was obviously speaking about Liona. “Are you okay? Nothing strange?”

“I’m fine. Nothing unusual.” Frill had actually thought about it. Maybe it was because of the lack of the physical burden that she could handle the additional marks better. Granted that Princess Kristel served as the host during fusion exercises, but Frill and Liona had experimented with themselves from time to time.

“I see. If that’s the case, I’ll leave you to it.” Lady Katherine sipped from her tea. “But I should probably let you know; this doesn’t happen instantly on its own.”

“What do you mean?”

Katherine sighed, a deep one. “Let’s just say, Liona had been conditioning her meiyal system to be easily adaptable. It would have taken years, by my calculations.”

Frill was stunned. “You mean...” she couldn’t end her sentence, the idea alone spelled out dread.

“That’s right.” Katherine was determined to finish the point. “She intended you to have them in the first place.” She sipped from her teacup once more, allowing the fact to sink in. “Maybe she did it as precaution, or maybe she thought it would help ease your fusion. I wouldn’t know.”

A surge of pain prickled within Frill’s chest, but tears didn’t fall.

“Also, Frein told me you unsealed more during the maelstrom,” said the Lady, changing the subject.

“...yes. But they retracted.”

“Did you hear it?”

“Yes, I did.” Somehow, they knew, Kristel and Katherine. They knew about the voice.

But how?

Katherine sighed again, heavier than the last. “I see.” She sipped from her tea; her blank expression made it difficult to read her thoughts. “What did Kristel tell you?”

“Not to listen to it.”

“And what do you think?”

“I...” Frill thought deeply. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard from it ever since.”

“I see,” Katherine repeated and sipped again. “I’m sorry I had to force your answers.”

Frill shook her head. “It can’t be helped.” She hid her marks in a blink, meiyal residue sparked out of existence. “What do you think?” She judged it best to seek advice from her to at least divert her attention away from more probing.

“I can’t answer that question, to be honest.” Katherine placed her cup on the saucer and kept it near her chest. Her eyes gazed upon the beautiful scenery of Lor’s mesmerizing flower arrangements. She smiled in a bit of adoration and dispelled it just as fast. “There aren’t many of us who can hear it. Just us three as far as I know. Even Schrodie refused to answer when asked…as usual.”

“Really, just us?” Frill had her own assumptions. She thought at first, until Kristel gave her hints, that she was the only one who could hear it. But now she was curious as to how many more were privy to the voice.

“I first heard it when my eightieth mark unsealed, same goes for Kristel.”

Another curiosity emerged from Frill. “How many marks do you have now?”

Katherine seemed to expect the question was only a matter of time. “All of them.” She answered as though it couldn’t be helped. A portion of her hair began to glow. The meiyal core above her right temple that looked like an innocent hair ornament sprung all one-hundred marks, alive and shining. It depicted the same hovering style that Frill’s marks had.

“All?” Frill’s awe forced her out of her chair for a closer inspection. There were absolutely no sealed meiyal marks. Just when she thought Kristel had finally surpassed Katherine, she came back with a higher hurdle. “That’s amazing!”

Katherine sighed. “I keep telling you, ‘It’s not all about the marks.’” But she smiled when she saw Frill’s face filled with amazement and determination.

“So, what did you do with the voice?” Frill asked, getting back on topic.

Katherine finished her tea and placed the empty cup gently on the table. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell you, yet. For one, your connection to it might be gone until you unseal your eightieth mark again. Second, it’s not like I disagree with Kristel, but you have your own life to choose and your own decisions to make.

“Take time and consider your options.” Katherine stood, picking up the tray without any leftovers. Frill moved to help but the Lady was quick to deny it. “And if you really need help after that, then that’s the time you come to us. For now, I need your help with something.”

Frill utilized a smooth set of motions to take the cleaning task away from the Lady, but she abruptly stopped. “Help with what?”

“My dad left you the keys to my room, right? I need to get my M.O.B.I.L.E. back.” Katherine gave up competing with who was supposed to clean up the plates.

“I can just give you the keys.” Frill opened her Spatiera and reached inside.

“Oh, so you haven’t tried getting in. After all these years? You weren’t even curious?”

“I was instructed not to open it.”

Katherine spared a smirk. “I wish Frein was as obedient as you.”

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