Vetica

“One day you’re gonna be in charge of the whole family, and I’ll be by your side!” Lilica told her.

Since her father had taken Vetica from her mother’s home, Lilica had been a light in the darkness. Vetica had been hesitant at first to trust her, but Lilica was just as much a victim of all this as she was. She’d been wrenched away from her home and mother just like Vetica had. After a while, Vetica warmed up to the girl who was quick to call her sister.

Vetica smiled. They were playing in the small room they shared. On Vetica’s first day there, Lilica had pulled out several wooden carved figures and asked Vetica to play with her. The toys were secret, of course. A secret that would bring consequences upon them both if they got caught. But it was worth it. It gave them something to do in between lessons. Vetica had asked where they came from, but Lilica always got quiet about it. Vetica learned not to ask. She wished she could have brought some of her own things, not that she had much. But it would have been nice to have the chance to pack before being stolen away.

She wondered how her mother was doing.

There was a knock at the door. Their heads snapped to look, and they quickly worked together to hide the wooden toys before their teacher entered. “It’s time for lessons,” he said. He was a thin man with a hard face. A long scar started just below his mouth and trailed toward his neck.

Vetica and Lilica had already dressed and eaten breakfast for the day, so they quickly followed him. To Vetica’s surprise, he didn’t take them to the room where they normally received instruction. So far, their lessons had been straightforward. How to think like a Rawlin. How to hold knives and form proper combat stances. It had all seemed simple and intuitive to her. Lilica said it was usually like that. She’d been through this introductory stage once already, though she wouldn’t tell Vetica why that was.

Vetica turned to look at her sister. Lilica was trembling. Did she know something? She slipped her hand into Lilica’s and squeezed to offer some comfort. Lilica offered a faint smile in return. She was scared. That worried Vetica.

They reached a room Vetica had never been inside before and their teacher, a serious man who hadn’t given them so much as his name, gestured for them to enter. They did as instructed. There were two clearly marked spots in the center of the room. Two tiny x’s etched on the wooden floor of the empty room. The trainer nodded towards the spots.

Vetica and Lilica each stood on one and waited for instructions. Lilica was unusually quiet. She kept staring at the door they’d entered earlier. Their teacher stood to Lilica’s right, observing her for a moment before turning toward the door. “Bring them in,” he called out.

Two hooded assassins entered the room, each of them pulling a blindfolded man behind them. The blindfolded men had their mouths gagged and their arms and legs were bound. They moved slowly because of it. One assassin forced his hostage onto the ground in front of Vetica. The other hostage fell before Lilica.

This was new. So far, it had only ever been the three of them during training. Well, sometimes father or Hosuyo came to watch, but that was rare.

Beads of sweat rolled down Lilica’s face. What was going on? Each passing moment acted like fuel on the fire of Vetica’s burning dread. She wanted to run. She wanted to escape this place. But she knew that was impossible.

“What are we doing?” Vetica asked.

At the sound of her voice, the blindfolded men perked up and started trying to speak. Their panicked voices were muffled by the gags in their mouth. They seemed almost more afraid than she did. Almost.

Their instructor ignored Vetica’s question and looked at Lilica. “The man in front of you is innocent. He has done nothing wrong. He’s not committed any crimes, nor as he harmed another. I want you to kill him,” he said.

Vetica’s eyes went wide when he heard the instructions. She turned to look at Lilica, who had a blank look on her face.

Lilica stared at the man before her. The instructor flicked his wrist, and a knife clanged against the ground next to the girls. Lilica flinched. Her hand slowly reached for the knife. She grabbed it and pulled it close to her chest.

Her instructor stared at her. “We’ve been through this before, Lilica. I’d hoped you learned from your last experience.” Their instructor pointed at the struggling man before her. He’d given up on pleading for his life for the moment. He worked on his bindings instead. “Either you kill him, or I kill your sister. I’ll kill Vetica.”

Vetica shook her head. Been through this before? What was he talking about? It hit her in that moment. Why Lilica had been acting so weird. Why the toys in their room had initials on them that didn’t belong to Lilica. It all made sense. Vetica had come here after Lilica. She just never stopped to think about how much longer Lilica had been there. Vetica always just assumed it had been just before she arrived. But if she had made it to this point before, Lilica had been here for a while.

Lilica pulled the gag off the man in front of her.

“Please…please let me go. I have a family, a wife, and a son. They depend on me. If something happens then—”

Lilica frowned. “Do you have a name?” she asked.

The man hesitated at the sound of her voice. He hadn’t expected someone so young. “John. I’m John. What’s your name?” he asked.

Lilica didn’t respond. She just stared at him.

Vetica reached out to soothe her sister. They would find another way out of this. They wouldn’t—

“I’m sorry, John,” Lilica said. Blood splattered as she lunged forward and stabbed the man in front of her in the chest.

The man’s scream grated against Vetica’s soul. Her face was warm. She reached up and touched it and when she pulled her finger away; she noticed smeared blood. The man’s blood. Vetica shook her head. What happened? Why would Lilica do that?

The instructor nodded, satisfied with the results. “Now, you do the same, Vetica. Kill the man in front of you or I’ll kill Lilica.”

Vetica turned to look at the man in front of her. He whimpered and tried to scoot further away from her. She felt a pit in her stomach. Her sister, the light in the darkness, had just killed an innocent man in front of her. Why? Why had she…

Lilica reached out toward her with bloodied hands. “It’s okay, Vetica. We’ll protect each other. I didn’t protect my last sister, but I’ll keep you safe. I promise.” Despite her words, tears streamed down Lilica’s eyes. What she’d done had broken her. Probably in a way that could never be fixed. Vetica didn’t know how to feel about what Lilica had done. Lilica had been here for a while. Her sense of right and wrong was certainly warped. Even then, it wasn’t easy to excuse killing an innocent person. But Vetica would sort through that later. For now, she stood to her feet, took the knife from Lilica, and walked toward their instructor.

Lilica needed her now. If Vetica wanted to protect her sister and get her help, she had to do something that scared her. Vetica wasn’t going to kill an innocent man, but she would certainly stand up to their instructor. She stood in between Lilica and their instructor and pointed her blade at him.

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This man was a trained assassin. He was experienced enough that Vedic trusted him to train the next generation. To train his children. Could she really face him? She pushed the thought from her mind. She didn’t have a choice.

The instructor sighed. “So, you refuse?” he asked.

Vetica nodded defiantly. “I won’t kill him.”

The instructor looked at Lilica. “That’s too bad. Lilica, come here. I’ll make it quick.”

A silhouette emerged from the room’s doorway and Vetica’s breath caught when she recognized the man.

Their father.

Vedic’s eyes fixated on her the moment he walked into the room. “I had high hopes for the two of you. But if you aren’t willing to kill, then those hopes are wasted. To be a Rawlin, you have to kill,” he said.

Vetica swallowed. Whatever hope she had of fighting back died when Vedic entered the room. Their instructor was a scary man, but father was a living nightmare. She wouldn’t stand a chance against him. “So, if I kill someone, you’ll leave my sister alone?”

Vedic tilted his head toward her. “Is all this a misunderstanding? You didn’t understand the rules? We are assassins, Vetica. If you can’t kill someone, then I don’t have any need for you.”

Vetica raised her head to stare at him. “Then I will, but not him,” she said, referring to the bound man behind her.

Vedic chuckled. “Oh, then who will you kill, little Vetica?” He seemed amused. That was good. Hopefully.

Vetica didn’t say a word. Instead, she turned and looked at her instructor.

It took their teacher a moment to catch on. “You insolent little...my apologies, Master Vedic. I will deal with the girl at once. Please excuse us—”

Vedic held a hand up to silence him. “You would kill your own instructor over a stranger? Why?” he asked, kneeling, so he was eye to eye with her.

It didn’t make her any more comfortable if that was his goal. She looked away. “The stranger didn’t do anything to me. But our instructor threatened my sister. And I think he’s killed someone important to her before as well. He deserves to die more,” Vetica said.

Her father nodded and stood. He turned to leave the room. Vetica’s eyes widened when she saw her instructor’s face. There was an evil smirk on it. She’d hoped Vedic would intervene. She’d hoped he wouldn’t leave them like this. Even if she despised her father, a small part of her hoped he might help her.

Her instructor unsheathed his knife. “I’m going to enjoy this,” he said, taking a step toward her. He turned at the sound of footsteps. Vetica looked past him and saw two guards enter the room. They were fast. Before he could react, they’d grabbed her instructor by his arms. One guard kicked the back of her teacher’s legs and forced him to his knees. “What is the meaning of this? Master Vedic, these men are—” He froze when he realized Vedic was watching from the doorway. These men were acting on his orders.

Vedic’s eyes locked on Vetica. “Well, you said you could do it. Show me,” he said.

Vetica looked down at the knife in her hands, then she turned back to look at Lilica. Her sister looked terrified, like she didn’t know what to think anymore. Vetica took a step toward her captive instructor. She’d asked for a chance and Vedic had given it to her.

Their instructor snarled. “Get away from me!” His anger turned to fear with each soft step she took toward him. The edge of her knife slowly getting closer. He looked past her, right at Lilica. “Lilica! Tell her to stop! I’m your teacher! I taught you everything you know!”

Vetica took one last glance at her sister. Lilica was wiping her face with the sleeve of her shirt. If she wanted to stop Vetica, there weren’t any signs of it.

Vetica reached him. He screamed something at her. Maybe it was an insult, or maybe he was begging for mercy. But she couldn’t understand it. It was like the entire world was quiet. All except for the sound of her knife stabbing through his flesh and piercing his stomach.

As he keeled over and fell to the ground, choking on his own blood, she looked up at her father in the doorway.

“There’s that darkness I wanted to see. Welcome to family, girls.” He smiled.

***

Charlie

For the first time since they were separated from her, Charlie and Merlin got to see Vetica again. Sister had escorted them to a small room where Vetica waited for them. She sat atop a crate holding a wooden carved figure. She was so fixated on it she didn’t even notice when they entered.

“Vetica? Are you okay?” Charlie asked.

She sucked in a breath, and her head snapped toward them. “Oh, it’s you. Sorry, I was thinking about something,” she said.

If the room was anything other than a storage space, Charlie couldn’t tell. There were crates and barrels everywhere. Shelves filled with boxes lined the walls. Charlie wondered why she’d waited for them in here. “It’s okay. I’m just glad we got to see you. I was worried about you,” Charlie said.

Vetica smiled at that. The last time they’d been in a room together before the trial had ended with both of them a little upset with each other. He wanted to apologize but figured right now she needed to focus on the matter at hand. It created an awkward silence. Luckily, Merlin took over the conversation.

“Do you think you can do it?” he asked.

Vetica perked up. “Win? Sure. My sister’s never beaten me in a fight. Not even once. I’ll win.”

Merlin shifted Charlie to his other arm and sighed. “I didn’t mean—”

“I know. You were asking if I can kill my sister. Truth is, I don’t know. I mean I can. I’m capable of it. But as for if I want to…I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I guess I really don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

Charlie looked over at Sister, who was leaning against the wall. She was giving them space to talk, but something seemed to be bothering her. Before he could ask, Orb popped out of his onesie.

“Just so you know, my offer still stands, Vetica. Say the word and this little dungeon core will call out Vedic. We’ll have a duel instead. I’ll wipe the floor with him and then we’ll get out of here,” Orb said.

Merlin scoffed. “Orb, Vedic would literally crush you into dust.”

Orb floated in front of Merlin. Orb made a strained noise and white, spiky hair popped out of the top of his body. He was also suddenly wearing a miniature blindfold. “Nah, I’d win.”

Sister cleared her throat. “Vetica, there’s something you should know.”

Everyone turned to look at her. “What is it?” Charlie asked.

“Lilica has been training a lot lately. Training with Vedic,” Sister said.

Vetica shot to her feet. “Father stopped training us himself a long time ago.” She suddenly looked concerned. “If he’s been training her personally, she might have shown some signs that she’ll be the one to inherit the power. If that was the case, then…this whole thing could be a setup. A way to get me out of the way,” Vetica said.

Merlin held his hands out. “Or he’s getting desperate for one of you to inherit it and was trying to coax it out of her. We shouldn’t assume that this is all some elaborate plot. Besides, I’m no assassin, but I know people. I really don’t think your father was just acting up there.”

“Maybe. It’s just not like him to train one of us personally,” Vetica said.

Someone knocked on the door. “Five minutes,” the voice said. It sounded like Brother.

“Okay, thanks,” Sister called back.

“You’ve got this, Vetica! Go kick butt!” Charlie said.

Vetica nodded. “I’ll do my best. Listen, both of you, no matter what happens, don’t get involved. The rules are very strict. Outside tampering is not tolerated.”

Charlie frowned. “But what if—”

“Just…trust me, Charlie. Okay?” Vetica said.

Charlie nodded. He was worried about her. Being here was hard enough on her, but now she was facing a fight against her own sister.

A fight to the death.

Vetica stood and took in a deep breath. “Alright, this is it,” she said. She walked toward the door and reached to open it. Her hand froze before touching the knob. “This was always going to happen,” she whispered. “We were always going to have to do this.”

She twisted the doorknob.

Merlin and Charlie exchanged a look.

Two sisters were about to walk into an arena. Only one would walk out alive.