❆ ❆ ❆ ❆ One ❆ ❆ ❆ ❆
Clash of Sparks
Two swords met in a clash of sparks that ended in the mockery of a parry.
“Again… and backstep quicker this time.” A robed insect instructed.
“Again… and raise your stance!” The insect stated as his frustration grew.
“Again! And stop overextending your sword arm!”
A mistake was made, and the routine stumbled.
The instructor shut his eyes and let out a heavy growl filled with clicks. The pincers on his face tightened as the sparring continued on in front of him. Clashing echoed in the royal training hall while two young girls with bright white hair swung steel at one another. Both bore the lotus symbol on their backs. The only visible difference between them was their ages. One was a little girl with pigtails, no older than ten, barely fitting into the oversized black dyed cloth armor. The other, a few years her senior. The tall instructor wore a red hood and was hunched over on the sidelines, watching them closely.
The repeating song of dancing steel ended with a loud thump.
“To think you were called ‘The Hero of Vulcas.’ Snow, get up!” The instructor scolded her with even more conviction.
“What do you want me to do?! She’s stronger than me; she’s using her frostblood!” Snow yelled out on the ground between heavy, panting breaths.
“Adapt, use the techniques I taught you, use your own power!” The instructor’s claws tightened.
“Master Keine, I can’t compete with that power. That’s all it is….” Snow muttered.
“Oh?” A brief pause followed. “Okay. Lily, would you do me a favor and not call upon the frost this time? Snow believes she can win if you don’t use it.” The Master insect was merciless when it came to any excuse given on the training grounds.
“Pfft, sure thing Master Keine!” Lily giggled, spinning around before offering Snow a hand, “Come on, big sis, don’t be a wuss. I was holding back too.”
“I’m not a wuss. You’re just stronger.” Snow grabbed Lily’s hand and pulled herself up.
“Give me… one second!” The mist radiating off Lily’s skin stopped as her joints cracked back into place. Lily concentrated hard as her bright blue eyes flickered and strained for a few seconds before fully reverting to silver. “Okay, I’m ready!”
The girls took their stances.
“Again!” Master Keine yelled.
Snow made the first move. She swung at Lily from the left. The blades clashed and locked, the force behind them now evenly matched. Snow had the advantage of strength now that Lily wasn’t using her frostblood. She shoved Lily back and kept swinging with increasingly more force to keep her younger sister on the defensive: up, down, left, right. Snow came in striking from multiple angles.
(“I’m gaining ground this time.”) Snow thought as she maintained her aggressive assault.
Lily’s frostblood gave her the power to unlock her joints. The snakelike movement, on top of using muscles she couldn’t normally use, gave Lily the ability to dodge and pressure at any angle. Now, without the frostblood, Lily was restricted, and Snow’s pressure was working. Snow was gaining ground with each attack. Each strike pressured Lily further and further until Snow would find what she was looking for; an opening. Lily’s sword swung too high for her to properly block the next attack. Snow stomped her foot on the ground and swung up, knocking Lily’s sword out of her hand and straight up into the air. (“I knew it!”) Snow thought. (“I’m finally going to win!”)
Snow directed the blade at Lily, to which Lily responded with a peculiar face.
“That’s match!” Snow thrusted forward, right at the center of Lily’s chest.
Snow, too focused on hitting her target, didn’t see the smile form on her sister’s face. The winning thrust, targeted at self-validation and approval, hit nothing but air. Lily slipped to the side in a wave-like dance, avoiding the match-ending blow and catching her airborne sword as well. Each movement flowed into the next before Lily disappeared from Snow’s view.
Lily was behind Snow now.
In reaction, Snow sprinted forward to avoid the backstab, but something caught her foot, tripping her. It was Lily, who went for her feet instead of striking at her back. When Snow tried to get back up, Lily tackled her from behind and placed the steel sword across her throat.
“Haha, that one was fun!” Lily exclaimed before pulling away the blade, bending backward, and flipping off of Snow.
“I can’t believe it, even without the power, you managed to-”
“So. What’s the excuse now, Snow?” Master Keine cut her off, limping onto the grounds. “Perhaps you think Lily cheated, or that you made some type of error, or were you simply just tired?”
“No, I… just lost that one…but….” Snow’s voice trailed off, unable to put into words what she was thinking.
“So, you can’t use your frost. Even still, your slow, weak, and swordsmanship is novice at best.” The robed Master continued in a condescending tone.
“Please let me go again. That was a fairer fight. I’ll show you I can do it,” Snow begged.
Master Keine pushed back his hood, revealing a head of long red hair, a pincered mouth that was dark with razor teeth, and a face that was mostly plated bone and slitted eyes.
“Do you expect the opponent to simply ‘turn off their power’ or not give it their all in a serious fight? Life is not fair, and if you can’t take on the unfairness of life, then your life will be very short-lived or lived in misery.” Master Keine continued as if she hadn’t said anything.
“One more go.” Snow gritted her teeth.
The instructor’s voice of anger began morphing into dark clicks. “I’ve given you-click-countless chances-click, endless lessons-click, and still-click-you amount to nothing! Look at today, you’ve-click-been sparring for six hours and have-click-gotten nowhere! You wouldn’t last two seconds out there. Your-click-weakness is a disgrace, a pathetic display, and not-click-representative of the woman who bore you.” Master Keine glared down at Snow with a look of what could only be described as revulsion on his insect face.
“I can still fight!” Snow shouted back against the bombardment of insults.
“No, you’re done, and I am done teaching you. If it was not for the respect I have for your mother-click, I would have stopped teaching you-click-long ago.” The instructor now turned his gaze to Lily, who was busy cartwheeling around, humming to herself. “Good job today, Lily, even though your opponent was no better than a training dummy.”
“Thank you, Master Keine!” said her little sister enthusiastically.
“Make sure you keep doing the exercises I showed you. We are done for today, and I will see you, and only you, tomorrow at the same time.”
“Okie-dokie,” Lily replied, now laying down with her hands crossed behind her head with her legs kicking in the air. The instructor nodded, satisfied that he had said all that he needed to, threw his hood back on, and hunched his way to the exit.
“Instructor…” Snow began once more, still on the ground.
“I am no longer your instructor.” The doors of the training hall opened and slammed shut. Master Keine was gone, leaving the two girls alone.
“Now, Master Keine won’t teach me. It’s not fair. Why can’t I use this stupid power everyone else has? I’m sick of it!” Snow shouted in frustration before dropping her gaze to the ground, her hair dropping over her face.
Lily, noticing Snow’s state, skipped up to her and sat down in front of her. “Don’t worry big sis, I know you will get it! Don’t be sad!” Lily said with a big smile.
Snow wiped her eyes.
“Thanks, Lily. You’re right. Who needs that bug anyways.” Snow rose off the ground. “Now, come on, let’s go see how Lussuria and Gravis are doing.”
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In the High Queen’s throne room, a tall throne of ice sat on top of an icy dais. The ice from the dais appeared to be alive and had spread to the back of the room, slowly creeping up the walls. There were four smaller, empty chairs at the bottom of the dais. The room itself was an open hall draped by lotus banners, the center was paved by a dark blue rug mended with gold, and the east side had protruding balconies that gave a view of a portion of the Regalian Kingdom. Royal knights, dressed in armor that was a mix between leather and gold plates, lined the edges of the room. “Your Majesty, I am sorry, but she’s… she’s unteachable! No offense to you, but she is too weak, she shows no potential, and she hasn’t had any growth. I can not instruct her any longer, for it would be a waste of time on my part and payment on yours.” Master Keine explained, head bowed towards the presence at the end of the throne room.
Cold, bright blue eyes opened as the woman lounging on the throne of ice shifted. The frozen throne shifted to match her posture.
“Is that so?” The High Queen said, her voice calm but thrumming with power.
The insect in the red robes, who was a master of swords, rose.
“Y-yes,” shuddered Master Keine, the gaze of the Queen nearly freezing him in place. The Queen spoke again after observing him for a moment.
“It’s a shame. I hoped you, out of all mentors, would have a different result with Snow. Still, disregarding that for the moment, I do hope my other daughters are showing better results.”
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“Why yes, the other ones are wonderful!” to that, Master Keine happily replied, “They have exceeded my expectations in the best of ways; even taking into account the fact that they are your daughters, they can still be called prodigies.”
“Excellent. I think I will enroll them all in the Nobles’ Skirmish this year.” The High Queen gave a subtle smirk.
“Well, they are strong, but they do lack real combat experience. Gravis, I can see joining but Lussuria and Lily? I don’t recommend it.” Master Keine’s slitted eyes gave off a cautious gaze.
“But how else will they get the experience? They will be enrolled. My decision is final. I will give word to Quartermaster Balruff to roster them in.” The High Queen’s smirk now turned into a smile that was mostly teeth and little else.
Master Keine looked out towards the balcony of the throne room as his thoughts grew aloud, “This year will be packed with intensity: three of the High Queen’s daughters, all enrolling into the Nobles’ Skirmish at once? The other kingdoms won’t take too kindly to what they will no doubt perceive as an act of arrogance. For they will take the challenge and enroll their successors backed by the finest teachers. This is going to be the most competitive tournament to date. I can’t wait to see the various techniques the other masters have developed over the years manifest themselves in their students. Haha, yes, this is going to be great.” The robed insect rubbed his clawed hands in glee, a low wasp-like vibration coming out of his throat.
“You’re right,” the Queen commented as she stood from her throne and made her way over to him. The floor frosted over wherever her feet touched down. “It will be a competitive tournament, but I believe you misheard me when I said I want “all” of my daughters to be enrolled.”
“What?! You’re going to enroll Snow too?! Master Keine turned to the High Queen. “She won’t last two seconds in there. Please, your majesty, I beg that you reconsider and spare yourself the embarrassment and her the shame. She doesn’t learn anything in sparring. What makes you think she will pick anything up from getting put down in the blink of an eye in front of not one but all the major kingdoms? This will also destroy the reputation she has built with the mountaineer republic.”
The Queen, now standing on the balcony, took a look out into the eastern Regalian frontier. The horizon of the once endless snowy tundra was once again lined with trees.
“You are wrong, Kel’. She has potential. I just have to drag it out of her. She will be ready, whether she wants to be or not.”
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Snow and Lily reached the west courtyard. The courtyard was a large outer section on the second level of the castle estate. It was lightly snowing. Two sides of the courtyard were backed by the castle, and the other two sides were wrapped by a stone pathway guttered by a clean waterway. The westmost side of the path held a statue of Goddess Regalia. The statue of the warrior goddess faced away from the courtyard, looking towards the icy lakes of Regalia’s western frontier. Within the snow-blanketed courtyard itself, Gravis and Lussuria should have been sparring. “I wonder if they are finished already.” Lily innocently thought aloud.
“I doubt it.” Snow knew those two had a thing for fighting each other. Lussuria specifically loved to tease Gravis, even though Gravis was the oldest and strongest among them.
As Snow and Lily traversed the path around the courtyard, they could see their eldest sister. Gravis wielded a large claymore. Her muscles could be seen through her sparring outfit. Gravis was incredibly strong for her age, strong enough that she was even matching some of the knights. The eldest sister stormed through a white hedge bush in a fit of anger while her head swiveled left and right.
“Stop hiding!” Gravis demanded.
To answer her demand, Lussuria dashed through a nearby hedge bush, right by her. Gravis swung at her, and Lussuria ducked it before twirling and skipping away.
“Why? I am having so much fun!”
“Get over here, you punk!”
Lussuria wore a fancy training uniform with sleek purple designs. She was a runic mage, carrying just a mage tome and a small sword. Both were sheathed on her sides as she wasn’t even attempting to fight.
“You must capture me first!”
“Stop playing games and fight me, dammit!”
Snow and Lily laughed at the high-speed chase as they made their way over to the statue of goddess Regalia. There was a boy that was sleeping on its base. The boy appeared not much older than them. He was very short, had rounded green hair, and wore a silk shirt that was one size too big and silver pants that were one size too small. The clothes had designs that were uniquely from the angelic race.
“I smell a flower and an angel….” The boy said with his eyes closed while Snow and Lily approached him.
“Hi, Master Helrin.” The girls chorused.
“I told you girls already; you can just call me Helrin.” The lazy Master sat up with a light laugh.
“How long have they been running around like this?” Snow questioned, watching as her sisters played the game of extreme tag, which Gravis appeared to be losing.
Helrin pulled out his pocket watch instinctively, spinning it around before flipping it open. The watch hands were frozen in time behind the cracked glass.
“Oh right, silly me. This thing’s been broken forever.” Helrin looked to the sky and observed the position of the sun. “Hm, I don’t know for certain, but I took a nice nap, I’d say probably twenty minutes or so.”
“That’s it. I’m going to squash you, Lussuria!” Gravis’ patience during this game had run its course.
“Maybe a little longer than that, hehe,” Master Helrin corrected, scratching his head. “It was a pretty long nap.” he yawned.
“Don’t you think you should stop them?” Snow questioned, fueling the question of ‘if there was any instruction at all going on.’
“Hm, it seems like the fight is already over; Lussuria wins again,” Helrin shrugged before resuming his sleeping position on the statue. Snow and Lily looked over at their sisters in confusion because Gravis was the one who looked like she was going to end this game. Gravis raised her claymore above her head as frost energy began pulsing from her body and as her eyes turned bright blue. She was prepping for what seemed like a massive attack.
“Uh oh,” Snow noted, and Lily gasped. They both knew that Lussuria couldn’t run from what Gravis was about to do. They all felt the powerful energy that was building up in Gravis’ claymore. Helrin was right; this fight is over, but why would Lussuria be the winner then?
“EMERG-!” Gravis’s shout was halted. Before she was able to slam her blade into the ground, her arms got caught in a web of wires. Gravis looked to Lussuria in confusion to see that Lussuria had stopped running away and was reaching at the ground, making a pulling gesture with both of her hands. A bunch of near-invisible ice-coated strings revealed themselves, strung from everywhere, being held by several runes in the air. Lussuria’s eyes were blue, and her mage book glowing as magical energy fed into the strings turning them alive. The strings snapped taut, cutting into Gravis and pulling the burly muscled girl in every direction. Gravis stood with her claymore in her hands above her head, but she couldn’t move a muscle.
“What the?! You mean this whole time, that’s what you were doing?!” Gravis was in shock and then tried to pull herself out. “You think these puny lines can hold me?!” she shouted, trying to struggle free, but the effort was futile.
“Yeah, now let’s play another little game.” Lussuria put a finger to her chin, “How about if you can guess what color I’m thinking! A promise of one favor.” Lussuria skipped up behind Gravis, shifting the countless number of strings in her hands. The frost-coated strings gripped Gravis’s every muscle.
“Rrg, Lussuria, I’ll crush you!” Gravis shouted again as she tried to struggle against the strings.
“Nu-uh, you have to play the game!” Lussuria rebuked as she pulled the strings tighter, causing Gravis to grunt.
“Damn you..” Gravis struggled harder, enough so that Lussuria had to hold her ground and pull back. The strings got tighter as the stinging sensation turned into a sharp pain causing Gravis to grit her teeth.
“The more you struggle, the stronger the binds get. Now follow the rules, my dear sister. Please, take a guess.” Lussuria was now standing in front of Gravis.
Gravis looked at her and saw the purple design on her. (“Just you wait, you will be begging for my mercy when I’m done with you”) “Fine, Purple.” Gravis smiled. Lussuria paused for a moment.
“Wow, good guess! But even though purple is my favorite color...Wrong!” She made a dramatic motion with her hands, and the strings pulled harder than Gravis thought they would, cutting into her skin and causing blood to flow down her arms and legs.
“Ugf,” Gravis heaved in pain. Lussuria just gave a wicked smile and tilted her head, “Hm, you look like you’re enjoying this. See, I always took you for a masochist, But you still need to guess my color. But because you look so adorable, I’ll give you a hint. Hmm, well, I guess I already did in a way. Hehe, last guess before I really get forceful.” Lussuria chuckled darkly, enjoying this way too much.
“You sadist, Just wait until I get my hands on you.” Gravis made another guess, seeing no other way out of the binds. “White.”
Lussuria ticked her teeth.
“Gravis, Gravis, Gravis, you are as dense as ever.” Lussuria walked up to her big sister and examined the scratches and cuts on her body as if it was some work of art. “I told u, I️ already gave u a hint!” Lussuria’s fingers dripped blood as she pulled them with weight.
“Ahh! Lussuria!” Gravis finally let out a voice in pain as more blood flowed out of her arms and legs.
Lussuria’s mouth opened wide as her eyes quivered in pleasure at her elder sister’s pained response.
“I think this is my new favorite game! Tick tock, Gravis.” Lussuria teased by lightly tugging on the strings.
“I didn’t even guess yet. Stop pulling!” That’s when Gravis realized what the color was; it was all over the ground now, the color of her blood. “Red, the color is red!” Lussuria got closer and started wrapping the strings around her sword hand and prepared to pull with all her might. “I’ll owe you a damn favor! Just stop! Don’t pull!” Gravis cried out.
Nothing happened for a moment.
“Haha, just kidding! Yes! The color is red! See? That was fun!” Lussuria spun around while the strings began melting into water.
“YOUR MINE NOW!” Gravis shouted as she moved to strike Lussuria. Her blade swung down, aimed right for Lussuria’s head. The blade stopped mere inches away, slamming into what felt like stone.
The small green-haired Master stood underneath her blade. Helrin was clasping the claymore in between his hands.
“You already lost, Gravis.” Helrin motioned his head down. Gravis followed his eyes; on the ground, underneath them was a purple rune that was flickering on and off. Helrin’s feet flashed yellow before the rune fully faded away. “I don’t think your mother would be too happy if I let you two kill each other.”
Snow and Lily looked back at the base of the goddess statue; Helrin wasn’t there anymore. They didn’t notice or even hear him move. It was like he appeared on the grounds instantly.
Master Helrin turned to Lussuria.
“And Lussuria, just because you may think you are three steps ahead of your opponent, you must never underestimate them. You would have still taken that fatal blow.”
“I suppose I got a little carried away, but Gravis looked so cute all tied up. I honestly couldn’t help myself!” Lussuria giddily teased, hugging her own body and turning left and right.
“Lussuria!” Lily shouted as she ran onto the courtyard and tackled her older sister in a hug. Lussuria’s eyes reverted to silver as they greeted each other. Lussuria and Lily shared a special bond; they were like best friends.
“Your rage is your bane again, Gravis,” Helrin commented. “You’ve got to control it. Not to mention, that was an illegal strike. You could have killed your sister.”
“I know, I’m sorry. It’s just that when I activate the frost, it’s hard for me to control my anger. It feels like my anger is a lot greater when I am using it.” Gravis stabbed her claymore on the ground and put one knee to the ground as all her cuts and scratches began to slowly close simultaneously. Her eyes reverted to silver after.
“Controlling your emotions is imperative in battle. Trust me, I would know.” The green-haired Master sleepily looked around at all the girls, “Well, since you girls are here, I assume your training is done, so I guess that will be it for us too. That’s enough training for the day. I’m sooo tired.” Master Helrin said as he stretched. Gravis and Lussuria both raised an eyebrow and shouted nearly at the same time: “But you were sleeping the past six hours!”
“Now, now that’s not true. I did “instruct” you girls for ‘most’ of the time today.” Both girls wore matching looks of disbelief on their faces.
“Why are you our instructor?” Gravis asked in defeat.
“Now, now, Gravis, don’t let my looks fool you. I am Helrin, the Master of speed!” he boasted just as he took Gravis’s claymore and started spinning around with it.
“Hey, give that back!” Gravis shouted.
“You gotta find me first!” Helrin shouted back as he jumped into a nearby pile of snow. Gravis gave chase. “Over here! Nope, over here! Whoops, now I’m here!” Helrin continued popping in and out of the snow piles some yards away from his last location.
“How is he doing that?”
“Gravis is getting mad again, haha.”
Snow, Lussuria, and Lily watched as Gravis continued to chase her instructor like a cat who had been robbed by a mouse. All the servants or guards that day would only remember hearing the cries of an outraged girl and the laughter of a young man.