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Chapter 14: A Risky Alliance
The moment her body slipped through the icy barrier and entered the Frozen Heart’s cortex, Carina felt her heart skip a beat in relief as she let out a quiet breath. A surreal ash-white sky overshadowed a barren plain of snow and ice. Waves of icy mist rose and fell as they spread outward to greet the ice witch, who strode through the inch of snow that gathered in piles around the rough domain of her small island.
As before, Viktor waited at its center. The bright, flickering light of the cortex wove around his bones like a beacon. A small garden of vines and flowers gathered around the immortal’s corpse. Leaves of frost had woven themselves together, replicating the scales of the creature’s massive body and filling out his once-proud wings. Carina could feel the rhythmic pulse of cold magic that emanated from Viktor and the cortex beating gently against her as if attempting to brush away the anger and anxiety that had followed the ice witch across the threshold.
“You’re not—angry with me?” Carina murmured cautiously as she followed the narrow path between the frozen-throne stems of winter roses.
“Do children often confuse worry with anger?”
The ice witch arched a brow and looked away, focusing on the glittering floral vine that had coiled its way around the dragon’s giant talon. “I don’t know. It’s been a long time—since I had a parental figure who worried about me.”
“The man on the train.”
Carina sucked in a slow breath and then nodded as she stepped forward to place her hand against the cold, ridged white bone of his snout.
“Is that why you developed such a strong need to protect the people around you, even strangers?”
The ice witch said nothing as she focused on the glowing frost beneath her hand. When she lifted her palm, tiny buds of flowers bloomed beneath. In response, the brilliant white tendrils of the cortex wrapped themselves around her wrist and fingers, filling Carina with even more of Viktor’s power and a comforting sense of belonging.
A hungry desire to claim the lake and prove that she deserved this power filled Carina's very bones, but the sting of Viktor’s disappointment had barely faded, along with the knowledge of how quickly time flew by while training inside the cortex. With no small amount of effort, Carina withdrew her hand and took a step back.
“I know it hasn’t been that long—but I have realized my mistake. I promise to be more cautious while training in the future, but I must grow stronger.” The ice witch looked up to meet the dragon’s empty eyes. “I need to learn how to use magic to protect myself and those who support me.”
‘Ivy, Gus, Hana, Bryson, the members of Cerberus, and even the knights of Bastiallano. I put them all at risk if I continue to remain as weak as I am.’
“I will train at every opportunity, not just when I’m asleep. And—I promise to listen and not push beyond my mortal limits,” Carina continued determinedly. “But time is not on my side. There is someone I must protect—and others I must destroy. I am tired of being mocked and underestimated. If I could live in peace, I would, but—if that is impossible—I will give them a reason to fear me instead.”
“You mean to use your magic openly?” Viktor replied thoughtfully.
“Does it make sense to hide it? I know powerful covens exist in Lafeara, Strugna, and Ventrayna. We exist but must hide our magic to avoid being persecuted?!” Carina shook her head futilely. “I spent half my life here running away from this power because I thought it would corrupt me. But I have seen firsthand how corrupt those, without a drop of witch blood in their veins, can be. Even in a world without magic, people push their resentments unto others under the blanket of bias, discrimination, and fear.”
The ice witch grimaced and rubbed her neck as her gaze faltered. “I know it's foolish to think I can change centuries of bias or make up for generations of cruelty. Not just foolish—naive. I thought that if I could show witches aren’t to blame for every disaster and calamity that strikes….” Carina dropped her hand with an exasperated sigh as her shoulders slumped forward in defeat. “But now Lafeara is facing a truly horrifying Witch Plague.” She leaned back to look at the ashen sky and laughed feebly. “So it would appear that the gods themselves have outplayed me.”
“Do not think to carry that burden all on your own,” Viktor reproached with a gentle rumble. "Neither you nor Kirsi is to blame for the god's oppression that has wreaked havoc on those around you. It was your Mother and I who angered the majority of the Six. Even after a century has passed, they continue to punish us through you."
"Which gods? Arachne?"
"Kritanta, Arachne, to some degree Veles, and of course—Ramiel, the Saint's god."
A sudden spasm of pain clenched inside Carina's chest at the mention of the lesser-known immortal. “I don't even know where to begin. If the gods are determined to pin this plague on me as they did Kirsi, how can I stop them? For now, the only course forward is to fight this witch plague through magic since mortal medicine does not appear to have any effect." The Duchess rubbed her temple wearily. "At least that way, I can prove that magic is not inherently evil. That it can be used for good!” Her uncertain gaze returned to Viktor as her fingers dropped to massage the unease inside her chest. “Is my thinking wrong? Or is there no way to exist in this world without hiding who I am?”
“Mortals have never been united under one common belief before. Why do you think there are so many gods and covens? Rather than waste time trying to appease them all, what you said before holds true. Sometimes even a god cannot choose whether they are loved or abhorred.” The cortex dancing around the dragon’s skeleton flickered as the immortal fell silent for a moment. “Faith or fear, as long as they believe in your existence, your power will grow and guide you towards the moonlit path."
"Moonlit path?" Carina tilted her head as her brows furrowed in confusion. It was not the first time she had failed to make sense of the immortal's rambling.
"That which your other half desires. A series of trials that must be faced for a mortal to ascend to the heavens. If you can both work together and trust one another, immortality is not beyond your means."
"Kirsi?" Carina clenched her fists and drew in a deep breath. "She hasn't proven to be very trustworthy thus far."
‘I warned Kirsi to stay away from Percy, and yet she goes right to the Earl and allows him inside Bastiallano without warning me.’
“All the knowledge you lack, Carina. All the experience you so desperately need—Kirsi can give them to you.”
“Assuming she’s willing,” Carina scoffed and crossed her arms defensively. “I don’t see Kirsi handing over that kind of power without demanding something in return.”
'And the only thing I have to offer is this body we both need to accomplish our goals.'
“You are the same soul, Carina,” Viktor replied with gentle firmness. “Can you not—as you mortals express it—put yourself in Kirsi’s shoes? Would you offer up the same advantage without taking something in return?”
"What?" The Duchess scowled and stared at him bewildered. "Are you really suggesting that I'm the one who's being unreasonable? I didn't ask to be reborn, let alone as some split half of a cursed witch's soul!"
"Carina."
She spun away, angry and annoyed at the emotions clouding her thoughts.
"Kirsi is not to blame. Neither of you is to blame. If someone must be held accountable for your pain and anger, then let it be me."
"But you didn't do anything wrong!"
A long silence passed between them that forced Carina to turn around and face the immortal. Through their connection, she could feel Viktor's regret and anguish and wondered if she had said something wrong.
“My point remains. All you need to understand is that in order for you to grow stronger, you and Kirsi must become one soul again. To bind yourselves together, you must share each other's past, memories, and experiences until looking at each other feels like gazing into a mirror."
‘But the very thought of being melded into Kirsi—becoming Kirsi—completely terrifies me.’
The ice witch clenched and unclenched her jaw as she drummed her stiff fingers against her arm. “When I woke up in this body, Maura’s body, I felt like a thief. Like I'd stolen a life that wasn’t mine. Even though I didn’t know what was going on, I understood that this life—came at the cost of someone else's second chance."
“It was Arachne who carried your soul to this world and that body,” Viktor replied soothingly. “And Maura would not have had a second chance if Veles hadn’t turned back time to allow Arachne to do so.”
“I didn’t know that then. All I knew—was that I wanted to live. Maura and I had both just died—we both wanted a second chance—but I was the outsider who took over her body and stole that opportunity from her. I understood and accepted Maura's hatred, but Kirsi? How many second chances has she had?” Carina shook her head and laughed bitterly. “Listen to me. Even after eight years, I'm still trying to justify my existence—to find any excuse for my own selfish desire to live.”
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“There was nothing you could have done, Carina. Maura’s spirit was severed from her body by Arachne’s hand. Your connection to it was no less tenuous. Without the Frozen Heart, this body you feel so guilty about possessing would have rotted away like any other corpse.”
Carina shuddered at the thought even as she raised her fingers to touch the glowing against her chest. “I knew this heart was—different. Even Maura was surprised the first time I used magic.” Her trembling fingers tightened into a fist as familiar guilt clawed its way through her chest and throat. “But every time they called me by Maura's name—I felt—rotten.” A small tear washed down her cheek and blurred into a snowflake as it flew away. “The only way I could bury this feeling—was by agreeing to help Maura get her revenge. If she could not have a second chance, then the least I could do was punish the people who had made her first life so miserable."
The tendrils of the cortex reached out towards the ice witch as floral vines spiraled and blossomed beneath her feet. Slowly but surely, Carina could feel the heavy knot in her chest relax as she continued to spill her secrets to the silent, unjudging immortal.
“Experiencing that—family of hers. Reliving Maura’s death over and over—every time I closed my eyes. I started to forget why it was that I wanted to live so badly. It was easier to accept Maura’s demands as my purpose for being here—if only to lessen my guilt!” Carina blinked back the burning tears, fighting against the bubbling anguish that spilled through her clumsy words. “But it wasn't enough!" She swallowed the bitter lump in her throat and closed her eyes. "So then I thought—if I could do something to stop the plague or at least prevent its spread—Surely that would justify my reason for being here. But instead, my actions have turned what was already a deadly plague into something terrifying and impossible to stop."
The ice witch hid her face as her voice cracked. Frost covered her hands and cheeks as tears streamed into snowflakes carried away by the breeze. “I saved Hana but condemned Ivy. I lost Jade, who's become some sort of witch monster. No matter where I go or what I do—it all gets twisted! By the gods? By fate?"
A long moment of silence followed, broken only by Carina’s unsteady breaths as she fought to regain her composure against the anger and despair threatening to erupt. “Why!?”
Remorse and hopelessness overwhelmed the Duchess the moment her chaotic emotions broke free. Carina pressed both hands against her mouth to smother the sob that quickly followed. ‘What good are tears now? Do I even deserve the luxury of crying? I have to find a way to save Ivy!’
The gentle, glowing tendrils of the cortex draped themselves around the ice witch in a blanket of snow as a blinding god-like figure appeared in front of the skeletal dragon. Long, glittering snow-white hair fell down over the immortal’s shoulders. Two brows etched from ice and frost rested in a neutral expression above languid, pale-blue eyes, a shade lighter than Carina’s—but infinitely colder. Viktor’s lips, barely visible against his ashen skin, were pressed together in a thin line. The rest of the immortal’s body, below his shoulders, was little more than clusters of snow and light that flowed between the cortex and this new appearance.
“It is a lesson that Kirsi learned a long time ago,” Viktor explained solemnly. “All those she shared any sort of intimate relationship with were either twisted by Arachne to destroy her or manipulated by Ramiel to betray her.”
“But Ivy—Ivy wouldn’t do that,” Carina protested as she pried her clenched fingers apart to speak. “She would never!”
“Those the gods could not corrupt, they ruined as another means of tormenting Kirsi,” Viktor continued as a swirling arm and hand of snow extended towards her chest. “Because Kirsi’s only weakness—your greatest weakness—is that Frozen Heart.”
“My—heart?” Carina stammered as she rubbed against the cold vines of frost that ran down her cheeks. “But it’s your heart, Viktor. The heart of an Immortal—how can that be my weakness?”
“Because the emotions of a mortal have weakened it.” The immortal sighed with apparent frustration as his arm evaporated into a cluster of snow that spiraled back toward the cortex. “Kirsi spent many lifetimes burying her emotions. To survive, she learned to remove herself from all forms of emotional attachment. She simplified all decisions related to this world as black and white, good and evil. She defined all relationships as necessary or unnecessary based on the subject’s strength and loyalty.
“Those Kirsi considered weak she discarded, least they become her weakness. Those who refused to swear allegiance to her name she rejected and regarded as a potential threat or enemy."
"That—doesn't seem fair. How could Kirsi expect the world to simply bow at her feet?"
“You must try to see things from her perspective, Carina. Kirsi has lifetimes of experience that drove her to alienate herself. She has experienced firsthand what the gods will do if given a chance to twist the knife further. The only mortals she trusted were members of the Ice Coven because they had sworn their fealty to her long ago. But even then, she questions their true motive. The weaker I grow, the more their powers wane. They are becoming desperate. And desperate people are dangerous.”
The Duchess couldn’t help but think of Octavia at that moment, though she couldn’t explain why. She pushed the thought aside as she regarded Viktor incredulously. “And yet—you want me to trust Kirsi? To become one with her?”
“As I said before, you are two halves of the same whole. Arachne split you apart for a reason. You each lack something essential the other possesses. Those imperfections can be made whole if you become one again.”
“I doubt the Isbrand Queen would agree with you. She seems to regard herself as perfect already,” Carina growled with unmasked resentment.
“You have both developed into your own separate and unique identities, which, in many telling ways, resemble each other,” Viktor observed patiently. His words remained warm but also held a note of weariness. “You both want the same thing, Carina, more power.” The cortex formed another arm, and a simple glass chalice appeared in the immortal’s hand. “Right now, you are two broken parts of the same vessel. Until that vessel is restored, neither of you can fully access the power of an immortal.”
Carina watched as the cold magic from the cortex flowed down into the cup, only to spill out between the cracks faster than it could fill. “Okay, I get it. Neither of us can get what we want without the other—so we have to find a way to work together.” She waved the illusion away with a frustrated sigh and shook her head. “But I still don’t trust Kirsi. Every time she takes over—I feel as if I’m fading away.” She hugged her arms against her side and shook her head. “Like she’s erasing me—somehow.”
“It would be wise to avoid letting Kirsi control this body more than is necessary since that would also grant her access to the Frozen Heart,” Viktor replied. “She remains tied to it, but your connection to me allows you to control it.”
Carina frowned uneasily. “But the only thing Kirsi wants is the freedom to use this body, and it's impossible to control her when she takes over. But until I can properly protect myself—I need her." She shook her head with a sigh. "Unfortunately, I don’t see the great and powerful Scarlet Witch handing over her experience and magical prowess that easily.”
“Perhaps if you offered her another means of freedom. Something she has searched for through many lifetimes without success.”
The ice witch furrowed her brows worriedly as she studied him. “And what—would that be?”
“Me.”
“What? You? You mean—”
“I can allow her to enter here in order to train you properly. The closer you are to the cortex, the faster your rate of improvement. I can also monitor your interactions and keep your physical body safe.”
“But Kirsi—wants to kill you! She seems to believe your death is necessary for her to become immortal."
"Well," Viktor chuckled darkly, "I can't say she's wrong in that regard."
"Then you can’t let her in here!"
"Have no fear, little ice witch. Even if I die, my magic will transfer to you—"
"Viktor! I don't want you to die!" The Duchess shook her head, unable to ignore the chill that ran down her spine at the immortal's insinuation. "Don't put yourself at risk for me—I need you."
“Hush, Carina. I will remain until you are strong enough to stand on your own, and even then, some part of me will always be with you." A swirling arm of snow tapped her chest lightly. "Just as I have always been."
“But, can't we—Can't Kirsi and I work together and find a way to save you?”
"My chance at reincarnation has long gone. You are my heir, Carina. That is the deal that was struck with the elder gods. That is the path that you and Kirsi must take together to survive. You must learn to trust each other."
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The sight of the Scarlet Witch standing before Viktor’s frost-covered skeleton was just as bone-chilling as Carina had imagined. The Duchess felt small and inadequate standing in a flimsy nightgown beside the veteran witch. As usual, Kirsi appeared fully dressed in scarlet armor that resembled blood trapped within layers of ice.
‘I wonder if elemental armor is something I can learn to make—that is—if Kirsi can be trusted to keep her promise.’
Carina watched her other half intently as the Isbrand Queen stepped towards the silent immortal. The Scarlet Witch’s gaze focused on the blazing power of the cortex itself that flowed around the dragon.
“I've always wondered what you'd look like after all these years,” Kirsi murmured with a hint of scorn. “But I did not picture you quite so—underwhelming.”
“Kirsi, our agreement,” Carina called out sharply, hoping to return to the objective that allowed the Scarlet Witch to gain entrance. “You said that you would teach me everything you know about magic and combat.”
“Are you not going to greet me, Viktor?” Kirsi asked, ignoring the Duchess as she lifted a hand towards Viktor’s talons. “Or are you still playing favorites?”
Carina bit down on her lip and resisted the urge to grab the Scarlet Witch’s hand and drag her away from Viktor. The pair blinked in surprise as the cortex flashed. A thin white veil of frost quickly formed a shell around the immortal, locking Kirsi and Carina on the other side.
“Ha! Still a coward,” Kirsi mocked as she withdrew her hand and studied the barrier. “Something this flimsy won't keep me out forever.”
“You’re here to help, not bother Viktor,” Carina snapped as she crossed her arms impatiently. “If you can’t hold up your end of the agreement, then we might as well toss you back outside.”
"We?" The Scarlet Witch turned to regard the Duchess with a cynical smile, then strode towards her with elegant yet deadly strides. “Oh, forgive me, Duchess Kirsi. I wasn’t sure if you meant to start right away. It’s hard to take you seriously as a student when you’re not even dressed appropriately.”
Carina narrowed her eyes and ignored the flush of embarrassment burning her cheeks as she met Kirsi’s gaze. “It sounds as if you spotted a flaw. Since you agreed to be my teacher, perhaps that would be a good place for us to start.”
The Scarlet Witch arched a brow but then shrugged her shoulder dismissively. “I suppose it could be worse. Better to start from scratch than waste time breaking any bad habits. Hmm, yes, forging armor is a useful skill. And it will certainly help you stay alive long enough for me to step in." She arched a brow as she examined the Duchess with another smug smirk. "And you do so enjoy playing with clothes.”
“While you’re at it,” Carina growled as her nails bit into her palms. “You can teach me how to make weapons—and use them.”
“One step at a time, little ice witch,” Kirsi replied with a low chuckle. “No point in trying to run before you learn to walk.” The Scarlet Witch sauntered around Carina, examining and poking her thin arms and legs with visible disapproval. “Let’s start with something simple like shoes and see how it goes from there.”
‘Is it too late to change my mind?’ The Duchess drew in a slow breath, exhaled, and then extended her left foot, mimicking her tutor’s demonstration. “That will have to do. It’s almost time for me to wake up anyway.”
“Oh?” Kirsi’s ice-blue eyes narrowed above a thin smile. “Are you going to be leaving us so soon?”
“We will both be leaving,” Carina replied firmly. “Viktor will bring you back here when I am free to train again.”
The Scarlet Witch’s expression soured as her ice-blue eyes moved past the Duchess towards Viktor. “So be it. Let us begin.”
‘The more I think about Viktor’s words earlier, the more I can’t help but wonder if Kirsi sees me as an ally—or enemy.’