Chapter 2 - Sword and Trust

It was not the first time that she saw the Space magic of Alice. Once, she asked her how it worked and she answered quite simple for her to understand:

- I have more than one magic affinity, Air, Fire and Earth. When I mastered all of them, I also realized I had an affinity with an earth variation, Gravity, and also with a Fire variation, Light. With the combination of the five affinities, I can create portals that bend the space as I please.

This day, she also explained to her all the known possible variations one was born with. Space or Time was an exception, as they came with the practice of an individual in their own affinities.

She wrote a brief resume of the simplest variations of the four major affinities. They were as it follows:

Fire: Light, Sun.

Water: Ice, Snow.

Air: Lightning.

Earth: Gravity.

Someone that has more than one simple variation as an affinity or wants to mix a variation with a basic affinity like Alice, can create a new one. The most famous ones are:

Earth + Water + Light = Plants

Earth + Gravity + Fire = Crystal

Earth + Gravity + Fire + Air = Metal

Earth + Gravity + Fire + Lightning = Gem

Water + Light = Healing

The four major affinities could also merge themselves to create natural phenomenons, but they were so much that she just couldn't remember them all even if her life depended on it.

Darkness was an element of its own like the four elements of nature, but it was not even close to be simple like them. It is also exclusive of the dark races that can't manipulate other elements besides darkness and because of it, can't merge it with other elements. In all Gaia's history, no one was capable of merging Darkness Element with any other element.

While this day's lesson invaded the girl's mind when she saw the portal, she soon realizes that the idea of a real party with her father participating was just a fool's dream. Although kinda dissapointed, she already expected that.

The black case picked her curiosity, but Alice stopped her incoming hand with her own.

- Start with the others, this one is a surprise.

Helena dressed her new red dress and pants, and started to open her gifts one by one, and this time she didn't receive any educational book that her father sent to her in other years, but only things that she liked: new painting materials (she used them all last year painting her room with Alice), new magical toys that moved alone, new pants and most importantly, lots and lots of her favorite foods.

She forgot the black case for a second while starting to eat desperately some red macarons stuffed with chocolate. Alice was opening a box that contained a big chocolate cake with strawberries and eight candles, putting it on a table that she apparently also brought along from the portal, and lit up the candles.

Helena was tempted to just launch at the cake, but her pilled up curiosity about the black object got the best of her. Looking at it on her nanny's hand, she picked it up

'It's heavy...'

But she was able to carry it anyways. She put it on the table next to the cake, opening it slowly. Inside it, a red velvet lining accomodated a long and big katana, with black handle and sheat.

'It is what I think it is...?'

Her heart started to race faster, as she carefully picked the sword and unsheated it. The blade was all red from start to end, and the sword edge seemed to be catching fire with flames orange and yellow.

Helena started to tremble, holding the black handle with both hands. When she did it, she felt something inside of her waking up, finnaly at peace; it was a strange but pleasant feelling.

At the same time, if someone paid attention, a faint white light began to apear on the sword edge above the flames. Alice noticed too, quite puzzled at the unnusual sight.

' It happened in the history books once before.... don't tell me...'

The housekeeper train of toughts stopped when the girl while holding the sword carefully, exclaimed with a smile on her face:

- Alice, it is the clan's sword Athanasia! The heritance of the old Matriarchs! Thank you very much!

She launched herself to Alice's chest and gave her a strong hug. Alice was a small woman to the clan's standards, only with 1.65 meters ( 5'4 feet), so the girl didn't had to strech herself too much to do it.

The woman was not expecting it, but accepted it gladly nonetheless. She returned it with another hug, smiling brightly for the first time in a while.

While still huging her dear nanny, she asked with a hopeful tone something that crossed her mind:

- Does it mean that father finnaly aknowleged me as the official heir?

Alice's smile froze and almost instantly dissapeared, giving space for the casual stoic face. She looked bellow her and saw the puppy eyes staring back, and her stoic expression was dismantled to some similar to pity and sadness.

At first when her father saw Helena for the first time and also the reddish-brown eyes of the baby, he tought that Iruna had cheated on him with a commoner. Alice was enraged by his suggestion at the time, but disguised it perfectly, while proposing a magical blood test.

A magical blood test was something similar to a DNA test on Earth, but much more accurate with the use of magic; it is capable of detecting several generations before the tested blood and relatives of several degrees, also detecting the differences between them in a surgical precision.

Obviously, the test confirmed that Helena was Robert's daughter, and at first he was even more displeased by the news. A kid with no magical talent being part of his lineage was inacceptable, but the Councelor of Healing called Amara, togueter with Alice said that maybe she could develop mana with time until she was four, saying that maybe the fact that her mother was sick during pregnancy was the cause of the strange phenomenon.

They feared that because of her non-existent mana he would get rid of the baby someway, so they gave this excuse. But this reasoning wasn't entirely without a reason. Four years old was the limit of mana awakening, an phenomenon that showed someone's affinity with one or more of the four principle affinities. It was also after the mana awakening that someone could become a magician and choose the type according to their hability and luck.

They saw that the kid was born with flaming hair, so they hoped that for her own good, she someway would experience her mana awakening.

When they explained her possible awakening and their reasoning, he surprisingly calmed down and started to take care of the girl himself, not letting anyone to get close to her, even Alice. He acted like a good father and treated her like a little princess that never leaved her home, but except going outside the mansion, he gave her everything that she wanted and needed: he tutored her in magic, geography, art and etiquette.

Until she became four and nothing changed. He discarded her like a dirty cloth, and only didn't sent an assassin to get rid of her because Alice offered herself to raise her quietly, proposing a solution: if someone outside the mansion asked, she was Alice's niece, that adopted her after both parents died. So to the outside world, Helena called Alice aunt,Iruna's labour had no survivors and her brother was the one and only heir.

But of course, she never told the girl about her father's intentions of killing her in both occasions. So she tought that he was simply dissapointed about her, and maybe if she proved her worth, Robert would finnaly be proud of her again, like before.

She tought inumerous times to tell her about it, but feared that the emotional trauma of knowing that someone that she cared about thought about killing her would be too much. She needed to know when Helena was ready to accept her father's rejections, and tell her about it only after the girl was ready.

' Now is not the time to tell her yet...

Maybe if I make it clear that he will never pay attention to her, she process all of it better in the future.'

She innaled deeply while looking at the puppy eyes in front of her, and kneeled down to be on a similar height than her. She grabbed her hands gently but firmly before saying:

- I am not going to lie to you, little miss. The reason that you received this sword was because I saw that your brother received an even better one forged by Dwarves and enchanted by Elves; so I offered to your father that you could receive your mother's sword after your sword teacher and I related your progress on swordsmanship and war estrategy. So no, he didn't accept you as the heir yet.

Helena was feeling dizzy with the broken expectations. After years giving her all to studies, etiquette and physical training, enduring her father's indifference, hiding the physical abuses from her sword teacher and the emotional torture from her brother to not be considered weak, nothing mattered. All her efforts to be the perfect daughter, the perfect heir, were for nothing.

Maybe nothing that she did would never matter. Maybe the best that she could achieve was being a Commander on the Frontier or a Counselor of War.

She always wanted to prove herself to her father and slap it to her brother's face, but she also wanted to honor the clan's traditions and her mother's wish for her to lead the clan, as Alice told her. But maybe she should start to do what SHE wanted and dreamed of.

And maybe what Alice always told her about telling her insecurities and fears was right. If putting a strong and perfect facade wasn't working and never would, she would stop. She was tired of giving her all and receiving scraps in return.

She wasn't ready yet to tell about her nightmares, but maybe talking about something smaller to the person she trusted the most would be a good start.

- Alice, can I... tell you something?

- Of course, little miss. What is it?

- I...I learned almost everything about swordsmanship alone. Pietro, my sword master, he... ignored me somethimes and most times when I could't figure it out alone he would...h-hit me hard, very hard. And to not leave me bruises or scars, he gave me healing potions and started again, and again..sigh...

Her vision became blurry, and she started to cry without realizing it. It didn't seem that it was a big problem until she started to talk about it. Alice was silent all the time, and Helena feared that maybe she would react like her father, when she first looked for him after falling off a tree, when she was five.

"You need to learn to deal with your own problems, how do you think you can be the heir if you can't deal with this much? Now do your own first-aid in your leg and if it's hurting so much, focus on your etiquette classes and be a proper lady, instead of climbing trees like a commoner boy."

- Since when it's happening?

- Sigh... since I t-turned five and he...sigh... became my sword master...

Tears started to flow on her face, and she lowered her head in shame. But soon after she felt two big hands caressing her cheeks and wipping the tears delicatly. She looked at the woman's face, but her blurry vision prevented her to see her expression.

- Don't cry sweetie, and don't worry about it anymore. I will take care of it for you, so stop crying, okay?

Helena only started to cry more, but this time of relief and happiness. Alice hugged her and when Helena calmed down, she took her hand gently towards the litting candles.

- Why don't you blow up the candles and make a wish now? But don't forget to keep it a secret, otherwhise it might not become true.

Helena nodded, her eyes still swollen. She tought for a little second, before preparing herself.

'I want to live happilly with Alice in a place far away from here, forever.'

she blew up the candles and ate some cake before feeling sleepy. The intense cries and the nightmare didn't let her rest, and soon she fell asleep on Alice's arms. The housekeeper smiled while carefully putting the girl in her bed and covering her with a blanket.

Soon, her face became cold as she sit on the table she brought with her. On one of the drawers, there was a pen, ink and paper, and soon she started to write something, each passing line augmenting her bloodthirst.

"My Dear Friend Uziel,

Sorry for not writing to you before, I was pretty busy, and I hope you are fine on the Frontiers. If you have the time, I hope you could do a little favor to me as soon as you read this letter.

There is a man called Pietro that works as a swordmaster here on the mansion, and I just discovered that he abused phisycally of Helena, Iruna's daughter and also my master, if you don't remember.

I ask for you to get rid of him. Kill him or make him get fired with incriminated proofs, whatever you see fit, but make sure that he fills a lot of pain before you finish. 

Also, I wanted to ask something more of you when whe meet personally. Helena is sleeping now during the first hours of the day, so if you are free, we can meet on or usual place.

 Your dear friend,

 Alice. "

She sealed the letter with an green aura, preventing it to open to anyone that wasn't meant to read it. She also opened her golden portal and pushed the letter there, as it started to fly like a bird and dissapear in the golden light.

She cleaned up the pen and put up everything back at the drawer, and started to read a book from another drawer to pass the time and calm down a little.