Cruel to oneself

Three weeks later...

Mika was release from the pod an hour ago. Freshly washed from the pod's healing gel, Mika looked at herself in the mirror. The wound on her face was still red and puffy, it scarred over horribly. The healer estimate she will need at least a year of treatment for it to heal, and even with that treatment, there will still be a mark.

Lyra stepped into her daughter's room, watching her trace the scar on her face in the mirror.

"Are you happy with the results..."

Caught admiring her scars, Mika looked away from her mother eyes in the mirror.

"What results?... I'm probably scarred for life." Mocked herself.

"Isn't this what you were aiming for. You waited for them to play their hands....you should be happy with your win, no?" Lady Lyra knew her daughter like the back of her hands.

When Saavi told her everything that happens to them since she left with Mano. She knew Mika could have counter they plot against her, but she didn't.

"Why, Mika?... Why take this route rather than another to defeat your opponent? I want to hear the truth." Lady Lyra was angry. If she and Mano hadn't returned on the sixth day. Mika would have been in trouble. Even right now she couldn't bring herself to look at Mika's face for her rage would get the best of her.

"Mother...I could have blocked all their moves against me, but that would have prolonged the fight. You've always said 'if you can finish the opponent one swift move, do it'. I'm not like Sienna, I don't like to constantly fight back and forth. This way Lady Jaelah, Kamryn, and Lulu are pushed out of the ring..."

"By sacrificing yourself!' Lyra spun Mika around to face her. "How could you be so cruel to yourself, Mika..."

"I didn't mean to be...." Mika cried. Tears gather in her eyes as Lyra pulled her into her arms. Hugging her tight.

"You underestimated your opponent's ruthlessness." Mika nodded her head.

"Mmm...I didn't think they would take it so far. I knew once the elders finish their investigation I would be released. I just had to deal with the interrogation, but when Saavi told me about the exile. I knew they were creating a smoke screen. They had something bigger planned.."

"That's when you decided to play into their plot."

"Yes, when Saavi came to me with 'info'. I knew they wanted me to escape...So, I did. They would either show themselves when I escaped or they would show themselves when I was back in prison."

"That's why you didn't run far..."

"I needed to know what their end game was. When I heard Kamryn came with food and water..."

"You knew they wanted to poison you, and you still let them...?"

"I took a gamble mother, and it paid off. It wouldn't be a fast acting poison or it would be too suspicious. If I could hold on until you and father made it home, I can finish them off without lifting a finger."

"You got lucky...!" As Mika finish revealed the last of her thoughts, Lyra could help but berate Mika's victory.

"Yes... I underestimated them..."

"You were cruel, Mika...How could you do that to yourself!? Never put winning ahead of your own life."

Hearing the anguish in her mother's voice, Mika had no words left to say. She indeed took a gamble with her life on the line. Dying once already, she knew in order to win against the enemy's plots one has to at least put that much on the line. But her mother didn't know this.

"...Sorry...I will be smarter..."

"Good...Mika, it's not always about the win, rather it's about how you win..."

Drying their tears. Lyra helped her daughter change into new clothes. Applying cream to her daughter's face, Lyra notices Mika's eyes were slightly depressed.

"Mika...why do you think your great-great grandparent's story is the way it is today?"

"Wasn't it because the first ancestors betrayed them?"

"Yes. But the downfall of your great-great grandparent's story didn't come just from the betrayal of the first ancestors... Their true downfall came from the people. The same people who they protected, cared for and loved. All of them turned their backs and closed their eyes on the injustice. Some even go along with it."

Finishing the treatment, Lyra walked to the washroom to cleaned her hands.

"Maybe they were too scared..." Walking back into the room, Lyra heard Mika's reply.

"Mika...I showed you four graves, not six. Don't you wonder why my grandfather and father are not buried with their wives?" Mika nodded her head yes.

Reclaiming her seat, Lyra stared at Mika's face and sighed.

"Mika,... friends can become the spear at your back, a family can become the rope around your neck and lovers can become sword thru your heart. Kamryn and Lulu are your sisters, but that doesn't mean they also can't be your enemy. Remember that with relationships you must always use your head with your heart. One can't lead the other... Don't be too sad over their merciless deeds towards you but remember it well."

"Yes, mother."