Why?

-A couple days ago

'Inhale...' Taking a deep breath, 'Exhale.' Her body posture shifts as she clenches her sword. Isadora looks up, her face expressionless as always, so bland, so plain, no emotions in sight. It's natural. A natural face she's owned for years. Boom, a small shockwave erupts, her sword unsheathes, and the stone block behind her falls into three pieces. Looking down at her sword, she grits her teeth and clenches tightly on it. 'I'm still weak,' she thinks.

Boom

Boom

Boom

Boom

How many times has it been now? How many stones has she sliced? Who knows, she isn't one to count. There's no rest, only train, train, train, train, train... The concept of rest is new to her. New? Yes, and it's all a single human's fault. A single one who appeared in her life at random.

'Faster...'

Boom.

'Faster.'

Boom.

'Faster!'

Boom

Anger. Anger resides under that bland face, an anger she doesn't understand nor wishes to. So she trains, trains, and trains. What stops her?

"Oi, Isadora, I told you to stop training today," Kael mumbles, walking into the courtyard. With a smirk, he tosses a coconut.

"I get it, you want to understand it and improve the footwork technique. But you'll only end up confusing yourself more if you don't stop. Your body needs to adjust to what you learned today."

One blink, two blinks, three blinks, and she's sitting down, sipping the coconut, blankly staring at the man in front of her. He's weaker than her, yes. So why listen? Is it the coconut? No, or perhaps, yes. A convenient excuse she'll gladly use. Why? She can't help herself. 'V... thank you,' she thinks as she sips.

"Not even a thanks?" Kael asks with an exhale as Isadora blinks blankly. "Like always, huh." He sighs.

Are they strong? Why listen? Why respond? Why care? Training is more important, right? These are the questions she asks herself whenever anyone engages in a conversation. So why is the boy in front of her any different? 'He's walking differently again. I still can't copy him. How...?' She never questioned anyone before she met him. Perhaps it's jealousy? She trains, trains, trains... yet the man before her only grows faster than her. 'Why is that?' she asks herself that every day. It frustrates her but also makes her heart beat. Why? Who cares. She doesn't even realize it.

"Oh shit... you broke these boulders to pieces." Kael scratches his head. Leaning on a wall, he turns. "I'm leaving with Lysandra for two months, so don't look for me and train according to this." He tosses a thin notebook near her feet. 'Why?' Blink. 'Where are you going?' Blink. 'Why aren't you inviting me?' she wants to ask, to get up and say it. But she doesn't. She simply nods. 'Why do I care so much?' is a question she keeps asking herself every day. Every time he walks up to her, every time he offers her food, every time he tells her he can't train, every time she thinks of him. Why?

Jealousy? No. Maybe? Perhaps. Yesn't? Can she train without him? Yes. Does she want to? No? She can recall it. The day she saw him for the first time, not out of interest. She has a great memory, a memory that's both a blessing and a curse. Why? Ask her, but be kind, and maybe, just maybe, she won't kill you with her stare.

It was a fun day; Professor Thaddeus asked her to duel with applicants to the academy. To her, it was fun. She trained, learned, and fought until her bones went numb. Sounds painful, right? She saw him, and all other 45 people walking down that same hallway. Weak, pathetically weak. She's not one to judge; she understands not everyone can grow stronger, but. He. Was. Weak. A weak boy, weaker than a child. But even then, he didn't have his head down. She never cared about fame, yet everyone knows who she is. Her father's at fault, the man who's willing to kill the world for her. A man with a regret that'll haunt him until death. She never cared, but she disliked everyone for one reason only. 'Why? Why put your head down before me?' she always asked herself training in schools. But him, the pathetic, weak, boy. He was the only one in that hallway who looked her straight in the eyes.

Did she think about it? No. Courage is meaningless without strength. A belief she stands by; one must have strength to be courageous. He's a fool, or so she thought. Yet he was appointed in Class A with her, the class of the gifted. Still. She had no interest. 'Stronger... Stronger... Stronger...' she thought every day, her goal was clear, and no one, not her father, not the royals, no one, was going to stop her from her training, right?

'Bland... So bland... But I must train.' She recalls those thoughts, that one day in the cafeteria. It smelled good, why wouldn't it? Kael made shrimp pasta that day. Stale bread, it was all she could eat. Every time she tried to cook, it looked like poison. Pathetic? Yes. But who cares? 'I just need to eat,' were her thoughts. Eating is only done to nurture her mortal body.

He approached. No fear? How odd. It was a good day, even if all he gave her were sandwiches. Weird. Odd. Strange. Why did he go out of his way for her? Was he trying to take advantage? No. At least not to her. She never cared, not about him, the food, or anything at that. Grateful? Slightly. She has manners, even if she refuses to talk. 'The least I could do is help,' she thought, seeing the weak boy fail in swordsmanship over, and over, and over, and over, and over again.

When did she get used to it? Who knows. When did she start enjoying it? Who cares. He doesn't demand, he doesn't beg, he doesn't rely, he trains, and trains, and trains, and trains. Maybe that's why? To see someone else at the courtyard at 3 a.m. till noon. No hesitating, no turning to her and copying. Was it weird? Yes. To see a boy training and talking to himself as if someone was there. But who was she to judge? She saw the growth, his movements shifting every day, his mana increasing, his aura improving.

He's an acquaintance? Yes? 'Yes. So why am I trembling?' she asked herself on the yacht, looking at her hands. She found him covered in blood on that dreadful island after they split up. Scared? No? Yes? No. She refuses it, she refused it. He's a stranger, who cares what happens to strangers. She never has, so why care?

"Yo, are you listening?" Kael waves his hand across her face. "Read that properly, and stop straining your body," he sighs, rubbing his temples.

"Take me..." Isadora says ever so blankly, but in truth, it took a lot, way too much, out of her to ask. Why? She doesn't know. Maybe she feels like a burden? Maybe Kael sees her as a stranger?

"Hahahaha, no way," Kael makes an X with his arms. "I'm going somewhere real important. With your face, you're going to scare the people I'm meeting." He steps back. 'I need to come up with an excuse...' he scratches his head in thought.

"Scare?" she asks, tilting her head. 'It's true,' she knows. She's never cared, but she knows how scared people get. Why care? Strangers don't matter, right?

"Yuuup, um..." Kael smiles. "These people are important to my shop. Maybe if you smiled a bit more, I would take you. I'm in a hurry, so I have to go," Kael says with a smile, backing up. 'I need to escape before she starts following me,' he thinks.

'Wait,' she extends her hand. Why bother? He's an acquaintance, right? Why should he risk his business for me? I'm being greedy, the thought penetrates her.

How odd. Why? Why? Why? She wishes to understand; she promised herself she'd never make a friend again. Yet here she is, again. 'I'm weak,' she thinks as she walks. She wants to run to him and follow him, but that's wrong, right? She wants to run back and train, why doesn't she? Is she tired? No. Is she hungry? No. So she stops in her tracks and turns back, but she doesn't return. 'Why... why am I listening to him?' she's wondered that so many times in the last half-year. Acquaintance, acquaintance, acquaintance, acquaintance... 'No. I'm a fool.'

How many times has he cooked for her? Who knows. How many times has he forced her to socialize? Does she care? No? Maybe? She doesn't listen to anyone, not her teachers, not her father, so why listen to him? Every time he asks her to meet in a class, outside, in the cafeteria, in the training grounds, anywhere, she does it. Even when he clearly tells her they're not training. 'Why? Why do I stop training for them?' Them? Yes. But to say she stops training for them is wrong. True, Biana grew on her. A stupid girl she looks up to, a girl who showed her how strategy works. Lysandra, the girl Kael cares so much about, right? At least that's how she sees it. She trained with her once, she's strong, yet Kael treats her like a child. Weird? Maybe. But it grew on her. Sera, a good friend of his, someone she respects. A commoner with talent equal to hers. Isadora's no idiot; she's not the brightest, but she understands how the world works. For a commoner to get near her strength is incredible.

It's true they grew on her. Does she listen to them? No, maybe sometimes, but no. Would she protect them, risking her life? Yes? Weird, right? But then again, Isadora isn't normal. Kael, when did she care so much? When did she start listening to him? She wishes she knew. She wishes she knew why she wants to go with him.

'How...' she wonders, looking in a mirror. That naturally beautiful face that rivals magically enhanced looks stares at herself. That black hair that falls down her back, those soulless black eyes that would break the mirror if it wasn't for her beauty. Does she know? Maybe? She couldn't care less. True beauty lies in swordsmanship, the beauty of a perfect blade, the beauty of a perfect slice. She's witnessed it, true beauty. Why wouldn't she? Her mother was the best, better than the queen, better than her father. Compared to that, the beauty of the body means nothing to her. And so she lifts her fingers and forces her pink lips to smile. Funny? Yes. Her face looks funny, her smile is twisted. She stops and blinks. 'Why am I doing this?' she wonders.

"Hmhmhmhmhm~ How adorable," a hand cups her cheek from behind. No reaction? Why would she? She knows that voice well enough. In the reflection of the mirror, she sees her: one hazel eye and one vibrant green, hazel hair that falls down her back. Have you guessed? Here's a clue. She's a 'devil' to someone. "I'm sorry for breaking in, but I just couldn't help myself," she hums in Isadora's ear. To no surprise, Isadora simply blinks blankly.

"I overheard your little conversation with your boyfriend on my way here," she exhales, cupping her own cheek. "I would've loved to have him as my son-in-law, but it looks like my daughter lost to you."

"Boyfriend?" 'What is that?' Isadora has never heard of that word. Strange? No. Why would she know of that? All she's ever done is train.

"Hmhmhm~ Don't worry about it. I was going to have a meeting with a little elf, but I'll help while I'm here, darling." She runs her hands on Isadora's cheeks. "You want to learn how to smile, right? I'll teach you, but this isn't a real smile, okay? It's an imitation so next time he won't leave you behind."