Tournament (part 1)

"Tell me, Amara," Aria began angrily, pacing up and down her balcony, "Are you an idiot?"

The strong, warm gusts of wind cascaded through her loose golden hair. Her eyes shone with sun and rage like an angry ocean before its annihilating storm. Though her stature remain polite, I could see the tension in her hands as she refrained from strangling me. A sickly, calm smile was plastered on her face, a bad mask for the panicked flitting of her eyes.

"It's okay, Aria. I'll be fine." I tried to reason.

"Listen. You are not ready. You are simply not powerful enough yet."

The second person to tell me that. I knew it was going to happen, but I didn't think it would be her, or my own father for that matter. I was sick of people underestimating me, because of my lineage, my parenthood or my experience. I probably had more experience in the real world than all of them combined! Instead of frolicking in this perfectly crafted fantasy before getting the blindfold torn off my eyes far, far too late.

"It'll be a good opportunity to display how far I have come in such a short amount of time. Anyway, don't ninety-nine percent of the girls sign up purely to get a market boost. Powerful blood is surely worth more than my bastardship is detrimental; this is my chance to prove myself."

I walked to the balcony and tried to loose myself in the scenery, mostly to try and run away from the thick emotions stifling the air. Sadly, the simple flow of the river gladius could not protect me.

"You can prove yourself in other ways. I taught you how to grab a drink and call servants using magic. That may be enough to convince people of your power." her voice softened slightly as she saddled up next to me.

"I have been doing that for a month now! Nothing has changed! I need to do something drastic and fast." I shouted, perhaps a little too loudly. Furious, Aria dug her nail into her palms and a barely contained breath of fire escaped her nose.

"YOU. COULD. DIE!" She screamed.

"That's not for you to decide, now, is it?!" I replied, defensive poison coursing through me.

"I can't lose you, Amara. Not for some silly tournament. You are my only friend. The only person who doesn't treat me like spare sh*t, or a distant goddess to be worshipped from afar! You are the only person in the world that may care for me, even a little!" A single droplet of salty tears ran down her cheek. Her voice was hoarse from shouting. A subtle hollowness filled her widened pupils, a hollowness I felt everyday when I woke up and before I fell asleep. Loneliness.

For a fleeting second, hope bubbled up in me. Maybe we are just as lonely as the other. Maybe we can be alone together. But the thought was quickly corrupted by the whispers of the parasite, the darkness that had infected me the day my mother died.

She's just manipulating you.

She's just manipulating you.

She's just manipulating you.

I wanted to reach out and hold her, wipe the tear from her face and tell her that yes, I do care. I wanted the storm of sympathy to engulf us both until the storm transformed into a trickle of peaceful refreshing rain. I wanted to make the hollowness disappear. Yet, doubt and fear kept the storm thundering. The parasites whispers crept into the deepest parts of my closed of mind sending it's armies to control me.

She's just manipulating you.

She's just manipulating you.

She's just manipulating you.

Its truthful lies never faltered but pounded louder and louder in my head.

"Like you care about me." I muttered.

"What?" Aria practically whispered in shock.

"You are just manipulating me. You don't care. You just want me to slaughter your brother."

She stuttered in disbelief, as if I had accused her of a crime she did not commit. Or she was caught red-handed, the parasite reminded me.

"Amara," her voice was soft as a mother's loving hand, "I do care. You are not a business deal to me. I don't want you to get hurt."

The tips of her fingers gently grazed my hand. Electricity passed between our skin, the contact freezing the world for a second.

"Y- You lied about your brother... He's not a d*ckhead. He seems actually quite charming." I said defensively.

"Its a mask, obviously. My brother is a tyrant; you have to believe me!" Aria placed a hand on my shoulder, a pleading, yet brilliantly real smile on her face. I thought back to the smile that the prince had worn. It's subtle warmth, its hidden beauty. My mothers words sprung into my mind before I could stop them.

Two may smile, love and defend.

But who is the monster and who is the man?

Take a look closer, in the broken mirror.

One is a chain and one is a hand.

"I care about you, Amara. I do. You trust me right?"

Half of my screamed to laugh and nod, bring Aria in for a hug and allow the foreign electricity to flow through our bodies. The other half wanted me to recoil in disgust, run and never look back.

Is she the monster or is she the man?

Is she the chain or is she the hand?

"You know, maybe if you don't trust me, our little arrangement is unsustainable." Aria's voice was empty and distant, like she was merely whispering the words from across a vast, still ocean. A sharp, cold pain compressed my chest making it hard to breath properly. I told myself this was an escape, that the heavy chains that Aria had placed on me was finally being lifted.

"I suppose it is." I pat, ignoring the half of me that screamed to apologize. The parasite cheered on my descent as I stormed out of the room. However, even though the web spinner was gone, the chains weight crushed me harder still.