5 Imaginary friend

"Who are you talking with?" yelled someone.

Anna turned her head slightly in order to confirm it was truly her sister. The snake was long gone and the black tattoo on her arm was fading slowly. Anna was planning on not giving her dear sisters any attention, however, things don't go always as planned. Aura sat on the same chair the snake stood just a moment ago while four soldiers surrounded the gazebo.

'She's planning something.' Anna continued to sip her tea quietly, but she couldn't enjoy it any longer.

"Oh sister, what a pleasure to see you!" sneered Anna.

"I see you are enjoying yourself Selda, so I thought I should come to partake. It's such lovely weather outside, it would waste not to spend it with my sister!"

'But you ruined it!' Anna threw Aura a cynical gaze. Aura wasn't going to touch any of the food on the table, she just came to annoy Selda.

"Oh my! I thought that my sister was preoccupied with other things, so I would not want to trouble you."

'Disappear off the face of Earth!' but obviously she couldn't say this out loud or else those fierce-looking soldiers will decapitate her. They looked more like Aura's loyal dogs than proper Imperial guards; their dirty glares gave away everything.

'I shouldn't provoke her until I have some trusted people to rely on.' nodding Anna placed the teacup down, gave her sister the most lovely smile she could fake.

"But I'm glad you are accompanying me. How have you been these past weeks? Have you enjoyed it?" Aura's face stiffened her thoughts visible clear as day.

'You thought I wouldn't realise who the person behind my accident is?' thought Anna.

"How could I sister? You didn't wake up for almost half a month. I thought you are going to lose your life!" Aura turned on the waterworks, earning the pity of the surrounding knights.

"I-I thought you would be all alone in this empty palace!" a handkerchief was handed over to Aura. She would deserve Oscars for the performance executed, but Anna didn't think she deserved even a memorable mention.

"That must have been hard on you, sister! Thinking that you would have been the only Princess in the Empire!" Anna took the handkerchief from Aura's hands and wiped her crocodile tears.

'Here, rub some foie gras on your face, since I haven't washed my hands.' with a benignant look plastered on Annas's face, she scrubbed Aura's face until she winced.

"You must have felt so lonely!" patronised Anna. The rest of the group looked on the edge when they saw Aura flinch, but she quickly regained composure and attacked her.

"Oh my! Enough about myself." Anna threw the handkerchief on the floor, which offended the soldier so much he strolled towards Anna and was about to hit her but Aura stopped him.

"Care to tell me, sister, why this place became a pig farm?" she looked at the food that Anna had earlier threw at Angus.

It was true, there was jam even on the vases with flowers sat on the floor. Only then did Anna realise that there was no way of ignoring her sister, there was evidence to insinuate that she was nuts.

"Don't tell me you still have not mastered table manners." the 5 people in the garden tried to hide their laughter. It was a disgrace for a Princess to not know how to eat properly, and Anna showed just that behaviour.

"Go tell the maids to change the tea!" Anna commanded the same guard that earlier was about to hit her. That was a double offence for the guard today. It was very insolent for a person to command a Knight when they haven't even received the Knighthood from the knight in question. She should be able to command any soldiers, those dressed in green tunics because she was a Princess but she won't be able to command Knights, dressed in red uniforms. They only served the Emperor and were not allowed to swear their lives for anyone else. Since Selda was Godless it was not surprising that they revered Aura above her, following her around hoping to get acknowledged or maybe even get a promotion. However since Aura said nothing about it, he had to comply with the command as there was no other person to deliver the message.

"Oh my sister! Why have you told me that you couldn't eat properly? No worries, I would have to reprimand your tutor for the lack of teaching. I understand that you started being though last May but you should have progressed a little bit more."

"No nee-" Anna was about to intervene when she realised that she has no idea who the tutor was. Since the bastard called Angus didn't reveal her past and she could not remember anything, Anna had to start from the beginning with no foundation information.

Now, if the tutor was a bitch getting rid of her would not be a problem but this would also allow Aura to place a tutor of her choice which didn't sound like the best option for Anna.

'I'll ask the Empress then. She seems to like me enough to choose a better tutor.' Even so, a boring tutor that didn't spend much time with Selda sounds much better. Regardless of the future, she now had another problem in her hands, how to hide the existence of Angus.

"I...I was talking with my imaginary friend." murmured Anna.

'Oh God...what have I reduced myself to?' Anna wanted to cry. Even Aura stopped in her tracks and glanced at Selda. It was a painful period in which not even the guards were able to breathe until the guard returned with a couple of maids that started cleaning the table, only then did everyone shift uncomfortably in their seats. The blonde-haired guard that just returned looked suspiciously towards the other soldiers trying to find out what he missed, but they avoided his gaze. Anna, on the other hand, sank a bit more in her seat while her face burned with shame.

"Aham...well there is no need for me to stay here any longer." Aura excused herself.

"I hope my sister trauma will go away soon." and with that Aura disappeared together with the Imperial guards. The blond guy was still moving his head aggressively towards the other guards as he didn't understand how the situation flipped in a matter of minutes.

Anna threw the teacup on the floor in annoyance. The maids threw themselves on the floor while begging to be spared, they really thought that they will die today. Selda was known for being the worst Princess to ever exist in the Empire. Partly because of her sisters constant pushes her to act recklessly.

'How dare she! I'll deal with you very soon dear sister!' swore Anna. She ran into her room deciding to push back her plans to look around the Palace. When she entered the room three maids, whom two she already met Vanessa and Mielda, were cleaning the room.

"Get out and prepare a bath!" yelled Anna.

Scared the maids rushed to gather their things and ran out of the room.

"Get out you fucking bastard!"

"Haha!!!" the snake appeared before her in a cloud of bleu marine mist and laughed so hard while collecting tears with its tail.

"Now they really think you are nuts! Hohoho!" he laughed even louder hitting his tail in a defeated manner.

Anna snatched him by the tail and threw him on the floor.

"Tell me why should I keep you, you bloody bastard!"

"Lew-et...ghoo!" cried the snake struggling to escape.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't skin you alive. And it better be a good one!" Anna pushed the snake harder onto the floor and he started gasping for air.

"Oh....it huwrs! Al-ri-ght!" he managed to say.

Anna released a bit of the pressure she put on him so he could breathe a bit.

"Say! Why did I lower myself to this level?"

"Well....not now but you see in the future...I could lend you...some of my powers." Suprised Anna took her hands off him which gave him enough time to run away as far as possible.

"What do you mean? Powers?" while hiding in the darkest corners of the room behind the triple door wardrobe the snake began taking:

"I have powers you see...like any other God. Although insignificant compared to other Gods it should be enough for you to rise to somewhat middle-upper rank in this world."

What a nice surprise thought Anna. She sank in thoughts, if she had enough power to rise that high then there is no need to hide Angus any longer and she could show it to Selda's father, the Emperor, maybe only then she would be able to face Aura. But there was a problem...Angus only said that she would be able to get them later on, but why? And if she only rose to the mediocre level of upper-medium then Aura could still kill her by either hiring more powerful assassins or she could do it. Anna realised she knows so little about her new family and this world she just landed in, that she didn't know the extent of Auras powers.

Angus saw her troubled expression and knew exactly what she was thinking so he continued with his explanation.

"I, of course, have greater power than any human here on Earth especially in Viadora, however, I am not sure what would be the backlash on your body so I can only presume a human-like you would be able to take in half possibly even less than that. I can use the majority of my powers as long as they don't intervene too much with space, time and affect people to the point where a God would see me. I would be able to manipulate things around us not just through your body so don't worry, I will be able to protect you."

The clarification calmed Anna's mind. However it still meant that Anna had to hide Angus, it means it would take even longer before she could get rid of Aura in order to finally acquire her peace.

"How long will it take?" asked Anna.

"Probably more than two years, depending on how long it will take for your soul to stabilise." replied Angus coming loser to Anna. She knitted her eyebrows in displeasure, realising that all her plans to run away need to be recalculated.

"What are your powers?"

"That's a rude question to ask!" Angus looked offended but continued his answer.

"It's encompasses everything to do with death, be it living in the shadows like the Deaths Angel, Appearance Change or Necromancy. Despite this, you won't be able to execute the majority of them anyway, so the ones I mentioned are probably the only ones you can show, supposing you acquired an invincible soul (also called immortal) and mastered the art of darkness. Changing your appearance isn't much of a problem as you can incorporate a human face into your memories and then use it to physically change your appearance."

"Why can't I use them all? Is it because I am a human?"

"Partly. Normally a human can have very strong powers residing in them, for example like your father who has the largest amount of 'Glacier' I have witnessed in more than ten thousand years, without hurting them or obstructing their progress. However, because you have no magical core, you can't physically contain any amount of power, mine just flows through you similarity to a waterfall."

"So there isn't a way for me to protect myself." the atmosphere turned gloomy again. Angus didn't say anything more, because there truly wasn't a way for her to ever manage on her own. There was always the uncertainty that Angus will disappear one day, leaving her alone to fend for herself. Neither of them knew why the contract formed nor when it will be terminated, so Anna had to soon plan her escape with or without him.

Meanwhile, the maids finished preparing the bath. Anna made her way into the exquisite bathroom, in the middle of which sat a bathtub made of polished calcite filled with rosy water. Its prismatic and rhombohedral crystals embedded in the structure emitted a warm light, entrancing the viewer, and allowing Anna to stop thinking about the whole situation. She got undressed and with the help of the maids, she relaxed after all that took place today.

'Finally some peace.' Yet her mind soon became preoccupied with another problem. She promised her 'mom' that she will attend dinner, although now, thinking about it more, she felt drained and unable to deal with her sister Aura. She would rather spend it sleeping, after all, she needed energy for tomorrow because tomorrow Anna would spend more time in the library getting to know the world ready. Science shouldn't be to evolved here since they depend more on magic than curing people using Western treatments. Then she should find more books about magic than science; Anna sulked thinking about the fact that she would not be able to enjoy building a chemistry lab for herself.

'They probably don't have any clue what a Bunsen Burner even is.' maybe only after she escapes this place would she be able to construct, on a more primitive basis, laboratory equipment that a analyst would have used on Earth.

'What did I do to deserve this life' deplored Anna thinking about her previous life.

When the hour finally arrived, Anna squeezed the little Serotonin she had left in her brain and walked through the corridors of the palace. A maid was showing her way thankfully or else Anna would have been lost. The wing she was residing in, seemed to be a detached place form the palace itself, in the sense that the Palace had a more richly decorated wall and the rug on the floor was red not cream like in her wing. Anna didn't mind this fact as she didn't want them to bother her either, but she was sure that everyone else was leaving in this Main Palace. She passes by an indoor garden when she met her nemesis - Aura.

Aura Vierra Angercy, the first Princess of Viadora, was a proud child who possesses the same power as Seldas father - Glacier. This means that they are able to manipulate ice, to some extent water, air and Earth. It seemed overwhelming at the start but Anna came to find from Angus that they are only able to freeze and unfreeze the other elements. However, it is considered a very powerful tool as it has both defensive and offensive skills. Angus's Power overpowers the offensive side but lacks greatly in defensive. Aura wore a pastel green Empire dress with decorative white flowers and similar coloured shoes. She seemed to have spent a lite more time on her hair, as it was silky and smooth not curly like in the morning. The overall results complimented her very well, making her look fresh, but rotten inside.

Anna, on the other hand, left at the mercy of maids, wore a puffy burgundy ballgown that only just about reached her ankles. It was extremely over the top for this occasion, but honestly speaking, this dress was the only one that had no other accessories besides some golden threads around the neck area. The other dresses she owned, or more correctly said Selda owned, looked too puffed, too accessorised or both. Not to talk about the colours, which were possibly every shade of colour she has seen and still didn't manage to suit her properly. She looked like a Buffon ready to entertain the King.

"Good afternoon sister!" smiled Aura wickedly.

'Oh no...she's planning something again. For fuck sake. What have I landed myself into?' Anna felt like melting into a puddle if that meant she could disappear off the face of the earth.