Mirror Image
Shock. The name of the emotion that overtook the Au'ra as she looked at the woman before her. It took her over, reaching deep into her core. She fell to her knees, a sharp gasp escaping her throat.
Everything. Everything she had done for the past year crumbled apart in front of her, disappearing with the cold hard stare her mirror image was giving her.
She didn't understand. Wisteria didn't understand it at all, her voice choking in her throat. The unconscious bodies of the Whitebrim Font guards lay around the two, their hair and parts of their attire shifting with the frigid wind. Her eyes scanned them, searching for signs of breathing.
A low growl came from the throat of the other woman, as she stepped towards her kneeling body. Slowly, she raised the tip of her sword towards her, gently sliding it under her chin and tilting her head up.
"You won't ever learn, will you?", her own voice cut through her, taking on a sinister snarl. The blade's edge dug into her chin, drawing a small bead of blood that dripped down to the cold paved stones, staining the snow that coated them. Wisteria grit her teeth, her body shaking. Her hands trembled as she reached up, taking the flat edge in her hands and trying to push it away.
"Your naivete appalls me. How did someone like you become worthy to carry this weight?"
Wisteria grunted, trying to struggle against it with all her might. The woman responded to her might with her own, shoving it forward. She cried out, the edge cutting one of her palms open.
"That gentleness is your own undoing. Didn't I tell you to get rid of it?"
"Never", a snarl of her own, Wisteria narrowed her eyes, trying to stare her down. "Who are you, where's Fray?"
The woman cackled, retracting the sword. It sounded..evil. Thin wisps of smoke trailed from her body, wrapping around her fingers, her neck. Almost everything.
"There is no Fray, there's only me!", She swung it back around, sinking it into the ground before her and leaning over it. The womans face had a sick grin plastered on it, and she cooed to Wisteria.
"Does it hurt? Your mentors been dead this whole time, and you've been running around lying to yourself."
Wisteria shakily stood, her head swimming in disbelief.
"Why don't you say my name?". She continued to mock her, laughing coldly. The womans hands slid to her back slowly, drawing the sword she wielded herself. The challenged plucked her own weapon from the ground, wielding it in one hand. The other was outstretched in a beckon. The smoke trailed out to her, nearly touching her skin.
"How about you say our name."
It sent her into a blind fury, she swung the broadsword at her with a cry, and the blow was blocked by the other woman. She smiled gleefully.
"YOU AREN'T ME. YOU AREN'T ME", She yelled it with each swing, those being dodged with ease.
She swung again, too hard, and missed. Her whole body slid forward on the slick snow and she fell to the ground, dropping her weapon and sending it across the pavement. It crashed into the wall with a clang.
Her opponent swung at her, seizing the opening suddenly present to her. Wisteria rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding being impaled. She swung her leg out into the others and caused her to stumble, and she thrust her fist into her stomach hard.
"Guh!". She had knocked the wind out of her for just a second, causing her to stop and nearly drop her own weapon. Wisteria saw her chance and scrambled to her feet, running towards the sword. The other threw the sword at her, causing her to slip next to her own, and ran to her as well. Wisteria frantically patted the ground next to her as she heard her pick up her own. She gripped the handle and swung it in front of her, blocking a blow. The recoil shot through her arm and she could swear she saw metal sparks fly through the air.
She screamed, pushing against her attacker.
The other woman leaned in, her face inches away from hers and she whispered. That smoke from before wrapped around Wisterias throat, causing a searing heat. She could feel her heart banging in her chest.
"Why don't you take me up on my previous offer, why don't you and I run away from this place, cross the sea and escape expectations and standards set on us forever."
She smiled, taunting her.
"Even better, why don't you just give me full and total control of your body, and I'll do whatever I want for the rest of your life"
She screamed again, suddenly kicking her in the stomach, sending her backwards a bit. Wisteria pushed against her sword once more and swinging her own towards her side. The blade made contact, and there was a horrible cracking noise. Her assailant gasps, dropping the weapon onto her torso and Wisteria pushes it in harder.
"Never. Never. NEVER"
Suddenly, a different cry, one that was cut short as she hit skin and sliced into it. The woman grabbed the blade herself, writhing in an attempt to remove it from her body with pained cries. Where blood began to run, wisps of smoke billowed upwards, some directly from her side. Wisteria suddenly dropped it, the edge falling from her body with a clatter, and her gasp echoed in the sudden silence. Drops of it sprayed across the ground, looking almost like they were steaming.
"Couldn't..you show that strength..normally…?" The woman clutched her side, coating her hands and wincing. Her body doubled forward, leaning against Wisterias stomach and panting. She turns her head up, looking her in the eye.
"Is this it then? Do I lose?". She laughs bitterly, reaching a hand out to her chest and pushing the woman down, leaning over her
"One last time then. You know how it goes by now don't you?"
She shook her head, whimpering.
"Don't try to resist it now. There's nothing else you can do but accept it"
There was no mockery in her voice this time, but rather a distance, a feeling of utter defeat that lingered.
Wisteria slowly reached a hand up, her fingers smeared with blood, and placed it against her reflections chest. She narrowed her focus into it, feeling the strings of aether that resided in her and attuning herself to them. She felt her conscious start to fade in and out, her sight dimming as she looked upwards.
She blinked, her eyes re-opening into a scene of pitch black darkness and the weight of another body still pinning her down. Wisteria slid her hand away from the cold metal armour, leaving an ugly red mark on it.
"What's my name Wisteria? You do know that answer"
She hesitated, swallowing hesitantly, before opening her mouth and whispering.
"Esteem.."
"Good. Keep my name close to your heart."
She gave no answer, but despite that, she seemed satisfied with her silence. She nodded solemnly, and her figure faded away into those unsettlings wisps of smoke, leaving Wisteria alone in the darkness.
