1

Pain sliced through her arm. No not this time, Amanda thought to herself while dragging herself up, there must be a way. Staring straight into Charles' eyes, burning with rage, Amanda tried to appear unfaltering. Her feet were yelling pain, her arms sore from the fight and her eyes were irritated from the extreme dryness. Fire encircled the duo.

"Aw, I'm sorry to disappoint you darling," Charles said mockingly. "but weaklings, no matter how pretty, are not welcomed in the realms of Shui." Charles pulled out his summoner, a small purple glass, fastened it to his deteriorating flesh outlet on his neck and closed his eyes. Charles muttered under his breath the words to unlock his vis and Amanda knew that this time she was going to die, again.

"You can kill me Charles," Amanda said knowing that there was no way she could defend herself. "But I will continue to reincarnate, it is the way of Reh. You can never stop me from trying to reach him. I love him too much to ever stop trying."

"You see," Charles said. "I don't know what he ever saw in you."

Bitterness swelled up in her chest, choking back on her tears, Amanda forced a nonchalant expression. She hated him. He would never understand the beautiful bond she shared with Perce. He would never understand love. She wished for him, in her last moment of breath, before Charles swung his force on her already broken spine, that he would fall in love and suffer from drowning in a pool of regret. When he knows love, she thought to herself, he would hate himself for having once advocating against it. Then it came, the familiar caress of death.

"Mandy?" Channy said, as she tugged on Amanda's laced sleeves. Amanda consciousness slowly crept back in and there she was, in her incubator, fresh and alive, again. Amanda's eyes widened, remembering what happened at Denver, the dead land.

"I was at it again," said Amanda. "trying to reach Perce."

"Yes Mandy," said Channy with a sigh. "you went without telling us."

"When will my alter ever learn?" Amanda sat up.

"Mandy, don't be upset-"

"Don't you dare try to comfort me Chan," snapped Amanda. "it's the obligation of all citizens of Reh to be in control of all their alters."

"But you're-"

"Being a princess is no exception."

Amanda stared coldly at her younger sister. Channy was her half sister, eleven years younger than her, making her only seven. Unlike herself, who had black eyes and brown hair, Channy had her father's gold eyes and silver locks, her skin was fair and her limbs were long. She wore a sleeveless blue cotton dress that wrinkled with gold specs at the end. Channy was one of her five sisters and was also the only sister who cared for her. Channy stared at Amanda innocently and said, "Mandy, I missed you."

"How long was I gone for?" Amanda finally softened.

"Only half a day."

"That means I have been in the dead land for fifteen days."

"You lasted double of that last time."

"Yes, I did." Amanda paused for a second. "How did Charles find me so quickly this time? I wasn't even that close to Shui."

"I heard Shui-lings had decided to bolster up their border security."

"What triggered that?"

"I don't know, I only overheard father."

"Father. Did he notice that I was gone?"

"No. If he did, he didn't say anything-"

"Let's go get some food." Amanda pushed herself off the white incubator, which felt slippery from all the soapy water. The room was an entire floor to itself, floored with whitish blue marble, shining ostentatiously. To the right of the incubator, an oval shaped water bed with a mechanical top that closes when inhabited, is a book shelf that reaches the glass ceiling. Amanda picked up a copy of The Great Gatsby and asked Channy, "I think today will be a nice day for reading out at the sky garden." Channy grinned and embraced her sister, "I'm glad you're alright, I was worried sick." Amanda winced at the comment and started towards the marmoreal doors, which was almost as tall as the ceiling.

Amanda peered at the sky. It was a baby blue canvas with white clouds hovering about. Like her, it was ethereal. Amanda may not have inherited her father's royal features, but she had her mother's stunning beauty. Her round eyes flickered to different shades of black, black red, black blue, black green in response to her emotional state. Her hair was silver under the moonlight. Her physique was bony and without curves, wrapped around by fair skin. Amanda had a face of a warrior and the body of a fatigued cat. She was one of the few who had both the blood of Shui and Reh. Her mother's ancestors were pilgrims from Shui seeking a life without the horrors of black magic in Reh.

Amanda shuddered at the thought of her mother dying. For an instant, she saw her mother's face in the blue sky, with her silver hair floating around her cheeks. I have to stop. Amanda and Channy walked out of the room.