II.

"That was a lucky shot," I grumble, brushing off my training suit. Ethan raises his eyebrows at me from where he stands, a cocky grin working its way across his face.

He tilts his head to the side, reveling in my defeat. "Is that so?" he says. So far, I've defeated him twice, and him twice for me. I struggle to my feet, placing my hands on my hips and standing flatly as a Healer comes to tend to the both of us.

"Yep," I declare. "Best of five!" I grin at him, and he shakes his head at me, muttering something under his breath that sounds like "can't take defeat." The Healers step back, and before they take more than a few steps, I tackle Ethan, my hands sparking up. He shrieks, stumbling backwards.

"Unfair!" he shouts, but more sparks shoot out at him, and he dodges to the left. "You're a cheater," he grumbles, lunging towards me. I jump further back, away from him.

"You win playing dirty, not playing fair," I say, grinning cheekily. Red and silver blood stains the floor, but to us, the color hardly matters. I jerk back and grasp his arm, sparks jumping to my fingertips. He seizes, stumbling back.

Shaking his head to recover, he exclaims determinedly, "You're on, sister."

"How is your training going?" Nicholas Titanos, Ethan's father, my uncle, and the Head of House Titanos, asks. Of course, I know he only cares about making a show - he much prefers Ethan to me. I don't mind, I never liked him much anyway.

"Very well," I say politely. "But I must keep training. I would not like to disappoint our House." The rest of the people at the table give me smiles, including Ethan, but his eyes are uncertain.

Nicholas grins. "Indeed, Mareena," he says. "Queenstrial is quickly approaching. I am expecting very good things from you, and I doubt you'll disappoint us." But the hidden message behind his words is much more sinister. You better not disappoint us.

"Y-Yes, of course." I straighten further. I check the calendar. Queenstrial is in three days. I clench my fork tighter, the thought of Queenstrial making me sick to my stomach. I have to show off in front of all those people, and probably not even win. But of course, as a High House lady, it's my duty.

The rest of dinner passes without me having to talk again, thank God.

Ethan catches up to me after dinner, following quickly. "Nerves getting to you?"

I glance back to him. "Kind of," I reply. I smirk playfully. "That, and I completely forget what the prince looks like."

"The horror of being behind the times," teases Ethan, flicking my head. Ethan is much taller than me, with brown hair like mine, but pale skin.

"Not my fault, is it?" I reply, shoving him. It's lighthearted, but still brings back bad memories. I shake them away quickly- I'm a seventeen-year-old joking with Ethan, not a twelve-year-old stuck in my room all day. Except for when I sneak out to the Red villages- but that doesn't count, does it? Sneaking out to Red villages was something I'd needed to keep under wraps. But I was good at keeping things under wraps- and so was House Titanos, no matter how much I hated them for it. I don't like House Titanos much- forcing me to do things like constantly wearing makeup, or staying in my room because they had some important guest over and they didn't want me blowing anything.

They try to hide my blood, to make me separate from it, but they judge me based on it themselves.

Today is the day.

I'm sure anyone would know what I mean, because for a High House lady, there is only one day that is "the" day- Queenstrial. My hair is brushed, my skin painted to cover up any red trace. Lipstick is applied, and so is eyeshadow and mascara. I find this stupid- why would they be looking at my face if I'm showing off my powers?- and I'm sure they know it, but I'm also sure they don't care. I am, of course, their representative, their sole daughter for this Queenstrial. And I am different. I am, in their words, "electrifying."

Ethan meets me by my door. He bounces nervously on his feet- I guess he's worried about me. It makes me feel better that at least someone actually cares about me. I follow him without question.

"You're going last," he mutters, leading me down a tunnel. "After the Samos daughter, Evangeline."

"Great." I purse my lips as he takes me to a huge room beneath what I assume is the Spiral Garden. "Now I'll really have to put on a good show, huh?"

He laughs nervously. He stops in front of the doorway, me standing in front of him. "You'll do great. Even if they don't choose you, it's probably because of your house, not your performance." He's obviously trying to make me feel better, but I shiver anyway.

"I know," I murmur. "Bye, Ethan."

"Bye, Mareena." I turn away before he goes, walking to a spot behind a girl with silver hair, black eyes, and a leather jacket studded with iron. She practically screams "House Samos." She sends me a glance before shifting back to her original position, arms crossed over her chest in a confident gesture. I guess this is Evangeline, judging by how sure she seems that she'll win. To be honest, simply based on her appearance, I agree.

The line of girls in front of Evangeline and I deteriorates one by one. There's a screen hanging on the wall for us to watch if we're bored, which shows the other daughters of the High Houses. Evangeline hardly looks at it, but I glance back to it every once in a while. Once they're done, each daughter returns down to this room, sitting down in one of the many chairs and in front of large tables, chatting quietly amongst themselves. Eventually, Evangeline steps onto the rising platform, sending a triumphant smirk down at us as she goes.

I don't watch the screens, fingers twitching with anticipation. Evangeline sinks back down on the platform, not even sparing me a glance as she steps off into the room, a smirk plastered on her face. I take a deep breath and step onto the rising platform.

Here goes nothing.

The arena is a mess- seriously, it's literally a mess. Metal pipes jut up everywhere, holes in the ground and walls. "Mareena, of House Titanos," chants my House. People gasp and lean over- I have no doubts that I'm a hot topic among them, being as mysterious as I am, with me being locked up in my room all the time. The King and Queen exchange looks.

The Prince looks down at me. His red-gold eyes and black hair are familiar. I guess it doesn't matter- I'll never be his wife anyway.

I walk to the middle of the arena, raising my hand upwards, my sleeve falling back. Sparks jump to my fingertips, and gasps echo around the arena, even the Royals looking astonished. I twirl, raising my other hand, sparks shooting out and electrifying the arena. The lightning shield pulses, and I laugh, shooting bolts here and there. I halt, suddenly, and everyone's breath catches. I glance to the sky- it's begun to get cloudy. It's going to rain soon.

Good for me.

One hand raising to the sky, the storm pulses through me, the electricity making my nerves sing.

BAM!

Shrieks escape the crowd, scattering backwards in their boxes as the lightning bolt slams into the arena, just behind me. The King and Queen lean over their box edge, the Prince standing behind them.

I would have practically skipped to the platform if the bolt hadn't sapped pretty much all my energy. I stand as straight as I can, walking as confidently as I possibly could with all that energy being sapped to the platform.

When it sinks, I have a grin on my face.

A/N; What's this? Entr0py updating twice in a day? The apocalypse is nigh..

Just kidding. I know it might seem weird that she can do the lightning bolt already, but even though it seems like she's only been training since Ethan announced she was going to be in Queenstrial, she actually trained a lot before that, mainly when she was bored. Besides, she still can't do multiple strikes like she did in the books.

Hope you enjoyed

-Entr0py