Chapter the Sixth
"You LOST against a few measly mages?!"
"I was caught off-guard," Dark Makoto lied smoothly, her face perfectly neutral. "Besides, you know I'm still weak against fire."
"That won't do." Chihaya tapped her fingers on her leg, aggravated. "You are the Ice Witch! How could you lose against some mages?!"
Makoto rolled her eyes.
The next thing she knew, Chihaya's hand slapped across her face, leaving behind a dull red mark and a sting. Makoto gasped slightly, but she remained silent. There was no need to fight back against her superior yet.
"You b*tch," Chihaya hissed. "How dare you show your face around here after failing your mission."
Makoto didn't flinch. She just stared at the ground over her shoulder, apparently fascinated by it.
"Look me in the eyes!"
The girl slowly turned. You're the b*tch, you know.
Chihaya began pacing. "First that light wizard shows up, now my best assassin can't even carry out a simple task…"
"You have to cut her some slack," Karasu cut in, busily typing at the main computer. "You know the Flame Mage has Rune Eyes too. Makoto's element is naturally weaker than hers."
Chihaya stopped and stayed still for a moment. Makoto watched her, beginning to relax. Karasu stopped talking, his work done.
And then Chihaya whirled towards Makoto and shot a huge fireball directly at her. Makoto screamed involuntarily and swerved out of the way just in time for the flame to fly right past her. Karasu jumped to his feet.
"Block it!" Chihaya barked. She re-absorbed her fireball before it could set the place ablaze and released it in the form of a stream of flame. Makoto quickly recovered and drew up an ice shield. The shield melted in an instant. Makoto immediately covered her body in a thick layer of ice while she strategized. Chihaya only stared at her blankly, her hand out.
"What are you doing, Chihaya?!" Karasu snapped, sounding angry for probably the first time since Makoto had known him. "Stop attacking her! If we're going to win this fight, we need Makoto ALIVE."
"Is that really why you're saying that?!" Chihaya lashed back. "We would be better off if she were dead! If she were dead, you and I could be together without interruptions!"
"What interruptions?!"
"You know exactly what I mean! Now Makoto, draw up a shield! Stop the flames! If you can't even do that simple task, why should I let you live?!"
Makoto didn't move, only panted excessively, her body heat rising steadily beneath the warmth of the flames. She gritted her teeth and drew up another shield. Chihaya stopped her flames and sent out another fireball.
"Contain it!" she ordered. "Do it or I'll kill you!"
Karasu growled. "Chihaya! Stop this right now!"
"Shut up!" Chihaya cried, her Rune Eyes glowing. The fireball expanded until it was practically a vortex of flame. Makoto stared at it and expanded her shield to catch stray embers.
…contain it, you said…
Taking a deep breath, the Ice Witch spread her powers around the entire perimeter of her enemy's attack. Chihaya growled and increased her power. Makoto grunted. Slowly, focusing immensely, the icy-eyed girl began to force her powers inward, forcing them to overpower Chihaya's flames. Chihaya screamed in rage and pressed back.
Contain it. No…use it. Use it.
Makoto's mind whispered encouragement by reminding her of all the things she'd had to endure.
She remembered the attack she'd tried to fend off.
She remembered her Onee-chan's betrayal.
She remembered how the other Mondenkind children avoided her just because she was an ice prodigy.
She looked down at her abdomen for just a second and remembered her first failed mission. Chihaya had been so furious that she'd burned the young new witch almost straight through. Makoto had been in agony for weeks, slowly nursed to full health by Karasu. She'd vowed she would never fail another mission.
Chihaya was unfair about things like that. Everyone was unfair. The world was unfair.
It was only when Makoto looked back up at the clash of abilities that she noticed that Chihaya's fire was blue. It had been completely overtaken by Makoto's ice.
No. Not completely. Not yet.
Her Rune Eyes glowed bright blue, and the Ice Witch lowered both hands, choosing to use only the frozenness of her heart and her steely mind to complete her task. She focused on the fire in the center of her ice crystal, focused on the way it danced within its prison, and wished with all her soul to wipe it from existence. She stared for a while, until the flame stopped moving completely and became a part of the ice itself. Chihaya screamed, a sort of anguished fury resonating through the air. Makoto waited a few more minutes before absorbing in what was now a giant iceberg. She let out a puff of visible air and let her Rune Eyes fade back to their original, non-glowing state. Chihaya glared daggers at her from afar, while Karasu offered her a light smirk. Makoto breathed deeply, suddenly very tired.
"…You said to contain it," she said quietly.
"How…how did you do that?" Chihaya growled.
Makoto shrugged. "I'm tired."
"What…?!"
"I said, I'm tired. I'm going to bed." With that, the Ice Queen spun on her heels and walked right back down the hallways, Chihaya's screeches of disbelief echoing behind her.
*.*.*.*
The Ice Mage stared down at her waterbed, watching the bubbles float around beneath the surface. She loved that bed, always had; all of the Grand Mages had owned it. Chihaya remembered wanting to become the Grand Mage just so she could own the bed. Yuu had wanted it too.
Yayoi was with her again. Chihaya didn't mind; actually, she was quite fond of the little ginger-haired wizard. And besides, Chihaya had summoned Yayoi today. This visit was something all wizards had to do periodically. Every two weeks, they came in to show Chihaya any new skills they'd learned. This would be Yayoi's first time.
Chihaya nodded at Yayoi to show that she was to begin. Yayoi nodded back, seeming nervous.
"Relax," Chihaya advised. "I'm not judging you. I just want to see what you have learned thus far in your training."
Yayoi seemed to loosen up. "U-uun…! Right! Chihaya-san, I won't let you down!" she cheered. Chihaya smiled at her slightly. Yayoi raised her hands and prepared herself.
While the Grand Mage watched, the light wizard produced a long stream of light, fired at one of the stained glass windows in Chihaya's room. She focused on the light and sent it through the window before turning it around and brining it back through in the other direction. Yayoi expanded her beam of light to catch the whole window, then brought the rest of it through. The trick caused the design on the window to be cast onto the floor. Chihaya gazed at it and realized for the first time how beautiful it was.
"Good," she praised. "It took our first light wizard years to master that trick."
"Miki-san?" Yayoi gasped.
"Miki is a prodigy. No, I meant the wizard before the two of you. The Sun Mage Miki trained under."
"There were wizards before us?" Yayoi now crafted a small orb out of her light and spread it outwards until it was so big and so bright that Chihaya had to shield her eyes.
"Yes," the bluenette mage answered. "However, this batch of wizards and mages is the most powerful.
"Ah." Yayoi made a shield out of her light. "Chihaya-san, I can make a shield."
"Good. You'll need it."
"CHIHAYA!"
The door burst open with a gust of wind. Chihaya jumped to her feet to receive her guest, a frazzled-looking Wind Mage by the name of Kikuchi Makoto.
Yayoi instantly dropped her light and spun around. Makoto zoomed in, skidded to a stop in front of Yayoi, and offered a quick bow.
"Sorry to interrupt," she said quickly. "Bad news, Chihaya. Really, really bad news."
Chihaya seemed stiff. "Don't tell me you had another vision."
"Vision?" Yayoi cocked her head.
"All mages have them sometimes, but Makoto's seem the most frequent," Chihaya murmured. "They show us a glimpse of what our parallel selves are up to. We use them to check in on Turiavita."
"It's like Dark Makoto WANTS me to know what she's up to," Makoto muttered. "Alright, you will never guess what she did this morning."
Chihaya's face seemed grave. "Tell me."
"She sparred with Chihaya."
"And?"
"She won."
Chihaya only seemed slightly surprised.
Makoto narrowed her eyes. "Chihaya, you don't understand. It's not the fact that she won, it's how she did it."
"Tell me how, then!" Chihaya ordered, sounding impatient.
"She turned Dark Chihaya's fire into ice."
"What?!" Chihaya seemed shocked now. Yayoi was sure she was the same.
"You heard me!" Makoto snapped back. "I 'watched' from the sidelines. She just swallowed Chihaya's flames in a covering of ice and forced her powers in until the entire thing was a giant iceberg. It's a Rune Eyes ability."
"Of course it is," Chihaya mumbled. "Are you positive that what you saw was a vision and not just a bad dream?"
"If it was just a bad dream, I wouldn't have a headache right now and my ears wouldn't have been ringing." Makoto paused. "You know what else?"
"There's more?!"
"Karasu really is super hot up close." Makoto giggled in a way that reminded Yayoi of a real teenaged girl.
Chihaya just stared at her, un-amused.
"…sorry."
Chihaya rolled her eyes. "Any new information?"
Makoto seemed to be thinking. "…well—"
"Chihaya-chan…-sensei, I have news~" Azusa suddenly appeared at the doorway, a smile on her face. She waved.
Chihaya rubbed her temples and sat on the bed. "Is it good?" she asked.
"I think so…" Azusa slid in slowly, thanked the guards for letting her in, and approached the trio that was already inside. "I wanted you to know that last night, I was attacked by Dark Makoto-chan."
"That girl's everywhere, huh?" Makoto muttered.
"Are you alright?" Chihaya gasped.
Azusa's smile seemed grim. She looked over at one of Chihaya's ice sculptures. "Actually, that's what I wanted to tell you. Yes, I perfectly fine. In fact, she didn't even touch me."
"What…?"
"We just hugged and I let her cry to me. It was a nice conversation."
"What are you talking about?"
"Dark Makoto-san is capable of crying?" Yayoi confirmed, tipping her head.
"Tears of blood, maybe," Makoto said under her breath. Chihaya kicked her shin. "Ow! That hurt!"
Chihaya just shot her a glare. Makoto understood and dipped her head in apology.
Azusa frowned for the first time in probably forever. "It was…strange," she sighed. "I found her in my closet and said hello. Then she started to attack me, but…she stopped. She melted her weapon, yelled at me for not hurting her, and then she left."
"That was it?" Chihaya mumbled. She looked down at her hands.
"That's odd," Makoto began, "in my vision she said her mission was interrupted by us mages."
"Any she mentioned specifically?"
"Iori."
Chihaya nodded. "Makoto, you're the fastest. Go fetch the Flame Mage."
"On it." Makoto saluted and sped out the door to get Iori.
Chihaya looked over at Yayoi. "Takatsuki-san, you are free to go. This is a meeting between mages."
"Am I allowed to stay?" Yayoi asked.
Chihaya blinked. "Well, I suppose," she decided. "Sit on the bed, keep quiet, and don't touch anything."
Yayoi nodded and followed Chihaya's orders. They waited a few more seconds before Makoto flew back into the room, carrying Iori over her shoulder. Iori screeched and wailed.
"Would you shut up?!" Makoto lashed. "Geez! I'm not the one that called for you, anyways…"
"Put me down!" Iori ordered. "I refuse to be carried by a weakling like you! PUT ME DOWN!"
"Shut up already!" Makoto cried. She placed Iori on the ground (or rather, dropped her on the ground). Iori squeaked and stood up, brushing herself off. Yayoi waved at her and Iori waved back.
"You'd better have a good reason for this, Chihaya! I was in the middle of a training session!"
"Where were you last night?" Chihaya didn't bother with greetings.
"Are you accusing me of something?!"
"Answer!"
Iori frowned. "Why, I was sleeping, of course!" she announced. "Why do you ask?"
"Azusa-san says there was an attack last night. Makoto says you stopped it."
"I didn't know there was an attack."
"Then it was a lie," Makoto decided. "A cover-up she and Karasu devised so that Dark Makoto's soft side wouldn't be revealed. She knew that she couldn't kill Azusa because—"
"Because she loves Dark Azusa too much," Azusa finished. "That explanation would get her in trouble, so…"
"She decided to make up a lie about getting intercepted by mages." Chihaya stood up as though to finalize this. "Although we know she is getting stronger, we also know she has a weakness. Alright, everyone, back to your rooms. There will be time for strategizing later. For now, just practice. Ah…Azusa-san, stay here. We'll train."
"Yes, Chihaya-chan…-sensei."
Yayoi stood up and bowed to Chihaya. "Chihaya-san, I'm going to go back now."
"Yes. You're excused."
After another quick bow, the light wizard exited her superior's room, Iori and Makoto following behind her. Chihaya watched them go and sighed.
"Azusa-san, let's get to work."