/x/
I browsed through the glossy pages of the Winslow High magazine, designed for aspiring students who wished to further their learning within its hallowed halls. The slickly designed pages, pastel colours and happy pictures of students going about their daily lives presented a rosy future for those who enrolled in it. Even the paper itself had the smell of fresh ink, which gave the publication an aura of gravity and respect.
I rolled up the mag and dumped it next to my seat, while I dabbed at the tears that rolled down my cheeks. Laughing too hard can do that to you.
"Laugh away, Tay. You're the one who rejected the chance for Arcadia for that dump of a school."
I glanced at Emma, who seemed genuinely upset that we're headed to the same school. Dad and Alan for their part kept silent, though I remembered Dad being a bit more vocal in his objection to me when I informed him that going to Arcadia High was out of the question for me. But between the Wards being rumoured to study there and the strict syllabus they have, I'd have zero time for my other activities. I barely went out as Mist Phantom nowadays, only going out when the Protectorate calls me on the phone they've provided to me. But between my training and lessons that Yuit insist I attend? Yeah, no chance in hell.
"Really, Ems. It's not the end of the world to attend Winslow High. If you do well, you still have a chance for a decent college. Heck, Mom graduated from there."
"Oh yeah," Emma rolled her eyes. "Compare me to your mother who strung most of high society on her little finger."
Dad winced a little at Emma's mention of Mom, and it again struck me how he seemed to distance himself from memories of her after he was done transcribing her journal. It always struck me as odd how someone who learned a whole new language to honour his deceased wife's legacy will suddenly want to shun mention of her, but Aunt Aldra had advised me to give Dad some time. Said he needs to come to terms with Mom's passing in his own way.
I just hope that his way doesn't lead him away from Mom and I.
We pulled over at the parking lot, and Emma and I burst out of the car after a quick wave to our fathers. In the distance, I saw New Wave out of costume chatting with some of the other parents while Aunt Carol scared off cape fans with her stand-offish stance. Her face softened when she saw me and Emma, though it quickly soured when she saw Aunt Aldra who smirked in her general direction. God, the two of them are cool in their own ways, but put them together and they're insufferable.
"Hello, Aldra. Still working your underaged niece in your den of iniquity? You are aware of the ABB's reputation regarding young ladies?"
"Hi, Carol. Still passing judgement based on hearsay? I thought you're supposed to be a good lawyer."
Like I said, insufferable. Vicky, Uncle Mark and Amy seem to agree, considering how they cut between them and bundled them off before they really got going. Vicky and Uncle Mark took Aunt Carol elsewhere, while Amy dragged Aunt Aldra off by her arm towards Emma and I.
"Really, Ms Aldra. You needle my mom every time you meet. Can't you give it a rest?"
"Brandish started it!" My aunt pouted, completed with pursed lips and puffy cheeks. And of course, Amy's face goes completely red at Aunt Aldra not acting her age. Or maybe it's the way she pulled Amy in for a hug after she was done pouting. God, I certainly hope it's the latter. Her crush on a woman three decades at least her senior is bad enough.
"Would you like me to finish it for you, Aldra?"
We turned around to Uncle Max and his son Theo walking towards us. I smiled at him, but it fell a little when I noticed Aunt Kayden not among the Anders. Uncle Max had a wide grin on his face and kissed me on my cheeks, before he clasped my shoulders and looked at me from head to toe. It made me glad I was wearing a purple silk dress, powder blue sash and Mom's old earrings. After all, Uncle Max had a way to make you feel appreciated.
"You're only months before you turn fourteen, and you're already a striking visage of beauty like your mother was."
My heart melted when I saw his eyes water just a bit at the mention of Mom, and almost pulled out my handkerchief to dab his eyes were I sure he wouldn't appreciate it. Uncle Max looked positively heartbroken at Mom's wake and funeral, I thought I would be the one to comfort him. It always struck me as odd why Dad and Aunt Aldra were so cold towards him.
"Oh Uncle Max! You made it," I said as I hugged him back. "I was sure you wouldn't be able to extract yourself from your work at Medhall."
"And miss you and Emma's graduation? Not a chance!" He waved for his son, who stood in the background. Theo walked towards me with an awkward smile, and I excused myself from Uncle Max to greet Theo. His hands felt chilly when I touched them, but he at least was able to give me a firm handshake.
"Congrats on the graduation, Taylor. Hope you enjoy high school."
"Thanks, Theo," I said. "Where's Aunt Kayden?"
"Mom's under the weather," Theo said while he glanced at his father. Hmm, threaded on something I shouldn't? I beat a hasty retreat by and shook his hand before I bid him and Uncle Max goodbye. Aunt Aldra who was holding conversation with Uncle Max in the form of trading barbs underneath warm smiles saw me leaving and joined us as we walked towards the gym.
"Aunt Aldra," I said as I looked back at Amy who was chatting with Emma, "I can understand why you're going hammer and tongs with Brandish every time you meet, but did you have to give the cold shoulder to Uncle Max too? His misunderstanding with Mom was over for close to a decade now. and he had apologised for that."
"He's still bad news, Taylor. Take it from someone who've used and been used by people just like that."
I nodded along with my aunt's words, her hard eyes reminded me of her past and literal demon that that lurked beneath her exterior.
"Just be glad your father isn't around. He's hated Max Anders ever since that affair nearly ruined your mom's reputation."
/x/
Aunt Aldra checked her phone as we reached the entrance to the gym, and she swore under her breath before she waved goodbye at us and wordlessly departed towards the parking lot. Amy of course, broke for my aunt and also followed her. Curiosity came over me, and I watched through Mr Smokey, my first wraith who was lurking in the shadows of the trees near the parking lot.
"Okay, this is bad."
"What?" Emma asked at my sudden outburst. I grimaced, but cut my link to Smokey and decided the adults can sort out any drama. Aunt Aldra isn't the type to allow the assault a CEO of a local company.
Usually.
"Dad and Uncle Max met in the parking lot, and your dad is holding mine back."
"Ugh, that'd be a sight to see," Emma said as she shuddered. "Good thing Ms Aldra is there to stop them."
We walked over to crowds gathered around the gym, mostly students who were graduating and their families. I waved and smiled at most of the students, a few whose names I even remembered. A number of the prettier girls flashed wide smiles at me and made a spectacle having their pictures taken with me, which strained my smile muscles and my back as I tried to oblige as many of them as I could.
Bending over to their height was tiring! And getting Mom's smile down pat was another chore altogether.
But then one of them crossed the line.
"Tess," I said with a frown, as one of the taller girls accidentally shoved Emma away from the circle that had gathered around me for a group photo. "What do you think you're doing?"
Tess paled at the coldness of my tone, and the crowd parted when I walked towards her. I unlocked my hearing, and her heartbeat thumped loudly when I approached. Not that I needed my usual hearing to know of her fear, the way colour retreated from her face was clue enough.
It was tiresome, but sadly common among my classmates. I appreciate that social climbers among girls our age blossom early and can be over-enthusiastic, but sometimes they grow up too quickly and need some trimming. The physical difference between myself and Tess was evident, the way I literally stared down at her due to the overwhelming difference between our statures. But even without the size difference, the way the pack around me pounced on her showed who was who in the pecking order.
"That's uncalled for, Tess. Apologise."
Tess stammered, as her words choked on her sobs and tears. My frown deepened as I folded my arms while I waited for the apology, but the only thing she did was further degenerate into a nervous wreck. A number of the other girls stepped out and began jeering Tess, and I turned my disapproving gaze at them. Satisfied with their sheepish smile and retreat back into the crowd, I looked back at Tess, who had started to physically withdraw into herself.
Then Emma walked over to her side, and hugged her while giving me that look which was a mix between a frown and scowl. It was like a veil was lifted from my eyes, as I saw the mini lynch mob that had gathered due to my visible displeasure.
Oh fuck, I did it again.
I quickly walked over to Tess, and gently placed my hand on the other shoulder. The fear in her eyes made me wince and my cheeks burn in shame, as I placed Emma and Tess' hands together. Sneers and judgemental looks were replaced with confusion, as my cues had dispelled the bloodlust built up in their minds. I tried to comfort the sobbing girl, who was now crying out her apologies to me and Emma.
If I wasn't afraid of outing myself, I'd be apologising to her instead.
/x/
The night was nippy, but for my natural body it was actually pleasantly cool on my bare skin as I soared through the night in a dark cloud made of my spirits. My copy was still in my room, deep asleep with Emma next to me. A part of me felt bad, but this wasn't a meeting that I wanted her to tag along. A ball of light, which morphed into a wraith with a man's tormented face when it approached my cloud. I took him into my swarm, and I heard Airi's voice in my head.
"Lady Witch. Leina Vance has arrived at the meeting point."
"She's early. How did she react to your presence."
"Nonchalant." I detected the heat of stung pride in her voice, at being easily dismissed. "If only my Lady Witch had not forbidden me from engaging her-"
"Airi. Enough. I do not wish to fight her if she doesn't want to."
I felt Airi's bow through my link with her, even as I touched my stomach where Edenfeld had pierced me two and a half years ago. I suppressed the fear and revulsion at the memory of the howling wind and brilliant light of that sacred sword, and hated how it reminded me of the nature of the being I've inherited. Of what I am. My lost of control with Tess today demonstrated how easily I could break lives and people.
Anathema. Evil Incarnate. The Mistress of Death. The Enemy.
The Swamp Witch Reborn.
I landed silently at the foot of Captain's Hill, and my cloud formed into the cloak black-purple cloak with gold trims that I grew to like so much. I inspected my suit, to make sure that some part of me hadn't let Continental sensibilities take over and exposed more skin than I was comfortable with. Even after so many years on Bet, Bellesoldats like Leina and my aunt were more than happy to expose their midriff and parts of skin they considered non-essential. Satisfied I wasn't about to accidentally flash a squirrel or something, I trudged forward to the clearing near the foot of the hill where Leina awaited.
"Lady Witch," Airi said as she materialised next to me. "Leina Vance awaits."
I nodded and clasped onto the shaft of my staff. My sharp ears which pointed backwards, instead of skywards like an elf's picked up the sound of her breathing, which sound like the tide as it lashed against the coast to me. I unlocked the restrictions on my spiritual vision, which allowed me to view the strength of one's lifeforce like a bonfire and looked at Airi. My maid's essence was like a soft, blue gemstone. Gentle and warm despite the way it latched unwittingly to the creatures that haunted the woods, a reminder of her need to drain the life of others.
Then I turned towards the direction where Leina waited, and I stared into the sun as it rose from the horizon.
For the past two and a half years, as I grew under the tutelage of my aunts and the friendship of New Wave I avoided meeting Leina Vance. Leina for her part had made a rather respectable name as an Indie cape, and the name Bombshell had quickly changed from invoking images of her dress sense and looks, to the destruction she wrought when she got into a cape fight.
Were it not for her narcolepsy thanks to the curse of sleep I placed on her, I wonder if there would still be a city left.
We cleared the forest and arrived at the clearing, the same where Mom used to train me while she was able to. I found Leina seated with her legs crossed, her head down and clearly asleep. Even then, her lifeforce shone brightly, and I turned off my spiritual vision to lessen the strain.
"Lady Witch," Airis said even as she kept her focus on Leina's armoured chest that rose and fell, "shall I wake her up."
I shook my head and began to tread lightly around her masked, snoozing figure much like how others would around a tiger. Fitting, considering that a tiger was the motif of the Vance family. I felt a shiver, as the curse that plagued the blonde warrior called out to me. Grandma's curse. The one she placed on Leina before she subjected her to the horrors that reminded me my grandmother was a demon in every sense of the word.
I reached out to the curse, and attempted to wrest it from Leina's soul before I severed the link as Leina's eyes snapped open.
"What're you doing, witch."
Airi placed herself between us, her scythe out and her swarm of lesser wraiths blanketed the sky above the clearing. I swallowed my saliva and my fear, and pushed Airi behind me. I stuck my staff into the ground and showed my empty hands, which made Leina less suspicious as she lowered her blade.
"Easy, Leina. I was just trying to remove the curse on you."
Her expression lightened, and I even saw a ghost of a smile on her lips.
"Did you do it? Remove the curse that is."
"No," I shook my head and the disappointment evident as her face fell struck me with guilt. "The curse is linked to your soul, and to remove it requires technique I do not have."
"But you were the one who cursed me!"
"My grandmother cursed you, not me," I corrected. My grip on my staff relaxed a bit as Leina's rubbed the bridge of her nose, before she nodded.
"You're right. I'm sorry." Airi excused herself and stepped out of the clearing once it was clear Leina wasn't going to skewer me this time. "The fact Emma is your best friend despite knowledge of the geas placed on her is proof enough for me you're not Werbellia."
"Thanks, I guess. You'll want to know the reason I've called you for this meeting now, I guess?"
"Speak, wi-Mist Phantom."
"I'll get to the point. Are you participating in the oncoming Queen's Blade?"
Leina's face stiffened, even as Edenfeld remained sheathed.
"You're doing this for Emma, aren't you."
"It's wrong," I said as I clenched my fists. "Mom did it without telling me or Emma,and I'm not holding something like that over a friend."
"You're a good girl," Leina said with a smile. I felt a warmth in my chest, like if Dad or Aunt Aldra had praised me. "Your mother too, even if the time I spent with her was short. Pity the war against Claudette jaded her views on people so much."
"So are you joining?"
Leina looked at the starless night, her eyes distant.
"Yes."
"Why?! Choosing the ruler through a brawl is stupid!"
"Indeed it is," Leina said with a shrug. "Tell me, who is running things now."
"Aunt Yuit. She runs things, especially now that Mom has passed on."
"The little elf, huh?" Leina rubbed her chin as she mused loudly. "Could be worse, I guess. She's matured well into her role when I last met her thirteen over years ago."
"Yeah! So why can't she continue running things? I'll win this damn contest, free Emma then let Yuit run things!"
My chest grew tight, as Leina glared at me with a cold fury in her eyes. I suspected that if I'd turn on my spiritual sight now I'd be blinded.
"Bad idea," she said. "Seriously bad idea. Yuit's ruled in Annelotte's name for what? As long as you've been alive? No matter how good she is, resentment is surely sky high. I'm impressed she kept a lid on things for as long as she did."
I bit my lip, as I looked around. I knew it was unlikely that Yuit of all people had me watched, but she of all people had tried to groom me to succeed Mom. Leina caught the look on my face, and shook her head before she gestured me over. I hesitated, my gaze wandered over to the sheathed Edenfeld. Unsightly, considering I'm supposed to beat her in order to save Emma but the lingering thoughts of that blade refused to go.
"You know of my backstory by now," Leina whispered. "So you're aware of what will happen if you abdicate in favour of someone who didn't even participate."
"It'll be different. I'm not giving up in favour of family! Yuit told me that was a major reason the nobles led the rebellion!"
Leina shook her head, a wry smile plastered on her face.
"Won't matter one iota, Mist Phantom. Bad enough that Claudette was one of the few almost universally respected when she took the throne, but Yuit simply will not command the respect if she doesn't win. The peace your mother fought to establish will collapse without a legitimate ruler on the Jade Throne."
"You make the Continentals sound like a bunch of bloodthirsty meatheads!"
Leina barked a bitter laugh, and her eyes looked far older than she's ever been when she stared at a distant scene.
"Maybe we are, Mist Phantom. Maybe we are."
/x/
I arrived back at the backyard in a cloud of smoke, the talk with Leina and the prospect of facing her had left me in a foul mood and I wasn't up for a jaunt in the sky. What really irked me though was the fact that the thought of clashing swords with her also left me giddy with excitement.
Was it the demon in me hungry for revenge, or just plain old Continental bloody-mindedness that filled me with glee at the prospect of fighting? I brushed those thoughts aside as I prepared to join my copy that was snuggled up with Emma before Airi stepped out of the shadows next to me. The troubled grimace on her usually cheerful face told me things weren't going to end on a good note.
"Lady Witch...Master Danny is in a disagreeable mood."
"Why, did you cause him to spaz out by calling him Master to his face?"
"Lady Witch!" Airi sputtered. "This is serious."
"I know," I said as I waved her away. Dad gets all broody like when he thinks no one is looking, though I suspect he knows nothing goes on in the house without me or my spirits knowing. I morphed my clothes from the purple-gold body suit modelled after Grandma's more scandalous outfit into a worn plain brown t-shirt and black shorts. Dad seems more relaxed when I dress very casual.
I found him on the sofa, staring into a notebook filled with scribbles in English and badly spelled French. I felt that familiar sense of dread as I saw his notes that Dad had transcribed from Mom's tapes, that Dad may have found out the real nature of my powers and Mom. But I put on my casual tired mask as I approached him from behind and I bent over on the sofa. I placed my face on his shoulders, giving him a wide grin as he started and turned to face me.
"Hi Dad. Doing an impression of me?"
I giggled as Dad ruffled my hair, and I could smell the minty scent of his toothpaste as I spoke.
"I wish I had you or your mother's looks. No, just worried about things beyond my control, as usual."
"Oh."
Dad was dodging the question again, going by how he brought up the issues he faced with the Dockworkers' Union. I was relieved that I didn't have to face down that question, but seeing him like this when milling over the issue of work caused me almost as much grief.
"Dad, you know I can-"
"No." Dad spoke with a tone of finality. "I will not have you approach Max Anders for his help in pushing the Mayor to fulfill his promise to your mother."
I hoped I had hidden my irritation enough, as Dad again shot down my idea. Uncle Max had once dropped the idea of him speaking to the Mayor during a fundraiser regarding the ferry when we lunched together with his family, but Dad had shot it down once I brought up the idea of having Uncle Max remind the Mayor of his promise.
"Dad..."
"No, Taylor. You know how I feel about Anders. While I don't ban you from meeting up with him since he did do several favours for us and your mom when she was alive, you...know what happened. Plus, he just doesn't feel right. I'll approach Sarah, or maybe Carol and see if New Wave can help."
Dad's grasping at straws but since he dodged the main landmine, I'm not about to start a fight with him over a more tertiary issue. I kissed him goodnight on the cheek before I went up the stairs and left him to brood, while my copy went out of the covers and checked my calendar.
Only a few more days before the Queen's Blade.
/x/