AN: Soo... it's been only 2 weeks but on ao3 there is only one chapter left 'til the first arc is done, so I feel like I can start posting here again. I'll copy some - i think - intersting things from my ao3!AN-s, and it may sound like I'm talking to myself here for a while, like this:
AN2: First of all, I'm proud that all of us here are members of Baby Alina Protection Squad. I hope you'll enjoy the family intervention in this one. The ass-kicking chapter should be next.
Now (...) there is a line/a scene that is giving me quite a bit of anxiety. It was planned a long time ago - before I turned Alina vs Zoya into less... balanced rivalry? - as I need to have Alina fall out of her puppy love for Darkles "so they could grow" etc., and in my head it started out as a bit of comedic piece. What it turns out is... Well, you'll see.
Next chapter I really hope to explain how I see Alina's powers working (or failing) in this first part of the series. For now, I leave you with chapter 4 (at least it has a nice title!). Please, do not hesitate to tell me what you think!
Both Ivan and David were worried about Alina's sudden obsession with Zoya Nazyalensky. The Squaller prodigy was of course the most arrogant and annoying Grisha at the Little Palace – and perhaps in Ravka – but it wasn't like Alina didn't know it before. Something must have happened... And the boys were determined to learn exactly what.
In the end, people were too scared to tell Ivan the truth – it was David who had to gather his poor social skills and dare to ask Genya. The young Tailor, one of the few people here that David actually could stand talking to, was surprisingly eager to tell him everything. Genya never liked Zoya much anyway, but after what she heard about the girl attacking Alina she was quite passionate about it. She even proposed they will go to the teachers or even the Darkling, but David waved it off.
"It's not like the adults would do anything against their perfect pupil," he was suddenly explaining himself to Genya. "Don't worry. Now that we know, Ivan will scare Nazyalensky off until Alina is ready for revenge."
"Alina and revenge? But she's such a sweet girl..." Genya clearly didn't know his friend well enough. Angelic smile and two cute braids were hiding the most determined and ambitious Grisha that Ravka had ever seen. David had no doubt that Zoya would get what she deserves. In the meantime, it wouldn't hurt to give Alina some advantage, especially something obvious that seemed to escape her notice so far... With an absent smile, David began to plot himself, the little project already taking shape of-
"... to eat something?"
He blinked at Genya. She sighed and her eyes turned soft. "I asked if you wanted to go with me and eat something? It's getting late." He muttered something thankfully but declined. "I ate dinner."
„But it's seven p.m already... Oh, never mind. Good luck with your thing," she gestured at the metal he was playing with absentmindedly the whole time, and then left, but not without sending him another of her beautiful smiles.
He replayed their conversations in his head, but came up with no explanation of the deep blush that took over Genya's face. The workshop was kept warm today... He shrugged and got back to work. Talking to people was awkward enough.
The next time Zoya was paired up with a Heartrender in combat class, her partner immediately traded places with Ivan. The idiot (despite having the Darkling's favor, she never once heard of him being top of the year, the way she was) was staring at her menacingly, but Zoya ignored it and striked first. It was probably his default face anyway. Ivan wasn't an easy opponent, unfortunately, and managed to tire her out. If only powers were allowed, he wouldn't be so self-satisfied now, the brute... She circled him at last, but as soon as Botkin left them by themselves, Ivan rapidly moved towards her and pushed her at the wall. Zoya was ready to counter, but then her heart fluttered. Not like that , but like... A dangerously Heartrender decided it would be fun to play with her heart. Literally. Her vision darkened, her breath short and struggling, she slapped his arms desperately, but the brute just stood there, smirking. Finally, the invisible fist around her heart loosened, and Zoya sat by that Saints damned wall, breathing as deeply and quickly as she could.
Every single Corporalki present were now standing with their backs turned, watching out for Botkin.
Ethearalki wouldn't dare to come closer, and just pretended nothing was wrong.
Some of the Fabrikators, the skinny cowards, were snickering and stealing glances at her.
Zoya didn't realise how much she loved air until now. Her cheeks were wet with tears and hot with a blush of fury, but as soon as she could, she tried to Summon.
"Oh, but I wouldn't do it if I were you," Ivan sighed dramatically and then proceeded to show Zoya exactly why the Heartrenders were considered the most terrifying and powerful among all Grisha... And why their enemies hated them so much. When he finally stopped, when Botkin returned to correct some students and compliment others, he had Zoya solemnly swear – on Saints, Ravka and the Darkling – that she will never, ever, as much as breathe in the direction of Alina Starkov.
"What is this?" she asked suspiciously two days after The Humiliation, when David presented her with a gift. It's not like he had never given her anything– Alina always exchanged gifts with David and Ivan, for both Sankt Nikolai's Day (the only celebration of the Saints she liked) and their name days. Still, it was the middle of the summer. And neither were above innocently pranking the other from time to time... But the excited glow in his eyes showed that it had to be another of his beloved projects – she rarely saw him so enthusiastic, so that could only be the thing that kept him absent from yesterday's classes. After David's encouraging nudge, she unwrapped the soft material to see...
A necklace.
She couldn't take her eyes off the locket – on the delicate silver chain hang an absolutely stunning silver-white, star-shaped medallion. It was a different color than pure silver though...
"Platinum?" she asked David, who smiled widely and nodded. Too fidgety to wait, he reached out for the star and opened it up. The inside was big enough to fit a tiny pencil drawing that Alina made years ago, folded in half. Nothing amazing, but rather good, three figures that were resembling Ivan, David and her. A family.
She cleared her throat and tried to argue, "You could have chosen a better one, we look like a gathering of sticks here..." but David saw right through her and enveloped Alina in a tight hug, the kind of bone-crushing one, reserved for special occasions. "If you're trying to get out of training with Ivan-" she began threateningly but was cut off by his laugh. Letting go, David reached out with his palms cupped together.
"Give me that lucky bone of yours," he demanded.
"What bone?!" Alina exclaimed defensively, her fingers already curling around her good old trophy. She had never shown it to anyone , not even David!
"Give it to me," he repeated annoyingly.
Alina hesitated.
A quiet cold voice in her head that hasn't spoken since Keramzin was clear: Don't do this, they want to take it from you, you will never ever get it back and it should be YOURS!
If it was about anyone else, maybe even Ivan, she would listen. But it was David, her partner in crime since the beginning of time. There was no one she trusted more.
Alina took the tooth out of one of her kefta 's many pockets and gave it to David... who turned the star back and placed her trophy in the place that seemed to perfectly fit it. He then placed the necklace around her neck and let the locket settle underneath the silk. The feeling of warmth , strength and confidence immediately returned. Still...
She listened to David's babbling about properties of platinum, the way the tooth was protected but should always be touching her skin, and finally cut him off after the latter "What for? It's just my lucky charm of sorts, don't get excited, David..."
"Lucky charm?" he echoed in indignation. "Alina, sometimes you're just so... No, never mind – just wear it always like that, do you promise?"
She sighed.
"I promise."
Nazyalensky was apparently satisfied with publically humiliating her once and for good, but it didn't mean that Alina wasn't afraid. She had to admit it – the stomachache, clammy hands, quickened breath... Despite having come up with at least a dozen witty come-backs for the next time, despite her ambitious plot, it took two weeks for Alina to relax once again. With the Perfect Princess ignoring her, she could finally ease up a little bit – and then she was ready to prank.
Of course, she will defeat her nemesis, hopefully in front of Botkin and an entire group of gossip-loving Grisha, but before she's ready, she can do something to weaken the opponent. With encouragingly eager help from David, who supplied her with some really interesting chemicals and prototypes, and Ivan, her right hand man when it came to planting the nasty surprises and putting reactions in motion, Alina successfully made Zoya's life a little harder. It helped that Squaller had a room of her own – no innocent victims to hurt (not that she had any soft, or even lukewarm, feelings to any of Zoya's minions or bystanders) and, what's more important: no witnesses. It seemed that Zoya didn't tattle to any adult, probably out of shame (ha!), and after a while Alina got bored with it.
She still couldn't forget what Zoya said back then. There was something wrong with Alina's powers, and she needed to fix this.
Let's say Alina beats Zoya at combat, but still remains the worst of the Inferni and practically an otkazat'sya , what future does she have?
Becoming a teacher at the Little Palace? As much as her grades were rather good, Alina did not like kids, not even when she was one.
Leading an otkazat'sya life or joining the First Army? Never.
She could distract herself with that small new goal – defeating Zoya in a fair and public fight – but Alina knew that sometime soon she would need to confront herself and the power that was almost, almost there.
With comforting weight of the star-shaped locket, some days she felt as if she was getting closer to distinguishing the particles of different gases they trained with... But her head started to hurt so terribly as if Alina's brain wanted to protest that it just wasn't built for this. Despite the migraine she got so mad her touch accidentally burnt her partner's kefta. Had it been someone else, she would be glad, but Alina sat with David in all their shared classes... Had it been someone else, they would mind, but David just woke up from his little nap with 'a brilliant new idea for fireproofing' and claiming that 'no Materialnik would claim she was otkazat'sya now'.
If only all her classes were with David at her side...
Just yesterday, playing with some prisms during physics class, she could swear she made a little fire. Without a flint! If she was able to overcome one of the basic Inferni weaknesses, perhaps she still had some future in the Second Army? But her Inferni classmates just rolled their eyes at her, muttering something about 'weak girls telling stories' and she put the tiny fire down before the teacher noticed. She will show them. One day, she will show them all.
Her fifteenth winter, Alina finally was ready. Botkin gave her green light to join the upper level session next week!
The Darkling returned to Os Alta to prepare for another winter fete that she wouldn't see anyway, and this time he came with Ivan, who was mercilessly taken from Alina a few months ago.
David was still being oblivious while courted by Genya Safin.
Almost a year after the humiliation – which memory long since stopped making Alina tremble and instead made her fists clench – Zoya became less mercifully ignoring and more passive-aggressive, ever so casually mentioning the Darkling and how she will soon become part of her soverenyi's entourage, every time she spotted Alina somewhere near. And that look of the utter superiority on her stupid face... Alina wanted to punch it off.
Alina's kefta was still plain blue, despite becoming reluctantly known as the only one Inferni who can ignite a fire out of (almost) nothing (or at least without a flint). Probably because she had absolutely no control over said fire after it appeared. There were of course some other Ethearalki who didn't earn their embroidery yet, but it didn't make Alina any happier about it.
So whether Zoya's remarks were meant to hit Alina as yet another teenage Grisha enamoured with the Darkling (which she, of course, was not), to make her jealous of someone who would - albeit not on purpose – be able to soon work closely with Ivan (who was gone for so long!), or just to hurt Alina's pride, she didn't know. Her hatred towards Zoya only grew bigger.
Still, since Ivan was finally back and her letters couldn't capture all of it properly, Alina was now providing him, Fedyor, David and Genya (who would soon be getting The Talk after all that time she spend hanging out with Alina's best friend these days, really) with a very valid (at least in her humble opinion) imitation of both Zoya's voice and manner on their little walk along the east wing corridors. Now, when it came to exact words, Alina could not recount most of the conversations properly, but she tried, with each 'quote' her voice getting higher.
"Moi soverenyi was very pleased with my final grade in Lady Baghra's Summoning class."
"Moi soverenyi said that I will be the youngest Grisha to leave for the front. "
"Moi soverenyi looks so dashing, don't you think? "
"Moi soverenyi knows I'm the best Ethearalki born in years" - she began to walk backwards, to better see their reactions - "Moi soverenyi can't wait for me to bless the Fold..."
Fedyor had tears in his eyes from all the laughter, Ivan was smiling somewhat smugly at her, David and Genya looked quite friendly walking like that, with their hands loosely entwined, both laughing out loud...
She shook her hair in poor imitation of Zoya's thick mane.
"Her ego is so big now that not even moi soverenyi will be able to carry it..." she mocked in her normal voice, not noticing the way they stopped, Fedyor's eyes widened, David and Genya both opened their mouth to interrupt her and Ivan's face paled.
She made another step, and her back ran into something solid and warm.
"Is that so?"
Alina shivered at the low, smooth voice she was used to hearing more soft than sarcastic. Slowly turning around, she stared at the kefta, one of a kind, darker than night and ornate with tiny symbols of total eclipse of the sun, before looking up in the face of the Darkling.
Shocked brown eyes met unreadable grey ones.
In daylight and this close, he was even more beautiful. Still tall, though.
His eyes held hers for a long, quiet moment before moving to her companions.
"So that's how you spend your day off, Ivan, Fedyor? Playing teens with Kostyk and... Genya," he squinted at young Tailor. "I think you were supposed to be busy with the Queen today, weren't you?" The redhead nodded nervously and with a last longing look at David, she left, apparently to the Grand Palace. Alina scowled, which turned the Darkling's attention back to her.
"And you are?" he asked pointedly and she blushed, as if she didn't already know that in the Darkling's eyes, an incapable young Inferni like her must be nobody. She raised her chin and looked straight into those striking grey eyes anyway.
"Starkov," she almost choked on her next words, " moi soverenyi ". His lips curled up in a smile and Alina thought she heard Ivan sigh behind her. Or maybe some Oprichnik was laughing, but both were unlikely.
"Well, miss Starkov," at least she didn't swoon - honestly, Alina, focus - but how he could make her name sound so... "You should learn two things today. First, those corridors carry sounds perfectly..." She blushed even harder, and if someone touched her now they would probably end up in flames, "And second, mocking people more talented than you is a sign of insecurity and serves nothing other than a brief amusement... Then you're back to being mediocre."
Before departing with his guards, the Darkling looked at Alina with pity and she. Saw. Red.
Both Ivan and Fedyor felt her body react, but only Ivan knew her well enough to know it meant Alina was ready to choose fight over flight. He grabbed her arm from behind and forced her to mimic his half-bow. Once the Darkling was gone long enough, Ivan let her go.
"Please tell me you were not preparing to punch our General in the face, Alina."
She would go for innocent denial any other day, but she had enough.
"Did you hear him? Did you-" she was seething, ignoring the way the temperature in the corridor was quickly rising. "I already knew he likes Zoya enough, but this? This... talking down to me!? He has absolutely no right, no idea, I-" Fedyor took one look at Ivan's worried face and began slowing Alina's pulse down to normal. Once it did, they finally stopped feeling like they were in the middle of a hot spring.
Alina took a deep breath. And then another. When she spoke again, it was in a deceptively calm voice. "You know guys, you'd better go grab something to eat and I'll join you after I come back from the library..."
David heard enough. He surprised Alina by taking her hand, and pulling her along a way that they used to go every other night – not cafeteria, but the kitchens. "Personal scolding from the Darkling or not, I think we all deserve something sweet right now.
And so they went, as invisible to the cooks as always.
~~bonus: author, trying to explain her awful dialogue with an even worse one~~
or
/ Interlude \
"There is someone I want you to tell me about..."
"Taking interest in yet another student, how surprising. Was there any powerful one that escaped your notice?
"I'm... not actually sure about power, not like you think of it... But I looked at somebody and something familiar, something like me stared back."
"Have you lost your way again, already? Don't search for ' something like you' ! Don't look for ' familiar' ! Like might call to like, but when the Sun Summoner comes, they will be nothing like you! If you want to earn your great destiny, stop being so selfish and greedy-"
"I just want you to pay attention to anything interesting. I provoked a young Inferni today and I have hopes for quite an explosive reaction..."
"But the Sun Summoner-"
"Regardless of what you think, recognising the most remarkable of our kind is not making it harder to find the Sun Summoner! I can't keep chasing after the myth, mother. The Fold will be turned to advantage of Grisha one day, with or without your Sun Summoner. Now, tell me about the Starkov girl..."
AN: I almost made "is that so?" into a cliffhanger ending, but then chapter 5 would look terrible, so here we are ;)
NEXT: after falling out of her crush on Darkles a few minutes ago, young Alina finds love again. And hopefully, we'll see her finally kick Zoya's ass!