Ashes Ablaze


the orchestration of a witch & knight


Faux pine straw surrounded the open mouth of the horn-shaped basket. The cornucopia had been the dinner table's centerpiece since autumn. Aki touched the upward curl of a red leaf, turning it to its wine-colored underside.

Snow built in the corners of the foggy window panes. Aki rested her cheek on the heel of her hand and sighed. Christmas was her dad's favorite holiday and had become hers, too. Their house was dressed to the nines year after year, yet here they were in the teens of December without so much as a tree.

Chopping down a young pine with her father was a beloved tradition of hers. She wondered if his "too busy" mantra was an excuse. More than likely, it came down to her having done something wrong.

Ha. What else was new?

The door creaked open. The floorboards squealed beneath her father's lumbering steps. The chair at the head of the table, the furthest from her, squeaked under his weight. She fought the urge to cover her ears, instead freeing the ear flaps of her scarlet ushanka. Velvety fur muffled her hearing.

Her father rested his interlocked hands on the dinner plate. The roaring hearth casted wild shadows on his worn face. "Are you ready to talk about what happened today?"

Aki swallowed hard. She stared at her hands. Her eyes shivered in their sockets. The gloves blocked them from sight, but she saw it in her mind's eye.

She had memorized the bulbous blisters plaguing her hands.

His exhale flickered the lit candelabra, one of two illuminating the table. "I see. Well, you would do well to be informed of our incoming visitor. Divine Tchaikovsky is due to be here within the hour."

She snapped to attention. She opened her mouth to speak but disbelief silenced her. Today. He was visiting today.

Her father's frown lines flanked his weary smile. "I knew that would perk you up. I want you to know, Aki, whatever happened today… We can brush it under the rug. You will face no consequence, no punishment. I simply want to know the truth. I'm on your side."

The hearth crackled. She watched the wood blacken.

He rose and adjusted his tie. "Listen for the door while your mother and I get dressed."

Aki nodded automatically. Divine would never have a sorrier Christmastime visit. Nary a sprig of holly nor a single stocking decorated the fireplace. The fire had no tinsel to playfully reflect off of. Any other year, the lights would dance like the flames, a wonderful harmony.

She stared at the collapsible stairs that would lead to the attic. She could get the tinsel herself. It would let the cold creep in, but at least Divine would not be disappointed.

Knock-knock-knock.

The grandfather clock's toll for eight p. m. after the knocking seemed to mock her lack of time. A rush of icy wind rattled the house. She zipped up her burgundy fur coat and rushed forward. She unlatched the lock and cracked open the door.

Divine barreled inside. Snow clung to his tan kepi, black balaclava, and thick trench coat. Aki struggled to shut the door back against the snowstorm; she slammed it closed and relocked it with a fist.

Divine hurried to the hearth and ripped off his mask and hat. His long, auburn locks tumbled out of the kepi. She was accustomed to her godfather being well-kempt. The strands of hair hanging over his face and cascading down his shoulders was a primal sight.

Aki removed her hat and offered the best curtsy she could manage with her coat on. Divine's slanted smile curled up his right eye. Light from the fire swirled in its green iris. He said, "My girl."

He shedded his trenchcoat, revealing a green pinstripe suit and white tie, and he caught her in a tight embrace. She managed an awkward and wriggly smile. Her hand snaked up his back in a weak attempt to return his intense greeting.

"How are you?" he asked as he hung up his coat and kepi.

"Fine."

"You're a better liar every time I see you! I've heard whispers on the wind about you, Aki."

She kept her expression neutral to hide the racing of her heart. If she'd learned anything throughout her upper grades, it was how to manifest her mask. "Yes, it's true. All through winter, I kept a branch of witch hazel alive all by myself."

Aki gestured towards her candlelit room, where a stick climbed from a pot near her windowsill. Sharp yellow flowers studded the wood. Divine glanced at it but kept the majority of his attention on her. His shrill whisper raised goosebumps on the nape of her neck: "Witch, you say?"

A bead of sweat trickled down her spine.

The door to her parents' room flung open. Her father swept into the room, his brilliant smile and sharp black suit minimizing the age she'd seen on him earlier. The hug he gave Divine was backbreaking. "Tchaikovsky!"

"Izayoi!" he greeted. He dropped to a knee and planted a kiss on her mother's hand. Her mother's sparkling, scarlet dress augmented the blush she'd dusted on her cheeks. "And the missus looking like a young starlet, as per usual."

Her mother's giggle was a soft and adorable thing. Aki had longed to inherit it rather than her throaty, gross laugh. Divine unzipped his satchel. "Now, onto the highlight of the evening: the gifts!"

He began with a bottle of aged sherry from France's noble vineyards. Aki noticed her mother wiping the glass flutes free of dust before setting them on the table. While her father poured the three drinks, Divine meticulously set out a series of painted figurines.

"Rose Dragons," he explained, catching Aki's eye. "Blue Rose, Red Rose, White Rose, Crossrose, Roxrose, and their monarchs: Black Rose and Blood Rose Dragons."

Aki bent down to study the incredible details painstakingly painted on the miniatures. A string of tiny petals even surrounded the monarch dragons' tails.

"They are, of course, missing their true queen," Divine said. "The monarchs are temporary powers, awaiting the rise of the witch."

Wine splattered on the table. Her father swiftly corked the bottle and scratched his nose, acting uninterested. "Apologies. The smell must be getting to me already! What were you saying?"

"I showed him my witch hazel," Aki said quickly.

"Anybother." Divine redirected attention to his gift bag, and Aki had never been more grateful for a change of subject. "My final gift for you, blooming rose."

Dropping into a crouch, he unthreaded the satchel at his back and pulled out a pristine white gift box tied with golden ribbon. Aki held the box tenderly, running her fingertips over the silky tie.

"Thank you," she whispered.

The touch of his hand on her shoulder seemed to burn. "Open it first, so I know you mean it."

Aki tugged the end of the ribbon, watched it fall to the floor, and lifted the top. She froze, her hand lingering over the work of art laying in the gift box. She was accustomed to nutcrackers with bushy brows, moustaches, and beards. When she envisioned one, she thought of silly little soldiers.

The nutcracker in the box was anything but. It had thin, blonde eyelashes and eyebrows. Wheat-colored hair spilled down its white chainmail armor. A golden fleur-de-lis adorned the chestpiece. Its green eyes were painted rounder than typical nutcrackers with a dash of a shine in the irises. Moving the left arm opened and shut the jaw, and the stiff right arm wielded a spear.

Aki's exhale was long, breathy, and awestruck. A gentle and shocked laugh escaped her. She'd never heard herself speak so softly. "It's beautiful."

"I'm glad you agree," Divine said, his voice quiet to match hers. "She's based on a knight, a legendary hero in France: Jeanne d'Arc."

Aki met his eyes, which were crinkled by his smile. "Girls can be knights?"

"France is a different world than ours," Aki's father said. "Here, we breed sanity. I would suggest against getting any ideas from them."

Aki admired the nutcracker all the same.

Her mother appeared at her side and squeezed her hand. "Why don't you name her, darling?"

The knight's golden hair was silky on Aki's fingers. She cradled the nutcracker in her arms. Her focus flicked around the room and landed on the bottle of wine.

Sherry.

The abrupt interruption of a memory blotted out the world around Aki. Flames blazed in her mind's eye. A girl's scream pierced the sky through smoke.

A squeeze on her upper arm dragged her back to reality, the return sobering as breaking the surface after nearly drowning. The murmurings asking if she was alright sounded far, far away. Aki said, "I'd rather not give it a name. I'll leave it in my room for now. It's a very nice gift."

Her feet carried her into the corner bedroom while her mind spun. She shut the door behind her and set the nutcracker beside the branch of witch hazel. Aki paced back and forth. The more she longed to forget today's tragedy, the stronger the flashing of images through her brain.

Her nose twitched. She smelled smoke. She whirled back towards the nutcracker. Her heart sank. The left arm had lifted of its own volition, the mouth open in a silent scream as fire engulfed the limb. Aki snatched up the nutcracker and smothered the flame with her mitten.

The blackened arm fell onto the floor.

Aki bit back a sob. She gathered up the ashes and dropped them into her uniform's breast pocket. The knight remained trapped in an eternal wail. Aki shut her eyes for a moment, two. With a tender touch, she closed the knight's mouth.

A knock sounded from the door. Her mother called, "It's time for dinner!"

Aki wanted nothing more than to lay alone in her room. It'd be too rude to Divine, though, so she left the injured nutcracker tucked in her bed. She rolled peas around on her plate as her parents and godfather drank and made merry. Even the baklava, her favorite dish of her mother's, had little taste.

Divine excused himself to the guest room around nine. Her father poked fun at him being an old man turning in so early, but both he and her mother resigned to their bedroom soon after. Aki remained at the table. The empty cornucopia rested beside her still-full plate.

A sigh whistled out of her nostrils. She left her plate, promising herself to clean it up in the morning. She snuffed out the candles. Embers glowed orange in the hearth. Snow pelted the windows. Shadows wreathed the chandelier.

Aki sneaked a fake rose from her mother's vase arrangement on the way back to her room. She locked the door and knelt in front of the poor, injured nutcracker. Brushing her finger down the knight's arm, Aki wrapped the stem around the remaining stump. The flower drooped. She hugged the nutcracker to her chest and fell onto her side.

Silent sobs wracked her body.

Loud crackling rang out from the living room. Aki broke off in a hiccup. She unlocked her door and padded towards the noise. A blaze roared in the fireplace. An eerie green glow cleaved the dark. Aki rubbed her eyes. A stone owl perched on top of the grandfather clock, its verdant eyes shining.

Aki closed her eyes, touched her index finger to the bridge of her nose, and shook her head. Too many things were… off. She'd never seen the owl before, and someone must've gotten busy while she was away.

A fully decorated Christmas tree stood in its annual corner of the room. Rainbows of tinsel, red candles, and sprigs of holly livened the table where the cornucopia had been. The stockings knit by her mother hung from the mantle.

And opposite the Rose Dragon figures, firelight glinted off the metal bucket bodies of an army of steampunk war machines.

An explosion of sound like the striking of a massive tuning fork rocked the house. She hissed in a gasp. The chimes of the grandfather clock resounded loud as the falling of ancient pines. Unnatural luminescence glowed. Aki looked to its source, finding the color of the owl's eyes silhouetting the figures.

On the twelfth and final chime, the green surrounded Aki. Silence settled. She turned her hand this way and that. The glow outlined her body. She said, "What-"

Vertigo flooded her senses. Her vision blurred. The world spun. Her clogs landed on hardwood. A weighty exhale passed her lips. She stumbled back, taking in the chicken leg large as a house before her. The peas she'd rolled on her plate earlier were big as boulders. She peered up the length of the monumental crimson candle.

"I'm tiny?" she squeaked.

A pained roar sounded from the other side of the table. Aki ran towards it, climbing through forests of holly and scrambling over tinsel bramble. She reached a clearing near a place setting and froze.

The tiny robotic creations she'd seen on the table were her size now. Their movements were stuttered and stilted as they lashed electric whips. The Rose Dragons reacted more like living things, their lurches and flinches fluid and real.

God in heaven, Aki thought, was it all real?

A tall cyborg in all black slammed down his club on Black Rose Dragon's back. The dragon crumpled. Its gargled cry for help twisted Aki's heart.

"No," she whispered. "No! Someone has to do something!"

A spark warmed the seat of her belly. She pressed her palm to her stomach, her brows lifting. Branches rustled behind her. She spun.

Her mouth slacked.

A tall woman with long, wheat-colored hair stepped out of the holly. The light from the hearth illuminated her white, chainmail armor and the golden fleur-de-lis painted on the chest. Her long, left sleeve was slack and empty. Her right hand gripped a rapier's handle.

With her green eyes and thin blonde lashes, she looked just like…

"Sherry?" Aki breathed. She clutched her temples and shook her head. "No! You- your arm. You're not her. Are you?"

As the knight closed the distance between them, Aki couldn't help but be acutely aware of the inches of height the knight had on her. The knight said, "Your power and mine can save the Draconic Garden. Will you join me?"

The knight sheathed her blade quick as the wind and extended her hand. Aki found herself enchanted by the knight's lilt of an accent, and the words repeated in her mind. Aki blinked repeatedly to gain bearings. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I'll get in your way. I-"

Her focus drifted downward, and her brows pushed inward. Her throat felt tight. She whispered, "I can't do anything right."

The knight's stare remained pinned on her for several heart-hammering moments. Aki gulped. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the knight's hand move. The knight lifted her own sleeve over her shoulder. Her upper arm ended at a stump.

Vines curled around the limb. Tiny white lilies sprouted along the circumference. At the bottom, a red rose blossomed. Aki held her palm in front of her open mouth. The knight was smiling. It was a minuscule expression, easy to miss, and Aki found herself unable to look away.

"You did this for me," the knight said. "You did. It's beautiful. I would love to see more to treasure like I do these flowers."

Tears pricked the corners of Aki's eyes. "Y-you don't understand. I didn't help. I…"

A sob poured out of her as she showed the knight the ashes in her pocket. Her tears poured as cascades. The knight didn't appear confused or angry, however; she curled her fingers over Aki's, closing her fist over the remains.

"Non, it was not you. You held me and cried over me. You pruned a bouquet so heavenly—especially for me."

There was that tiny smile again. Aki's sobs worsened. The knight's voice was softer when she said, "The archwizard cursed me, and you are the countering blessing. You are my blessing only."

Aki's tears halted for the sake of bewilderment. "There's a wizard here?"

"He watches over us all," the knight said. She pointed towards the clock. "He is the orchestrator of your change and of your fall."

Aki squinted.

The green-eyed, stone owl crowning the clock moved.

Gray feathers flew as the owl swept low over the table. Its flight extinguished the candles. The owl's down transformed into a dark cloak, and its talons changed into human legs. The emerald glow shrunk to fit the disguised man's irises.

"Who are you?" Aki demanded.

Black-gloved hands turned down his hood. Aki clenched her fists. Divine Tchaikovsky stood over his robotic army. He strode past muzzled dragons, crushing petals beneath the soles of his loafers as he walked.

"Is the knight telling the truth?" she asked. "Were you the one who burned her? Are you truly an…"

Aki swallowed the question. From what she'd just witnessed, her godfather had clearly been an archwizard the whole time. Divine lifted his palms toward heaven like a priest in a pulpit.

"Yes, Aki, yes. I've known of your potential since your birth. You must understand: those with our abilities will be shunned and persecuted by ordinary humans. It's important you learn early what mistakes will mean for you. Only by accepting your place outside of the humans' society will you breach the limits of your power!"

"You mean you-" Aki's mouth went dry. "You were the one who burned the real Sherry's arm, too? At school today. You were watching then?"

His smile was strange. She expected a curling, conniving expression like a villain in a storybook. His was a reassuring and pitying look. He said, "You understand now, don't you? How they're willing to cast you aside in the blink of an eye—how, the instant you're beyond their norm, they go to lengths to rid of you?"

Images flashed back to her: The nurse wheeled Sherry away, her groans pained. Teachers escorted Aki by the arm. Their grip was tight enough to leave red marks. The headmaster's words elicited a chill from Aki like hearing the slicing of a guillotine through the air: "I see no other option than immediate expulsion and warnings sent to all nearby schoolhouses."

Tremors made their uproars known in her arms and legs. Her exhale through her nostrils was shaky.

"You hurt her," she said. Her voice came out weak. Broken. She squared her shoulders and shot a pointed look at the one-armed knight before redirecting a burning glare at Divine. "You hurt both of them so you could get to me. Not just that; to ruin my life."

She opened her fist to study the ashes resting there.

In her mind, she repeated the knight's words.

"You are my blessing only."

"I've changed my mind," Aki said. "Let's fight together!"

She scattered the ashes to the sky. Soot ignited to cinders and coalesced into fire. A blazing tornado tore across the table. Aki was caught in its wake.

A pleasant warmth cocooned her.

Aki threw out her arm. Flames bent to her command, scattering into sparks. Light from the relit candles glimmered on her new outfit: a sparkling scarlet ball gown and crimson, forearm-length gloves. She molded fire into a glass rose and tucked it onto her temple. Robots melted and fetters shattered around her.

The knight aimed the point of her rapier skyward. "To freedom!"

The blade caught flame. Aki exclaimed, "And victory!"

The knight's smirk was devilish. She danced through the robotic army. The brilliance of her sword painted her fencing silhouette onto the dining room wall. Aki watched her shadow slice a cyborg to ribbons and stab through a chainsaw-faced robot. She shattered the Rose Dragons' chains one-by-one.

Blue, White, and Rox Rose Dragons huddled beneath Blood Rose's shielding wing. The knight surged forward as their protective spear. A towering humanoid with yellow, mechanical tentacles smashed a muzzle onto Black Rose Dragon.

The knight dismembered the top two tentacles with a sweeping slice. Her blade scorched the limbs. The humanoid collapsed. The remaining tentacles lashed at the knight. She ducked with ease and impaled the humanoid's heart. It went still. The knight tugged the muzzle free. Black Rose Dragon trumpeted a triumphant roar.

A kind aroma filled the air from the petals drifting in the night. The Rose Dragons amassed like an overgrown garden behind Aki and the knight. They cornered the lone archwizard at the table corner.

"This is a disagreement we can work past," he assured.

Fire curled from Aki's fingertips. "I decide otherwise."

"Unfortunate. I have no choice but to show you a taste of the heights you could have reached." He bellowed, "Thought Ruler Archfiend!"

The table rumbled. Aki held onto the nearest sturdy object to keep her footing. When the quaking stopped, she realized she clung to the knight's arm. Blushes blossomed on her cheeks as she swiftly let go.

A massive shadow soared in front of the hearth and crashed onto the table. A winged skeleton four times Aki's size rose before them. Divine leapt onto its shoulders and laughed. The emerald webbing stretched between the skeleton's wings matched Divine's eerie green eyes.

Something nudged Aki's elbow. A hot breath from Black Rose Dragon's snout warmed her arm. The dragon nudged her with its head again, a note more aggressive. Aki nodded and threw herself onto its neck. A ruffle on her dress skirt ripped. A corner of her mouth quirked up.

Black Rose Dragon took to the skies. A storm of red rose petals trailed their flight. Down below, the knight slashed the skeleton's legs with her burning sword. A stomp of the skeleton's foot missed her by an inch. The skeleton bent to swat her.

"Now," Aki whispered. The dragon bristled beneath her. Aki placed her hand on the dragon's dark skin. The contact was electric. "Ignite."

Heat flared from the Black Rose's body. Its neck jerked forward and its jaws parted slowly as if its own power was uncontainable. Dark flames shot from Black Rose Dragon's throat. The fire consumed the skeleton, and the force of the blast toppled Divine.

Black Rose Dragon alighted beside the knight, who stood over Divine's prone body. The knight reported, "He's out cold. He'll have a nasty bump on his head when he wakes up."

Aki dismounted and said, "I want to do worse."

"The choice is yours." The knight dropped her rapier and reached for Aki, who flinched. The knight tenderly retrieved the glass rose from her hair. She whispered, "I must admit I adore these creations of yours much more, however."

Aki's glare softened. She glanced at the Rose Dragons. The green glow of Divine's influence had dissipated, though, so the garden was still and lifeless as a cemetary.

"Thank you," Aki told the knight. "Thank you for everything."

"It is I who thanks you." She placed the glass rose in Aki's palm. "I suppose you'll be leaving soon."

"Oh."

bang bang bang

Aki studied the green glow outlining her arms. She met the knight's eyes. "I can figure out how to change you to be the same. You can stay and be like us and live your own life! It was my power that gave you life, right? So there must be a way-"

Though the knight wore her ordinary, small smile, sadness tilted her eyes. "You have more important responsibilities on the other side, Aki."

"Huh?"

BANG BANG BANG

Aki's eyes fluttered open. She lay in a fetal position on the floor of her room. The nutcracker lay in her arms. Her tears had dampened the blonde hair. Aki's brows pushed inward. She shot to her feet and entered the living room. The hearth was dark. The empty cornucopia decorated the dinner table. There was no tree, no stockings, no Christmas cheer.

Her shoulders slumped as she padded back to her room.

All a dream. She should've known something so fantastical was a dumb, stupid-

bang bang bang

The noise came from her room. She hurried in and locked the door behind her. Someone was at the window, and she had a good guess as to who. Aki flipped open the latches and shoved up. Ice cracked as the frozen window slid up.

The visitor crawled in and collapsed on her floor. Aki swiftly shut the window. Even from such little exposure, her cheeks were chilled and mouth chapped. Aki licked her lips and knelt beside the visitor. Sherry's blonde locks were sprawled out with her. A sling supported her left arm. The sting of the cold left every inch of Sherry's exposed skin bitten red and, unfortunately, there was much of it.

Aki ripped her thickest blanket off her bed and threw it over Sherry. She massaged Sherry's shoulder, legs, and abdomen to generate heat while careful to avoid her injured arm. Aki murmured, "God. God, what's wrong with you? It's a full-on blizzard. You can't be-"

Sherry's lips parted in a smile. Not just a smile like the knight in her dream—this was a shit-eating grin. Aki wanted to be angry. She saw the snowflakes caught in Sherry's eyelashes, and her insides withered.

"Why?" she demanded.

"You feel like crap," Sherry said, "don't you?"

Aki averted her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sherry's good arm snaked out of the blanket and gripped Aki by the collar. Sherry dragged her closer until that grin was an inch from her. "You can't lie to me. I've known you too many years for that to work. Look, what happened today—I don't blame you."

"What the hell do you mean?" Aki seethed. "You have to blame me. It was my fault."

"Not exactly." Sherry reached for her sling. Glass clinked. Aki's brows lifted. Sherry showed off a half-filled bottle of vodka. "See? I snuck it into school. Idiots wouldn't believe me, so I was showing it off before the duel. They said it must've been just water. I popped it open to show 'em. They demanded to try it themselves, there was a tussle, aaaand. I spilled it all down my arm!"

Her laugh lacked mirth. Aki was stone-faced. Sherry's laugh died down, and she rubbed the back of her neck. She continued, "I figured trying to wash it out would make me look more suspicious. I went ahead with the duel. Surprised you didn't notice I stank."

Aki had noticed a pungent scent, but she'd never wound Sherry's pride by bringing it up.

"Anyway, I know you've got a little… something in you. I saw a spark. That was it, though. There was a spark in front of me and the vodka did the rest. Get it? It wasn't your fault. It was my dumbass. They wouldn't let me see you. Said it would be 'too dangerous.' Aki? M'Aki? Please. I had to come as soon as I could sneak out. I had to let you know you shouldn't blame yourself like you always do."

Aki's throat was tight. She swallowed past the lump. "It doesn't matter. It was supposed to be a game for fun, and I got mad!"

"I poked the bear like I always do." Sherry's laugh was so loud Aki worried her parents might stir. "You make it so easy! 'No, I know all the rules!' I damn well know you know the rules, Aki."

Her expression sobered suddenly. Aki battled the tears in her throat and knew her eyes were glazed. Sherry's fingertips brushed her cheek. The gentle touch of her knuckle freed a tear from Aki's lower eyelid. Sherry's hand, warmer by the millisecond, inched towards the nape of Aki's neck.

Sherry pulled her close and slowly, tenderly, warmly shut her open lips over Aki's. Aki's arms wrapped around her instinctively, robbing away the chance of any space between them. The warm trails Sherry had left on her mouth weren't enough. She kissed her again and again and nibbled on her lower lip. Sherry giggled like she had when they were girls. Aki found herself laughing, too, a mix of relief and elation.

"Since you so obviously owe me," Sherry said, "you are required to make me hot chocolate. Ah-ah! The kind with steamed milk only!"

"It's the middle of the night!" Aki said. "My parents-"

"Wah," Sherry deadpanned, "my arm hurts sooo baaad."

She flopped her arm around like a fish. Aki bit her own lip hard in attempt to keep up the illusion of being unhappy about it. The corners of her lips twitched up despite it. She entered the living room and set fire to tinder beneath two logs—nothing for a serious fire but warmth all the same. Aki fetched the kettle and milk.

"And if they find us here," Aki whispered, "what will you do then?"

"You and me?" Sherry said. "If they ask, I'm here because we're just…"

The building flames swirled in her green irises. The upward quirk of her lips betrayed her devilish intentions. She fired a wink Aki's way. "Friends. Best friends, ma cherie."

Aki smiled, twined her fingers with Sherry's, and watched the steam rise.