章 40: Demystifying
"Imari...You there, brownhead," Kheera's voice was soft. "Step down a bit from the platform. Try to keep everyone safe." Her eyes never left the young girl's figure in front of her even though she was talking to Yllana.
She remembered how the little girl's eyes twinkled each time she went home with a piece of hot bread on hand. She remembered how those two little feet chased her as she was riding her horse to serve in the imperial palace. Those memories never faded. But the innocence on the little girl's eyes has already faded over time.
"It has been a year, Imari." Ocean-blue eyes meet the empty white ones. No emotion can be seen painted on Imari's face as Kheera continued to talk to her. "Don't you remember your big sister? I promised you last time that I will get that book of spells. But now it seems that sister should break that promise."
"No matter what you say, Imari...will stay that way." The same loud booming voice from above them uttered as if answering on behalf of the silent girl on the arena. "Start."
With a swift sway to her right, Kheera's body leaned and fell just inches from the floor. Her sprites surrounded her and made tiny shrieking sounds as they encircle her. When her body was about to hit the floor, they heard a few tinkling sounds from the bells before she disappeared from their sight.
Imari lifted her face. As if knowing where to look, she leaped into the air. The crowd below heard the jingling sounds from her anklets as her little body lifted in the air seemingly light as a feather. While on air, Imari also made a gesture with her hand.
Green vines slowly crept from Imari's sleeves. The vines grew longer and longer as she stayed suspended in midair. A glint flashed in her eye and she pointed at a direction on the ground. The vines instantly shot out from her hands and hit the ground.
Boom!
A huge hole appeared where the vines hit. Dust and rubble flew in all directions sending the Yllana and the others to step back a little while covering their eyes. 'This little girl is more powerful than she looks!' Yllana thought as she assessed the damage that the girl created.
As the dust almost cleared, Imari shot the vine on her other hand in the same direction sending another cloud of dust and rubble. Yllana's eyes shot wide as she tried to look for Kheera in other directions. There was no sign of her. Her heart started throbbing fast. "Kheera," she whispered.
"Hehe. You have grown stronger little sister. I never knew you could be so ruthless against your favorite big sister. Ha! I have to tell ma and pa about this!" Kheera's red lips appeared first when the dust clouds dispersed. A trace of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. She wiped it with her sleeve. Then she turned her head to her left and found a small puddle of green slime and tiny bones piled up. She walked to it but she spat a mouthful of blood before she got near it.
"One," she spurted out of her mouth as she stood up to face her sister. Four dead sprites surround her. "Oh, well. You can't kill again something that is already dead, right? But then...you just did." Kheera stated. She raised her hands and made the four remaining sprites fly towards Imari.
Imari spun around the air and called back her vines and wrapped them around her like a green ball. The four dead sprites were met with the sharp leaves of the vines spinning around Imari protecting her like an outer shell. The sprites backed away trying to find an opening.
"Clever clever," Kheera sounded amused as she observed from below. She wrote another character in the air and a wisp of black smoke emerged from the bells on her anklets. The smoke gathered in from of her and formed a huge lump with the size of a watermelon. She blew on the black smoke and it all went through Imari's vine wall.
The vines turned black and fell to the ground. Imari coughed out blood as her little body limped to the arena's floor. She did not cover her little mouth. The poisoned smoked did not affect her emotion. There was no trace of hurt, agony, or despair from her eyes. It stayed white and expressionless as ever.
Without hesitation, Imari ran head on to Kheera. The sprites flashed in front of her before she could hold Kheera's head. Sharp as knives, small as toothpicks, the sprites' teeth sunk deep into her soft skin. Kheera's eyes twitched a little seeing the dead sprites bite the young girl again and again.
"Remember," Yllana whispered from the sidelines as she gripped tightly at the hilt of her sword. Kheera hissed at the thought. This was her little sister, WAS. She could still see the same little face that they longed for. But it WAS her sister. 'She is not our Imari anymore. She has changed,' she chanted inside her head. She forcefully painted a smile on her face and knelt on the ground. With a loud thud, she slammed the floor and wrote a symbol again.
Tears started to fall from her eyes as the ground shook. "Imari, wake up. Please..." her whisper almost sounded like a muffled cry. From the arena, huge boulders piled one after another forming leg first.
Splat!
Imari caught a sprite and slammed its body to the floor. Bits of her flesh has been torn off by the dead sprites but she did not even bother to look at it. The sprite turned into a puddle of another green slime and tiny bones. Three dead sprites are now left biting her.
"Ugly," Imari whispered unconsciously.
Kheera's stone monster finished forming itself and it towered beside her. Kheera's face was covered with a shadow as she pointed at her sister. When the stone monster looked at the little girl, Kheera looked away. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. This is not the way she wanted to meet her sister again. Certainly not how she wanted to bring her back to them. But she could only wait for a miracle now.
"Imari, wake up." she continued to whisper.
Crunch!
Imari crushed the remaining sprite under her soles. But as she lifted her foot, a sudden gust of wind followed by a large fist landed on her face. The stone monster's fist was larger than the girl's head.
The hit almost blew Imari off the arena. The dome set up by one of the mages stopped Imari's body from falling entirely. Her short hair sprawled over a small area on the stage. Slowly she lifted her head.
Her damp hair was sticking out and had grime and blood on it. When she shoved her hair off her face, Kheera had a glimpse of the horror she never thought she would see. Imari's whole face was red and riddled with scars. Her knees were wobbling as she stood up again.
The stone monsters slow stepped forward once more.
Corner after corner, Kheera spat a mouthful of blood that piles up in small mounts. Soon enough, Imari's small figure landed heavily on the center of the arena with a loud thud.
Kheera took out a dagger from her side and cut her palm. She draws the same symbol on the air as Imari did. And after a few seconds, her own blood dummy was standing next to her. Kheera pointed to Imari's blood dummy. Soon enough, two lifelike dolls were battling furiously in the middle of the platform. Kheera whispered something in the air and the stone monster grabbed the unconscious body of Imari towards Kheera.
As the monster laid the figure on the floor, Kheera took out a small red stone from her waist. Yllana was familiar with that tear-shaped red stone. "Another blood drop stone...wait. What are you trying to do?! No! You can't!" Yllana's calls made the other people around her worry.
"Why? What is going to happen to that little girl?" asked one of the girls beside her.
"She will be more powerful but...she might die from the pain while at it." Yllana's words left them dumbfounded. They all stared at the sisters in the middle of the arena. They could see Kheera's face that was already stained with blood and dirt. Her shoulders were trembling as she placed the red stone inside her sister's lips.
Imari's body convulsed. Her blood dummy melted and the blood crawled back to her wounds.
The stone monster collapsed and became a pile of huge rocks beside Kheera. Her blood dummy went back to her too. There were now only two girls with bruised and bloody bodies at the center.
Yllana rushed forward to both of them. She took out a blanket from her space ring and wrapped it on Imari and Kheera. "Keep an eye on Imari while she absorbs the power. Give Kheera some medicine and let her rest."
Yllana stared at the light on top of them. She smirked. "You said that there was nothing Kheera could say and her sister will stay that way. Are you happy now that she DID something and did not SAY it?" Her mocking reached a pair of purple eyes. It wasn't physical, but the man observing them felt a stinging pain on his left cheek. Did he just get his face slapped by a mere commoner?
Yllana realized what Kheera was trying to do after she saw the blood drop stone. If Imari is under somebody else's spell, that means, she was weaker. If Imari could get stronger then there is a chance that she could fight back the spell. 'Just like how Lucien did,' she thought.
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