Chapter 20: The Lives we Live

Arcane sat atop a tower as the sun set over the Rose Kingdom, looking to the west as the distant sun fell over the horizon. Even as she did, she listened to the conversations going on in the castle below her, especially one particular conversation between a father and daughter. In her hand was an apple core, the rest of the flesh eaten away, which she toyed with silently while watching the orangish sunset.

‘Someone without desires, without limitations, is dangerous.’

‘If aiding them will benefit her goals, I cannot say she wouldn’t.’

‘Do not let emotion blind you.’

Arcane sighed as she tossed the apple core into the air, a soundless burst of power decomposing it into diatomic gases and solid dust, which dissipated quickly as the cyan haired girl lay back on the slanted roof. The sky had already darkened to the point that the first stars, or more likely nearby planets, could be seen against the dark blue background.

“Trust, huh?” She said to the sky, her voice quiet enough that even someone on the same tower would have trouble hearing her. With her closed eyes she scanned the sky, her unnatural vision picking up the distant specks of the system’s asteroid belt, within which she searched for the dark beasts who had carried her to this world. She did not find them, but that didn’t give her much pause. Returning her attention to the array of stars that were beginning to emerge in the fading light, she let her mind wander for a bit.

“Why won’t she talk to me?” A ten year old girl with bright cyan hair and eyes demands of an almost identical girl with hair and eyes of a rich blue. The latter shrugs, her expressionless face in contrast to the visible excitement of the other. She barely looks up, speaking in a monotone.

“Doesn’t trust you.” Rain explains, unaffected by the half tantrum Arcane is throwing.

“Doesn’t… What the hell!?!?! When have I ever done anything to prove myself untrustworthy!!!” Arcane screams, pounding her fist on the table in front of her. Rain glances imperceptibly at the site of the impacts and withdraws a layer of cushioning water applied to prevent it from breaking.

“List or summary?” She asks, still not looking directly at Arcane.

“What?” Arcane replies, confusion replacing anger on her face.

“Of reasons.” Rain explains, quickly spreading out the water around her hand as Arcane suddenly slams her palm into the table again. Hairline cracks start to form in the solid metal surface, the material unable to withstand the immense force of Arcane’s blows. The other girls magic is going a bit haywire due to her heightened emotions.

“Reasons?!?! What reasons could that stuck up, arrogant, obnoxious, pretentious brat possibly have! She’s just trying to piss me off, isn’t she?” Arcane yells, punctuating her words with repeated blows to the table. Rain watches sadly as her layer of cushioning water is blown away and the table crumbles under the sustained assault. Breathing deeply, Arcane pauses and looks down at the shattered pieces of steel. The sight seems to cause her to regain control of herself, as she stops enhancing her body with magic and repairs the table with a wave of her hand. “Sorry about that.”

“Used to it.” Rain replies, taking a repaired teacup and filling it with a floating sphere of browned liquid. She takes a sip and grimaces, putting it back on the table and pushing it away from her. “Continue?”

Arcane shakes her head and leans back in her chair, swinging her legs as if kicking the table. “Do you think she just hates me?” She wonders aloud.

“Yes.” Rain answers immediately, manipulating a cup of liquid from a distant bar and giving it a sniff. Nodding, she brings the cup to her lips.

“You really mean that, don’t you?” Arcane mutters, her head still leaned way back so she was looking at the sky. “I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong!!”

“Nothing. That’s the problem.” Rain says, continuing to sip the cup of brown liquid without changing her expression or posture.

“So I’m too perfect?” Arcane says, smiling as she looked at Rain out of the bottom of her eyes. “Could you be a bit more specific, honestly? I’m more than happy to screw up sometimes if people would just tell me how. But nobody ever does, they just expect me to be less perfect while also still being perfect. It’s annoying.”

Rain thinks about that for a second, then shakes her head. Arcane smiles grimly and rolls her eyes back into her head. “Figured.” She mutters, her smile vanishing as if it had never existed.

“Explain you don’t know something?” Rain suggests at last, still in her monotone voice.

Arcane laughs without a trace of humor in her voice. “Hahaha… Very funny, Rain, but the last time I tried that she said it was enough to make her happy and ran off somewhere. Or are you saying I should try that again anyway?” She looks at Rain hopefully.

Rain shakes her head, tapping her little finger softly against the teacup. After a few seconds of almost complete stillness and silence, she simply says, “I don’t know.”

“Haa…” Arcane sighs, falling forward to put her head on the table. “Of course you don’t. I shouldn’t have expected anything else.”

“Nope.” Rain says, not at all offended by the backhand insult. Arcane rolls her eyes at the happy note in her sister's voice, though even a computer would swear it was exactly like she always spoke.

“You’re not even trying, are you?” Arcane asks accusingly, leading to another happy (emotionless) nod from Rain. Sighing again, Arcane slams her head into the table and is treated to the satisfying ringing sound of the steel frantically trying to hold together. “So useless.”

“Not good with emotions.” Rain explains, taking a sip from her teacup again. “Asked wrong person.”

“Stone would have been worse.” Arcane declares, shaking her head as she sits up again. “And you two are my only options.”

Considering that, Rain nods once. “Fair enough.”

“What ‘fair enough’, it’s completely unfair.” Arcane complains, rolling her eyes.

“Also true.” Rain adds helpfully.

Arcane shakes her head at the supposedly emotionless sister of hers, sighing and leaning back in her seat. “So anyway, if she won’t talk to me, I’ll have to ask you.”

“Strongly oppose.” Rain pleads, but Arcane mercilessly cuts her off with a “Don’t care.” Resigning herself to her fate, Rain nods. “Will try.”

“Excellent. First question, where do you three go to school?” Arcane asks, obtaining a stunned (expressionless) look from Rain.

“Don’t know?” Rain asks, conveying her disbelief and incomprehension without displaying either emotion.

“I could look it up, but it just feels like an invasion of privacy or something…” Arcane explains, shifting nervously in her seat.

“And this is not?” Rain asks, conveying the same emotions.

“Well, yes, but… It’s different, okay?” Arcane yells, placing her hands flat on the table and staring directly at Rain, who nods under the pressure. Sitting back again, she continues, “Excellent. So, where?”

“Almeida Primary School.” Rain says, returning to her usual truly emotionless state.

“Almeida… tsk. That’s like three hours away.” Arcane mutters to herself, shaking her head. “Whatever. Do you three all have the same classes?”

“Yes.” Rain replies, summoning another teacup without finishing the first. She sent both of the others back once she got the new one, merely holding the steaming cup on its platter.

“Wonderful! So, tell me about those classes.” Arcane demands, silently putting out even more pressure.

Rain tilts her head and thinks about it. “First is math, mostly basic…”

“Stop stop stop! Not the subjects, the people.” Arcane interjects, waving her hands to stop Rain from starting a long speech on the different forms of academic learning. Sighing in relief as the other girl allows herself to be headed off, Arcane relaxes into her chair as Rain thinks about the restated question.

“... Mostly young mages, evaluated high talent. We aren’t special. I’m top student. Stone’s popular. Fate’s…” Rain trails off as Arcane sighs and finishes the sentence for her.

“Public enemy number one, right? Seriously, that girl…” Arcane mutters something under her breath, probably insults directed at the sister both girls are now thinking of.

“Can’t deny.” Rain says, shrugging. “She doesn’t mind.”

“She actually doesn’t mind, or she simply pretends not to mind?” Arcane asks, to which Rain has no answer. “How is she treated?”

Rain doesn’t answer for a while, blowing on her teacup and examining the brightly colored sister in front of her. Finally, she puts the cup down and looks directly at Arcane. “Your purpose?”

“My purpose?” Arcane asks, startled. “What do you mean? I’m just concerned about one of my sisters is all.”

“Never cared before.” Rain points out. “Started by complaining about her attitude.”

Arcane stares at her, then bursts out laughing in actual amusement. Rain simply watches, not finding this to be a laughing matter. All around them a medieval town bustles, filled with outlandish people and fantastic outfits. The virtual game world didn’t even notice the roiling magic power swirling around Arcane, despite her having broken a far more advanced simulation software mere hours before. Even with all that, Arcane continued to laugh, minding neither the odd stares from passerby or the emotionless stare of Rain.

“Ha… sorry about that.” Arcane apologizes, wiping tears from her eyes. “You’re completely right, of course. But… you’re also so, so wrong.”

“Then, purpose?” Rain repeats, relaxing slightly after her sister stopped laughing like a maniac but not fully letting down her guard.

“Did you know that girl cries by herself, when no one’s watching?” Arcane asks, her eyes looking into the distance.

Rain doesn’t react for a while. Finally, she opens her mouth and closes it again, before briefly closing her eyes and bowing her head.

“I’ll take that as a no, then.” Arcane decides, eyes still focused far away. “I didn’t either. I keep telling myself I couldn’t have known, but I really should have. It’s obvious nobody wants to be rejected by everyone and unilaterally decided to be some sort of evil being simply because of how they were born, if you just think about it. And it’s even more obvious that a relationship in which you have treated each other as your sworn enemy your entire life can’t be mended in a single afternoon, but I can’t help but try.”

Rain took her hands off the table, trying to hide their trembling under the steel surface, but Arcane easily spotted the motion and smiled. She didn’t say anything about it, though.

“Of course you don’t believe me either. I won’t deny I was furious… I opened up to that girl, tried to get her to understand, and all she did was laugh at me and run away! I should have cooled down a bit more before coming to you, shouldn’t I… It’s only natural you’d think I wanted to hurt her or something. But, Rain…” Arcane’s voice became hard again, and her suddenly refocused eyes bored into Rain’s own without allowing the other girl to look away. “Nobody hurts my family. Not a planet, not a government, not even my other sisters. And most certainly not me. You can believe me on that point. So when I say that I will do everything in my power and beyond it to repair our family no matter what it costs me, I am speaking the truth. If you can’t accept that, then we are done here. If you can…”

Arcane paused again, still meeting Rain’s eyes before bowing her head and placing it just above the table. “I need your help, sister.”

Rain looked at Arcane’s bowed head, a turmoil of emotions breaking even her incredible stoicism. Her usually impassive face twitched with a variety of emotions as if it wasn’t sure how to form itself into the proper expression, or even what that proper expression was. Finally, she reached out a hand and lifted Arcane’s chin, pulling the other girl up so their eyes met over the steel table. With a few drops of uncontrolled water moving down her cheek, the blue haired girl nodded once.

“I will.”

Arcane sat up from her position on top of the tower, rubbing her eyes and looking towards the stars far above. There was no moon around this world, with only the sun providing tides or illumination, so the night was quite dark.

The society of elfbeasts on the world below had yet to develop the light that allowed them to challenge the darkness and create day without the sun. Even so, there was motion from torch-bearing guards or the warm glow of household lights. Not enough to break the darkness in any great amount, but there was some light. Looking down at those few, tiny sparks below, then up at the countless millions of far distant stars above, Arcane sighed to herself.

So much had changed. And yet, so much remained the same.

With only her thoughts for company, Arcane folded her arms over her raised knee and rested her chin on the crossed limbs. Her closed eyes made it seem like she was sleeping, with steady breath and a peaceful expression. Her lips twitched as she thought of that, quite aware that she should be. Despite that, she remained awake for a while longer.

There was a beauty in the night. Not just from the pinpricks of light that pierced it, invaders from both above and below, but from the gentle coat of darkness that covered everything. Hiding both good and evil, sin and virtue, it treated all things equally and made them become as one. Arcane herself was not spared, her vibrant cyan hair dulled to a mere grey by the lightlessness of the night, her brightly colored dress blending in with the dull stone on which she sat. The only thing that remained was her pale skin, reflecting fully the minimal light of the stars and giving her a slight glow in this endless darkness. Technically it could be seen, a shine of white color against the darkness around her, but no one looked towards the girl, her presence hidden by the twin swords on her back.

But it was not on herself that the girl’s attention focused. Her ears listened, hearing the hushed whisper of the beasts in the wildness around town, the muffled padding of pawed feet pacing through the pale woods, the slight flapping of feathered wings floating through the forest air. A quiet splashing, something swimming to the surface of a secret stream. Then a soft rustling, the rough ground cover disturbed by a burrowing creature leaving its den.

Life goes on. This, Arcane knew all too well; despite the unspeakable tension that gripped the city of elfbeasts, the living woods around them continued to live, just as it always had and always would. No matter what conflicts the so called intelligent races got into, no matter what mad battles they fought over territory or ideology or any number of foolish things, the lives they lived would never change. For hours, she listened to the subtle sounds of life in the forest, the movements of animals, the wind brushing against the trees, the falling petals of budding flowers.

Arcane bowed her head again, drawing her attention in, looking towards the sleeping capital of the Rose Kingdom. She had focused too long on the beasts of the forest. Already, there was a slight light in the eastern sky, heralding the coming of the dawn. Towards the outer edge of the city people were stirring, hunters and the lowest of workers rising with the barest light.

Arcane continued to listen, hearing the splashing of water and the rubbing of fur as these early risers took their minimal baths and readied themselves for the day. Next came the rustling of clothes being worn, furs draped over the body as protection against the external dangers of the world. Modesty, perhaps, was the primary reason for such things, for the thick fur on the paws and bodies of the elfbeasts was sufficient defense against the cold and minor injuries they might receive. As evidence Arcane heard no trace of the tapping of feet or the stretching of leather. Shoes, she knew, were not a characteristic of this society.

The first sliver of the sun crested the horizon, perhaps the outer edge of its corona rather than any trace of the solar body itself, but the world brightened considerably. With the first group just coming out their doors, another set began to wake. Shouted orders from below, the guards who had slept through the night roused by irate officers and ordered to their posts. Rattling of stone and wood; their weapons and armor taken up in preparation for the day.

At the outer edge the hunters slipped out of town, examining the terrain for traces of trails from the night. They, too, carried weapons of stone and wood, mostly long spears tipped with smooth stone points. They would be easily slipped into the body of their prey, and then extracted to pierce again and again until the tough bodies of the forest beasts finally expired, their organs destroyed and yet the flesh mostly intact. Others carried crude bows, strung with lengths of animal guts that held the body of the bow bent. Their arrows were barbed, intended to remain in the prey and slowly work their way into its core rather than be stabbed repeatedly into a single point. Which way was better, which was worse… It could not be said. But from the experienced gait and determined gazes of both groups, many a beast would have one or the other be the last thing they felt.

The sun continued to rise, its light brightening the sky with a pale blue that drove back the deep indigo of the night, washing out the tiny stars and replacing them with a plain canvas against which the white clouds began to reappear, no longer blending in with the night. Birds began to chirp, or possibly insects, or something else entirely; whichever it was, the chorus of sounds that welcomed the coming day broke the quiet of the night and covered the soft sounds of movement in the forest. Overwhelmed by the chorus, Arcane turned her attention from the cacophony of the forest beasts to the start of the daily bustle in the city.

Many, many more were awakening now, the rustling of furs and the splashing of morning ablutions coming from every direction. The first group of guards to be woken in the predawn light were heading out of the castle barracks, marching in unison even as they split off one by one to their assigned posts. Those whom they replaced gratefully nodded to their successors and returned to the innards of the castle, far less uniform in their motion but no less proud in their posture. Within the city itself, merchants took up packs containing their wares, forged of stone and clay, and began to set up their shops or stands near the market grounds. The first arguments began; merchants disputing who had the right to sell what, where, others furiously complaining about their suppliers or the condition of their stalls. The lively voices destroyed the perfect silence that so far had only been punctuated by whispers, or muffled shouts deep within stone walls. Their voices on the wind carried around the city and up to the top of the tower where Arcane sat in the same posture she had adopted around midnight, filled with a vibrant life that seemed to demand itself be heard.

Arcane let her eyes see again, no longer simply listening to the rising sounds. Like insects, the distant elfbeasts wandered through the streets, one by one leaving their little houses to finish the business of the day. Many went towards the castle, a variety of maids and servants, chefs and builders, soldiers and nobles, all of whom had business with the ruler of the land or within his castle. Others went towards the outskirts, beginning from there the handling of carriages or the cleaning of the streets. The first urchins emerged, young elfbeasts with quick paws dancing between the better dressed merchants, their fingers flashing even as they dodged the screams and kicks of their marks. Soon after the guards arrived, causing the tiny thieves to scatter.

The business of business began, those who had left their homes earlier marching into the markets or the shops and examining the goods displayed. Craftsmen came as well, bearing many goods to the back entrances of those same shops, making quick exchanges at already agreed on rates. The merchants ordered others to move the received goods from the back to the front, carefully arranging them on display in addition to what they had before. Voices were raised; a haggle occurring at some stall, one that had not gone well. A guard changed his path to move closer, the voices falling in response. Satisfied, he moved back to his regular route.

Arcane watched all of it, seeing through wooden walls to the shops of stone carvers and wood shapers who guided apprentices through their morning work, teaching them for the days to come. She saw the merchants counting their money, metallic coated stones of copper, and tin, and occasionally gold. She saw into the fancy manors of the higher nobles, finally being awoken from their continuing sleep by obedient servants. Below, breakfast was being prepared, smoked meat reheated by fires and cut into a more palatable appearance by the stone knives of the cooks. The castle below her was the same, albeit on a far larger scale as a massive kitchen sliced fresh meat and tossed it onto stones near the fire, sizzling smoke rising from the heating process. The fires were stoked with gathered wood, carts full of it being led through the town from the outer edge as woodchoppers who had spent the morning lashing together their harvest from the prior eve. The smoke was led outside, and the blazing fires finally brought light to the dark interior of the stony capital. Torches were arranged by servants who ran from the stocks to the great fires and back, carefully placing them in stone brackets and locking them in place with stone brackets. The cheerily burning lengths of wood brightened the halls, allowing easier motion even through regions where windows were few and far between.

In the apartments of the royals, the king slept on undisturbed under the orders of his daughter, who rallied the maids who came by and conveyed her orders to them. Activity followed in a flurry wherever she went, the castle leaping to follow the commands of an active leader after a long period without one.

Arcane stood and stretched, pretending she had actually slept through the night rather than spent the entire time enamored by the faint life of the dark world. She looked down at the people wandering around, wishing them the best of luck as they lived their lives. Then she leapt from the top of the tower, falling freely towards the castle proper below. Halfway down she stepped off the air, pushing herself into a window and letting herself fly along one of the hallways. Kicking off the walls, she managed to continue her fall through a spiral staircase and onto the ground level of the castle. Landing gently, as if she had only jumped down a few feet instead of a few stories, she straightened her dress and set off towards where she sensed Annabelle was going, the library they had first met her father the day before.

Hidden in both presence and body by the swords she bore and her own not inconsiderable talents at sneaking, she slipped into the library and took a seat atop one of the bookcases, looking down at the table that she felt would soon be occupied by many a noble elfbeast. One last time, she focused her attention outside the castle, peering through the solid stone walls towards the bustling city outside. Smiling slightly, she bowed her head to the lively people filling the streets.

Waiting, Arcane took one of the hide scrolls from the shelf just below her seat and started reading it. It was a dry account on the history of the Rose kingdom, detailing the different noble houses and sects that worked under it. Arcane barely payed it any mind, thinking about nothing and everything at once.

Minutes later the first nobles started to enter the library from the same side Arcane had come, chatting about the business of their territories and discussing the many political concerns they had. Soon after Annabelle led a few maids into the library, and Arcane started to pay attention.

“-Make sure they write an answer immediately.” Annabelle said as she walked into the room to one of her maids, who nodded. “I need them here this afternoon. Now, gentlemen.”

Raising her voice to address the room at large, Annabelle jumped on top of the table so everyone could see her, using her impressive balance to avoid disturbing any of the hides laying there. “I believe we are all aware of the poor health my father has been in recently. So that he may recover faster and ensure the safety of our kingdom, I will be taking over the daily running of the nation.”

Many murmurs burst out at that, the collected nobles surprised by the announcement. Many were also likely surprised she had returned, the one day since she had announced her return not nearly enough time for the rumor mill to produce any changes. The fiery haired princess did not let that disturb her, jumping down from atop the table and taking a seat where her father had sat yesterday. Beckoning the nearest noble to her, she began the process of ensuring the kingdom kept running smoothly.

“Please approach the crown.” Annabelle ordered imperiously, her demeanor making it clear she expected to be obeyed. Looking at his fellows for guidance, the noble nervously took a couple steps forward and bowed before the seated Annabelle.

“Um… Yes, Your Highness. I pay my respects to your glorious personage, and humbly abase myself before your royal highness-” The man started, bowing every few words.

“Enough. What is your question?” Annabelle demanded, cutting off the flow of meaningless flatteries. The noble coughed and cleared his throat.

“Yes - I mean, of course, your highness.” He said, bowing in apology. “I have a report on the state of hunting in the king’s forest…”

“Approach.” Annabelle ordered, looking to the other nobles. “Anyone else with information on hunting? Please approach as well.”

Several other nobles twitched nervously, checking over the hides they were carrying and then either stepping forward or falling back. Those who had relevant reports came closer and took a seat at the table, beginning a discussion with Annabelle at the center on the current hunting policies and their effects.

“Your highness, I believe the current downturn in the number of game obtained within a few miles of the city proper indicates that over hunting has become a large problem, and thus we should start importing more meat from the outlying settlements to allow the nearby forest to recover its vitality…”

“Your highness, I strongly disagree! If we do not hunt from the city itself we will never be able to import enough food to keep the populace under control. Instead we must invest in longer duration hunting trips that can go further out from the city and obtain more game at once.”

“Who cares about the commoners? If a few go hungry, what does it matter? We have plenty of stocks of servant food in the castle, we can have them eat that instead if importing meat proves a problem!”

“That would be absolutely unacceptable! Servant food is reserved only for servants and others unworthy to be considered part of society. If we start forcing the people to eat it we’ll have a riot on our paws. We can’t waste our military strength on pacification of our own citizens…”

“And that brings up another point, our military strength. Far too many of our guards and soldiers are spending time hunting, reducing the amount of game for the civilians. We have gotten complaints from merchants demanding that we curb the presence of military forces in the forest instead of in the city, as crime is currently up. We must either better position our troops or recruit more to boost our military strength!”

“We don’t have the food for that! Your highness, we can’t possibly boost our military in the current state, when half our soldiers rations are being obtained from personal hunts into the forest. Funding is already low, all of the proposals on the table will only serve to make it worse.”

Annabelle raised a paw for silence and pointed to the noble who had mentioned the soldiers hunting. “Tell me more about these guards hunting. When was that a sanctioned activity?”

“It’s not, your highness.” The noble replies, shaking his greying head. “However, shortages in our funding for the military budget have led to several officers encouraging their soldiers to obtain more food on their own, so they can turn their budgets to other things.”

“I see. And why is there a shortage in the budget?” Annabelle asked the room at large.

“I believe I can answer that, your highness.” A well dressed servant, almost a butler like personage, said while approaching the table with several hides. “Recently, taxes collected from the nobles have fallen…”

“Insolence!” Shouted one of the nobles, the one who had previously spoken about commoners not mattering. “How dare you imply we are not-”

“Be silent, Lord Foxglove. Continue, Herald.” Annabelle cut him off with a surge of cultivation power, glaring the indignant noble into silence. The butler cleared his throat and nodded in thanks.

“Ah, yes, your highness. As I was saying, once his majesty’s condition began to decline many of the nobles preferred to reserve funds for their own lands rather than contributing them to the crown. I’m sure there were good reasons for it, but the overall effect has been rather detrimental to our financial situation.” the butler Herald continued, trying not to offend the surrounding nobles while still reporting on the situation. Arcane nodded at his political acumen, though it didn’t seem to do much good from the surrounding glares.

Annabelle had no such restraint. “Taking advantage of my father, I see… Herald, I expect a full report on the reserved funds by this afternoon. I believe our own forces have no need to defend the lands of those who have made it clear they prefer to do so themselves, am I correct?”

There was an instant uproar, starting from the one called Foxglove, as nobles pleaded their innocence and protested the measures Annabelle was proposing. With a sly smile Annabelle added in a loud voice, “Of course, if those funds are no longer being reserved by this afternoon I suppose you don’t need to include them, do you, Herald?”

“Ah, no, I think they would no longer be counted as such, your highness.” The butler replied, nodding his head and squinting his eyes. Ears and tails twitching, many of the nobles stalked deliberately out of the library, before breaking into a run just outside. Arcane guessed that they were in a hurry to obtain the funds quickly, to prevent their lands being left undefended by the nation. Annabelle and Herald exchanged a smile, pleased with the success of their scheme.

“Alright, back to the issue of hunting, we should probably…” Annabelle continued, quickly skimming over the reports in front of her as another butler approached the table with even more hides. Arcane stopped paying so much attention to the proceedings, having little interest in the business of ruling Annabelle was engaged in. Instead she focused on the nobles, watching the interactions that displayed how they lived their lives and the power dynamics between them. The lower nobles, marked by their skinny frames and low cultivation, grouped together while the upper nobles fat with wealth or cultivated strength stood alone. There were a few alliances between them, but mostly they each had groups of lesser nobles standing near them from whom to draw resources and strength. As the discussions continued, they would send forth those lower nobles to represent them on each issue, glaring from behind as they ensured that their own servants did as they were expected to. Many of the policy decisions ended up benefitting the upper nobles, Arcane saw, from their frequently pleased expressions, but several times Annabelle chose to overrule the collected nobles and enact something against their wishes.

Perhaps having grown used to a subservient king who would not oppose them or act on his own volition so long as they supported his search for his daughter, the nobles frequently attempted to dissuade Annabelle from involving herself in a number of issues. When she brought up proposals to increase cultivation training and military force, many decried her paranoia and claimed that the west was no threat to them. When she attempted to interfere in the reduced tariffs between nations, they claimed she was restricting the economy and working against the wealth of the nation. Several other things caught their attention, such as her refusal to consider hiring mercenaries, negotiating peace with a neighboring nation, or complete avoidance of the subject of marriage.

Sheer force of personality and an apparently newly developed confidence in herself led Annabelle to victory in most of these confrontations, though she failed to completely deny the hiring of outside forces for protection or obtain the full tariff amount she wanted. Meanwhile, Arcane was watching the bullying going on between nobles, as the upper class ones took out their wrath at these frequent defeats on the groups of lesser nobles who had yet to join a faction. Whispered words and messages broke them up, drawing many into the noble factions and leaving several ‘undesirables’ who sided with the princess standing alone, nervously looking around at the solid groups intimidating them with their presence. Many of those who were in factions watched sympathetically as the undesirables tried to group up but were blocked by the numbers the upper nobles could command, forced to stay surrounded on all sides by enemies.

The nobility was very subtle with their bullying, of course, and only Arcane was likely to see it outside of those who were directly under attack. From above it looked like they were all freely moving about, whispering words to each other in numerous secret conversations that made them all seem like companions and equals. Still, clear currents developed, avoiding each other and swirling around certain high and low class nobles, though the whispers around the first were mostly complimentary while those near the latter all bore a certain hint of venom. Isolationism, animosity, and a constant stream of negativity served as the bullying method of choice for this group of people. Arcane was not surprised; many of the nobles so attacked were high in cultivation rather than wealth, and this had always been a method of choice for the strong in numbers to work against the strong in strength, inviting violence with subtle hints while prepared to deliver even greater violence in response.

So suppressed, Arcane was not surprised that the isolated nobles retreated one by one, usually after a major issue was satisfied and they managed to get a seat at the Rose Princess’s table. They fled from the hall under the scornful looks of the rest, maintaining their pride with effort as they escaped to the hall and then to their own residences.

Arcane sighed atop the bookshelf, remaining there even as the nobles streamed out and left Annabelle working on several more documents with the help of the butlers. Stretching, Arcane lay back on the shelf and thought about the past again.

A ten year old girl with brilliant cyan hair sighs as she looks up at a glowing sign just outside the train station, skimming the long list of destinations for her objective.

“Almeida, Almeida…” Arcane mutters over and over again, internally fuming that the list was neither sorted alphabetically nor by any other method that made sense. Finally, she finds the light indicating where she wanted to go, mentally making a map between it and the location she was right now.

It had taken her three hours by train to get here, indicating the massive distance between where she herself lived and the location of the school where three of her sisters went. That doesn’t really surprise anyone; the world known as Finale is famous for the immensity of everything on it, especially the vast middle region called Eden. And the city through which Arcane walks, the immense city state with a population in the tens of millions, is immense even among those of this region.

“Magia…” Arcane mutters the name of that city as she is forced to take another detour to avoid throngs of people, cursing the immense population and size of the urban area. Above her head a roaring sound rings through the air, signalling the passage of immense aerial vehicles powered using a combination of magic and technology. Just below flying cars, lacking both the aerodynamics necessary to produce lift or the sophisticated engines that can hinder graviton coupling, yet still flying through the assistance of the magical forces harnessed by their riders, zip between the towering structures that rise, some metallic, some organic, some with a vibrant liveliness, others with a cold, mechanical aura. “‘The city of the future’.” she continues, dodging a robot/golem hybrid that has been made far too obviously artificial.

Arcane doesn’t pay any further mind to the many wondrous sights that would occasion endless fascination in ages past or future. To her, they are normality, an irritation that goes almost entirely unnoticed except when they get in her way. Her only objective, for now, is to reach the school where she expects to find three of her sisters.

Arcane managed to slip away from her guards this morning, pretending to have overexerted herself during the test yesterday (a believable claim, considering) and planning to visit the school Rain had told her about right afterwards to check up on the rather disconcerting information she had also received from that conversation. As such, she had informed no one about her plans for today, wanting to get a realistic look at the daily life her sisters experienced. Unfortunately, her trip had been wrought with difficulties. First, she had to hack the ticket booth with magic because it didn’t sell to underaged children, then she had to pick an empty train because otherwise she would be questioned, then she had to keep it that way (she made the attendants believe the gravity control had broken down and thus it was unsafe for passengers. They also believed the engineers couldn’t fix it immediately, so she managed to keep her seat without comment). When she got here, she found that Almeida was not as close to the station as she wanted it to be (not to mention having to avoid the guards around the station) and that her map did not cover this portion of the city. While waiting for the increased range to download, she found that her signal could be tracked and had to hurriedly shut it off, not wanting to take the risk of being noticed while she severed that connection. She is still frustrated that the device she borrowed this morning had a tracking function on it, hindering her plans to have an untraceable device. Finally, once all of that was taken care of, she realized it would be a half hours walk to get to the school itself. Wondering whether or not it was even worth it anymore, Arcane continues to avoid mass gatherings of people while following her mental map to her destination.

Soon, the walk done and people successfully avoided, Arcane looks down at the school complex spread out beneath her. Her path had eventually run into a crossroads where she could either take an extensive detour around the buildings or a theoretically impossible one through them. Arcane had chosen neither; over the rooftops was not the best of paths in most cases, but in this case it worked admirably. She even has an excellent view from which to see down into the school.

Classes are being taught by an actual teacher, something that happened surprisingly often in Magia even if it was rare anywhere else humanity ruled. The reason is likely that the information they were discussing was both highly dangerous and highly experimental, magic being among the newest forms of power harnessed by humanity. It is also, by many accounts, the most potent, with the most efficient ability to translate from the raw source to sheer, actualized destruction out of any form of energy known to man. Thus children are only taught it when directly supervised by teachers, as otherwise the risk of a talented child accidentally initiating a nuclear explosion or tearing a hole in spacetime is far too high. Arcane pays little to no attention to the teachers’ droning on basic energy manipulation, having long since passed the point where she could lose control of her power, and searches for the class containing her three sisters. She has to be careful, otherwise her searching senses will be noticed by both teachers and students, many of whom are specifically trained to be sensitive to magically energy. Arcane is not so clumsy as to be caught by them, but she still has to be wary.

Quickly, she finds them, using space twisting magic to allow herself to look into the classroom window. While it is warded so she can’t see the flow of magic within, Arcane doesn’t mind, as she isn’t interested in any such things. She focuses instead on three individuals within the room.

The first is an expressionless blue haired girl moving her empty hands at lightning speed, noting down every word the teacher says and a few others besides. Arcane smiles at her sister Rain, acting exactly as anticipated. Tilting her view slightly, Arcane sees that Rain is also reading an advanced text on superfluid dynamics at the same time, likely preparing for the test on that she talked about. That subject, being theoretical physics instead of magic, is taken entirely online. Rain probably multitasks more than she should by studying during her magic class, but Arcane knows as well as her sister does that for this set of siblings, basic magic training is completely superfluous.

Arcane next moves her gaze to a brown haired girl listening in the back, paying attention to the lecture but also to the whispered discussion of the friends around her. Letting out soft warning noises every once in awhile, she keeps any of them from being caught not paying attention by the teacher, enabling them to avoid having to answer the questions thrown at the least prepared students. Stone, Arcane thinks to herself, is just like normal. Stubbornly insisting on doing the right thing, even when the right thing is either pointless or helps another do wrong. But it turns out to be quite the popular position to have, and very few people try to take advantage of the girl for it. Arcane can’t tell if what is happening constitutes bullying in Stone’s case, but her attention is distracted before she can think about it too hard by the third nearly identical girl with too symmetric features in the classroom.

Sitting in the corner, allowing shadow from the one broken light in the room to half cover her, a pale haired girl leans with difficulty against an old and broken chair. Arcane sees that both were broken recently, perhaps in the last week; whether it is by Fate’s own hands or those of her classmates she can’t tell. The girl herself has an arrogant sneer on her face, returning every glance directed at her with interest. All are malevolent, Stone refusing to look at her sister and Rain not doing so directly. Fate obviously notices the second, raising an eyebrow when Rain makes a small mirror out of a water droplet to peek at the girl in the corner, seeming to be confused. Rain doesn’t react, dissipating the mirror and allowing Fate to return to sneering at everyone around her, but a few minutes later she recreates the mirror and takes another peek. Arcane concludes this is happening far more often than it normally would, as Fate shifts uncomfortably under the constant looks and even has trouble maintaining her demeanor. No trace of the breakdown the pale girl experienced in the virtual world remains in her face or bearing, but Rain obviously is not so untouched by hearing of those events.

Seeing that little will change during the class, Arcane sits back on the rooftop and watches, waiting for it to end. Eventually, the teacher finishes her lecture and walks out of the classroom, leaving the students to stretch in their chairs and start grouping up to talk. Stone is mobbed by a gang of girls, many of whom are looked at from afar by boys both popular and not, but both Fate and Rain are left mostly alone. A girl comes up to talk to Rain, asking questions about the lecture, but Fate gets nothing but glares from several students. None approach to say anything, but their hostility is blatantly noticeable.

After a few minutes Rain makes another mirror and Fate pushes herself out of her chair. Several students unconsciously move away from her, clearing a path, and the girl herself stalks down it towards her blue haired sister.

‘Hey!’ Arcane reads Fate’s lips as she comes up to Rain, sees the expression on her face and knows that Fate intends to confront Rain about something. Curious what this will reveal, she simply watches from afar, hoping for more information on the lives her sisters were living up till now.

To her disappointment and Fate’s obvious displeasure Rain stands quickly and almost runs out of the room, not even waiting for Fate to finish asking ‘Why are you looking at me?’ The other students, misinterpreting that line to suit their own narratives, send Fate harsh glares and several pursue Rain, whilst others deliberately move in front of the door as if to block her leaving. Frustrated, but refusing to show it, Fate arrogantly smirks at all involved and stalks back to her desk, throwing herself into the broken seat and crossing her arms while staring back at the class.

Stone seems to say something, and the students return to normal, keeping a wary eye on Fate out of the corner of their eyes. Realizing that nothing else is going to happen during the short break before the next teacher arrives, Arcane makes herself a seat of pure force and relaxes to continue to spy on her sisters.

The next class starts pretty normally as well, with Fate and Stone behaving much the same as they did before. Rain doesn’t return until the beginning of the one after that, at which point Arcane has already shifted from observing her sisters exclusively to watching the entire class. All are talented, in magic and everything else, and driven to succeed. Still, they are still normal children, despite the formidable power that flows in their blood. Thus they enjoy the breaks far more than the lectures, groan at the announcement of homework, play minor pranks on each other, and so on. Even Rain is not exempt, gales of laughter following her expressionless examination of a paper airplane one boy endeavored to send her. Unwrapping it, she blinks a few times at the poetic pronunciation of peerless passion presented on the paper, before finally tossing it into the waste disposal unit. The teacher shakes his head, seemingly more sympathetic to the blatantly denied boy than Rain. They all laugh and smile together, moving on past the incident without comment.

Except for a single corner, shrouded in shadow. Within, Fate sits silently, staring arrogantly at the rest of the class, part and yet not part of their activities. Arcane feels a tightness in her chest as she watches, imagining she can see tiny signs that show that Fate is not as well as she seems, that she is not content to simply sit back and let the rest of the world move without her. Yet she remains in isolation, refusing and refused by her classmates. Her face growing harder and harder, Arcane continues to watch the constant buildup of evidence in support of the worst case scenario Rain presented. As the final bell rings, Arcane stands up and dismisses the spatial fluctuation, anger clearly visible on her face.

Even so, she does not move from the rooftop. The anger she feels requires her to act, but for the first time in her short life Arcane is in a situation where she does not know who to act against. To deny that Fate is partially responsible for her treatment would be to deny reality, something Arcane is far from comfortable doing. Yet, to act solely against Fate would fix nothing, for even if she herself was stuck in that situation she would not be able to easily win back the trust of her classmates. Struck by indecision, Arcane stands on that rooftop far above the school grounds, feeling the wind on her hot cheeks. Biting her lip, she watches as the students start to stream out of the building, waiting to follow her sisters home and meet them there. She does not know what she will say, but it is certainly better than doing nothing, she tells herself.

Yet that determination is almost immediately broken. Rain and Stone come out, Rain alone and Stone in her group, waving goodbye to those heading in other directions while they walk in a group heading in the same. Soon behind them Fate walks out of the class, glaring at the back of her sisters and yet unwilling to force her way into the group to accompany them. Rain takes a single glance back to confirm she is following, then focuses her attention on Stone’s group’s conversation. As Arcane takes a step to follow them, she catches sight of Fate again out of the corner of her eye, disappearing behind a wall of male students, both in her class and not.

Whirling around, Arcane changes her direction in an instant and jumps to a nearby building, falling towards the other roof. Far below, the boys close in on Fate, who continues to sneer at them and raises her voice so that the descending Arcane can hear. Listening to the conversation she cannot see, Arcane falls through the air to approach her youngest sister’s predicament.

“What do you want?” Fate demands, her voice filled with arrogant confidence.

“You’ve been annoying all day.” A male voice replies, filled with anger.

“So what? Should I care what bugs like you think?” Fate retorts, and Arcane can imagine her crossing her arms. The wind whistling past her, Arcane makes a burst of force to redirect herself midair. She doesn’t have time to land on the building. Unfortunately, the redirection slows her fall. Floating like a feather, She plummets towards the school grounds and aims herself directly at the hostile gathering.

“Bugs like us… You know, I really hate that about you.” The boy replies, gathering a chorus of ‘yeahs’ from his companions. “It’s offensive, don’t you think?”

“Oh? So you have enough of a brain to be offended… I’m surprised.” Fate returns, not even trying to deescalate the situation. Arcane feels the signs of magic flowing, and urges herself to fall faster, before something irreparable happens.

“You bitch…” The boy growls, similarly hostility coming from the rest. “Fine, if words won’t work, I’ll talk to you in a different way.”

“Oh, I’m so scared. Why don’t you try it?” Fate says back, Arcane beginning to feel death energy rising below her and sneaking a peek through the wind. She is close, but the coming violence may be even closer. Holding her arms and legs into her body, she looks up to try and reach the ground even a second sooner.

“Maybe I will… Burn, you evil witch!” The boy shouts, and Arcane feels rather than sees a serpentine dragon of fire form and launch itself towards Fate. No longer having the time to hold back, Arcane uses magic to move even faster and throws herself into the path of the serpent, unmaking the spell just in time to prevent it hitting Fate, suffering minor burns in the process. Landing hard, Arcane pants once before standing up between the group of boys and her pale haired sister, the stunned eyes of both groups fixed on her.