Chapter Twenty-Nine - The Coldest Fear

“Cut the crap,” Arette hissed, her mood too low to banter, “What do you want from me?”

The fear in her guts was coiled tightly, ever present, especially since this man in front of her gave off more warning signs than she’d ever come across.

Yet, she hadn’t completely abandoned her pride and so she was glaring instead of submissively backing down, even if that might have been the smarter choice.

“I’ve been observing you for quite a while,” Unos stated, seemingly not deterred by her less than polite tone, “You do fascinate me. Natural born fighter, born powerful, a Sovereign, maybe even an Ascendant at birth? Not that rare for your kind, but exceptional nonetheless.”

He smiled at his own words and looked at her with eyes that would’ve been kind, if only the remnants of his presence didn’t linger on her skin.

Arette frowned and backed away, not trusting him at all. Her eyes kept wandering to his chest that seemed so glaringly empty, so void of a soul that should have been there, it was a disturbing sight.

“Yet you struggle with fighting and your heart is in turmoil. Why is that?” his eyes were golden, like any Immortal’s, yet they had a strangely purple shimmer to them, something outlandish and weird that made his piercing gaze seem like it could look straight to the bottom of her soul.

She didn’t answer, the mixture of frustration and caution sewed her mouth shut.

After a moment, Unos sighed and his features softened to what might be a kind expression.

“You don’t need to be scared of me, I mean you no harm.”

“I’m not scared,” she hissed, but the fear that had never left her for the last weeks laughed at her blatant lie.

Unos frowned at that, his disturbing eyes still looking at her, as if he was expecting to find something.

“Yes, you are,” he insisted, seeming so sure and he was right, but the pride that was built on years of self-confidence wouldn’t allow her to back down so easily.

“I am not scared!” she yelled and fire exploded out of her with an audible crash, cloaking her surroundings in a fiery inferno.

She growled as she tried to get them back under control, but with her heart yelling and screaming in frustration, so were her flames and they refused to be caged back under skin.

“I see,” Unos’ calm voice was surprisingly clear over the raging over the fire.

She snapped around at him and glared him down, but he just met her gaze with astounding serenity.

Then, he waved his hands and suddenly, all of her flames were gone and the woods were left as they had been before, if only a little more charred.

“What-” she exclaimed as she felt her starfire scatter into the wind as if it wasn’t attached to her or controlled by her at all, but rather just a mirage that was easily scattered.

Yet, before she could say something else, Unos stepped closer to her.

“I can help you,” he said with a mild smile, “If you want to.”

“Help me?” she echoed, not really following anymore. The fact that she couldn’t read his flame coupled with the fear that wanted her to run away as fast as she could made her more than a little uneasy and completely blind in regards to his motives. “Why?”

He shrugged. “Let’s just say I find pleasure in helping people find what they are looking for. Life does get awfully boring after a couple of centuries. What is it that you want to achieve, star child?”

Arette flattened her lips, mind swirling with the snippets of the puzzle that was the man in front of her.

“What in all blazes are you?” she asked, still disturbed by his apparent lack of a soul.

He seemed baffled at her question, but soon turned his surprise into a laugh.

“You haven’t guessed yet? Well you are young yet, I wouldn’t expect you to know. It’s not as if there are many people like me. But it’s not important. All you need to know is that I have the ability to help you and that I am offering you my help. So, what is it you want to achieve?”

She didn’t doubt his abilities - not after the show of power that had nearly brought her to her knees with little effort from him. And yet, she couldn’t really grasp what was happening.

He was stronger than her by lengths and miles, and yet he was offering to help her without wanting anything in return, without even knowing what kind of help she needed.

And did she need help?

Well, the answer was obvious as soon as she posed the question.

She looked into Unos’ violet-golden eyes, wondering what to do. It was a shady bargain he was offering, one she couldn’t see through, but if she declined, then what?

Should she continue fighting in a desperate bid to return to her former self? Well that hadn’t worked out so well for until now.

And honestly, what could she lose? She had no riches, no treasures, no companions she needed to look out for, not after Liz had left. She only had her life and if Unos wanted to take that, she would’ve already returned to Chaos.

What do you want to achieve?

The question was easy and so was the answer. It was the same answer that made her fight with Nex, the same answer that had always spurred her into training for the last ten years. It was the same feeling that was constantly nagging at her, the desire that had been born along with her and never could be extinguished.

She stared Unos down as she formed her conviction. It didn’t matter who he was or what he wanted - this was a chance for her that she couldn’t pass up.

What do you want to achieve?

“I want to be strong.”

“And you would do whatever I deem necessary if I promise you that you will achieve said result?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He offered her his hand. She hesitated for a second, but then grasped onto it firmly.

“It’s a deal, Arette of the Stars.”

The moment he said those words, the entire world seemed to shift.

Arette blinked, a sudden sense of dizziness assaulting her senses. Everything seemed wobbly, as if reality was changing around her and nothing seemed stable, nothing except for Unos’ hand she was holding.

Not daring to open her eyes, her grip on his hand tightened, tight enough that she would’ve crushed the hand of any weaker Immortal. Yet, he only held onto her without a single noise of discontent.

It took a few minutes before the overwhelming sense of dizziness passed. Instead, it was replaced by a biting, freezing cold that assaulted all of her senses.

Then, she felt the ground under her feet again and finally dared to open her eyes.

She almost immediately wished she hadn’t.

Instead of being firmly on the forest floor with only trees around her, she suddenly found herself standing on a ledge.

A very, very small ledge.

To her right, her left and behind her was an abyss, meters and meters deep before she could faintly make out the surface of a black ocean beneath. The ground under her feet was barely a few centimeters wide and made of solid, though dangerously slippery ice.

And her only way off the precarious position was blocked by the very man who had brought her here.

Unos was still calmly smiling, even as Arette’s heart dared to jump out of her chest.

The fear that had paralyzed her was there again, returning in full force.

Even the slightest movement could cause her fall - thousands of meters down before hitting the water’s surface, which would be harder than solid ground at that point. And that in these freezing temperatures - even if she was her normal self, surviving would be hard.

But as she was now, instable and with volatile fire control - she was standing on the edge of death and she could almost feel it breath onto her neck.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

The word repeated in her head along with every colourful curse she could come up with, but none of them thwarted the ice cold fear that gripped her heart again.

I don’t want to die.

The bullet, speeding at her. The sword stabbing her. Her body, falling down and down and down.

I’m scared.

The fear battled for control and just like in all these fights before, it took over her rationality. So, instead of thinking, running, jumping, anything that could actually do something, she bared her teeth against Unos and snarled.

“What the heck are you doing? Are you trying to kill me?” her voice was a hiss as she desperately tried to hide the shiver that got ahold of her entire body.

Her short tunic did nothing to keep out the cold and it seeped into her pores and soon, she began to tremble violently. Usually, she would’ve clad herself in fire and pushed her flame into her body to keep her warm, but as it was…

The fear choked down her heart and squeezed as her breaths grew shorter.

Unos only smiled.

She wanted to scratch his damned smile off his face, but her fear was too great to move even a little and risk the flimsy foothold she already head.

Breathless, she peered down. Miles and miles down.

Shit. I don’t want to die. I’m scared.

Pathetic, pathetic thoughts, but she couldn’t keep them out, not when her heart was beating in her throat rather than her chest.

“I’m helping you,” Unos said calmly and she looked up at him with crazed eyes.

“What, do you think death is going to help me?” she screeched.

He chuckled, as if she was still facing him in peaceful woods rather than dangling on the edge of death.

“No, but facing your fear is. You’re a strong woman, Arette, but that strength is becoming your weakness. You’ve never been anything but strong - and so you never knew fear.”

His violet-golden eyes drilled into hers and she wanted to snarl at him for giving her a psych evaluation when she was trying her best not to die, but then again, he did have a point.

“Ordinary people stumble and fail while they become strong, so they know what it’s like to be weak - or at least weaker than others. You never knew that and so you were overpowered by that very fear the first time you felt it. And there’s only two ways to get rid of fear.”

“If you say that dying is one of them, I’m going to punch you in your face.”

This time, he laughed outright.

“No, no it’s not dying. Well, you can either spend many, many years meditating and finding your center until no fear affects you anymore.”

Arette scrunched up her face even thinking about it. For a second, she didn’t think about the fact that she stood dangling over an abyss - until she swayed a little, almost lost her footing and had to stretch out her arms wide to keep her balance.

She gasped as the fear choked her again, heart accelerating until she could hear it pounding loudly.

Shit.

“That’s what I thought,” Unos remarked dryly, seeing through her as if he was the one who could read souls, “You need to face your fear, Arette. I would train you and give you all the knowledge I know, but all of that will be useless if you don’t manage to win against yourself.”

She inhaled deeply, almost not hearing what he said over the noise of her heartbeat.

He smirked again and then touched his hand to the floor.

The minute his fingers touched the ice, it began to melt. First slow, then faster, then rapidly until suddenly, Arette’s only escape was melted away.

Her ledge had turned into a pillar and her feet barely fit onto the ice. Her heels were already dangling over the abyss.

She screamed, shrill and high as dizziness assaulted her again, the fear of falling greater than ever before.

“Overcome your fear, Arette.”

Unos’ voice reached her and then the man was gone.