Olivia's Revenge

School had always been a fantastic place to see the stars. Not even my fellow observervers could ruin that.

Today, the night’s sky illuminated by its two moons was beautiful as always. Bri and Flam, our two moons were dancers stuck in an eternal dance. They circled one another, always close, yet never close enough to truly meet.

Yet today was reserved for a different kind of meeting.

As students left and right rushed to get home for the day, me and Mai walked against the tide. Not a word came from either of our mouths.

Father’s comments still stuck in my head. King Avery was a man of mysteries, and in all of Mikin there was not a person who knew how to play their cards better than him. I didn’t know exactly how much he knew, or where exactly his eyes were placed.

Stealth magic was a tricky thing according to Mai, hit or miss for all but the best. Therefore, we reentered the liberal arts club hall, walking slowly in rhythm twoard the beautiful mural at the end of the hall. Magic could do more things than I could imagine, yet according to Mai there were limits.

For stealth magic in particular, thick concrete was one of those.

I collapsed on the ground as the door closed. “Walking through campus should not be that stressful.”

“Is that not the Mikin hospitality you mentioned?” Mai grinned, snapping her fingers. A thin green veil shimmered to life around the door. “I’m not an expert at anything not combat related, but this should let us talk for around half an hour.”

“And you’re saying you couldn’t have just created a bubble around us with that?”

“Shut it, talk to me when you can do something more practical than powering a lightbulb.”

“Because bashing people with a sword is so practical,” I rolled my eyes. “Are you sure you weren't born in Mikin?”

“Absolutely,” she said, face turning stern as she gave one last look at the door. “We can save the flirting for later. What exactly did the king tell you?”

As I recounted every part of our meeting, Mai’s expression didn’t change once. Her tail was more solid than a tree trunk, ears perked to attention, and hands rested firmly on her sword. I’d realized pretty quickly that past her facade, Mai wasn’t one to hold her cards close to her chest. For her to not flinch once was a greater sign than anything she could have said.

“Fucking hell…” She didn’t say much for a bit after that, letting the silence drag on.

“I tried my best… but if there's anything I said you think could hurt your people, I’ll go to the king right now and try to fix it!”

“No, you’re bullshiting should work in our favor if anything,” Mai paused, gathering her thoughts. “Holy flame, there's really no way to avoid a war between us.”

“Maybe with time,” I said. “I’m no war expert, but from every meeting I’ve been dragged into, the fact that we want to drag this out while stockpiling has stayed the plan. The longer we can keep my father stalling, the more room we have to find a compromise.”

“That assumes the king sees eye to eye with you.”

I sighed. Mai was right. With someone like my father, changing plans on a dime wouldn’t be in the least bit surprising. Truth was this was a ticking time bomb. What’ll cause the fuse to light up doesn’t matter, as long as it stays armed, eventually something will. “For now at least, war doesn’t seem like it's around the corner. Better to keep the status quo.”

“I guess,” Mai said, sounding unsure of herself. “It’s still steadily over the fucking horizon though–”

“Quiet!” I felt a tingling down my spine. My magic may have been a joke, but there was one interesting skill I’d acquired–electrostatic fields. “Someone’s coming.”

“Isn’t this shitty hall always abandoned?”

“Normally.” I carefully leaned against the wall as Mai rested her palm against her sword's hilt.

“Boom!” With a single ball of fire, my intricately designed door turned into a pile of splintered wood and ash. I squinted as a mountain of dust separated us from my creation’s destroyer. There was only one person I knew who threw around fireballs like that.

“There you are,” Olivia’s voice carried a trace of scorn as she walked into the room. “Surely you didn’t think you could hide forever, cat eared bitch.” Her eyes stared daggers towards Mai, not sparing me a glance.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean.” Mai recovered much faster than me, putting on her familiar act like a well worn mask. “If there is anything I have done to offend you, please let me know so I can correct that mistake.”

“Drop the act bitch, I know what you are.”

“Olivia!” Before she could speak another word, I spoke up. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Oh, you’re here,” she scowled. “Pest extermination.”

“Holy breeze Olivia, I–”

“Don’t give me the same talk, Rio. Father may not be able to see the danger she possesses, but as a royal princess, it's my job to finish the job.”

“Try it then,” I rushed over, placing myself between them. “Though, maybe I shouldn’t stop you. I’ve always dreamed of someone taking my sorry place in Father’s eyes.”

“Why do you defend that catnip sniffing slut? You know the horrors of the front lines, you’ve seen my projections. Why protect one of those monsters?”

“You’re one to talk, Olivia,” I said, bracing myself against the ground.

“Fine,” Olivia’s face twisted into a horrid grin as flames began to dance again on her palm. “I'll send Father your regards.”

“Shit.” My muscles tensed as Olivia released her magic. Fire blasted towards me, heat searing the hair of my skin as I closed my eyes.

I waited, waited for the blast to send me crashing into the wall like a rag doll. Yet the blast never came. Even the blistering heat faded back to normality. I carefully opened my eyes just the slightest bit, expecting to see all my precious art destroyed.

Instead, Mai stood in front of me, sword drawn and tail pointed up. “Catnip… sniffing… slut? Flames, all my years in Arhonia yet I’ve never met a cunt like you.”

Olivia recoiled in shock. Royalty rarely got the slightest bit of pushback, well other than me. “So the bitch speaks.”

“And she would prefer you to leave,” Mai pointed her blade towards Olivia. “I don’t know what I did to you, but I can’t stand here and put on the same fucking act while you try to murder Rio. You lot may get off to murder, but I can assure you that I’m only here to be an exchange student.”

“Please,” Olivia rolled her eyes. “You expect me to believe that an Arhonian manipulated their way into the royal capital, bewitched my fool of a brother, and created this whole exchange program just to be a student?”

“Frankly princess, I don’t give a damn about what you think,” Mai smirked. “I did hear from Rio that apparently you’re a half decent fighter. I’d love to check that out for myself.”

Olivia scowled, taking a step back. “Like I’d bother wasting my talents against an Arhonian bitch.”

“You have so many creative names for me, I’m so impressed! Though I must inform you, I prefer to be called Mai, or Princess Mai if you’re so inclined.”

“Forget it.” Olivia turned towards the door, marching like an angry toddler that got their favorite toy taken away. “I won't forget this.”

“Pray not to, I hate when my insults turn out to be unfounded.”

As Olivia slammed the little that remained of the door shut, I let out a long sigh of relief and sat down against the wall. “Don’t I have a wonderful family?”

“Tell me about it,” Mai said, sitting next to me and placing her head on my shoulder. “First your meating now this, it's like for every good thing in this country there's five shitty things right behind it.”

“But you were there to stop it. I couldn’t have done that without you.”

“What if I’m not there next time…” Mai let the thought trail off. We sat in silence for a few minutes, letting the sound of smoldering wood fill the silence.

With Mai, then this wouldn’t be the last time. That was an unreliable fact, another was that Mai was my entire world now. I didn’t need to step it up just for me, but for her sake more than anything.

“What if you teach me?”

“Hm?” Mai looked up from my shoulder. “What do you mean?”
“Teach me magic and swordplay. I’ve tried the Mikin methods for years now. What do I have to lose by trying the Arhonian ones?”

“We’ll strike a deal,” Mai said, a glimmer of passion in her eyes. “You try to teach me art and I’ll teach you magic. Deal?”

“Deal!” I grinned. Maybe I wasn’t hopeless after all.