Old Friends

"This town used to be beautiful, don't you agree?"
While Visix was deep in prayer, an uninvited voice suddenly threw out a question. A very familiar voice.

"If only they'd been willing to surrender to the Kingdom, all that beauty would still be here. Such a shame they were too stubborn. In the end, this town's history had to come to an end at the hands of the Fire Devil. What a shame."

Visix turned and found a woman in a black robe standing behind her, smiling gently.

"Eyja. What do you want?"

"Hey, isn't that a little harsh? Aren't you happy to see your old friend after so long?"

Visix answered the question with a sharp, judgmental glare. She then reached into her bag and pulled out an opened brown envelope.

"You sent me this letter and said wanted to talk about something. I'm here now, so talk."

"Do you always have to be this cold? Even though you're a a fire witch. Shouldn't you be more passionate or something?"

"I don't have time for small talk, Eyja. If you don't have anything important to say, I suggest we should part ways here."

"Why so soon? We're just met, you know."

Visix snorted, ignored Eyja's remark, and turned around, ready to leave. But her legs stopped a moment later. A group of archers had surrounded her from all sides, their arrows already nocked and aimed.

"What's all this, Eyja?" Visix asked, irritated.

"The King wants you dead," Eyja said without a trace of guilt. "His Majesty doesn't want a monster like you roaming free, especially in a neighboring nation's territory. Sure, relations between the two kingdoms are currently in a peaceful pact. But who can guarantee they won't use your power to launch an invasion, right? That would be disastrous for the Kingdom. Which is why I've been ordered to eliminate you—as a precautionary measure."

Visix listened to her old friend's reasoning with her ears ringing. Eyja spoke with gentle, almost soothing, voice. But there was no friendship in it—only poison and betrayal.

"I see," Visix said, bowing her head in defeat. "After everything I did for the Kingdom, this is how they repay me?"

"It is what it is. You are that terrifying, after all. It's only natural they're afraid of you."

"And you didn't do anything to defend me? Weren't we friends?"

"Yes, we were friends. But I've been officially appointed as the Royal Witch. So now there's an authority I have to obey."

"You'd rather be a lapdog, huh?"

"There are things far more important than friendship, Visix. Didn't we fight for the Kingdom to achieve that goal? For better live, wealth, status, all of those glittering glory. Did you forget that?"

Visix fell silent, mulling over Eyja's words. She remembered the promise they made as children—to become high-ranking witches and break the chains of poverty that bound them. For that, they trained hard together, eventually getting into the magic academy and being recruited as front-line troops.

But after all that, Visix realized that her power was nothing more than a weapon. She had only created more suffering for others, just to free herself.

Understanding that, Visix had decided to run away, leaving the Kingdom, and find a new life.She wanted to start everything over, on a more peaceful path....

But that choice had cost her something just as important—her friend. She realized that, although was too late.

"You left me all alone in that hell of a hole, Visix. Because you left, I had to bear everything by myself. You were the one who betrayed me first."

Eyja's voice rang out like a judge's verdict.

Visix could only listen to her friend's accusations with an unmistakable look of loneliness on her face. Meanwhile, Eyja was no longer smiling—staring with bare resentment.

"But that wouldn't matter anymore," Eyja said, letting out a breath. "I've achieved what I wanted. While you chose to live in a small town and become a healer for commoners, I sit beside the King as his trusted subject. Our friendship is not important anymore. It's just a scrap memory from the past, that I would love to forget."

"Eyja... I'm... sorry."

"Don't be. I'm not angry with you—not anymore. Honestly, I don't even care anymore. The point is, I've seen the world I wanted to see. And I'll protect it, even if that means killing you."

"Eyja..."

Eyja stared at Visix with burning eyes. There was nothing left to talk about. Everything was over now. Her old friend... was no longer the person she once knew.

"I understand. If that's your choice, then let's end this."

Visix made one final decision.

***