Talk to Me

SOLVEIG 

"What do you mean, get out of here? Am I supposed to be intimidated by that?" Isolde taunted, arms crossed.

"You know... gah... this white light around me?" Threads of pale light were already crawling up Solveig’s arms, catching in her hair, humming faintly where they touched her skin. "Back there in the forest. The rumors about me. They were true." She let that sit a moment. "Wouldn't it be fun to entertain, just for a second, that the Duke wouldn't have picked me at all if it weren't for what's underneath this?"

"No?"

"Then let me enlighten you people… I'm the monster you made me into. And I'm... g-gonna... go... boom."

Isolde stared at her, incredulous. "What?"

"I'm gonna explode." Solveig managed something that was almost a smile. "In case you didn't know what 'boom' meant."

At the back of the hall, the watching students shrank toward the doors as one.

"W-What did she mean by that?" someone whispered.

Isolde huffed, though it came out thinner than she meant it to. "She's bluffing. Can't you see that?"

"A-Are you... hng... so sure about that?" The light around Solveig pulsed once, hard enough that the nearest lanterns guttered.

"I've never seen magic like that before," one of Isolde's own said, already backing away. "Not that white glow. I'm not taking any chances!"

"S-Same!"

"Yeah..."

Isolde turned back to Solveig, and for the first time all year, real fear showed on her face.

"I'd... heh... listen to them, if I were you," Solveig said. "Hold on... let me break one of my contract stipulations for a sec..."

Without raising a hand to cast any formulas or anything of the like, Solveig's eyes glowed.

In the air emerged curious things; floating hands.

Those hands seemed to have minds of their own, each of them looking like they were drawing their own individual formulas simultaneously.

And all of them were casting one thing:

[LIFE: BARRIER]

The barriers were perfectly shaped such that it surrounded Solveig in a cove.

Then, without warning, the classroom collectively oomph'd! Bobby, Miriam, Isolde, for all their power... all of them were pushed out of the way, nevertheless!

Indeed! The hands came for the students and pushed them away, rushing them or dragging them in the directions of the exit.

A hero must do what a hero must do, after all.

And, to cap off her very impressive use of null magic, she said this:

"Run. Please."

That was all it took. Isolde's companions broke first, scattering for the exits without a shred of the loyalty they'd been performing all semester, and Isolde alone stood her ground for one more heartbeat, jaw locked, refusing to be the one who ran.

It didn't last.

"RETREAAAAAATTT!!!"

\\

CAIN

“Run, run! Move out of the damn way!!!”

“What are we running for again?!”

“Solveig looks like she’s about to explode—I don’t doubt that freak for a second!”

A student ran past him and clipped his shoulder, threatening to send both of them tumbling.

This was serious. Wasn’t it?

Solveig was in the process of exploding.

He failed. He’d made a promise to take care of her, and he didn’t. Tutor be damned. He kept his promises.

But this time, there was a real sense of… well, the end.

The end of all things for him. 

For this academy, for the land they built this on, the sacrifices. It was an ouroboros of time; Solveig started this academy—gave it life by inspiring Hrafen, if she were to be believed…

And it’d be ended by the same person.

And he’d end too, wouldn’t he? He’d gotten lucky the first time Solveig exploded. It nerfed her magic. It nerfed her ability to contain the null magic inherent within her mana core.

She could not and would not be able to contain what was coming. And this time, even if he hugged things out… he would not be protected.

Cain laughed.

He was not the same boy as he was before, was he now? Before his and Solveig’s life collided…

He would have asked for his father’s help to put matters to rest. He would have gone up to Solveig with help—which, in theory, would have been common sense.

But this had to be dealt with on his own.

Solveig was Cain's friend. He had to take responsibility.

He wasn't the royal everyone had been promised. He was still the one playing catch-up, and it was Solveig, without ever quite meaning to, who'd shown him that being imperfect was fine as long as what you did with it was good. Even now, in a moment when everyone expected him to look strong, he could afford to look exactly as weak as he actually was and still come out of it okay. He had the drive. He'd close the gap eventually.

For now, that mattered less than the simple fact that she needed a friend, and he was one. Being there came first.

Cain abandoned Solveig to the wolves. He would not make that mistake again.

He was closer now. The bricks and the colors blurred past him as he climbed toward the classroom where Isolde had done her dirty work.

"STUDENTS! LEAVE! LEAVE QUICKLY!"

Mr. Harold was the shepherd of the flock, a good man by any measure. But that made him an obstacle now.

Cain walked against the tide. The current. In panicked situations, he almost wondered how anybody survived at all.

People didn't notice him, or simply didn't care. Worked for him anyway.

But it was starting to slow him down. A horde—that was the only word for it. A wall of meat about to trample him.

Then his training with Solveig kicked in.

He moved with a dexterity that wasn't his a year ago. Took the occasional clip, sure. But he slipped through most of the panic almost effortlessly.

His heartbeat slowed. His soul went quiet. It meant certainty. It meant clarity. It meant peace.

He was at peace, yes.

If this was the end of things—physical, corporeal, symbolic, whichever version counted—then it was okay. At least it would be at the hands of someone he cared about.

Eventually it all went quiet. The corridors had cleared. Only the hollow wind moved through the halls of that majestic place.

Cain climbed a set of stairs, then cut through a couple of hallways.

Along the way he passed a few kids, some he recognized as the same brats who wished for nothing but his downfall.

That was for them to think, and for him to forgive.

"Get up," Cain commanded. His emotions were flaring again. He thought he had dealt with it in private, days ago. He would not let it impede his quest. "Grab my shoulder and follow."

One by one, he escorted them two at a time on both sides of his shoulders. It was painstaking, grueling.

Eventually, there was none left.

Cain huffed.

"Cain?!"

His head swivelled.

Miriam. Bobby!

Their steps screeched to a halt once they reached him.

"You two!" he cried. "You were in the class with Solveig, right?!"

Miriam caught her breath on the bricks for a moment. "Well, shouldn't ya be outside with the rest of 'em?"

"Y-Yeah, we just evacuated the rest of the classrooms; we couldn't find you! Didn't you hear?! Master's about to—"

"I know perfectly well. Dealt with it before, actually. Er, don't ask." Their eyes widened at his admission. "Now where's Solveig?"

"Well, we're not complaining to have an expert in explosives in the building, woof! This way!" Bobby barked.

Eventually, they made it to the classroom.

It was like looking death in the eye, the way Solveig was trapped in her own body.

Her skin glowed sickly white—almost alabaster. There were tendrils of white rooted from her body to the ceiling, something akin to webs but sicker, paler.

It was far more vulnerable than when he first ran after her in Perrentine Forest. Frankly, it threatened to allude his comprehension.

This Solveig was a cornered animal.

“Solveig?” he called.

Solveig didn’t respond.

“Can you hear me?”

"It didn't work." A voice cut through the room. "Trust me, we tried."

The three of them swiveled toward the intruder.

Turns out... it was no intruder at all.

"D'Igoll and... Isolde."

Isolde frowned. "You seem surprised."

"I thought you'd rather her dead."

She scoffed. "I'm not murderous. I'd rather her live than dead."

D'Igoll stomped his foot. "Can we please stop this adolescent bickering and focus!"

Miriam nodded. "Speaking my language wolf-boy."

He growled.

"What have you both tried up till now?"

Isolde shook her head. "Life magic, ice magic, fire magic; it's like this white substance acts as this cocoon against all magic, not just mine. She simply absorbed it."

Then the noble woman looked at her expectantly.

Miriam shook her hands. "Don't look at me, alchemy's my expertise... not whatever this is."

"Miri's right!" Bobby said. "We oughta wait for some backup..."

Cain shook his head. "Solveig..."

Again, nothing he said seemed to get to her.

She was in her own white cocoon.

Solveig was curled, her hands around her waist gripping in pain.

But no grunts came from her, nothing so crude.

Solveig simply… wasn’t… here…

Cain knelt down in front of her now.

He knew, deep in his heart, what he had to do.

Cain breathed out. "Both of you... can you do something for me?"

Miriam looked at him with naked suspicion. "Whatcha' thinking?"

"Something very stupid."

If this was Solveig’s final moments, then he’d be there for her.

That was what being a friend meant.

“Solveig… I’m here for you. Please… just say something; anything.”

Rather fairly, when Cain hugged her, his friends freaked.

"CAIIIIIN!" "YA DAMN IDIOT, NO!"

Expectantly, Cain was subject to all manners of esoteric magical nonsense.

What Cain didn’t expect that he’d be transported into a different time and a different age altogether.