The sunrise that morning was not warm.The light was pale, like a faded curtain covering the window that had witnessed their last battle.Krista woke up very slowly, as if sleep was a heavy shackle on her tired body.
She opened her eyes to shattered spots of light and saw her thin hands stained with blood and dirt.
Long minutes passed without her moving.She kept staring at her palms, as if searching for something lost within them.Maybe a reason to believe she wasn't just a burden in the battle.
At last, she sat up quietly and placed her hands on her knees.
"I... couldn't change anything,"she whispered to herself.
She tried to stand.Her bones ached with every movement, but she didn't complain.Since she was a child, she had learned that pain doesn't go away when you grumble... but when you endure it to the end.
She bathed, then ate a little bread, then went out.The sun had risen slightly, and the sound of birds had returned to life.She passed by a small stream and slowly washed her face, watching her reflection on the rippling surface:Her white hair scattered around her wide eyes, which resembled a faint light uncertain whether to stay or vanish.
"Why did I choose this path?"A question flashed in her mind without warning.
She found no clear answer.
On the way to the village, she passed near a small field.She stood contemplating the blooming wildflowers.For some unknown reason, she felt a bittersweet ache in her chest.
"If I were just an ordinary girl... maybe I'd be picking flowers now, thinking about a pretty dress or a birthday party. Not about battles or impossible ambition."
She closed her eyes slowly, then turned and continued walking.
When she entered the village, some people noticed her exhausted gaze.An old woman asked if she was alright, but she only gave a pale smile and shook her head.She didn't want anyone's pity.
She arrived at her home once again—a small house with a simple garden.She walked in quietly and took off her shoes.
Inside, everything was silent, arranged just as she had left it.She placed her hand on her chest, feeling her disturbed heartbeat.
"It's okay… today will be a normal day."
She told herself that, but deep down, she knew nothing was normal after a battle like that.
In her room, she sat in front of her mirror.She studied her face for a long time: pale cheeks, tiny cracks on her lower lip from dryness, a strange look that combined a scared child and a warrior who no longer knew the meaning of fear.
Suddenly, she remembered Neil's gaze.When he calmly told her he would make her into something "closer to him."She felt a faint shiver. She didn't know if that made her happy or terrified.
Then she remembered Adam…His silence.His bitter laughs.And his eyes, which revealed nothing clear.
"Why is he so different...?"She asked herself aloud.
A little later, she made a cup of hot tea.She sat on the floor, watching its steam rise in faint lines, and thought about everything that had happened:– Her training with Neil– The battle– Her defeat– Her strange feelings toward everything
"I don't even know what I feel."She admitted to herself.
She took a small sip, then placed the cup aside and pulled out her old notebook.
She began to write.It had been her habit every evening… but today, she wrote early—maybe because she couldn't bear to carry all this alone.
"Today, we fought another battle...I didn't win.But I felt like I got closer.Closer to something... I don't know what.Is it power?Or understanding?Or just... getting closer to them?"
She paused.Put the pen down, and raised her head to the ceiling.
"Why do I want to be close to them?"A question with no answer.
In the afternoon, she went out for a walk.She passed by Carla Brown's school.She remembered the lessons, the laughter, the fear, and all the small details that were beginning to fade behind her ambition to fight.
"I don't want to lose everything..."She said in her heart.
She passed by the river, where she used to play with the children years ago.She sat there for a long time, watching the water.
At sunset, she returned home.She brought a book about the history of rare elements.She read about light, about the experiments of ancient sorcerers, about theories of combining elements.The more she read, the more she felt something like warmth.Perhaps because books don't hurt her like reality does.
In the evening, when she got into bed, she didn't fall asleep right away.She kept staring at the dark ceiling, feeling like her soul was floating somewhere she couldn't touch.
"Tomorrow... I'll go train again."She whispered slowly, as if making a vow.Then she closed her eyes, and deep inside, she felt a thin thread of certainty:That she wouldn't retreat, even if she no longer fully understood herself.
When Krista closed her eyes that night, sleep didn't come easily.She kept tossing and turning under the covers, replaying in her mind every moment from the last battle... and every moment she'd spent with Neil since he began training her.
She knew her feelings were changing...At first, it was just admiration for his talent and strength, then appreciation for his calm approach, unlike anyone else.
But that night, she admitted something to herself she couldn't say before:
"I… maybe I love him."
She said it in her mind hesitantly, and it felt as if her heart clenched between her ribs.
She remembered how Neil looked at her during the fight.His gaze wasn't just harsh... it was deep, as if he truly saw her—not as an ordinary girl but as a student capable of becoming something greater.Maybe that's why… she couldn't stop thinking about him.
She also remembered his voice when he promised to make her strong.No one had ever promised her anything that made her heart beat like that.
She raised her hand slightly in the darkness, gently touching a small tattoo of an old symbol on her wrist—one she had drawn herself two years ago so she wouldn't forget her goal.
"My goal... was to become strong."
But now, her goal had become entangled with another desire:To stay by his side.To understand how he thinks.To learn everything she could from him...
And maybe more than that.
She didn't know if this was truly love.Maybe it was something more than admiration, but it hadn't become full certainty yet.Still, she felt a strange warmth fill her chest whenever she remembered his faint smile—the one he only showed after a long fight.
In the end, she covered her face with her hands.She felt deeply embarrassed, as if someone had read all her thoughts.She whispered in a tiny voice that was barely audible:
"Oh God… I… I'm so stupid..."
Then she smiled to herself, a small trembling smile.For the first time in a long while, the world seemed a little less cold.
In her heart, she knew she no longer fought to prove anything to anyone, but because she wanted to be someone who could stand beside Neil—not behind him.She didn't know how she would ever confess this feeling... or if she even should.
But she was certain of one thing:
"Tomorrow… I'll fight again."
And she knew she would keep doing so, as long as he was there.She closed her eyes tighter and let her memory weave the details of Neil clearly:His calm voice explaining a new technique...His eyes that never shied away from challenge...Even that way he patted her shoulder when she failed and then stood up again.
"Sometimes, he seems like he doesn't need anyone... like he can face the whole world alone."
She silently wondered:Could someone like Neil understand feelings like love?Would he see them as nothing more than a distraction from his goal?
Then she shook her head to herself in embarrassment.She knew he saw her as a training companion only.But her heart could no longer tell the difference between dream and reality.
"At least… I'll stay here. I'll fight beside him. Maybe one day… he'll notice me."
Then her thoughts slowly drifted to Adam.She remembered his black eyes, cold with a sharpness unlike Neil's.She remembered how he never laughed with everyone, and how he observed everything from a distance—as if studying them… or despising them. She couldn't tell which.
"Adam..."He was completely different from Neil.Neil had clarity, a firmness that made her feel secure, even if he scolded her or defeated her.But Adam… there was something about him that made her feel his presence was dangerous—not because he was evil, but because he was drowning in something she couldn't touch or save him from.
"I don't think he cares about anything... not even himself."
She realized that a part of her pitied him.And another part... feared him a little.And a very small part... respected his strange solitude.
"Why does he want to become strong? Why did he say he would kill Neil one day?"
She remembered that moment when he looked directly into her eyes and said in a calm, terrifying tone:"I'll defeat him... no matter what it takes."
She couldn't believe that a boy her age could carry all that darkness inside.Yet… she couldn't hate him.
Maybe because—like her—he was searching for something he didn't yet know the name of.
She finally closed her eyes, torn between fear and curiosity:"Neil… Adam… you're both different… but maybe… both of you are lonely in your own way."
Then she whispered with quiet shyness:"And me...? I just want to be stronger… so I can stay with you both."
And finally, she fell asleep, while her heart wandered between passion, worry, and hope.