[Six years ago in the city of Jangah: Howling Manor.]
I dipped my hands into the flowing river and looked up. Nicole, wearing a lavish black dress, strolled toward me like she owned the world.
"You shouldn't play in the water, Jenny. It'll wrinkle your hands."
She stepped across the surface like it was solid ground and leaned down beside me.
I sighed and turned away. "Show-off."
She chuckled and walked past, grabbing the collar of my shirt. With one smooth pull, she dragged me along until we reached the garden.
I yanked free and brushed off the dirt. "Hey! This is my training gear."
She sat on the bench before the rose bushes and crossed her legs. "Why don't you just order a new one?"
I scowled. "You little spoiled brat."
Nicole laughed. "Anyone else, and your head would have flown off for that."
I scoffed and drew my sword. "You couldn't handle me."
She raised a brow. "Oh really?"
She lifted her hand. Wind gathered, forming into a pale white blade, sharp and humming with power. "Then let's go."
The garden fell still as we faced each other. I lunged first, steel flashing through the sunlight.
The air rang with each clash. My strikes came wild and fast. Hers flowed clean and precise.
Every move I made was met with something smoother, tighter.
When I tried to sweep her leg, she danced aside like I was moving through water. I struck high; she dropped low and caught my wrist.
In one spin, she swept my legs out from under me and pressed the flat of her blade to my chest as I hit the ground.
"I win," she said softly, not even out of breath.
I groaned and slapped the grass. "You're cheating."
"No," she replied, stepping back. "You're thinking like a brawler. Not a fighter."
I sat up. "I fought smart."
"You fought angrily."
She offered me a hand. I took it, and she pulled me to my feet without effort.
We walked back into the manor. The air inside was cool, the scent of old wood and lavender drifting through the halls.
Sunlight fell in streaks across the polished floor through tall windows, and Nicole glanced around as if memorizing the place, though she had visited countless times before.
Eventually, we reached my room. I kicked the door shut and collapsed on the rug.
Nicole wandered to the shelves. "Your room is too tidy. It doesn't match your personality."
"I like order," I muttered, still catching my breath.
She laughed and dropped beside me. "Alright. Let's play something else. I'm done bruising your pride."
I rolled onto my side. "Who do you think is the strongest being alive?"
"Celestials," she answered immediately.
"Boring answer. You're boring."
"That's why I win," she said with a grin. "Your pick?"
"Deeplings. The ones beneath the southern trench. They eat spells. Some don't even have shape. Just voices. Whispers that consume."
Nicole raised a brow. "You do realize some of those aren't even real."
"You don't know that. One of them pulled a warship under in Veritas last year."
"If they were that powerful, they'd have conquered us already."
"They don't want to conquer," I said. "They want to erase."
We went back and forth, arguing playfully but with real thought. Stone drakes, light banshees, astral serpents.
We ranked them all. We debated which could fight idols and which might still be sleeping under our cities.
It was the kind of game we'd always played, our version of dreaming.
Then the door creaked open.
My mother stepped inside, carrying a tray with fruit and chilled water. Her presence lit the room like morning sun.
Nicole sat up straighter. "Wow. Jennifer looks exactly like you."
My mother laughed. "That's because I made her."
Nicole smirked. "Explains the attitude."
"Explains the superiority," I said, tossing a cushion at her.
My mother placed the tray down and shook her head. "Girls, keep the swordplay outside. The house is too old for battles in the hall."
"Then maybe we should get a newer one," I said, stretching.
"Maybe we should learn how to respect the one we have," she replied with a smile.
Then that smile softened. She looked to me, then to Nicole. "Jennifer, could you give us a moment?"
I frowned. "What is it?"
My mother sighed. "It's not something a child should hear."
My eyes narrowed, and I tugged Nicole closer by the cheeks. "Is she not also a child?"
My mother hesitated, then gave a quiet nod. "Fine. If you really want to know."
Nicole, silent and unsure, knelt beside me.
"We have to leave the kingdom soon. And I'm not sure when we'll be back."
Her eyes dropped. "Something has happened. Something that stripped both me and my daughter of our titles."
My eyes widened. Nicole's expression turned cold, unreadable. "I see. I'll prepare the necessary supplies."
I stood up, my voice rising. "What the hell are you talking about? We can't just leave."
Nicole reached for my arm. I pulled away.
My mother tried to speak, but I shouted, "I'm not leaving my home!"
"Jennifer," she said sharply, "there are things you don't understand."
"You speak like I'm still five."
Nicole tried again to say something, but I turned and ran.
I didn't care what they had to say. I didn't want to hear another word. They wanted to take me from my home, from everything I knew.
Tears stung my eyes as I raced down the corridor.
I burst into the garden, brushing past the tulips and roses, past the bench, past the place where Nicole had so easily beaten me.
I reached the river.
I knelt and stared at my reflection in the water. "I'm a noble. I'm a good girl. I'm not bad."
I tried to stand, but my foot slipped. I stumbled and fell in.
I never liked swimming. I had always been bad at it. Nicole was supposed to teach me how to walk on water, but she always put it off.
Deep beneath the surface, I curled into myself and wrapped my mana around my body.
And there, in the still silence of the water, I stayed. Not because I wanted to drown, but because I didn't want to rise.
Because staying there meant staying home.
[Present day.]
My eyes opened slowly, the memories of that day curling around my thoughts like vines.
Above me, Nicole's face blurred through tears, each drop crashing softly against my cheeks as she held me close.
At first, I didn't understand. Why was she crying? What was so terrible that it broke her composure?
Then the pain returned, sharp, total, overwhelming. And behind it, laughter echoed through the haze.
"Jen, it'll be okay. It'll all be okay. Trust me. Just keep your eyes on me."
Her voice trembled, cracking with each word.
I chuckled, though it hurt to do so. "The way you talk... It's almost like this wound is beyond healing."
She clung tighter. "Don't say that. Don't joke like that. I can heal you. I will heal you."
I felt her mana pouring into me, warm, desperate, relentless, like a river flooding into an endless, hollow cavern.
But I knew. I had been struck beyond the flesh, beyond the bone.
She had carved into my very essence, touching the deepest core of what I was. My past, my present, even my future… all unraveling.
It was almost elegant, the way it worked. A perfect, terminal curse.
I was dying.
Nicole pressed her forehead against mine, her breath trembling. "You can't leave me, Jen. I won't let you. I want you, I need you to live."
I reached up weakly, arms trembling, and wrapped them around her neck. She looked down at me, and I smiled.
"Don't be too sad. Who knows... maybe I'll see you in whatever comes after this."
I coughed, blood rushing into my lungs, burning as I forced the words out.
"But who am I kidding? You'll live forever. Didn't you say that?"
Her arms tightened around me like she could anchor me to life.
"I love you. I love you. I love you, I love you. I really love you."
Her voice cracked, then shattered into sobs.
I pulled her down and kissed her. Our lips met, trembling, fragile.
And in that moment, I felt something strange.
Peace. Not joy, not sorrow. Just stillness. Why did it feel so good? Why did I feel… ready?
I leaned back, my strength finally gone. My vision dimmed, but I saw her. Nicole.
Crying for me like I was the whole world.
I wanted to speak again. To say it back. I tried. I really tried. But I couldn't. The words didn't come.
The light slipped away.