Ria
I spent a good chunk of time just staring out the window and into the town beyond. There was nothing else I could think about besides how Allea had run away. In the time I had known her she had never done that. She was the kind of woman that would shout at your face and tell you what she thought. That was the reason why it was so weird that she had lost her composure like that.
Even Arsheus and Rin seemed worried about her.
I took a deep breath and got up, walking to Allea's room.
I heard no noises coming from inside as I walked closer, so I assumed the guys had already gone away. I knocked on the door and waited for Allea to open up. If she did then it would be great and if she didn't I wouldn't have any problems with that.
As soon as I knocked it didn't take long for Allea to open the door, her usual smile back on her lips. Although she seemed fine from outside I could see the darkness hiding behind her eyes. Allea wasn't fine, not at all.
" Are you okay?" I asked it as softly as I could, fearing Allea would freak out again and hide.
She nodded and let me in.
Her room was just like mine, big enough to live there but nothing extra. There was a bed, a table and a small wardrobe and that was about it. Still, it was bigger than the room I had had in the orphanage my whole life.
" What happened back there?" I turned to look at Allea and asked her the question I had been dreading to ask. " Are you okay?"
Allea nodded.
" I'm fine. Do you want to continue our game?" Her voice was light and sweet as always, but there was something very wrong in the way she was speaking.
" Sure" I pretended to care when she handed me my cards.
I looked at them and groaned. Not even fate was on my side right now.
I gave up on the game immediately and focused on Allea. She wasn't looking at me, focused on her cards and how she was going to play the game. Thanks to that I was able to stare at her to my heart's content. I looked for any signs that she wasn't okay, because I knew she wasn't. I knew she was lying when she said she was fine. Now I just had to find what had put her so on edge.
Allea played her hand and I followed, my eyes on her body, roaming all over. There was nothing strange.
I was about to give up and admit that maybe she just got tired of life and wanted to scream like I sometimes did when I noticed a black tattoo near her neck. I hadn't noticed it before because it was so tiny it was easy to miss.
" Allea" She turned to look at me, her eyes focused on me. My own were on the tattoo" Since when do you have that tattoo?"
Allea frowned and followed my gaze to the tattoo of angel wings with a crown over them in her neck. I was barely able to tell apart the design, but I had seen it far too many times to mistake it for anything else. It was the same symbol that high ranking individuals got as proof that they were working for the elders. It was the symbol of their power.
Allea's face paled in real time as she backed away, her eyes filled with panic.
What had I done? Did she not want to talk about it?
" I'm sorry" I begun to apologize, willing to shut my mouth. I didn't know what her circumstances were nor why she had gotten that tattoo and it would be bad to assume I did. Allea didn't hear my words, too entranced on my face. " Allea?"
Tears begun falling down her face. I went to comfort her and tell her everything would be alright. One second I was walking towards her and the next I was on the floor, Allea on top of me weilding a knife to my throat as tears continued streaming down her face.
" You shouldn't have asked" The knife got closer to my throat and I froze. All I could see was Allea smiling at me and telling me everything would be fine. That same person was now threatening to kill me with a knife to my throat, tears running down her cheeks.
I looked around for anything to defend myself with and found the chair close enough for me to reach.
I pretended to flinch and while Allea hesitated I launched for the chair, grabbing it and smashing it against her head with all the strength I could muster. Allea stammered and fell back, her feet failing her, the knife falling on to the floor.
I used those few seconds while Allea was stunned to run for the knife, the chair left forgotten on the floor, broken into a thousand tiny shards of wood.
I reached the knife and held it as if my life was at stake, because it was. If I let go of the knife I didn't know what would happen to me.
I strengthened my grip and turned to face Allea. Her blood was visible from a thousand places where the shards of wood had hit her, blood running down her face along with her tears.
" I'm really sorry" Allea kept saying the same thing over and over as she walked over to where I was.
I stood my ground and threatened her with the knife.
" Stay where you are. I'm not afraid to kill you" My hands shook with every step Allea took closer to me, telling the truth I didn't want to admit. I was afraid and I didn't really want to hurt Allea. All I wanted to do was make her back off and make her tell me why she had attacked me. I didn't want anyone to die.
" I know you're bluffing" Through her tears I could see the determination in Allea's face as she took step after step, coming after me.
I used a stance I had seen Arsheus use when fighting the angels and held my ground, my feet slightly parted as I prepared myself for her attack.
Allea gritted her teeth and launched at me.
I saw the attack coming and dodged to the left, her hands passing me by for a few inches. I took the knife and plunged it into into the air where Allea had been a second ago.
" You're trying to kill me like that? You're useless"
I tried to close my ears to he venom she was spitting, but it was hard when I had trusted her so much and she had betrayed me so easily. It made me remember how Arsheus and Illiana had both betrayed me too. Maybe that was just my fate.
I clenched my hand around the knife, positioning myself to take her next attack. What I said might have been true, but I wasn't about to forfeit my life to anyone. Not for anything in the whole world. I was going to live.
My eyes darted all around the room, searching for something to help me. I was the one with the knife, but my knowledge on fighting was nearly zero. All I could do was launch and try to stab her. Anything more complex than that was beyond my capacities.
" Stay back"
Allea grinned, sadness behind her eyes and launched at me again.
I saw her coming at me and tried to dodge like the last time, but this time I was too slow. Allea grabbed my waist and tackled me down to the floor.
I held onto the knife and tried to stab her with all I had, but she moved too much.
Her hands fell on my own and she pressed. The pressure became so unbearable that I had no other option than to release the knife, letting it fall to the floor with a metallic sound as I was left defenseless against Allea.
" Was that all you had?"
I thrashed under her, trying to escape, but she was too strong. Her knees stopped my legs from moving and my hands were in between hers. The only thing that I could've done, attack her with my head was out of my reach too, she was far away from my head.
" Why?"
Alea looked at me and I swore I saw something cracking behind her eyes.
" You don't need to know"
I swallowed. I didn't like the desperation I saw behind her eyes. Desperate people would do anything, anything at all to get what they wanted. They were dangerous.
" What are you going to do to me now?"
Allea's eyes hardened and my heart raced faster. Fear gripped me as she smirked, leaning down to speak to my ear.
" I'm so...." Before Allea could finish the sentence I saw the chance and took it. I slammed my head against hers.
Pain erupted all over my forehead, but I got what I wanted. Allea backed away while grimacing.
I immediately used the chance to thrash and take her off of me. I tried with everything I had but she was too strong, each second I didn't get away from her another second I lost.
I looked at the knife and decided to go to hell with it all.
I twisted my head and bit her in the hand hard enought to draw blood and take a good chunk of her flesh with me.
Allea stared at her hand and screamed, pulling it away and cradling it near her chest.
I used that chanche to get away and run to the knife, holding it again.
Her blood tasted like copper in my mouth as I spit the flesh, grimacing. It tasted just like the meat we were given, probably because it was the same. Funny how knowing that had made me save my life faster, not hesitating. Bitting her was the same as bitting a piece of meat almost anywhere. I had nothing to hesitate for.
I raised the knife and launched at Allea before she could get back up and go at me again.
I hated being the one to initiate conflict, but by now I was sure that Allea wasn't going to stop no matter what. I had to be the one to put her down once and for all or she wouldn't stop trying to kill me until she did. I still didn't know what I had done for her to hate me so much, but it was unimportant. What mattered was that she was trying to kill me, but she never would. I would fight her nail and tooth every single step of the way.
When I launched at her the knife scratched her chin before she dodged and jumped out of the way. I spun in a second and was faced with her angry face glaring at me from a few feet away.
Blood dripped down her whole face and hand as the wounds I had given her didn't heal. Good to know only Arsheus could do that. Maybe I could even win this.
I got cocky and smiled at her, motioning for her to come at me.
She growled and attacked, her fists making contact with my face before I could react. The strength of her punch made me see starts as pain bloomed all over my face and back when I hit the wall hard enough to leave a dent.
I caughed and spit blood. Everything inside me hurt. It was as if I was hit by an entire army. From in front of me I could see Allea frowning before the mask came back on, the smile she always wore back on, only that this time it wasn't good.
All the cockiness disappeared from me as panic gripped me. I had to get out of here.
I eyed the window, but it was far too high to jump. If only I had wings I could run away, but right now I was stuck.
Fuuuuck!!
I gripped the knife and got up with some difficulties, my legs shaking and begging for some rest.
" I'm sorry" Allea came at me again, but this time I was ready. When her fist aimed for my face I dodged, smiling when I saw it pass me by. I twisted my body to stab her when her other hand hit me in the stomach and sent me flying to the other side of the room.
Fuuuuck!
I spit blood as I felt how my internal organs rearranged themselves to make space for all the blood I was losing. Blood poured out of my mouth and ears as I got up.
If I had been in my right mind I would've been scared, but I was far too gone for that. Adrenaline was rushing through my system, telling me to keep fighting even if everything else told me to quit and accept the defeat. I couldn't do that. I didn't want to die.
I screamed when Allea punched me yet again on the gut. This time I managed to not be flung to the other side of the room. I used those few seconds when Allea stayed still to take the knife and stab her in the chest.
My aim failed and the knife ended up in her stomach instead.
Allea looked at the knife, confused and then at me.
" Not bad" Her smile was predatory as she took the knife out, blood pouring out of the freshly made wound.
She licked the knife and smiled, her eyes unhinged as she came at me.
The knife gleamed in between her hands as she tried to stab me. When it was just a few inches away from me time stopped. It was just like what had happened when I was going to die by Rin's hand. It would've been a cool power of only I could use it in moments other than when I was on the brink of death.
I moved out of the way fast, but even when I wasn't in immediate danger time didn't resume. I used the chance to walk up to the hand that was holding the knife and pull with all my strength.
The fear along with the adrenaline cursing through my system made me feel like the most powerful woman alive as I pried Allea's fingers apart and got the knife. As soon as it was in between my hands time resumed again.
I watched in mild amusement as Allea launched at nothing. I held the knife and stabbed her in the back.
Allea screamed and turned to look at me with bewilderment in her face.
" I'm better than you think"
Allea growled and the temperature rose.
My whole body began sweating as the room became a blazing inferno. Flames erupted everywhere, from the door to the window, covering the bed and other objects and lighting them on fire, destroying them and turning them to ashes.
My body begun to feel sluggish as the oxygen disappeared.
Allea walked up to me as if she hadn't just lit the whole room on fire, the flames ignoring her as they destroyed anything else in their path.
" You're better than I thought" Allea smiled looking at the blood on the floor, half hers and half mine. " I'll give you that"
As she walked closer to me I saw all my options being reduced to dying or accepting whatever she wanted, which would honestly be worse.
I looked at the door and noticed that at some point it had burst open from the fight.
" Help!!!!!!!" I screamed as loudly as I could, staying on the only side of the room where the flames hadn't reached yet. " Help!!!" I screamed as loudly as I could, but no one came to check.
I was beginning to dispair when Allea reached me and rested her hand on my temples. Pain erupted and my whole world got blurry.
All I saw before going under was a maid looking from the door and running away.
I hoped she would tell someone. I could still hope Arsheus and Rin were going to save me.
Now that I thought about it, what the fuck where they doing that they hadn't noticed the fight?
The question, as so many others, went unanswered when I lost consciousness and fell to the floor hard.