Magic and Gold

16: Justice

On a drizzly morning, I walked down a dead end alley with several guards following my every footstep. I pointed at the diner with a perfect nail. "There it is. I gave you enough magic today to cave in the entrances. There are guards all over the city, working on this very goal. But I have something to do first, boys. So wait here until I come out again. Do not go in under any circumstances. Do you understand me?"

I heard a chorus of "Yes, ma'am's," and smiled to myself.

"Good." I went into the diner alone. I headed down the secret passageway, letting my new black boots move slowly over the familiar stairs.

The familiar hallways were mostly empty. No one ever came in the daytime. Sneaking around and thieving was more of a nighttime expenditure. I walked through the hallways unnoticed by the few people there. I walked a familiar path to a familiar room. I put my hand on the brass doorknob before swinging open the door silently.

I stepped in and saw my former boss' face. "Hello, Capo. Just the man I came here to see."

My old mentor looked haggard, and his eyes widened as he saw me. "Princess," he said in a surprised tone.

"It's Queen, actually," I corrected.

"Can I help you?" he asked. In between us was a table, which I walked up to slowly.

"I'm here to kill you," I said flatly, unsheathing two twin daggers from my belt.

"This seems rather rash," he said, taking a step back. He was the strongest man I knew, and here he was, stepping down from a fight. He was not in his prime anymore. He was just an old man.

"Really? Rash? Does that remind you of anything you've done lately?"

He put his hands up. "I am truly sorry about your family, but the Magia does want an alliance with you. We can work together and make this country whole again."

"I use to dream of a compromise like that. But now, I dream of power. You took everything else I cared about from me. My brother. My best friend. The future I chose." I thought about the people I had met here at the Magia, over the years. "The family I chose. I can never have anything I cared about, ever again."

"We didn't mean to—"

"And you tried to give me the same fate as everyone else I loved. Now I'm here for revenge."

"It's not going to fix anything. I promise you, we can work this out."

"I promise you, we can't." I walked forward and threw the table to the side, splintering it into a scrap pile of wood. Magic hummed in my veins like electricity in a wire.

He stepped back, unsheathing a sword from his belt. "You're just a princess, and you're in way over your head. I don't want to have to hurt you."

I took my time, stepping forward slowly. "You don't know nothing yet...Atlas."

He inhaled sharply. "No one knows that. Except...a select few people I truly trust. Who are you?" He ripped off his mask and I finally saw how truly old he was. He would not have been able to take me down, even in his prime. Unfortunately for him, I was in mine.

I pulled a familiar mask out of my pocket and put it onto my face. It was black with silver streaks. With my hair in a bun, I looked like my alter ego again. "You're not fit to fight anymore, old man. You taught me all your moves but I kept learning, and now I'm better than Pol, I'm better than Blade, and I'm better than you."

"You're...Scrap—I've known you since you were a child. I don't want to fight you." He shook his head quickly. His sword started to drop. "You were like my child. You know me."

A lone eight year old in a world of adults, I picked a room that was out of the way to practice my skills. I was testing my luck with a sword as tall as I was when someone came in. He observed my futile attempts to wield this weapon before commenting. "It's too heavy for you, child."

I let the point of the blade fall to the dirt as I looked up at him with big blue eyes. The striking of the earth raised so much dirt that I sneezed softly. I had on a mask and cloak that were both too big for me, and I waddled in them as I tried not to trip on the cloak.

"I don't know why Tee brought you here, but she said we need you. I suspect that truly, she brought you here because you need us." He bent down on his knees and smiled at me. "Here."

He pulled a dagger out of his pocket. It was a small and sleek weapon. It was easier to wield for a scrawny child like me, who was too weak to wield much of anything. "Thank you," I mumbled, clutching it to my chest.

"Thank me by becoming the best. Skill commands respect. I see great things in you, despite how scrappy you are." He smiled to himself again. "You know, I think your nickname will be Scrap." He sighed, looking at me proudly. "You're going to face a lot of challenges in your time, Scrap. I can tell. But adversity creates heroes. Now, let's get training."

I wiped the old memories from my head. That was a lifetime ago. Not long ago, he had been behind a kill order. "I know that you're afraid of losing because you're old, Atlas. You've grown soft now, too. Not that long ago, you okayed a plan to kill me."

"I didn't know it was you," he pleaded. "I would have never."

"No, you didn't. That still doesn't make it right. You gave the order for my death. You knew I was a child. You knew I was innocent! And you did it anyway. Just because I stood in your way of your own selfish power." I twirled one of my blades around my fingers before pointing it at him. "And now it is my turn to bring you to justice! You don't deserve a quick death, but you're lucky I don't like to waste time."

He stepped backwards. "I'm sorry. I made a mistake. Do you never make mistakes? Have mercy. Please."

"I do make mistakes, Atlas. But like you, I pay for them in blood." I hurled one of my blades through the air towards his head. He ducked down quickly and the blade stuck in the dirt wall behind him. I used the glow in my hands to call it back to me, and at once, the blade flew through the air and returned to my hand.

"Reflexes only help you for so long," I said, lunging forward at him.

He lunged to the side. "Scrap, I trained you myself. I loved you. I watched you grow up. You were like a child to me."

"And then you killed me," I said, slashing a blade at him. He met it with his sword and gave up on talking. I slashed both of my daggers at him and he met them with his long sword. He was only playing defense, obviously too emotionally attached to hurt me. First mistake.

I threw a blade up and it floated around, looking for a weak point as I tried to dive him. The fight moved around the room as our blades met and we parried. I sliced him all over, never deep enough to do much damage, but I was obviously more skilled than him.

My second dagger sunk into his thigh when his guard was low and he dropped to the ground. I held the point of my dagger to his throat. He looked up at me, his breathing ragged. "This has never been you. You let your negative emotions get the best of you, but it's not you."

"Shut up, Atlas!" I said, bringing my second dagger flying through the air back into my hand.

With the point at Capo's throat, my mind suddenly blanked. This was not right. He was my mentor. He had been a father to me when my own had been cruel and unfeeling. My indecisiveness gave him another opening to talk. "You face challenges, Scrap. But adversity makes heroes. You've always been a hero. Find the hero in yourself. I...believe in you. I love you."

He had been like a father to me. But that only made the betrayal burn stronger in my veins. All of this anger, this pain, was because of him. If I had never joined the stupid Magia, I would have just died. Maybe, at this point...that was better than living this life alone, with no one by my side. More than anything, I wanted someone to be there. But Capo was not that person.

I left him in that room. Even those perennially proud in life fell to the Other.

I exited the tunnel for the last time. I walked up the stairs and saw my guards waiting in the perfect rows I told them to stay in. "Blow 'er up, boys." As I walked away, I could hear dirt and rock crumbling, covering up the last entrance of what used to be the Magia. I did not even look back.