Magic and Gold

24: Heaven and Earth

I woke up again to the smell of Alix. This whole house smelled like him, like fresh cut grass and summertime. The next thing I registered was that I felt terrible. I hurt all over, and when I spread my fingers in front of myself, my index finger bent at a weird angle.

"Do what you will."

I saw myself in third person, watching myself get beat up for information I was unwilling to give. My fist clenching before he snapped back my finger in a blossom of pain. In my recollection, the pain had color. The pain looked purple, even if no one else could see it. A blossom over my stomach. Purple in my head, covering my vision and filling my throat so air was hard to get.

The purple was weaker here, but it existed in a deep ache instead of pricking snaps. My head pounded, and under my pale skin, my veins looked purple. I did not even want to look in a mirror, because I was sure the sight would be ghastly.

I looked around at the tiny room I was in and saw Key sitting on a chair next to me. "Is Codette okay?" I asked quickly, groaning at the pain in my lip.

"She made a miraculous recovery," Key said bitterly. "She's outside, playing with Alix."

"Key..." I croaked out, placing my hand on top of hers.

"Look, it's okay, Guin. You've won. You won a long time ago. He's...he's crazy about you."

I did not feel as terrible as I thought I would. I had no idea where the magic for two huge acts came from, I just felt it inside of me. I knew I could save people, and so I did. "I haven't won. This isn't a competition, and I don't want to win. You're my friend, and I don't want to see you hurt."

She was almost yelling at me now. "You're too good! You're so good, even I think you're amazing and perfect. You were my mentor, and yet I found myself hoping, for a split second, that you would stay in that place," she admitted.

"We all make mistakes," I whispered.

"You don't, apparently. You're perfect."

"I've made so many mistakes. Terrible ones, too. Nobody is perfect." I shook my head. Nobody was perfect in life, not even those who put a fake mask of perfection. Especially not me, as hard as I tried.

"Like what? You're beautiful and kind. Even I see it, I can't even hate you because you're perfect."

"Recently? I went on an angry rampage, denounced my gods, married a psychopath set on aggrandizement. I killed my mentor, I exploded my family's underground base, called Blade a nobody."

"He still loves you. And you love him. It's the perfect fairytale. They tell your story as a folk tale on the streets. The princess and her guard. If only I wasn't here to get in the way."

"You're not in the way. You're my friend. And I'm not in love with him. But you've still got so much time, you can find someone else even more worthy of you."

"He's perfect, too," she said. "You two are perfect together. He's been slaving away, trying to get you out for so long. He would move heaven and earth for you. Your gods wrote a perfect fairytale for you, but they forgot about the little nobody sitting on the side. Born to be a side character in your happily ever after."

"Everyone has their own story. I don't know where you are in it, but this isn't the end. Alix is just a small part of your life." I squeezed her hand a little. "I promise. Don't let your life revolve around a boy. And if the gods don't give you a story you like, make your own. You're a strong, independent woman who can forge her own path." I coughed raggedly.