Lann’a stood in the middle, a cold ice beauty carved in angular lines. A healthy pinkish glow under her cheeks, yet indignified in her stance as Jor’lan marched onwards without taking his hand off her arm. “As you requested, Lady El’rra”

A terse moment passed by as El’rra rounded Lann’a in a slow, very intense once-over. Once she was done circling her, she tipped up a chin, catching golden rays of the sun on Lanna’s face. “It’s going to be Queen El’rra from now on.”

Lann’a’s bland, iron mask crumpled in irritation. “You can’t possibly be taking on all four curses. You have seen the toll of madness it took for the king and that was merely three.”

The corner of her lips quirked up, tilting her head as she shifted her shoulder in a light shrug. Taking a step backward, El’rra said “That’s not going to be a problem, is it, River?”

“W-what now?” she gulped.

“Your mother has made quite a mess in here. It comes down to you to fix it, don’t it?” she glanced back at the village “We all heard it, right?”

The tribespeople murmured their assent.

“For once behagthi, become a force of good and do something worthwhile.”

River gasped, her chin quivering at the sheer force of contempt in her tone. She wasn’t calling her as a glorified maid assigned by some righteous divinity. She was calling her an outsider with every bit of derision in her sweet, lilting voice. “Rema’karr vere dalne nada” she said to her spiteful face. I am not who you think I am.

A flash of surprise crossed El’rra’s expression. “A behagthi speaking tribespeople first language?” She backhanded her with a cracking slap.

Heat bloomed in River’s right cheek and she spat out blood before she choked on it.

El’rra raised a palm to her singing children “Don’t heal her.” Hunching down, she braced her elbows on her knees. A cursory glance over River and said, “There is no reason for torture. I think we have all had our fill. Isn’t that right?”

Upper lip peeling back, she tried to suppress a growl before saying “Amenemundo dante virikas. Iforo banbe taro.” My mother hits harder than that. It was nothing.

She chuckled, “It’s wonderful to see how much you have accomplished with only the shortest amount of time with the brothers.” She stood up, and waved at the village.

Tribespeople came moving away, marching dutifully to the other side until they were well away from the forested area at a safe distance.And yet, River’s captors pushed her closer to its treeline.

“Let’s see what miracles you can accomplish in a forest full of eternal beasts, shall we? They are quite a pest. A plague among us, really. Their death count even surpasses a single behagthi. Hundreds of them imprisoned right here. So much of them that it pushed each tribe to uniting.” She pushed a hard palm around River’s throat, “I sense a disturbance among the veins here. Very sensitive to the merest pressure. You were once severed, weren’t you? I can sense it. It just so happened recently. Am I right?”

Her eyes bugged out. So far she had been accomplishing feats of strength with her voice alone. “P-please don’t..”

There was an absurd pleasure in her face, a gleaming spark in her eyes as she slowly bit by bit unravelled inside muscles around her throat. El’rra’s fingers curling inward. “Can’t have you calling for your mother, can I?” she said in a slow, lilting tone. “Two sides of the same coin that one. We can’t risk what might enter our world. It’s either the Great World or a crazed goddess of chaos.”

“That’s enough, Lady El’rra” Lann’a said. “We have a small window of time for the predators’ recovery before they come charging back at us, again.”

Her captors finally let go of River’s arms, falling forward to her knees and clawing at her throat.

“It’s Queen El’rra to you, snow princess. But that’s all right. It takes some getting used to.” she approached the tribeseople who were already marching towards the shoreline. “We can’t all be fast learners.”

Everyone fell back to the retreating crowd, dragging three unconscious oracle brothers with them.

Lann’a stayed behind, cradling River’s face between her palms. “Child of divinity, you have my sea of gratitude for breaking my curse.”

River attempted to push her power out, a mental energy to forge a connection to Lann’a. But she was weakening, and her willpower crackled to a fade. Dropping her arms, she wondered why it didn’t work. Wondered why the strength in her body was slowly dissipating.

“Trust me..” Lann’a murmured gently. It sounded so far away. As if she wasn’t inches from her face. “Now that the four curses are released within you, they will once again manifest into their true forms as eternal beasts. Predators, as we call them. You can’t fight them, River. Let me grant you this mercy.” Her palms were icy, a startling chill against her cheeks. She felt her body go limp, shoulders growing heavy. “Go to sleep and dream of wonderful things. Dive on under. I swear when you come out of the other side, there will only be sweetness. Nothing more. No pain. No torture. Just plain old sweetness like the joy we used to experience when we were kids, teh? A paradise of your own.”

Inside her head, River reared back with a deep breath and bolted forward with every last reserves of her strength. The connection snapped into place. However, her brain turned foggy, eyes clouding in vision, so.. little.. faith.. in.. me?

She frowned then shook her head. “I am a snow princess and my power is in knowing your ultimate dreams. Trust me, I know that there is nothing more you desire than this sweet release. Be grateful.”

Lann’a.. what happened? You sound like the Lady and the Ensign.

Immediately, the power to hold herself upright on her knees disappeared. The only thing keeping her from falling squarely to the ground was a snow princess cradling her on the cheeks. She gritted her teeth against the bone-chilling cold threatening to consume her. N-no.. she gasped. Not like this. Not like this.

Not when she was fresh out of a clusterfuck of her own making. This was not going to be the mark she made on the world.

Of any world.

Once she was able to be free of her parent’s clutches, she made her own way in the city, carving her path with the best of intentions.

Sure, she made mistakes along the way. It was in Dr. Malia’s utter disappointment.

But she always made sure to make good out of what bad has ever come to pass. And damned if she was going to leave behind a sea of mistakes like her mother did.

Most of all, she doesn’t want to die broken.

There is much to fix. Much to change in her life.

So much to transform and explore. There were new possibilities she never knew existed and she ached to live in it.

Lann’a was mistaken, entirely inaccurate.

River’s ultimate desire in her life was to prove her parents wrong. To show them that there was nothing dispensable about her. How easily they had abandoned her. How easily they had rejected her in the years coming after. As if all the wrongs and evil in the world were to blame on River.

And for once..

For once..

She wanted a connection where she didn’t feel the need to hide and run away as if by some chance someone might actually see what her parents had seen in her all this time.

Dispensable.

Replaceable.

A being whose worth was only ever tied to her usefulness.

In that moment, the grief was too much to bear. It overpowered the bite of cold until hot tears streamed down in rivulets over her icy, frosting cheeks.

What was that thing Dr. Malia used to say?

“A wounded deer leaps the highest.”

With renewed resolve, River took one huge gasp. As she did, the frost forming around her throat cracked slightly.

“Don’t!” Lann’a put a freezing palm over her mouth. “Don’t you dare. Just accept your fate. Realize your existence is bane to this universe.”

River whimpered, hot stream of tears falling freely like a waterfall. It was the only reminder she had that she was alive and damned if she wasn’t in the next second.

Closing her eyes, she gathered mental power. Visualizing it gathering together like a Milky Way galaxy with a strong gravitating center.

The next word she uttered raged inside her mind, echoing far into its deepest reaches.

Venemundo!

There it was.

She felt her mental power flung wide open. Like casting a large net with open-ended threads, she dispersed an invisible force of energy that distended in every possible directions. Pure waves dispersing over the amber grasslands, over the forested area, and past the shores unto the seas.

“No! No! Stop!” Lann’a’s nails dug into River’s cheeks, solidifying ice into her own bloodstream.

Her eyes snapped open and looked Lann’a straight in the eye.

Venemundo.

A burst of energy.

Light waves seeming to echo all around to every conceivable space, disturbing the air in a single moment before everything settled back to normal.

Birds flew overhead and Lann’a gave it a look before releasing a nervous laugh, “See? You’re too weak. Give in to it already!” She magnified the strength of her ice until River can feel it closing around her lungs.

Then, Lann’a tensed.

Black veins protruded from out of her chest, creeping up onwards her bare pale neck until it reached upwards to her ears.

River blinked.

In mere seconds, Lann’a was transformed.

She blinked hard and peered up at the snow princess again. In her place, a statue of fine-gray ashes that resembled her regal form.

Then, a gust of wind carried the ashes so easily that her clothes immediately fell into a heap on the ground.

Once the ashes cleared, behind her revealed the form of a man rising up to his feet. He had a towering height with the massive breadth of his shoulders blocking out the strange sun of this universe.

She should be scared.

The man who appeared before her was hiding behind a gas mask, of all things.

Long strands of dark raven-black hair fell forward as he dipped his chin to River who slumped on the ground, weakening and near to passing out on her knees.

“You called for help?” he asked, his voice a rich deep baritone.

Her brain was sent to a dizzying tailspin when she tipped her head up to address him. Carry me. she said, extending her hand to him. The connection to his mind taking no effort at all. It connected to his naturally. As easy as breathing.

His gloved hand tentatively reached for hers but at the last second, she fell unconscious.