1 day to the Friendship Games

“Chrysidea, dear.” Chrysalis stood outside Chrysidea’s door, her arms folded and one leg crossed behind her other. She was once again dressed in her casual home clothes, consisting of a white t-shirt and a long dark green skirt. “When was the last time I saw you practice your sword fighting on your own? Our agreement was one hour a day.”

“Oh! I’m sorry, mother. I forgot all about that!” The young changeling took off her headphones and hit the pause button on her phone. “Shall I get right on to it?”

“Yes, I’d like that.” Chrysalis brushed her hair away from her eye and marched back outside.

Chrysidea got up and went to her closet, changing out of her nightwear and into something more fitting for an hour of sword practice. She picked out her sword fighting gear, which included the corset and the high boots. Heading down with her weapon in tow, Chrysidea got to the courtyard and unsheathed her blade, watching its steel glint in the sunlight.

The afternoon sun was high in the sky now, it’s rays lancing down around the open area. Thankfully, changelings had a little bit of a problem with heat. They just couldn’t feel it. Chrysidea knew she was only part changeling, but it still wasn’t affecting her. Perhaps if she were to actually jump into a furnace, she would get to feel what it was like to be hot, though she felt she was already quite a hot girl, pun intended.

“I’m quite pretty, right?” She looked at her reflection in her sword. She liked to admire herself in the mirror and she thought she was above average for sure.

Placing the sword by her side, the young changeling took a step back, then flicked her weapon up, her sword tip now poised to strike at someone’s throat, should someone be challenging her to a fight. With lightning speed, the girl began thrusting her weapon forward, stabbing at the same point over and over, imagining a fleshy neck in her mind, being punctured repeatedly by her blade.

Then drawing back in a serpentine fashion, Chrysidea swung her sword in a circle on her left and right, then cut out to her right after a spin.

Sword fighting was actually something she really enjoyed, but she didn’t see a point of it in the real world. People these days used guns and you weren’t even allowed to carry a sword in public, so she couldn’t find a good time where this would actually come in handy.

Still, she had an agreement with her mother, so here she was, practicing on her own. Her brow furrowed slightly. Practicing on her own was all well and good, but without a proper opponent, there was simply no way to see if she was doing it right or not. Ms. Lionstrike was the only sparring partner she’d ever had, and Chrysidea wagered she could hold her own against her, if needed be.

She continued to practice for the rest of the hour, thrusting and slashing at her imaginary foe, driving her blade through the air with shimmering strikes. It was a vastly different experience from fencing, which was wrapped up in so many rules about safety and honor. Here, the objective was simple. Stop the opponent from getting back up.

Ending her imaginary opponent with a stab to the heart, Chrysidea swiped her sword to the side to remove any imaginary blood and sheathed it. Wiping her forehead with the back of a hand. She had used some love energy to follow up with her attacks today, but only just enough so that she wasn’t tired now.

Done, Chrysidea headed back inside the house, only to walk into her mother, who was standing by one of the windows facing the courtyard.

“Well practiced, Chrysidea.” The changeling queen inhaled and smiled, folding her arms. “I wanted to think you were at least rusty from the lack of practice, but I’m pleased to say you’re still in form.”

“I am?” Chrysidea said hesitantly. “It’s kind of hard to tell without someone to duel against though. I don’t suppose…”

“Who, me?” Chrysalis let out a bark of laughter. “My dear little snowdrop, I don’t think there’s a person in the world who can match my skill with a blade. No. Ask your aunt. She’s better at this training thing anyway.”

“Oh, um, okay…” Chrysidea rubbed her neck. Also, her mother had never called her a snowdrop before. She must still be happy from the other night. “I guess I’ll go look for Aunt Ivory now.”

“I think she’s in the workshop,” Chrysalis said idly. “I hope she’s not ruining more of my dartboards in there.”

Chrysidea set her sword on a nearby table and proceeded down the hall, all the way to the end. There, the young changeling made a right turn, knocking her fingers on a steel door, the metallic sound ringing out around the vicinity.

There was a muffled click and the door swung open. Chrysidea was surprised to see wood shavings all over the workshop interior, with a small clear space where her aunt was sitting, apparently working on something that resembled a small human doll.

“Umm… what’s up, Aunt Ivory?” Chrysidea walked in, carefully avoiding the shavings as she approached her aunt. “And wait. How did you open the door if you didn’t get up?”

Ivory Wings looked up and waved a small black device with a red button at its center. She pressed the button and the door swung shut.

“So, what brings my favorite niece all the way out here to my workplace?” Ivory said, returning her attention to the wooden figure in her hands, whittling it down with a small knife. “I don’t suppose it was because your mother wanted to check on the dartboards?”

“Oh, well, she did mention the dartboards, but that’s not why I’m here.” Chrysidea scratched at her cheek. “Um, would you like to, uh, spar with me, Aunt Ivory? I could use an opponent.”

“And I suppose your mother said no when you asked her?” Ivory chuckled. “I thought she might. Her bladework is magnificent, but she doesn’t know how to tone it down for practice.”

“Oh.” Chrysidea looked around the workshop, kicking at a piece of wood. “Well… would you like to, Aunt Ivory? I mean, you’re quite busy. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“I’d be pleased to spar with you, sweetie,” Ivory said, putting down the doll and her knife. “One thing though. I need to prepare the proper outfit to duel with. Should only take me a week or so. Shall we pick this up then?” Ivory returned to the doll, meticulously carving out the features on its face.

“Oh, not today?” Chrysidea tried to not look too disappointed, but on the bright side, at least she could get back to her room to listen to some music. She had been listening to some country tunes to have more to talk about with Home Run. “I guess that means I’m done with my sword practice for today. You have fun, Aunt Ivory. Actually, what are you working on?”

The girl stepped closer to have a better look.

“It’s a doll, see?” Ivory held it up for her niece to look at. “It’s early stages yet, but it’s supposed to be a doll of this one Assassin I was feeding off of that time when I was in the Assassin Brotherhood. I’m still not sure where he his now, but it will be nice to have a memento of him, don’t you think?”

“You haven’t tried contacting him, Aunt Ivory?” Chrysidea leaned close to the wooden figure to look at the details. It was roughly in the shape of a human, with two arms and legs, but otherwise, it was still mostly featureless at the moment.

“Well, he probably thinks I’m dead, so contacting him would somewhat spoil the effect, don’t you think?” Ivory said wryly.

“But you’re making a memento of him.” Chrysidea looked confused at her aunt. “Um, would that mean he’s somewhat special to you? Can you do that?”

“I like to have mementoes of interesting people I meet,” Ivory Wings said. “I have a lot more back at my penthouse in Manehattan. Which reminds me, I should start moving some of my stuff from the penthouse to here. Be nice to take some things out of storage.”

“Yeah, I haven’t got to see all the cool stuff you’ve shown me, Aunt Ivory.” The young changeling kicked at another piece of shaved wood. Then she remembered part of what her mother and aunt were talking about yesterday and it piqued her interest again. “Aunt Ivory? Can I ask a personal question?”

“Sure, sweetie.” Ivory stopped her carving again and looked over to her niece. “Shoot.”

“Are you… are you really my aunt?” Chrysidea spat out quickly before she could change her mind. “Like, related to me? I mean… no offense or anything, I’m just curious as to what mother said last night. About you two not having the same mother?”

“But I am your aunt, sweetie.” Ivory put down her doll and placed a hand on her niece’s cheek. “Just… if you want to get biological, then not by blood. Not exactly. We’re all family. We were all family. All my brothers and sisters and your mother. True, most of us did not originate together, but we built our home and our family up together. So to answer your question, yes, I’m your aunt, and I always will be. Okay?”

“Okay.” Chrysidea stepped in and threw her arms around her aunt. “You’ll always be my aunt, Aunt Ivory. So when will I get to hear how you all came together?”

“Some other time, Dea.” Ivory stroked her niece’s turquoise hair. “It is a long tale. It might bore you a little. A lot of just living out our lives doing nothing.”

“Oh. Well, maybe you can skip over the boring bits?”

“Not a chance, sweetie. If you want to hear the story, you’ll have to hear the whole tale, not just the parts I pick out. Probably for the best if your mother is there too. She might remember things I’ve forgotten.”

“You know, I do doubt that…” Chrysidea couldn’t imagine her mother being an accurate historian. Like the time she had told her that she had beat a man’s face in with an apple. Aunt Ivory had said that her mother had actually just ripped the man’s arm off and killed him with it.

“Well, whatever it is, why don’t you run along, Dea?” Ivory picked up her doll again. “Go have some fun. You really deserve it.”

“Okay.” Chrysidea skipped for the door. “If you need anything, I’d be happy to lend a hand, Aunt Ivory.”

“I’m sure you will,” Ivory Wings said with a knowing smile. “I’m sure you will.”

With the sun beginning to descend from its spot in the sky, Sunny Flare found herself in the nearby park, wiping sweat off her forehead with a handkerchief. It wasn’t too hot right now, but she didn’t want to look grimy and gross in front of Domino, at least not right now.

Her ex-boyfriend had agreed to meet her today and even better, he had chosen a park near her home as their meeting spot, which meant she didn’t need to go far.

She had on a pink top with her insignia on it, along with a red skirt and purple sports shoes. She didn’t know why, but she suddenly felt like she was underdressed for this. Was it normal to dress up when meeting an ex? Perhaps she should have used more perfume, or heavier makeup…

Slapping herself mentally, Sunny stopped fretting about her appearance and thought back to the purpose of today’s meeting. One way or another, something was going to be cleared up by the day’s end.

Somehow, everything had become so messed up since that incident with Silver Rose. From despising Silver, she had somehow developed feelings for her, feelings that Sunny still didn’t want to acknowledge. Then there was Domino Ace too. From boyfriend to the most hated boy on the planet, she had now gone to the point where she was worrying how she looked in front of him again. Things were really just going so well right now, she thought sarcastically.

And then she saw him. Domino Ace, strolling up to her from the street on the side. Domino Ace was an alabaster-skinned boy with black hair and red eyes. Today, out of school, he was wearing his usual blue shirt, minus the jacket because of the heat, and black jeans. Even though she didn’t want to admit it, Domino was still really handsome.

“Sunny.” He nodded his head in greeting when he got close enough. “Let me say, when I got your message yesterday, I was rather dumbfounded. I didn’t think you would contact me again. So why did you want to meet? Something you need to say?”

Sunny swallowed and looked at the boy’s feet, afraid to meet his stunning eyes. “W-Well… I wanted to talk a-about… about us, Domino. I’ve thought about it. Do you-do you think there’s anyway… we can… start again?”

“Oh… is that it?” Domino said awkwardly. “Look, Sunny, I like you and all, but…”

“But what?”

“I don’t know if you already know this, but… I’m kind of already seeing someone.”

“O-Oh, you are…?” Sunny’s cheeks colored. “With who?”

“Ginger Owlseye,” Domino answered. “We’ve been dating for almost three months now. I’m kinda surprised you didn’t know. Pretty much everyone does.”

Sunny guessed the information must’ve slipped from her, because she had been avoiding everything related to Domino since last year. She had no intention of seeing him again. Until now. And she was too late.

“Ginger, huh?” The mulberry haired girl rubbed a hand on her arm. “I-I’m… I, umm…”

“And besides, we didn’t exactly leave on the best of terms anyway. You seemed… kind of broken up about it. No pun intended.”

“And you didn’t care, Domino.” Sunny put a hand on her chest to steady herself. “You don’t know how much you hurt me when you wanted to break up. I liked you, Domino. I liked you so much. And then you just decided to end it.”

Domino put his hands in his pockets and looked aside at the ground. “I already gave you my reasons, Sunny. The relationship wasn’t going anywhere, and you weren’t going fast enough. Our relationship was stuck where it was. And to be honest about it, now that I’ve had time to think about it, I wasn’t really into it either.”

“And you still don’t care about how I felt, huh?” Sunny’s lip began to tremble. She sat down on the bench beside her. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to talk to Domino again. “I’m sorry… this meeting was a mistake. All it did was bring up painful memories again. It didn’t solve anything for me…”

“Sunny,” Domino said, sitting down next to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. “You have to move on. What we had is in the past. Look, I’m sure you can find someone you like. It might not even have to be someone from Crystal Prep. But I’m certain that if you try, you can find someone. You’re basically the most popular girl in school. I’m sure it won’t be hard.”

I’ve already found someone… Sunny thought miserably. And I don’t even know if she likes me back. And I don’t want this… I like boys…

“I thought I had moved on…” Sunny whispered, looking at her hands on her lap. “But then… things have been happening lately and I thought maybe what I needed was to get back with you.”

Domino sighed and stood up, staring at the sunset. “I’m sorry too, Sunny. But whatever your problems are, you shouldn’t give up on them so quickly. Talk it out with your friends or something. The Shadowbolts are smart people, they can help you figure it out.” He then pulled out his phone and checked it before sighing. “I’m going to need to get home for dinner soon. Is there anything else you wanted to say?”

Frantic for an end to her troubles, Sunny reached a hand out and grabbed the side of the boy’s jeans, tears close to forming in her eyes. “Please, Domino. I need to know. I need to know that… I’m still sane. I want to know. Please, maybe I was wrong to say we should’ve proceeded slower. I just… I need a guy right now. Could you do it with me? Just once! That’s all I need! Please, I can’t turn to anyone else.”

“Sunny, no, I can’t.” Domino tried to pull his leg away from her. “I’ve got Ginger now. Look, you’ll find a way okay? I think I really should get going now.”

“I-I…” Then Sunny realized what she had been asking and let go. That was such a terrible thing to say, especially since Domino was already in another relationship. “I’m sorry, Domino. I’m really sorry.”

“Like I said…” Domino patted down his jeans and straightened his shirt. “You can figure this out. I’ll see you in school tomorrow, yeah?” The black haired boy began to leave, but then turned around one more time. “Hey, win it out there tomorrow, okay?” Then he turned back and headed further away, soon out of sight.

That didn’t go how I planned for it… Sunny sat by herself in the park, resting her elbows on her knees and looking down. In the end, pursuing Domino as a means to be sure that she was still interested in guys, had failed. He said he had been with Ginger Owlseye for almost three months now, meaning he had been with her even before Silver started attending Crystal Prep; that road had been blocked off long before Sunny came up with this plan. She never had a chance with getting back together with him again. Perhaps it was for the best. She had hated him for dumping her, and maybe it was only because she was desperate that she saw him as someone important again.

Whatever the case was, Domino’s last words had stuck with her. The Friendship Games would be starting tomorrow and she couldn’t be caught brooding over having feelings for Silver or Domino. Whatever her messed up mind was thinking right now, she had to push it all back. The Games came first and Crystal Prep had never lost once. She wasn’t going to lose focus and make this their first loss ever.

Whatever feelings she currently had, Sunny shook them out of her head and filled it instead with thoughts of victory and the Friendship Games. For now, her conflicts would have to wait. Winning came first and it always came first. After all, winning was everything, right?