The three of us, plus Delic's subordinate, finally reach the Winter Estate after I gathered a bit more trust from the twin dark elves. It was already late, so most of the workers had already turned in for the night, but Delic was waiting for me in the reception area. He was very surprised to see that I have returned with some extra visitors.
"Delic, is there any food left over from dinner?"
Delic quickly stands up and walks over to me to wrap me in a shawl since it's starting to get a bit chilly outside. "I don't think so as the cooks normally only cook enough for you and the staff. Would you like for me to fix something right quick?"
I gesture over to the twins who are standing behind me. "Please cook these two something warm. They are my personal guests. See to it that they also have a room prepared as they will be spending a night here."
The twins appear shocked to hear the news of them staying the night and attempt to grab my shoulders which makes Delic instantly grab their wrists.
"Release them, Delic. They have done nothing wrong. They just wanted to get my attention." I turn to face the twins who topple me in height. Noticing that they are too tall, the twins kneel down to below eye level. "You must be surprised to hear that you will be staying the night here. I can't very well throw you two back outside after you finish eating. That would be extremely rude of me to do. Whether you stay here will be up to you tomorrow. For now, let's just get some food in your stomachs. Okay?"
The twins nod their heads and follow me into the kitchen where Delic begins to cook a simple soup for the twins to eat. After half an hour, Delic serves the twins the soup and makes his way over to me from across the table to also hand me a bowl. I guess I can use something to eat after taking a nighttime stroll. As we start to eat, I try to ask the twins their names thinking that eating would lower their guard, but they would stay silent and continue eating. If they don't lower their guard while eating, then that means that they have been running from or towards something for not too long. Whatever it is that's causing them to run must be something horrible if their anger and sadness is this strong.
After the twins and I finish eating, I once again try to ask for their names. They don't say anything for a while until the one with a mark on his neck speaks up.
"My name is Xander. This is my twin little brother Alex."
I look at the younger twin as he hides himself in his hood. He must be the shy one. That means that the older twin is the braver one. I mean it would make sense that twins have complete opposite personalities... Right?
"How did you two end up in the alleyway? Dark elves don't normally enter the city because of the noise."
The older twin looks like he is contemplating what to say when the younger twin pokes at his brother's arm. They stare at each other and whisper between themselves for a minute then look back over at me. Feeling like they can trust me, they tell me their story.
According to Xander and Alex, their village on the outskirts of the city's center was attacked by a small group of mages in order to capture the dark elves for their superhuman strength. However, the dark elf village that the twins were living in was a peaceful village, so they never depended on individual strength. They all depended on each other which caused them to gradually lose their superhuman strength. The group of mages did not know this and raided the twin's village. The village leader managed to get Xander and Alex to escape because they were the supposed 'chosen ones'.
Twins are exceedingly rare for dark elves since it is already extremely hard for them to produce offspring in the first place. Most dark elves are lucky to just become pregnant; however, because of the dark magic within them, the baby in the womb becomes intertwined with it. This then becomes a battle of what will win: the baby or the dark magic. When the twins were born, they were hailed as a good luck charm for the village. None of the villagers have ever heard of twins being born to dark elves, so when the mages attacked, the villagers prioritized the twins' safety.
Once the twins were far enough away from the village, they realized that they were now deep in the city of Eshea. In an unknown place surrounded by foreign objects and people, the twins stayed in the shadows discreetly stealing from food stands using what little knowledge they had of their stealth ability. That was until two weeks later, I found them in the alleyway.
"So what do you plan on doing now?" I ask after the twins finish telling me their story.
"We want revenge for our village," responds Xander. "But we don't have the strength or numbers to go against the group of mages. It's just my brother and me."
The furious aura that surrounds Xander intensifies. I can empathize with these two. It's almost funny how we both have a similar loss. However, unlike me, they can get their family back.
"All right!" I suddenly shout as I stand up. "How about we make a deal? Would you be interested?"
"What kind of deal?" asks Xander.
"I will help you in getting your revenge. In return, you become one of my personal aides at my estate. When we finish freeing your village from the group of mages, you are free to go back to your village. Are you okay with that?"
The twins take a moment to whisper between themselves. They then turn to face me.
"We only follow those who are stronger than us. If we are to become your personal aides, we have to see what kind of power you have," remarks Xander. "Even though our village was a peaceful one, that doesn't mean that we disregarded the powers we were born with."
I can respect that. I wouldn't want to be under someone who was weaker than me either. "Okay then, I will agree to your terms. Please follow me." Leaving the kitchen area, the twins and Delic follow me to the training hall. Thankfully, the hall was specially renovated so that it muffles any loud sounds going on inside. "Shall we fight here, or are we just displaying our abilities?"
"We will be fighting, if that is alright with you," says Xander as he removes his cloak. The mark on his neck becomes more visible now. Man, do I regret not listening to my Folklore Species teacher when he discussed the dark elves' marking system.
"That's perfectly fine with me," I reply back as I head to my side of the floor. I remove my cloak and get into the fighting stance that Edward taught me. Let's hope I can depend on Edward's teaching before I have to resort to using my powers.
With Delic being the referee, our fight begins. I zoom over to where Xander is standing and attempt a stomach punch with my right knee, but Xander manages to deflect it with his palms. As a counter strike, Xander throws a left hook in which I dodge by jumping backwards, sending myself several feet away from him.
"That knee kick was pretty strong coming from a girl of your size," snorts Xander, shaking his hands to get rid of the stinging feeling.
"You got some pretty strong defensive power there yourself," I retort back with a laugh.
Xander and I clash together in the middle of the training hall several times over. Xander attempts to kick my right side while I also attempt to land a blow to his right side. However, we both catch each other's respective limbs and toss each other back. Before I could recover, Xander attacks me using his ability: dark magic. All dark elves have dark magic as their source of life, yet only a few can actually utilize it to fight with.
I manage to dodge it by just a second by rolling to the side. I glance down at the spot where the magic landed. It creates a fist-sized indentation with veins of cracking hardwood around it.
If I had been hit with that, I would have gotten very injured.
Xander begins to repeatedly dish out quick spurts of dark magic as if he is shooting arrows from a bow.
I guess I really don't have a choice here…
I fly over once more to where Xander is standing to distract him with a punch to the chest. As expected, Xander defends himself; however, he didn't realize that he fell into my trap. The ice leaks out from my fist and commences its engulfment. I slip from Xander's grasp as he realizes what is happening to him and frantically punches at the ice around his fist.
"That ice is going to just keep growing around you if you don't surrender," I suggest to the boy. I back up a few feet and take a seat in front of him. "You wouldn't want to become an ice sculpture. Now, would you?"
Xander desperately bashes the ever-growing ice with his dark magic. "Why isn't this working?!" he shouts to himself. "Dark magic is supposed to beat all other magic."
"If you give up, I will release you from the ice and explain."
As much as he tries to escape, Xander realizes that the ice isn't stopping. "You win," he whispers.
"What was that?" I tease while getting up from my spot.
Xander clicks his tongue and glares at the floor. "I surrender. You win," admits Xander. "My brother and I will become your personal aides, but you promise to help us to defeat the group of mages. Right?"
Tapping the boy's shoulder, I dissolve the ice that covers his whole left side. "Of course! Winters always keep their promises. However, it is only fair that I know what kind of ability your little brother has," I state as I point over to the boy who was standing next to Delic.
Xander motions for his brother to come closer. Once he is next to his older brother, Alex says a quiet greeting.
"Alex, can you show the girl your power?" Xander asks as he places a hand on his brother's shoulders.
The little brother wavers for a moment but slowly displays a show of water bubbles from his hand. "I have the ability of water. Ah! But I can't make ice like you did. The drop in body temperature to do that is too much for me to handle," whispers Alex.
"Thank you for showing me, Alex," I say and show him a nice smile.
"Now, I think it's time you tell me why my dark magic wouldn't work on you. Dark magic is supposed to be the most powerful of all magic with light magic as its only weakness. Why didn't my magic affect you?" demands Xander.
"Abilities are based on how well one's body responds to it," I begin explaining. "If a person's body can't handle the change it takes to produce certain abilities, then he can't use it. Everyone is capable of performing more than one type of magic, but due to that limitation, people tend to focus more on the one type that they can control so as to not cause too much damage to their body. However, that doesn't apply to me. My ability isn't magic at all."
"What do you mean it isn't magic? It is clearly ice magic. If it's not magic, then what is it?" questions Alex.
Producing a small flurry over my hand, I continue to elaborate. "Everyone knows that dragons breathe fire, but dragons don't have fire magic. Their fire is an innate ability that is produced within them. Unlike fire magic where it takes energy from one's body to produce it, dragons can call forth fire at any time because their body make up is designed to make fire. Much like dragons, my body is made to produce ice and snow within me. It doesn't take energy for me to produce it, but it does take energy to release it."
"But that doesn't make sense," Xander inserts. "How can a human body 'produce' ice and snow? That has never been heard of before?"
"That's where my family comes in. I don't think I properly introduced myself, so let's start there. My name is Viola Winter. I am the remaining survivor of the Winter Family, who is responsible for controlling the snow and ice from going out of control. In order to do that, there needs to be a vessel that can hold and withstand the freezing temperatures that maintain ice and snow. However, a vessel can't be made, it has to be born. In other words, a baby has to be born a vessel which can hold and produce ice and snow inside him. As the Winter Vessel, it is our responsibility to maintain the order within us so as to not let it run wild into the physical world."
"You produce the snow and ice within you, so you don't actually use any energy to change your body's mechanics to perform it since your body is already modified to use the power. That's why it isn't considered magic," summarizes Xander as he laughs to himself. "That makes sense since I couldn't beat you in our match."
I hold out my hand to Xander. "Do we have a deal then?"
Grabbing my hand and kneeling down, Xander lowers his head to me. "Yes. My brother and I will become your aides until we can free our village."
I give a small smile when suddenly, the faint mark on Xander's neck begins to glow. The radiant light that came over it swiftly disappears as the mark takes a more prominent appearance.
"What happened to your neck?" I ponder Xander.
Xander rises and touches his neck. "Dark elves are born with a faint mark somewhere on their bodies. They never really take form unless something triggers them."
"What does your mark mean?" I walk closer to Xander to get a better look.
"For tracing the outline, it feels to be the mark of Senth. It means 'Loyalty' in ancient elven language."
"I guess that means that you are honest about your loyalty to me," I remark with a chuckle.
"I guess so," laughs Xander. "Oh! But Alex already has his mark. It's on his shoulder."
Walking over to Alex, I slowly approach him. "Do you mind if I can see your mark as well?"
Alex gives a small nod and moves his hooded cape to show his right shoulder. "It's the mark of Menlu. It means 'Water and Life'," explains Alex in his usual hushed tone.
I move back to face the twins again. Delic also makes his way over to me.
"Let's work well together from now on. Okay?" I express with a cheerfully tired expression.
The boys nod their heads, but before I could say anything else, everything goes dark. I begin tipping over when Delic catches me in his arms.
"I'm sorry about this," apologizes Delic. "When Master uses up too much of her ability, her body shuts down so that it can replenish the ice and snow within her." Delic picks me up and cradles me in his arms. "I will put Master to bed right quick and come back to show you to your rooms."
The boys nod, and Delic turns around to carry me to my room. While waiting for Delic to return, the boys have a discussion of their own.
"Do you think we can finally save our village?" asks Alex as he tugs on his brother's cape.
Xander places his hand over his mark and grins. "I think we can trust in that girl's ability. She may be small, but she fights well. Plus, that guy next to her is no weakling either. You must have felt the insane grip he had when he grabbed our wrists."
Under his cape, Alex touches his mark where I tapped to feel the pattern. "She is very sweet for someone who lost her whole family." Alex hides his face in his hood as he slightly blushes when he remembers me touching his shoulder.
Not long after he left, Delic returns to fetch the boys. He shows them to a room that is not too far from mine.
"You will begin first thing in the morning with training. As you both have lived in a village, you should know how to handle basic chores and cooking. However, as you are going to be Master's personal aides, you must get used to constantly being around and helping her. You will understand what that means tomorrow morning when I come to wake you up since it is already very late now. You two quickly change and get some rest. You will have a busy day tomorrow."
With that, Delic leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. The boys blankly stare at each other for a moment as they try to process what has just been told to them. They decide to pay it no mind and head off to sleep. Little did they know that a world of unconventional tasks will be given to them the next day.