The first day of my new life begins. Alyssa Valentine, the knight, the soldier. It doesn't even sound right to me. My entire life it was Alyssa Valentine, Queen of Athys. I used to hear people talk about it's good to give up on your dreams. Overhearing soldiers who dreamed of becoming knights and Generals. Only to face the realization that it wasn't possible for them. I used to hate that way of thinking, it's so negative.
But now that I've experienced it, I get it. Thinking that way protects you from what I'm feeling. Is it regret? Or a mixture of different things? With a deep breath and an exhale, I push all of these feelings and thoughts down. As far as I can. I know they'll resurface at some point though, they always do. David's going to be executed in a week and here I am only thinking of myself.
"This is not what I imagined when you woke me up!" Helen says. "I refuse to sit idle in your body while you live this unsatisfactory life!"
I'm supposed to be up and training in three hours and I haven't slept much. Just in and out, drifting in my thoughts.
"Are you listening to me, darling?! You need to find a way out of here. Now!"
I guess I should be thankful, I could be dead right now. Although I can't imagine it'd feel much different than this.
"You're sixteen, Alyssa. Your life is not over. Not when I haven't created the world I want for you!"
Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my chest, then a flow of energy that expands from that area throughout my entire body. My body pulls itself off the bed and lunges to the ground.
"What…how did you-"
"Enough of your whining," Helen says, accompanied by a splitting headache. My body continues to crawl on its own, leading itself into the bathroom.
"Stop! What are you-"
Helen gains control further, my legs shake and my knees buckle as my body stands to its feet and inches over to the mirror. She rips a small piece of my shirt off and wraps it around my hand before smashing the mirror into pieces. She takes a broken shard and cuts my fingertip deep enough for it to drip with blood. Afterward, she crouches on the floor. I'm unable to stop anything at this point, she's somehow taken full control. She draws a large triangle with a circle at its center. In the negative spaces within the triangle and outside the circle, she draws more strange symbols.
"I've been building and storing my aura within your body for a moment like this one, one where I needed to gain control. I won't waste this opportunity. I've certainly learned not to waste your aura. Overtaking someone's aura network as it is, isn't an easy task. Therefore, I'll call for help. Someone who won't cause much suspicion. You should be grateful that I'm not using force. Besides, I don't know how to drive."
"What?!"
She places my bloodied finger at the center of the circle and speaks through me, "Councilwoman Hughes," she says, and the entire symbol shines with white light. Images of Ms. Hughes begin to flash in my mind. Images that seem to be in real-time. She sits on a couch, reading what seems to be paperwork concerning complaints from the citizens in Uboni. She picks up a cup from her coffee table when she suddenly freezes and looks around as if someone's calling her.
"Save Alyssa Valentine," Helen says.
Ms. Hughes drops the cup and spills the liquid over her table and floor, she stands from the couch and walks out the front door barefoot. The image ends there and our vision returns to the bathroom.
"What the hell was that?! What did you do to her?!" I panic.
"I'm getting us out of here, I told you, nothing will stop me from realizing my goal."
Helen walks back into my room and sits on the bed, patiently waiting for about ten minutes while I'm unable to do anything to stop her. I find that I don't have the will anymore. All of this has broken me down so much that there's no more fight left in me. I'm a bystander at this point.
The soldiers outside my door greet Ms. Hughes, and question why she's there. Their voices are too muffled to hear their entire conversation but after a minute or so, the soldiers open the door. Standing in the doorway is Ms. Hughes with an expressionless face. Helen gets up from the bed and walks over to her.
"Save Alyssa Valentine," Ms. Hughes whispers with the same blank stare.
Helen leans in to whisper something in her ear, "escort me, the Queen requested to see us."
Ms. Hughes grabs my arm and walks us down the hall. The soldiers question where she's taking us. She simply turns to them and repeats what Helen whispered in her ear.
"What is this? Mind control?" I ask.
"Think of it as a little nudge, I cannot make anyone do what they don't want. It has to be within their will to do so, in the Councilwoman's case, she actually wants to save you. I can exploit that with this spell."
"We're tasked with following her, you don't mind, do you?" One of the soldiers asks.
Helen sighs and turns their way, "I do, actually." She runs toward them, unsheathing one of their blades and knocking them both out with blows to their head using just the handle.
"You're not doing what I think you are….?" Fearing she's heading for Brianna.
"Relax, darling. We're going into the city."
"The city? For what?"
Our escort continues, and after being stopped and questioned by more soldiers, Helen decides to run for it, dragging Ms. Hughes along. We reach the main floor and escape the mansion, she looks at one of the many cars parked and yells for her to drive us into the city. We hop in the car and head on our way with soldiers entering cars and following not far behind us.
Helen tells Ms. Hughes to evade them, she does the best she can. Turning down random streets, and parking in a spot where the soldiers drive right past. After waiting for a couple of minutes, she continues driving per Helen's directions. After five minutes we stop at a random house. Helen exits the car and heads for the door. She knocks and an elderly man opens it. He's about my height, with dark brown eyes, freckles, and a sagging face.
"Oh! Princess?!" He bows.
"Hi, I'm sorry to just pop by like this. I was wondering If I could take a look around?" Helen asks.
"Y-your voice…it's…um, yeah. Yes, sure. Come on in."
Helen enters and he closes the door behind us. His home is cozy, filled with yellow light from multiple standing lamps. An orange leather couch with plastic covering it, and a giant rug with a pattern that matches his decor of browns and oranges.
"May I ask why this house in particular?" He nervously chuckles.
"Have you heard of a woman named Helen?" She asks him.
"Of course, this was supposedly her home while she was contracted under the Valentine army. I got it pretty cheap thanks to that. No one else wanted it."
"Contracted?" Helen laughs. "I suppose. Well anyway, there's a book here that I want, that's all."
"A book?" He asks. "I'm sorry, I don't do much reading these days. I can barely see the words," he snickers.
Helen's attention turns to the corner of the room by one of the lamps. She walks over to it and under the lamp is a loose floorboard. She moves the lamp out of the way and bends down to pick up the loose panel and under the floor is a box. She opens it to reveal an old book with worn leather.
"Oh, my wood?!" The man shouts.
"All this for a book? They're going to kill us!" I shout.
"The most important book in The Coven's library," Helen says. "My grimoire." She carefully places the loose wood panel back and the lamp over it.
"Thank you," she smiles at the elderly man. "I'll be leaving now."
He fumbles over his words, in shock, and probably fear of the situation. Helen has this grace whenever she's in control of my body. She seems to float and glide with each stride, and each movement. The man looks transfixed. She opens the door to leave and standing there is Lauriel and Rose.
"You know what this means, don't you?" Lauriel asks. "Our orders are to kill. Why are you here?"
Helen smiles, "for a book."
Once she hears our voice, Lauriel reaches for the sword on her hip. "Helen," she says with caution. "Give Alyssa control or we won't hold back."
"Don't hold back, please. It's more fun when everyone's going all out. Let me step outside first, I don't want to ruin this sweet man's house."
Lauriel and Rose back away from the door and Helen steps out. Once she does, Rose comes charging in with a sword. Helen dismantles her quickly, taking the sword and sending her to the ground in one swift motion. Lauriel comes in next with both a physical blade and lightning right over her shoulder. She mixes up her swings in unorthodox ways. Motioning to swing with the physical blade but instead the lightning blade swings, and vice versa. It causes Helen to go on the defensive, narrowly dodging both by the skin of her teeth. I've seen Helen fight enough times to tell when she's holding back, she's trying to reserve aura.
Rose returns with a beam of water that sends my body flying into a nearby home, crashing through the wall and into the living room of a now screaming woman. Helen comes to a stand, brushing the debris off like it was nothing. My body is covered in small nicks and scrapes. She steps through the hole and is immediately met by Lauriel's lightning blade. It comes crashing down on my shoulder like it's slicing bread. The cut isn't too deep. The blade remains stuck in my shoulder as Lauriel runs toward me with her physical sword in hand. Helen raises an arm. "Gravity Incantation: Mass Pressure," she says.
Lauriel stops in her tracks and drops to the ground face-first.
"You're good, but fighting you is always so simple. A non-witch will never be able to stop me. Especially when I retrieve my body."
She steps over Lauriel's body, the lightning blade disappearing completely from my shoulder. She walks over to pick up her grimoire which she dropped when being knocked into the house. Rose stands and stares, stricken with fear.
"Good choice," Helen says when suddenly a car pulls up, and out steps Brianna and General Thomas. Brianna orders Thomas to get Rose, Lauriel, and Ms. Hughes away safely. He turns to face her as if to question. Brianna gives him her signature glare and he quickly does what she asked.
Her attention moves back to us as she asks, "so, who is it I'm talking to now?"
"The one who's willing to kill you," Helen replies.