The next day had come, and I was prepared to kill either Idrel or Liza. I had nursed Elya back to the point where she could at least walk, and I was finally able to get a long night of sleep. I worried that Liza would try to take revenge for what happened in the courtyard that afternoon, but she was probably too scared. I woke up to the sound of Mom opening the door. She was back with Idrel. I rushed downstairs to greet her, I wanted to be there if she was going to ask me to do something so she wouldn't start the day off yelling.
"Aryet, good that you're here. Carry Idrel to her bed and then grab Elya. I want you both to meet me downstairs in about an hour after you both grab breakfast."
She dumped Idrel into my arms.
"Do you want me to bring Liza as well?"
"I know you did something to her yesterday. She should've expected that treating Elya like a ragdoll would've gotten you angry. She can take time to rest from whichever way you chose to make her afraid of you yesterday. Idrel clearly already does, at least I'd hope she does, I had a hard time finding a good excuse for her state when we got to the cleric's house. Don't hurt her any more than you already have, it wouldn't mean anything anyway."
I brought Idrel to her bed and placed her down gently when we got there. I could've thrown her, I could've dropped her on the floor, but Mom was right. I wasn't hurting them just for the sake of it, I was hurting them because there was no other way I would get them to listen.
Is that what Mom thought whenever we wouldn't immediately do what she said? Did she think that there was truly no other option for getting us to understand whatever she wanted us to hear? Was I like her, hurting Liza and Idrel because I couldn't think of another way to get through to them? It doesn't matter now, they'll surely listen to me after what I did to both of them, and there's no use in crying over something that won't change.
If Mom is asking for just me and Elya then that means she's probably going to make us fight each other, so I need to think of what I'm going to do. If I catch her by surprise I could knock her out, maybe I could find something to tie her up so she doesn't have the opportunity to punish me after I fight her. I ate my breakfast while thinking about the many different ways the fight could go down. Once Mom presented the idea I knew that Elya would immediately say no. Mom's patience will probably be short so I have maybe a minute before she decides to start hurting Elya again. I need to know whether there's anything wrong with her. If she has any trouble using her power then I can make use of that.
My entire time spent at the table was wasted thinking about what would happen in the next few minutes. I had barely eaten anything so I was still starving but I knew that if I waited any longer she might even attack both of us as soon as we get down there. I grabbed Elya by the arm and brought her with me downstairs. Mom was standing in the middle of the arena when we got down the stairs.
"Good, you're finally here. Go stand on opposite sides."
I let go of Elya's arm as I walked towards the left side of the arena. Elya waited for a bit, but after I mouthed at her to start walking she got over to her side.
"I think you both know what I'm about to ask you to do. You are the only ones who are in a fit state to practice, and so you will practice in the same way I had you practice with Liza and Idrel. Now, you two get a lucky break. Because your sisters are both unavailable, I don't have the choice of disciplining you after every loss. Additionally, you're free to call a loss after a single combat exchange. While I expect you to fight in some regard, I will allow a reasonable forfeit after even a single drop of blood has been drawn. I am forced to keep you both in a good enough state so that you can have several matches today, so savor this opportunity of relatively harmless training while you can."
Really? Was she going to let us fight without hurting each other? Or at least, without knocking each other unconscious. This was great, now I didn't have to worry about fighting Mom, at least not for today. I could have a light match with Elya, and I wouldn't have to worry about her or me getting hurt again. All that needed to happen now was just for me to figure out how I'd make it look like I was trying without actually hurting Ely-
"I won't do it."
What?
"Looks like you really want to put your sister out of practice. If I have to punish you too you know I'll just force her to train alone."
Why was she choosing right now to be disobedient? There were so many things that could've happened that would've made her say no to Mom, but this was at the bottom of the list. Mom wasn't forcing us to really hurt each other, she didn't even say that she would hurt us. Why was she choosing this moment to make a deal out of?
"I don't know what you did to Liza, Idrel, and Aryet but they're different. Idrel doesn't do what she actually wants, Liza is more mean, and even Aryet is starting to hurt people. I'm not going to let you change me like you changed them."
Changed me? What do you mean changed me, I'm still the same person that I was a few days ago. All that changed was the actions that I took, actions that I had to take. If I didn't beat up Idrel if I didn't teach a lesson to Liza, they would be down here now and I wouldn't be able to protect you. I'm still doing what I do so that we can all be safe so that we don't have to worry about getting hurt. Where did this come from? She was so scared of everything around her yesterday, she was constantly crying and begging for things her entire life. What's with the sudden change?
"So what is this display? You can't even be bothered to try and learn your affinity, how are you going to stand up to me? Are you just going to talk about how bad I am? Do you think that I care what a child of mine thinks about the way I choose to act as a parent?"
"You're not my Mom. I don't know what you did to her, but you're not acting like her."
"Well, Elya, if you're some sort of masochist you are about to get exactly what you want."
I had only a few seconds before she got to Elya. I didn't have time to think of a plan for how I would fight Mom, so I just started moving. Not even a second had passed and my decision was already made, as my fist reached out to protect Elya from the person who seemed like they were about to kill her. I hit her right in the head, and she flew toward the wall of the arena.
"Elya, run."
Elya ran to the stairs, and she quickly recovered and started walking towards me.
"So is this some sort of planned mutiny? Helpless sister acts bold so the only one who can do a single thing can get in a single attack? What's the plan now, Aryet?"
She dashed toward me before giving me a chance to respond, I sprinted toward the other side of the arena, and as I was running away I was making hordes of water droplets and shooting them at her as fast as I could. When she dashed at me again, I took the opportunity to surprise her with a larger ball of water. I threw it as hard as I could right at her face, and getting hit by the ball caused her to trip and fall over. We were at opposite sides of the arena once more. When she dashed for a third time, she had her power created in her hands. Thousands of tiny bolts of electricity danced in her palms, and she would get rid of whatever I threw at her if I tried the same thing again. I had only a second to decide how I would deal with this attack.
"Just like he taught you. Under, and up."
I dashed toward her, and just as she was about to reach me I ducked under her hands. I raised my right fist to the sky as fast and hard as I could, and I heard her gasp for air when my fist hit her stomach. She flew behind me, and paused for a few seconds on the ground before getting up.
"So that's how you beat Idrel and Liza. Your father has been teaching you a little bit too much about close-quarters combat."
She prepared to attack me again.
"See that's funny, really. I go for the daughter who controls fire, he goes for the one who controls water. Maybe he can see the future."
The water I had created enveloped my entire body. It allowed me to move around the arena much quicker than before. Every time, she would dash at me, throw a bolt of lightning, or even try to shake the ground, and every time I would get away from her attacks.
Quicker. I need to be quicker. If I can outrun her for long enough she'll get tired. She doesn't even need to fall to the floor, she just needs to get slower. Just a second slower, a second of hesitation is all I need to win. My body had started moving on its own again. Every attack just seemed like another obstacle to get over. One, by one, I had steered clear of everything she was trying. Just a few more attacks-
"Peekaboo."
Her fist hit my stomach, and I felt the same pain of a thousand little knives tearing at my body. I was thrown back and I slammed into the wall of the arena, I couldn't breathe. Every single breath I tried to take felt like I was fighting against the wind.
"That was a nice match, I wouldn't believe in a million years that I'd have to embody my affinity against my own child, especially not when they're nowhere near being an adult."
I was unable to stay awake, but as my eyes closed and she was walking towards me, I saw a small figure in the back of the arena near the stairs. My eyes closed just as that figure started running towards me.
It was Dad.