Three Lies, All True || ONC2021 Longlister

Chapter 1: The Price of Bread is Someone Dead

Petra's fingers twitched a bit, and she nearly stopped in her tracks. "Believe me, I was close."

"We all are. Adrien almost killed me earlier cause I was"--Peter raised his hand and made air quotes--"'messing with his research' or whatever. Seriously, most people here are such killjoy gits I'm surprised they can feel emotions!" Her brother's eyes then lit up, and his already large smile turned into an even bigger one. "Hey, wanna steal his spellbook and see how long it takes for him to find it?"

Petra stopped in her tracks and placed a finger on her brother's forehead. "Unlike you--or maybe us--Adrien isn't an idiot. He'll realize what we're doing before we can even get to his study. Besides, do you really wanna mess with him on an empty stomach?"

"Yes. Hungry Peter is a more fun Peter. I make dumber choices while I'm hungry, and that's the best part of it! Whaddya say, Defakt? What does your star magic say we do?"

For a moment, Petra stood in her place and clutched the purple bolo tie around her neck. Messing with someone, especially Adrien, was fun most of the time. And she might even be able to use her remaining stamina and magic, too. That way, there was less itching in her fingers and she could relax again.

But on the other hand, all that walking made her hungry. Knowing Adrien, he probably spent the entire afternoon to night in his room without eating. And unlike Peter, a hungry Adrien wasn't fun. He was just angry, and he might even throw his cursed artifacts at them.

With a quick snap of her fingers, small specks of stars trailed down her hands. Petra stared at them for a quick second before grabbing her brother by his collar. "My 'star magic' says we should have a nice, uninterrupted, walk in the gardens while we eat."

Peter scoffed and removed her hand from his collar. "Walking? Didn't you already do walking stuff earlier? Why would you wanna spend another who-knows-how-long in the gardens?"

"The gardens can be relaxing, Idei'na, and I want to relax for once. I need to relax for once. I don't want to accidentally claw Adrien's face and put him in the infirmary again."

Her brother mumbled something under his breath and scratched the back of his ears. For a small moment, his eyes gleamed, but he managed to let out a sigh afterwards. "For a defect, you sure have a lot of energy. Anyway, let's go. Before the bread goes cold."

Petra glared at her brother and gritted her teeth against one another. She opened her mouth to retaliate, but decided to purse her lips instead and follow him out of the castle.

Once they were out, she took a deep breath, inhaling the cold wind of the night. Two and a half moons casted a pale light on the gardens, allowing her to see the vibrant and lush colors of the flowers that survived the season of Marzanna.

She placed a hand in front of her, catching one of the small drops of snow falling from the sky, before following her brother. Every time she took a step forward, her instincts would tell her to turn around and look at their surroundings. Even the smallest noise made her ears twitch, and she nearly casted a fire spell at one of the snow rabbits that ran off.

"Relax, Defakt!" Peter opened his coat once again and grabbed the pumpkin bread. "Eat. You clearly need it."

Petra stared at the bread for a while before grabbing it. "Wow, it's still warm. I'm surprised you managed to get this fresh from the oven."

"There's no joy in stealing bread if it isn't fresh." Peter took a bite out of his own food before looking up. "So, the war's almost over, huh?"

The war... it made Petra's fingers twitch even more. She could feel some of her magic leaking out of her fingers, and she had to calm herself down by taking an angry bite out of her food.

"Yeah." She nodded "The Declaration of Peace is going to be signed tomorrow, and Crown Prince Nikolas is allowing us front row seats."

"How long has this dumb war been going on? I lost count after the first king involved died."

"A hundred and fifty years, I'm assuming. I also lost count after him. It felt like the royal families were just dragging everything afterwards." It was a little out of place, but she managed to push a smile on her lips. "I'm just glad that it's over. It's been over a century now, and I don't think I can remember what happened before the war."

"I do." Peter tugged her ear and scratched the pointy tip, almost making her yelp. "Your ears were round when you were born and everyone was sure you weren't going to pass as a soldier."

With a groan, Petra punched her brother in his chest. "Are we going to talk about this again? Besides, how do you still remember that? That was hundreds of years ago! Emphasis on the 's'."

"I'm your twin, Defakt. It's my job to remember every stupid part of you." The smug smile on his face slowly faded as he crossed his arms. "That and the records don't lie. Your creation was the biggest issue in Royisa's Army for years."

Petra could imagine that it was. Because even after hundreds of years after her birth, people seemed to still remember her as the 'defect' one. The one in Royisa's army that was born and created wrong, the one that had round ears as a child and was labeled a 'mistake' in the experimentation process, and worried that she would fail as a soldier.

She threw her arms to her right, casting a burning spell on one of the flowers. Defect. She always hated that word, especially if it came from someone else other than Peter or Adrien.

Not that she should complain anymore. It had been hundreds of years, and she shouldn't let a bunch of records get in her way.

Besides, she was a weapon. And weapons didn't weep.

Just as she took another step forward, Petra's ears twitched. She placed her hands to her side and turned around. They glowed in a bright blue color, making the darker parts of the garden faintly light up.

"What's wrong?" Peter turned in the same direction as her and snapped his fingers, making a small flame dance on his hands. "Did you hear something?"

"I did." She nodded and pointed a hand in the trees. "Over there. I think I heard footsteps."

Peter turned to the same direction as her and narrowed his eyes. "This is Commander Peter of the Potions Brigade from the Royisan Army. Whoever you are, show yourself or else we'll have to use force!"

Petra gulped as her ears twitched again. She heard something, like soft footprints on the snow, walking ever so gently while--

"Peter, duck!"

She wasn't sure if Peter did what she said. All that she knew was that she pushed him aside and used a lightning spell. The gardens lit up in a bright color before reverting back to darkness. However, she still managed to get a glimpse of what made the noise.

In front of her was a winter fox, running away and hiding back in the snow. And next to the fox was a dead body.