Duality

part four

Mila lie on the ground, arms folded over her chest. Officially, she'd given up: there seemed to be no end in sight, and she wouldn't be responsible for any more damage. Hands safely tucked away, she'd decided to stay in one spot... possibly forever.

Her other plans hadn't worked. She couldn't find the man on her own. Anna wasn't going to help.

And, with the new fear that her powers of death might start taking animal and human lives, Mila couldn't even retry the above options.

Mila watched the moon stoically. She'd never imagined she would get tired of seeing the beauty, but she felt close. Without the sun to blemish the sky, the moon just didn't have the same hold. Like many times before, Mila focused on the sky and tried to pull the moon down, but nothing happened.

She knew better than to try waving her hands at the sky: she'd pulverized a tree last time.

Warm breath blew strands of hair into her eyes, and Mila muttered, "Go away, Doll." Ghost nosed at her ankle, unwisely. "I could hurt both of you!"

Her protests had no effect on the curious horses.

"Are you dead?" Anna approached until she was close enough to nudge her foot into Mila's side. At her approach, the horses backed away: at least Anna could control them.

Wary of her powers, Mila rolled away from Anna's testing.

"Then why are you lying here?" Anna asked, taking a step back so Mila could rest comfortably on her back again. "Powers still out?"

"They're worse." Mila couldn't hold back her pout. The rest of her energy went to holding off the tantrum she felt like throwing at the mess she'd found herself in. "The moon's still here." And if Anna was up, that probably meant two days had passed by now.

Finally, Anna's forehead wrinkled, her first sign she believed Mila.

Curling her fingers into her skin, Mila continued, "And I'm killing plants. I..." She trailed off, her shifting form taking the words from her. She couldn't voice her fears of hurting animals, or Anna; she tightened her grip on her chest until her skin started to break.

Anna shushed her, kneeling on the ground. Her thumb smoothed under Mila's cheek, though tears hadn't started yet.

"Don't," Mila murmured, pulling away from her grasp.

"Mila, nothing is going to happen to me," Anna said, drawing Mila's back. "If you were such a risk, the horses wouldn't be around you. Besides, this is just... different. Something you have to learn to control."

"How?"

Anna sighed, drawing her hand back into her lap. Her gaze lifted unseeingly to the sky. "I hardly knew how to teach you about your former powers." As in, she didn't even know where to start with these.

As her resolve strengthened, Mila felt her normal age come back. Not that Anna could see it: she'd hear it, though, when Mila made her plea. "Tell me where he lives." Surely Anna wouldn't say no now, with everything out of balance.

"Mila..."

Unbelievable.

Emotions swirled through Mila, too fast for her to identify. She closed her eyes, trying to gain her control before she slipped forms again.

Anna said something, but Mila drowned her out. She'd said to wait, and Mila had. How much longer was she supposed to go on like this? Maybe she needed to tell Anna more details about meeting the horned man.

"Mila!"

Mila didn't answer, debating how much trouble she would be in for withholding her moment with the horned man for so long. But with Anna not believing her, there really hadn't been a good time—