The Air Out Of [Wattys2018 shortlist]

15

"Yes, mother." She sighs, the piece of paper still seemingly lingering in her hand. She attempts at straightening the fabric of her skirt to pass time, or maybe inspecting her perfectly manicured nails.

"Your majesty." The same guard from thirty minutes ago comes rushing back, "The lavine's have arrived."

Aspyn's gaze meets her mother's, except her mother, simply waves it off and points towards Aspyn whilst muttering, "I have no energy left for this. What you people do to me."

She realizes her mother has gone from a truly amazing queen, one that a little princess like Aspyn looked up to in every way, to an embodiment of hatred, using spite in every word. The stress punching her every corner she turns to.

"Let them in." Aspyn sighs, thank you, Scar.

Slowly, Jess and the others make their way into the room quietly, wondering what the news was about. Beside her, she could feel Mason tense up at the sound of revealing the news. Aspyn refuses to look anyone in the eye. "Lavine, Lavine, welcome." Her mother greets dryly, pertaining to the group, "Please, call me Luphoria."

Aspyn coughs sarcastically, earning the attention of everyone. "Anyway, I'm sure that Scar has told all of you about our code red emergency. Thank you, by the way, for rushing here as soon as possible."

"What's the news?" Jess asks, quietly. She hugs Ellie, looking afraid.

"A Covian has been killed." Mason spills, immediately.

"Let me elaborate," Aspyn sighs, glancing feverishly at her brother, who attempts at a smile. He fails, miserably. "First Covian killed by an Avinian in seventy years. That means that they're within the five-hundred-meter radius of the entrance. And if they've found a Covian, they'll know that they're getting closer."

"How long do we have left?" Leo sucks in a breath, glancing at Aspyn.

"A week max." Scar replies, "If I did the math correctly."

"You're not wrong, but five days is a more accurate estimate." She says, "We're wasting our time, follow me."

It feels strange that the teenagers follow her with no objections, specifically Scar who seems to have to get a word into everything, but she knows that this is a fragile moment, and it's finally time to meet with the other forces.

Specifically, a force.

"Meet Brea." Aspyn leads the five into a room she's been absolutely dying to show them. The combat room. "My cousin." Aspyn points her clipboard in direction of a girl who nearly has the same colored eyes as her, but a different colored hair, and less pale skin. The difference between the two, Brea was more messy, aggressive, and risky, while Aspyn was the epitome of neatness in every way possible.

Brea, from her tightly-fitted suit waves to the group before tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her jet-black elastic suit stretches as she moves into a perfect split and continues to proceed with her daily stretching course.

Jess notices the odd resemblance instantly, "C-cousin?" She stutters shyly, "You mean Avine's." She can't seem to finish her sentence without stuttering profusely.

"Avine's daughter, yes." Brea sighs as she kicks her legs up to a scorpion position which she holds. Her smile has faded and instead, she looks beyond the group. "But I hate him more than anything."

"Any more family that we should be aware of?" Louis asked

Aspyn chuckles quietly to herself. Now that would definitely be amusing. Her family was pretty messed up, no objections there. Her mother, Luphoria was the daughter of royal blood. Eldest, heir. But when Luphoria turned twenty - three, an astray man will silver eyes had magically stumbled upon Covia, with a daughter in his arms. The daughter was his, Brea, and the man, Avine.

He was not supposed to become royal. He hadn't even come close, but, when his anklet and necklace was smashed and broken to pieces, he learned that he was stuck, and had become a Covian.

Aspyn didn't remember much from when Avine was actually a normal man, but she did remember that he mourned for his wife dearly. He said that he had stripped his wife of her only daughter and her husband, an earthling.

Obviously, history played itself. Avine was knighted as a prince, for his silver eyes. A characteristic only royals were to have, the philosophers couldn't come up with a better explanation. And, when Luphoria was declared to be the Queen, he let the power get to his head.

Avine went rogue, then banished. And now, it seems that he has, in fact, returned.

Aspyn no longer understands why she's chuckling softly, maybe by a strand of luck that she seems to replay the events of her meeting with her mother, "No family. No."

"Specialties." Brea clasps her hands together, standing up from her gymnastics session. "I'm a strength. Flexibility might be more precise. Aspyn, as you know, is a tactic. Water-controlling powers, et cetera."

"I'm assuming this is the preparation for the fighting room, or whatever you call it." Scar grins.

"Combat room." Aspyn corrects. "It's time for your third simulation."

"Pardon, have we had a simulation before?"

Aspyn smiles slyly. "The first was 'testing' on your first day." She motions for Mason to start up the background check and simulated Avinian warriors. "And don't pretend you didn't go sneaking around Covia the other day."

"You knew about that?" Ellie bites her lip.

"What place would Covia be without their technology." Aspyn sighs. "Nothing, I tell you. Nothing. Or, war. We have idiotic psychotic citizens like Avine. He's not the first, but most definitely the worst. So much so that we've had to ask help from you five. I never really did get to thank you, by the way."

Mason shouts from the control panel on the side. "Let's start it. Come on." he grins, "Luphoria waits for no one."