"You're Gerald's former fiancé."
At Erin's blunt statement, an awkward atmosphere descended upon the group.
Finally, Catherine lifted an eyebrow and turned to her brother.
"She even knows your dirty secrets and hasn't run away from you yet?" Nodding, she praised him. "Strong work, brother."
"It's more her temperament and strength than any effort on my part." Gerald's smile was a little strained, but the gaze he leveled at Erin was filled with genuine affection.
"You're lucky then."
"I know it."
The two siblings laughed together, ignoring the beautiful girl in white who stared at Erin with an enraged expression.
"How dare you say such slander?!" The angry voice of the girl Isabelle carried out over the crowd, causing many to pause and turn to stare at the source of the commotion.
Erin faced her with a calm expression, but her eyes carried a dark look that caused the other girl to blanche and pull away. "Slander? Was my simple statement not true?" She spread her hands, shrugging helplessly. "It is a fact that you were once engaged to Gerald, and now you aren't. Thus I called you his former fiancé."
"Impudent!" Isabelle's delicate features were distorted in anger. "How dare you call him so familiarly? Do think that the prince would be interested in a powerless commoner like yourself?" She smirked, looking Erin up and down as then shaking her head as if finding her inadequate.
"So you even govern how others call him? How... attentive... for a sister-in-law."
Erin's words hit home. The girl paled with anger, but tried to regain her former calm appearance, continuing with a sneer. "I have known Gerald for years. You can ask anyone, dear, we're very...close. I know all about him and his preferences. He would never be interested in someone so worthless."
Gerald furrowed his brow in irritation at the girl's words, opening his mouth to speak... only to be stopped by a smiling Erin.
"Worthless... what an... interesting... choice of words." Erin's face was a mask of pleasantness, but slowly the air around them cooled, everyone unconsciously pulling away from the violent and bloody intent that swirled around her.
Gerald whispered, "oh no." trying to reach out to grab her, but it was too late. She stepped closer, still out of reach to the other girl but still Isabelle scrambled backwards, trying to increase the distance.
"Stay...stay away." She muttered, her eyes filled with fear.
"Why so worried?" Erin's smile widened. "I was only trying to pick the spider off of your dress."
At her words, everyone looked over to Isabelle with surprise, trying to find the mentioned creature, but before it could be spotted the other girl screamed in terror, swatting at her skirt and spinning around.
"GET THEM OFF ME! GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF!!! NOOO!!" She tugged so frantically at her skirt that the fabric tore, causing the girl to trip and fall heavily to the floor. Still screaming, Isabelle ran from the room, leaving only startled silence behind her.
Catherine laughed, holding her stomach as she bent over, and soon the atmosphere in the room normalized and the general chatter resumed, as if the interruption had never happened.
"... Are you all right?" Gerald reached out to touch her arm, only to pull back when he saw the raw agony in Erin's eyes.
"I need to... I'm... Excuse me." Stuttering, she pushed her way through the crowd, almost breaking out into a run once she left the room. She followed random hallways until she reached an door leading to an empty garden. Sitting on the bench, she gripped the edges of the seat beneath her, her physical enhancement working subconsciously until her fingers sunk into the stone as if it were clay.
"Hey." A quiet voice called out. Startled she looked up, jerking her hands away from the bench, accidentally pulling out chunks of stone with the movement.
It was Gerald.
"What did that poor bench do to you?"
"Go away." Erin shook her head, not wanting to look at him. "This is your fault."
Gerald paused at that, before continuing with a sigh. "I'm sorry about Isabelle..."
"Not that girl. How is anything that crazy arrogant girl does your fault?" Erin looked back up at him, her eyes filled with pain. "She is nothing but another obstacle, someone in my path for me to step on."
"...So what's the problem?" Gerald probed gently.
Standing up, Erin thrust a finger into the young man's face. "The problem is that I care! I spent 5 years in that academy, beaten, spit on, called names... but it was all for my revenge and so it was worth it. But today..." She laughed, but the sound was hopeless. "It bothered me what she said. Not because of what she called me but because of who she is, or who she was. When she said she was very close to you, I felt... terrible. " She swallowed. "Like my chest was being crushed."
"Erin..."
"I have lived for nothing but revenge since I was thirteen, have never looked back, regretted my choices or envied others their lives... but it's not so simple anymore." Erin wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, it came away wet. "I can't see the path in front of me as clearly."
"..." Gerald reached out slowly, taking her hand in his. Hesitating to make sure she didn't pull away or want to escape, he pulled her into a hug. She hit his shoulder with a fist, and then pulled him in tightly.
"I didn't want to care, Gerald. This isn't fair."
She felt his smile against her shoulder. "Sorry."
"You don't sound sorry."
"I'm not really." He pulled away, his eyes sad but a smile on his face. "No one would be sad to hear the girl they like say they care about them."
"Even if that girl doesn't want to care about you?"
He shrugged. "Even then."
"Weird prince." She glared, but didn't pull away, a tenseness within her seeming to loosen.
"I'll accept it."
He reached out, holding her face between his two hands. "Erin... it's okay to like me. It's okay to be bothered when some girl pretends that's she's closer to me. It's okay to look away from your path to revenge every once and a while."
"..." She stared at him silently.
"You're more than just a weapon to kill your mother's murderer." His face was uncharacteristically serious as he spoke. "You're Erin, a slightly angry, very strong, smart person. You're a niece to Elsinore, you're friends with Olivia, and... you're the girl I love."
He leaned in, and kissed her, the touch so gentle it could barely be felt.
"So don't worry about how messy it gets. I'll be here to help you sort it out in the end."
"You mean that?" Erin was slightly stunned. "I might end up being a jealous woman."
He grinned. "Feel free to lay a claim in the form of matrimony any day."
They hugged again, and when they finally pulled away, Gerald looked at her quizzically. "By the way, what was with the whole 'spider' thing? I didn't see anything."
Erin grinned. "No one did, it was an illusion."
"Really? You're able to use illusion magic now?" His eyes widened with surprised delight. "Since when?"
"Actually... this is only the second successful attempt." She frowned. "It seems to be associated with strong emotions... I just felt it. You know what I mean."
He laughed. "Remind me not to make you angry." Thinking it over, he continued, "So what was the first time you used illusion magic?"
Thinking of the conjured image of Gerald, Erin blushed, made excuses and headed back to her rooms.
Gerald stood there in the garden, staring at her retreating back, a soft look in his eyes.
The next morning, everyone gathered in a large auditorium for the welcoming ceremony.
The students from the four academies stood at attention on a platform at each wall, facing the center of the room where an older man stood at a podium. Within the center space of the room, hundreds of people were crowded in, the air filled with excited murmurs and chattering.
The sound of trumpets broke through the general noise, and all quieted down to look at the man in the center of the room.
"Welcome to our guests, to our honored dignitaries, and to our student representatives! It is my honor today to declare the beginning of the 39th International Magical Competition." Standing tall, the man looked around the room with a proud gaze before continuing. "This prestigious gathering pits the youngest brightest stars of a generation against one another in multiple challenges of knowledge, ability and magical skill. I am looking forward to seeing your efforts."
Erin yawned as the speech continued, her eyes heavy. She hadn't slept last night well, her usual nightmares returning with a vengeance.
"Tired?" Gerald asked with a grin. "I think they might notice if you fall asleep up here."
"I'm doing my best to stay away." Erin whispered back. "But this old geezer isn't making it easy. It's just the welcoming speech, does it have to be so longwinded?"
"It's his only job for the competition, of course he's going to make the most of it."
"We still have two days before the first event even starts. What is the purpose of this sort of ceremony?"
"Apparently to welcome us?"
Aunt Elsinore, still in her disguise as an old woman, leaned forward and shushed them. "Flirt later children."
Gerald winked. "If you insist." He looked over at Erin. "How does late afternoon sound? Do you have an opening in your schedule for some flirting then?"
She rolled her eyes in response, looking back to the old man who was still speaking.
"... a long tradition of fantastic magic users, who have gone on to fill positions in government, military and research. We expect the best of you, because you are the very best." The man paused, shuffling his papers on the podium, and Erin held her breath, hoping the speech was almost over.
"Now when I was a young boy..."
Erin groaned, this was going to take forever. Before she could consider her options for escape however...
BANG!
The world exploded into light and sound. Erin was knocked to the ground, hitting GErlad in the chest as she fell. Stunned she looked around, seeing only chaos and destruction.
An explosion?
"We're being attacked!!!" Erin heard the shout, and felt her heart sink.
When I wanted the meeting to be more interesting, I didn't mean like this!