It wasn't a fight. It was a one sided beatdown.
Small hands struck his chest, pushing him to the floor. The boy was young, but he was smaller, and his five-year-old frame couldn't hold up against the larger boy's strength. He curled up in a ball, protecting his head and his stomach as the other child kicked him over and over. A group of children surrounded the fighting pair, but no one stepped forward to help him.
"Monster!" One girl shouted with a cruel grin.
"Leech!"
"They should have drowned you when you were born!"
He tried to hold on, but the boy lands a kick to his head, causing his ears to ring. Blood ran from a cut in his forehead to his eyes, dying his vision red.
Enough.
He reaches out, grabbing the ankle of his assailant. The boy, startled, tried to pull it back but it was already to late.
His hand was on him.
The larger boy crumpled to the ground, unconscious. The remainder of the children stepped back, startled as he ignored his injuries and stood up, smiling, the coppery taste of blood in his mouth.
"You were right."
The other children were screaming, running away in the face of his power.
"I am a monster."
He was all-alone. Sitting at the edge of the temple steps, he put his face in his hands, and sobbed bitterly.
"What's wrong?" A young woman, sixteen or seventeen years old, sat next to him, a soft comforting hand on his back.
He briefly explained what happened, hesitating to tell her the extent to which he hurt the other children. When he had finished he looked up into her eyes, his face sad.
"Maybe I shouldn't have been born. They say I'm a monster, and I think they're right." He rubbed his tears away with the back of his hand, but his eyes immediately filled up again.
The woman didn't flinch.
"You are what you decide to be. If you decide to be a monster, then that's all you'll ever be. But you don't have to be." She gave him a quick hug. "You could be a hero if you wanted."
He pouted. "Easy for you to say, you were chosen to help my father with the Renewal. He likes you."
"That may be so, but he loves you, so I don't think you have to worry." She chuckled quietly as he rolled his eyes.
Looking out at the ground, where his blood and tears had soaked into the ground he sighed. "I hate my power. I wish I could be like you."
"Everyone has a purpose. You don't need mine, you already have your own." The young woman shook her head. "Keep searching for it. And until then, if they come to bother you, try to make you cry, show them a smile instead, even if it's a fake one." Placing a finger under his small chin she smiled brightly. "Just like this. Let me see it."
He smiled, and if it was a little strained, neither of them mentioned it.
"Good job Christopher, I knew you could do it! Now why don't you come inside, I made some cake, my sister's coming today!"
Christopher jumped up to his feet, excited. "Elsinore is coming?! That's great!" He ran towards the temple, before pausing, a genuine smile lighting up his face. "Thanks, Sophia."
Christopher woke up in a dark room, his face wet from tears.
Taking a moment to stabilize his breathing, he hid his face with his arm, giving out a quiet groan.
"What a worthless dream."
He knew why those memories were suddenly bothering him again. The encounter with that boy in the woods. The one who was in love with Erin. It had been a miscalculation on Christopher's part not to find out that there was someone who had catastrophic level Insight before coming in to contact with him.
Standing up, he looked in a mirror. He smiled lightly, the false expression naturally appearing on his face.
Years of lying, pretending. Of being used by others.
He wondered if this was what Sophia had envisioned when she told him to find his purpose.
Of course what did she know. For all her beautiful words she never even got to complete the Renewal. She ended up married to a general and murdered in a foreign country instead.
Now the only hope in the world rested on him bringing her daughter home.
The Christopher in the mirror looked frowned. For all that Erin looked like her mother, she was nothing like her. The easygoing temperament, the friendly atmosphere... none of it had been passed on to her daughter. She was cold, her eyes seeming to study him as if deciding whether or not to kill him. It made him uncomfortable. She didn't remind him of Sophia, she was a lot more like her father.
But she was the only one who could save everyone.
If only it could have been him...
CRASH!
His fist smashed into the mirror, breaking the smiling image in front of him.
He was not anyone's savior. He was a tool. A monster.
That was his purpose.
He would bring Erin back to Merion. Or he would die trying.
"Turn your papers over, students. The exam is over."
A mixed chorus of cheers and groans met the teacher's statement. Erin had already turned her paper over a while ago, and had been waiting quietly for the test time to be over. She gave a small grin as she stretched in her chair. Nothing in the exam had come as a surprise, and she felt that her position as top student in the theoretical portion wouldn't be threatened in the near future.
A loud, pained groan broke Erin out of her thoughts. She looked over with an amused expression.
"Still alive, Gerald?"
The young man in question had his face down on the desk. "Barely."
She patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sure you did fine."
Gerald's head snapped up, his face lighting up with enthusiasm. "Just remember your promise!"
Erin winced. "Yes."
Her unenthusiastic reply seemed to worry him. "You said if I passed, you would go to the yearly Formal with me!"
"Yes. IF you passed."
Getting a more positive answer, Gerald pumped his fist and cheered. "Super romantic date time! Awesome!" He and Olivia high fived.
"You don't have to be that excited."
He shrugged. "Yes I do."
Sighing, Erin looked over at Olivia. "And why are YOU so enthusiastic about this?"
"First of all, as a supportive best friend, I cheer on all your positive life experiences." She grinned, "Besides, more importantly, if you go, I get to pick out your dress."
"Who decided that?"
Her face had a rare look of stubbornness. "You never had a choice."
Looking out the window, Erin buried her face in her hands and sighed.
At least she would only have to go if Gerald passed the exam.
"I passed the exam!"
Several days later, Erin was met with an ecstatic Gerald and Olivia. Faced with their overwhelming enthusiasm, she could only nod her head, and leave them to their planning
As the night of the ball came closer, the group prepared for their trip to Merion. The "classes" with Christopher continued, with very little success. Despite his best efforts, the only person who ever appeared to pay attention was Gerald. Frederick and Olivia continued with their artwork, making a full-fledged comic series of Erin murdering Christopher in various painful and increasingly gruesome ways. Matthias slept through each class, attacking instantly with ice magic any time someone was foolish enough to wake him up.
As for Erin...
It was difficult for anyone but her to know whether she was there or an illusion. Both ignored everyone, quietly reading during the lecture, and left without a word. The group as a whole had actually assumed she never attended these classes, but on the week before the Formal, Gerald showed up with a drawing to add to the comic.
"See this is me and Erin getting married, and here are all our babies!" Gerald grinned proudly, handing the paper to Frederick who studied it closely before smirking.
"Why do the kids look like Matthias?"
"WHAT? No they don't!" Gerald tried to grab the paper back, but it was held out his reach by a laughing Frederick."
"They're pale with white hair..."
"It was drawn with black and white!"
"I think Erin's cheating on you."
"NOOO!"
WHOOSH.
The paper in Frederick's hand burst into flames. Startled, the group turned towards Erin, who they had thought to be an illusion.
"That's enough." Her voice was quiet, but no one dared to contradict her.
"Yep."
"Yes."
"Sorry."
"Guys!" Christopher broke in with a loud sigh. "You realize I was still in the middle of a lecture, right?"
Frederick turned to him with a confused expression. "Sorry, who were you again?"
Christopher then tried to talk to Erin, but she had already switched out with an illusion and escaped.
The day before the ball, Erin was walking to the forest to practice, mentally exhausted from all the last-minute fitting that Olivia had put her through. The girl was normally laid back and cheerful, but once it involved something she was passionate about, she was an absolute tyrant. Erin stretched, wincing as her stiff muscles protested the movement.
"ERIN! I was looking for you!" A young man with golden hair and eyes walked up, a friendly, casual grin on his face. Seeing Christopher approach. Erin ignored him, continuing on her way towards the forest.
"You can't ignore me forever." He trotted after her, slightly out of breath following the pace that she had set.
"..." Erin looked ahead, refusing to answer.
"Fine." Christopher huffed with annoyance. "You listen, I'll talk. I know you don't agree with this engagement, but this goes much deeper than just you or me. It's fine if you want to keep your own personal life." He shrugged. "Love is a fantasy anyways. People use each other, and when they aren't useful anymore they are cast aside. I don't know what you and that boy think you have, but once you no longer need each other it will fade soon enough."
"..."
"So don't ruin engagement that has far-reaching political consequences just for a simple infatuation."
"..."
Christopher threw up his hands. "Why are you so difficult?! Look, this may be difficult to believe, but the fate of everyone, the world, depends on this."
Erin finally stopped, and turned to Christopher with a cold smile.
"'Fate of the world?'" She snorted derisively. "A convenient phrase that sounds great, but at the end of the day is used by people like you to get what you want."
"I don't expect you to understand..."
"I understand enough."
"FINE!" He turned away. "We leave in a week. In Merion, people will be choosing sides. I suggest you choose the right one."
Erin watched him walk away, the restriction amulet in her fist digging deeply into her skin.
It was the night of the ball.
Erin stared at the mirror, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"Are you sure...?" She trailed off at Olivia's indignant expression.
"AM I SURE?!" She gestured at the reflection in the mirror, which showed a floor length dark red dress. "LOOK AT YOU! You look amazing! The cut is perfect, if I do say so myself." She chuckled. "Gerald is going to freak out."
"You look pretty good yourself." Erin had to smile at the other girl's enthusiasm.
Olivia held out her arms, twirling in a circle. "Do you like it?!" Her dress was wildly different from Erin's, a light blue ball gown covered in lace.
"It's perfect for you."
"I know."
The girls hugged each other briefly, and then parted as Erin glanced down at the amulet around her neck.
"Gerald is here."
"Only Gerald would hand his fiancé a tracker that would let them find him at any time." Olivia grabbed Erin's arm, dragging her towards the door. "Let's go!"
Erin dragged her feet a little, but allowed herself to be pulled out of the room.
It was time to go to a ball.