Ch 1.37: Unrivaled

Elaina walked through the crowd, ignoring her lack of bra as she trudged through the sand. They day was getting overcast anyway, sun hiding away and clouds dimming the field so that people wouldn’t be able to tell as easily regardless.

“You really do look so cute like this.” Those words had rang through the back of Elaina’s mind for days now, the words Prisma has said to her right before leaving, when Elaina was still stripped and bound, right before taking that one final picture. She’d heard those words, believed them, and done everything she could to not think of them, since the meaning behind them was incompatible with Prisma’s actions. But the words were still ringing, now in the front of her mind.

She never saw me like that. That’s why she said we could never be together, so why did she say I was cute?

And why did Elaina’s chest feel like it was going to burst? She wasn’t running, but she still couldn’t breathe, and she wasn’t speaking, but there was still a lump in her throat. She never wanted anything to do with Waine again, knew that she couldn’t have been part of their group, but she thought she could be friendly with Prisma alone at the very least.

The thoughts of a naive girl. Prisma wasn’t the one who came up with the idea to torture Elaina, obviously, but hers were the hands that held the scissors. She was sorry for everything, she’d said so multiple times, but she had done it anyway. She was capable of doing terrible things, her idea or not, coerced or not. Someone like Carline couldn’t do that to Elaina. Someone like Tira— Well, that was different, obviously. Tira wouldn’t do something like that if she knew she was actually hurting someone.

Elaina approached Professor Ranlit’s table, and the teacher looked up and smiled. “Yeah, I was a little surprised when Brink showed up, but when I realized I’d already sent Prisma to ring one I knew I would be seeing you again soon enough.”

Elaina huffed. “Yeah…”

“You look upset, but don’t be. Brink’s no master, but it’s impressive for you to beat anyone with training when you haven’t had any. Prisma’s unrivaled here at Endrin, in a league of her own.”

Of course she is. “She’s that good?”

Ranlit nodded, looking over in the direction Prisma’s ring would be with a warm glance. “The best, nearly. I taught both of the Fireguards privately when they were kids for a couple years, before I came here as a student myself.”

Elaina’s ears perked up. “Both?”

“Mmhm. Prisma, of course, and her older sister, Kohpicia. Prisma has always been a natural with any type of sword, but Koh was actually the best, still is. I said they should hire her for this position instead of me, but, well…” Ranlit shook her head, frowning. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be bringing up school administrative stuff like that. She is a better fencer than me though, has been since she was a teenager.”

Kohpicia. Koh. That had to be the girl Elaina had seen in Prisma’s crystal portrait, when Tira had been going through it. She hadn’t looked that much older than Prisma, really, but if she was in the running to be a teacher at Endrin, she must’ve been old enough to have graduated at least.

“Anyway,” Ranlit said, writing down on the paper in front of her, “ring eight. You’ll find your next opponent there. I’ve taken up enough of your time with my nostalgia, and there are four rounds left, so get going.”

Elaina nodded and walked off, chest still heavy in more ways than one. She was cognizant of that again and covered her breasts with one arm as she walked. A sister. There was still so much about Prisma that Elaina didn’t know, that she still wanted to know. She hated it, that she couldn’t just let the girl go. They’d known each other for an hour at most before everything had gone to shit, so why couldn’t she just drop it, forget about it all?

That hour was still burned into her mind. Carline and Tira were great, consistently, but hour to hour, Elaina wasn’t sure any period of equivalent time could match up to how she’d felt with Prisma on that first day. Carline had been watching Elaina a little, already knew about her before they met. Tira had been kind from the start, but was just doing her job trying to protect students at first, at least. Prisma was just so kind from the start, right up until… Elaina just wanted that first part back. Gaining new friends was wonderful, but she couldn’t stand losing one friendship, no matter how brief. She knew things had gotten fucked up, but she was willing to try and move past it now. She just needed Prisma to be willing as well.

Ring eight was easy. Ring seven after that was easier. Ring four was better, than them, better than Brink even, but none of them compared to her. Elaina cursed herself, cursed her sword, cursed having learned so much about this damn rapier from a handful minutes with Prisma. To follow her opponent’s eyes, to focus on their footwork, to strike where they would be instead of where they were. Those where the things Prisma had done to read her, she realized, and with Elaina’s class-enhanced reaction speed, she could do it to anyone else she faced.

Last round: ring two. I’ll be right next to her. Elaina knew that Prisma wouldn’t have lost a round. She’d done everything she could not to face that way in her fights, but there wouldn’t be much of a way to do that when she had to walk right up to her ring anyway.

Prisma wasn’t there though. Ring one was empty, actually, which didn’t make sense. The winner of ring one stayed there, right?

“Oh fuck,” Elaina heard from behind her, a painfully familiar voice. She turned, seeing a scowling, red-faced Waine Ferris. “How the stars are you even at ring two this late in the tourney?”

Elaina sighed, drawing her sword. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Not so fast! You lucked out last time, but with no aspects, on an even field, there’s no way you can beat me. I want to re-wager.”

Elaina rolled her eyes. She’d seen Waine’s attempt at fencing before, had even blocked his one attack while he used Control, but there was nothing more he could offer her. She truly didn’t care about him anymore. “I don’t want anything from you. I just want to get this over with and shower.”

Waine smirked. “You sure about that? I heard about your little spat with Prisma earlier, commando-tits. She won’t tell you the truth, but I can.”

Elaina froze. She’d been trying so hard to move past it, and this little shithead just waltzed up and thrust it right back in her face. Truth be told, she would have been happy just beating him with her training sword a few times, but if he could tell her why Prisma changed… She doesn’t want to tell you. It’s not his truth to tell.

“What do you want if you win?”

His grin grew. “I want you gone. For real. Go back to making baskets on the farm.”

“Sure. Start?”

“Start!”

His sword was on the ground, and hers slammed into his leg. “Point. Start?” she asked as he bent over to pick up his weapon, eyes brimming with panic.

“St— start!”

He managed to hold on to his weapon this time, but she stabbed the point of her rapier into his stomach, sending him to his knees, gasping for breath.

“Point. Do you need to yield?”

Waine pushed himself up, knocking sand off of his shirt and pants. “Fuck you, bitch, start!”

He ran towards her, the same frenzy in his eyes as when he’d rushed her at the start of their first duel. And then she actually felt it, the sniveling, whiny little bitch using Control on her. It was subtle, probably an attempt to get her to not notice it, only enough to slow her sword arm.

With her class at level two, it didn’t matter. She could easily resist the pitiful use of an aspect from him, and her speed was too great besides. She caught his sword on the guard of her own, drove it into the ground, and then cracked him across the side of the head. He reeled back, dropping his weapon again but managing to stay on his feet.

“Point. Tell me, now. The truth. And don’t ever talk about my body again.”

He spat at her, blood coming out as he did, laughing. “Yeah, alright. I’ll tell you the truth, floppy. She hates you. Hates your fucking guts.”

Elaina rolled her eyes and started walking away. “I should have known you wouldn’t hold up your end without peer pressure.”

“Keep lying to yourself, then. But she despises duds, and she knows what you really are. She might not be able to admit it to herself yet even, but I saw the look in her eyes after your failed Awakening. You can get lucky a thousand times, but you still don’t belong here, and she’ll never forget that.”

Elaina walked on, gripping her sword in her hand until her knuckles turned white. It was over, finally. The rest of the class was finished too, it seemed, gathered up near the table Ranlit was at. Elaina had to push through the crowd, covering her chest so she didn’t brush it up against anyone until she broke through. “I won,” she said.

Ranlit nodded, marking it down. “Congratulations. Here, you can stand next to me while we watch ring one.”

“What?”

“Oh, that’s right, you wouldn’t know. In the last round of a ranking tournament, ring one will hold off fighting until the end, so all the participants can watch. They’re the only two undefeated students left, and it’s good for everyone to see two high class duelists anyway, so I decided to keep to tradition for instructive purposes.” She got up, stepping around her table as Elaina watched. “Alright class, everyone’s done, so we’ll proceed to the finals. I’ll be your official referee this time. Contestants, please step forward.”

Elaina eyes fell on Prisma, stepping out of the crowd. She was pointedly ignoring Elaina, facing forward with regal determination, the essence of grace as she strolled into the center of the ring.

A dark cloud was rolling in, casting the whole field in deep shadow as Elaina turned to the opposite end of the ring. Prisma’s opponent was equally determined in her eyes, but her gait betrayed a hint of nervousness, the grip on her sword shaking as she made her way into the forward.

“Our final match today,” Ranlit said, “is Prisma Fireguard versus Carline Forsythe.”