“Can't believe that worked! I won!” she taunted, looking like a smug giant from my place on the ground. “What did my soul feel like?”
“Like cold gelatin,” I snarled. “Up until you tried to burn me to death.”
“So it did happen the way I intended.” She flipped the blades back into their holsters. “That proves the theory I was testing.”
“What theory?” asked the doctor, pen hovering over paper.
She stretched her arms to the sky and yawned, bored of being so insufferably clever. “He said Olivine's soul temperature changed based on her emotional state. I took note of that and used it to trick Badger into getting close.”
“Yeah, noted,” I grumbled, brushing the dirt from the back of my shirt. I hoped to at least prolong the fight, but it ended up being my quickest loss yet.
“Maybe we should call it a day,” suggested Mercury, making himself small in the shadows. Something told me he didn’t want to get roped into fighting Sharp as well.
Ivory stepped up, her aura thick with tension. “Not so fast. What about our challenge?”
Willow raised his head, surprised, like he'd already forgotten. “Oh, that’s okay. We don’t have to.”
“Don’t be a coward, Strawhead,” teased Mercury with a swagger of his head. “Are you afraid of my tiny mother?”
“I’m not,” he argued, but I sensed he wasn’t sure. “Let’s go then. Show me what you can do.”
On the surface, Willow appeared to have the advantage. Charm wasn't meant for fighting, and Ivory was smaller and thinner. Neither of them had a weapon, but Willow’s natural ability to fly gave him the edge. However, the amused faces of the Topaz Clan made me think my friend would regret this.
“Same rules?” She faced him at the center of the Meadow. “You win if you subdue your opponent or get them to admit defeat?”
“Correct.” He started to rise from the tree, like invisible clouds were taking him to the sky. “I’ll warn you, I’m just as hard to catch as Badger.”
“Let's begin,” she said, standing completely open. After about ten seconds she asked, “What are you waiting for?”
Willow wasn't the only one that looked uncomfortable. The mood was growing more tense with each passing second. Even in this context, attacking Ivory didn’t feel right, like attacking a defenseless bystander.
“What's wrong?” she questioned after more time passed. “Aren't you trying to prove something here?”
“I'm just… thinking.” A sheen of sweat was forming on his face. “You must have something up your sleeves.”
She looked with innocent skepticism at her bare arms. “My power doesn't work if I try to lie or trick you. I just don't want to make the first move.”
“I know…I just…need to think for a second.” He was gripping his hair and subconsciously descending back to the Meadow floor. “Maybe there isn’t a point to us fighting.”
Ivory tilted her head. Her voice was the wind in the leaves, quiet and all around. “Come on, you're already giving up?”
As soon as he landed, he was fidgeting with his wind scarf, more uncomfortable than I’d even seen him. “No, I just don't see the point of doing this anymore…”
“Stick to your word!” Sharp cupped her hands around her mouth. “Give up if you can't do it!”
“I can but… it doesn't feel fair…” he stuttered, shrinking at the attention for once. He positioned himself to move but was frozen in place. After another moment he blurted, “Fine! I give up!”
Ivory giggled and flipped her golden hair over her shoulder. “Looks like I’m the winner.”
“What? We didn't even fight!”
“You gave up. I won,” she said, using Charm to pull back the tension. “Did you forget the parameters we agreed to?”
Piranha fell backwards laughing, kicking their cat legs in the air and clutching their stomach. “Dear Creation, she's right! She beat you without even touching you!”
Willow didn’t know if he should be embarrassed or impressed. He shook his messy hair and mumbled, “I can't believe you just got away with that.”
She shrugged. “This is the power of Divine Seven, and why the burden of being king has fallen to me. I could bring down an entire army without a single casualty.”
Ivory stared at the palm of her hand, an indescribable melancholy now hanging in the air. There was great strength to this power, but I wouldn’t pretend not to see its weaknesses. She did not have the luxuries of selfishness or privacy. Ivory’s truth was always laid bare.
Willow shook her hand in defeat, a humble smile on his face, and our first day of training was over.
Later that night, I caught him staring upward, eyes lost in the black night sky. I sat next to him.
“Silver for your thoughts?” I asked.
He was silent. For a second, I thought he hadn’t heard, until he sighed, “You don't have enough.”
“Humor me.”
He rested his chin in the palm of his hand, taking a long moment to process his question. Finally, he asked, “Do you think Ivory wants to be king? She didn’t choose the power she was born with, so why should it be her responsibility?”
Responsibility. It was on my mind too. I ran my fingers through the lush purple grass and said, “Sometimes what’s best for the world isn’t the best for the individual. The Divine is not meant for personal gain.”
He sighed, eyes fixed on the stars above, face dappled with light. “If I was given that type of responsibility, I'd be too selfish to take it.”
