My Sister, The Chosen One

Thirty-Two

X Ambassadors- Unsteady

Sasha:

Relief. My mind is clear. A part of me keeps wondering why I had been so reluctant to let go. Sitting here, going through all of the information the other Aces have given me feels better than all of the worries that had been burning me up inside. The problem now is that, without the heat, I don't know how to control the void. I don't know how to channel it without another element. The journals say there has to be a balance. I don't know what that means. A balance of what?

"What the hell is happening in here?" I looked up at Lilly Airstrike.

"Lilly," I greeted her.

"Oh, s**t. Elias wasn't lying when he said you went into business mode," she walked into my study. "I love what you did to your room. The gray with the red roses. Beautiful,"

"Thank you. It's my favorite aesthetic. No one around here appreciates art," I sighed.

"Ooo, sassy. I love it. What is happening to this wall?"

"Oh, I'm learning everything in the files Sesshomaru sent over," I looked up at my information wall.

"Is there a particular reason why it's in a circle?" she asked turning her head to read the upside-down letters at the bottom.

"Yes, the void inside of me spins like a tornado. I have to spin the information to remember it and it's easier this way,"

"Oh, sure," she nodded. I reached for her pastel pink hair and smiled. She stands out a lot in this room and it's pleasing. "You're a blossom fairy, yes?"

"Yeah," she nodded taking a step back. I pointed at the wall and scanned through the information and pointed at what I wanted to show her. "Does that say they mimic the effects of our sleep poison in some of these pills?"

"Yes," I nodded. "I didn't know Dylan could do that. Cool, huh?"

"Deadly but sure. That too," she nodded.

"What can I help you with, Captain?"

"Right, I just wanted to apologize,"

"For?"

"Well," she sighed heavily. "Is it weird that I'm dating your ex? I mean we just kind of clicked,"

"Oh, no not weird at all. I think he could use someone like you in his life. However, it is a little inconvenient but it also opens up new positive possibilities,"

"What?" she shook her head. "You know that sounds terrible coming out of your mouth right? Inconvenient? New positive possibilities?"

"Sure, yes. I do know that but I don't really care," I shrugged. The shock on her face melted away. She looks upset.

"I thought we were friends,"

"Do you want to be my friend or do you want to work with me? You and I can't be friends if you are dating my boss,"

"But we could when you're dating mine?" she countered.

"Did you date your boss and help him get to the position he's in so that you can use him to ensure the survival of our world?"

"No?" She looked away confused.

"Then it's not the same,"

"What happened to you?" she asked. "Why are you so-" she looked me over. "Blank?"

"I expelled the fire element from inside of my void. It was making me passionate,"

"Right, okay," she sat down, rubbing her temples. "Let me guess, Redwood told you that you needed to learn how to control your void without the use of elements before you keep them trapped inside of you for long periods of time?"

"No, I told him I liked him and I believe he wants to know if I would still like him without the fire,"

"Sure, sure," she nodded. "Gotta double-check. What's the verdict?"

"Verdict?"

"Do you still like him?" she laughed.

"I still think about him a lot. He was the first person I wanted to see when I woke up yesterday. Does that answer your question?"

"Yeah," she nodded with a smile on her lips.

"Are you here to see if I had a problem with you and Ace?" I asked.

"Also, yeah," she nodded. "You guys were a mess, huh?"

"Yes," I laughed. "For a long time, I wanted to stab him in the jugular. Part of me still does,"

"I see why," she sighed. "Question, you don't have to answer it if you don't feel comfortable,"

"All right," that piqued my curiosity.

"Why does he sit around staring into space?" she asked. "And why does it make him so sad?"

"Oh, that's a fairly easy question. He tends to think about the people he's killed that were close to him. Ice fairies of his linage function at full capacity all the time because they're always sad and angry. It's a training technique passed on from generation to generation. These next five years are critical for him. See, running at magic at full capacity like that is like a muscle. The more you use it the bigger it gets. He is already stronger than any of the Ice Royals including the Hailstorms. When his wings reach their full size, his magic stops growing. It freezes in the state it's in the moment the timer runs out and it remains that powerful until the day he dies,"

"Sweet fireflies," she stood up. "So, making him happy for the next five years is out of the question?"

"Of course not. Pain is a very strong emotion but you know what crushes pain? Happiness. Moments in time so grand that we forget how utterly broke we are inside. My advice is to give those moments to him. Start off small so he can channel both the pain and the joy together. Double the power. Time all these moments and the night of his final training day, give him the best one. Huge surge of power," I stood up going over to my journals. "I have a few here starting from the day I saved him outside of the restaurant I used to work in,"

"I have a question about you? Did you ever love him outside of what you want him to do now?" she asked.

"Of course, I did. I fell in love with him first. He brought out something beautiful in me. I loved him for a long time before I started all of this. I included him in everything. All of my plans. I opened them up to accommodate him and what he wanted and fixed it so that we could both get what we wanted outside of one another and together,"

"Then what happened? Why did you fall out of love with him?"

"I didn't. He did. He decided that I wasn't enough or maybe I was too much for his life. The more I pushed the further away he stepped. He loved his power more than he loved me and it hurt me. So, I removed him. He no longer deserved the role of the King on my board. That place is blank but there is one that is wiggling his way in there,"

"Redwood?" she smiled.

"Is that all you needed? Would you like to take the rest of the journals? I don't need them anymore. They're all there for sentimental value,"

"Why would you be sentimental about something that hurt you?"

"He did hurt me, Lilly. Deeply and I got over it. It made me stronger. It gave me a sense of self-worth. I learned to love certain parts of myself thanks to him. I will always care for him as a friend. I know exactly what not letting go can do to someone. What it did to me and once I figure out a way to find closure, I never want to feel that way again,"

"Blank you is like super wise," she laughed. "Thank you for the journals. One last question,"

"Sure," I smiled.

"If you were to put random books in your void would you retain the information as long as it stays in there?" she shrugged. I sat back looking her over.

"I'm not sure. I've never thought about it that way,"

"Okay, well. Let me know if it works," she took the six other journals with her. She paused setting them down on the ground next to her. "Are these your sketchbooks from when you were a youngling?"

"Yes,"

"May I?" she asked.

"Just one," I went over to her a picked the one I dedicated to my mother. She sat down crossing her legs before opening it up.

"This is from your red tulips phase," she whispered to herself as she flipped through the sketches. "You sketched all of your work before you put it on a canvas,"

"All of them except for my last one. The Vast," I nodded. "It paid for this compound when my assets were restored,"

"Who bought it?" she asked.

"Sesshomaru's father. He has it in his study,"

"You mean the massive painting behind his desk with the big bloodstain on it?" she asked.

"Yes, that's his father's blood," I nodded.

"Oy, fae," she covered her mouth. "Who's the girl in the painting?"

"No idea. I remember thinking about painting something just using black and I thought I fainted. When I opened my eyes again, I was on the floor and the painting was done. Before I could hide it, my mom took it. I never saw it again until I killed his father. He doesn't even know I was the one that painted it. Our secret, right?"

"Yes," she closed my sketchbook and put it back. "Why did you tell me that?"

"You're a fan. I thought I'd give you something to reward your loss," I lied.

"Because you're never going to paint again," she nodded. "That makes me feel oddly special for some reason,"

"Good, it's meant to. Now, I am going to go share your brilliant question with the others. I'll let you know if it works,"

"Cool. Once again, thanks for these. I will bring them back. I promise. We make an oddly great team,"

"I think so too," that's not a lie.

We both walked out of my study together. She left with my old journals. If she tells Sesshomaru I know that her loyalty will be his. She only cares for him and his well-being. He'll be taken care of even in his darkest days. If she doesn't tell him, she'll get tired of him eventually. She'll only ever like this version of him. Her loyalty to Ericson will remain. I hope she tells him. I never did because it was just too dark and I didn't want to deal with his emotional turmoil. That was one of the biggest signs that led us to where we ended up.

"You have a look," Rey commented when I reached the bottom of the stairs. I smiled.

"What look?"

"The 'I did something nice for someone' look,"

"I have a look that says that?" I laughed.

"Yes, it's very rare but it happens," he nodded.

"You're adorable, Rey. Where are the other voids?"

"Training room. I was coming up to invite you,"

"Perfect. Captain Airstrike just gave me a sweet idea. Go take some books from Breeze's room and bring them to us, please. If you can't read the name on the cover, it's perfect,"

"What for?"

"You know how when I have other elements inside of me, I take some of the personalities of the fairies with that element?"

"Yes? No. I didn't know that. I just thought it was weird," he shrugged.

"She asked if maybe I could do the same with information. Books and stuff. If I tossed them into the void like I do the elements, if I'd know the information,"

"You have an eidetic memory. You don't need that,"

"Yes, but what if I can remove that information by draining it away, the way I did the fire?"

"Why would you need that?"

"To pass information through the voids so no one else can ever see it. Trait secrets like our plans of Aldrich domination," I said in a duh tone.

"You're f*****g diabolical," he shook his head. "Just when I think I've gotten over you," he laughed. "I love you, Sage. Never ever stop being insane,"

"Thank you," I felt a rush of air-flow through me. "That felt good. Two for two today,"

"Okay," he laughed. "I'll go get the books. Go share with the others,"

I let the wind inside of me push me towards the training room. I haven't used my air element in a while and I have to say I've missed it. It's just me and the wind in my hair. I laughed when it swirled making me spin around uncontrollably. I cried out surprised when my chest smacked against someone. I looked up to see Elder Redwood.

"Are you okay? What happened?" he asked worriedly.

"She was just playing with her wind magic," Elias laughed. "It's how she entertains herself when she's in a good mood,"

"What he said," I booped the Elder on his nose before taking a couple of steps back.

It stung, it stings, when he said he didn't want anything to do with me until I worked out my issues. It's not a lot to ask and I think it's sweet that he cares enough to give me an ultimatum. The last person to do that was my dad. He told me that if I wanted to continue pursuing art, I had to learn how to manage my finances and cooperate with my representation. Mom usually handled all of that but she was a lawyer and she didn't want to spend the rest of her life looking after my life's work. Ironic on a couple of things. One, she died a couple of days after. Her last job was putting together a press conference for the painting in Sesshomaru's study. A conference that turned into her funeral arrangement. Two, I'm probably going to die fixing the mess she didn't get a chance to.

"Right, I'm glad you're here," he smiled. "I wanted to go over some of your notes with you so we can start giving this information to the others,"

"Great. I have an experiment to try on us before you start,"

"An experiment?" Ishtar asked. "Will it hurt?"

"No," I answered. "I don't think so,"

"I got the books," Rey brought them over to me.

"Sweet. You honor me, my king," I bowed.

"Shut up," he pushed my head playfully.

"Books? Are you going to throw them at us?" Ishtar asked.

"Yes, I would like nothing else," I admitted. "However, not just because actually hitting you with one would be hilarious,"

"Hey," Rey scolded with a smirk. Elias huffed out a laugh.

"What do you want to do with the books?" Ishtar grinned.

"Well, this is a-" I looked down at the book to see it's a book on experimental explosive magic. "An advanced guide on experimental explosive magic. I want you to swallow the book with your void and tell me if you can answer some of these questions,"

I flipped the book to find some good ones. I'm not sure if they're good but it's a start. Like me, Breeze is annoyingly organized. Also, she doesn't write in the book directly. That is why sticky notes and flashcards were invented. I took the sticky note with the answers and handed them to Elder Redwood. I also wrote down the questions.

"I never thought of that. If we can do that, it would stay imprinted in the void's memory, not ours directly. Remove it and we wouldn't retain the information,"

"Correct. Where are the others?"

"Not here," Elias shrugged. I looked up at him with a glare.

"I sent them out to locate the names on the list you gave me," Redwood interjected when Elias began to get nervous.

"Oh, I thought we were going to do that tonight," I shrugged.

"Are you moping?" Elias asked.

"She is," Rey laughed. "I've missed this side of you,"

"Okay," I sighed. "Ishtar, think fast," I threw the book at him. He lifted his hand releasing a thundering burst of darkness from the palm of his hand. "I love that. I have to push it out from my wings,"

"I did too when I first got my wings. Do you want to see them?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes," I laughed catching onto his excitement. He glanced back at his older brother for permission. The Elder gave him a single nod. "We should stand back,"

Elias and Rey came to stand behind me. Elder Redwood kept his eyes on his little brother as if he were waiting for him to lose control. I let my wings hold me up and crossed my legs. If I'm going to catch the attack, I might as well be prepared. Ishtar Redwood is like a younger slightly timid version of Ericson. Which is hilarious because Ericson is timid as hell outside of his job. His hair is styled back. He had big beautiful milk chocolate brown eyes nicely framed with thick long eyelashes. His boyish features are classic. He dresses a lot like Elias. Even has that mean resting ass face.

Ishtar got down on one knee and began to chant in a hushed tone. His entire body began to release the darkness inside of him. The smoke around him began to turn into a cloud over his head before it began to rumble. I smiled watching as the lightning slowly began to coax his wings out of his back. The two black sprite wings burst out of him. I reached for the excess electricity stopping it from destroying anything around us. The few bolts that crashed against my skin feel hot. I stepped down in front of him when he finally looked up.

"How can you control it so easily?" he asked.

"I don't," I offered him my hand. "There is no such thing as control when you have that much pain inside of you. Suppressing it like that is doing a lot more harm than it isn't,"

His eyes are glowing with the electricity flowing inside of him. I stepped into him and smiled. I reached up to cup his cheek. He shut his eyes pressing his cheek into the palm of my hand. His body is trembling with everything he's holding back. I looked back at his brother knowing that he didn't know how to help him before. I can see the guilt in his eyes despite him trying to suppress it. This boy completely isolated himself. Kept everything and everyone away from home out of fear of hurting them because of this inside of him. I didn't get that from him the first time we were around each other. He hides it better than I ever could. Not that I really ever tried.

"Let it go," I whispered pulling him into me.

"I can hurt you," he shook his head. His voice trembling.

"I am one of four others you can't hurt, Ishtar. Just released it," I encouraged.

He tightened his hold on my shirt. I can feel the rumbling inside of him trying to get out. I let go of my void, letting it surround us. He took a deep breath and when he released it, the sound of the electricity made me jump. The loud screeching sound of rage broke the boundaries of my void. This goes further than mine does.

Normally, the color of a spirit fairy's lightning is yellow or a golden almost orange shade when the fairy is stronger than an average fairy-like his brother. However, he's suppressed it for so long that it's turned a deep purple almost black shade. He groaned in pain as the electricity rushed through him and into me. I pulled back to place both my hands on his face. He grabbed my wrists tightly as he started to run out of stamina. I slowly lowered him to the ground. Once he didn't have anything left inside of him he passed out. His wings pulled his void inside of him and finally settled with a golden powder around them. I pulled my own when it was finally over.

I can feel the electric current of his abilities coursing through me. I laughed feeling heavily charged. I can see why spirits fairies are fueled by their anger. Why most of them choose war over peace. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Anger flooded through me when I turned around to look at Ericson Redwood. Without thinking I swung at him. My fist connected with his face. His head whipped around and he stumbled.

"f**k," he blurted out.

"Why would you do that to him? Did you hear the sound that pain inside of him made? That scared the hell out of me, Ericson. Never ever in your f*****g life tell him to suppress all of that. What the hell is wrong with you? That could have killed him,"

"If the council found out what he was, they would have killed him. They would have stopped at nothing to get to his body. I had to protect him. All of them," he wiped the blood from his mouth angrily. "How is what I did any different than you hiding Breeze away?"

"I'm not making Breeze keep all that power inside of her locked away. I'm not hiding her to keep anyone from knowing her power, I'm hiding her until she can finish creating those stupid f*****g trees before I unleash her on all of them. This realm belongs to her and I will rather die than to keep her from expressing who she is the way you did to your brother. He's a kid and he needs you to teach him how to protect himself without hiding who he is,"

"I didn't know how to help him. I've never seen anything like that until I met you," he shouted frustratedly. "And you two are completely different. I didn't know he could do that until now. He doesn't like releasing it because someone always gets hurt. It's too hot for me to handle,"

"What happened to him? What did he see?" I asked turning away to look at Ishtar sleeping peacefully.

"He doesn't want to tell us," he sighed.

"We should get him to bed. We'll ask him the questions later," I knelt down next to him and pulled at his collar. "He's like me,"

"What do you mean like you?" Rey asked.

"He's a Sage. We need to help him control it before it kills him,"