TBATE - Strings of Fate

1 - Detestable Weakness

--AGRONA--

I stumbled forward, breathing hard and feeling weak due to exertion. Golden and purple motes started fading as I looked at the infant human sitting in front of me and scowled. Another failed experiment.

I sighed and stood up, pondering what I had learned, and what my next steps should be. I followed the instructions I had pieced together from the ancient mages' ruins perfectly. The ritual was supposed to be perfect. So why, then, did the child's body refuse to bear a reincarnation?

I slammed my fist into a table, breaking it in half and showering splinters across the room. After reviewing my notes about the ritual, I couldn't find any fault in my execution of the ritual. Everything was indeed perfect. Suddenly, I realized something. Perhaps, the issue wasn't with the ritual itself. Perhaps, the issue was with the materials I used.

I looked around the room at the remnants of the ritual. More than a hundred humans lay dead, and many more were trying to stagger away in fear.

In the center of it all lay a single human infant, its frail body helplessly weaker than those used to fuel the ritual, who were in turn helplessly weaker than me. These lesser beings were too weak. I needed stronger materials.

I flicked my wrist, an action that took me no effort, yet was still able to mercilessly slaughter the escaping lessers. I looked at the infant one last time, my scowl deepening as I did so. This failed product was no longer necessary, I mused, killing it with a thought.

I returned to my notes, looking for anything I missed. My last lead had been exhausted. Now, I just needed to do more research, and more waiting. I decided to put some more effort into the Dicathen invasion plan. It was going smoothly, yes, but it was the limiting factor of my goal. It must be rushed where rushing is possible.

I called back the people looking for Sylvia and our child and allocated them to the invasion plan. Sylvia wouldn't be able to hide forever, and after this was over, she would have much fewer places to hide.

I cleaned up the materials that would give away the inner workings of the ritual, then called Seris to personally clean up my lab, to make sure no secrets were leaked.

As I left, I heard her whisper to the dead infant, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Elijah."

Weak.

They're all too weak.

--TESSIA--

Weak.

I'm too weak.

I thought this, and many more things as I was sitting in the back of a carriage. Blindfolded. Gagged. Bound in what felt like a dozen ways, both physically and mentally. I couldn't move an inch, and even if I could, I didn't want to. The evil people who grabbed me out of my favorite hiding spot were too scary.

I had spent my whole life bound. All 7 years of it. Bound by my responsibilities as princess of an entire kingdom. Bound by the rules and guidelines associated with them. Befriend them. Hate them. Never trust them. I grew up cold after one too many betrayals. I had run away from my parents to defy them after they kept imposing new rules as I grew older. Walk like this, talk like that. I hated the rules, the responsibilities. I hated the bindings that I wore like clothes.

Or so I thought, a while ago. Now, I wouldn't mind some metaphorical bindings. I mean, I still hate them, but I don't care. I just want to get away from these scary people and go home. At some point, I lost track of how much time we were in the carriage.

As I continued to shiver in fear, suddenly I heard some loud sounds outside. As I kept hearing sounds outside, my fear grew. My body felt like it was getting bitten by my fear, all over. Having been reduced to pure instinct, I yelled, "HELLLLP! MOMMY! SOMEONE! ANYONE! PLEASEE!!"