Mirror, Mirror

2.02 Chosen Family

I'm scared.

I wish I had a mother here with me. How has every Ice Princess before me gotten through this without a mother to guide them?

Being an Ice Princess truly is the loneliest fate.

❖

It was Crystallia who found Starla hours later. She was watching the waterfall hours, shivering with her arms wrapped around her knees. By now it was well into morning, and the on-and-off snow had finally stopped. The morning sun peeked through gaps in the clouds, causing the thin layer of snow to sparkle and the waterfall to glitter slightly. Starla stared at the water numbly.

She heard footsteps crunch on the snow behind her, then stop. She didn't show any sign of being aware of the new presence behind her, but she silently readied herself. She waited.

"Starla," said the person behind her, whose voice she immediately identified as belonging to Crystallia. She internally relaxed a bit but didn't turn around.

"So, it's true then," Starla said numbly. "I'm not the Ice Princess. My entire life's a fucking lie."

"Why don't we talk over here," Crystallia said quietly, and something in the mostly even tone of her voice exposed concern.

"I'm not going to jump, if that's what you're worried about," Starla laughed bitterly. "You jerks can't get rid of me that easily."

Starla sensed Crystallia relax a bit at that, but not by much. She insisted, "I'd still prefer if we talked over here. I'm awfully afraid of heights." When Starla still didn't respond, she added darkly, "And I have bad memories of my sister once standing at the edge of this same cliff."

Starla ignored her at first, wanting to savor in the feeling of being pleaded to. She was irritated that it had taken several hours for anyone to find her. She would've expected more people to be concerned by her disappearance.

"Please," Crystallia said. "I just want to talk." There it was. The pleading Starla wanted. "I'll tell you anything you want to know. Just— please come back. We still love you."

"Fine," Starla said in a clipped voice. "You want to talk? Let's talk." She stood up and stepped away from the edge. Crystallia looked visibly relieved. Starla crossed her arms and lifted her chin, willing her body to stop trembling so much from the cold.

"So. Shall I address you as Master Crystallia, then?" Starla said challengingly.

"You can call me whatever you please," Crystallia sighed. "Whatever the King said to you— whatever you think about who you are— We're still family. I still love you and want to take care of you." Starla searched Crystallia's face for any betrayal of a lie in her words. Could Starla believe anything she said, knowing what she knew now?

"Ok," Starla said slowly. "I want to know everything. Who are my real parents? Where are they now? Why did my mother— the Queen, that is, why did she do... this?" Crystallia looked wounded at 'real parents,' but Starla buried any sympathy deep down.