Planet Omega

Chapter 2

 I don't know where I am when pain explodes through my body. "Lineya?"  

 She loves to make sure my muscles are built up before even beginning to teach me any spell. And by that point, I'm too tired to bother beyond memorizing the incantation. Hours spent in the hot sun, sparring with a fighting staff aren't going to teach me jack shit, but I still do it to appease her. Her smile everytime I beat her in a fight is what keeps me going.

"Why do we have to do this?" I whine, lowering my staff.

And she laughs like I said the funniest thing in the world. "You wanted to learn magic properly, didn't you?"

"Yeah, magic. Not fighting."

"Callisto," she begins warmly, "we're doing this so that you can get stronger. Your body can't hold any magic if it's not strong enough to do so."

"Or you can just give me a piece of your real staff and we call it a day."

"But then how would you ever have any real power? The magic would come from the staff and not from you. When it runs out, only a shell is left. And I know that you, my dear, are anything but a shell," she replies with that glimmer in her eyes, the one that tells me she would walk to the ends of the planet if it meant giving me everything.  

I frown and stomp my foot at her, but grip my fighting staff tighter and raise it. "Again. Let's go again."

But the pain is...it's coming from somewhere else. I feel it shooting down my arm and my back. Lineya never lets me train when I'm in this much pain.  "Lineya, I..."

My eyes open the moment I try to reach out to her. They open.  I'm alive.

Barely.  The bed I'm in isn't my cot at the prison, it's much more comfortable. Somehow, sleeping in it made my body hurt even more. Where the fuck am I?

"Oh, good, you're awake!"

Nevermind, I remember where I am.

Emma's practically skipping over to me, a cup in hand. Her violet locks frame her face but don't even reach her shoulders. Of course she has perfect hair that bounces everytime she walks. I would expect nothing less from a pawn.

"I don't want it," I say, and my raspy voice makes me wince just a little bit. She knew I would be thirsty when I woke up and I hate that she knew.

"You need it," Emma replies, then sets the cup down on the table beside the bed. She moves to help me sit up. "And don't say you don't need the help. You may be stubborn, but you're also injured."

I glare at her but accept her assist to sit up because I don't have a choice right now. My dry throat is begging for water. 

Once I'm sitting, she hands the cup to me and then just...watches. I can't figure out if she's just not human enough, or too human with the way she acts. It fucks with me, because I know she's a pawn, but the only thing that really gave it away was the lack of blood from her own wounds. I wouldn't have known otherwise.

Greedily, I drink down the entire cup of water, and she smiles when she meets my gaze, like it somehow pleases her.  

"What do you want from me?" I ask her when she takes the empty cup. The edge in my voice is gone, but I'm still incredibly suspicious of her behavior. 

Emma's smile falters. "Want?"

"Pawns always obey commands, don't they? You were commanded to save my life and tend to me."

The visible confusion on her face confuses me. So now is when she chooses not to understand what I'm saying? Convenient.  

"Sorry, should I be asking yes or no questions only? I know pawns aren't the brightest."