Half of Two

1 : The meeting

All characters, plot, and everything else in this is mine and from my imagination. No one has the right to copy or claim this work as their own.

One was not enough. Three was too many. Two was prefect. Two was how it always had been, and how it would always be.

Natalie would be half of two. When she met her match, she would be part of two.  She would be part of two until the day she died, then her other half would find someone else to pair with.

This was what happened when your traitor of a father enlisted you in the military to free himself.

Trudging through the snow, boots sinking with each step, she stared ahead at the stone palace that stuck out of the mountainside. It was frightening enough without the guess at the doors with swords made of obsidian.

"Hello," Natalie said once she had managed she reach them. She dusted the snow off the top of her head to appear more presentable. "My name is Natalie Winster."

The guard on the left leg his eyes slide down her form, to the empty sword sheath at her waist. "And?"

Natalie pulled a scroll out from her pack and held it out. "I was told to come here to begin my training. I'm to enlist wherever I can fit."

The scroll was taken from her grasp as the guard on the right read it. He snorted before saying, "You're two days late."

Natalie's shoulder slumped. "I'm terrible sorry, but I got lost at the forest near the-"

"Follow me." The one on the left sidestepped so she could enter, pointing ahead. "Follow the torches on the right side of the walls. You'll find the others there."

Natalie bobbed her head in gratitude. "Thank you."

"Don't thank him yet," the one on the right wearily said. "And bon chance."

Why did he say good luck? What was she about to face?

Natalie shook the thoughts away and wandered inside. The warmth immediately sunk into her, and she left out a sigh of relief as she lowered her hood.

The ceilings were at least five heads taller than her, with intricate carvings of stars sprawled across them. Natalie stared upwards at them as she followed the torches, soon reaching a set of double doors made of a dark wood. She grabbed the handles and pulled before entering the long hall of full tables.

Silence filled the room as hundreds of heads and eyes turned to her.

Natalie froze. She felt blood rush to her face and knew she was going red.

"And who might you be?" The woman in brown robes asked from a podium at the far end. Her voice cut through the stillness.

"I'm Natalie." She cringed at the way her voice wavered. "I'm a late recruit."

The woman arched a brow. "Come forwards."

Natalie's footsteps echoed and she walked closer until she was at the woman's side. Her hands trembled as she handed over her scroll with her name and placement.

"You may call me Madame Ingrid." The woman's eyes flicked over the scroll. "And it looks like you fixed a problem of ours. You see, before we arrived, we had an odd number. Now we have even sets of twos."

Natalie didn't respond, looking out over the sea of heads to see if she could predict who her other half would be.

"Apprentice Natalie, I would like to introduce you to Apprentice Vice." Ingrid motioned to the crowd, where a young man slowly stood. "Go introduce yourself, and I will deal with your tardiness later."

Natalie hurried to where Vice was, keeping her head down to avoid eye contact with anyone. She slid onto the bench next to him and glanced up at him.

Vice kept his gaze up on Ingrid as she talked about the trials to come. He had black hair that was neatly trimmed away from his brown eyes. His lips had what seemed to be a permanent downward tip, and a birth mark under his eye.

"Hello," Natalie whispered, staring ahead at Ingrid. "I look forward to working with you."

He merely hummed, glancing briefly at her with cold eyes. "Don't get me killed, and we'll get along just fine."

Natalie nodded instantly. "Of course." She then blurted out, "I hope you don't kill me. You probably will, though. Oh, shit. You're going to kill me, aren't you?"

He sighed and faced Ingrid again. "Of course I got stuck with a chatty one."

And now Natalie was one of two.

Hello, everyone! I'm so glad to see you (again, possibly)

I'm very excited, due to this being my first original work, and I look forward to reading all of your comments and feedback!