Glistening Embers

Chapter 23: Kill the Witch

Glisteen was sure she paled when she realized who it was. How could Raya do that? Hepas had been annoying, and a few times Glisteen thought she might slap him, sure, but kill him?! What was going on?

"Oh, uh, hi, Aritraya." Glisteen choked the words out.

"You slept in late. Are you alright?" Raya replied.

Glisteen forced herself to calm down, and look Raya in the eye. "Yeah, I just stayed up late last night worrying about... the fight today." Glisteen stammered.

"Yeah, Yilasia's been worried sick. Rebeez is surprisingly powerful." Raya said, sadly.

For the rest of the morning, Glisteen forced herself to have conversation with Raya. It wasn't easy, but Glisteen thought she acted normal, pretty well.

"Well, I'm going to check on Yilasia." Glisteen interrupted their conversation, and, gladly, walked out of the room to find Yilasia. Glisteen soon found her. Yilasia was in her room, and Glisteen was trying to get her to come out.

"Yilasia?" Glisteen knocked. "Yilasia, you have to come out, it will be okay. Come on. What can Rebeez do? Cool you down with a little breeze? Yilasia, you have the power here. No worries."

"Yes! There are worries!" Yilasia yelled back. "I'm not like you! I don't have flames that I can blast people with!"

"You're right, Yilasia." Glisteen said, picking her words carefully. "You're not like me. You're kind, caring, and know how to make someone smile. You are powerful, Yilasia. Just in ways you don't see now. You need to come out and face this. The fight is soon."

The doorknob jiggled and Yilasia stepped out. "Okay." She said.

Glisteen smiled, "Let's get you some breakfast." They walked down the halls, and after Yilasia finished her breakfast, the announcements came on.

"Gifteds who are fighting, make their way to the arena. The remaining make their way to the stands."

"Great timing." Glisteen thought to herself, sarcastically.

"Oh, no." Yilasia moaned.

"Good luck, Sia. I know you'll do great." Glisteen hugged her sister and made her way to the arena. Glisteen walked to the stands, deep in thought. She knew these halls by heart now, and hated every inch of them. But Glisteen wasn't thinking about that, she was wondering who. Who had been in that room with Raya? Who had turned Telma into a monster?

She thought about it for a while. Showda had probably been there, as well as Talyah. They were both very shady. And of course, Raya. But who had been on the middle left? The silent one that had cut the ropes.

She removed her head from the metaphorical clouds as Sabecary sat down next to her. He pulled her close and kissed her. Surprised, she drew back. " What was that about?" she asked.

Sabecary traced her jawline, sending shivers down her spine. "You looked like you needed it."

She nestled close to him. "I'm scared, Sabecary. For Sia."

"She was fine the last fight-"

"The last fight, she nearly killed Reath!" She turned away from Sabecary. She was just so anxious and tired and worried... did she mention tired?

"Look, G. She's coming out right now. She'll be fine." Sabecary tried to reassure her. Glisteen bit her lip. She wasn't so sure about that.

Yilasia walked out of the arena, looking scared and unsure. On the other side, Rebeez flew in the arena, looking like a psychotic witch from a children's story. Well, technically, she was kind of like a witch.

The buzzer went off. Rebeez raised her right hand and pushed it forward, as if she was shoving Yilasia from across the arena. Yilasia went flying across the arena, slamming into the wall.

Glisteen gasped, both in horror and in anger. Sabecary put a hand on her shoulder. Glisteen looked down and realized a small fireball had formed in her left hand. She made a fist, putting the flame out.

Down in the arena, Rebeez was hovering triumphantly, over Yilasia, who had made no move to get up. "Do you surrender?" Rebeez called, in her lilting voice.

Yilasia doubled over as, if in pain. When she looked up, her hair had fallen over her face. Glisteen's stomach sunk. "Oh no." Glisteen thought. A streak of Sia's hair was bright green. Rebeez dropped a few feet.

"Do you surrender?" Rebeez asked, more threateningly.

Yilasia laughed, except it wasn't Yilasia. It was the voice Glisteen had heard through Yilasia's door. The voice of when Sia had lost control.

"Pathetic human. What a waste of a gift." Yilasia said in disgust. "Do you wish for me to show you how pathetic you are?" The crowd was going wild. "Silence!" Yilasia boomed. Everything was quiet. Glisteen's breath caught. "Do you?" Yilasia persisted.

Rebeez's eyes narrowed. "Show me."

Yilasia smiled. "Very well." She raised her left arm slowly up. Vines began to creep out of the ground.

A look of doubt washed over Rebeez's face, but was gone in an instant. "Is that all you have?" She started to raise her hands to blow Yilasia away, but she was stopped. A vine shot up and grew around her hands. Rebeez struggled, but the vine just got tighter and tighter.

Glisteen didn't realize she was up on her feet until she was at the railing surrounding the arena. "Sia!" she screamed frantically.

An arm was tugging on her. "We have to go back to our seats, G." Sabecary told her.

"I don't care! Sia!" she screamed again.

Now, there were two arms picking her up and carrying her away. Away from her sister, away from sweet, little, formerly harmless, Sia, who was about to do something horrible. "Put me down!" she thrashed in Sabecary's grip, but it was no use. He was too strong.

Sabecary gently put her down in her seat. She was almost sobbing now. "Sia..."

The green eyed, green haired being that was not Sia, turned around to look at Glisteen. "'Sia' isn't in control anymore." She raised her left arm up again, and flung it to the left. The vines followed her order, taking Rebeez with them.

Rebeez slammed into the side of the arena with a noise that made Glisteen want to cry out, but her vocal cords wouldn't work. Rebeez fell to the ground, lifelessly, like a doll, with her neck at an extremely painful looking angle. Yilasia advanced.

Sabecary picked her up and began to carry her away from the arena. Glisteen started thrashing again, panicking. "What's wrong with Rebeez? Let me see her!"

"No."

"But Sia-"

"That wasn't Sia."

"Sabecary-"

Sabecary put her down. "You can look, but I don't think you'll want to see." And with that cryptic message, Sabecary left the arena.

Slowly, Glisteen inched her way back toward the arena. Nervously, she looked down over the railing. She gasped at what she saw.

Sia was walking out of the arena, looking hollow. Rebeez... Rebeez was lying face down on the ground. Desperately, Glisteen looked for any sign that she might be okay, might roll over and groan.

But Glisteen knew that hope was pointless. Rebeez's neck was at an almost sideways angle. Her eyes were open in a frozen fixation of horror. She wasn't moving, wasn't breathing. She was dead.