Powerless

XV - Lonely

"Myrsky?" 

"Hmm?" Myrsky answered me, while lifting droplets of water and freezing them one by one. 

I took a deep breath. "Can I ask you something about... the Stormlings?" 

"Sure." she said, not looking away from the flying ice. "What do you want to know?" 

"What were they like?" I asked. "Were they behaving any different when they were not invading this place?"

"Actually, yes." Myrsky said. "When there were no Shinelings around, they were actually really nice people. One big family." The frozen droplets were starting to form a structure. "The leader was the leader, that was to be clear, but the rest of us were all brothers and sisters... That's why I was so happy to be part of it." 

"That's odd." I mumbled.

"What's odd?" 

"They don't seem like the type of people to leave you behind." I said. "I know that if I had brothers I wouldn't leave them to die during an attack. I wouldn't leave you behind either." 

"I was never their sister." Myrsky said, and the ice castle she was building broke in two by the shaking of her hand. "Oh no..." she cried. "I was so close!"

"Sorry!" I said, and caught the falling castle parts with my power. "Sorry, I'll fix it for you." I had it fixed in a second, but Myrsky didn't even look at it. She just sat there and cried. 

I put my arm around her. "Hey." I whispered. "What's the problem?" 

She shook her head. 

I looked around, but there was no one else in the hall. "It's okay, you can tell me anything." 

"I was never their sister!" she cried. "I was never part of it. I only told myself that, but meanwhile they all avoided me. I saw it, I heard them talk about me like I was a smelly bin instead of a human person. I lied to myself, all that time!" She clenched her fingers around my shirt, as if she'd die if she let go.

I didn't know what to say to comfort her. So I said nothing. 

"I wasn't supposed to have anything in the first place!" she sobbed. "Whatever I have, I lose. Whatever I make, I break. It has always been that way!" 

"No!" I said. "You won't lose us." 

""Us?" Who is "us"? Listen to yourself, Luci!" She lifted up her head; her face was all wet and red. "What are Shinelings more than a bunch of people defending themselves from the real power? Nothing! They're only united by their common enemy! They're only nice to each other because they're afraid to be lonely!"

"Not me." I said determinedly. "You aren't just a person to me. You're more than that!" 

"Does that change the fact everyone else doesn't like me?" Myrsky cried.

"No." I took her hand and looked her in the eyes. "But it does mean that you're not alone. I won't let you down."

"Never?" she asked disbelieving.

I shook my head. "Never."