Damage Done

“Rachna, Give it up! The mortals don’t deserve to live anyways!” She made another slash at me.
“Never Kinita!” I took a stab at her waist.
She spun around and gracefully dodged the attack; the sword looked like it weighed nothing the way she was swinging it. In mid-air, while she was spinning, she leaned back towards me. I knew all too well that this was her own move, and lethal. She had stolen this sword many times, but never to kill like she had now. “Kinita, what did the humans ever do to you?” What a stupid question to ask!
“They stole our mother, Rachna. She loves the mortals more than she ever did us!” I could see the fire burn in her eyes.
I clasped my hands together, and my hair flew back from the force. Like a laser beam, a green string of light came out of my hands and hit Kinita square in the stomach. She fell back on the ground and barfed, just enough time for me to take back the sword. I looked at her green and blue face and it looked pitiful. I could smell the vomit from here and knew I had better go. I thought about killing her right there, but she was still my sister. I made a long decision, and then shook my head and turned to leave; we had done enough damage.
“This isn’t over Rachna, I’ll get to you eventually.” She barfed again, “And if I can’t, you’re of no use. You’ll have to go.”
I knew she had tried to dodge the attack, and that this wasn’t a very big fight. This was merely a test of strength, and I didn’t do so well. If it was a real fight my attacks could have been fatal. But I got pretty scratched up during this fight though, and I just turned and said, “I’m not going down easily.”
“Fine, I’m ready.”

I was walking to the buses, and I knew I had to warn him. I knew he was in terrible danger. “Hey, Jared! Wait up!”
He glanced back at me, “See you later guys,” he said to his friends. “What?” it was short and simple, he must have seen the urgency in my eyes.
“Um, ok. This might seem sudden, but I need you to do me a favor. Stay away from Hailey, k?”
“What?” everyone knew they were “a thing”. This was a bad sign. Kinita was very dangerous.
“Hailey’s kind of… well, let’s just say you don’t want to know. Jared, I’ve seen this happen before. I know how it ends out. I know stories about Kin – um, Hailey that are too bad too mention.”
“What are you talking about? She’s my girl.” No actually, you’re going to be her pet. That’s usually how black magic works. Stupid humans, I see how Kinita tricks them so easily.
“No,” we were stopped and I spoke stern and serious. “You don’t get it! You mortals! She’s not human! She’s going to-“ I stopped as soon as I saw Hailey, or Kinita, walking down the path towards us. “Just stay away from her,” I said in the fastest whisper he could have heard. “She’s not safe. I’ll tell more later.”
“Well, hello Lea. Jared! How’s my boy?” She’s a great actor; she could pass as human any day.
“I’m good,” he said cautiously, looking at me for direction. I met his nervous glance with a steady glare. He didn’t believe a word I said.
I walked away, knowing if I said any more warnings to him Kinita might kill me right there. That would be very bad for Jared or any other prey. Kinita has very tan skin, and brown hair that she only ever brings out of her tight ponytail in fights. She’s tall and athletic like Jared. Except Jared was fair-skin and short brown crazy hair with natural blonde highlights. His face always showed some kind of humor, except when he was trying to focus too hard on something. She on the other hand was always alert, even if her expression she wore showed ease. She was always had a better poker face than any other immortal I knew, but my eyes can detect lies miles and miles away. When I walked away, Kinita whispered to me smugly something only I would, and could, ever hear. “Rachna, he’s mine now.”
My face, if I were a regular human, would have been radiating heat. My dull green eyes would turn sharper than a point on an arrow. My fists would ball themselves at my sides. I would be stupid enough to try and fight her off right there in front of a huge crowd. I’m not human though, and I knew we were both immortal, so I simply smiled and said, “Bring it on.”
I followed the bus, just to make sure. I had my invisibility spell boiling within me, so I was good. I am really an immortal, born from wilderness Spirits with special magic that mated with humans. The Spirits fell in love with the humans, and got immortals like Kinita and me. Some immortals turn against humans, and hunt them down like Kinita. We are, basically half-human. Except we have certain magic and immortality. You know, little stuff. Technically, I am a sister to Kinita. There are only three Spirits, and each has two daughters. I am the only one who has sided with the Spirits in thinking that humans should not be hunted down. My other four sisters have sided with Kinita because she has put a nasty magic on them, and they are under her spell. There is only one blade in the entire universe that has the power to kill an immortal. The Spirits have decided to give it to me because if Kinita dies, then the curse will lifted off my other sisters. Kinita is sly though, and she has stolen it.
I don’t see why Kinita practices her magic on the humans, just because they are weaker and fun to experiment your magic doesn’t mean that you should torture them! That’s wrong!
The Spirits, our mothers, they don’t care about us; they only care about only themselves. They think that they are the most important things in the world. All they do sit by The Sacred Pond of Answers and stare at their reflections. They don’t even ask The Pond questions, like they’re supposed to! The Pond gives you answers; it’s not just a mirror! But once the humankind is even slightly in danger, their world perspective changes! “Oh no! Save the humans! Save the humans!”
I don’t see what the big deal is; they care about measly humans more than their own daughters! I do hate the humans for taking away my mother, but I do not think they should die for it like Kinita thinks. I follow the bus all the way to his house where he gets off. In reality, I can run three times faster than a racecar, but the mortals would think that’s odd. When I use my magic, a fire within the pit of my stomach gets brighter. The fire is slightly brighter now because I am invisible. I take out my cell phone, and call Jared’s home number. I feel a sister nearby, and there’s only one that I’m really afraid of. Kinta and I are the eldest and most powerful. When we fight, ours is deadliest battle. It’s not the same if Jumi and Vala fight; they are the youngest. Their fight compared to ours would be more like a catfight instead of a sword fight. The last fight I had with Kinta ended badly, it wasn’t even supposed to be a big fight…
“Hello?” Jared still seemed confused. Mortals never took life seriously.
“Jared,” I said into the phone quickly. “You need to know something. Hailey is going to take you, don’t ask why, just be ready.” I snapped the phone shut and waited. I knew she was just going in.
I felt a breeze roll across my skin. I followed Kinita all the way to an abandoned house, where she put Jared down. His hands were tied behind his back, and he seemed completely silent. I don’t know whether he was scared, or whether he was waiting for something to happen, but he didn’t seem to want to say anything. Both their heads snapped towards me when I stepped in. Kinita was leaning against the wall picking at her fingernails. When she saw me she smiled a slick smile, and it made me feel uneasy about this whole thing. She leaned forward and I saw that in her hand the sword rested on her palm. “Well, hello Rachna. Nice to see you again sister.”
I glared at her, jaw locked. “You are not my sister anymore Kinita. My sister would never try to kill me.”
“Oh, maybe. Maybe not.”
She drew the sword and glided her fingers across the blade. “Well,” she was trying to sound official. “To make this fight fair, let us take off any armor.”
My eyes narrowed. She was acting like she knew I had some on. I waved my hand over my face with my palm facing me, removing the mist that disguised my face. I heard two simultaneous gasps. Kinita was in complete shock, “Sis! How-“
“Oh, you know Kinita. Last fight. You wouldn’t have stopped even if you knew,” I hissed at her.
I knew what they were seeing, and I had to see it every time I looked in the mirror. I had thirteen huge gashes across my face from the last fight. I kept hiding them because I didn’t want Kinita to think she was winning. They were scattered down from my neck to my forehead, and they were all over. My blonde hair was pulled back, so they could see them better than if my hair was down, but I didn’t plan that. Jared’s horrified face told me that I was truly gruesome-looking. “Sis,” Kinita said softly, still in shock, “This is horrible. I’m not a monster. I would have stopped.”
“Tell the truth!” I spat her, with my head facing the ground. “You wouldn’t have. Now, remove your armor.”
She sighed, “Be that way, sister.”
She cut the strand that held her hair up and a spark came from the ponytail. She threw it across the room and if disappeared in a puff of smoke. Jared looked as if he was going to vomit, and I wished he didn’t have to see our squabble. She drew the sword and got into position with the sword slightly over her head. I bent my knees and slowly put my hands out in front of me with my thumbs resting over my palms. My wrists seemed glued together and my eyes narrowed.
Kinita made the first move. She spun clockwise and jumped in the air. She had the sword under a tight grip, and wanted to stab me in the side. I bent over backwards and kicked her on the bottom of her chin with the top of my foot. I did I triple flip and when I was standing she was back on her feet. I mumbled some odd spells under my breath and uncurled my thumbs. I brought my hands, with my wrists still glued together, to my waist and then trust them towards her. Again, what hairs that were loose flew back from the force. From a mini black hole that my hands had created in front, I could smell salt water by the shore. I shouted some more curses on Kinita and salt water flew from the mini black hole I had created. I knew the water was cool, but what I held in my hands, the mini black hole, was raw power, and it radiated heat. There was nothing like raw power, it was like feeling the electricity go through a wire, except three hundred times more powerful. The water was poisoned with a mild acid that isn’t known to mortals, but it feels like it burns you to immortals. The fire inside of me burned with some odd intensity.
Kinita barely dodged the attack by going head-over-heels towards me and a little to the left. I was awe-struck by her attack, usually she waits then attacks and isn’t stupid enough to come straight at me. I spun clockwise and kept my arms straight out in front of me. It probably looked like I was going the speed of light, because I was. I was going so fast I was giving off a blinding light from the palms of my hands that were faced out. I heard a grunt and the sharp and quick high-pitched sound of metal falling onto wood. The sword was out of her hands. I stopped, maybe too fast, and realized that you were supposed to wait until you slow down to stop. I felt like I was full of air like a balloon and was about to fly away. When I gained my senses back in seconds, I saw Kinita on the floor with her hand over her eyes and the sword right beside her. I did a really stupid thing, and I jumped at the sword. Her hand left her eyes and after she blinked a couple times, she saw me and glared.
She stood immediately and right as I was going to grab the sword she shouted curse words at me and she flicked her hand. A lightning blot came from the tip of her fingers and it shot me back to the edge of the room in this house. She laughed like she was powerful and I was just another feeble sister that should bow down to her. Well, she can keep on dreaming. I got up and flung curses at Kinita and the mini black hole was back in my hands. Jolting more curses at her, a blue laser-type light shot out. When she tried to dodge it, it followed her like a missile and hit her in the back. She screamed out in hurt and I ran towards the sword she had dropped. She turned and looked at me with hate filled eyes and picked up the sword and just threw it at me.
Now, I don’t know if you’ve seen any swords fights, but usually it’s not the smartest move to throw your sword at your opponent. Especially when your opponent is me. Easily, I grabbed the grip and twisted and turned it until I had it under control. I yielded it to a stop above my head and my eyes widened in horror. Kinita had planned this, and she had shot a ray of red light towards me. I wasn’t a straight beam of light like the other, though; it was a huge glob coming at me. It came at me too fast for me to think about what it was or how to avoid it and it knocked me over in seconds. While I was on the ground Kinita put a spell on the floorboards.
Chains rose from the floor ungracefully and splintered the wood beneath it. It held onto me with such might that I could not escape in time before Kinita came over. The chains bound my feet and my hands to the ground, so I could not move. “Rachna, sister, friend.” Kinita came over with the sword and was gliding her fingers across the blade again, “Did you really think you could beat me?” she laughed at her own dull joke.
I fought against the chains, “Kinita! Kill me if you have to, go ahead! Just leave the humans alone!”
My centuries worth of muscles seemed to fail me, and the chains were too tight to slip under. Unless… “Rachna, stop it. You don’t want to die for them, do you?” she pointed her long boney finger at Jared who sat there in shock over the whole thing. “The mortals are weak and feeble. We are so much better than them, can’t you see sister?”
“You say mortal like it’s a disease, Kinta. Our father was mortal, and most of the world is mortal. We are not, that makes us better, but it doesn’t mean we should torture them just for what they are!”
“Oh, sister. It’s a pity, really. You would have made a good comrade.” She sounded disappointed that she had to kill me. Yea right, she has hated me since the day I was born. She is eldest, but she always wanted a brother. Instead, she got five sisters.
Now or never, I told myself. When she turned to get the sword, I shot a certain curse at her that made her snap her head at me. “You’re so weak, it’ll never work!” she shouted at me in disgust, but still she seemed afraid.
I fought against the fire burning too hot inside of me, that’s what it was supposed to do. This spell was supposed to test your limits, and once the spell was satisfied, it would give an unlimited power. Getting the spell to think you’re worthy was easier said than done. All I could think about was fire. Smoke seemed to fill my nose, my ears could only hear the crack of the wood, all I could see was red, orange, and yellow, and I kept choking. Every part of my body felt smoldering. All this time my body was in motion; my foot twitched, my fingers closed in on each other, or my head was throbbing.
After what seemed hours but was really most likely only minutes, it was all stopped. I wasn’t exactly sure what had happened at first. One of three things could have happened. One, Kinita had stabbed me like she had said. Second, the spell had gone a little too close to the limit. Three, and this was probably impossible, I had survived. I felt my hand, and curled and uncurled my fingers. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling, “No way!” I whispered in excitement.
I tilted my head so I could see around the room and make sure I really was alive. I saw the same torn up room I was in before and Jared’s confused face next to terrified Kinita. She was shaking, but she couldn’t move her legs. I forced my arms as hard as I could against the chains and they snapped. I did the same with my legs, and I jumped up. I felt full of energy and bubbly. “R-Rachna?” Kinita said in a small voice.
“Kinita, save the despair. You know what I have to do, now that I have the unlimited power, I can do it without the sword.”
“Please, you can’t do this! I’m your sister!”
I felt a tang hit somewhere deep inside. “I’m sorry, Kinita. Really, truly.”
I saw a tear tumble down her face ungracefully. She seemed to accept the fact, but wasn’t happy about it. My eyes mirrored hers, the glassy effect that came when you cry. “Goodbye, sister.” I heard her whisper.
“Goodbye, sister.”
I clapped my hands together and spoke the ancient words that I didn’t remember ever learning, they just came naturally. When I was finished I closed my eyes and let tears roll down my face. Then I pulled my hands apart and heard as a strong wind came in through the window. When it hit my sister, she turned to simple dust and disappeared forever.
I fell to my knees and sobbed. It felt like an endless sob that would go on forever. My sister was gone, and I killed her! I had to sacrifice her so she and my four other sisters wouldn’t wipe out human kind in the next century. Now that Kinita was gone, my four other sisters would be free from her curse. If you are the elder of the sisters, than you can put any spell on the younger ones that you want, and Kinita was the eldest. Somehow, I hadn’t gone under the spell, and now it all seemed like a sick math equation to me. As any math teacher would say, “From six, to save four, one must sacrifice another leaving only five.”
After I got over my mourning, I got up with a tear streaked face and bloodshot eyes. My hair was in tangles, and I put the magic back on my face to hide my scars. “Come on, Jared. It’s time to go home.”

*****

“Welcome, Jumi. Long time no see.”
“Yes, Rachna. Too long.”
“You can sit over by Vala and Mallee. Linya should be here soon.”
“Thank you, sister.”
Sure enough, Linya got there seconds after Jumi. Finally, the whole family was here. Jared was here, too; he was like the brother we never had. Now that I had the unlimited powers, I had the chance to make him immortal and he had accepted. My four sisters were seated next to each other in order from eldest to youngest. Vala, the youngest, then Jumi, Mallee, and Linya and then Jared sat over by Vala. I guess I was supposed to make a big speech or something important, but I’m not exactly good in front of crowds even if they’re my sisters and brother. So, I skipped right to the part where I change Jared to an immortal and then we all pay our respects to Kinita.
I motioned for Jared to come stand in front of me and he did. He really was a nice guy. He made us all laugh all the time, and he was always a real gentleman. Everyday his hair seemed to get a little crazier, and his personality a little brighter. Ever since the fight with Kinita he wanted to know everything about fighting and our powers and everything about me. He wanted to know what it was like to fight, but whenever he got too close to Kinita he would always back off. He seemed to challenge everything anyone said, and then if he were wrong he’d just forget about it. He must have been the opposite of me, and maybe that was why we are such good friends. I was sad to have to curse him the rest of his life with immortality, it really isn’t all it’s said to be. You’re always moving from place to place and time slowly begins to mean nothing. I sighed and said, “Ready, Jared?”
“Yea, I think so.”
“You won’t have powers like us, but you will be able to live forever. Ok?” He nodded nervously. “Here we go, then.”
I closed my eyes and I think he did, too. He was taller than me, so putting my hands on his shoulders proved harder than it looked. I turned my face to the ground when my hands were on his shoulders and mumbled a few ancient words in a prehistoric language that only few immortals knew. Suddenly, a force so great I flew back and to the ground erupted from Jared. I opened my eyes and saw him there, the same as before, “Um, sorry?”
We all broke out laughing, including Jared; it was a very simple and quick ceremony. Now was a time of sorrow, even though we knew Kinita hated sorrow. She always wanted what was best for us sisters, even if it meant bending the rules to make them fit her criteria. She would have made a good lawyer. We all had a different color rose, and had a meaning for it. We had arranged it so that Jared would go first and I would go last. “I wish I could have learned more about you than just the character you played, but you seemed like a genuinely nice person to the sisters. My rose is white for your pure heart.” He threw it on the spot where she had stood.
We were in the same house where the fight had occurred. It was like a good balance, one immortal born while another disappears. Vala was a tall frilly girl who was wearing a black lace dress. Vala stepped up, “Kinita, you always did what you thought was best, even if it meant doing the wrong thing. My rose is blue, because you went against the waters, whether it was good or not.”
Jumi was a short athletic type and she wasn’t seen crying much. Jumi walked up, a tear in her eye, “You always stood your ground, Kin. You never gave up on us, thank you. My rose is brown, because you always went against the grain, even though you knew the difference from right and wrong, you did what your heart told you.”
Next up was Mallee. She and Kinita were close, and she her face had taken so many tears since she found out I’m surprised her face didn’t look like the Grand Canyon by now. She was a kind of go-with-the-flow type, and she was trying to hold back sobs, “Kin, You were always too good for us, and we were lucky to have you. What you did was wrong and we accept that, and I want you to know that I forgive you. My rose is red, because the best hearts are always red.”
Linya was next. Her tan skin always made her look like Kinita, except she had darker hair and was much taller. She said, “Kinita, you had good intentions that seemed to come out wrong. You were always a great sister, and an even better friend. My rose is orange, because you were always vibrant and bouncy.”
Now me. I swallowed hard. I wasn’t crying, but I was mourning. My heart felt like lead weighing me down. It seemed to burn every time I looked at the pile of roses on the floor. Despite the lead weighing me down, I stepped up. “Kinita, you were a great person. You didn’t deserve to die, really, truly, you didn’t. I wish you could have stayed, I wish you could have stayed here with us, your sisters. I was wrong, Kinita. Even if you try to kill me over and over, I am, and always will be, your sister. My rose for you is black because even if you had good intentions for us sisters, it ended badly. Goodbye, sister.”
Everyone watched as I threw my rose into the pile. When it the floor, I heard Jumi and Mallee break out crying at the same time, and Linya and Vala were soon after. I held back tears, somehow and someway, and so did Jared. Jared didn’t really know how close us sisters were. It was something you could never deny even if you tried, like me. It was unbreakable bond that holds us together. It was like gears to a clock. You’ll never know the right time until they’re all there. If one goes missing, then you can’t get the signal out. Jared just didn’t get that. I didn’t cry because even though I loved my sister, I didn’t love the things she did and what she made me do.
The rest of the day was spent there, in the house, crying and praying for Kinita. Then, once everyone was calmed down, we decided that we should introduce Jared to the Spirits. We brought him to The Sacred Pond of Answers where our mothers were staring at their reflections. “Mom,” Jumi called out and all three heads snapped towards us and they smiled.
“Welcome, children. And Jared is it?” One spirits said. They all looked alike and called us all their daughters.
We were all flabbergasted at this. How did they know Jared? “Um, Yes Ma’am.”
“Ah, we asked the pond about you. You a very nice young fellow.”
Our mother’s and asked The Pond something? That was impossible. When we were young we lived with our mothers until we were fully grown and immortal, they never asked The Pond questions. “We ask them in our mind dear,” another Spirit told us answering my question. “Then the pond shows the answer. Sometimes we ask it show us mortal’s lives. They can get very interesting occasionally.”
Well, there’s a lifetime’s worth of questions answered, and we didn’t even need The Pond. After that, we stayed and talked to the Spirits and they enjoyed the company. They weren’t like they usually were just waving at us to go away so they could stare into The Pond. We slept there and left in the morning. We kept fairly normal lives, or as normal as immortal can get, and enjoyed it. We were all frozen at a different age, so it was easy for us go to the same school and not get suspicious. Jared and me were different, we were the same age and we had to pretend we didn’t know each other. It was pretty simple, and sometimes we went to different schools. Life continued as normal for a long time and we liked it.
Once, we even visited the same abandoned house where we had the ceremony for Kinita. We were overjoyed to see that Vala’s simple magic had worked, and that the roses were now planted through the floorboards. They wouldn’t get taller, or turn brown and shrivel up and die. They would stay the same, just like us.