The Carnival at Moonbright

Myla, it’s almost eight. We need to get up.

Myla stood there, the blood dripping from her daggers. Her vision focused further out to the body lying on the ground. Nix’s eyes stared back at her. Inside the carnival tent, she could feel people moving around her, but they were like shadows, taking the light from the sun and making her hands feel cold. She was frozen in fear as Myla stared down at Nix, able to feel the tears falling down her face like ice stinging against her face.

Myla, come on. We can’t stay in bed all day.

Her knees buckled, and she slammed to the ground. Her daggers fell from her hands as she grabbed onto the bloody dirt and grass beneath her. Her tears mixed with the puddle below her, causing ripples and making it harder to hold herself up. Myla stared back at Nix, her eyes staring back. Nix blinked, then spoke to her.

“Y-you did this… Why did you do this, Myla?”

She felt the earth become like liquid, and she sank into it. Myla could feel the blood and dirt swirl around her as she tried to fight back toward the air, but her arms and legs were too heavy to move. She tried to look out but only saw the blackness around her. Ramona’s laughter pierced her ears, and her heart started beating faster and faster and faster as she fought to try and breathe.

Myla!

She opened her eyes and threw herself forward. Myla could feel the panic still coursing through her, and she fought to breathe. Sitting on a bed in the Archmage’s Tower, her sister held her by the shoulders.

“Myla, are you okay?” Lyla asked.

She closed her eyes and tried to calm her heart. After a few deep breaths, she opened her eyes and looked at her sister. The fact that they looked so similarly helped in many ways, especially now. Looking at her was like looking at a mirror; she could try to match what she saw to calm herself. She laid back down, feeling her pillow and back covered in sweat.

Nightmares…

I get that. We’ve had a hard week.

I don’t know if I’m ready to face any of them.

Lyla moved the hair away from Myla’s face and looked down at her. Myla could tell she was trying to think of the right thing to say.

“I killed Nix. I don’t know what to do. So many things are happening at once, and I am supposed to be the older sister. I’m supposed to have answers, and Yla hasn’t given us anything in weeks. I yanked you out of the monastery because of Yla, and we don’t even know what’s happening there.”

“You took me away from the monastery because I was in danger. Yla wouldn’t have made you do that unless she felt it was absolutely necessary,” Lyla stated.

“Yes, but… When I was at VerdantKnoll, I knew exactly what I was doing every day. I had structure. I had answers. Since leaving, I haven’t had that. I’m not saying it’s anyone’s fault. I’m just saying that it’s hard for me to try and figure it out. I feel like there is some cosmic lesson in all of this, and I’m just not getting it.”

I know this is hard, but we can’t just stay here forever.

Why? Why do we have to do anything after…?

Lyla turned away, clearly unsure of what to say next. Then, she smirked and spoke out loud.

“Well, you smell, and you’re covered in sweat for a start. I can’t have someone that looks like me going around like that. Imagine what people would say. That one of us stinks?”

Myla couldn’t help but smile a little, and she sat back up. She looked around at the arcane room they were given to use and noticed the small details that had changed since the first time they came here. At first, the room only had two small beds, with a blanket and pillow. Lyla’s bed now had a smaller sheet and an extra pillow, probably because she was always overheating at night. A small fountain of water fell into a basin near the door, with two cups. Her bed also had an extra pillow, and her blanket seemed more comfortable as if made of another material. Silk or satin, maybe? On the other side of the wall from the water basin was a dresser, which Lyla was pulling open to find more clothes similar to the ones they were wearing, but they looked almost brand new.

Lyla grabbed a few things for herself, laid them on her bed, and then brought over some clothes for Myla. While the clothing was almost the same, there were brand new, missing the cuts, tears, and random adornments that Myla had put on hers, such as her VerdantKnoll guild pin that she kept near the collar. She didn’t know much about magic, but it was impressive that the Tower could do such a thing.

“Do you know where a bath would be?” She asked Lyla.

Lyla looked up and pointed behind Myla. She turned around to see a door had appeared on the wall that hadn’t been there before. She turned the handle and saw a giant bath was prepared.

I’ll get clean first, then…

Then we’ll see what we need to do next.

After her bath, Myla finished drying off and moved to the bed to grab her clothes. The chill was still there, but the panic had disappeared. She thought to herself about thanking Leaf later for letting them stay here. It was helpful to be away from the carnival for a bit and not see their faces yet. Lyla walked over with a length of rope and held it up to Myla.

What’s this for?

“It’s going to help. I remember at the monastery, there was a trick some of the teachers would do with students to help them stay focused and calm. They would wrap rope around their abdomen, not tightly, but enough to apply a little pressure. I’m sure there was some grand reason they explained, but I know it was supposed to help in situations like these.”

“Okay..”

Myla lifted her arms in front of her, letting Lyla move the rope around her. Just as she said, it wasn’t tight, but it did hold against her skin. Lyla tied the two ends together along her vertebrae, then gave it a little tug to ensure it stayed.

“Don’t throw saving me out as a mistake. I don’t know what happened there, but we both know that Yla warned us for a reason. Don’t you dare use that as a way to tear yourself down. It’s what an older sister would do, even though it was only a few hours of difference when we were born.”

Myla smiled. “Yeah, but I was born the night before, and you were born the morning after. It makes me technically older by a day.”

“You’re gonna use that against me forever, aren’t you?” Myla asked.

“Yup.”

“Good girl.” Lyla joked, giving a few slight pats on her sister’s head.

Myla turned to her sister and put her shirt on over the rope. It was different, feeling it against her skin, but it didn’t feel bad. It kept her focused on her breathing.

I killed someone yesterday… I think that makes me a woman now.

Across the room, a pillow flew from Lyla’s side of the room, and it smacked against Myla’s face. She caught it and looked up at her sister, laughing before throwing it back and watching Lyla go to the bath and close the door behind her.