The two youths sat on the floor of a rare private room. Only second stories seemed to have these. Sui had been in many other kids’ rooms where the adults could not hear them playing.
Sui stroked Lillian’s hair. She loved doing this. She was three years older than Lilly. Ten was basically a kid still. Lilly did not act like a kid outwardly, but she sure was. She acted on impulse and her most heightened emotion at any given time.
“You might shadow me to know this. As you have a longer name, so do I. Mine is Suina.”
“Mmmm.” The peaceful smile and totally relaxed face that Lilly wore now, made Sui feel warm and safe.
She knew Lilly was going out to kill people. That kind of terrified her. Sui was grateful for Le’falyne. It did everything to preserve life, so Lilly wasn’t able to kill anyone so easily with its. Would she be okay though? The Le’falyne did not favor anyone else, so the killers might kill again. Lilly wanted to stop them from killing…by killing them. But if she didnt do something, a lot more people would die.
Sui wondered why other people didn’t think about it all the time. These people were being murdered! They could be next. She could be next. Why did they get over it so quickly? No wonder the Shivs wanted to change things. Nothing seemed to affect the citizens. The Militancy acted like they shared everything, but somehow they downplayed the danger. The city people wanted it that way.
Sui played with the orb that Lilly gave her. Sometimes Le’falyne would go inside and course around and in it, then splash out dramatically. The intelligent water behaved as if it was toy for only that purpose. Rhe the university student called it a bomb. That couldn’t be right. It didn’t really come apart. Well she had let them have it after peering and taking notes on her creation one last time. The Le’falyne from the chilton stuffed animal had hovered close to the woman as if curious. Even without eyes the being seemed to have emotions.
Sui poked the chilton’s blue belly. The water resisted her. She put three fingers on the water. it felt cool to the touch. Then her hand was allowed to pass through and out the other side. The water felt nice and almost like regular water, but did not leave her wet.
“Thanks for making mopping all that blood both easier and harder. You could’ve diluted it!” The water around her wriggled around her skin in response.
“Okay, let’s go back downstairs. I have questions for that Rhea.”
Lilly surprised her but sitting up and looking at her with clear and refreshed eyes. “Oh, so you got some good rest.”
“Two and a half slivers was all I needed.”
They held hands to the top of the stairs. It felt like the natural thing to do. They were friends now. Sui saw her mom peering out the door which she had an eyeball width open. Then she quietly closed the door. Rhe ran up past them and began dragging them back to the room.
“What-?” Sui and Lilly both resisted the pull, but then Sui’s mother was following behind her. They all entered the room and her mother closed the door.
“We are not here. No sound.”
In their quiet obedience they heard the distant terrors.
“Shade, no!”
Shouts.
Silence. Then screams.
Just like last time.
Lilly made to stand up. Lady Rhea held her arm. “Stay here or they might kill you!”
“They deserve to die.”
Footsteps. Banging on the door.
“Little Suina!” The breathless and panicked voice was muffled by the door. Lilly yanked her hand out of Lady Rhea’s grip. That was not a firm grip. She took a step down the stairs.
There was no noise. No follow-up. More banging on the door. Something thunked into the door. Then nothing again.
Lilly stepped down the staircase as quickly as she could. She was not used to them and the handrail was at her shoulder height, so she could only step. At the door now, she saw that a knife point was sticking through. Le’le!
Le’falyne slammed into the door and churned like a violent sea storm. The wood creacked and splintered. She took the knife out of the water. It was still stuck in a piece of wood so she yanked it out. “A shiv.”
Lilly peered out the splintered hole she’d made. A woman lay motionless on the outer steps. Suddenly another shiv flew out of the side and straight at her eye. She flinched back and the door blocked the arm. “Ah. Ashes.” Was that a swear?
Lilly opened the door. The man hadn’t expected that. He was shoved back and tripped over the woman laying there. She formed a spear of ice out of Le’falyne, but only the front half obeyed. Sui ran up then.
“Is She alive?”
Lilly paused at that. My first thought was, ‘Is she dead?’.
Lilly walked around and saw many stab wound holes wet with blood in her black vest. She was confident that he’d killed her. So he deserved to die. She shook her head. “She's dead. Le’falyne would have healed her if she wasn’t.”
Sui touched the woman’s shoulder, and whispered something to her.
Lilly lunged at the man who was about to stab them. With her lunge, she rammed him with the ice spear. Le’falyne quivered and melted. The man was nearly split in two. Lilly eased and looked at the circular street. Most of the commotion was happening near doors and on the curbs. Shiv members were stabbing and slicing people. The militants stationed to guard this neighborhood lay dead.where the street curved into a straight path.
The shivs were brandishing knives. There were no sounds or lights of plasma rods. Most of the people skirmishing were still alive. Some of the gentile parents and lone adults defended themselves with blades of their own. Some swung and stabbed with rapiers. One had black knuckle spikes. He was desperately jabbing with them.
“I thought citizens did not carry weapons. Only the Shivs.”
“Some of our neighbors have been taking what they call reasonable measures.” Sui’s mom was walking up to her. “No point in hiding now that my daughter came out here.”
“They’ve been giving them out for free. Even I got one from some random woman. I mean uh, a not-zeman. Definitely not a man. A person.”
‘That doesn’t matter!” Sui shouted at them.
“There she is!”
Lilly focused on the people about to be injured or killed in the chaos. People were coming into the neighborhood to see what was happening. Curiosity killed the crowd. I will not allow it!
Many of the Shivs did not advance. They had priorities. Others rushed her. Lilly looked for blades that were bloody.
Lilly forced her will on the water. She sent enough around a woman to drown her. She stabbed another person in the side as she rode the river and slammed another Shiv into the ground. She wasn’t sure if she killed the last two.
She took Le’falyn by the hand and formed a curved ice blade. She held the blade steady. Le’falyne gushed under her feet at her command. She was launched into the Shivs that advanced on her. As she flew past a man, she felt the waterblade separate the top and bottom of his neck - with barely any resistance. When she landed on water, she flung the blood streak off the blade.
The shape melted back into wild water that Lilly cruised on to ricochet off a wall and leap up to a rooftop ledge. Le’falyn had limits. It couldn’t bear this killing. She felt the will of the water pulling away from hers. She forced her will on it stronger with the knowledge that she had to do this.
‘Retreat!”
Lilly saw a woman in the small park stab her captive in the torso before running across the street.
“We need to find out where the shivs are hiding. They need to stop. I hate them. I hate them almost as much as I hate the militants. Except Yanil.” She was talking to herself. Nobody else was near her ledge -except an ashcrow. The bird flew off and left a drift of black ashy flecks that floated down erratically to the whims of the wind. No parting ‘caw’ for the young murderer, huh?
Lilly rode down Le’falyne in a whooshing splash.
Sui’s mom was there. “ Please stop. They’re mingling in the crowd now.”
Lilly nodded. She felt tired but she needed to hold on long enough to check on Sui.
“Wait, you little murder girl.” Sui’s mother grabbed her arm. “See what my Suina is doing?” This is the second time today an adult has grabbed my arm.
Lilly looked toward the park. Sui was tending to the woman who’d been stabbed there. Le’falyne was swirling around the older girl. Shade on me I guess.
Lilly went to a grass patch next to a huge redwood and sat with her legs crossed. There were benches but they were Rodney Seats and had too many gaps between rods.
“Uhhhhu-uhhuu-.” The woman was hyperventilating.
Sui was talking to her. “I think Le’falyne barely kept you alive. Hmm, are you looking for someone?”
Lilly looked at the woman then. Her eyes were searching the street behind the trees.
Lilly got up and looked for whatever she was searching for. She found a boy face down. She turned him over. His eyes were open yet his stomach did not rise or fall. A chill struck her. That could have been me.
Then she felt a different cold as Le’falyne rolled around her arms and legs toward the boy. The water entered his mouth. A splinter later the boy coughed up blood and Le’falyne. He started shallow breathing just like his mother. Was that his mother? Lilly pulled the boy’s shirt up and saw that there was a scar in his chest.
“That boy of mine is lucky.”
Lilly looked up. It was the mortician. Was there only one?
The boy looked at his father and tears welled up. He clung to his dad’s vest and cried and hiccuped. “Pa-huc - hu.”
“Short breaths. With me. Huhhu -huhhu-huhu-”
He held his son by the back and looked back at Lilly. “Lillian Greyvlat. I’m glad to see you. I’ve never before had the pleasure to see let-water do more than preserve dead flesh.”
He lifted the shirt. Oh Natnan. Lillian. See here? He was unlucky. The shiv went through between his ribs. Must have punctured his lungs. Seeing as this wound healed with a scar, he’ll have scarring in his lungs as well.”
“My wife. I hear her. Thank the moons.” Then he started crying too.”
Lilly started crying. She was not short of breath.
Sui came at some point and stroked her back. The let-water was shaken by your control. It was rippling in the air. I think it came to where I was. It wasn’t healing anyone until I went to check for who was hurt.”
“Suina. Suina. Suisu. Susu. Sui. What’s your mother’s name?”
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