At the same time, we close our eyes and concentrate fully on ourselves. On the senses of our bodies and then on the energies flowing within us. The magic that fills us. In my case, it resembles a blazing fire. Destructive, but also life-giving. Then our attention wanders to our intertwined hands. To the connection between us, the warmth, and the contact we share. And once again, we shift our focus from physical sensations to our energies. But this time, we allow them to become one. The cycle is no longer within us, but rather we are both part of a larger whole. My fire magic flows through her body, while her refreshing ice magic fills me. Together, our energies form a balance, allowing us to feel not only our own bodies down to the smallest detail, but also each other's.

However, that is only the easiest part. The most strenuous bit is yet to come. Fortunately, we have a little more time today before anyone notices that we have not yet returned to the group, as our special training took so long that we would have been late for dinner anyway. At least late enough that we wouldn't have had anything to eat by then. The others are probably still eating, as the gong announcing the end of the evening meal has not yet sounded. Time we need and will put to good use.

First, we focus on my sister so that we can free her from the Organization's control magic, as she has already used up large amounts of her magic searching for the exit. Accordingly, I will have to compensate with more magical energy and must not be exhausted after my treatment. Of course, there is a risk that we will only free one of us from the magic today and the other in the next few days. But we don't know when the next opportunity will arise. Quite apart from that, none of us could bear it if the other were still suffering under the control magic while we ourselves had already been freed from it.

Slowly but surely, parts of our consciousness merge and wander from our hands to my sister's head, where our foreheads touch. Even though it's not the first time, this feeling is overwhelming. This feeling that we are one. That we are not complete without each other. It's so fascinating and feels so good. I wish time would stand still and we could remain in this state forever. However, the situation does not allow it. Consequently, we shift our attention toward her brain and feel these repulsive, magical threads that have anchored themselves tightly like wire and have been spun throughout the entire interior of her head. 

We have tried so many times to get rid of them with our magic, but every time we ended up writhing in pain without achieving anything. This time, we will try a slightly different approach. Once again, we want to destroy the threads with our magic, but today, with the help of the energy that the Organization has fed us, which has given us a certain level of immunity to the control magic. Until now, we have shied away from using it because the risk of losing our consciousness and our sense of self when using this power was too great. For a long time, it was too difficult for us to control this energy and make it take the form we wanted. For these reasons, we have practiced secretly again and again, so that we can now draw on only a fraction of this extraordinary magic, which is so small that we can maintain control over ourselves and prevent the magical ice fire we create together from bursting out of us and alerting the adults. We cannot say with certainty that we will succeed in breaking the Organization's spell, but it is the best chance we have ever had. In the worst case, we will simply writhe in agony on the rocky ground once again. As long as we have the opportunity to try again and again, we will not be discouraged.

Carefully, we begin mixing our magical energy as planned. As soon as we draw on even a spark of the magic that the Organization has incorporated into us, we feel it trying to wipe out our consciousness and take over. But with enough concentration, we can resist it, even if that means we can't afford a single mistake, nor a single second of carelessness. Once we are sure that we are not losing control, we set about dissolving the threads one by one. As soon as our ice fire makes contact with them, I feel a twitch run through my sister's body and, through our shared consciousness, I can feel her terrible headache. We are not sensitive to pain, but even so, it is already pure torture. As hard as it is for me to inflict more pain on my sister, we continue our work. Because it's working! Our ice fire can break the Organization's control magic! After so long, after so many years, finally a ray of hope! The hope that the Organization won't keep us in its clutches forever. Nevertheless, we must exercise caution. As soon as I get the feeling that my sister is about to collapse from the pain and her attention is waning, I give her a moment to catch her breath, but we have no choice but to work at the limits of what is possible. After all, we don't have forever.

Finally, we manage to untangle the last thread. I would like to give my sister some peace, but she herself is now taking over our shared consciousness, however weak she may be at the moment. I sense in her the unstoppable desire and determination that I, too, should now be freed from the magic of the Organization. Coming from her, I feel an energy and eagerness to get it over with and finally start a new chapter in our lives. One without pain and suffering, one without always having to endure everything. One in which we are treated better than lifeless and replaceable tools. We approach the threads around my brain and continue our work. Instantly, it feels as if my head is shattering into a million pieces, and as if millions of daggers are being stabbed into every part of my being. Only the connection with my sister keeps me from collapsing. Silently and quietly, I endure the ordeal, and only my sister is the witness and comfort of my suffering, just as I was the witness and comfort to her.

Finally, we manage to free me from the magic too, and despite all the exhaustion, our trembling bodies, and the pain that is still lingering, albeit slowly subsiding, my head feels so free. It's as if a daze has lifted that I've been in my entire life.

I open my eyes and look at my sister, whose face shows deep exhaustion, but also relief and a deep grin.

"We did it," I write on her hand with weak fingers.

"We did," she replies.

We can no longer hold back and find ourselves in a tight embrace a moment later.

"It feels so strange," I feel on my back.

"It does. But I'm so happy."

"Yes, we're finally one step closer to our freedom."

We would both like to stay like this longer, but we don't know how much time has passed. Dinner is probably already over. We were so focused on each other that we must have missed the sound of the gong. If we don't hurry, the adults might become suspicious. And that's the last thing we want right now. With the help of the rock wall and leaning on each other, we both push ourselves to our feet, more badly than well. We can only hope that the adults, who will soon be watching us again, will attribute our weakness and exhaustion to our special training. Fortunately, the chances of that are pretty high, as long as we don't draw attention to ourselves in any other way. It will be difficult enough to survive the coming night. The next few hours will probably be the most dangerous we've faced in a long time. But we will certainly overcome this challenge and be a little closer to our new life in freedom. Now we just have to find a possible escape route and make the other necessary preparations that will increase the chances of our escape succeeding. There is still a lot to do. But we won't give up until we can finally be ourselves and live our own lives together.